West Arm/West Bay

[DanD]

Well here’s a bit of my son Andy’s and my trip last week to the West Arm/West bay of Lake Nipissing; we stayed at Memquisit lodge. The lodge is located across the channel form the North East end of Squaw Island. There’s nothing really special about the place; it’s clean; the owners and staff are friendly, what they advertized was there.

We chose it because of the location; kind of in the middle of the areas we fish.

Here’s a few pic’s of the place and the cabin.

 

The fist thing you see after turning into there parking lot.

 

We were in cabin #1 up on top of a large rock.

 

Same cabin taken form the water.

 

We spent a lot of time in our rain suits the first couple of days.

 

The rain and cooler weather didn’t stop these guys from hitting.

 

Which was a good thing because after a cool damp day; it was nice to sit down for a supper of this.

 

Here’s our boat, just waiting for us; all gassed up and ready to go. We named it after the two people that spend the most time in it; me and my son Andy.

 

After three days of fishing; we were only able to hook into one pickerel. We hit up all of our old way points that always seemed to produce for us, but this year all that came out of those places were finger sized perch or spoon sized sunfish. What are these fish thinking; our bait was the same size as they were?

Blaming the weather of course (LOL) for the slow fishing; we decided to hire Alex, one of the guides at the lodge.

Well wouldn’t you know it; the first place he takes us, is one of our “go to” spots. With a small difference; maybe 500-800 feet away form our GPS marks. Places we were a little afraid of, due to the rocks.

With this small difference in location and Alex showing us what drift to take through those rocks, made all the difference.

 

The look on my sons face here made the trip, for me.

 

One of the things I’ve learned this year is, never stop changing things up. What works one time doesn’t work all the time; don’t get stuck in a rut. Hiring a guide (first time ever) showed me that you shouldn’t always rely on electronics. Check the wind for the best drift, have a look as to whether there is a weed bed and what kind of vegetation it is. Some of you more experienced fishers may disagree but the half day with Alex; was money well spent.

Even though the weather was off and we had to work for every fish (other then perch and sunfish LOL) that we brought in; it was great spending the time with my son.

He’s starting his last year of his Automotive Engineering degree and all of the manufacturers are scrambling for fresh blood. So I’m not sure; when we’ll be doing another summer fishing week together.

He was 8 years old the fist time taking him “up North”; he now shows me how to fish. LOL

We just got home yesterday after noon and he’s off again to a buddies place around Walkerton. Some small lake supposedly loaded with pike and pickerel.

It’s all for our kids; regardless of how old they are; love them and teach them.

Here’s Andy releasing an in slot pickerel. Yes we’re meat eaters but we also respect the MNR. The slot seems to be working though because when you find them, they're a lot heavier ones to pull in.

 

For my son and his future kids.

 

Dan.

[kickingfrog]

I love that area. Lakiar is not far from there. That cabin on the rocks overlooking the water looks great.

[Terry]

good report

looks like a great time

[Leecher]

Great report and pics Dan

Looks like you guys spent quality time on the water and got into some nice fish!!!

Doesn't get any better than that!!!

Thanks for taking the time to share your adventure

Leechman

[corvette1]

awesome trip congrats

[Greencoachdog]

Excellent report, pics, and fish!!!

 

... but...

He’s starting his last year of his Automotive Engineering degree and all of the manufacturers are scrambling for fresh blood. So I’m not sure; when we’ll be doing another summer fishing week together.

 

 

with Ford, Gm, and Chrysler laying off a minimum of 50,000 each... I really hope little Andy has a decent minor to fall back on.

Edited August 3, 2009 by GCD

[DanD]

I really enjoy the area as well and know exactly where Lakair is; we pass by it on the way to a couple of little coves we like to fish.

 

GCD

You’re 100% right about the lay offs at the assembly plants and that level of the automotive industry right now; but that’s not where he’ll be working. As an engineer he’ll be in the design and fabrication division of a manufacturer. If by chance you don’t know what an Automotive Engineer does; they basically take the blue prints of a designer and the engineers tell them if its conceivable to build or not.

Plus who said that he’ll be working for any of the X big three here in North America or in North America at all.

So as far as little Andy needing a minor to fall back on; I don’t think he’ll have any problems; unless you and everyone else decides to start walking to where they want to go.

Thanks for your concern but it’s unwarranted.

 

Dan.

[Rich Clemens]

Nice report Dan. I've been past your cabin many a time heading out to the west bay. Great country up there and I can see why you've made it an annual thing. I do it too.

Edited August 3, 2009 by Rich Clemens

[Billy Bob]

IMAGE NOT AVAILABLE ? ? ?

[TJQ]

Pics are gone.. bummer.

[DanD]

Not sure what's happened with the pictures maybe my host went down?

I’ll wait for a bit and see if it comes back up?

 

Dan.

[Leecher]

Not sure what's happened with the pictures maybe my host went down?

I’ll wait for a bit and see if it comes back up?

Dan.

 

Dan, your host is definitely up.... just copied and pasted the url http://autoforums.carjunky.com from one of your pics properties and works just fine. Is this a site where you can upload pics to? maybe you've reached your limit and they decided to shut you down

 

or may be you need to enable share options from where you uploaded them?

