douG's Fly In Report near Red Lake

[douG]

We arrived at Peg airport on Sunday morning at 9:30 and met at the National Car Rental as arranged. The trip along the Transcanada was uneventful, but I did note how quickly the landscape went from prairie to northern Ontario landscape, right at the Manitoba border with Ontario. It happened over the distance of only a few tens of miles.

 

We stopped in Kenora for provisions, and arrived in Red Lake around 5 pm. We tracked down the skidders who unloaded our minivan and loaded the aircraft, a DHC-2 Beaver.

 

 

By the time they were done, the pilot had arrived,

 

 

and we taxied around the lake while oil and head temp rose to operational levels. Since the weather was clear, the flight was a little bumpy, but the view was fine.

 

Booi;s Island is the one in the middle of the three, vertical line, left of center.

 

 

A 25 minute ride later, we were on the water on Trout Lake. We were met by Boois staff who delivered our gear to our cottage while we toured the island. Dinner was roast Cornish hens with orange glaze, scalloped potatoes, mixed veg and strawberry shortcake. We retired to our cottage and set up our gear.

 

 

Monday morning was fair with decreasing winds out of the NW. Dad and I were working the downriggers while Warren and Marc tried the wire line. There was still enough breeze that I took the tiller while Dad set his line. Before I had my line down, Dad was working his rod with a feisty laker on the line, my line in and both riggers in, first fish in the boat within 5 minutes. We repeated this whole routine twice more before Dad suggested I put a line down first. Again, fish on, with only one line down.

 

That morning we spent more time landing fish and setting lines than we did actually trolling.

 

 

There were three double headers before lunch with all fish released.

 

The shore lunch spot was picked for the walleye guys, at the north end of the lake at the end of a long narrow bay, a place called Charlies point in Caskie Bay. The mapping GPS was invaluable as we found the spot with no diccifulty, but Warren and Marc struggled a bit finding the location. Freshly caught walleye, fried potatoes with onions and mushrooms and baked beans took the edge off the day, filling the gap after breakfast of eggs, bacon, homefries, toast, juice and coffee.

 

 

We switched partners, with Warren and I on the riggers and Dad and Marc on the wire line. Here we saw a new pattern as W and I found three lakers on the flat line before the riggers were even set.

 

 

 

 

Another pattern became clear after Warren hooked a laker; I left my line down while I netted Warren's fish. I extracted the trout from the net, and looked at my line which now stretched back behind the boat while my rigger was perfectly vertical. Hey, Warren, my line looks a little funny. What's going on there? Warren took my rod, tightened the line and told me that I was hooked on bottom. This was Bull as we were down 50 ft over 80, so I politely asked him to pass the rod so I could land my fish. Jerk. Another laker came to the net.

 

We repeated this several more times that day; shift into neutral, wait until the riggers dropped to vertical, and then one more minute while the spoons fluttered and dropped. Shift into gear, and 30 seconds later, fish on.

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the day, we had boated 26 lake trout with most between 4 and six pounds. Dad and I each landed nine with the rest divided between Warren and Marc. I finally started to try spoons that had never caught anything before, but they all worked. Williams wabblers, mooselooks, cleos, phoebes, ruby eyes, Northern Kings, it didn't seem to matter.

 

Dinner was steak in the pavilion, all guests invited. Too much food one more time.

Edited July 18, 2007 by douG

[Gerritt]

OMG!!! My Highspeed couldnt handle the SHEER volume of pictures and text!... I may have to reinstall my OS now... I blame you douG! LOL

 

Thanks for the teaser.

 

Gerritt.

 

PS... Is that a spare PROP he is loading??? Uhmmmm.... do I wanna fly in that!?!

Edited July 18, 2007 by Gerritt

[Greencoachdog]

Ahhh! The Epic report I'd been waiting for!!!

 

Man! You really slayed the fish on that trip Eh! Despite some adverse weather conditions as well!

It looks like the Ol' Timers will have some stories to exhaust themselves with until next time.

That dining menu made me drool and I think I gained 10lbs. just reading it!

 

As for the unfortunate event at checkout time, shame on you for not asking for a price quote... and double shame on Tracey for not telling you. Some seasonal operators are unscrupulous like that, especially when their seasons are so short as I'm sure theirs is.

Next time try arriving between 12:30 and 1:00 am to maximize your time on the "daily rate"!

 

Thanks for taking the time to share such a wonderful trip with us!!!

Most Excellent report and pics!!!!

Edited July 18, 2007 by Greencoachdog

[Daplumma]

Sorry,most of the massive amount of pics did not come through but the ones that did looked awesome.Glad you had a good trip!

