I've finally gotten around to processing all of the pictures and condensing the events of our Canadian fishing trip. Anybody who knows me will attest that I can be a bit long-winded in telling a story. What everyone fails to realize is that all of those gory details are very important to the enjoyment of the story. ;)
The simplest version would be: We drove cars to Canada and a plane flew us to a lake. We caught some fish in the lake. Then, the plane flew us back to our cars and we drove back to the United States.
Doesn't that sound like a good time?
If you answered 'No', you can stop reading now. Then again, perhaps reading further might change your mind. If you answered 'Yes', you could also stop reading, but I'm suspecting you might be the kind of person who would want to read about why it was
AWESOME and then maybe go do it yourself.
As for pictures, I took 118 of which 91 were good and 48 made it to Flickr. You can check out those that were uploaded by clicking below:
2009 Canada Fishing Trip Flickr Set
The trip was from August 7th through August 18th. We were originally slated to be back on the 17th, but Mother Nature intervened as you will find out later. There were seven of us on the trip:
Marty Brown
Traci Liberatore (Marty's girlfriend)
Lorena Brown
Chris Huck
Charlie Brown (Lorena's and Marty's dad)
Ed Briner (Close family friend)
Kenny Stephens (Chris's grandpa)
The plan was to fish Felsia Lake in Northern Ontario. Felsia is one of the lakes operated by
Leuenberger Air Service in Nakina, Ontario and the lake is only really accessible by air. There may be ways of getting there by water, but not very easily. It's approximately 105 miles northwest of Nakina in fairly undisturbed wilderness. We would be staying in the only cabin on Felsia Lake. Adjacent (and connected) Hurst Lake has a few cabins as well that are operated by other air services from Armstrong, Ontario.
Day 1: August 7th, 2009 (Friday)
Left the house around 7AM with the intention of arriving in Sault Ste. Marie, MI by evening. En route, we had a brief stop at Cabela's while the other vehicle picked up Marty and Traci. We got into the Soo around 6PM and went down to the locks to see if there were any large ships passing through. There was one, the
Walter J. McCarthy Jr., a 1000 foot long vessel. Watching boats that size go through the locks is always impressive.
Dinner was at Zorba's Greek restaurant in downtown Sault Ste. Marie. Their dolmades (grape leaves) were pretty darned tasty. I know that I'd eat there again for sure.
Our motel was the
Royal Motel.
Day 2: August 8th, 2009 (Saturday)
We had breakfast at
Frank's Place in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, a place we'd eaten at before on our last fishing trip. From there, it was hurry up and wait to cross the border and then get on Canadian Hwy 17 going north. On the way to Wawa, Ontario, we stopped at
The Canadian Carver for coffee and to stretch the legs. Once in Wawa, we stopped again and I wound up talking to a Frenchman named Bruno Saulet. He has been riding around the world for the last two years and most recently had ridden across Canada starting in Vancouver. At least he had a tailwind for riding so loaded. We had an interesting conversation and he showed me the route he'd taken. You can read about his trip on his website (
www.bruno-saulet.com). Just use Google to translate it if you can't read French. Here's his bike:
Our intention was to stop at Skinner's Famous Acre in Longlac to get our fishing licenses before heading on to Nakina. Unfortunately for us, Skinner's was closed when we got there and so we opted for dinner at a pizza place we'd eaten at before. Ed wanted to go to Mass in Longlac that evening and asked all of us if we'd like to join him. No response... until Kenny spoke up with one of the quotes of the trip:
"We don't need to go to church, Ed, because none of the rest of us have sinned today."
Uproarious laughter. Ed did make it to Mass, and it was in French. Afterward, we proceeded on to our motel (The Shores) in Nakina. A couple of black bears were happily munching on roadside vegetation and welcomed us into town.
Day 3: August 9th, 2009 (Sunday)
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US! Lorena and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary primarily by sitting in Leuenberger's waiting room ALL DAY due to crappy weather. We were supposed to fly out to Felsia, but the weather never cleared. A bass tournament at the float plane lake provided a little entertainment. The float plane crew also fed dead minnows to a smallmouth bass that liked to hang around the dock.
We weren't the only group that didn't get to fly out on time. When both groups converged on a small restaurant in Nakina for pizza, they ran out of dough and cheese after our orders!
