2024 Canada Fishing

 The Evenings

As has become a tradition on Dad's hunting and fishing trips, our evenings in camp are all fairly similar. And to me, they are one of the highlights of each day.

The Evening Gathering

On this trip, the Grassy Narrows kitchen staff had dinner served at 6:00pm each night. The meals were very traditional....Shepard's Pie, Pork Loin, Chicken, and Meatloaf were our entree's.  After dinner, we would retire to either the screen porch or the fire pit (if the mosquitos allowed), which they did most nights. We'd commiserate with the other guests, and share fishing lies and exaggerations of the day.

Then the four of us would head back to our cabin for cribbage and a nightcap. Tom had a beer, Dad a scotch, and Jim and I a bourbon. We spent the time solving world conflicts, discussing how to spend lottery winnings, and telling stories of past hunting or fishing trips. The cribbage resulted in one victory each for Dad, Jim, and Jerry, and a Participation Award for Tom.

Simple times. Embarking on fishing trips with these guys not only casts lines into tranquil waters but also weaves threads of camaraderie and tradition, strengthening the bonds that connect us. Each catch becomes a shared story, each quiet moment a cherished memory, underlining the enduring ties that define family.  Thanks, Dad, for suggesting that we do this again this year....can't wait for the next one!

2024 Canada Fishing

 Day 3

There was NOT a lack of food on this trip!  Three full meals a day is more food than any of us normally eat in a day. On Day 3 the feast continued.  Another eggs to order breakfast, bacon, and waffles, and their excellent homemade rye bread.  As we ate, we decided that we would target crappie today. Crappie are a great tasting panfish and are plentiful in Lake of the Woods.

We finished breakfast, and headed back to the cabin to get dressed in our rain gear and an extra layer to combat the rain, wind and cool low 60's temperatures. It appeared that the rain would not stop until almost noon, and we didn't want to "burn daylight", so we headed out.  After a wet, windy, bumpy 40 minute ride to our young guide's secret crappie spot, we finally stopped the boats and tipped our jigs with crappie minnows.  Our reel bails closed as our jigs found the lake bottom, and we waited....and waited...and waited.  We moved to new spots every 10-15 minutes, and waited again while the rain still fell. Situations like this make me glad that this group of guys are so easy going.  

From a fishing standpoint it was a disappointing 2-3 hours. But I did not hear a single complaint from Dad, Tom, or Jim.  In fishing and hunting and the outdoors, weather is going to be a factor.  Attitude is what makes it good or bad. It was a good morning!

Shore lunch spot - Day 3

The rain finally stopped by around 11:00, and slowly but surely the fish started biting again. We caught a few before heading out to a lunch spot midday. Today's lunch was not the traditional shore lunch, as we ordered PB&J's from the kitchen instead.  We all really enjoy the fresh fish, but 3 days in a row can be a bit much.  We found a great spot out of the wind, on a rocky shore. The kind of rocky shore that defines this lake and its stunning beauty.

We spent the afternoon trying to target species that we could freeze and bring home.  The border crossing allows us to bring back 2 walleye, 5 crappie, 5 perch, and 2 northern pike per person....so a total of 8 walleye, 20 crappie and perch, and 8 pike.  We needed 1 more walleye, and lots of the other species.  Tom and I caught our last keeper walleye, along with a bunch more that we released. Including a really nice 23" fish that Tom caught.  We also added a perch to the bag.  Dad and Jim had a fun afternoon targeting pike and catching a bunch of smallmouth instead. Dad also landed a muskie! THus, only a couple fish were added to the take-home cache, but a good afternoon of fishing.

 

Tom with another 23 incher

One of Dad's many Smallies

Jim with one of many Smallmouth

Jerry with the last keeper

2024 Canada Fishing

 Day 2

On the second day of fish camp, it started much the same as the first.  Breakfast is served in the dining hall at 7:30am sharp, so we were sitting by 7:25 waiting to give our eggs-to-order request.  With bellies full, we headed to the dock for our day on the water.

At the dock we met our new guides for the next couple of days, Tyler and Caleb. Tyler is a 23 year old in his 3rd year of guiding.  Caleb is a 20 year old weekend guide who is the nephew of Jules, our guide from our first day.  Dad and Tom left the dock with Tyler, and Jim and I headed out with Caleb. We headed in a different direction than Day 1...instead of south and west, we went a bit north and west on this incredibly expansive body of water. Our target species for the morning was once again walleye, and the guides and lake did not disappoint. We  caught well over 60 fish in just a couple hours. Most of them small, but managed to keep 10 eaters for shore lunch.

