Leah came along on the spring annual fishing trip, our daughter who lights up our world every day. And I can’t stop looking at the trip photos.

Back in March I just threw it out there. “Kiddo, you wanna go to Nipigon with your mom and I this year?” “YEAH BOOMER!” She was pretty stoked about it, kinda surprising. Years ago Leah had tripped there before, her first time away from mom when she was about ten or eleven. It was tough on the little one, hanging with just myself and some other lads, fishing ALL day, putting up with our smells and our snoring. Homesick she’d often cry in the mornings, but I remember there were some things that did take her mind off the troubles. Reeling ‘em in, having alone time with just me, exploring a little and eating treats in the boat. Throughout the long days in the boat she had books, videos, toys and the front deck to herself to enjoy them. Of all the fish she caught that trip, pike, specks and walleye, it was the “little” walleyes she liked best. “Dad, are we fishing walleye this trip? Hey dad, can we do some perching? Of course that’s a no this time around, well maybe some walleye?

She was a little trooper back then… Time would tell if she still is..?

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MOOSE ON LOOSE.

Biggs, Bar and Pasty Jamie get us out the driveway now that Doc and Woody are no more. They’re funny guys on 106, just not “quite” as funny in my opinion but picking up more and more steam as they go.

A sunny day for an eleven hour drive to Mattice to stay a night with the Agent Stevie Zebco and his lovely wife Amelie. We were up around Stonecliffe when Bren spotted the first of a few moose we’d see along the highway heading north.

Leah plugged herself into her own devices to bear down through Bren’s and my arguing over what CD was going to play next. Yeah, the new truck didn’t come with a CD player much to my sadness soooooo, I had one sent from the Amazon. It’s a ritual to listen to “my” stuff on the long haul and since Bren joined in some years back, it’s become her ritual to share (interfere) with that. Some tours had gone OK in my opinion but when “old” Tina Turner (like before Private Dancer and shit) and when “old” BeeGees (like before Staying Alive) came into the mix, it was with those painful songs that the thoughts of crossing over a lane into an oncoming transport started coming to mind. This trip… well, near fatal outcomes were still very possible, cause her chosen tunes were real good for putting me to sleep at the wheel.

For the first time in 20 years of passing it by we stopped for a short break at the Temagami Tower site to take in that scenery. It was nice. For some odd reason I figured it was kind of a derelict landmark of sorts, not really much of a tourist attraction, but I was wrong. Nothing overly crazy or out of the way or dangerous, this tasteful, picturesque rest area is worth a look. Leah and I liked it very much, Bren made it to the top and was quite quick to turn around. She didn’t care for the height or the wind up top.

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By the time we had arrived in Mattice surely Leah had made a dozen necklaces and learned to speak German from some tapes she’d brought along. Our hosts had pizza and drinks on the menu but dead tired after the meal I could only watch a little of the Habs game with Stevie’s dad Denis before retiring to bed. It would be an early wake-up.

Out the door and back on the road for 6:00am we spotted another moose on the highway. Sadly it had been decapitated. A breezier day, we met showers in Jellicoe after gassing in Longlac. The Reserve there was closed up tight due to the Covid outbreak north. That lake there though, Longlac, that’s one I gotta fish sometime as some friends of friends have been showcasing some really great catches online the past few years.

When we did reach the launch the wind timely settled. The lake was flat, the sun beaming, the perfect conditions for running out far and finding a camp.

A great site was later found vacant. Lots of room, lots of protection, lots of options. Dropping the girls off I had to run all the way back to the launch for a second load of fuel, the coolers and booze. There just wasn’t the capacity to add that 400 pounds or so to the first shuttle. When returning the group had everything set up totally mint, Stevie and Bren even had a good collection of firewood started. We’d need solid and dry shelter for the days coming. Forecasted winds and rains off and on throughout the week, there were times ahead we were figuring camp may be all we see for a day.

With our team all familiar from numbers of past trips, making, breaking and living in camp together comes very easy now. By around 4:00pm after the initial chores and a rest we set off out on the lake to find lakers together… and we did! Leah was of course to be on the first rod to fire, picking up a rather looong and leaner.

LEAH’S FIRST DAY LAKER VIDEO
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That didn’t take long really. Over two hours we’d pop one each, some respectable fish for a good start. With Nipigon I prefer the generally larger spring laker sizes over the fall numbers, but will take anything we can get really.

