Destination big hugs was the day one plan pointed north and pulling heavy loaded out of the driveway. Forty degree humidexes forecasted at home for the week I figured, to fuck with that! Usually mid summer would be tied up with a contract in the Arctic, perfect timing with returning char runs and the bonus of comfortable north weather. Skipping the doggiest dog days of the Ottawa Valley for this ginger to fill a cooler with fillets from Nunavut while getting paid, just a no brainer! But this year had been different, plenty tinkering with the thinkerings, home project costs and adapting trips, the usual was running off track.
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Day 1. STARTING OVER.

Traffic up the 17 then 11 to Mattice was dead! Nobody on the roads headed into the weekend was odd. Although, slowing down through Moonbeam I did spot the great Bassy Gassy Gustafson tow by with his big Lund, headed east to fish tourneys on Champlain and the St. Lawrence. He seems like a jovial dude online and obviously has what it takes to win at bassin’ on a big stage.

Work up north got scheduled much earlier than normal for me. I had made an attempt at Nipigon already this summer and it didn’t quite go to plan. The Lund had troubles quite a long ways out on the lake, stressing and cutting the trip short and all fishing hours even shorter. What would be the best day and a half start on Nipigon in years, hammering big eyes, pike and getting specks too, after some stormy weather settled down I limped back to the launch on that trip. That rather interesting report can be found here. A surprisingly good time with big fish too.

A SOLO ROADY VI. “The Road To Recovery.”

So afterwards, while away in Nunavut the boat issue got sorted out. The bottom line on that, I replaced a fuel pump for nothing as it didn’t fix shit, but my mechanic did find the trouble in a fuel line and once returning from work I was quick to water test and make sure the boat was good to go. That was on a Monday and by the Friday morning everything was packed, meal preps done, ice made and I hit the road solo for a second time this summer.

This trip had no looming worry nor sadness setting out. A great game plan to partake in mostly lake trout fishing, there were several points of interest on the map I hoped to check out. The vast majority of spots would be new and I planned to break them down. For any speckled trout or pike fishing, it was in mind to try only new shorelines as well. The thought of exploring was exciting and I felt confident that should lakers be found I’d smash ‘em.

At times Bren and friends kept me company on the phone during the eleven hour drive to the overnight in Mattice. Pulling into StevieZ and Amelie’s driveway I saw Emma outside there and rushed over for hugs. Poor girl had been in hospital at Sick Kids in Toronto, twelve hours away for the past three months. It was all just timing that I would see her on a first visit back home. Held the little sweetie so tight my eyes started leaking, it was wonderful. The Brousseau family was on the mend after many weeks of worry, sadness and suffering.
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Day 2. BORN TO BE ALIVE.

Arriving at the launch the lake was a bit white-cappy and rollers were coming into shore. While waiting for that sea to settle I had plenty time to begin prepping and loading the boat. The winds were totally expected to die off and they began to almost right away. While in the parking area a big craft cruised in from the lake, a couple that had been out for the past month once landing made it well known four or five times to any and all who were within a miles earshot that they were out on that lake for a month. Seemed both were very pleased with their time and themselves.

It was a bit of a rough and wet ride to camp which didn’t take too long. The chartplotter had a hard start at first pinning a GPS co-ordinate on me so I stopped awhile full ship to drift and be sure that it was going to reset and work right. It did! There were also five sonars in the boat and four of those independent from one another, should back-up be required.

With sites A, B, C, D, E, etc. in mind it so happened the first choice was vacant. A soft landing, under warm and sunny skies the Lund was completely unpacked, camp made, dinner eaten for lunch and the lunch wraps made to-go for dinner. By 3:00pm I was off and headed fishing.

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Once reaching the blue zone fishy waters I came off plane and was quickly marking ‘em. Quite pleased, I knew the area to be good at times and it appeared the fish were home. The lake was glass and although the sun was hot on the neck, being on the big, cool waters helped make it a bit more tolerable. Last I’d looked the week was expected to have only a little rain and wind mid trip but, the high temperatures bounce more comfortably between 18 to 24C.