Our shore lunch location was a bit different on this day. Usually the guides find a spot on one of the lake's many rocky islands. Most of these locations have remnants of shore lunches past...small rock fire rings with charred logs in the center, or a stray beer bottle among the trampled moss on the rocks.  But this day we went to Caleb's grandpa's cabin.  Caleb is in the third generation of Gibbons family from the Lake of the Woods area.  Grandpa's cabin is one of three small one or two room escapes that the family owns for fishing and hunting getaways each year.

It was the perfect spot for our shore lunch. A cleaning station for the fish, firepit for cooking, boat dock for combat naps, and picnic table for eating.  Lunch was a ditto of Day 1...the traditional Grassy Narrows meal of bacon, potato and onion, and of-course the fish, followed by a couple cookies. Shore lunch is always a highlight of these trips.

Caleb's Grandpa's Cabin

Then it was back to the water for the afternoon. Our goal in the afternoon was to find either northern pike or smallmouth bass. Jim and I, with Caleb's guiding, found the smalleys!  We boated over 25 bass in a couple hours of time, as well as a handful of walleye. Smallmouth are a blast to catch...catching them is like playing tug of war with your dog.  But in this case the tug toy is at the end of your fishing line, the fish of-course is your dog, and that "dog" is shaking its head back and forth and doing everything it can to get that tug from you.  Smalleys will get completely airborne during thefight, which we experienced on several occasions.  The highlight moment was when I caught a 3.5 pounder and Caleb caught another nearly as big on the very next cast.  

And while it was a fun afternoon for Jim and I, Dad and Tom struggled to find fish with Tyler as their guide. They caught a few...but nothing noteworthy.  Overall another great day on the water with a bunch of great guys.  

Caleb's Muskie Bait

Jim's big Smalley

Jerry and Caleb's 3+ pounders

2024 Canada Fishing

 Travel Day, and Day 1

Most of the time when I sit down to blog about the hunting and fishing exploits in this journal, the sun has either long since set or is showing only its final glow.  Tonight it is nearly 2 hours until sunset, and almost 3 until final light.  Wonderful long days indeed.

The ride up to Morson was uneventful. Tom and Jim met at Dad's at 5:00am, loaded into his Ram, and headed to my house to pick me up.  Uneventful trip...which is a good thing. We somehow got through the border without them learning of our past misconduct.  The drive from the border to the dock was only about 50 minutes, and we arrived by about 4:45pm...nearly 12 hours of travel including stops. After buying our licenses at Buena Vista, we headed to the dock for the 12 mile (30 minutes) ride to Grassy Narrows.

We were greeted at the lodge, shown to our cabin, and fed a hearty dinner.  We returned to our cabin and made final preparation for the day. A couple games of cribbage ended our day.  Off to bed with visions of trophy fish on our minds.

Day 1 - 

Eggs to order, homemade brioche french toast, bacon, and coffee greeted us in the dining hall for breakfast. We met Jules, our guide for the day, down at the dock after breakfast. The weather was perfect....50 degrees, nearly no wind, and forecasted highs in the low 70's.

What a great first day!  I will hit just the highlights....

• 45+ fish in the first 3 hours (mostly walleye)
• 1 23" (Tom), 1 22" (Jim), and 1 21" (Jerry)
• Dad with most in the AM (18)
• Dad also caught a burbot!...slimy thing!
• Jerry got a 13" perch 
• We had more than enough for our shore lunch...and Jules was a chef extraordinaire, as he prepared bacon appetizers, potato and onion, and breaded walleye fried to perfection
• best catch of the day and likely of a lifetime was Tom's 50" muskie. We did not get a scale on him, but estimate from our guide is about 40lbs....
• almost perfect low 70's temps and fun All day
• the rest of the afternoon was relatively uneventful as we boated a few smallmouth and a few more walleye

Great day overall...and so happy for Tom.

Stay tuned for more updates...

2024 Canada Fishing

 CANADA FISHING - JUNE 2024

June 11, 2024...It's departure time minus 33 hours.  Thursday morning, June 13th, Dad, Tom, Jim and I will depart Wisconsin lake country and head to Morson, Ontario, Canada for an early summer fishing adventure! Thursday travel, fishing Friday, Saturday, Sunday, travel home on Monday.

We are headed to Grassy Narrows Lodge.  This is the lodge that hosted us 20 years ago, when Dad and brother Dale treated their sons and sons-in-law to a similar trip.  Once again we have opted for the lodge's American Plan and guided fishing. The American Plan provides food and and lodging, and the guide service provides recommended tactics, location hotspot counsel, and daily shore lunch.  

We will post more updates throughout the weekend.