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Close to some pike fishing both boats snuck over to check that out. Getting a feel for things is always the way first day or two. Each and every season will throw some curve balls, it’s just Mother Nature’s way of reminding us how insignificant we are to this grand lake and it’s rule. Stevie and Amelie were figuring some things out though.

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Leah enjoyed casting pike much more than boring trolling for lakers. The pike however weren’t in real thick like they normally would be. Much warmer seasonal water temps, no signs of perch, suckers or really any bait for that matter in the shallows, I kinda feared the pike had long spawned, munched down and gone. However, it was only the first spot to look.

So we booked it to check another area, where Stevie and Amelie would inspect for more pike, and our boat would try a favorite shoreline for specks. With under an hour remaining to play it would turn out the pike were totally gone from the other spot too. Not a good sign. They’re not stacked, instead they’re rather scattered!?!? Cabbage was well up in a lot of places too. That’d be one place to look later but with that comes more effort to cover more water.

On the specks our shoreline was overrun with snot rockets. Water temps in their wheelhouse, pike cruising about all over do push the specks away. Luckily, Leah’s rod would bend and she’d pick up her first brookie of the trip, and quite a nice one too. The smile on this girl makes all her fish look better.

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Back at camp our Fire Woman Bren would get the heat on and cover supper duty. Spinach and beef ravioli with chopped tomato and green onion in a marinara sauce, some parm cheese, it was so damn good we’re adding to the menu for next year too.

Boozy and tired with a very sunburnt forehead, not even a noisy toad somewhere around camp could keep me from melting out quick.
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SKETCH RUN.

Northerns were on the docket for the day, amongst the everything else that swims the Nip. Weather was calling SW switching to NW 15 knots with rain coming. Between 5 and 7am it was nice and sunny but as we rolled on out after breakfast things turned cooler and grey.

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We started with lakers but ended up in a new area too shallow and warm to offer any confidence. Rumored a spring “hot spot” I could see it, but more so probably at ice out. This vast shallow flat with numerous runoff creeks and rivers feeding warm water and calling spawning fish in could be key at that right time, for now though the water levels were lower and a bit warm for lakers. But eyes and pike maybe??? First thing was first, finding our way in through the vast, sandy shallows and into river number one. Under low light and slight chop it proved to be too sketchy, too difficult. Stevie and Amelie even managed to beach themselves a short time when they crept in too far. We motored off for deeper pastures, kinda bummed about the failure.

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It was a long shot really. Big run in less than ideal conditions. The day kinda plagued over me with an uneasy feeling. In part maybe because Leah was with us and the newish waters certainly possessed some extra hazards, in part because the weather could turn on a moments notice and leave a bouncy run back to camp. Maybe too cause a lot of the weeks fuel was getting burned up early. We kept moving on in search of pike, we found a few but no big score. Each bay we entered the water temps were equal to that of the main lake, sometimes even cooler. A lot of pike were again long gone and out of the bays, other than handfuls of little snot rockets.

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Nervous winds blowing over many shoals we made our way over to the glassy waters on the lee side of the vast bay. There along the shorelines it was a whole new day. We began by heating up some chili while I trolled walleye. No catch. Steve and Amelie would come find us in time and we’d use the calm waters to sail onward. Shallow tapered and weedy, the right lines for trout were mostly non-existent. Trolling by this rock pile gave me hope when Leah’s rod went again, of course when you’re not targeting pike they bite.

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The winds died some, and the rains held back. Maybe tired, maybe old, I wondered if I could grow old gracefully? Would I be a curmudgeon? Worse than I can already sometimes be? The weather man was fucked and that bothered! Although spending the day with chills from cooler winds and my anxious thoughts, there was really no reason for worry though, no reason to grump either. Stevie and Amelie were off chasing lakers and making the best of it. We were edging our way closer to camp and popping a couple greys on route, that there seemed the right kind of pick me up.

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Leah and Bren wanted to call it early. Around 4:00pm the winds finally did switch direction and they began to throw up waves pretty fast from the north. Packing up the gear we made haste for home base and slid into our beach before supper. My two played some chess shortly after, Stevie chopped some wood, we dried some clothes, Leah picked flowers, and we all ate some snacks…

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But, in about an hour and a half Stevie, Amelie and I were back in their boat just to cruise around close to camp for some specks. Boat control was tougher by the minute yet Amelie managed a nice one.