The Minnkota and LiveScope down I spent the next hours wandering about in search. Lakers were showing up quite regularly, holding at various depths in the column, it didn’t take long at all to pop a first and keep going consistently thereafter. Jigging is the favorite way to catch lakers. Love setting hooks.

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At it for awhile another big boat had come trolling into the area. The look of this thing was impressive and the angler at the back of the boat was rigging a rod and reeling in trout one-after-another. Like two magnets following fish we soon drifted close to one another, him working away diligently doing his program and me constantly focused on my electronics. Wasn’t until I popped my hat off to lather on some sunblock did I hear a faint yell from across the distance, “BUNK!”

Now I’d thought the boat was something I had recognized but the Captain hollering over was unmistakable. “ROB,” I called back. He answered yep, I reeled in and raced over to say hello.

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On the previous visit north Rob and I spent a number of days together at his resort. While there, he did show a picture or two of this new boat he had planned to buy and in fact, when I left O.R.R. Rob was just days away from driving out to Oregon to pick it up. The new 25.5 foot aluminum, all welded StabiCraft imported from New Zealand took an entire year to arrive in North America and I gotta say, seeing it in the flesh I was taken aback. Just fawking wild this thing! Essentially, Rob had been out for a couple days already, cruising all about the lake, pounding some lakers here and there, dialing in electronics and living out of his boat. It was such a great coincidence to both bump into one another at this exact time that after taking a break from fishing to chat, it was decided he must harbor overnight at my camp so we can share a fire.

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During the six hours on the water, about four of those actually fishing, I was off to a good start. The count 10 for 14 the average size was great and the lakers pulling hard enough that I’d already snapped one of my two main jigging rods in half. Retiring to the campsite Rob was right behind me.

Not expecting company I foraged for firewood while consuming the last wrap. Rob stayed on his boat to cook burgers. The sun had just set when I picked him up to shuttle over to shore where we spent the next couple hours happily chin wagging in each others company. Rob would say he envies me, because I have been able to find a balance to mostly work the winters and enjoy the summers off to fish. He himself is on the opposite schedule and if I was to envy anyone it’d be him. A busy summer fishing resort owner who charters 50 to 60 days a summer for lakers and specks on Lake Nipigon, what a dream! I guess you could say in that moment we were both feeling equally blessed.
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Day 3. HEAD OVER HEELS.
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It’d been a fair bit of sweat and travel to finally reach that place of rest by the campfire night before. Not surprising to sleep in until 8:00am and take a full three hours to get going fishing again come morn. I had a helluva cough that started prior to the trip and about 3:00am I was awake in a real fit with it. Rob too had been burning the candle both ends and admitted to a lousy sleep as well. I didn’t feel like I was in any rush though, a good eight to ten hours on the water a day is more than enough, so with the late summer sunsets a long day out can be had from even noon through to 9:00pm or beyond.

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I climbed aboard the StabiCraft for the official grand tour. This boat has it all, from toilet with holding tank, fridge, stove, BBQ, two possible beds in cabin and certainly enough back deck space to sleep under the stars, a lot of thought went into maximizing this boat. Plenty storage compartments, the LED lighting is posh, the built in rod holes on the gunnels even tilt at different angles to best lay a rod spread when trolling. Rob put in a couple 16-inch Garmin units, the boat is rated up to 400HP although Rob chose a 300 Yammy and 25 kicker all fueled by a 300 liter tank. Once he gets his routes for autopilot dialed in the StabiCraft will take care of its own speed and tracks on his chosen laker trolling lines, all he’ll have to do is man the rods for his guests. It is a rock solid vessel, the aluminum hull thickness he would say is 8mm and of course it is an all welded boat that at 3000 pounds still planes out easy and can cruise to near 50mph. Beautiful and ohhhh I wish…

The first two hours on those rich fishing grounds from our evening before was dead. The odd fish poked its head off bottom but otherwise they were all laying belly down. Nothing caught until 1:00pm for me, Rob had already long began trolling away and wasn’t anywhere to be seen on the horizon now.

