Incredible New Back Lake Fished! (lots of pic's)

[solopaddler]

I love August. The nights are cooler and the days are crisper....there's a bite in the air.

Heck, this past week some of the more exposed poplars were already turning yellow.

It was a picture perfect week in northern QC, no storms, no wind, no bugs, just beautiful sunshine, sand in our toes, sunburns, happy kids, great fishing, and cold drinks on ice .

 

There were a couple of highlights. First the new back lake which this report covers.

My uncle purchased a property in the same general area last fall. He's been busier than a Japanese beaver all season renovating his place and hasn't had time to fish much, but this week we had plans.

There's a pretty substantial river flowing in and out of his lake and we've been eyeing a lake a couple portages downstream from his for a while now.

Joanne gave me the go ahead to abandon her and the kids for the day, so armed to the teeth I arrived at my uncles place promptly at 6am, loaded his squareback with our gear and strapped on my little Honda.

He had a pot of hot coffee brewing and we wasted a few minutes at the dock catching up and surveying the the gorgeous scene in front of us before setting off.

 

 

The trip down his lake was spectacular in itself.

Here's a shot of the waterfall flowing into his lake and a couple of assorted scenery shots along the way:

 

 

 

 

The portage at the end of the lake bypassed a beautiful set of rapids followed by a cascading series of small wterfalls.

I paused along the trail and snapped this shot:

 

 

We launched at the base of the rapids and quicky started heading for the outlet of the small lake we were on.

Along the way I snapped a couple pic's of the inflowing waterfalls:

 

 

 

In no time at all we reached the outlet, a small rapids maybe 100yds long flowing swiftly into the next lake.

It was almost like a tunnel with huge ancient cedar trees bent over and touching on both sides creating an almost surreal passageway.

There was a short portage on the right, but I surveyed the situation and decided it would be easily lined leaving all our gear in the boat.

My uncle walked the short trail while I hopped in the river...

 

 

 

 

The pool below these rapids was incredible. About 200yds long and deep, up to 25' in spots. We quickly rigged up with my old standby, a 1/4oz jig head and a 3" twister tail tipped with a worm and started drifting the pool.

Fish #1 was caught in the first 10 seconds, a chunky pike:

 

 

After that it was walleye mayhem, nothing big but lots of fun and pefect eating size. We found a spot at the tailout that was teeming with them, anchored up and basically caught them at will 'till we tired of it.

 

 

 

 

We worked our way a couple of km's down the lake eventually being side tracked by this small cluster of islands:

 

 

Working the shorelines with crankbaits we caught bass after bass after bass with odd pike mixed in.

 

 

 

 

I actually hooked a small bass and almost instantly had a chunky pike attack it. I ended up landing both .

 

Here's a pic of the pike with the bass in it's mouth and a closeup of the damage it inflicted:

 

 

 

And a couple more pic's from the same spot...

 

 

 

We were soon struck by wanderlust and decided to find the outlet of this lake.

What a gorgeous spot and an absolutely perfect place to land the boat at the head of the rapids:

 

 

A quick little walkover and this is what the other side looked like:

 

 

We caught a bunch of smallmouth and a few walleye at that spot just tossing jigs from shore..

 

Soon enough it was time to start heading back but first I had a bit of slicing and dicing to do:

 

 

 

After a little break we backtracked all the way to my uncles place stopping to fish at all the best spots and catching a bunch more fish on the way out.

 

My uncles lake has lake trout in it and on the way back to his camp I tried quickly to catch one in a couple of high percentage spots.

It was too windy to effectively jig for them in our small canoe (you need to stay as vertical as possible), so I opted to troll a blue/silver Power Dive Minnow.

Needless to say I managed to scratch out one nice little laker. Pretty much made my day complete :

 

 

What a great day!

 

Stay tuned for part two of my week in northwestern QC .

 

Cheers, Mike

Edited August 19, 2008 by solopaddler

[Pigeontroller]

Awesome report Mike!