The stir fry supper was delicious, so was the gin, wine and scotch. Although fishing was a little slow we certainly did get out there and explore. Nearing the longest day of the year it didn’t seem it at all. Times like these tend to go by all too fast.
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TOOTHLESS GRIN.

We’d been a bit boozier the night before so it was a slower start than normal. What time exactly, I don’t recall. The girls and I set off for specks to a spot that usually is great but after arriving and casting about, it was apparent we’d found runt pike again. In fact, the place was crawling with them and they surely liked snapping off our lures. Leah was having great fun with it though, catching one after another and some solid fish too. Initially she didn’t want to hold any for pictures but that changed after I made her do it with the biggest one, a not so much “runt” fish at all. I think she still remembers getting her finger sliced years ago by a gill raker her first time on the lake. She prefers other less toothy fish.

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We switched gears to lakers a short while. Right off the hop some fish were spotted up higher on the graph but almost instantly they dropped to bottom. Sulking there, everything I looked at was down thereafter and it really didn’t take long to figure out the bite was off. No fish caught by either boat, Stevie and Amelie were game to try specks on route to a new pike spot we’d never fished before. Truth be told, even the speck spots were new, just some small, isolated, offshore rocky islands that you’d figure something had to live around..? Well, it was a bust for both boats there although Stevie and I agreed that under the right circumstances and times, each island appeared to hold prime speck structure for spawn and feed.

We reached the pike grounds after our long ride. A “fabled” spot. Getting into the back bay took some time and effort through a long creek channel that for it’s length held about 1.5 feet of water most of the way. Some blow downs, the odd rock hazard and plenty weeds needed careful navigation while shallow driving slow and steady.

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Finally inside the water was a “tepid” 67F on the surface. Cabbage there was growing in seven and eight feet, the max depth about twelve. I’d personally never seen cabbage more than four, maybe five feet or so and much more sparse at this time of year. It changes the spring game that’s for sure!

We were just entering the lake when Bren suddenly cried, “MY TOOTH!” Biting into a Tim Horton’s salted caramel granola bar she completely snapped off her top, front right tooth. Carefully she chewed on, inspecting for the broken piece but to no avail. A sad swallow she became so embarrassed while Leah laughed on uncontrollably. Myself, well I was rather uncomfortable to react at all, I mean, it is kind of a sensitive situation..? For the longest time Bren wouldn’t smile but Leah kept after her, making her laugh it out eventually. When I saw my boxer wife with her missing front tooth I’ll be honest it was kinda cute. Leah would even go so far to say as, “ever Rez now you.” Comments like that are reserved to those with Status though, not so much for me to say or even think nowadays without trouble. When the dust settled after a few minutes Leah found Bren’s missing piece of tooth in the boat. Bren was pretty stoked about that, quickly asking for some Crazy Glue to try and stick it back on. One tough cookie this girl. Can we call girls “cookies” of any kind anymore? If not, I guess she’s one tough granola bar then.

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Tried plying the warmest shallows that reached well into the 70’s. Nothing but snots sticking in there. As we drifted out over deeper cabbage found, it picked up with some shhmedium sized pike but the action and sizes were nothing impressive. Stevie and Am were doing no better on the opposite side of the bay. When we met in the middle around our lunch break we were none excited. Lots more space to try and work it just seemed rather pointless to make the effort really. So we booked it for lakers, Steve and Am to try some specks first. On route Leah finally snipered a pic of what she’d had her sights set on most, that toothless grin.

LEAH PUNKS HER MOM VIDEO
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Set up and trolling on a well known offshore shoal, it was only the second time I’d ever stopped by to try. The first time there some years ago was while on a Solo Roady, when I kinda cruised deeper water nearby looking for a jig bite. That day was short and uneventful. While there this time another boat was out and it appeared to be moving very slowly with three anglers standing. Well, they never sat down. I turned towards to investigate only to find they were jigging. From 150fow to 120fow to 90 to 50 to 28fow we found the top of the shoal and had to speed over and lift the rigger ball to have all lines clear the top without snagging. I turned away, went deep again awhile then came back towards it once more and that’s when the rigger hit so hard it shook the boat. I HAVE NEVER had my rigger strike like that, the rod buckle in the holder like it did and a laker scream 200 feet of line out from a 500 Tekota set with muskie drag. Rod in hand as it was running I felt it stop and thud some incredible headshakes then suddenly nothing. It was lost. I caught a small one later and we lost another, the girls getting bored of it we turned the bow towards camp and some speck islands to try on route.

