Temagami/Algonquin Fishing/Camping trip - Lots of pictures and Tons of GREAT time!!!

[icefisherman]

Just came back from my annual fishing/camping trip up North. This year it consisted of 6 nights in Temagami (my first trip there) and 11 nights in Algonquin (North and East Arm of Opeongo).

First to thank all those who gave me useful info before the trip.

This “detailed” report is full of high resolution pictures (dial up be aware) and is mostly fishing then camping as I consider myself more fisherman then camper.

 

So here we go:

Left home at midnight August 16 and arrived in Temagami bright and early in the morning about an hour before Dad’s store opened up. This gave us enough time to walk around the small town, look at the airplane docked in the lake etc.

Got tons of useful info from Jim Krech from Dad’s. What a super nice guy…bought the shoal map and two dept maps from him, some last minute fishing gear and worms and he gave us the deal of the century. Could not believe it. I love those people up North (North of Huntsville).

Launched our wayyyy overloaded boat at the end of the Temagami access road trying to beat the rain. Well it started while trying to find a site. Most were taken by others. Finally found a decent one at Racoon point (the one to the west of the point). Then the rain really came down on us big time. Several times pouring cats and dogs. Everything got wet and took us days to dry it out. With two kids (2 and 3) this was quite a start of out vacation.

 

Despite the less then perfect weather our mood was in high gear supported by some of those treats ;-)

 

 

In a ready form:

 

And close ups of the second night dinner:

 

Filet minion in Temagami…..mmmmmmm….

 

During the day while fishing some of us needed a rest:

 

 

While others were quite active and fishing hard ;-)

 

 

 

 

 

Or enjoying driving the boat around:

 

 

 

And answering nature calls as well from time to time ;-)

 

And the remaining team member in action:

 

With his first ever lake trout:

 

Quite happy too:

 

Here is my new Personal Best Lake trout at 19 Lbs 15 Oz on electronic scale. I gave it to our neighbour – old couple who were quite happy to have it:

 

 

Not many things in this world are better then fire baked trout:

 

 

 

Play time:

 

For every one…

 

 

And some fried trout too:

[icefisherman]

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Part 2:

 

 

 

We did have good time in Temagami but got good amount of rain too…it rained the last night and we were all wet moving to Algonquin…got settled on Opeongo at my favourite site with large private bay and beach and all amenities and then we got more rain that night….then the night after…and the day and night after as well….but fishing was great in between:

Some Opeongo bass:

 

Pretty good ones too. Here is a huge 6.5 Lbs one I got while trolling for lakers:

 

And speaking of lakers…what a fishing it was….10-20 fish caught daily….couple per day kept, the rest released with the exception of the last day when we kept few more fillets for the way home:

Here are few action pictures:

 

 

 

With my boat captain:

 

All smiles:

 

Even during the rain:

 

 

Another big bass:

 

And more trout action:

 

 

 

 

What a day a smile like that makes …..

 

And when it didn’t rain…it was beach play time for all:

 

 

 

Our site with the view of the private bay/beach:

 

Few evening bass waiting cleaning:

 

And here is an interesting trout:

 

It was marked by MNR and we took the tag to the guy at the MNR station and am waiting on him to send me this fish history:

 

 

 

Strange thing was it had much whiter meat then the rest of the trout we caught:

 

Last four days wives came to join us and the weather became great ;-) No surprise here ha ha ha

 

Last catch:

 

 

It was rough and windy the last morning:

 

Opeongo – what a beauty…we’ll come again next year:

 

And well-deserved breakfast before heading back home:

 

Few words in conclusion – fishing was GREAT AGAIN like last year….got some personal best….19 Lbs 15 Oz laker at Temagami and 6 Lbs small mouth at Opeongo.

We got more rain then last year but hey…it’s part of the game …and we did get some great weather last 5-6 days.

