Not just a forb of the deadly nightshade family.

Yes this was a good but bittersweet week. The blunted poet, Phil, was here (a nonrelated nephew), Gene and Linda were here (Gene was our paper boy before I was born and Linda is his “first wife”), the Hennessy Clan were here (to spread the ashes of an old friend and to fish), my cousin Earl was here and the weather finally warmed.

It was fantastic having Phil here, we got to fish, play cards, play pool, have some good scotch and dog treats and enjoy getting caught up on the years events. As much as we both enjoyed his time here I know that the week was a little difficult for him. Phil did as many of the traditional things that he does with his family yet his family wasn’t here. It couldn’t have been the same for him and I felt badly for not being able to help in that regard. But hell, we did catch a lot of nice fish, play a lot of cards, drink around the campfire etc. One must adapt and make new traditions when circumstances dictate!

It was great having Gene and Linda here, playing cards, sharing stories, a beer, a cigar and Gene stealing all my leeches. But it was difficult since Gene’s presence was a constant reminder that Dad wasn’t here.

The Hennessy Clan (the girls are all married now so there was only one with the Hennessy name – but its still the “Hennessy Clan”) is always fun to have in camp. They like to play games are good fishermen and sportspeople and always fun to talk with but one of their duties this year was to spread Rich’s ashes. It was a poignant and compelling ceremony where we connected with Rich via many related anecdotes – sad, fun, happy, glad, funny, sad.

My cousin Earl is always a delight to see and have a few beers with. This year though he had a run of bad luck and seemed to be nurturing and honing his ability to “fuck up a one float parade”. But he and his friend Eric made it through the week with only superficial wounds and losses while catching a good many fish.

The weather is over cast in the low 60’s and a southwesterly wind.. The lake temp was up to 66F late last week and it hasn’t dropped too much in the interim. The fish were biting well on leeches last Friday and Janet and I will be going out shortly to do some shoal fishing. The results will be reported later.

Is that the sound of a DUMP TRUCK backing up?

This is a long one! Non-fishermen may wish to skip it.

Let me clarify that I am not critiquing individual reels just the relative pros and cons of the basic real types. For the purposes of this blog I will refer to reels as closed faced – a.k.a. spincasting reels, openfaced reels – a.k.a. spinning reels, spool reels – a.k.a. baitcasting reels, and, that hybrid, douchebag reels. I will offer a better explanation of the last reel type when I get to that discussion. This blog was brought on by the nonsense that I read on the web concerning different reel types when I was researching a new reel to get for Janet. The closed faced reel was given a really bum rap by the reviews I read on the web! What nonsense! Its just another testosterone induced manliness hysteria problem! Almost all children are given a closed face reel and they don’t become men (adults) until they get their first openfaced reel. Hence almost all the information I read on the web was tainted not by experience but by the “kids reel” perception. As stated earlier I have used all of the reel types in a myriad of conditions and observed people using these reels while guiding. I believe the opinions expressed here are relatively unvarnished by bias.

The criteria that I will evaluate are:
- reel configuration
- length and ease of casting
- accuracy of casting
- line twist
- line management
- line capacity
- line quality vs. casting distance
- drag
- quality of build
- tangles
- versatility
- ease of use

Closed Faced Reels:
- reel configuration
Characterized by a small housing enclosing the line spool and a push button or lever line release and hold mechanism. Small pickup pins actuate line pickup. Most reels can be converted to left or right-hand retrieve in either above or below rod configurations.

- length and ease of casting
Excellent distance and excellent ease of casting. With the proper amount of line on the reel, capable of casting to comparable long distances as any of the reel configurations. The line pays out from the transverse spool smoothly without moving any reel parts.

- accuracy of casting
Excellent. Extremely accurate to cast. The positive line release and hold mechanism allows for accurate casting in any direction from a seated position with a flick of the wrist. Backward, forward, to the side – no difference.

- line twist
Not good. As with any reel that retrieves and casts line from a position parallel to the axis of the spool, twist is imparted to the line with every turn of the crank and every loop of line cast out. Twist is a bad thing and in extreme cases can cause line breaks and nasty tangles if high quality swivels are not employed.

- line management
Very good line management. The positive mechanism for line release and hold allows very easy casting as well as releasing a small amount of line for rigging, seeking bottom, and truncating overly long casts. The constant location of the line emanating from the reel also makes for easy line control with the hand ahead of the reel. One drawback, if the reel is worn or is of a poor quality build a positive pick up of the line for retrieval after a cast can be tenuous. It may require some tension for positive pickup in those cases.

- line capacity
Low to medium line capacity on most models. The design is generally not scaled up for massive line capacity. This is one of those engineering issues that could be solved easily by producing models that had bigger spools. But the reel manufacturers don’t have a perceived market for such a design and thus don’t make them.

- line quality vs. casting distance
Poor. If the proper line test weight and amount on the spool is not optimum, casting distance will be compromised. The design is hampered by the fact that the line must come around the pickup pin housing and exit the bell housing through a relatively narrow hole. If that journey is too long, due to a dearth of line on the spool, casting distance will be shortened.

