Return to Attawapiskat River - Sept. 2010

[yakpiker]

My first trip to the Attawapiskat was during the first week of July 2010 with Bassive, MTL, and two father-son pairings. This second trip took place between Sept. 4 and 12 and was part of Eddie’s special offer to OFC members. Since my regular fishing buddies weren’t available, I would be going with 3 other guys who I didn’t know. Fishing with strangers is a bit like golfing with strangers, except a round of golf lasts 4- 5 hours while a fly-in fishing trip lasts 9 days including travel. After connecting with one of the guys, Mark from Brampton, I confirmed my booking and we began preparing for the trip. Mark had been on a few fly-in trips already so we compared packing lists to identify gaps and duplication in our gear and food, with a goal of staying within the 100 lb limit per person.

 

Friday – the Drive

 

I left Toronto at 5 am on Friday and arrived at Mark’s place in Brampton. It was a 14 hour drive from Brampton to Nakina with pit stops in Temagami, Hearst and Geraldton. The weather changed from warm and sunny to cool and rainy around Hearst with threatening skies for the remainder of the drive.

 

After checking in at R&D Apartments (big units at a good price – make a reservation in advance), we headed to the Train Station restaurant for dinner. The owner of R&D had told us our flight the next morning might be delayed due to the weather. This was confirmed by a member of the flight crew with whom we chatted at dinner.

 

Saturday – the Flight

 

Waking up before 7 am, we headed back to the Train Station for breakfast (avoid the pancakes) and then drove to Nakina Air to check on our flight status. It turned out there would be no delay so we rushed back to the apartment to load our stuff and returned to the airfield. That’s where we met Josh and Joel, the other two guys that we would be fishing with.

 

The flight in was rough...due to the weather, not the pilot. We flew low under the clouds to increase visibility and there were a lot of drops and lifts due to the high winds. After about 1 hour, I could see Beteau Lake and the camp. It looked like the water level had increased by a couple of feet since July.

 

We were greeted at the dock by the outgoing group who gave us a quick run-down of their week. The weather had changed mid-week and the fishing was mixed. The pickerel were still biting, but the pike were only active when the sun was out. Unfortunately for us, the forecast was for several days of rain.

 

Eddie was also there to greet us and he gave me a quick tour of the camp equipment (gas generators, electronics and hot water pump) and showed me how to operate them. This was helpful because Eddie was flying out and would be back in a week.

 

After hauling our gear to the cabins, we grabbed a quick bite, set up our tackle and jumped into the boats to do some fishing for the rest of the day. It was cool and wet and windy so we fished close to camp. I landed 2 small pike (under 30”) and had one exciting swirl from a bigger fish that didn’t take the lure. All things considered, it was great to be back on the Attawapiskat.

 

Sunday – Happy Hour

 

The guys stayed up late Saturday night and were a little slow in getting started on Sunday morning. It was also a brutal day with temperatures of 8 degrees, rain at times, and winds gusting to 50km/h. We fished the morning with little luck; I caught a 20” pickerel, then we went back to camp for lunch. Mark decided to rest that afternoon so I headed out on my own. Things turned out better than expected when I caught pike of 41”, 33”, and 32”...all between 4 and 5 pm on a Johnson Silver Minnow with chartreuse Gulp grubs. The bigger pike is a memorable story. I’m reeling this fish in and it comes to the surface and my lure is floating in the air about a foot from its mouth. I have no idea what’s going on, but I keep reeling and get it to the boat. It turns out the pike has mono line wrapped in and around its head which my lure “caught” when it tried to bite. I cut away the other line and spent the next 10 minutes reviving the fish before it swam away.

 

Monday – Mark’s Pickerel Clinic

 

The weather was better which isn't saying much...a little warmer and less rain. I landed a handful of pike, the biggest was 39"...it fought like a chump, not a champ. I also caught a dozen walleye, the biggest was 25" and it was nice and fat too. Mark put on a clinic with the pickerel. He caught over 20 of them, mostly on a bottom bouncer with a worm harness and 4” Gulp minnows. I tried tossing and trolling the heavy lures which I had purchased just for this trip. I learned that some of these were more suitable for deeper water. There was no top water action to this point. Hopefully, this would change as the weather was forecasted to improve on Thursday and Friday.

