North Of Superior Brook Trout ~ A True Adventure

[solopaddler]

I've always got my ear to the ground when it comes to sniffing out good brook trout lakes.

25 years ago in the spring of 1985 I unearthed a rumour about a small lake full of wild brook trout north of Terrace Bay on Superiors north shore.

 

A few phone calls later and I was talking to a gent in Burlington who had flown into the lake the previous fall to hunt moose.

I drove over to meet him and he showed me a picture of a beautiful 28" speckle in full spawning dress. Just unbelievable, at least 8lb's, and one of the most perfectly proportioned fish I'd ever seen.

 

Needless to say the seed was planted and plans were soon made for a trip to the lake.

 

My father and uncle, partners in crime, subsequently fished the lake 3 times over the ensueing years.

Each time chartering various aircraft to fly us in with our camping gear.

On the lake was a rough campsite on a point and an old 14' tin boat that someone had flown in there eons ago.

 

We'd bring our 2hp motor and a small can of gas with us, fishing 3 out of the old punt.

 

It was fantastic. Although we never did catch anything aproaching 28" the numbers were staggering. Literally hundreds and hundreds of fish, many in the 18-23" range.

 

After last springs tough fishing in Algonquin I mentioned this lake as a possibility to Bill.

Scoping the area on google earth revealed that while it might be tough, accessing the lake via logging road then portaging in was a definite possibility.

 

A mutual friend Dave (Wallacio on the board) was keen to join us, so the cast of characters was set.

 

On this trip we also had the added bonus of an ATV and trailer which Bill's dad Frank was kind enough to loan us.

 

So last week we all met at Frank's place near Coldwater to load our gear. We figured we'd bring along a canoe just to be safe, as there was certainly no guarantee the boat would still be on the lake.

 

It took a little while but we soon had everything packed in the truck, and the trailer loaded with the ATV and canoe:

 

 

 

We drove all night and just hit Superiors north shore as it was illuminated in the cold grey light of early morning.

 

 

 

With the aid of GPS we soon found our logging road and were heading north deep into the bush.

 

The road started out pretty good:

 

 

But soon began to deteriorate....

 

 

 

 

The plan was to drive in as far as we could with the truck then utilize the ATV and small trailer to haul our gear as close to the lake as we could.

 

It appeared as though there was a rough trail that would take us to within 400m and potentially save us a lot of humping.

 

We arrived at our parking spot in cold driving rain. Not the best of conditions, but our spirits were still high.

 

Bill hopped on the ATV to drive ahead and check the trail first. A good plan as we had no idea how rough it would be.

 

About 1/2 an hour later he came back plastered from head to toe in black muck LOL!

Apparantly the "trail" had degenerated into a swampy impassable bog and he got himself stuck good a couple of times.

 

Not a huge deal, or so we thought.

Plan B was to launch our canoe on the shores of another lake lying directly to the west of our destination.

 

A short paddle would bring us to our chosen overland route: roughly 1km as the crow flies to the trout lake.

 

There was a side trail leading to the jump off point and we soon had our gear and canoe hauled over to a beautiful white sand beach:

 

 

 

The vista was gloomy but still spectacular:

 

 

We shuttled our gear over to the east shorline of the lake and were faced with this :

 

 

Undaunted we loaded ourselves down with gear and began the arduous trek.

 

Billy and Dave were ahead of me plotting the trail with GPS and flagging it.

With about 50 more pounds on my back I lagged behind picking my way through the dense bush, over, under and around countless deadfalls.

 

 

 

 

What can I say? It was absolutely brutal! LOL! Lack of sleep and little food made things tough on my old body.

 

Rising a densely forested ridge my first view of the lake was heavenly:

 

 

Upon arriving at the lake the boys greeted me with a good news-bad news scenario.

The good news was Dave had found an old green Coleman canoe stashed on the shores of the lake.

This meant we wouldn't have to haul our canoe over.

 

The bad news was bad indeed. While waiting he had enough time to paddle over to the campsite and the old tin boat was simply not there.

 

Ah well, we'd deal with it.

While Bill started making his way back for the second load, Dave and I paddled all of our gear over to the campsite.

We unloaded the packs and put everything under a tarp for protection, then headed back to our "trail".

 

We had a ton of smaller loose stuff to haul over on the 2nd trip and the large empty canoe packs would be needed.

 

Before we started back I said to Dave "let's just paddle up the lake a bit, maybe we'll see the boat".

With zero hope we rounded a point and about 1/2km up the lake we saw something in the water about 30' from shore.

We both weren't sure but thought it could be a boat. From my perspective I didn't have any recollection of such a large rock in that part of the lake.

 

Sure enough it was the damn boat. Sunk to it's gunnels in about 4' of water with what appeared to be an axe slash in the bottom.