There was a north chop on the water in early hours and once that calmed the sun beat on me hard. Drank so much water to be sure it seemed I was outta my seat to piss every ten minutes, and the cough was relentless enough to leave me with a throbby headache all day. The fish eventually woke up and from 1:00pm until 4:00pm anything I could find would hit the lure. Plenty caught in that eight to fifteen pound range with some overs into the higher teens as well. I stayed busy jigging them all, 15 for 18 in those three hours until at 4:00pm the LiveScope died. Sooooo I tried trolling, changed to the rigger and popped 4 for 6 between about 4:30 to 5:30pm. It wasn’t as much fun and having had a great afternoon 19 for 24 it was decided to go back to camp, take a lake bath, cool down, pop some Tylenol, grab the generator, charge the Minnkota and LiveScope in the boat while boating out and exploring some islands for brookies through the evening.

He’s a few of the fish. I’ll timestamp all the laker pics for the rest of the report.

2:49pm

3:26pm

4:48pm caught trolling.

The specks didn’t co-operate at all. While off of one island the phone received a random ping notification when I suddenly got a bar of service. Made a call to home and also found a text from Rob too. It was well after 7:00pm and he’d trolled his way back to where we had left one another. Returned a message to him saying back to camp at sunset but it didn’t send. Hmph!

As the sunset I found myself just probing into some shallow areas looking for pike and at the same time going ashore for wood or puttering about with odds and ends in the boat. The laker fishing so far was very good, that first four hours day one plus another six this day, in the ten I was now 29 for 38 and confident should the weather hold to keep building on that.

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Rob never returned. I whipped up some chicken curry and rice for supper, started a fire and enjoyed a beer into the dark. This was the first ever trip to Nipigon that I didn’t bring scotch and it was missed by the fire. It’s like habit to sip a few ounces from the tin cup while jotting down notes to remember the day by. The past four years alcohol has actually been agreeing less and once coming through Winnipeg in 2021 after a beer, gin and scotch at the hotel bar I got itchy and broke out in hives on my chest. Red wine had been trouble even before this, having just a sip would itch my neck, and a glass my body. Dark whiskeys and rums often cause feet swelling, hand tightness and morning stiffness. Nowadays even one drink can leave me feeling like shit next day, and Bren says the snoring is worse with booze. So, those shit sleeps eventually lead to lower back pain through fatigue as well. To better enjoy alcohol I’m stuck taking an anti-histamine to control allergic type reactions and a Pantoloc for any gastritis troubles. The new cough with this trip, well it’s the fifth bout of something lingering for weeks on end throughout this year. What seems like a cold at first just hangs around too long. Bren diagnosed it a GERD cough actually and recommended the Pantoloc daily once I started to complain of sandpaper mouth and a constant foul tasting film. She’s right, stomach acids are irritating the throat enough to often cause that aggravating tickle like one gets with a cold. And anyone who’s experienced that, understands once that cough gets going it annoys the throat worse and worse to keep it going. Sometimes the cough turns to gagging and then puke happens. Shit man, I’m falling apart! Getting older sucks they say. Even as a type this report my lower legs and arms are itchy right now because I had one Corona with supper and didn’t take meds. It’s fucked! Anyways, bitching over! I’m still gonna take scotch next trip but it’s been decided, in two years, after a 50th birthday and trip to Scotland to enjoy the whiskey and sites over there, the booze days will be over.

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Day 3. SWEET EMOTION

Every hour of LiveScope used it takes an hour to recharge the Dakota Lithium 12V with their 3-amp charger. First order of business once home, get a better charger. It bites listening to a generator run for eight hours in the pristine wilderness.

Woke pretty early to a bumping big wind and knew right away I wouldn’t be reaching the lakers anytime soon. Where did this front come from? Shuffled about but by 10:00am the motor was warming up with the thought of basically just picking away along protected shorelines and within other protected areas all day long. Some pike waters to investigate, some speck spots too. The LiveScope was still not charged either. Had run the genny evening before from 6:00 to 11:00pm and another two hours of this morning and still not done. Jeezus Crispies! Took that power in the boat to keep‘er going.