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Pepperettes and candies all day with some extra sweet weather we made the best of it. Stevie and Am rolled on by us to say there were heading back to camp a little early, to get a start on supper prep. Some snot rockets on our troll lines we did in fact pop a few nice but smaller than average specks. Apparently, toothless grins were no longer a part of the deal this evening.

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Our ride back to camp was beautiful. The lake so glassy we took advantage of a cell spot we’d found and Bren called her after hours emergency dentist line. My uncle Bob, the greatest dentist on the planet and the only one who makes Bren happy to visit, actually answered the phone. Because she was in no pain, the root still there and part of the tooth too, he asked she NOT glue it back on.

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On the menu was actually corn on the cob. Hahahahaha! Of all the things. Fire cooked sausages, spuds, onions, asparagus, it was a feast. Took some time to clean a couple fish for the fry coming next night as we knew heavy rain and wind was expected midday tomorrow and we’d likely just have a part day on the lake. Mice were fattening up around us too, one in particular that was super chunk and slow to just crawl around beneath our feet.

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Leah was a trooper on the pike and specks today. By firelight my eyes were burning some terrible, it gets worse every year, they get sunburnt easily now methinks, leaving me teary. But it wasn’t the water from the eyes that watered down my scotch. Somehow, some way, my cup was filled with a most diluted malt whiskey that I had to pass it on around to Leah and Stevie to test it. Both of them agreed, it was watery. What the heck was Leah doing drinking my scotch and agreeing with anyways? The culprit had to be someone in camp? I would doubt passersby would have dropped in during the day, sought out my prized Aberlour, taking many swigs before filling it back up with water..? But it could happen? My bet was on Stevie… until I finished my cup and poured another that was totally normal again.
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FATHER’S DAY.

Leah’s mattress deflated through the night so there was no waiting on her for our early start next morn. The air was colder already, a north front expecting to move in on us but yet the winds were surprisingly still out of the southwest around breakfast. Both boats at the ready we sped off for lakers first thing and our boat only popped a one on the rigger but it shook off.

That bite slow we took off for speckles but I think our friends stayed behind for a little more grey action. Cruising some of the lakes finest speck shoreline we couldn’t catch a thing. While on route Bren cooked up some stew which turned out to be a quick eat as weather approached.

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No sooner did we finish swallowing the last spoonfuls that the water around us began to froth a little. You know, when the little stalagmites start jumping up when the wind switches. Steve and Am having driven by us with thoughts of cruising waaaaay off to a distant bay in search of pike but first stopping at an island for lunch, well I caught up to them and we all decided it best to not get too far. After their meal we left for camp.

The lake wasn’t all that big yet but just the threats on Nipigon are enough for me to play safe. Surely my girls appreciate this too. A drier, more comfortable ride when it’s nice, some down time relaxing on shore when it’s not. But we got good and wet on our return ride.

At camp Leah came to me with a Father’s Day gift. She’d been carrying it in her napsack for days. A card, LCBO gift card and some favorite chocolate we hugged it out awhile. Thoughtful one she is, both her and her sister. She spent much of the afternoon exploring around our campsite. She taught Stevie how to play Chess and so they had a number of matches.

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Bren and Leah exercised their fishing rights by offering up what they caught in specks for our fish fry. Nice to have that option so rather than bonking a trophy 22+ for the table, we can have a couple smaller, suitable eaters instead. The dinner trout were delicious, so to were the taters and leftover asparagus, onions and corn cut from the cob. Despite only having the morning to fish and nothing to show for it, the day was right up there with the best of ‘em. I love Stevie and Amelie and these times together on Nipigon. We let the drinks flow ti’ll late, played Euchre while digesting another full bellied feast, I had Bren and Leah with me and when the rains came late we had dry clothes and a canopy over our head. Paradise!

LEAH’S CARD CAM.
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As midnight came so to did the storm. Leah’s mattress reflated, everyone else snug in their tents, the thunder, lightning and heavy downpour did little to stop us from passing out.
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LONGEST DAY OF THE…

Poor Leah… her mattress made it but she had a hole in the roof of my old tent and spent some of the night dodging drip-drops. Colder northwind blew hard overnight and although Bren stayed tucked right into her sleeping bag, I was cooking and on top of mine half the hours.

