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Past Cochrane Trip (PICS)


Basskicker

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A couple of springs ago I had some time off so I decided to jump in the car with a buddy of mine (Dave).....had no idea where the hell we were going, but we both had no time restrictions so we just started driving north.....way north. Stopping along the way only for gas and coffee....the only problem in Ontario is that there are TOO MANY lakes.....we passed north bay....temagami....new liskeard but we had decided that it was still way to populated. We both wanted an adventure of complete solitude and serenity and decided that only the most remote place would do.

 

Eventually we ended up in Cochrane...about 10 hours north of Toronto...beautifull scenery along the way. So in Cochrane we had a decision to make...keep going along Hwy#11 or keep heading north towards James Bay and the Quebec border...so after a few minutes looking at the map..we decided that we would need to fill up the extra gas cans and head north to the end of the road....another 245kms...about 125kms south of James Bay.

After about 45 minutes into the ride...we both looked at each other and realized that we were in the middle of nowhere....no other vehicles or people....society as we know it had disappeared....finally!!!! We just keep going and going...finally about 1 1/2 hours we came to the end of the road....it was not possible to drive any farther. With 12 small lakes within 5 kms in every direction...we decided to set up camp on the side of the road at a river.

 

It was actually very scary....we were in the middle of no where...when I turned my car off and got out...it was dead silent...I mean absolutely NOTHING.....hadn't seen 1 single vehicle except this.....along with 7 others since we left Cochrane....not a good sign of things to come.

Bear.jpg

The bears were everywhere....so eventually we got settled in....after being up for nearly 18 hours straight we crashed hard. The next morning we wake up and decided to go fishing of course....we fished the river and the lake for the next 9 days.....it was absolutely amazing....the fishing was so good that we forgot to take alot of pics....but I got a few.

 

A nice size pike....normally I grab them behind the head and use pliers to get the hooks out....but the head on this guy was too big.....I managed to get him in my boat (12ft tin can) but he trashed my boat...ripped the wires out of my trolling motor and fishfinder and broke one of my rods. It was absolute MADNESS. I had to really take my time to revive him and then it took me over 20 minutes to get everything all hooked up again. Hard lesson learned...never bring a 16lb pike into the boat without a net.

CochranePike.jpg

Dave's big pike

DavePike.jpg

A few walleye that we ate over a couple of days

DaveWalleye.jpg

One morning my buddy decided to sleep in so I decided to go fishing by myself....I made it up to a small bend in the river and tried to anchor but the current was too fast.....so I decided to lift the motor and lodge it into some tree's at the rear and use the anchor in the front...finally completely anchored, when this comes out of the woods about 40 feet from me...it was so ticked...it tore at the beaver house for about 15 minutes straight....I yelled, and pounded my paddles against my aluminum boat but he wouldn't leave

Bear1.jpg

Bear5.jpg

Finally about taking about 20 photos and making lots of more noise he left....at one point I thought he was goiung to swim over to me....I would have never had enough time to dislodge the motor and anchor.....so after about 1 hour or so these guys decide to cross the river...a cow and her new calf.....simply awesome morning!!

Moose1.jpg

Moose3.jpg

 

Overall it was an amazing trip....probably over 300-400 fish, 19 bears in total(4cubs), 4 moose, grouse, and memories to last a lifetime we decided to head home for some Tim Horton's and a hot shower. Only 6 days later I went on another adventure...save that for another time....A couple sunset pics for the road.....hope you enjoyed.

 

Sunset.jpg

Sunset3.jpg

Sunset2.jpg

 

Jason

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Oh yeah ... I enjoyed. Sounds like a lot of fun, no time limits ... just drive till ya run our of road. That would be great. That bear at the beaver house looks a little miffed at ya ... that's about the time to retreat. Great looking sunsets. Great report and appreciate seeing the pics.

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A kindred spirit :D

Great report Jason, thank's! BTW, you said you went right to the end, did you check out Kattawagami Lake? I've always wondered about it. I drove about 3/4 of the way up hwy. 662 myself not too long ago to access the headwaters of the Wakwayokastic River...It is nice country up there for sure.

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Thanks guys....it was certainly a trip of a lifetime. Solopaddler....as per Kattagami...we went about another 20 minutes or so pass there...we wanted to fish it but I was a little nervous due to the size of the lake....over 20km long. This spring I plan on going back up there (with a few bear bangers) with my new boat so Kattagami may be an option.....but I got my mind set on fishing another more remote lake involving a 3km hike (with canoe) to the headwaters of where I was fishing.....I'm sure there must be some 20lb+ pike in there.

 

Jason

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