Joe

[Whopper]

Well done Doug!

Nice pics!

 

Whopper

[icefisherman]

Hey Doug,

 

I was waiting for this report. In fact I thought I've missed it.

Great story, even better pictures and...I recognize that folding knife Bud ha ha...looks the same as the one in fron of me right now ;-) even the stripe ;-))

Thanks for sharing!

 

Cheers,

Ice Fisherman

[douG]

Tuesday had 20-25 km winds out of the nw with 4 ft waves and a little rain. The water was rough enough that we fished one line at a time.

 

 

We boated two off wire and one on a rigger including a 24 in walleye. Shore lunch was at the lodge and we met a party of 12 from a small town in Iowa, represented by 3 generations, some of whom had been coming to fish with Booi’s for 16 years. They were all fine folks.

 

After a nap, we headed to the lea of a windy point to try for some walleye and pike as the waves were now 4 ft and the breeze had freshened to 25 k. I got the first walleye,

 

 

Warren the next two. Then I cast a jig and chart minnow to the lea of the point as the waves wrapped around it. Bang! A nice tussle with a 28 in pike, 6lb line with no leader.

 

 

Dinner was ribs, potatoes au gratin and strawberry pie. Later we tried for some more walleye, but the mayfly hatch was on and while we saw walleye surfacing all around, we didn’t fool any. We still enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

 

 

[TennesseeGuy]

Nice going. You got into some nice fish. Thanks for the report.

[bosc]

Very very nice DouG.

Just a great report.

[Joey]

Sweet, looks like the weather was fine and the fishing was even finer.

 

What a great trip this year eh DouG. Can't wait for the rest.

 

Joey

[douG]

Wednesday was clear and calm with 10 k wind out of the NW with thunderstorms forecast. On the water, Dad had his first trout in the boat before I got my line in, with another double header up next. We watched a big cell pass us to the north with rain and lightning.

 

 

 

 

A half hour later, we watched another cell approach that ran us off the lake, but there was no sign of Warren and Marc. We watched them from the cottage as they beat the rain by 30 seconds. They had a blast running with the wind and the waves, with Marc in the bow seat hanging onto the painter. Ride 'em cowboy!

 

Pea sized hail littered the deck, so there were beverages, lies and naps all around. Lunch was at the pavillion again, then out to windward again for some more lakers. The wireline worked, as it was pretty bouncy for the riggers. We tried for walleye again for an hour with no joy, and and hied for the lea as another cell rolled through. Naps.

 

Later, Warren got a nice pike on wireline.

 

The Boois rescheduled the menu so that we enjoyed a huge hunk 'o prime rib with apple pie a la mode for desert. Later we enjoyed a campfire with Miller and Julie Friesen from Minneapolis, a couple of Canadian expats. They were great company and we shared stories of Toronto, jazz and scotch.

Edited July 18, 2007 by douG

[fishindevil]

Awesome report & pics !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! man now thats what i call a fishing trip/adventure...trip of a lifetime,thanks for sharing all those pics....WOW cheers

[Tacklebuster]

very nice report, and pics. Gotta love fly in trips. How many days were you in?

[douG]

edit

Edited July 18, 2007 by douG

[douG]

Thursday am was overcast with 20 k winds out of the NW again with whitecaps visible thru the narrows. We tried to have a light breakfast as the kids were pretty quiet this morning and glum about the weather. We pored over maps, trying to find quiet but deep water. Dad and I gave up on the trout and decided to try the walleye 300 yds across the bay.

 

Onshore waves were crashing onto this shore, and we trolled cranks in 10-12 fow. 2 minutes later, fish on with a nice 24 in walleye coming to the net which was a nice tussle on 6 lb test. 20 minutes later, her twin showed up on the same lure, a blue and pink walleye diver.

 

 

All the boats came in at noon, and Marcel and his son Austin provided another shore lunch meal.

 

 

 

 

 

That afternoon was clearing and cool with settling winds. We tried the north shore of Cat Island with only a small laker landed. The only other boat we saw (Warren in mah face again) drove us to the far shore, a long ridge which sloped smoothly to 80 ft. We landed 3 more lake trout with the largest at 7 lbs, and beautiful weather.

 

 

]

 

 

 

Our last night, we relaxed and enjoyed smoked ribs, double baked potatoes, asparagus, and apple pie a la mode. While the GE codgers traded tales of Ol' Brisbane, I ingratiated myself with the Iowans and took a few photos to send.

 

 

There was more jazz talk with the Friesens and then to bed.

