Kesagami Summer 2009

[Ramble]

We’ll here it is. I wrote this from my journal entries I kept all summer. It’s basically one BIG fishing report. Most of the writing is about good days fishing, but there is a few stories of things that happened and camp shenanigans. Don’t feel obligated to read the whole thing; I put in lots of pictures into it for those of you after the “fish porn aspect”. I’m defiantly living up to my name with this report.

 

Anyway, here we go.

 

Another season at Kesagami has come and gone, and I’ve been looking forward to the next one since I flew out. It was another fantastic year and I had a blast.

 

I hopped on the Northlander in Huntsville this year, and was greeted by all my returning friends and a few new faces who were venturing to parts unknown. The trip north was as smooth as the Northlander would ever allow and we saw some wildlife on the way, which is always welcome. We arrived at Cochrane, and unloaded at the train station. We all piled into various taxis and headed off to the air base.

 

I wasn’t in the 1st wave of taxi’s that left and had to wait for one to come back. Upon loading our gear we found a pair of glasses in the van. Cruising along the road north out of Cochrane to the air base on Lillibelle Lake, I asked the driver if they were his. At 90 km/h, in the dark, bouncing along the famous pot hole filled roads of the north, the taxi driver swaps out his glasses for the mystery pair and proclaims with a French Canadian accent:

“Dees are not mine. I cannot see a ting chrew dem!”

 

With one hand on the wheel he tilts his head back to get the full experience from the bi-focals. We were all roaring with laughter; he was grinning and then took them off. “Nope! Day is not mine.”

Ahhh it’s good to be back in the North.

 

The air base was in its usual state and all of us returnees rushed to get our bunk beds so we didn’t have to sleep on the floor. That little treat is reserved for the new staff. Charlie informed us he had been talking to Andre (our lodge mechanic and motor wizard) and he said the lodge had a couple inches of snow over night. It was looking iffy as to whether or not we would be flying in the next day. One thought none of us cherish is being stuck at the bunk house for an extra day. We’ll that’s exactly what happened. There was a front moving through and we couldn’t fly. Awesome. So we milled around the air base getting to know each other. A few had laptops and watched movies, while the rest of us suited up with our cold weather gear to get outside and away from that crap-shack.

 

Mark, Kyle, Sweet Pea, the new guy Stew (hereafter referred to as the Rookie) and I did some fishing around the dock for some small northerns which the lake offers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This guy was out fishing as well.

 

 

We were stuck at the air base for a total of three days. Thank god the playoffs were on or the cabin fever would have driven us insane. Every day we came in from outside, I was expecting to see an axe hole in the door and Redrum painted on the wall somewhere. But everyone managed to stay in good spirits. It was more difficult for the new people to be trapped then all of us returning staff, since we were all catching up.

 

We got to see lots of water fowl along the shores of the lake, and even a mink. One evening Mark and I took the old ‘lumy motor boat out for a fish and we were able to see lots of different duck species. On one excursion to the dam down the road, we were even graced by the presence of this Brant goose which was a novelty for us southern folk.

 

 

One of the days Sweet Pea and I decided we had had enough foolin’ around the air base, we were going to find somewhere else to fish. We knew the river out of the lake crosses the train tracks somewhere. So we decided to see if we could find it and catch some fish. We took off down the tracks for parts unknown.

 

 

I’m not sure how long we walked for, maybe a km or 2 and never came to the bridge. But we did come to a little lake along side the tracks….Who are we to pass up a water hole?

 

We went down to the shore and gave it a shot. Right away we were into some northerns in the reeds. They couldn’t get enough of the white spinner bait of silver minnow with a white grub.

 

 

 

I kept pushing the boundaries of where my boots would allow me to go. But I made it to a small clump on a reed point and tied into this little guy.

 

 

He was pretty skinny looking, but we were sure there was some bigger fish around when we saw the bite marks on his head.

 

 

He was defiantly malnourished. I caught him 2 more times, and I pulled my bait away from him a few times after that. I couldn’t keep him off. I decided to move farther down the shore from the little guy, and pressed my luck too far. I went right into a stinkin’, old, god forsaken, beaver slough.

 

What’s the definition of “slough” you ask?

Define: Slough (North American English pronounced “Slew”)

-a hollow filled with mud

-a stagnant swamp (especially as part of a bayou)

 

I hadn’t seen Sweet Pea laugh that hard in a long time. It was all I could due to get out of the loon crap that was at the bottom. I was up to my rear axels in it.

 

He thought taking the a few pictures would be hilarious as well. And yes, the water was cold.

 

 

We fished for another hour or so and then we headed back to the bunk house.

 

After getting all my stuff dried out over night, Charlie had used his time to talk with the accountants and the number crunchers decided it was time to change vehicles if the weather wasn’t going to change. Our Beavers and Cessna couldn’t fly, but a helicopter could… for the right price. We made arrangements with the boys at Expedition helicopters to fly us in. No argument there!

 

A few flew straight-out of the base, while the rest of us piled into vehicles and boogied north on some old logging roads to cut the distance down, and the price.

 

 

We ended up at this quarry…and where there is water, guides will FISH…even if we have to unpack EVERYTHING.

 

 

 

No fish were caught, and the chopper kept coming and going. Someone had to go last and I volunteered. I help Mark and Joe (the expedition ground team) load the chopper and we rummaged through the food which was to be flown in. PB and J sandwiches with apples and bananas…Yummy…pilfered food stuffs. Mark and Joe are great guys and we had each other roaring in laughter all morning and into the afternoon.

 

 

When it was time for my turn to go, we had the chopper packed right to the hilt. I had my guitar jammed between my legs. Not a chance I was leaving that behind for the sling ride.

 

 

The flight in was really cool. You could see the snow/rain clouds all around us, and we’d fly in and out of showers and snow. It was defiantly a different experience to the usual plane flight.

 

We flew over the river end of the lake and I got to see that area from above which was pretty interesting.

 

 

Next thing was unloading everything. They had a few more luggage flights to make, and they used the sling which was pretty neat.

 

 

Next thing was getting the camp ready to go. We all had our jobs to do and we were already behind schedule by 3 days. We ended up loosing our staff fishing day in the 1st week, and pulled off 6 days of work in about half the time. Charlie was happy that we only had a few cosmetic things to do as the guests started to arrive.

 

On the 2nd last day of camp chores, we had to get the buoys out to the rocks in the lake. Rough water hampered our efforts and the rock pile had to go the first 2 weeks of the season without buoys, due to waves and no one to put them out when it was nice. After our run around the lake we snuck in the 1st fishing of the season.

 

Mark landed the 1st fish of the season with some size. This 34”er crushed his black buzz bait. We had a little trouble as the pike seriously inhaled the hook and we don’t use spreaders. We got the hook out but she got me on a roll and I was bleeding pretty good. The1st pike injury of the year, it was good to back in saddle.

 

 

Then we got the 1st Kesagami sunset of the year. A more welcomed treat.

 

 

The next day Kyle and I had to get more buoys out on the water. We had a big pile in the boat and the fog and wind was pushing up 4 foot waves. But we went north out of the wind and dropped our load….once we sorted it out.

 

 

 

On the way back we checked out the sandbar on Manido for walleye…and they were home.

 

 

On May 21st we had poor weather in the morning but during the afternoon the planes managed some flights into camp and we got the guests in. The Fish party, my guests, made it in and we went out for a walleye fish that evening. The bite was light and slow, but they still managed a nice 24” ‘eye.

 

The next day we were graced by more thick fog in the morning. We were on the water right away and off to Pickerel point in search of walleye. We managed about 30 in an hour with the fog rolling in and out. It was impressive. The bite was light again, but very active. They walleye were grabbing the tails of the jigs and we only hooked up with about half the fish that actually bit.

