Another fun fishing trip in northern Canada. This year we flew via Air Cochrane to Knight Lake. This was a very last minute trip due to everyone's college and work schedules. It was great that we were able to pull off quality family and friend time, especially in the James Bay Region where we could be "off the grid". This year my daughter Jessica and great friends Shu, Charlie, Jim and Johnny-Boy made up our expedition. It was especially nice having the Jessica and Charlie help with the 10 hour drive north. We stayed at our regular hotel, Thriftlodge in Cochrane, which has undergone a pretty impressive makeover since the last time I was there. We enjoyed steaks at the restaurant immediately adjacent to the hotel.
In the morning we were at the air base by 9:00 am. Things have changed a lot in terms of process at the air base. I do not know if it is due to the sad plane crash a couple years ago or change in management. Everything is very formal now and lots of paperwork to sign. Our longtime Air Cochrane friend Andre is no longer there. He is reportedly working at the Detour Lake Mine. As a side note we drove by the Detour Lake Mine parking lot which was huge and filled with trucks. They apparently use helicopters to fly the works from this lot to the mine. There was a large helicopter flying over head pulling this huge circular antenna that was bouncing radio waves off the ground looking for minerals.
Lou was our pilot and he was a cheery soul. We no problems in our one hour flight. Jessica was able to fly a little bit on her own in the plane she flew in on. I compensated her pilot by giving him a large handful of venison jerky which he thought was the greatest thing ever.
We were on the water by noon. The outfitters told us there were 40" pike in this lake. Well not so. I had acquired a sonar/down imaging unit and rigged it up to be mobile. It worked great, but what it told us was the entire lake was 4 feet deep. Well big fish need cooler water in the summer and 4 feet is not going to do it. The lake has absolutely no structure, holes, drop offs, boulders,
etc…just flat. No depth changes, no drop offs, no boulders ....simply an unremarkable bottom. The lake is almost 3 miles long, but
approximately only two miles of it are fish able. The northern third of the lake is completely
overgrown with reeds as it is very shallow…like two feet deep. The entire shoreline, of
the two miles which is fish-able, has reeds growing an easy 50 to 100 yards from
shore. Pockets of grass weeds and
cabbage grow throughout the lake. The fish-able part of the lake was so small a slow troll would only take about an
hour to do one lap.
In terms of the cabin, it was fine and very typical of the
other Air Cochrane cabins. I thought it
was perfect for a fishing trip. We
rented a satellite phone which proved critical as a gas hose broke on the first
day and there were no spares. They flew
one in for us. 2 of the 3 boats
leaked. One boat literally leaked a
gallon an hour which proved to be a royal pain.
Fortunately it was warm so wet feet could be more easily tolerated.
In terms of the fishing, it would have helped a great deal
had we had better information on the lake.
I have fished with Air Cochrane on Nettogami, Edgar, Haultain and
Mikwam. This lake cannot be compared to
these body of waters. Knight Lake holds
yellow walleye that average about 14” and can get as big as 18”. Walleye is
what this lake is all about. We
initially set the bar for 24” as a BIG walleye, but by the end we lowered this
to 20” and caught only a couple that big.
We did catch a handful of 8-10” perch which are
always a
nice surprise. The northern pike were
the smallest pike I have ever seen in such abundance. 20” was the
biggest pike caught, most were
12-14” Information from the outfitter
suggested a couple 40+” pike had previously been caught on this lake. I
am not buying that after this trip. Our group has enjoyed a lot of
success over
our 15 trips via Air Cochrane, this lake is too shallow to hold big
pike. The best bait proved to be once again the
white 3” Mister Twister and small single hook spinner baits.
Funny events included Charlie's unintended backward flop out of the boat: Jim helping Bret on the dock attempt that got them both wet; and Charlie getting up off the picnic table allowing it to flip on Bret, Johnny-Boy and Shu.
This year I was blessed to have my youngest daughter Jessica at age 17 join me and 6 others on our annual trip to Air Cochrane for 6 days of fishing on Edgar Lake, Ontario. On the weeks leading up to this trip many, many family members and friends warned Jessica about a male oriented trip to Northern Ontario where the mosquitoes, leeches and outhouses abound. She said she really wanted to go and in hindsight it was a real blessing for me to have enjoyed creating fun special memories with her. She did fantastic and was a real fishing buddy. Our good friend Jim organized this year's trip and did a masterful job. He brought his oldest son Trevor and a longtime friend Dwayne and his son. Old Ontario Canadian fishing legend John Shuman led the Apthorpe expedition. We also had the pleasure of new comer Johnny-boy, who was freshly retired after 25+ years with the RPD. An absolute great crew!