No one emerged from the tents until 9am, there was just no rush. A big gust had the lake turning and it was going to stay that way for much of, if not all of, the day.

Once the sun appeared, it and the moving air were quick to dry out camp. We did the same with some clothes and opened our shelters to let the air too. Amelie got an early fire going and she burned some garbage, the rest of us puttered about awhile.

Motivated around lunch I cleaned the boat a little, the girls are washed up as well. Leah and Stevie played some chess then Stevie played me. Fourth game of his life I was totally shocked to find myself checkmated. He didn’t win the game, I lost it, was way too cocky and didn’t check my head.

Leah went off on the island to explore. A little with mom and a time with me, she snapped these nice pics.

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It had been sometime since getting trapped by wind much of the day, we thought there wouldn’t be any fishing at all. But come 5:30pm it had switched direction a little and dropped, giving us opportunity to comfortably cruise the shallow shorelines for specks near camp. Over two plus hours Bren got one and so did I, another bigger fish popped off. Stevie and Ams stayed close to try some deeper waters not a five minute run away. They picked up a 12-pound laker while bouncing a little in the waves.

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Bren recieved a short reception on her cellphone with a Happy Father’s Day message from Summer back home. Later, a spaghetti dinner hit the spot and while digesting around the campfire the cooler evening turned calm into a beautiful night.
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DO WE? DON’T WE??

The forecast was wreaking havoc on planning. On the lake you get the environment Canada weather update for the day. 5:00am, 11:00am and 5:00pm it refreshes and it’s quite good and accurate for wind and rains, those most important things. But sometimes it calls for this or that and there is no way of knowing “when” exactly the wind will switch or build. That’s key if thinking you want to take off an hour across the vast expanse of Nipigon. If just me in the boat, sure I might take more chances but with the girls it’s nice to travel safe and comfortable. On this day there was some weather but the afternoon big wind we wondered might come at 1:00 or 2:00pm, and it didn’t show up until like 8:00pm. We missed a chance to go far this day, and we all knew on what milk route we wanted to go. It’s a trip-maker of a run!

But that didn’t stop this from being an exceptional day. We took off for lakers first, traveling a little distance to some better grounds. Right off the hop rods fired on three smaller fish and a decent one for me, but after that it seemed the area was more of a dink fest and the fish diving lower so we moved off elsewhere to meet up with Stevie and Am.

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They had seen a laker in the boat already, Amelie with a fish about the size of the one I’d got. A sweet start for us all.

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The lake was calm and there were scattered big bars seen on sonar that were lakers well off bottom. Fewer small marks on this spot, but not too many big ones to count either. Leah was up, her turn on the rod when a reel peeled.

She seemed to play serious but after watching the video footage I could see that her and her mother were making googly eyes and goofing off with each other while my back was turned. The fish didn’t want to come in easy, but having no idea of the feel myself I could only wonder if it was big or just Leah’s struggling and fooling that prolonged the fight. She did say it was heavy once or twice, while breaking and shaking the lactic acid out of her forearms.

When scooped in the net we exploded. Leah’s “OMGs” and “that’s the biggest trout I’ve ever seen” expressed her excitement. Looking at the big grey it was obvious what she had caught. It was “the” fish from the top of my to-do list for this trip, a trophy over twenty pound laker for the kid. At first Leah didn’t want to hold it but then she did just like some old pro. A happy catch, and the most photogenic young woman a father could ask for. These pics are priceless.

LEAH’S BIG ASS LAKER VIDEO
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I don’t know why we chose to leave after this. Trolling a few more short minutes I think the girls wanted to go for pike or specks, just something different. Leaving that bite behind, Stevie and Am picked off more fish on the spot before going their separate ways to try specks elsewhere. Our drive took us nearly a half hour away back passed our camp and beyond, and into a secluded bay where I thought we’d have a slim chance of finding some pike. We did! But not any to write home about.

After cooking up some lunch the skies turned real grey. Leaving the sheltered spot and onto the main lake we took a good look at what was coming for us. We didn’t like it at all and so we booked it back to the campsite.

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A short-lived but severe storm passed over us there. The girls and I spent about two hours just chilling, having tea, then later we set out before 4:00pm to meet up with Stevie and Am at a laker spot. The winds were up a touch but the waves were just babies, honeymoon sweetness. We dropped the trolling gear and got into the candy. The others arrived after having a solid specks and laker afternoon. The storm missed them.

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Both boats nailed a decent laker that early evening, and later I picked up a good pike.