 

 

 

Next it was off to Edgar bay hunting for trophies. The bay had a lot of traffic. Edgar is renowned in camp for holding big early season pike. We pulled out a 36” fish and motored over to an adjacent bay. We rolled a 40 inch class fish, but couldn’t make her commit in some emerging pencil reeds.

 

The shore lunch site was flooded. It was totally under water. The bush was drenched, so I made the fire on the dry sandbar, which is normally a beach. They wanted more pike. So I told them to head over to Edger while I got to work, and to come back in half an hour.

 

 

Well off they went with gusto. I continued my work, and got the fire going. After they showed up we ate and they told me how they had landed a 41” fish. I was happy for them.

 

After lunch we motored down to Dumbbell and went to work hunting the elusive northern pike. We managed a 40”er in the narrows and saw a lot of 30-39 inch fish. We also had a lot of follows but they were not aggressive. So after pounding the bay for the afternoon we headed in for dinner.

 

After dinner we took off to the narrows near camp for pike. My guys were all fired up and in great spirits having landed 2 over 40 so far that day. They invited me to fish, which I refrain from doing with guests usually. Walleye I don’t mind, but I refuse to steal someone’s trophy fish.

 

I was eager however to get a 40 under my belt and they already had a 40 each that day. So I put on favorite spinner bait and went to casting the “dead water”. I never once put a cast into any virgin water. Not my style to out fish the guests if I can avoid it.

 

I was lazily casting the water between the back of the boat, towards shore as we drifted. They both were able to run their spoons through the pencils once or sometimes twice before I got to it.

 

I was sitting down, with my feet up, casting in a very content state which only a successful day of fishing can produce, when a big fish slammed the spinner within 3 feet of the boat. The splash got the heart pounding and my face wet. I was up on my feet in a flash with the drag screaming on my reel.

 

“It’s a big fish.” I said as she pulled out more line. “Who wants it?” I was ready to hand off the rod.

 

“You caught it! You land it!” I was told.

 

No arguments from this guy. I lifted the motor with one hand while fighting the fish with the other. She took off right into the pencil reeds, I only had 10 pound mono on, and wasn’t about to loose the fish to the weeds.

 

With one hand on the rod, tip held high, I dropped the motor with my free hand and fired her up. I shifted to reverse and the chase was on. She was pulling like a champ the whole time.

 

The reverse action saved me fish in the past and it paid of yet again. She cut side ways through the weeds for the deep water. That would have cost me the fish if I hadn’t of been almost to it. Once the battle was to the deeper water, free of weeds, it was only a matter of time. She came in and out a couple times, and I could see this girl might be a new personal best for me. Dave grabbed the net and did a good job getting here in on the 1st pass. She was beautiful. She measured in at 44”s and tied my personal best in length. She was defiantly in better condition and thicker then my last. I was a happy boy and called it a new personal best.

 

 

 

When I bust the gums out for a smile, I am ecstatic!

 

Then the release.

 

I was pretty pumped, 2nd day guiding and a new personal best northern. She was one of the highlights of my life and my guests were thrilled with 3 over 40 on that day. Not a bad start to the year.

 

May 25th.

 

We headed off to pickerel point with a sunny calm morning. It was looking like a really good day. I randomly thought “Maybe we should try and troll by the sandbar on the way through the gap.” I rarely fish here but had a good feeling. Points are deadly in the spring.

 

I stopped the boat a long way off the point so we could go up the sandbar past the point. Lines went out and I started the pass. Not 50 yards into the troll, Greg hooks up. It was putting some bend in the rod, and I was smiling. We got the fish to the boat….40 inches. The rest of the day was looking even better after that point.

 

 

Next stop was pickerel point where we jigged up some lunch and then it was off for a little more piking before lunch and another visit to Dumbbell.

 

 

We were coming past Fossil Island and I saw another sandbar that looked good. I lined up the boat just within casting distance and sure enough another solid fish hooked up. She wasn’t super scrappy, but stayed down longer then most of the pike we catch. She came to the net and I was pretty excited to see her. A fatty of a 41” fish: A real prime specimen of the species.

 

 

Next up was a much less stressful lunch.

 

Then it was onto Dumbbell. We motored down into it and it felt fishy. The warmer, calm weather had to be working its wonders. Its not often the main lake looks like it had the prior 2 days.

 

 

We fished away and were immediately into some very aggressive fish. We pulled around one side of the narrows. I positioned us within casting distance of the flooded vegetation on shore and used the push pole to keep our drift in line. It was perfect slow pike drift, with a slight south west breeze.

 

We came up to an ambush point at the windward side of the point and a big fish put some serous bend into Greg’s rod again. I saw a flash, and knew it was a solid fish.

 

The fight was longer the usual and she wasn’t afraid to put the drag to work on the reel.

 

We got her to the boat and it was a contender for biggest fish in my cradle. Measured her up….46 inches of angry northern Ontario pike.

 

This photo doesn’t do her justice as she is bent away from the camera, but the next one shows her size in the water.

 

 

 

As the afternoon rolled on the pike went crazy. There were visible schools of shiners jumping in the shallows, pike swirling all around us, and even the odd fin cruising like a shark. We were into all kinds of fish. We lost 2 fish that fought the same way as the 46” but never made it to the boat. In one corner of the bay, they hooked into a real brute. I have never seen a pike move water like she did, or take drag like that. A true Kesagami monster. She was in the pencils and got hung up, I never saw her, but I am sure she would have been closing in on the 50” inch notch.

 

The afternoon went on and we found 4 more over 40 inches. We couldn’t keep the pike off. If they didn’t look like they were forty, I wouldn’t even net them. I would just pop the hook out along side the boat. We had countless 35-39 inchers. More then a dozen 37-39 inch fish, but we weren’t keeping close count on those guys. By the end of the day, we had hooked up with around 100 northerns from the 20 inch to 40 inch class. We had a total of 6 over 40 and 5 more I suspected of being better then 40 which never made it to the boat.

 

It was a great day on the water.

 

May 26th, my 23rd birthday.

 

Kesagami weather is famous. In a week we can see every kind of weather. The day before I had been in a t-shirt pounding pike in spring weather, but today we woke up to this.

 

 

It snowed alllllll day. By lunch we had 6 cm. My guests were in no rush to fish the snow after the day they just had and they were content to lounge in the lodge. I wasn’t eager to freeze too badly either so I was happy to hangout with the guys and labouring on shore for the day.

 

Lunch time.

 

 

Sweet pea and I started a snowball fight with the girls and were seriously out numbered. They had us pinned down. At the same time Tyler and Kyle had been off filled the wood cradles and decided to ambush Pea and I. They came running down the path with a wheel barrow full of snow balls, which they had been making for about half an hour to hammer us. Well those boys showed up just in time to save us from the girls. The skirmish turned into a full-blown battle lasting over an hour. Even a few of the guest joined in on their way too and from the lodge.

 

After the fight, Mark, Joe, and a 3rd fellow, whose name escapes me, had been cutting wood down the narrows, and I went out with them to bring a boat load back. We had ambushed them at the dock twice that day with snow balls already and we knew they were going to get us again. The 3rd guy was in no mood to take a snowball in the face as he had rolled his ankle pretty bad, and was in some pain. We pulled up to the dock, the snow balls flew and the 3rd guy grabbed a block of wood and returned fire….with the intent of hitting one of them. The boys on the dock dodged it but there was a victim. This sexy snowman was built for one of the regular guests whose birthday was also on that day. There wasn’t much left of her, after a direct hit from a block of spruce.

 

 

We did another wood haul then warmed up in the teepee.

 

 

The next morning I talked Mark and the boys to put a second woodstove in the guide shack. We fired the chain saw up and less then an hour later the guide shake had a stove at the other end. We could actually get the whole cabin warm now.

 

Gord Pyzer and his buddy Mark who is the VP of marketing for Brecks ( Williams, Mepps and Mr. Twister) flew in as well. They were my guests for the next few days.

