Canadian Fishing

Dave’s Canadian fishing expedition was a huge success.  He spent a full week at Job Lake, located just north of the Woodland Caribou Provincial Park in Western Ontario.  This is a fly-in lake, accessible only by pontoon plane from Red Lake.  The lake has just one cabin, powered by solar panels and accommodating 8 people.  Dave was joined his brothers, Mark and Chuck, cousin Bob from Texas, and 4 of Bob’s friends from Indianapolis.

During the week the weather was far from ideal, but the fishing was great.  The first two days were very hot (upper 90s), made more unbearable by the smoke of several forest fires to the north.  The smoky haze would come and go, depending on wind direction.  We had mid-week rain storms that soaked those unprepared.  Then a steady wind picked up and the temperature dropped into the 40s and 50s, turning more moderate at the end of the week.

We fished in pairs about 7 hours a day, early in the morning and again in late afternoon or evening.  At each meal, we compared notes about where the fish were most plentiful, at what depths they were feeding, and which lures and bait were most successful.  More often than not, we had our big meal at noon, followed by naptime.  We had pre-ordered all our food and drinks, and all shared in cooking and clean up chores.  Reading, card games, jokes, and fishing stories rounded out our free time.

Altogether our group caught 2,467 fish, mostly walleye, along with a few northern pike and perch.  All but about 50 fish (eaten or frozen) were released for another day and other fishermen.  Dave brought back to the Winnipeg campground to share with Jane the filets of a 21-inch walleye, frozen inside the metal canister of a depleted bottle of Glenlivet Scotch.  Delicious!  Brother Chuck beat me with a 30-incher (pictured below).