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Plenty of places to see and things to do, more firewood to collect too, the morning into mid afternoon was rather fish-less but, I hadn’t put all that much effort into it. A new pike bay that would be great in spring was just too shallow and hot this time of season, good to mark it on the map because it does hold ‘em tho. Found a half dozen giant pike sunning themselves in a calm, clear rando spot but, being midday in just a handful of casts it was evident they weren’t biting for now, and so it vibed best to leave ‘em alone until a sundown showdown. Also fished some speck waters I’d heard could be great yet there was nothing doing for me. On route through it all a few small pike and a whitefish were all I could muster up.

A hotspot was passed through again and I reached out to Bren over the phone. Good to touch base, years ago that could never happen on the lake. The tuna wraps made on this day were not the delicious left-over pork or chicken kabobs I’d barbequed at home, the tuna got things more mushy, won’t do it again. With the lousy lunch, low numbers of fish, missing my woman and starting to feel boxed in by this wind, the boat beached on a clear shoreline spot I was passing by. There I got out to stretch before taking a short siesta.

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Somehow I lost two hours under a tree and when waking realized it was nearly 7:00pm and the wind had considerably died off. Made a B-line for the lakers with hopes to get an hour or two fishing in.

They were biting alright when I arrived, first fish time stamped at 7:28pm was decent and the next two photographed within just sixteen minutes were bigguns too. Incredible back-to-back first three lakers on the day, only too bad the day was near over.

7:28pm

7:38pm

7:44pm

Ended things before 9:00pm for two reasons, 1) because there wasn’t much daylight left and I was wanting an hour to fish those pike I’d seen earlier. Had a bit of a rip to go to get back to them too and, 2) I’m an idiot! The laker fishing after the first three caught did slow some though, I’d only catch two more and go 5 for 6 during this very short period laker run.

The pike were a bust. Got back to that cabbage bed flat, casted about here and there but didn’t find no biters anywhere. Though I didn’t really care, the fishing all day had been fair, I needed to wash my hair, find clean underwear, and the sun was setting now just ober der.

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That night the wind died right down and all was silent, silent until around 1:30am when I was suddenly sprung to life by what sounded like a herd of splashing animals going by along the shoreline. Heart racing I flicked on the lantern, found then loaded the shotgun and just as I finished the noises stopped. Love this lake, the camping, boating, fishing and feelings it sometimes evokes in the dark. Fell back asleep rather easy though, dreamt of Asian women doing adult things to me ti’ll morning… Don’t ask how or why but rather just believe everything I say to always be true.
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Day 4. LET ME PUT MY LOVE INTO YOU.

My parents, some friends and the era I grew up in made me an outdoorsy dude for life. Always playing outside as a kid, mom and dad used to take my brother and me skiing in the winters and camping in places like Picton or Presquille. Catching frogs, turtles, crayfish and salamanders, picking fossils, fishing, swimming and even dirt biking on our little Honda 50 all through the campgrounds, I did shit like that every day. Man that Honda 50, I drove it right down town with traffic a few times by Grade 7, never getting in trouble for it. Dad had a plane when I was little too, the sky was honestly the limit for me until I was about eight years old. And we had a tiny forest beside the house when I was really little too, the shades and shadows under the pines always intriguing, always calling out, it was the place I remember wanting to be, so I was. As a tot and into the teens, the fields across Drummond Street went back for miles. There were dirt trails to walk and explore and always wildlife to find. Saw my first red fox and great horned owl in those fields, had one of my many forts and a tree seat too where I’d go and smoke so was out of the house. The neighborhood kids of course played War, this comic book “ElfQuest” and Cowboys and Indians too (of which I was always an Indian). We had forts everywhere and stick and stone weapons cached about. Jason and I would get the cattle behind his house all riled up in the back pastures too, total shit disturbers with a satchel of apples for chucking at ‘em, we could be wild and sometimes the bulls would stampede us over fence lines or chase us up trees where we’d have to wait ‘em out for hours. I started golfing around Grade 5 and with a Junior membership during the summer days right to Grade 8, I would sometimes play 27 to 36 holes a day, cooling off on the course swimming for golfballs on the third and fourth holes. Could make money selling Titleists, Hogans and Ultras back to the Pro between rounds, cover the cost of lunch and lemonades too. At Stewart Park with friends we’d swim at Slippery Rock, The Outdoor Pool, in the falls at Rainbow Bridge and out of town at Beveridges Locks as well. In grade school I got in trouble for climbing trees, going off property, swimming in the river at recess, getting up on the roof and so I ended up in the Principals office nearly thirty times in grade 5, though mostly for fighting too. Broke the knuckles in my left hand three times that year punching kids all wrong in the head. Small in primary school, maybe second smallest in the class but being a redhead I was sensitive and so oftentimes explosive. I loved chasing the girls around the schoolyard too, Tawnya and Cindy mostly, until they left for another school to attend French Emersion. And when I got a bit older it was skateboarding and snowboarding anywhere in Perth or away in other towns and the city. There were quarter pipes, launch ramps, half pipes and even at times little skate parks to be cool at. Hit the road to get anywhere and sometimes that’d get me back out camping up at Ragged Chutes too, a place where so many fond memories were made for so many teenagers. Eventually fishing would find me in the mid teens and I loved that! The tug was the drug, bass, mudpout and speckled trout, I was taught a little about fly fishing and taken deep into a private lodge wilderness once a summer to fish for brookies on wonderful, clean and clear lakes in the Dumoine Gatineau Hills. It all made sense and still does, and although surely missing even more examples it is no wonder today I still find myself always longing to be outside exploring and doing those kinda things I’ve always loved. Hell, moved north for it years ago and still go because of it. Money could be made anywhere in my job, but happiness cannot. Having a sense of truly belonging to a place, a lifestyle and owning who you are and the path you choose, that is rather liberating and meaningful. The great outdoors are just that!