Leechman

[Greencoachdog]

I really enjoy the area as well and know exactly where Lakair is; we pass by it on the way to a couple of little coves we like to fish.

 

GCD

You’re 100% right about the lay offs at the assembly plants and that level of the automotive industry right now; but that’s not where he’ll be working. As an engineer he’ll be in the design and fabrication division of a manufacturer. If by chance you don’t know what an Automotive Engineer does; they basically take the blue prints of a designer and the engineers tell them if its conceivable to build or not.

Plus who said that he’ll be working for any of the X big three here in North America or in North America at all.

So as far as little Andy needing a minor to fall back on; I don’t think he’ll have any problems; unless you and everyone else decides to start walking to where they want to go.

Thanks for your concern but it’s unwarranted.

 

Dan.

 

 

... as a matter of fact, my wife was an automotive engineer for Ford for 20 yrs. @ Windsor On. and Dearborn Mich. and got laid off... so I think I know what an automotive engineer is.

Edited August 3, 2009 by GCD

[DanD]

Leechman

Your right that the host is up and it does say that I’ve exceed my band width, I’m a moderator at Carjunky’s message board and 90% of the images I post are automotive diagrams. I’ve contacted the sites administrator and he’s supposedly increasing the band width for me? So I guess I’ll give it a little time and see if he comes through for me and gets my pictures back up. Thanks for looking into this.

 

GCD

No disrespect meant; it’s just that a lot of people think that an automotive engineer is a glorified mechanic.

No offence to the mechanics out there because that is what I am; worked the trade for the last 30+ years and I’m quite proud of it.

Sorry to here your wife was laid off from Ford but that’s what I also meant that he’s (Andy) not looking at any of the internships that the “big three” have approached him with.

Europe or Australia seem to be very attractive for him; the manufactures there have figured out to give the people what they want rather then the manufacturer telling people this is what you get.

 

OK back to fishing. LOL

I still can’t believe that a 2-3 inch perch will hit on a 3-4 inch spoon?

Instinct that strong; that they have to hit on anything that might be food? But then you present a big juicy worm or leech on a jig, to a Pickerel and they turn their nose up at it. I guess that’s why I like to fish; I never fully understand what or why things happen the way they do.

 

Dan.

[Cudz]

OK back to fishing. LOL

I still can’t believe that a 2-3 inch perch will hit on a 3-4 inch spoon?

Instinct that strong; that they have to hit on anything that might be food? But then you present a big juicy worm or leech on a jig, to a Pickerel and they turn their nose up at it. I guess that’s why I like to fish; I never fully understand what or why things happen the way they do.

There is a reason for this. I will explain in another post.

[Fish4Eyes]

I stayed at Lakair this past weekend, and the fishing was tough! Previous productuve spots have really changed. Some areas where weed growth was common did not have any at all. Other areas grew weeds that normally didnt before. I didnt even catch that many rock bass or perch either which was suprising. Everybody at camp was struggling as well.

Edited August 4, 2009 by Fish4Eyes

[DanD]

Hey; my pictures are back up.

 

I know what you mean Fish4Eyes; about it being a tough fish. But with the barometer going up and down like a toilet seat; it’s kind of expected; isn’t it?

As for the different vegetation; it’s probably due to this summer’s crazy weather as well. Plants that thrive in the shade have had a lot more of it this year and the kind that needs sunshine, well we all know there hasn’t been a lot of that.

Like I said in my first post; Alex (the guide we hired); told us not too just look for weed beds but what type of weeds they were. If it was a grassy type of weeds; not to bother trying for pickerel, but if it was leafy; give it a try, if the water depth was good. He had us fishing in the 6-8 foot range and as soon as the drift went into the 10 foot or better, he would start the drift over again.

Right or wrong; he got us into some nice fish?

 

Dan.

[John]

Thanks for the report Dan. We are headed up to Memquisit this Saturday for a week. First time that we have tried somewhere different than Lakair up there.

[Billy Bob]

Spent 3 days there 2 years ago..........nice people run it.......good meals.........a bit of a haul to our cottage to get our "stuff" there but nothing too bad........dangerous area as far as UNMARKED rock shoals......lost my first prop in 23 years there but kind of my fault.....long story, not worth reading.........fishing was fair to good....another cold front condition but without knowing the area I still caught walleye and some pike so that says something about the area............If I ran said lodge or any lodge for that matter I would hand out maps showing fishing areas and shoals to watch out for.

 

 

Bob

[bow slayer]

Wow i was up there visiting my father this past weekend and I fished off shore right by Lakair Lodge and managed about 6 walleye(all under 16 inches),1 drum,4 smallies and a few rock bass.I only fished 2 evenings and 1 morning for about 4 hours total.I thought the fishing was pretty good.

[DanD]

Billy Bob

 

Memquisit has kind of done this on their “new” web site.

 

Hopefully this link is ok to post but it made finding places a whole lot easier.

http://www.memquisitlodge.net/fishing.html

 

I actually printed off all the maps and the text that went with the maps; had them laminated and put them all into a binder. This binder stayed with us the whole time out on the water in the boat (Water proof) and it acted as a road map for us.

In combination with the GPS and the laminated maps; we always new exactly where we were and where we wanted to go.

 

Dan.