 

Gord and I had a chat that nights about what he would like do the article on…big swim baits. I told him they do work well for pike here, but with the snow and temperature drop, the fishing is going to be slow. He agreed and knew the weather wasn’t prime for his 3 day trip in. We went out as soon as they were ready for an afternoon fish, and not much was happening. Even the walleye were slow, but we put some fish in the boat as the skies slowly cleared.

 

The next day we were graced with a strong west wind. I wanted to go try dumbbell and a creek mouth then hit some bays at the north end. We started at pickerel point so they could play with some walleye. They caught a couple dozen, but they were slow.

 

I told Gord I was worried about the North wind had done to water clarity the day before and with the West wind now, the best bays might be soup. We took off and check out he bays. We fished for a while is sub par conditions. All my go-to spots had less then a foot of visibility and the cold water from the snow wasn’t helping.

 

Over lunch Gord and I discussed our options and we headed for some mid lake points. We found some walleye which were more cooperative, but the pike were still far and few between.

 

 

The day was winding down and I needed to try something different. I know pickerel point holds a big pike or two as long as the walleye are around. It was also more sheltered from the wind which had being dying down all day, and would also be on the way home. Gord was up for it, so off we went.

 

He asked me what I thought they should use. I said “Since they are so slow, they should be sitting on bottom. So someone should use a spoon fished slow along bottom with a white twister tail and someone should try jigging a twin tailed, white twister tail.”

 

They rigged up, and we went to work. On about the 5th cast with the spoon, Mark has a fish latch on. It was fighting like a log, and none of us had a good idea about the size of fish. But we were all hoping for a 40”er. When we saw her we knew should be really close. I got her in the cradle with little trouble and measured her….41 inches! Right on! Time for a photo shoot.

 

Those shots of Gord with the fish made it into the in-fisherman article. I made it in with a smaller northern in the high 30’s.

 

 

 

The next day the wind had died and we were praying to any God that would listen for some sun. We kept a close eye on the clouds and by the evening Gord was even amazed at the weather around Kesagami.

 

We took off in search of some morning walleye at Pickerel point with over cast skies all around. As the day progressed the sky looked like it wanted to clear with a thin strip of blue sky in the west by mid-morning. Gord was confident we would have sun by the afternoon. I told him I wasn’t so sure, the lake has its own weather.

 

We kept seeing more blue sky as the day continued on, and by about 4pm the horizon on all sides had a strip of blue, but the lake had a layer of cloud over the whole thing. He was amazed at how the lake influenced the weather so much. I told him this kind of weather behaviour was normal here and that it would clear out over night.

 

The calmer weather made traveling easy, and we covered a lot of water. Bays, mid-lake points, and creek mouths only produced a few fish all day. The water was still cold, and with no sun in the shallows the situation wasn’t improving much. That evening we were back at Pickerel point looking for another 40 inch fish. It wasn’t in the cards. Gord was ready to pack it in for dinner, so we could try down the narrows after dinner.

 

We headed back towards camp and as we passed the right hand point on the Gap, I stopped the boat. The little wind there was, was pushing the water around the point perfectly. Gord looked over and saw it as well. “What should we use here?” I replied “The same combo as last night.” But don’t let it go to bottom, because there are a lot of trees down on bottom here. You’re going to have to swim the jig and twister tail.”

 

They rig up, and I brought the boat to casting distance. Gord made the 1st cast. His jig went about 4 feet after sinking a few feet below the surface and he hooks into a fish. This girl had a little more spunk then our fish the day before, and had 1 descent run in her. I got her in the cradle, and measured her. She was 42 inches on the money. PHOTO SHOOT!

 

I pulled the boat out of the wind to caribou beach, as they got the cameras out. We released her, after some shots and she took off along the sand for deep water. Gord was pretty happy, as he got the photos he was after. That fish made it to a lure manufacturer’s website. He also had me pose with one of their lures.

 

Gord was probable the best person I have ever guided. His knowledge of fish is pretty incredible. He also wholly trusts his guide, which is a trait far and few between especially in writers and so called “professionals”. On top of that, I found him easy to talk too and generally all around good guy.

 

He told me when we 1st met “You know this lake better then either of us. So take us wherever we want. If there is a place you have always wanted to try, we want to go their. You also know the fish here better then we ever will, so tell us if you don’t like what we are doing, and tell us if you think something would work better.” He also had me go though his tackle box with him. It was pretty amazing have him picking my brain on Kesagami pike.

 

I had a great time and learned a lot about pike talking with him. We spent 2 full days in the boat talking about pike behaviour. I don’t think any other person has so influenced my guiding. I found when I first met him that he seemed to be a little bit “full” of himself. But after the 1st day I realized talking about fish gets him excited. He shared all kinds of tips and tricks with me. I have forgotten some of them, but not all of them.

 

Anyway he wanted to stay longer, but the company who he had his flight booked with wouldn’t negotiate and he ended up totally screwed over. He was extremely annoyed and they ended up making an enemy out of him by the end of it I think. I don’t think that was a particularly wise move on their part.

 

The next day I said good bye to Gord and Mark, as I didn’t have anyone to guide yet. Gord said “We left you some stuff in your boat that you can have. We also left you a tip with Charlie.” We shook hands and they left. We still email back and forth a little.

 

Upon checking out my boat I was amazed. They left me about 8 packs of Mr. Twister grubs. 4 spools of mono line unopened, 4 Williams trophy spoons, 5 Williams wobblers W50 in silver/red, 4 more in brass/chartreuse, 4 more in brass/orange, 2 in silver/blue, 2 #4 mepps spinners in fluorescent orange, 2 #4 mepps spinners in the new red/black/yellow striping, about 4 #2 spinners, and 2 #5 buck tails. One buck tail spinner was black and chartreuse spots with a black tail; the other was brass with a red buck tail. I was amazed, there was so much tackle! I went and found Marky-Mark who I guide with, and I gave him a bunch of what I was given. I didn’t need all of it and it benefited both of our fishing throughout the season. Oh did I mention I was given 4 hats as well? I gave 3 to the expedition guys, Mark, Joe and the dude whose name I forget.

[Ramble]

A little later that day, I talked Charlie into letting Kyle and I go drop some more buoys. We tossed in an extra rod then some buoys into the boat and headed out before Charlie could change his mind. As fast as we could we marked a few rocks and headed down into Edgar bay. It was overcast, but the air temps were up from the last few days, and the wind was down. With stable water temps over the previous few days I was hoping to get Kyle into some pike. When we were “marking buoys” a few days earlier he caught 1 pike and informed me it was his 1st northern ever. I just about fell over when he told me. He has only caught 1 pike and it was his 2nd summer at the lodge. His 1st was just under 30 inches. I was hell bent on fixing that.

 

Long story short we fished at the creek mouth in Edgar for 3 hours without another boat showing up. Kyle caught fish from 30-37”s long. What I mean here is that he caught EVERY length between 30-37 and lots of multiples. There wasn’t any 40’s but he had a blast. We did see one big girl but she made a half hearted effort and disappeared. He was so excited when he saw her come out after a spoon. I love guiding people who don’t fish.

 

Here are some photos.

 

 

 

 

 

We were out hours longer then we should have been and got into some trouble from the management. But it was well earned and I didn’t mind. On the way back I showed Kyle some “guide tricks” while he was driving.

 

 

May 31st I had some people for a day. It was raining and cool. We had an east wind and that allowed me to fish some points and structure I usually don’t get a chance too fish. They wanted pike but the northerns still weren’t happy with the water temps yet. The walleye on the other hand were on the feed. We were on walleye all day and broke the 150 fish mark, with lots of double and triple headers. Average was 16-18 inches. We had a blast.

 

June 1st to 5th I was with a group for 4 guys I’ve been guiding the last 3 years. 2 guys were repeats and 2 were new. The 2 new fellows were bass fisherman by heart and had “the touch” when it came to jigging. I had a hard time keeping up to these just drifting and jigging. When it came for casting and jigging up walleye they really displayed some skill. The 1st day on the water was slow in the pike department.