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Through the night the noises had startled me up but after that time a wind switch got me out of bed to check on the boat in the dark, early morning. Groggy come sunrise it was a bit of a chore to get out of bed. Once vertical I was moving along and after breakfast needed to do some retying and inventory taking on the soft plastic situation. The lakers were being hard on shit and so I prepared to have gear really locked and loaded at the ready for ‘em this day.

By 10:00am was out in a blue zone playing in a bit of a lumpy, bumpy surf. The lakers were flat to bottom again, jaws locked up, maybe asleep..? They’re like damn teenagers on that lake, rarely out of bed before ten, plenty times later than noon. Figuring there was a full day for it and the winds were to fall calm later on, I took off to tour and fish three new islands which oddly had never even been on the radar for me. In fact, their mapping is not yet even printed in my book, so quite totally overlooked. From the above pictures maybe some will guess where, they are quite striking to troll along. And that’s what I did for a few hours until 2:00pm. Picked up one speck and one out of the way and quite beaten up old walleye.

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Way out and trolling the phone oddly rang out of the blue. It was Jason, the childhood friend I’d mentioned who would rattle cattle with me when we was around ten to twelve years of age. He randomly had a question about boat props and just wanted to touch base. This is what must have set my mind to wander back to the good ole days. Once off the line with him I inhaled a quick wrap while up on plane boating across glass towards Lakerville. It was time to get greasy, figured they had to be playful by now…

Other than Rob, I hadn’t seen another boat seen since day one. Past three after we parted it was just me on the lake, or at least it sure felt like it. Incredible that such a place exists, is so uninhabited, so accessible and yet I was alone to fish. There wouldn’t be another boat cross paths until reaching the launch to go home. Absolute heaven!

Dropped a jig at 2:28pm and the first laker time stamped my photo at 2:33pm. From then until just after 5:00pm the lakers were a bit tricky. Maybe enough of them had seen hooks the past days, some were moving a bit too quick away from the boat. The LiveScope could at times pick up fish coming in, slowing and then the odd one even turning around. Didn’t like seeing that much after awhile, and so started to broaden the search patterns to much greater distances than had been. Fired up the main to cruise along the structures and get further beyond, watching the 2D for anything structure sexy and special fishy looking below. To this point in time I was 7 for 7 in those 2.5+ hours and if you can believe me, I was finding that fishing too slow. There were more fish around they just needed to be found.