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Before returning back to camp we investigated a little bay that’s often overlooked. Inside there weren’t many fish about but while casting through Bren got one huge pike to follow to boatside. This high 40-inch pike came back to follow on lures for several more casts, it was by no means boat shy. The girls wanted it real bad, for Leah she had never seen one so big she called it a monster. Unfortunately, it’ll have to haunt her dreams, we couldn’t get it to bite.

It was nearing 8:00pm and like I had noted earlier, that’s when the wind finally arrived. It was coming up quick so we booked it back right away. A great day, the weather interruptions kept it interesting and Leah’s laker, (and Bren’s too) made it very memorable. Truly one for the books!

Amelie created a new masterpiece that evening, fish tacos. I pitched in to bread and fry the fish but all her fixins and thoughtfulness made for one of my favorite camp meals of all time. Amelie is an awesome cook, Stevie’s great too and his stir fry a few nights earlier was incredible as well. We were eating like kings and queens out there… in fact, I put on 8 pounds by the end of the trip and it’s still sitting in my gut while I type this.

The girls having some cedar tea and us fellas some of our chosen whiskeys the conversation switched to our next day. Sixty kilometer gusts beginning overnight and continuing at seventy through tomorrow. It was to be Stevie and Am’s last full day with us and it appeared they’d likely be wind bound and stuck on shore. Not knowing what the day after would bring, I wondered exactly when they were thinking to book it home? Bren too asked about maybe getting off the lake early and going to a hotel or something..? I didn’t like that idea much, except if only to get us off the lake in the event we could be otherwise much delayed with our departing. The heavy meal, Leah happy to just be, the fire crackling and spirits rising, such questions were merely fading into the night sky, left for answering another time.

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SCREW YOUR NEIGHBOR.

Balmy 28C high today… with yep, those 70K winds. FFS!!!

We all slept in. Super late start. We’d drank some the night before and knew we were in for a day at camp. Once all had eaten breakfast we moved some tarps around to block some blow.

Nothing much to do but organize stuff around camp. Condensed the freezer cooler with the cold cooler, might as well, and did the same with food bins. Opened up all the storage compartments in the boat to let that air out.

Mid day Leah and I played OUR first game of chess in awhile. She was on the run from the beginning, I had her in so many ways she was tempted to give up several times. I had a pawn going to the end zone to get a queen back and long story short she made a move closer to it that I thought would end her. But with blinders on and waaaay too cocky once again, I didn’t read ahead and she ultimately took both that queen and a bishop with her king. WITH HER KING! It was honestly the worst and most unbelievably stupid play on my part. Just like that she was up on me with a couple more pawns and a rook, to my knight. Stevie was laughing at me, Leah was doing cartwheels and gloating like you couldn’t ever imagine. It was putrid play, I felt totally sick to my stomach. The mice on the ground were just waiting for me to puke up my breakfast sando.

Afterwards the gang played several games of “Screw Your Neighbor.” We were just learning it, a game kinda like Euchre but more individual, with scoring and a set amount of cards that changes each hand. OK, so it’s kinda not like Euchre… but you do take tricks. The girls really enjoyed this card play, Amelie the pro at it.

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Around 4:00pm there was a lull in the wind enough to go play in some nearby sheltered areas. Specky troll for the whole gang in my boat, why not? All five of us together for a few hours to see what happens, we goat this! Brenda kicked things off with her biggest speck of the trip, a brute. Amelie was next and she popped a shallow laker. Right after, Stevie hooked into another shallow laker that was much bigger and it tore off line going straight into a rock garden to snap itself off. Awhile later, he picked up a consolation prize, a rather hard to handle whitefish. The big winds were changing the landscape dramatically. What were nearly 70F water temps when we started days earlier, were now in the high 40’s. Shores that had been overrun by pike were now holding trout and whitefish. Nipigon has such an interesting way of balancing itself for the several warm and cold water species which inhabit it.

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After chicken fajitas we all threw down some Euchre, having an evening tournament of sorts to determine the lone best player. I redeemed myself, the champ… but not really, the chess loss was still a real sore bruising. In fact, both chess losses were damaging, being that I am the best player… but don’t tell Leah that.