My usual lures performed great on Opeongo – small #3 and #4 Meps and Blue Fox in Chartuse. Lakers were shallow just like last year. The ones that were biting anyways. There were plenty of fish deep but they were not interested in our presentation at all. All the active fish were between 20 and 30 feet down in 45-75 fow despite what most Algonquin “experts” will tell you about summer fishing there.

 

Temagami…….what a strange lake for fishing,….never hit the bottom so often in my life with the cannon balls….the bottom was all over the vertical….even with all the maps it was a challenge to stay on course…20 feet from shore it was 80 feet deep…….we were trolling at time is 110 fow only for find out 30 seconds later it was 30 fow and the balls were dragging the bottom…and it was rocks, rocks,….and more and ONLY rocks there…never seen so many rocks before ;-)….but fishing was great….nice bass in the evening and huge lakers during the day…here they were all deep…80 feet down in 100 fow was the magic. And larger spoons mostly silver/blue combination….even some smaller Williams in blue/silver got us fish.

 

So, now that this trip is over we are all relaxed let’s make some money and do some local fishing…here I come Lake O. and Lake Erie….while waiting the ice on Simcoe;-)

 

Hope you’ve enjoyed the read as we’ve enjoyed the time and feel free to ask/PM me any specific questions you want to ask.

 

Cheers,

Ice Fisherman

[ccmtcanada]

Wow...what a fantastic report! Loved all the pictures...It's only 930am, but those steaks made my hungry all of the sudden! It's great to be able to spend all that time on the water with your kids...and actually catch fish too! LOL. The "nature calls" pic is a classic. haha. The kids had a great time...these kinds of trips are the ones they'll remember for the rest of their lives...great on you to involve them in your adventures!

[fatherof3]

that was a great report.Lots of fish caught and your kids look like they had a blast,congrats

[Terry]

great trip

great report

 

don't forget about BOQ, too before Simcoe freezes

[Roy]

Just a terrific report, Emil! Thanks for taking the time to post it for us. You'll have to show DouG how to fish Opeongo. The kids' smiles are priceless.

[SlowPoke]

I've been waiting for this report Emil. Worth the wait!!

-Brian

[Golfisher]

Great trip, even better report! Thanks for sharing!

[tbayboy]

Great trip, looks like the kids had a blast and so did the adults. Can't do better than that.

[snag]

Simply awesome.

 

Another report which makes me anticipate fishing with my son.

 

Thanks!

[highdrifter]

SHWEEET.. At least somebody knows where those lakers are...

 

Thanx for sharing!

 

HD

[solopaddler]

That was amazing thanks for posting!

That's a very impressive laker you caught in Temagami, congrat's, and wow are those

Opeongo fish ever dark!

[steve_paul]

Amazing report, thanks for sharing.

 

Glad you had an incredible time

[dustink]

Just a great report!!!

 

The kids' smiles are priceless, and I'm sure it's a trip they'll never forget!

[John]

Great report Emil. I love that part of the country. The kids' faces say it all.

[mattyk]

great report, thanks for sharing with us. Makes me want to get out there and fish.

[TJQ]

Great report, now thats going above and beyond the call of duty for the kids!! Great fishing, great memories.. great pictures!!!

[2kj]

Wow, fantastic report! I hope some or any of the advice I gave payed off on Temagami! You are certainly a better man than me, camping with 2 young kids in that kind of weather. I will have to make my way to Opeongo next year.

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Excellant Report. Definately one for the photo album! Thanks for sharing!

[caper]

That was an awesome report, thanks for taking the time to put it together for us.

[PERCHER]

That was great.Thanks

[scuro]

Nice report, love the pics of the kids!

[douG]

DANG! Heckuva report, Emil with some wonderful pictures. You have got some mad skilz there, not just with those beautiful lakers, but with the little ones too.

 

Gotta give those spinners a try on Opeongo. Thanks.

[Seaweed]

What a great Family Fishing Report.

 

This has to rank up there near the top for the best report of the year so far... it was just like being there.

 

Splendid job.

[irishfield]

Great report Emil, looks like you had a great time. Thought you hadn't made it up....still waiting for you to call/drop by my dock!