2:33pm

4:30pm

I hit a spike coming from a deeper depth to an underwater stalagmite then into a slower taper falling deep again. Having actually been up on plane in the search I came to an abrupt halt and just there immediately spotted two hooks on screen. Dropped down got one, dropped again got the second, no effort needed. Okay, so now the LiveScope comes out, sidescan and 2D already on and the area takes a good sweep. The more I focused on this spot the more that underwater structure drew me a mental picture. The more realization of this the more confidence I had to believing it would hold fish better this way rather than that. And that’s when bigger numbers of fish started showing up on the graph and scope. Took about an hour of fishing through fewer fish spotted to eventually find a motherlode. Then, I just pounded ‘em one after another while staying with.

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What happened over the next 3.5 hours I will never forget. 23 for 26 on the jiggin’. Broken off once, rubbers all mangled and my arms just beaten right off. Lakergasms on repeat I got lubed so greasy it hurt sooo good. “Let me put my hooks into you babe, let me get that laker on the line!”

The timing on these shots of some bigger fish is pretty intense. They came quick and the school I was on held plenty pigs in this pen.

5:28pm

6:22pm

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6:37pm

7:12pm

7:34pm

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7:49pm

8:12pm

8:36pm

How’d I feel during all that slaying and more… Judging by some stills taken from the video about this good!

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30 for 33 this day and I quit on a 30th catch at 9:01pm. So little left in the tank, sunburnt, exhausted, hungry, just totally spent. A lot of exercise went into those lakers, fast and furious fishing that had me horsing in many others which weren’t photo worthy, so that the lure could drop again quick into the next heavy contender. Add the 10 hours, to the 1.5 yesterday and 6.5 this day, and over the 18 hours the total so far was 65 for 77 with some absolute crushers coming over the gunnels. It was a beautiful and satisfying ride back to camp.

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Day 5. FOXTROT UNIFORM CHARLIE KILO.

Spent the morning making camp ready for coming rains, threw up the gazebo. Some of the biggest winds expected too, the forecast came into me from Bren that morning, so I prepared and triple tied the Lund in the event of any rocking and rolling to be had this day and into the next. Have learned on Nipigon that no matter how “protected” you think the boat can be, big winds and waters can always find a way to swirl themselves into every corner of this lake.

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The Captain’s chair pedestal also broke evening before. Inside the main shaft sits an upright hydraulic shock secured at its top with a metal ring around it and welded to the inner part of that main support. The welds broke free leaving the shock loose and, somehow after this the seal for the hydraulics went and the shock lost all pressure. It was rendered useless so, that morning I spent an hour trying to trouble shoot it to find out that really the only option was to reinstall as a fixed pedestal. It sits about an inch or two lower than I usually do, is still a wee loose with the chair attached yet it’ll do for now.

Rising from the tent 7:30am there was no rush. For over ten hours the generator ran thru the night and that was no bother, sleep with earplugs the batteries for everything were quietly and well charged up. Took time to build a quick fire and burn out some garbage before expected rains would come in the evening. Keeping two coolers the 7-day green one isn’t usually opened until half way through a trip. Sealed ratchet strap tight, inside will often remain frozen food for the final days as well as large blocks of ice. Shortly after first going into that cooler I’ll remove everything and add it to the white 5-day food cooler which carries a bit more volume within. Everything will make it another 5-7 days once all in there… You know, it seems like the boat is too loaded when I go out on trips but having extra ice is always necessary, enough and even more gas to burn than you’d think is smart, a generator is a must and the gazebo just nice to have too, and inside the tent I have some very comfortable, thick, air/foam mattresses that I’d rather sleep on than the bed at home. A well equipped and comfortable camping experience with no worries of food spoiling or having to limit fishing fun for fuel is always the goal. Basically for about six hours this morn I just happily puttered about camp cooking breakfast, pre-preparing lunch, organizing, cleaning, fixing and burning.

Weather intel expected a switch in wind direction and lull in the afternoon during the process. It was about 1:30pm when deciding to chance it by heading out for a look. From camp it appeared to be slowing down, the whitecaps gone for about a half hour already. Figured it may be the only window for lakers and to be honest, I just wasn’t interested in anything else this trip. By 2:00pm I untied and got rolling.