Infamous Andre
The trip up north had Johnny-boy, Jessica, and I riding in Shu's "Queen Ranch", a very comfortable Ford King Ranch that was making it's last trip North as Shu had ordered a new one to pick up when we returned. We went to Kelsey's in North Bay for a late lunch as our traditional stop Don Cherries had closed. We made it to Cochrane after an 11 hour drive and stayed at the Thriftlodge where I could not believe that it had been completely remodeled. It was very nice. The hotel was full of workers who were building huge solar farms. Dinner was had at the steak house next door at the "sports bar" and the meal was good.
Flying to Edgar
In the morning we got to the air base at 7:00. The atmosphere was much better than previous visits as there are new owners with new staff in the office who were clearly glad we were there, unlike previous visits. Our good friend Andre was still there and it was great to catch up with him and learn about the latest fishing news. Snare lake was having a new camp built on it and Mikwam was being closed. Our favorite lake Haultain was closed as the cabin collapsed. Someday I hope family gets to fish this lake as it holds incredible pike.
Great Pike!!!
28" Walleye
The weather was in the 50's and raining so our flights were delayed till 10:00. It was nice that their new business model included flying everybody up at once, versus the traditional model where they flew one plane and it took almost 3 hours to get everyone there with multiple trips being required. We were overweight by 500 pounds and it cost $1.25 a pound, but the exchange rate was 20% in favor of the U.S. dollar and worth every penny :-)
Putting on a clinic
Upon arriving Jessica and I rigged up our 14' Lund and 9.9 hp Johnson. The boat did great all week and only took two tanks of gas the whole time. We were missing two boat seats that a pilot would bring the following day. Jessica and I went to the north-west shore as I felt this was largely unfished the last time we were there. Jessica caught a 38" pike on an MSB-150. My highlight was catching a 36" pike on 2-pound test. In the other boat, Johnny-boy caught a 27" walleye in the first 10 minutes of fishing.
26" whitefish
This lake was lot different than the first time I was there. On my first trip the shoals were unbelievably formidable. There was no crossing the lake without a GPS or else motors were always bottoming out. It was brutal to the point that it really detracted from the fishing. This time the water was much higher and there was absolutely no bottoming out. I had saved my coordinates from the first trip, but it was soon apparent that I did not need them for safe passage.
On Day 2 Jessica and I got up and out by 5:15am. Johnny-boy teamed up with Shu. There were a pair of loons and seven babies that were singing up a storm every morning we were there. Jessica and I went north where she caught 3 small pike. We then went to Whitefish Bay where Shu and Johnny-boy were trolling around. I caught a 28" walleye on a large silver buck tail. Jim caught the biggest fish of the trip with a 41" beautiful pike on a MSB-150
Dwayne's son Colin and I were cleaning and cooking partners. We had drawn numbers to determine partners. Partners were Jessica and Trevor; Dwayne and Jim; Shu and Johnny-boy. Colin and I cooked breakfast. Afterwards Jessica and I fished the island where we caught 5 walleye on jigs and a 26" whitefish. A unique aspect of this trip were the large numbers of whitefish we caught. In years past they were extremely elusive. Fortunately Jim had brought a video for cleaning whitefish was absolutely key as they are a tricky fish to clean. Not only do they have y-bones, but on their backs are brown layers of fat that need to scraped off. We caught so many of these fish, coupled with their difficulty in cleaning, caused the mystic and luster of these fish to wear off. I am no longer excited about catching these fish.
We fished the north end and caught lots of 20"ish pike. The wind was about 20 mph. From 8-10PM we tied all our boats up near the island for Crown Royal and cigars while "toe jigging" for walleye. All the while the loons were singing up a storm. At night Jessica and I went out on the dock with 5 gallon buckets and a pot to bathe on the dock. Felt good to get all the bug spray, sun tan lotion, and fish slime off.
Shu-steakaganza!!!
On Day 3 Jessica and I were up and our again by 5:15. Beautiful sunrise with 10 mph winds. We fished the north-east shore with no luck then went to Whitefish Bay. I caught a 38" pike on 6-pound test and a small Ugly Stick. Jessica caught a ton of walleye including a 24" walleye in the trench on a small white Mister Twister.
