Algoma Country Walleye

solopaddler · July 27, 2012

My wife looked on in amusement as my daughter cornered me. "When", said my 8 year old girl Riley, "Are you going to bring me on a trip?"

Last month I'd brought my young son along with me to the Dusey river and she was feeling left out.

"Well actually honey....you won't have long to wait!"

Joanne and I had been keeping things under wraps waiting until after school was finished before surprising her, but now was the time.

Amidst her excited squeals I laid out the plan: "We're going to drive up to Wawa, stay overnight, then the next day fly into one of Martin's outpost camps for a week!".

Martin Wearn is the owner of Park's Fly In Fishing. We've flown with him several times now and have always had great trips. His camps are far from deluxe, but they're comfortable, well equiped, and most of all the fishing has always been great. The biggest factor is cost and Martin continues to be the cheapest around. When you're paying to bring kids along that's always been the clincher me.

"And guess what?" I added, "Dan and his little boy Mano (Emmanuel) are joining us!"

That brought more excited squeals from Riley. Dan has been a lifelong friend of mine and she has met him and his family on many occasions. With Dan moving his clan to Thunder Bay a couple of years ago we rarely see each other anymore, so this trip was a special occurence. A father-daughter fly in trip and a reunion of old friends. It doesn't get much better.

Well...maybe it does. After discussing our options with Martin he mentioned Ribes lake as a possibility. Ribes is a very small but very pretty lake located in the heart of the Chapleau Game Preserve.

"The thing is", Martin said, "I havn't flown into that camp in 4 years. Even prior to that it was rarely fished, maybe twice a year at the most."

"It's always been a fantastic lake to fish, so I'd be curious to know what it's like now after such a long rest."

I was curious myself. The only downside if there was one being the size of the cabin. As Martin said it's his smallest camp, and the sole reason he hasn't used it in 5 seasons.

With his business just getting off the ground there just wasn't enough reason to open this camp ...until now.

The lack of fancy trappings and such was of no concern to me. As long as the roof is tight, the fridge is cold and the boats and motors are good that's all I care about.

Martin assured me we'd be taken care of. When he said that we'd be the very first group to fish Ribes in years I quickly booked.

A Golden Afternoon And A Flight To Adventure

Riley and I enjoyed a leisurely drive north to Wawa. Highway 17 north of the Soo is spectacular as it winds its way along Superiors shoreline, each bend in the road opening up new vistas that take your breath away. My girl was agog.

Leaving early enough in the morning we arrived with an afternoon to kill after checking into our motel. Dan and his son would be arriving from Thunder Bay later that evening, in the meantime there was only one thing to do: Hit the beach!

Located on Superiors shore within the town limits is a truly amazing spot. Aptly named Sandy Beach, it's a wide 1km long white sand beach framed by granite outcroppings and windswept pines.

We spent a glorious few hours there soaking up the sun and swimming in the surprisingly warm water. Even being a Saturday afternoon there was virtually no one there, we had the place entirely to ourselves...

As promised Dan and his young son Mano joined us at the motel later that evening. After a couple of celebratory reunion drinks we did a bit of repacking in preparation for our flight the next morning. Spirits were high and the kids were getting along famously, tomorrow couldn't come soon enough...

After arriving at the airbase and checking in, our gear was weighed and in less than an hour we boarded the plane for our flight.

After a taxiing up the lake for 5 minutes we turned into the wind and were soon airborne:

With both kids clamoring excitedly in the back seat we skimmed over the Algoma wilderness enroute to Ribes lake. I never get tired of these views.

Frogs,Toads And Snakes

Mano is an amazing kid for 7 years old. Before the plane was even unloaded he took off by himself and caught a large frog on the beach near camp.

This was just a warm up though. After finding a white bucket to house his new pet he scampered barefoot down the shoreline, Red Ryder BB gun in hand to explore.

In short order he had captured a garter snake, several toads and a salamander adding all of them to his makeshift terrarium.

At any given time he'd have one or two toads in his pocket, playing with them in the boat when the fishing slowed down. In fact many times Dan would drop him off along the shore and watch as he'd spend an hour two combing the waters edge while he fished.