Riding out wasn’t too bad. Could see in the distance really big surf but I was protected for much of the route except when having to poke out for about ten minutes and punch through the big stuff on an exposed fetch before rounding a point into lee side waters. The wind direction still expected to shift and threaten even more yet, it’d be a matter of keeping the head up and not letting time get too late. Bigger winds were still to come and from a bearing that could trap me overnight in a safe harbor. With 20-40mm of rain starting near midnight and the strong blows, the idea of sitting under an umbrella in a rain suit all night was not going to happen.

The jig dropped at 2:28pm and after releasing four or five the first stamped on the camera 22-minutes later. Fish just happened to be 25.5 pounds.

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2:50pm

Could not quite get to the water I’d been fishing day before but there had been a secondary area that was more sheltered. A bit deeper, two humps rose up from well over 100fow to less than 80. It was more than enough structure and I’d already discovered fish there days before. After scanning about the first hour it was soon obvious another big pod of lakers was holding to it, and they were all hungry.

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After an hour right to that minute of first dropping down a jig, another big pig well over twenty pounds hooked up. It was a brute of a fight and I put the gears to it. When arriving I’d spot lock over arcs and the wind would swing the tail end of the boat to point nose into the wind. Now when I’d lock the direction was 45 degrees different and beginning to get me nervous. Fish were a race against time, I had already caught and released nine or ten and actually felt if there were enough hours to go to sundown, that at the rate I was catching maybe I could finish with 35 this day and an even hundred on the trip..?

3:28pm

But that race couldn’t be won. Wishful thinking. The next hour and half the wind continued to slow switch to a full 90 degrees from when I’d started. Some cells moved in around me and some rains were beginning to catch up too. The fish kept biting ravenously and when it was getting wet enough outside I shut down the video camera in mid battle with the seventeenth laker on the line. I’d push on to get twenty of them though, and at only minutes before 5:00pm call it a day. I had to at least track back to camp, round that bumpy point and see what seas were waiting for me there.

It wasn’t all that bad getting through although it was surely the safe time to go. Keeping the nose high Bambalam bounced her way heading nearly straight into some 3 to 4 footers for ten minutes or so until the fetch shortened and waves dropped considerably. As the evening would progress that blow did continue to switch for even worse and eventually hit gusts of 60km/hr. I was safe and comfortable back at camp a couple hours before then.

While out fishing for those few hours, a couple of visitors had come by the site.

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Momma moose and her calf left plenty prints at the boat landing, across a short path and out the backside of the campsite. Kinda glad she visited while I wasn’t around, would have been a bit nerve wracking sharing the place. Regardless, in chance she should return I whittled myself a sturdy weapon and practiced my spear chucking. Like my ancient ancestors it appeared I still had it within my powers.

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Another three hours to add to the total time of laker fishing put me at best figuring, 21 hours. The count thus far too, 85 for 99… and yeah, I could maybe be a +/- on the 99 but did my best to count any losses. Sometimes there would only be some very brief hits and hookups that one can’t really count as a fish being “on.”