 

The 2nd we fought wind all day but got into a school of walleye around the 20 inch mark which made for some fun. The walleye were scattered, but at pickerel point. We were doing about a 500 yard drift and picking up fish the whole way. We hammered pike in Edgar under 30 inches. We also picked up a 39” fish and 41”er as well. With a half hour left we tried a point on Edgar bay and had a double header in the trophy department. One was around 40 and broke the line at the boat. He had a jig on and no leader. The other fish made it to the boat and was 41” inches. It was a good way to end the day. The 3rd we fished walleye in the morning and I showed the Rookie who was driving the other boat a spot that holds some good fish. It’s a creek mouth with access to deep water. By the end of the day we had a double header 42”. Both made it to the boat, despite some serious scrambling and work on my part to keep the fish away from each other. We also had a 43”er and another 42”er stop by for a photo shoot. The hollow body swim baits were the ticket. These things are awesome. Pike eat them like candy in the spring.

 

The 4th saw more sunny weather and the Rookie picked up his 1st 40 inch fish jigging. We also found another 40 incher casting. Later in the day I managed cut my hand with the fillet knife sharpening it in the waves. It caught me in the main knuckle on my left index finger and went right to the bone. It was pretty cool to see right into your hand, but it was defiantly not a welcomed experience.

 

I didn’t say anything and it bled for about and hour before the guys noticed. I hadn’t hit the tendon so other then blood all over the place and pike slime in the wound, it was alright. That night at camp Mike gave me some 1st aid with what we had. He said it needed stitches, but if I kept it dry it should be ok. Dry…..something my hands rarely are. The cut kept opening and oozing over the next few weeks, but I got the girls to change the dressing every day or 2 and by the time I left camp in July it was pretty much back to normal.

 

The 5th was less hospitable with the clouds threatening rain all day. Besides the clouds the wind was up. It was pretty clear another front was on the way. One of the guys had only started fishing (ever) 2 years prior at Kesagami. At the end of the last day he got into a 39”er that made his trip. She was buried in the pencils and I had to work a little guide magic to get her in, but we pulled it off.

 

The sky after the winds died later in the day.

 

June 6th the front set up and planes couldn’t fly until late in the day. On the 7th my party arrived in camp. This was a huge party of 11 people which required the use of 4 guides. The party was made up of Mr. Oster, the guy who puts on the sportsman show in Toronto, as well as the guy who came up with the idea of the Sunshine girls.

The wind was insane and none of the guides had any hope of finding fishable water. After a little meeting we decided Kentucky bay would be about the only place close by which had any hope of being fishable. That is… if we could get to it.

 

We helped the dock hands get the boats out and the people organized. It was a 3 man job to get the boats to the dock and the people in them. 1st stop was the left side of the gap to wait for the others and bail a few hitch-hiking waves. After we were all together we headed for Kentucky bay in some big rolling waves. We were taking on a lot of water again and stopped in the lee of the point on the back of big island. We all bailed again and the guides had an impromptu meeting. The waves were even bigger and had some criss-cross to them between where we were and were we wanted to go. Gary said he would try and if it was too sketchy we would try something else.

 

He took off for the bay and as soon as he was out and around the point, he was bombarded by the wind and waves. After about 15 minutes he was back with the boat riding low in the water. He said there were waves coming over both sides of the boat at once almost as soon as he was into the wind. He had more water in his boat after 5 minutes in the wind than he had taken onboard getting to big island. It was a write-off. We fished for a bit and with 2 walleye caught we headed back to camp. Even that proved sketchy. I went slow and rode the waves to the best of my ability but still took on little water. Mostly over the back.

 

A few of the guests fished off the dock while we scrambled to save the camp. They were catching the odd walleye.

 

 

We couldn’t pull the boats far enough up the shore to stop them filling with water. Most had between 2 and 6 inches of peat and sand in the back of them by the end of the windstorm that night. Yes the plugs were out. We lost the tops of 6 trees, and the wind tore the tee-pee apart, despite our efforts to save it. It took all the workers and some guests to take it down in the wind. We had to re-spike the platforms at the dock and put more tires between the floating dock and its moorings. It was crazy but a lot of fun.

 

 

 

 

 

It was a chore to park a boat.

 

The next day we tried again, the wind was down and the fog was in.

 

Denny Leeson

 

 

We had a temperature drop over night so we suited up and headed out.

 

 

 

We got to Manido Island and after a little work we found the walleye. The bit was light and slow. I had the guys in my boat using a 16th ounce jig head and a 2 inch white twister tails. I managed the biggest fish of the morning at 26 inches vertical jigging.

 

 

We pulled off a lunch at the lodge, cooking outside and taking it into the guests. That afternoon we went looking for some pike in a bay at the north end where the lake drains north towards James Bay. No one found any fish and we were out in the cold rain for a few hours.

 

 

The next day had much better weather and we caught some fish, though the pike were slow. We had a nice shore lunch at Caribou beach and enjoyed the warm sun.

 

June 9th had the weather turned cold and rainy again. The rain had a little ice in it off and on. I was on shore waiting for my next set of guests.

 

From then to the 15th I had some regular guiding, going on with a pair of fish over 40 inches showing up, but the weather was flip flopping between cold rain and warm sun. We did manage to sneak in a few calm days with sun which we were grateful for. Marky and I had a little motor trouble one day dropping some new tables off at shore lunch sites. I borrowed a guest’s boat to run back for a new motor and gas can while Mark made them shore lunch.

 

 

 

June 15th came around and I was assigned to guide Fish’n Canada. We had sun and I went down towards Dumbbell stopping at a creek mouth or 2. We fished pretty hard and managed a couple fish in the mid to upper 30’s but couldn’t find a forty inch fish. My last stop of the day was a creek with a good drop off out from it. Pete Bowman and I were working the creek mouth pretty good. Mike and Angelo were hanging back and whacking a few walleye. I was making nice, slow, controlled drifts and we picked up a few fish. I was just about to move to the drop when Angelo motors over.

“Let’s go back to camp.” He said.

I looked at my watch. “We still have about 40 minutes and I want to try the drop before we take off.”

“Well go try, I want some whiskey.”

We motored out to the drop did one drift fishing the top of the drop when he yells over.

“Can we go yet?”

I wanted to tell him off, but restrained myself.

I looked at Pete and said “I know there are big fish here, we just have to get the lure in front of them. What’s his problem anyway?”

Pete answered. “Don’t worry about him, he’s stubborn, we better get going. You did a good job today.”

“We can still fish for a half an hour if he wants to go back in.” I replied.

“He pays the bills around here, we better go.”

“Alright.”

 

I fired up the boat and headed back to camp, trying to figure out what Angelo was thinking. We were in prime water, at the prime time of day, and he wants whiskey? I didn’t and still don’t understand. At camp that night a regular to the lodge had done the same route fishing we did only the opposite direct and got 2 over forty from the creek mouth we never got to fish properly and 2 more from other places we had fished. I wasn’t impressed.

 

The next day the weather was back to fog and rain and cold. To top it off I had a serious case of the “trots”. I could just make it from my bunk to the outhouse. I told Charlie to send Mark out with them as I was in no condition for a film crew. Mark went out with Pete, while the segment of the show with Mike and Angelo was filmed. They got into a big girl about 3 times that day and the next day, but couldn’t hook up well enough to get her to the boat. They blame the barbless…I blame the wench and pool cue they were using as a “rod and reel”.

 

Mark got this photo walleye fishing with Pete.

 

The 1st day with me was the only sun they had. The next 2 days were not conducive to filming and they spent quite a bit of time in camp waiting for the rain to stop. Their 3rd day on the water they were out with Denny, as he and Pete had fished some tournaments together and they caught up on things and found walleye.