[ccmtcanada]

Wow Mike....was this the back lake we were thinking of trying out? At any rate, the fishing looked phenomenal! Awesome pics...some of that scenery was just breathtaking.

 

I got your message about your place, but Bly and I were up in Magnetawan this past weekend....we didn't do nearly as good as you guys did though...LOL. Thanks for the invite....but we'll try for another time to head up that way...I'm thinking that back lake would be a great destination....haha.

 

Awesome stuff...congrats....that underwater pic is amazing....I've saved it here on my computer!!

[wallyboss]

Good fishing for sure.

[Joey]

Wow, what gorgeous scenery Mike. Just a smorgasbord of fish that day

 

What did you do with the poor mangled bass? Give it back to the pike I spose eh

 

Really great report.

 

Joey

[danc]

Beautiful Mike. Wish I was there..

[Greencoachdog]

Beautiful pics and fish!!!

[tbayboy]

Little piece of heaven Mike, thanks for sharing it with us.

[Wild]

Mike you always have some of the best adventures, great pics and great scenery.

[solopaddler]

Wow Mike....was this the back lake we were thinking of trying out? At any rate, the fishing looked phenomenal! Awesome pics...some of that scenery was just breathtaking.

 

I got your message about your place, but Bly and I were up in Magnetawan this past weekend....we didn't do nearly as good as you guys did though...LOL. Thanks for the invite....but we'll try for another time to head up that way...I'm thinking that back lake would be a great destination....haha.

 

Awesome stuff...congrats....that underwater pic is amazing....I've saved it here on my computer!!

 

Yeah that was the same lake I wanted to bring you to, LOL!

(next time buddy)

 

No problem on the invite, it was pretty last second for reasons I mentioned on the phone anyhow.

Plus I'd forgotten about your Ahmic trip....no biggy.

[solopaddler]

Beautiful Mike. Wish I was there..

 

You're most welcome to join me anytime Dan .

[BeRad3000]

Nice report, sweet fish, i need to find me some of those back lakes!

[yo_guy]

Spectacular report with just enough words. The pictures says it all... I'm coming with you next time.

[EC1]

nice stuff, but you didnt keep the smb that was almost killed by the pike? i dont see it living much longer with that big of an open wound.

[solopaddler]

nice stuff, but you didnt keep the smb that was almost killed by the pike? i dont see it living much longer with that big of an open wound.

 

Okay I'll respond, Joey asked as well...

 

The bass in question was in rough shape, barely clinging to life.

I was horrified by it's plight and was adamant to give it CPR (catch, photo, release), but he was fading fast.

I quickly tried to give it mouth to mouth, but that grossed me out and I couldn't continue.

Alas the feisty little beggar passed away.

Neither myself nor my uncle eat bass, so we sacrificed it to a nearby gull.

Fear not nothing was wasted

[TroutnMuskieHunter]

Great report and pics ....looking forward to reading part 2

[Roy]

Great report and pics ....looking forward to reading part 2

 

Part 2 is just down the page a little. (for now)

[corvette1]

what a trip just awsome nice eyes the pike and bass battle that was the best

[Spiel]

off to part 2.

[Headhunter]

I'll respond to both parts here... simply awesome! Beautiful country there and the kids smiles say it all!

Thanks!

HH

[mattyk]

great report, and some nice fish!

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Awesome report! Looks like a prime piece of land. And great fishing. I guess you caught the laker, long lining? I would imagine the colder waters up north would keep them shallower. Nice job! Have yet to catch my first laker. Thanks for sharing.

[Leecher]

Great job Mike Great report and pics

 

Looks like you guys had a good time portaging from one lake to the next and catching a good mix bag of fish.

 

Loved the pic of the pike with bass in his mouth.

 

Thanks for sharing

Leechman

[FinS]

great report Mike like usual wtg

[solopaddler]

great report Mike like usual wtg

 

Thanks Rene. I'm pretty sure you know exactly where I was fishing as well .