Colin and I had lunch duty. We cooked a big fish fry with walleye and whitefish. We cooked blackened fish, Mr. Flanagan's famous pretzel dipped fry and a beer batter fry. After lunch Jessica and I napped till 3 then went fishing till 8:00 pm. During this time Jessica caught two 30" pike. I was really impressed with how fast she had mastered the figure 8 on the retrieve of her casts. In the evening we took Johnny-boy out into the lake to show him how to clean fish in the boat using the head of a paddle as a cutting board. For me cleaning fish in the boat is a must as the bugs on shore are brutal when cleaning fish. It was 60 degrees out with pockets of thunderstorms around.
Johnny-boy & Shu
On Day 4 I woke up at 4:15 AM, put coffee on and woke Jessica, Shu, and Johnny-boy. Jim was always up early every morning and Dwayne was very dutiful in getting up with him while their boys would sleep in. Jessica and I went out to Whitefish Bay where it was absolutely beautiful with the sunrise and the water being like glass. Then about 6:00 the heaviest fog imaginable descended upon us and visibility was reduced to twenty yards. Fortunately for Jessica and I we were near the shore, but Shu and Johnny-boy got turned around in the heavy fog. Jessica caught a pile of fish this morning including a 32" pike. When the fog lifted we came back to breakfast cooked by Josh and Jessica.
Happy Trevor
At our cabin Shu used the sat-phone to call base camp to tell them our fridges were not working. Jess and I took a four hour nap. While napping the Air Cochrane veteran pilot John flew in and fixed the refrigerators. Johnny-boy and Shu had found a spectacular beach on the island that was perfect for shore lunches. At this beach Jim and Dwayne built a fire and cooked a scrumptious meal of walleye and veggies. Afterwards we went for a swim/bath where Shu put on a display of unforgettable synchronized swimming that resulted in many laughs and him getting two leeches on him. Poor Colin got a tiny leech on his foot that resulted in him being very reluctant to go in the water afterwards. Jessica and I really enjoyed the opportunity to scrub up with soap and shampoo.
Father & Son
In the late afternoon we all tied up bows to sterns and drifted along the eastern shore jigging for walleye. Jessica put on a clinic with her pink jigging pole.
On Day 5 I partnered up with Johnny-boy and Jessica with Shu. We went to the north end and caught a bunch of walleye. For lunch we returned to the island beach for another shore lunch. Johnny-boy took the head of a paddle to dig a trench in the beach sand that would eventually hold the coals of a fire to cook over. Colin and I again cooked the three different fish fry recipes which was a big hit. We all swam again and to everyone's delight no one had a leech, but boy you could see the big ones swimming all around.
Johnny-boy and I went to the south end of the lake. I took him up the stream that connects the lake to the famous Kesagami Lake. We were forced to stop at a sizable beaver dam that could not be crossed, but the short trip was very pretty. In the south end there a lot of weeds and lots of smaller pike, albeit we did catch a few 24"+ walleye on the edges.
At night we had a fishing contest by the island. Everyone had to pick out their worst lure then give it a person in another boat. The person who caught the biggest fish in 30 minutes was the winner. Boy were there some nasty lures that came out of the boxes. Shu gave me some sort of spinner bait with a decomposed swim bait hanging on a single rusty hook. Trevor gave Jessica a lure that defied description and whose hook would eventually fall off during the contest. Surprisingly I caught a 20" pike, but I laid the fish on the ruler with the head on the 36" mark and I had Johnny-boy take a picture that only showed the last 10 inches of the fish. For 2 minutes I won the contest, but Trevor put his college education to work and figured out that my fish was a scam.
Shu & Jessica
A funny part of this trip involved the outhouse. On the first day I walked the 300 yards along a mosquito infested trail to the outhouse. This outhouse was in terrible shape. The door was hanging on one hinge and could not be shut. The seat was caving in and the roof sagged horribly. I remember it being bad on the last trip, but it was real bad now. After a couple days I asked Jessica how was doing with such a dilapidated outhouse. She said all was fine. I asked about the door and seat to which she said she had no clue what I was talking about as she thought the outhouse was in decent shape. Well, the outhouse we had been using had been abandoned years ago, she was using the new outhouse located 20 yards in the woods on the other side of the camp.
Wacky Wings
On the trip home we discovered a great restaurant in North Bay called Wacky Wings. The tile and outside appearance were poor indications of the unique log style interior, big sports screens, and over 100 different types of wings.
One takeaway from this trip was that I had equipment problems with all the reels I had serviced and spooled professionally. It was the first time I did it and the last time I did it. By the end of the trip 4 round reels were not working. All the reels I did myself worked fine...lesson learned.
Another takeaway was how much I enjoyed fishing with Jessica. She did fantastic and I was very proud of her. Anytime I fish with Shu is awesome and the rest of the crew were great.