 

I should probably point out that when they left camp none of the guides or the staff got any sort of a tip from them. Pete left me a couple lures and his email address. The film guy Brent (who was a really good guy) left a tip for the staff but he was with a separate company. Denny was not happy that they didn’t tip us and called the Fish’n Canada boys to see what was up. Angelo’s response was. “Our show is equal too about $500 000 worth of advertising to the lodge, so we don’t tip.”

Denny replied “Explain to me how that benefits these kids here now. Most of them are students paying for school?”

He didn’t really have much of a comeback for that one.

Denny was mad and we were kind of shocked. He didn’t impress me too much the entire time he was in camp.

 

I stayed in touch with Pete and still email back and forth. He was a good guy, and we had a good time. At Christmas he sent me a DVD of the show they did on Kesagami, which was much appreciated.

 

It didn’t really hurt my feelings much that I didn’t get a tip for the 1 day I was out. It was unexpected, but every now and then you get a poor tip or no tip and you can’t get bent out of shape about it.

 

June 18th and guess what MORE bad weather. I had a fellow named Tom from New York who was serious about his pike fishing. We fished for 11.5 hours and it was rain or mist all day with temperatures around 10 degrees Celsius. It lightened up around lunch, enough to get a shore lunch in anyway.

 

We ate a few of this girl's relatives.

 

The largest pike to the boat was 36 inches. Tom and I did a lot of chatting that day and got a long really well. He was a guides dream guest; a really easy going, nice, friendly, fellow who loves to fish and is happy to just be in camp. Before we went in we tangled with a northern in the low 40’s at the narrows. She followed to the boat twice and he had it hooked up for about 10 seconds. He was happy when we went in for supper.

 

June 19th we found a few walleye at Manido Island for lunch and then went off after some pike.

 

We fished around Eagle point and a few other places with out much luck. It was the dreaded period between when pike are at the creek mouths and when they stack up in the cabbage. The cabbage was slowly coming along and wasn’t visible from the surface yet. I tired a few weed bed areas without success. Even points and drops weren’t producing. The sun was out and the water was pretty calm with a bit of a north wind.

 

After a cold front it’s normal to have slow activity on the 1st clear day as the fish are warming up. There is often a little more action in the evening but the next couple days are generally better.

 

I ended up in Edgar at the creek mouth since it was close and there wasn’t much happening. The day was running down and I thought, “Maybe the weed bed is out”. We went over to check it out and I just about fainted out when I saw the cabbage at the surface. I got us into a position for my usual drift-anchor-cast routine and we began our assault on the weed line.

 

Right off the bat 2 big fish rolled on his buzz bait but didn’t hook up. As any good top-water angler knows it is essential to pause until you feel the weight of the fish before you set the hook: Tom was all over it. The pike never touched the lure and he never set the hook. We played a round for a little and we had no other lookers.

 

We moved down the weed bed a little more and almost on cue, a nice northern rolled on the buzz bait again. This time Tom buried the hook home. She was a feisty 39 inch fish. He was smiling away.

 

We drifted down to the next area, with high hopes and cabbage floating all around. We didn’t see another fish till we reached the last weed clump. There was a good swirl behind the buzz bait but there was no hook up. I avoided the clump of cabbage I thought the fish was in and poled out to deep water. We drifted away from the weed line and then motored back to the start. We did 2 more passes with out seeing any more fish. Time was winding down, and I figured we’d give it another shot nice and slow, focusing on the densest 3 clumps of cabbage. No fish action at all.

 

Tom’s back was bothering him from casting and he was sitting down at this point. On the last clump he made about 3 casts and said lets go. I told him we still had a little time and I was sure there was a big girl hiding in their.

 

He went back to casting the buzz bait smack-dab into the center of the weed clump. Almost the same spot every time.

 

On the 12th cast a big swirl and the buzz bait goes under. Tom jumps out of his seat and after an agonizing 3 second pause, he set the hook with his whole body. The rod bent right over and we were in business!!

 

This fish was totally uncooperative…just the way you want them! She came would come towards the boat then take off again. For a while he was fighting her under boat. I used the push pole, and some elbow grease to spin the boat and get her back on the right side. I pulled it off and we were out in deep water. Tom got her into to net range twice before I got her into it. Soon as she saw me she’d take off.

 

She measured in at 43.5 inches, and we were both really excited. We had worked hard for this girl and she didn’t disappoint.

 

 

Same fish.

 

 

I had Tom for one more day, and then he was off on his own for the rest of his week. I moved on to my next set of guests.

 

We were greeted with more bad weather, and they were a little difficult to work with. They were regulars and were demanding my best spots for pike. Might want to take note….demanding your guide take you ANYWHERE is pretty much the most effective way not to get to that spot. If you have a guide he is going to take you to good spots. He wants to see the big fish as bad as you do. I took them to some other areas; saw some fish, but no monsters. Found some weed beds that were coming along nicely. They were later season spots, but I needed to scout them out as see if they were ready yet.

 

After they had moved along I was with some more Canadians, one of which was from Saskatchewan who lives in Alberta and works in the oil patch. He told some hilarious stories I don’t dare put in print. We had a really good time together. The weather was working against us most days and we were stuck dealing with less then ideal conditions.

 

They still saw some great fishing and we had an absolute riot one day in the pencil reeds fishing for pike. The walleye had moved up into the reeds in 3 feet of water, and were strapping the feed bag on. There was nothing they wouldn’t hit. Giant spoons, buzz baits, spinners, they ate everything. We couldn’t keep them off. Not sure how many we caught but it was pretty much every other cast for 2 hours with 5 guys casting.

 

By June 26th we were refinishing the bottom of the boats. Sanding was a dirty job but Tyler was up to the task.

 

 

We also had some gravel runs to make to Manido and of course some hand lines found their way into the boats for walleye.

 

Tyler’s wasn’t in the best shape, but good enough for the walleye at Manido.

 

 

 

The baby rabbits were also out by this point. I managed to catch one and it was the focus of attention one morning.

 

 

Wood haul was well under way from the cut piles at the narrows and splitting was necessary to keep the guests in cabins warm and dry with all the cool wet weather we had all summer long.

 

 

 

I should probably point out how terrible the insects were this year. The black flies were thick near the water and the mosquitoes in the bush were voracious. There was no escape if the wind was low. I can distinctly remember counting 37 skeeters and 40 black flies on Tyler’s back and hood one morning during the worst of it.

 

Scenes like this were common in the morning. Not covering up because of the rain or cold, but because of the flies. The guys on the splitter used bug suits so they wouldn’t go crazy.

 

 

About here somewhere I had a pair of brothers. Only thing they use is a custom black buzz baits….and they works wonders. We had at least 1 fish over forty each day, most days 2. We got caught in bad weather one day in the biggest waves I’ve ever been in. I won’t go into details here too much. But it was looking sketchy for a while. The next day was a thunderstorm. I destroyed my prop on a rock running close to shore and took about an inch off the skeg. We were the 1st guys out and the last ones in every day. It was great to hammer the pike for 5 days in a row with guys who fish hard. Here’s a few photo’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That week we also had a boat come in complaining of “motor trouble”. We asked what the problem was. They said it was slow.

We asked if they hit anything.

“Nope, don’t think so.”

We get the boat parked lift the motor and burst out laughing.

“Hey guys! Are you sure you didn’t hit anything?”

 

 

 

They just started laughing and walked away. They also had 30 feet of braided line wrapped around the prop.

 

The guys are regulars and have a great sense of humor. We took it and showed Charlie. He put it on a plate and served it to them at dinner.

 

Next up was Chad and Joe from Esox angler. We met and I had been milling around a plan in my head a day or 2 prior to their arrival. My plan was to head down the narrows, since only a hand full had been down any distance. I told them it was a bit of a long shot because I hadn’t been down to check on the cabbage, or fished it yet this year. I know of a cabbage bed off a major point adjacent to a river mouth that I was betting on.