 

 

This only to let you folks know how these ol codgers talk.

 

 

Edited July 19, 2007 by douG

[douG]

Friday morning was wet, and we packed up quickly. I was suffering from too much food and had coffee and a cinnamon roll instead of the full breakfast. Rob showed up on time, and we arrived in Red Lake at 8 AM. Gear was loaded, and we headed south on Red Lake Road to the TransCanada. There were a number of washouts on the TC which slowed us up considerably, but we still made the airport in Winnipeg in plenty of time for Marc who left at 4 pm. Our flight left at 5:15, and arrived in Toronto on schedule at 8:30 pm local time.

[douG]

Lessons Learned:

 

• Lakers / Spoons are a deadly combo

• Find the thermocline using your sonar, looking for a thin line on your screen around 35 – 40 ft

• Change depth and speed abruptly for those lake trout

• Trolling stickbaits on a steep windy shore will find walleyes

• Mapping GPS rules on strange lakes and new towns, as it took us out of Winnipeg and back to the airport with no problems whatsoever, and found spots on a new lake that we would have been hard pressed to find without the tool.

• Get prices from your hosts for any changes to your itinerary in writing.

 

The last point is a sore one. We arrived at the lodge Sunday evening as opposed to Monday morning, only to learn on checkout that our request to spend Sunday evening at the lodge cost us $200 EACH, for a total of $800 plus taxes. That was outrageous, especially since the dinner bill was separate.

 

I had received Tracy Booi's assurance that there would be a 'reasonable increment' for this convenience, only to learn on checkout that "We charge for as much as we can", including a full day of service, even though it was known that we would only be sleeping there on Sunday.

 

Despite my protests, there was no budge from Tracy Booi. She suggested that we arrive as early as possible next time as their published rates per day are actually rates per night. I told her that we would have saved $600 by overnighting in Red Lake, instead of staying at her cottage, and that as our host, it was her responsibility to tell us these things. Tracy Booi smiled at this and said nothing. I sighed and said that if we ever returned, we would try to stay at her lodge as little as possible.

 

There was no kiss kiss for Tracy from me on our departure. As I said, that was my fault for not nailing that one down.

 

The staff at Booi's are great, mostly Newfoundlanders. These are smart, witty, hardworking folks, with the famous work ethic and sense of funny. Gord, the chef, loved to cook and was a true master of his craft. Guide Marcel and the Chief Assistant Melissa did the hard work around camp; their charming son, Austin, was a popular fixture with endless energy and a sharp wit. He was also did yeoman's service with the fillet knife. I envy that chile, he has a great summer ahead of him.

 

Everything came off without a hitch, nothing lost or broken, no one hurt, lotsa fish caught and great food.

 

Thanks to the staff at Booi's Lodge and Outposts on Trout Lake.

Edited July 19, 2007 by douG

[camillj]

Sounds like a truly satisfying trip for ya dOUG !!

 

Congrats...only thing missing was some big specks

[Nemo]

Awesome report douG sounds like the trip of a lifetime. Glad it worked out so well. That technique of dropping the lines and pulling up from the bottom sounds interesting hmmm.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[TJQ]

Nice.. glad ya had a good time and caught some nice fish!!

[tbayboy]

Great report Doug. Thanks a bunch for taking the time to include so much detail - really great to read of a fun trip and learn from it at the same time.

[Gerritt]

sounds like a fantastic adventure, but sorry about its ending Doug... definatly not what you want to hear at the end of a trip... Hopefully they might see this post and the negativity it spawns, seeing as how you are a long time and respected member of OFC.... while you might agree or not holds more weight then a new comer just coming here to vent... That being said I consider you a friend and value your opinion. While the staff may have done a fantastic job at meeting your needs, The camps ownership did not. 200.00 a night to lay your head is absurd! they are not the airport marriot by any means... It would have been better to sleep in the bed of the truck then pay that asinine amount of money... shame on you Tracy Booi... let it ring along all the halls and corners of the internet...

 

 

glad to hear you had a great time otherwise Doug! despite the poor treatment/robbery upon checkout!

 

Gerritt.

[scuro]

I felt the excitement and I could feel my heart rate increase as I read on...I hope too that I can life to the fullest in my retirement years. Loved the pic with outstretched arms, it was the best by far.

[Moosebunk]

Superb Doug. No better way to put it. Great fishery and outfit by the looks of it. Thanks for that report.

[Golfisher]

Must have been an amazing trip, notwithstanding the nasty suprise at the end. Thanks for such an entertaining and yet informative report; enjoyed it thoroughly.