Leah got us a nice fire going and together we all stayed warm and merry on our last night together. Still unsure if we would leave with Stevie and Ams in the morning, I figured on just waiting ti’ll then to hear what the next 36 hours of weather would bring. One thing was for certain, myself and the girls were happy they stayed until their end, and didn’t leave early knowing that our day today would pretty much be time on shore. Six and half days for them, they got combined about four and half fishing in, so far for us it was the same.

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CALM.

Thunderstorms overnight made for a damp morning that dried quick in the sun. Stevie and Amelie; who announced she is very tired of eating meat and looking forward to some vegetables, started packing things up slowly. Before we left the campsite to fish our group took time out for a photo together.

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This glorious day was ours! The weatherman called for calm winds right through the next 48 hours. We had all this day to fish and the next to get off the lake worry free.

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With enough fuel to burn, the Lund pointed west and rode out fast for 45 minutes to a little bay I wanted to visit for pike. It had been some years since fishing it, but back then I remember it being great for Stevie and I, him catching several personal bests there. Leah was game, Bren ready for anything, it was great to go some distance and see different waters.

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We had an early lunch there and made many, many casts. It’s a long and deep bay, and usually in the spring time the further you get into the back of it, the warmer the water is. But not today, as instead it was the same temperature from the mouth right to it’s very end. Were pike stacked then? Of course not, that’s been explained. Were there pike then? Of course there were, but they were very scattered throughout and holding in cabbage weed a little deeper. The girls kept after ‘em, so did I sometimes. Bren managed the best of the bunch we caught, I photoshopped a little tooth in there or her, you know, just to help.

LEAH PIKIN’ IT VIDEO
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Crazy thing about this area of the lake was the water temps were hardly affected by the big winds we’d just had. Back at camp it was hovering around 50F and here it was 62-65F. We left the scene entirely, making our way out to cooler and bigger expanses and some deep, rocky shores and islands where we could try specks. After a couple hours of this, catching more pike but seeing one speck follow a cast, we drove far away again to start all over.

The girls were wanting to end the day where Bren and Leah had that one gargantuan pike following their lures a couple days before. It was a long shot I felt, bit of a time waster really and, it meant traveling a great ways opposite of which we’d gone in the morning. Enough fuel though, and some hope for the girls to get that pike I did oblige. But first, more specks on the way… and when speck fishing on Nipigon you’re surely enough gonna get the odd big pike. This one tested Leah pretty good on a light rod.

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She was quite content the entire time camping out with her old foggies. There were so many moments I looked over at her, even stared sometimes too, and thought to myself what an amazing young woman she’s becoming. She is just so chill, so industrious and intelligent, so courteous and polite and good and happy, if she wasn’t feeling the fishing she’d simply entertain us or herself or have a siesta. With a market coming up in August, she had many necklaces to make up ahead of time for her CreeStones Jewelry business. On this trip she finished like, forty some while on the drive, in the boat or while hanging around camp. She also had the polar bear claws to fix up too, everything of course will be on sale around home soon.

You know, Leah would always poke her head into the garage every time I came home from fishing. “How was your fishing?” Did you catch any fish? Did you bring any home?” She never changed that tune, has hummed it to me for years and today still surprises me the odd time with this same greeting. I’m going to miss that… Going to miss her immensely now that she’s leaving for University. Even with her gone I’ll still answer out to her each and every day I come home from the water. I have exceptional girls, and sometimes I forget to see that in the ordinary day to day. Looking over the pictures from this trip, watching the videos and revisiting the notes, I’m really quite thankful we got this second chance together on Nipigon before she moves on with her life. Leah really impresses her mother and I, and although she may have felt like she was a bit of a third wheel on this trip, something awkwardly wedged into our usual foursome, she was not this to me at all. The trip was meant to include her in every way, as she was simply something special to add, a great consideration, boat mate, fire builder and that perfect smile to include during our time there. She proved it much easier for herself revisiting Nipigon this second time.

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Her turn to go to battle the rigger popped and she was onto another nice laker. Bren and I had both released some runts but of course Leah’s luck was almost always better.

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The last of the candy rations were divided up so perfectly even by Leah and I. There was no way in Hell with so little left that anyone was going to get more than the other. We had the last of the stew too, the beef used had been a little green and it was sure cause for some gassy moments in the boat. Sunburnt arms and an itchy, peeling forehead, the warm evening was both cozy and not, but who am I to complain, right girls? Bren had been untangling a spool of necklace wire for Leah when her turn on the troll came. Another nice evening fish.