 

They were game for new water. We took off 1st thing in the morning. I took my time getting their as the pike are a lot more active at noon then they are at 8am after a cool night. I could tell they were chomping at the bit to get to the bed but I kept stopping trying to run the clock down to a better bite. At one point Joe and I were chatting about wildlife.

 

He said “Do you see a lot of bears?”

At that point I see a caribou on shore getting into the water.

I blurt out “Caribou!”

“You see a lot of caribou?”

“No there is a caribou swimming right behind you!”

 

They had been to the lodge a few times and never seen any caribou. So I took the boat over for some pictures. Those things swim FAST… for those of you that are not familiar with caribou swimming habits.

 

 

They were impressed and before long we were at the cabbage bed. I pulled around to the lee side to start our attack. Once we worked our way around to the front they had a 38 inch fish, a 41 inch fish, and missed another. The trip down paid off.

 

 

After messing around a little more we headed back towards the main lake.

The next few days with them saw weather turn back to wind and rain. One day we missioned to the north end with a strong south wind. We battled the waves and it was rough to say the least. We saw several big northerns but they couldn’t get a hook up. We found some smaller ones at they got to see both extremes of the coloration the pike population has in the lake.

 

They blamed the single barbless policy for the hook ups. I blame the size of lures they were using. Big baits suitable for large musky and pike have their place and Kesagami isn’t it. The odds of the northern getting the hook are low no matter how many strikes you get. They just hit the lure too far forward. They had faith though and kept on pounding away. We saw some beautiful fish but they didn’t get to the net.

 

I only had them a couple days then they were off to Mark while I guided another group.

 

When they left camp, Mark and I got a pile of homemade musky spinners. They were both a couple of great guys who know their stuff.

 

Next up was a grandparent, grandson combo. The grandfather had been fishing for years, but the kid had only ever been out once or twice.

 

Weather was not the best and they wanted to be back at camp each day by about 4:30pm. Not exactly my style, but I was willing to adapt. There was no serious pressure, so it gave me a chance to explore a little. I found a nice cabbage strip in about 5 feet of water and we found some walleye in the rain on the 1st day I had them out. They were fair weather fisherman, but would tough out the rain for a while on any given day.

 

 

The kid caught his 1st walleye and pike at that spot.

 

 

The grand father wanted a big pike, but was not very flexible about the time of day. I wanted to fish later in the evening and he still wanted back to the camp by 5pm. We had a bit of a rough morning with a north wind on their 2nd last day. The shore lunch spots facing any direction except east were windy. The wind was swirling over the trees and around the points at the best places. So we headed back to camp, I picked up a grate and we headed off to a beach out of the wind. I pulled off a late shore lunch by 2pm. They were relaxing and exploring and weren’t in a rush. Then he says he wants to pike fish. With the time of day I didn’t want to run far, but new the north end was the place to go. I wasn’t expecting too much but decided to make the run and fish one of my favorite spots.

 

I anchored in a lily bed and the casting began. I had them rigged up with Johnson silver minnows tipped with a 3 inch twister tail. About half an hour into the fishing the kid gets a swirl but doesn’t get a hook up. He thought he had it but it was just weeds.

 

A short while later I see another swirl and his rod almost gets pulled from his hands. I can see the fish slowly trying to pull away. The rod was pointed directly at the fish, the kid was reeling. I just about flew to the front of the boat get that rod tip up. I yelled “You got him! Get that rod tip up!” as I clambered over seats and tackle boxes.

 

He tried and couldn’t. The pike was still slowly pulling away when I got to the kid who says “I think its just weeds again.”

 

I took position behind the kid and with one hand I set the hook and held the rod tip up. The fish made a run and the kid kept reeling. Thank god for braided line.

 

It was a bit of a chore fighting the fish in the weeds, but I tightened the drag up and the line cut the weeds off. I let go of the rod twice so the kid could fight the fish and both times, he almost lost the rod. I helped him with rod support and after a minute I knew it was a big girl.

 

The kid was reeling his little heart out and we got the fish in the cradle. Netting a fish in a cradle while holding the line isn’t ideal but I managed to pull it off.

 

She was a beautiful northern measuring in at 43 inches.

 

Not bad for the kids 3rd pike EVER.

 

He was a bit afraid of it, but I made him touch it and sit with me anyway. We released her and went back to camp. I let the him drive after a brief lesson. He was a natural.

 

Since I was in early everyday, I skipped supper one night and went out in the evening with a father and son who were in camp. They were having trouble catching fish so I took them down to the second narrows to show them some techniques and lures to use. We managed 3 pike, the biggest was 37 inches. We had a few walleye as well. They were pretty thrilled to get a little free guidance.

 

Only reason I mention this little excursion is because of the weather. It was a new one for me. We had blue sky and it was raining. There was some cloud tops off to the east near the horizon but the wind was carrying the rain. It was pretty neat. It’s the only time I’ve seen it rain on a blue sky day. Kesagami weather pulled out something new yet again!

 

Then it was on to a once in a life time experience (I hope). A fellow in his upper years comes in with his wife every year. Everyone has to take a turn guiding them, as it is a little rough on the mental stability of the guides. Sue his wife, is one hell of a walleye angler and that is the main reason why they come to the lodge. It’s nice to fish walleye all day for a change and he insists that his guide’s fish with him. So it’s not a wholly unwelcome task for a few days.

 

Gary had him for the 1st stretch. He is a hard act to follow, having about 15 years of experience on the lake. Keeping up with Gary in the walleye department is a tall order. But I gave it my best shot. The 1st day was cool and damp and we did well. The next day it cleared and was windy. Sue stays onshore when the wind is up. I took Norm out and we caught some fish.

 

The husband has had a little brain surgery a few years back and besides bad balance, he can be a handful. He gets frustrated often and it takes a calm head not to get frustrated with him. Doesn’t take too much to get back to a friendly mood.

 

We had lunch at Pickerel point out of the wind. He wanted to have a break before heading back out on the water. He was sitting in the trees but I pulled a seat out of the boat and set up a spot for him on the beach. I coaxed him out to the shore line to relax by the water. He was content and after about 20 minute of watching distant waves decided he was going to have a nap. I got a coupled of jackets from the boat so he wouldn’t have to lie in the sand and he drifted off.

 

Not being the type of guy to ever turn down a break I followed suit.

 

 

I was out for less then half an hour before I woke up and was ready to go again. He was still sleeping so I went for a walk down the beach with the camera.

 

 

 

While resting in the shade I got a close up of a resident horse fly. This things can drive you about half insane some days. But at least there is some gratification when you kill one…unlike those (insert expletive here) black flies.

 

 

The walleye fry were out in full force along the shallows and after messing around for a bit managed a photo of the little guys.

 

 

He was sleeping for about 2 hours before we left. We fought the wind, and pike fished a little then we went in.

 

The next day saw the weather change to overcast skies. We had lunch at Eagle point where I had to actually cut a trail off into the bush with my hatchet so he could have a dump in relative privacy. His wife feared the worst, as far as “clean up” was concerned but it went fine….thank god. She has a great sense of humor. The type I have only seen before in long term care givers. She’s a very strong woman.

 

The following day we missioned down to Otter bay to fish for some more walleye. They were STACKED. The wind wasn’t the best but we put a hurt on them. Mid-drift he says to me

“How far to the shore lunch spot?”

“Not far.” I said “Less then 10 minutes. What do you need Norm.”

“I’m going to have to poop here shortly.”

Oh Christ I thought. Please not in the boat.

“Do you need to go now?”

“I’ll be alright for a little while”

So we went back to drifting.

Not 2 minutes later he says.

“I’m going to have too poop soon Davey.”

“Do we need to leave now?”

“No I’m ok for a little while.”

“Well you tell me if you can’t wait. We’ll leave here in about half an hour.”

 

Over the next 5 minutes we have the “I have to poop” conversation about 3 more times.

I figured that he didn’t know how bad he had to go, so we better go.

I said “Ok let’s go.”