 

Dave wavered on getting wet so I hopped into the icy swamp water past my waist and manhandled the boat closer to shore.

 

With an extreme amount of difficulty I managed to flip the boat over and temporarily patch the gash in the hull with a small chunk of closed cell foam I happened to have in my pocket.

 

We tied her to the canoe and began to tow it back to our trailhead.

 

I was more than a little bit happy.

 

 

Cold, wet and tired the 2nd trip back and forth on the trail was a killer for all of us.

 

I can't speak for the other boys, but my legs were cramping up like crazy on the return trip and every step was excruciating.

 

Still we made it and in short order had both boats and the rest of our gear over to the site.

 

This old campsite actually has an ancient dock and a weathered old picnic table, the source of which I have no clue.

 

It made things a bit more bearable as we quickly set about erecting the tent and organizing our gear.

 

After camp was set up I motored out into the lake to scoop some water and snapped this pic of the site. Small, compact and open to the elements it's a perfect spot in favourable weather.

 

Even with the wind and cold it was still pretty though:

 

 

An unrelenting heavy N/E wind was blowing right into the site making an already cold spot even colder.

After a quick change of clothes a warm fire was an absolute must. The dampish wood we scrounged was aided in lighting with just a wee bit of gas.

 

 

Finally warm, we soon had some adult beverages poured and a pile of beef grilling over the coals.

 

 

 

I don't think anything ever tasted so good!

 

After such a long day we were dead to the world and slept like stones.

With no real desire on my part for an early assault on the lake, I watched with amusement as Dave, keener that he is, dragged himself out of bed for a few casts off the dock.

 

From the warmth of the tent Bill and I both watched him break our brook trout cherry:

 

 

 

Unfortunately it wasn't an omen of things to come fishing wise.

Even on the best of lakes it's possible to be hamstrung by weather.

We were faced with an unbelievable cold front and the as mentioned heavy N/E winds.

 

The fish were hunkered down for sure. Still, we did catch more than our share.

 

While it wasn't the crazy numbers of past trips it was certainly more than enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second night we feasted on fresh trout. Dusted in flour, a little lemon pepper and fresh dill and sauteed in butter....they were delicious!

 

 

 

Actually the second night provided us with the only brief respite from the weather as it cleared up and calmed down.

 

With fire blazing and rum and coke in hand it was a truly wonderful place to be.

 

 

The next couple of days saw more of the same.

 

The best spot for us was a small round pond connected by a creek to the main lake. In my past trips there it was always a hotspot and this trip proved no different.

 

We followed the creek back up into the tiny pothole and went to work.

 

 

 

 

I knew the fish were there, but like the fish in rest of the lake they weren't interested in hardware or flies.

 

The only way these fish were caught with any consistency was a simple hook, split shot and big lively worm fished right on the bottom.

 

A sure sign they were neutral, but obviously we managed.

 

In the back corner of the small pond while dragging a fat dewie across the bottom in 20 plus feet I felt a tap and managed to best this chunky male:

 

 

 

Davey continued to catch fish of all sizes off the dock.

 

 

 

Trolling in front of the point bagged us a few as well.

 

 

 

Interestingly at the campsite we found this old steel pop top orange crush can, still in perfect shape after all these years. Anyone have any idea how old it is?

 

 

Also kind of neat I found my dads initials and name carved into the picnic table from 2 of our past forays:

 

 

 

I've got a lot of memories from this spot and it was kind of neat to find a small piece of our history there.

 

Heading out was obviously a lot easier for us. On our last day we piled our gear into the boat and towed the canoe behind us enroute to the trail:

 

 

 

With all our liquids drunk, perishables eaten, and gas used up, our loads were a lot lighter.

 

Still...it was a task to get out with what we had.

Dave was laden down like a sherpa.

 

 

Finally and with great relief we made it back to the ATV and trailer.

Quickly loaded up and sped down the trail back to the truck.

 

 

Even after such an epic and gruelling marathon the boys were still up for some more fishing. LOL!

 

I really have to hand it to them, they never give up.

 

On the way out we stopped at various spots along the road to wet a line.

 

 

 

The last spot was unbelievably beautiful and coughed up a couple of chunky spec's for the boys:

 

 

 

 

Heading back out on the logging road we saw numerous bears including this biggun that showed no fear:

 

 

 

Overall it was a truly outstanding trip!

Bad weather aside, we caught fish, we ate and drank well, and made a lot of memories.

And really that's what it's all about.

 

 

Cheers, Mike

Edited May 14, 2010 by solopaddler

[danbouck]

[Paully]

[Dozer]

Wow, you know, you could make money from guiding people around. Just blindfold 'em for spot protection.

 

Awesome report as usual!

[LucG]

Now thats a fishing trip!!!