As you'll see I've never seen a child of that age so unafraid to handle and hold such large squiggly walleye and pike either. He's truly a modern day Huck Finn and Riley was duly impressed as well.

After settling into our new digs for the week and readying the boats we finally hit the water. As I do on any new lake my first priority is not to fish, but to spend an hour or so cruising the lake with the graph to get a feel for things, marking potential spots as I go.

Ribes is a beautiful S shaped lake with two distict basins separated by a narrows.

The southern basin is dominated by a large cliff that looms spectacularly over the lake. Here's a pic from the air:

It's also surprisingly deep bottoming out at over 90' in one spot. In fact the whole lake is quite deep. I graphed 57' in the narrows and 67' in the northern basin where the camp was situated. This of course is a very good thing. Usually lakes with that kind of depth harbour larger fish due to the cooler temperatures and abundance of soft finned forage. How would Ribes produce for us? Time would tell, but my confidence was high.

A Whole Lotta Walleye

As always when I'm prospecting for walleye on a new lake I'll generally troll a worm harness and bottom bouncer. No walleye worth his salt can refuse one.

It took all of 5 minutes for Riley to strike paydirt, first with a walleye, then a thick bodied pike:

As is typically the case once concentrations of fish are found I'll switch to lighter tackle and jigs, either drifting with the wind or many times anchored. Ribes proved to be an outstanding jig lake...

Perfection

Our first evening was utopian. While Dan and I shared a few drinks outside with the bbq sizzling, the kids lounged together on one of the top bunks.

After dinner Riley and I headed to a nearby shoal and layed a beatdown on the walleye. Probably 60 in total in a very short period of time. No monsters but it was fast and furious...

With the sun sinking low on the horizon we lit a fire, poured a couple of drinks and watched as the kids roasted half a bag of marshmallows (yes, they were up late that night HAHA!)

The Amazing Mano

As mentioned the kid is a natural. Dan and Mano did quite well themselves with the kid catching most of the larger fish.

He even let dad catch one or two:

Sunburns Sore Arms And Cut Fingers

Sun kissed days and cool evenings made the rest of the trip a pure joy. We had a couple of short showers during our stay, but they never lasted long. The walleye enslaught continued unabated and we caught fish literally at will. By the second day my fingers were shredded and covered in bandages, but you'll never hear me complain about that!

Ribes lake definitely did not disappoint.

With the fishing so easy we began to experiment a bit with crankbaits and once again the Purpledesent Shad Rap was deadly. I'm not sure what it is about this lure, but time and again, especially in deeper shield lakes, it's proven its worth.

I enjoyed every minute spent in the boat with my girl, and with a bit of guidance she was soon taking some pretty decent pictures.

Continued...

Edited July 28, 2012 by Mike Borger

solopaddler · July 27, 2012

Loads-O-Fun

With young kids along it's never all about the fishing and we found plenty of other things to occupy ourselves with.

Directly across from camp a rocky point was teeming with ripe blueberries. Every so often Riley would insist we head over there to pick some for our our morning pancakes.

Of course I always agreed. Dan actually made the most amazing crepes, with the blueberries they were out of this world.

With the blazing hot temperatures we did a lot of swimming as well, finding a couple of perfect flat rocks to jump off:

The swimming was a mere prelude to the real highlight though. We searched the lake for a suitable cliff to jump off. It had to be vertical and deep enough at the base, not easy to find but we found one.

The kids were a little tentative at first (so was I for that matter!), but they both jumped multiple times each.

It was a real thrill for both of them, and I was very proud of my girl for finally mustering the courage!

With such a small lake and boats to match it was also the perfect opportunity to teach Riley how to handle a tiller. She did great ultimately starting the boat all by herself and going out fishing alone. That more than anything blew my young sons mind when we arrived home. He's super upset that his big sister has one up on him, but it'll be his turn next time.

With that huge mountain looming over us it was inevitable that'd we'd climb it sooner or later, and finally we did.

I'll tell you right now it wasn't easy. There was no trail, the brush was thick, and many times we were forced to scramble up loose rock facing with nothing to grab onto.