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That was enough of the greys to satisfy them, they wanted to know if that pike was home. After pulling lines, on the way over to the spot I hollered to Leah to grab my camera and get ready. Not knowing what for and why the urgency I raced closer and closer to shore. With some disbelief Bren says, “I can’t believe you saw that.” Well Bren, I may not be able to see a foot in front of my face and I’m totally color blind but, I have eagle sharp eyesight for distance and c’mon… it’s a fawking moose for crying out loud. A big, hairy, moving, pink truck on a sunlit, purply red shoreline.

LEAH’S MOOSE VIDEO
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Back around camp I made them keep fishing a little longer. They were crying and dying inside to just get back to shore, we’d been out alllll day. But we’d got some pike, we’d got some lakers, but we hadn’t yet got a speck yet. Not this day. So when we began a short troll to the finish Leah’s rod fired one last time. Her first ever whitefish! One she did NOT want to hold after witnessing Stevie’s struggles a couple days earlier.

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All was dry at camp. The night was calm and quiet. Leah started a fire, we played some cards and downed some seafood chowder. Tomorrow would be an easy pack and go from this great campsite.

LEAH’S FIRE VIDEO

A season very advanced it made for tougher sloggin’ with the pike and specks but we did OK. The warm water temps I’d have thought would have caused the laker fishing to be the more difficult of all and yet, that was pretty darn good by all accounts. Of our seven and half days on the lake we’d fish about five, looking back at these photos there’s plenty of fish but much more to it this trip than just that. What a special place with special people. To often get caught up in catching with everything I fish, there are the odd trips that are taken when a good reality check is was right in order. You know? Like, all of this is a part of fishing. All is the outdoor life that fishing brings. Doesn’t always have to be about the big one or the numbers and such, it can be more rewarding to just have it be. To be with family and friends, to lose at chess twice, enjoy the food and company on a windblown day off, to want more of that plus the fish and never have it end. To just enjoy it all as best possible. It was that kind of Nipigon trip and then some, but admittedly the angler in me is overjoyed for Leah’s catches too.

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Following morning while packing things up I accidentally stepped on that fat mouse. It died. Quickly. There wasn’t really some Green Mile exasperation-ish moment, this was no circus mousy afterall. And no I could not pull off a John Coffey “like-the-drink-but-not-spelled-the-same” kinda resurrection. Life for us just went on, packing to go home.

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I was throwing our shhtuff into the boatski when outta nowhere the FishCops came racing up to the campsite. Nice guy, Nico was his name, hopped out of the boat, introduced himself and we got to chatting shortly after I had asked him what he was looking for. “Cooler” perhaps? “Licenses” if you will? Nico peeked in a cooler as I explained we had kept a couple lakers and specks to eat over the course of the week but had nothing left. He asked about licenses although we didn’t have to present them, I simply expressed that we do and the girls are also “Status,” which at that point pretty much negates any further need to investigate. He was great, we chatted about the season so far and ice fishing too. Nico explained the lake temps were very warm this year and about two or three weeks ahead of sched. Another local fella back at the launch would later agree to the same thing. We certainly had no troubles believing it, not after experiencing things over our past week. As Nico and the boat pushed off I asked where he was coming from? They didn’t come at our camp from the most expected direction. “We launched in Pine Portage.” Holy shit I thought, that’s one heckuva tour they were on that morning, they came a looooong way to say hello. And that’s all it was, just a friendly hello.

Off the lake and truck loaded by about 1230pm the girls and I hauled off for Mattice. Always bitter-sweet leaving Nipigon, the girls very much finished with it but me always wanting more. Before we left Moose Factory back in 2009 I quite hoped to remain in the north. Feeling the need to move our family at the time, Red Lake, Kenora and Nipigon would have been my choices, and even Thunder Bay would have been OK too so Bren could continue on with Lakehead studies. Well, it didn’t go that way for me but we believe it went the right way for all of us. So, just to go back each year, often two or three times actually, are chances I look forward to every other week I am not there. It’s reached a point now that Bren and I are talking about ways by which we can extend our summer stays. Nipigon is that beautiful, awesome and peaceful, the older I get the less I want to feel rushed to cram as much of it in as I can, during these short trips we have.

Back with Stevie and Amelie they cooked us up some great burgs for supper. The wine and whiskey flowed to a reasonable hour while we snuck in a few more games of “Screw Your Neighbor.” We were home by supper the next day.

Thank you for stopping by Bunks and reading along.
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Bunk.