“How far is the lunch spot?” he said.

“Less then ten minutes.”

“I don’t think I can hold it that long.”

 

He didn’t even have the whole sentence out of his mouth and I had that motor fired up, racing for a small beach nearby that used to be a shore lunch site.

“You need to hurry Davey.” He said with urgency in his voice.

I ran the boat up on to shore and he walked right out of the boat into ankle deep water with a roll of tickets in hand.

 

He sauntered up in to the tree line. While we were waiting his wife and I had a chuckle about my boat if we hadn’t of made it. I look up and I can see 2 hands and the brim of his hat poking out from behind a little balsam. His fingers firmly locked around a sapling for support. We’ll we were laughing again.

 

All of a sudden the wind swirled and there was the distinct hint of fresh DUNG in the air. It was bad. I didn’t say anything but she pipes up with a grin and says “Something smells foul around here.” I start laughing and we had another good chuckle making jokes back and forth.

 

Then all of a sudden we heard. “Oh God damit!” come from the tree line.

 

Then louder… “Oh GOD Damit!” and louder… “GOD DAMIT!!” Then an eerily quite pause before a thundering distress call: “J… Christ it’s everywhere!”

 

I could hardly contain my laughter and she was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

She yelled up to the trees, “Do you need the towel?”

We hear “Yes God Damit!”

Sue: “Want me to wet it?”

“Yes! God Damit!”

 

“Ok I’m coming.” (She dunked the towel in the lake.)

“Hurray up !”

 

At this point I have tears in my eyes but I some how manage to keep my laughter to a dull roar. She comes back and says “Wow. He’s going to be another minute.”

 

He gets him self straightened out and comes wandering back down to the boat with a bit of a smirk.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

“I’m better now, but there is a lot of poop by that tree up their.”

I burst out laughing. “I think you ruined this shore lunch site.” I said.

He started giggling like a guilty child.

 

He got in the boat all of us grinning and I pushed us off. The seagulls in the area know the shore lunch spots and land near by when the boats pull in waiting for scraps. Well this occasion was no different. I just got to the back of the boat when I hear him cast then he yells. “I GOT HIM!”

 

I spin around to see a seagull flapping and squawking like the devil has possessed it. His ultra light is doubled over and he was howling with laughter. The jig clearly in the bird’s wing.

 

He looked at me and says “I can’t believe I caught another one!”

“ANOTHER ONE! How many of these things do you catch?” I replied.

We were all laughing and the bird was finally along side the boat.

“What are you going to do now Davey” Norm asks.

“The same thing I do with all the trophies…Get them I the cradle.”

 

I tried to get the bird in the cradle, but he was pretty mad. He pecked my pretty good several times. He asks me “What’s wrong?” while I’m being accosted by beak and wing from the gull.

I reply “The dude won’t hold still and he keeps trying to bite”

He starts hollering back“Just hittem’ with a paddle Davey!! Hittem with a paddle.”

 

I got a hold on the bird by the neck, with it half in the cradle. By now it’s not only hooked but tangled in line as well. So I cut the line with my teeth and pulled the jig out, while he continued to advise me on the best course of action in his mind…. bludgeoning the gull with a paddle. I got the gull straightened out pretty quick.

 

I don’t think I have ever seen a gull fly as fast as that one once I let it go.

 

Thank God that was my last day with him on the water. I had every body roaring in laughter that night when I told the story. I still don’t believe all that happened in less then half an hour.

[Ramble]

After THAT we had some nice weather and it was back to business as usual. The dock boys were up to their usual shenanigans and I was chasing off bears about every 2 days. The big fella (about 400 pounds and change) who knows how to open the walk in freezer stood his ground one evening till I was about 20 feet away. I was hollering like mad man and had to shake a tree before he took off. The little guys are a lot easier to intimidate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rookie even forgot to plug his own boat one morning. So we got to have a good laugh at his expense.

 

 

 

 

I was guiding but the rest of camp managed 2 days of nice weather for a bit of staff fishing together.

 

 

They saw some caribou and had a good feed.

 

 

It was about his time of the summer when Mark got his guests into a big northern. He pulled into a bay to fillet some fish and said “Try casting to that cabbage while I fillet.”

 

A few casts later they were hooked up with a 47” northern.

 

 

By this point the season was wrapping up and spirits were high. For those who can’t wait to get home, there is light at the end of the tunnel and for the rest of us there is warm sun and pike in the cabbage.

 

My next guests were John and Janice from Kirkland Lake. I always have a blast with the Northerners. They had a couple of really good days fishing with Gary before they switched to me for a few days. So I had my work cut out again…I do like a challenge though.

 

They already had a 45 inch pike and a 29 inch walleye under their belt.

 

 

By this point in the summer I had figured out a thing or 2 with the pike fishing. I knew when the pike in certain weed beds became active in the evening and it not only made me look like I knew what I was doing, but allowed us to get some solid walleye fishing in everyday.

 

Each day I had them there was a school of walleye at Spook Island with the average fish between 21-23 inches. We also had a blast at Fossil Island as well. I was telling them about how the walleye will eat almost anything when the bite is on. They thought “anything” was a little far fetched, until I took the gum out of my mouth and stuck it on a ¼ ounce jig and landed 3 eyes with it.

 

The pike fishing was a real blast with these 2. Everyday they were into 40 inchers. The 1st day we were in Edgar bay and they landed this guy.

 

 

The second day, Jan hooked into a good one I had been after for a couple weeks. The pike had been holding along the drop by a pencil reed bed off a small weedy point. I had a few guests get a follow or the pike would take a swat at a buzz bait, but no one could get the hook up. On a big Johnson silver minnow the pike followed her lure in. The next cast the pike hooked up near the boat and the fight was on. I’m not sure if Jan or John was more excited when it hit. The pike put up a reel good fight. Nice fat 42 inch fish.

 

 

The next evening the bite was really cranking up. John hooked up with a good fish almost as soon as we got to a weed bed. He kept telling us the “It’s not that big”. It was buried in the slop, but we got her to the net. John had a good laugh at our expense. He had us convinced it was a small fish till it was boat side. It measured 39 inches.

 

 

We picked up a few smaller fish as well.

 

I motored a cross the bay and John was up again with a 40” fish.

 

 

The spoons were doing the trick, but Jan showed that the buzz bait was working as well.

 

We were working the end of a reed strip near some cabbage and Jan had a big northern follow out from the weed line a bit then scooted back into the cover. The fish followed half way to the boat. Several casts later and no sign of the fish.

 

I had a W50 (William wobbler) with a twister tail rigged up on my rod. The slow flop and flash makes it a dynamite follow up lure. I fired it out and about four feet into the retrieve I could see the fish slowly stalking the bait. I kept up the retrieve and she didn’t move any closer. I paused the spoon and let fluttered down. Right on cue she sucked it in. FISH ON!

 

She took off on a few runs for deep water. Then came flying back towards the boat and I brought her back around. Then John got her in the net.

 

 

 

I had a great time with them, and I love having the last day be the best. On the way back to camp Jan snapped a really classy photo of me…a guide in action!

 

 

Same day Mark caught his personal best Northern measuring 44 inches on the Williams W50 with a twister tail.

 

 

That evening, once everyone was done work we were all in the guide shake having a little fun. I don’t recall exactly how it came about but I ended taking a few rounds from a pellet gun. 11 pellets total I think. The gun holds 8. Mark shot me in the butt to see what kind of damage it would do 1st. After we determined that it was “safe” he emptied it on me. Idle minds are a dangerous thing. It was CO2 cartridge powered pistol….stings like a bass-tard if you are wondering.

 

The missing 3 welts are on my butt. Of the 8, the top 2 center were the only ones to bleed a little.

 

 

While I was doing all this guiding, the Hearst Air turbo Otter was running flights back and forth with supplies for the new guide shack (which has been built) and extra lumber for projects. Everyone on shore helped unload the plane. It was a lot of work. I was in camp when some of the biggest stuff camp came in. I still remember looking at the 8”X8” and wishing I was out guiding.