Day 4: August 10th, 2009 (Monday)
We arrived at Leuenberger's at 6:30AM hoping the weather would be clear enough to fly. Again, we waited around until almost 12:30PM when we finally got our chance. A little over an hour later we were at the cabin on Felsia and fishing. Weather at the cabin was beautiful. We all headed out to fish until about 6PM and neither grandpa or I caught anything. Marty and Lorena caught dinner for everyone. Charlie had a 31.5" pike. After dinner, grandpa and I went back out and I got two northern pike and a walleye before the mosquitos got to be too bad. Fishing was tough for everyone today.
Day 5: August 11th, 2009 (Tuesday)
Fishing today was better. Everyone decided to go over to Hurst Lake to see what it was all about. This required going through some rocky, fast water between the lakes. The boat that Lorena, Traci, and I were in got hung up on some rocks and required the assistance of one of the other boats. Fishing in Hurst wasn't very productive as I only got a 10" walleye while jigging. It then took 3 attempts to go back up the rapids into Felsia. Just around the point from the cabin, Lorena and Traci both got pike in some weedy areas along the shore before we went in for lunch.
After lunch, Lorena, Traci, and I trolled some new places and I caught two 21" walleye. Lorena got a 28" pike that broke a rod tip in the boat as it thrashed around in the net. The Silver Minnow spoon was a very productive lure today as Lorena and I both caught pike using it.
After a fabulous dinner of walleye cordon bleu, Marty, Traci, and I went out to jig for walleye and proceeded to get harassed like crazy by mosquitos and black flies. Even though Traci caught a walleye pretty quickly, we didn't fish for very long because of the insects.
Lorena found some wild cranberries near the cabin and we saw eagles and loons galore.
Day 6: August 12th, 2009 (Wednesday)
It was very HOT and WINDY on the water today. I commend Marty for being able to control the boat in the choppy conditions. We fished very hard for the few fish we caught. Only three between Marty and I for the morning. After lunch, Lorena, Traci,and Marty went swimming in the lake. Later, Marty and I went to the southern end of the lake where the Witchwood River flows in. Near the mouth, I got a pike and Marty got a walleye. We went up the river to the rapids which didn't end up being very productive. I did catch one pike back there while Marty jigged and jigged to no avail. It wasn't until we got back out to the mouth of the river that Marty got another pike on a Silver Minnow.
Leuenberger's flew in to drop off gas for the boats and check on us. In the evening, a big anvil cloud from a distant thunderstorm created a cool sunset. The storm didn't hit us directly, but we got a cool lightning show from it.
Day 7: August 13th, 2009 (Thursday)
This was projected to be the best fishing day of the trip by the solunar tables. Well, it was. We were up at 5:30AM to be on the water by 6. Lorena and I trolled a spot we fished on Tuesday and each caught 4 fish before heading in about 9AM. One was my 23.5" walleye. Our afternoon fishing wasn't very productive, but after dinner, it got a whole lot better.
We fished with jigs in the channel between Felsia and Hurst lakes and did very well. Lorena had 8 walleye and 2 pike while I caught 7 walleye. Marty and Traci also did very well in the same spot.
All together, the entire crew caught 74 fish for the day.
Day 8: August 14th, 2009 (Friday)
This proved to be yet another good day. Up again at 5:30AM. This time, Charlie and I went over to Hurst Lake to fish. I got two walleye and two pike while Charlie got one 19" walleye. One of the walleye I caught proceeded to spit out a 5" long, partially digested, northern pike it had eaten earlier.
After lunch, Ed and I went out for a while. A storm rolled in shortly and so we went in for about an hour before it blew through and we could go back out. We trolled some new spots and each got a few fish before going in for dinner. Marty and I cleaned fish before dinner and I don't think I have ever been as annoyed by mosquitos as I was then. They wouldn't leave my hands alone and we had a lot of fish to clean. Some of the fish I cleaned were probably a little more hacked than I wanted because I was working too quickly.
Ed and I went over to Hurst Lake to fish after dinner. I caught a small pike on a jig right away and a 21" walleye around one of the islands while Ed got a couple walleye just below the rapids between Felsia and Hurst including the 20" walleye right before we headed in for the night.
Another day of 74 fish for the crew!