 

There's nothing better than going to back lakes like that, even if the portage is tough.

[ketchenany]

:worthy: :clapping: :clapping:

 

That can looks like pre 1985, best guess. As Canada changed to metric back then.

 

note 12 fluid ounces.

[Gerritt]

EPIC!

[robertag]

This shot is just amazing.

[kickingfrog]

Nice fish.

[solopaddler]

Thanks all!

 

 

 

 

 

That can looks like pre 1985, best guess. As Canada changed to metric back then.

 

note 12 fluid ounces.

 

Kinda what I figured. At least 30 years old anyway.

 

 

This shot is just amazing.

 

I totally agree. I think I'm going to blow that one up and frame it.

[Mykester]

The brush looks like hell, but it sure seemed to pay off!

[Bill Shearer]

Well done Mike,Dave, and Bill!

Truly a lot of work, but the rewards were priceless.

[kickingfrog]

It would not take much for someone who knows his stuff when it comes to that can.

 

Interesting to see the 2 different flesh colours of the brookies eh. Baitfish and crustaceans.

 

BTW was Bill camera shy. Or was he too busy taking pictures of everyone else's fish.

Edited May 14, 2010 by kickingfrog

[corvette1]

congrats to you guys awesome trip

[Gerritt]

 

1969 SS 12 FLUID OUNCES Orange Crush Orange Soda and Artificially Flavored Chicago ILL 60624

 

 

http://www.usasoda.com/OrangeCrush.htm

 

 

G.

[solopaddler]

 

Interesting to see the 2 different flesh colours of the brookies eh. Baitfish and crustaceans.

 

BTW was Bill camera shy. Or was he too busy taking pictures of everyone else's fish.

 

I believe you're right about the colour of the fish's flesh.

Interestingly it always seems to be the males with the whiter flesh.

It's usually always the females with tasty pink meat.

 

I realized after my post I had no pic's of Bill in it.

Even the last shot in the boat I captured Dave but Billy is cut out.

It wasn't a concious effort really, it just worked out that way.

Edited May 14, 2010 by solopaddler

[solopaddler]

 

1969 SS 12 FLUID OUNCES Orange Crush Orange Soda and Artificially Flavored Chicago ILL 60624

 

 

http://www.usasoda.com/OrangeCrush.htm

 

 

G.

 

Wow that's amazing Gerritt, 1969!

 

Cool.

Edited May 14, 2010 by solopaddler

[discophish]

What an amazing journey. That is a true testament of your will to survive life, and overcome the obstacles that many people can only imagine to take on themselves. Life is so pure and peaceful when experiencing it at that level, but yet it takes hard work to execute and evolve. At the end of that trail, it's like you never lost an ounce of strength because of it's rewards. You have just inspired me to not complain about packing the vehicle for the weekend trip ... trust me, it takes what you did to stop me from doing it! Hehe. I guess I better get up off the couch now <sigh>

[SRT8 smoker craft]

amazing I have been waiting for this report since you said you were going.

[DRIFTER_016]

If Bill had caught some fish maybe he would be in the photos.

Sorry Bill, couldn't help it!!!

[fishnsled]

More then EPIC!! A lot of work getting there but the rewards seemed worth it. Cool find on the pop can G.

[Pigeontroller]

Awesome report Mike! Thanks for sharing.

[blaque]

Wow that's amazing Gerritt, 1969!

 

Cool.

 

Dang, that can is older than me

 

AWESOME trip solo. I know you here this over and over in the responses to your posts. But a backlake brooky trip is something i WILL do someday. I dont have much oppurtunity for them down here in "steelhead ally" so it will have to be a planned out venture for sure.

 

THanks for always taking the time to write up the inspiration

[Sinker]

Now that is a great adventure!! Fish are always secondary on a trip like that, but man, you did well on the trout too!! I fished my go to speck lakes the same week, and let me tell ya, your right about the tough bite. Those winds pissed me off to no end too We managed a few fish, but nothing like it should have been. Any bugs up there yet?? We had bugs, but they weren't really biting yet. The wind really helped us in that department!!

 

Glad ya's got in and out safely, and with some great pics!

 

S.

[solopaddler]

Now that is a great adventure!! Fish are always secondary on a trip like that, but man, you did well on the trout too!! I fished my go to speck lakes the same week, and let me tell ya, your right about the tough bite. Those winds pissed me off to no end too We managed a few fish, but nothing like it should have been. Any bugs up there yet?? We had bugs, but they weren't really biting yet. The wind really helped us in that department!!

 

Glad ya's got in and out safely, and with some great pics!

 

S.

 

Nice to hear it wasn't just us when it came to the tough bite!

 

Not a trace of a bug when we were there bud. Either biting bugs or any sign of life in the water.

 

It was freakin' cold!