Got me thinking… I scour the internet often, keeping an eye on many high end Arctic lodge packages offering lake trout, pike, walleye and/or grayling options at costs per person sometimes exceeding $15,000 for a week. Lake Nipigon offers as big or bigger pike, lakers just as big as most of them, bigger and better walleye for sure (talking Great Lake sized walleye) and world class speckled trout fishing too, no joke! It’s also huge water, big enough to fit other “world class” laker fisheries like say two Wollaston or Neultin lakes, three La Martre or Cree lakes or, four Gods or Kasba lakes. Having enjoyed enormous Great Bear & Slave lakes a number of times as well as Athabasca, I am convinced that Nipigon offers lake trout fishing rivalling even these world class bodies of water because, it doesn’t come at a price tag of $5000 to $10,000 per person a week. And although those big three amazing arctic watersheds do offer the best shot at world record sized lakers as well providing wonderfully catered-to wilderness experiences with finer lodgings, Nipigon offers many more options at an affordable cost range with the bonus of fishing out of one’s own boat. Yes, the possibility of lake trout to even fifty pounds does exist on Nipigon too… I remember Brenda and I visited Great Bear the first time staying at the main lodge. We had a veteran guide; awesome character, and we fished 3.5 days and about the same number of hours total as I did this solo Nipigon trip. Brenda and I caught 77 lake trout, a 28, 25, and either 22 or 21 pounder if memory serves. Three maybe four over 20 pounds, 77 lakers! And when I fished Athabasca some years ago, a friend and I put in double the hours catching a bunch over twenty pounds as well as a biggest at 28. A dozen guests there that week and only one over 30 pounds at 36. I know people who have paid the big lodge prices and travel costs for a weeks fishing who never caught a laker over twenty pounds. One fella on a 3-day upwards of $5000 trip caught four small lakers with a shitty guide who should have never, ever even had a job working at that place. Another guide fished his entire first summer and his guests never boated one over 20 pounds. So, it just goes to show that in my few days and Rob’s few days as well, that between our boats fishing the equivalent of a 1-week trip for two, his 139 plus my 85 lakers and our combined numbers of 20 plus pound trophy sized fish, proves that Lake Nipigon is one fawking seriously awesome, worthy lake trout fishery once you are “tuned in.” And that’s another thing, it’s “YOU” who tunes in! You who makes or breaks “YOUR fishing.”

Received intel of a front coming in. Shit, I already knew one was here! The winds were to blow hard through tonight, the next day, the next day and well into the next day with a rainfall warning in effect for 50-60mm, coming soon! The way I saw it, that weather wouldn’t lift until at least the final day I was hoping to leave although, it looked on the morrow morning to be a bit of a lull with a good wind direction I could use to escape back to the launch. That became one focus that evening, while the others were enjoying some chicken and shrimp curry, a couple beers, snacks, charging cameras and other electronics, having a short fire and uploading the photos and videos to the laptop once the rains started spitting outside.

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It poured down hard that night.
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Day 6. MMM BOP DUMP A DOO!

The camp was very soggy come morning yet the tent was dry and much under the gazebo too. Up and at it for 7:00am Bren had sent through the Environment Canada marine forecast and basically I needed to be boating out of here soon or otherwise face Hell by early afternoon and for the next 60 to 72 hours. I didn’t want to be prisoner to wind and rains for that long.

Humming a kids tune for the next two and a half hours I worked away and broke camp, packed up, loaded the boat, had breakfast, made lunch to go and pushed off at 9:30am. The lake was being real nice for most of the ride, wind at my back the Lund surfed pretty easy.

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Sadly lost two days fishing having to leave early. Long way to go from Ottawa to Nipigon for just 4.5 days fishing on the lake. Add that 4.5 to the 2.5 on the spring Solo Roady though, and I guess a weeks worth of fishing and a more normal trip time was eventually had. The amazing lake trout fishing, seeing Emma home in Mattice and bumping into Rob on the lake made this short experience one of the most memorable, happy solo trips I have ever taken. Adventure, excitement and reward.

Pulled out of the parking lot at noon and soon as I got reception found a message from Rob. The evening he didn’t return to camp he stayed out fishing lakers till 2:00am. From around 7:00pm onward the laker bite had been insane and he boated over forty fish before anchoring down the night in a safe harbor. That was of course the day the LiveScope conked out around 5:00pm, maybe woulda been smart to stay and troll? Next day when the winds had held me back, Rob’s bigger craft powered through to other areas and all day long he crushed even more numbers. When finally back at the resort sometime after that, his 4.5 day trip on the water coughed up 139 lakers. He would have certainly felt by then that his new StabiCraft was well Christened with fish slime.

I had to pick through the weather windows a little more safely in the smaller craft and felt blessed to have jigged up that many fish in short time. Hunting and dropping on arcs might be a bit slower a process at times until you find the fish, then once you do there is nothing more gratifying than the interactive play and hookups that exist through this method of angling. I believe that given seven full days on lakers I would have tuned in more and more to easily push well over a hundred caught. Regardless, it was again just so awesome to experience what I did, all of it! This roady was a real good one!

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Thanks for reading,
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Bunk.
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