Still we made it, and once again both kids proved their mettle.

In the end the views were worth it, and I know it's something Riley will never forget.

The Camp

I've said it several times now, but the Ribes lake outpost is very small. It was fine for us with two small kids, but 4 adults would be too much. As it stands right now it's really a camp for two people.

As small as it is it's remarkably well equiped and neat and clean as a pin, no complaints there.

The boats are older 14' aluminums with 6 horse 2 stroke Merc's that ran great.

The cabin has two sets of bunks, a small cookstove, a full sized propane fridge that worked amazingly well, propane lanterns, and a large kerosene heater for cold nights.

Outside there's a bbq, a fire pit overlooking the lake, a plastic table and chairs and an amazing outdoor shower stall with hot and cold running water!

Here's a few pic's of the camp and a short video tour as well:

Planting A Seed

Unfortunately all good things must come to a end and as we waited on the dock for our ride home Riley seemed a little down in the dumps.

"What's the matter honey, you okay?"

"Daddy", she said slowly, "When can we come back?"

Music to my ears.

I've fished Anjigaming, Abbey and now Ribes lake with Park's Fly In Fishing and I've yet to be dissapointed.

If anyone is interested in any of these trips drop me a line and I'd be happy to help in any way that I can.

You can check out Martin's website with his contact info here:

http://www.outpostcamps.com/fishing/

'Till next time,

Mike

Edited July 28, 2012 by Mike Borger

BucktownAngler · July 27, 2012

Great report. You guys cleaned up on walters good job!!

the scenerey pics are awesome too :clapping:

Rich Clemens · July 27, 2012

Really, really, really great report and it sure looks like the young ones had a great time. Thanks for sharing

asdve23rveavwa · July 27, 2012

Well worth the wait Mike. Definitely a tough decision choosing between those three lakes!!

Love the cliff, and, you all definitely mined some beautiful gold!!

Terry · July 27, 2012

another great report

adolson · July 28, 2012

Awesome report! I am so looking forward to the day when I can do this stuff with my kid.

spincast · July 28, 2012

great report and a great spot. Riley and Dad will be talking about that one for a while I suspect, And now I know what Frank's saving for....... all you need is a picture of a rainbow ending on that lake.....

danc · July 28, 2012

Speechless here Mike. What a great read. And you finally upgraded your camera I'm guessing?

solopaddler · July 28, 2012

Thanks all, glad you enjoyed it!

Speechless here Mike. What a great read. And you finally upgraded your camera I'm guessing?

Glad you liked it Dan. The camera is nothing special, but takes decent pic's. It's a Canon SX260 HS. A pretty decent little point and shoot.

Some of the pic's were horribly overexposed 'cause Riley switched it to "live" setting without me knowing.

I like it but it sucks the battery dry when taking hi def video.

Anywhere locally that battery was at least $60. I looked around online and found an aftermarket source for $4.75 each and bought six of them LOL!

misfish · July 28, 2012

Simply the best you have posted Mike. Amazing. :worthy:

I cant wait til you get a fishing magazine deal.

There,s members here that have deals,but (with no disrespect to them,their all good) you bring something different.In one word,STORY. Something that keeps you reading.

Thanks for taking the time and sharing.

THE RIFLEMAN

The shorts are killer.

Edited July 28, 2012 by Misfish

RickOnt · July 28, 2012

Hey Mike

Once again Great read! Thanks for posting and taking the time!

The Dads and the Kids will have some fantastic memories.

What is that one Jig?? Pink/Chartueuse/Orange/Oil?

That is one interesting combo! LOL

Rick

solopaddler · July 28, 2012

Simply the best you have posted Mike. Amazing.

I cant wait til you get a fishing magazine deal.

There,s members here that have deals,but (with no disrespect to them,their all good) you bring something different.In one word,STORY. Something that keeps you reading.

Thanks for taking the time and sharing.

Those are some high words of praise Brian, coming from you it means a lot.

Truth be told although putting this report together took a few hours, I don't consider it a lterary masterpiece. I have it in me to write something better, but I don't have the time.