Day 9: August 15th, 2009 (Saturday)
The weather took a nasty turn overnight. We woke up at 5:30AM to windy, cold, blowing drizzle. It was about 45F and none too pleasant. Traci and I went out to troll a few previously good spots before heading back in to pick up Ed a little later in the morning. Once we got to the first spot we were going to troll, the motor died. There we were, broadside to the waves (small whitecaps) and wind with no power. It was also very foggy so we couldn't see any of the other boats to get their attention if we needed help. Fortunately, the motor started after a few minutes and we were able to fish until about 7:30 when we headed in pick up Ed. I was very cold, soaked, and tired. The rain picked up while we were at the cabin so we decided not to go back out right away. Marty and Charlie were big winners for the morning with 7 fish each and grandpa had a 24" walleye.
While breakfast cooked, I fell asleep in the chair and then, after breakfast, I went back to bed and slept until 1pm. A much-needed nap. Lorena and I fished the Hurst-Felsia channel some in the afternoon and after dinner with moderate success. Marty and Traci also fished there in the evening and did A LOT better than us. Traci had 9 fish and Marty 4.
Everyone spent the rest of the night packing things up in lieu of getting picked up sometime the next morning if the weather held out. The solar powered lights in the cabin went out today for reasons unknown. Supposedly, we could have reset the circuit, but we didn't know how.
Day 10: August 16th, 2009 (Sunday)
This was the day we were scheduled to be picked up. That is, until we woke up and saw what the weather decided to do:
The fog didn't clear out all day and the rain was off and on. Obviously, we didn't get picked up and probably could have fished an extra day except that we never knew when the weather would be good enough for them to fly. Instead, we sat around the cabin all day reading magazines/books and playing cards. We even had a fire going in the wood stove. It was a LONG day though it gave me a chance to compile all of the fishing statistics (see below).
Day 11: August 17th, 2009 (Monday)
The weather this morning was a lot better. We heard a plane fly in to Hurst Lake and figured that Leuenberger's would be picking us up. The weather still could be crappy in Nakina for all we knew. We still had everything ready to go and the plane showed up around 8:15. The next group in the cabin helped us load our stuff since we helped them unload theirs. Then, their second plane arrived (beer?) just as we were getting ready to depart for Nakina. The flight back to Nakina was rougher than the flight out to the lake. It was a little shorter though due to a tailwind. We arrived in Nakina about 9:30 and quickly loaded our vehicles.
Made a quick stop at Skinner's in Longlac just to B.S. with him and make lunch. The next stop would be Hornepayne, Ontario. On the way, the car developed what seemed to be a tire out of balance. We stopped in Hornepayne and checked tire pressure to make sure we weren't too low for the now loaded car. Between Hornepayne and White River, the vibration got worse. I adjusted the side mirror down so I could see the rear wheel and saw that one of the lug nuts was loose and flopping around. I quickly pulled over and discovered we had a broken stud and one of the other lug nuts was loose. After checking and tightening all of the other lugs, we proceeded on to White River.
We pulled into the service station at 4:30PM and I asked one of the mechanics if they had any replacement studs. Of course, they didn't, but they did call the Ford dealer in Wawa who did have them... just no time to install them the next day. We thought we were going to be staying in Wawa and getting it fixed the next day. Rolling into Wawa, the tire seemed to be doing fine so we opted to continue on and try to get to Sault Ste. Marie where there would be more repair options.
Leaving Wawa, the other vehicle asked if we needed gas or if we wanted to wait until The Canadian Carver "30 minutes" down the road. Since we had 1/8 tank of gas, I said we would wait... Over an hour later and having been on 'E' for a long time, we finally saw a gas station in Montreal Bay and were able to get gas. We put 11.5 gallons in a 12 gallon tank and couldn't have asked for a better time to get the best mileage we'd ever gotten from our car. Montreal Bay was some 49km short of the Carver and I'm thinking we would have come up short.
We arrived in Sault Ste. Marie, MI around 9PM, got some dinner, and then crashed at the Comfort Inn after getting phone numbers for repair shops in town to get the wheel studs fixed the next morning.
Day 12: August 18th, 2009 (Tuesday)
It took a few calls before I was able to find a repair shop that could fix the studs and get us on the road in the morning. The car was on the lift by 8:30AM though we didn't get on the road until 11:15 because the shop didn't call me to tell me it was done... probably at 9AM. Nothing $38 wouldn't fix.
The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Mostly just interstate, gas stops, and eventually getting back to Navarre around 9:15PM.
Fishing Statistics:
This is the important part, right?
Are we at all surprised that Marty caught the most? Of course, it's not a competition... oh wait, yes it is. ;)
Hopefully, we'll get to do it all again next year. Well, everything except for the vehicular mishaps.