 

The girls did a lot of lifting that day.

 

 

…and even Charlie did something.

 

 

The end result.

 

 

Pranks are a common occurrence around camp. Chum’s guests asked if we could get a bra and under ware on a mast for his boat the next day. Oh, you better believe we can do that. Kyle and I set to the task and then Tyler joined in, followed by Tom. It was an amazing work of art. They made Chum drive around with it in his boat all day. You could pick him out across the lake and we all had a really good laugh at his expense.

 

This is what we started with…

 

This is what we ended with…

 

Chum was thrilled.

 

 

Next day I was out with a couple brothers. They had 2 friends with them. We only ever fished walleye for shore lunch and then it was pike the rest of the time.

 

 

We fished all over the lake looking for fish. Shapiro’s was the 1st cabbage clump to cough up a pike on their trip. It measured in at 39 inches.

 

 

John (in the photo above) was haunted his whole trip. He couldn’t hook up with a 40 inch fish. That is until the last day. Tom and I were the guides we had an absolutely fantastic week with these guys and more laughs then I care to count.

 

On their last day we had a perfect shore lunch in the sun on a pristine sand beach. We had the biggest pike of the trip try to hit Paul’s spinner bait in Small bay. She missed the lure but slammed into the side of the boat head 1st.

 

That afternoon, in my most productive bay of the summer, we were back into the fish. John caught 2 over 40.

 

Including this 43”er.

 

 

…and this 41 incher.

 

Paul had his fair share of action over the week as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Tom’s boat didn’t miss out either.

 

It was a great week of weather and a perfect way to round off the guiding for the summer. John and Paul were quite possibly the best guys I guided all summer.

We flew out on time on the last day. I didn’t want to leave. But at least I got to fly the beaver part way.

 

 

After we were back in Cochrane it was beer and karaoke at the Chimo Motel, as we celebrated the end of the season. I’ll spare you the other photos.

 

 

All total I had 37 fish over 40 inches in my boat this summer. I guided for about 45-50 days, if you don’t include days lost to weather. I had 6 days with over 100 walleye in the boat. There would have been more, but we would switch over to pike fishing. The largest northern in the boat was 46 inches. The largest walleye was 27 inches. The most 40 inch pike in one day was 6. The best walleye fishing occurred in my hole in Otter bay. We had 125 walleye in 2.5 hours with 2 guys fishing. It was insane. I saw a total of 9 caribou and 5 different bears. Four of them were around camp. Eagles, osprey and gulls were common. Saw more flocks of Canada geese then I care to count.

 

 

We also had a few flocks of Brant’s as well. Teals, golden eyes, mergansers, pintails, are just some of the ducks I saw. In camp we frequently saw warblers such as the yellow, and black and white. Cedar waxwings move through the aspens in flocks early in the year. We kept a list of all the birds we could identify and there are too many to list.

 

It was also the wettest year in a long time and the windy days reached a new record. We set a new record for “no fly days” and days when the planes had to land in the narrows. We also set a new record for being stuck in Cochrane. So despite the weather I had a pretty successful year.

 

I can’t wait to get back up to the lodge in May. It’s going to be another great year…I can feel it. Better weather too I’m willing to bet.

 

Hope you enjoyed the recap.

 

-Dave

 

Edited February 13, 2009 by Ramble On

[Zubris21]

Just did a glance over at the photos, I will devote a few minutes to do all the reading at least once. You my friend have a dream job!!!

[Grimace]

Just read the first one. Sounds great. I would love to fish with Gord Pyzer. It is good to hear he is a good guy.

[irishfield]

What a summer (of 2008!) Dave !! Sure can't beat some Beaver time in your log book.. lol

[purekgw]

i knew this report was coming looks good man

[Grimace]

Just read the second one. Well Done. You must be itching to get back up there after going through your photos and doing this report.

 

Cheers

[Skud]

Awsome report. Wish I had done that when I was a young lad.

[tibbs]

Fantastic Report!

 

Thanks for spending the time to write it up.

[dnb_cbr]

Amazing, simply amazing.

 

we rented a couple 12 foot tinnys and fished Lillabell for a full day before we flew out last year. We got about 100 pike each. It was a nice primer for the real fishng up at the lodge. we're doing it again this year.

 

We're booked for June 20th this year, see ya up there. Save us a few 40's!

[Sinker]

Man, I just sat and read all that front to back. I just couldn't stop.

 

Your living the dream bud, I'm jealous!!!

 

Thank you for posting this......great read!!

 

Sinker

[ctdd2006]

I just read it all! Awesome stuff! Definately jealous! I hope to someday soon get up there! I'm guessing you won't be guiding the Viola's next year lol! I thought I liked their show....now I'm bummed. I hate hearing stuff like that. I'm glad my impression of Mr Pyzer still stands. Cheers.

[Jds63]

That is an amazing report. Love some of the release photos, very well done. Looks like you have caught and released more fish in one week than i may ever catch. Thanks for the putting all that together.

[tbayboy]

Great now EVERYONE is going to leave their jobs to be guides Amazing report from an amazing summer. Thanks for taking the time to put that together, I know it must have taken a while and we really appreciate it.

[centerpin_drift]

wicked report man, looks like you had a kick ass summer.. i guided in temagami and it was the best time of my life, im sure you can relate.

[scuro2]

Well I didn't read all of it but I read a good 90% of it. Norm and Sue, I remember them from 2 years ago. To be that old and fish...that's how I want to go gently into the dark night.

 

Barbless hooks all the way. Simple rule, keep the pressure on and you're fine. Complainers are relics of a gone by era.

 

Looks like Leslie I are coming up late June. I hope to have you booked for our first day. I want do the Karma thing and return the favour of your rescue in 2007!

Edited February 13, 2009 by scuro2

[Ramble]

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

Irish, flying the Beaver was a real treat. I'm pretty sure it's my favourite of the bush planes.

 

we rented a couple 12 foot tinnys and fished Lillabell for a full day before we flew out last year. We got about 100 pike each. It was a nice primer for the real fishng up at the lodge. we're doing it again this year.

We're booked for June 20th this year, see ya up there. Save us a few 40's!

 

See in camp! Say hi when you get in.

 

I'm guessing you won't be guiding the Viola's next year lol! I thought I liked their show....now I'm bummed. I hate hearing stuff like that.

 

Pete and Mike were really good guys. Mike is hilarious. I still talk to Pete. Don't write off the show cause I had a bad experiance.

 

-Dave

[Cudz]

Just read it all. Wow.

Great summer.

Loved the poop story.

lol

[switchback]

Some pretty awesome shots of the lake and fishing. I go up to that area moose hunting each fall with a guy from Cochrane. Seen the pictures of the quarry and recongnized it cause that is the only spot where you can easlily get clean water for camp. Who does your chopper work for your camp, I assume it is Expedition.

[ctdd2006]

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

Irish, flying the Beaver was a real treat. I'm pretty sure it's my favourite of the bush planes.

See in camp! Say hi when you get in.

Pete and Mike were really good guys. Mike is hilarious. I still talk to Pete. Don't write off the show cause I had a bad experiance.

 

-Dave

 

Will do. Thanks.

Edited February 13, 2009 by ctdd2006

[Ramble]

Yeah that Chopper does belong to Expidition. Do you know Mark who works for them?

 

-Dave

[Beats]

WOW, that's a great report with some real nice pics!

[holdfast]

Wow Had to Shake my head, thought and wished I was there.

 

What I really want to know, is what famous people did you guide, Your favorite, anything. Tell us.

[lunkerbasshunter]

ok i read it start to finish it was awesome!!!!! sorry fishing canada guys didnt tip that really sucks.

 

laughed so hard at the poop story i woke my wife up.

 

loved the report thanks for sharing!

 

cheers!