This is more of a punch in the head get your attention kind of post LOL!

Hey Mike

Once again Great read! Thanks for posting and taking the time!

The Dads and the Kids will have some fantastic memories.

What is that one Jig?? Pink/Chartueuse/Orange/Oil?

That is one interesting combo! LOL

Rick

Thanks Rick. The jig is a weird one for sure. It's a 31/2" tail that I bought two winters ago at Tackle Warehouse. Can't remember what they called it but I can find out.

I used the same grub at Abbey last summer and it slayed the walleye.

Edited July 28, 2012 by Mike Borger

misfish · July 28, 2012

I don't consider it a lterary masterpiece.

Guess you missed "the story" part.True adventure. That,s what caught me with your thread Mike.

Wish I had the,,,punch in the head get your attention kind of post ,way.LOL

Edited July 28, 2012 by Misfish

spinnerdoc · July 28, 2012

It truly is a great read. And you say this was only put together in a few hours? I wonder how one would read if you really put some time into it. Once again thanks for sharing in the manner that you did.

solopaddler · July 28, 2012

THE RIFLEMAN

The shorts are killer.

Brian the young lad was tickled pink with your response. That's his new nickname now LOL!

fishnsled · July 28, 2012

Awesome report again Mike!! What a great experience for the kids (and adults) I'm sure. :thumbsup_anim:

Joey · July 28, 2012

Wow Mike, that just made my Saturday morning brighter. What an excellent read. Looks like a fabulous time was had by all of you and I'd love to do something like that. You live a charmed life my friend :thumbsup_anim:

asdve23rveavwa · July 28, 2012

And now I know what Frank's saving for......

You know it Rick!!

I'd love to do something like that.

That's what I've said for years Joey! A little message that Will (Fishnsled) has on his signature is the way we should all strive to live life. Someday is here now!!

Mike has inspired me with posts like this, and, I have contacted Martin to make special moments like this finally happen.

Thanks, again, Mike for your great journeys...and for always answering my questions quickly and courteously!

Rod Caster · July 28, 2012

Great report... Line by line.

I like your color matching on the jig combos. By far jigs catch more walleye faster than anything else.

adempsey · July 28, 2012

Great report! Looks like you guys had a fantastic time. With that small cabin, I wonder what it would be like if it rained all week? Lol.

Live2fish85 · July 28, 2012

Another amazing Report. Looks like the kids had a blast.

Thanks for sharing that Mike.

adempsey · July 28, 2012

Thanks Rick. The jig is a weird one for sure. It's a 31/2" tail that I bought two winters ago at Tackle Warehouse. Can't remember what they called it but I can find out.

I used the same grub at Abbey last summer and it slayed the walleye.

I would guess its a Wave Tiki Grub in Sweet Potato Pie Swirl. I recall Tackle Warehouse selling a lot of the Wave plastics.

Musky or Specks · July 29, 2012

Very Nice report Mike. You are really fostering an unparalleled sibling angling rivalry.

passthepitonspete · July 29, 2012

Wow! Another great report by Mikey! Excellent photos and writing.

I had the privelege of fishing and canoeing in Quetico for three weeks with Dan and Mike back in the mid-90's. Try as I could, it was impossible to out-fish Mike. Dan says, and quite truthfully, "Mike can catch fish in a toilet."

I have this crazy image in my mind of Dan standing on a rock in Cutty Lake and fishing in a particular set of clothing that Mike found a bit annoying. Ahem. Great times! In Cutty Lake, I played a 46" pike about 24 lbs for fifteen minutes or longer on 6lb test, only to have it spit the hook at the last second. Mike said, "Don't worry," picked up his paddle, pushed the canoe towards the fish which was lying on the surface, and casually reached in and grabbed that massive pike bare-handed, pulling him into the boat and landing him for me! The most amazing fish story ever, and it's even true! It was my biggest pike up to that time.

Anyway, Mikey - just wrote you an email. Write me or phone when you get a chance, eh? Can't believe you old pharts don't really look any older than back in Quetico. Which just goes to prove actuarily that every day you spend fishing adds one day to your life.

Cheers, eh?

Pete

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