 

 

Tuesday – Quadruple Header

 

It was another cool and wet day. We did really well in the morning fishing for pickerel down river at the Y. We must have caught over 30 fish in 3 hours. At one time, all 4 of us had a pickerel on. We fished for pike in the afternoon. I caught 3 with the largest about 32". Mark did much better catching 6 pike with 2 of them over 37". He was really taking advantage of the spots I remembered from last trip. I was getting lots of practice with the net.

 

 

Wednesday – new PB pike

 

Another day of cool/cold temps with a high of 10 degrees and a little rain. Fishing was slow at times and on fire at others. I caught a few pickerel in the morning at the Y. The other guys did very well. We went hunting for pike in the afternoon and found mostly hammer handles...except for one.

 

My new pike record is now 45" and it was fatter than the 37" that I landed on the last trip...what a rush. My official measurer and photographer captured the moment with his waterproof camera, unfortunately there were water drops on the lens! The fish swam away healthy after splashing me and there is a photo to remember it by. I caught it on the 5 of Diamonds with a chartreuse Gulp tail.

 

Josh and Joel were doing awesome with the pickerel...two 27" and a lot of others. They also caught a 45" pike, a 43.5" pike, and a 42" pike. That night, we hit the Y again and I caught over a dozen pickerel, the biggest was 23"...fun.

Edited September 25, 2010 by yakpiker

[yakpiker]

Thursday – Getting Jiggy

 

It was a promising sky, clearing and sunny, as we launched the boat after sleeping in due to some late night drinks and dice games. We did okay in the morning on pickerel and Mark landed a 37" pike. I got shut out for pike in the afternoon, two misses with one so close it splashed me from head to toe. Mark got a 40" pike, possibly the one that I missed. He seemed quite content with how I was driving the boat and putting him on fish. That night was great for pickerel. I caught about 20 of them in 3 hours with the largest being 25"...mostly on a yellow jig and chartreuse gulp.

 

 

Friday – Baby Loon

 

We decided to focus on pike the last day and it was tough fishing. I tied on my Baby Loon lure and missed a big one on the very first cast. That swirl was my only real pike action, not counting a couple of shakers. In the evening, I managed to land a 24" and 25" pickerel along with some smaller ones, and missed another decent one that came to the boat. Back at camp that night, we listened to tunes and played dice again after another fresh fish dinner. It was a good end to the week.

 

Saturday – Road Warriors

 

I woke up before 7 am and helped Mark move some lumber for Eddie before packing and breakfast. We used the satellite internet and phone to contact Nakina Air to learn that the plane would arrive at 11:30. I took a short nap to prepare for the 14 hour drive back to Toronto. We ended up leaving Nakina just before 2 pm and I opened my front door at 3:45 am.

 

Many thanks to Mark, Josh and Joel for making this an enjoyable trip. Also, thanks to Eddie North for the great offer and to Mike aka Solopaddler for helping to organize the participants. While the weather conditions were less than ideal, we made the most of it and landed some good-sized pike along with countless pickerel.

[solopaddler]

Thanks for taking the time to post that bud!

Excellent read, I'm really glad to see you guys did okay especially considering the weather.

[danbouck]

Another great report!

[moparhawk]

it should be mandatory to post reports after going there. Thanks alot, enjoyed it.

[ehg]

What an amazing trip! That 45+ inch pike has a huge head and one of biggest pike have seen posted here.

Nice bunch of walleyes as well. Definitely a bucket list trip.

[steverowbotham]

sounds like an amazing trip!

[johnnyb]

Wow. Wow. WOW. That 45"er is a submarine!! What an amazing place Eddie has...I simply have to go.

[rock34]

Sick!!

I am dying to get up there.

[the spirit of fishing]

I've gotta aqree with EHG-

"What an amazing trip! That 45+ inch pike has a huge head and one of biggest pike have seen posted here.

Nice bunch of walleyes as well. Definitely a bucket list trip."

Congrats on working through the weather and getting into some great fish.

[Guest Johnny Bass]

WOW! Nice healthy pike with a huge head. That's a trophy pike for sure!