- drag
Poor to excellent. There is no inherent difficulty of the design for a good drag system, but since most manufacturers view this reel as a low end product the drag takes a back seat to cost. Janet’s new “high end” closed face reel has an excellent drag system but overall most are poor. I have circumvented this problem by backreeling at appropriate times when fighting large fish, but if it’s a screamer you just can’t keep up.

- quality of build
Moderate to poor. There is no inherent difficulty with making a quality closed faced reel, but since it is viewed as a low end product, high quality examples a few and far between.

- tangles
Very few! With proper use of swivels and proper amount of line on the reel almost nonexistent tangles due to reel design. I have fished many years with a closed-faced reel under a myriad of conditions and have experienced far less down time with this reel type than any other.

- versatility
Moderately versatile. Versatility is hampered somewhat by the lower line capacity and thus the inability to spool the reel with a larger pound test line. This problem is ameliorated on some of the higher end reels and thus can be circumvented. Janet has caught a 4’ barracuda on her old Diawa gold cast, that was spooled with about 150yds of 10 pound test. The barracuda stripped about 50 yards on the first run.

- ease of use
Excellent! This reel’s ease of casting, good accuracy, positive release and excellent line management qualities all conspire to make it perhaps the easiest reel to master and use well.

Open Faced Reels:
- reel configuration
Characterized by the spool and line pickup system in plain view. A wire sweeping across the entire front of the spool accomplishes the line pickup. The reel is always slung under the pole for good weight distribution.

- length and ease of casting
Excellent distance and moderate ease of casting. The line spins off the end of the spool without moving any reel parts. Casting is hampered by the lack of any positive mechanical line release. This is handled by the person operating the reel manually releasing the line at the proper release moment and thus can be a problem in optimizing distance. This is a favorite of the surf caster set because casting over head is optimum for good distance. Casting when seated in a boat can present a minor challenge.

- accuracy of casting
Very good. The manual release allows for very accurate casts but the freeflowing line design causes problems with overcasts.

- line twist
Not good. See comments pertaining to closed faced reels above.

- line management
Poor. The free flowing design that allows on an “all or nothing” approach to line release causes problems when releasing small controlled amounts of line. It also has a tendency to “dump” loops of line at inopportune times. This is why kids are not given this reel! Parents don’t want to spend all day untangling the kid’s line.

- line capacity
Excellent. These reels generally have massive capacity and can be spooled with an ample amount of line.

- line quality vs. casting distance
Excellent. These reels are generally not affected greatly by smaller amounts of line on the spool and can cast nicely even with larger test line than the reel was designed to carry.

- drag
Excellent to moderate. These reels are generally a higher quality build and thus have very good drag systems. It’s more a function of quality of build than the inherent configuration so you get what you pay for here. Many people get around the line management problems of this design by setting their drag light and stripping line through the drag system when rigging. A great idea, but can be a problem if the drag isn’t reset heavier to allow for a good hook set. I saw two 40+ inch pike lost in one day due to the low drag oversight!

- quality of build
Excellent to moderate. These reels are generally higher end products and thus finding a good quality openfaced reel isn’t a problem.

- tangles
Poor. The line “dump” problem mentioned earlier, problems with casting in wind and loops around the winding mechanism can produce some great foul-ups. It is especially a problem if the reel is slightly over spooled and the reel essentially pukes out all the excess line in a mess. Experience of use greatly helps but I have been fishing with very experienced users of this reel type for years and have yet to see a days fishing go by without at least one foul-up per user! I have also experienced similar problems when using the reels so I don’t see it as a user problem but more as an inherent design flaw.

- versatility
Excellent. By way of the excellent line capacity, good drag systems, and ease of casting this is perhaps the most versatile of the reel types. This reel in its various guises has been used to catch everything from 4” native brooktrout to monstrous marlin (the fish, not Yings boy friend).

- ease of use
Very good. Due to the poor line management, problems with tangles, and lack of good mechanical line release this is not the easiest reel to master, but its simple design and manual release make it a very easy one to pick up and cast moderate distances with good accuracy.

Spool Reels:
- reel configuration
These reels are characterized by an open line spool situated perpendicular to the line on the pole. No line pickup is required since the line is automatically cranked onto the spool whenever it spins like a winch. The spool also has to turn when line is payed out though.

- length and ease of casting
Moderate to poor. The problem here is that the spool has to turn many times as the pays out with a cast. The spool spinning momentum must be overcome for good distance and the spool must stop after the cast is complete. This has its own set of problems. Due to the necessary smooth application of power when casting a more limber rod or non”snapping” cast technique must be employed. These two factors conspire to keep cast distance lower than the reels outlined above. Ease of casting? Well if you’ve never used one – an over spun spool causes the proverbial bird’s nest! It takes some getting used to. The newer examples with spool clutches and magnetic spool damping have gone a long way to alleviating this problem but…

- accuracy of casting
Excellent. The same reasons dictating shorter cast distance conspire to make this a very accurate casting reel. The hallmark of this reel is control.

- line twist
None. Since this reel pays out line and reels in the line like a “winch” absolutely no twist is imparted to the line. This factor alone has made this reel a favorite of bass and musky anglers who tie the lure directly to the line (sans swivel) to maximize the action of the lure.

- line management
Excellent to poor. The line is always controlled by the thumb pressure on the spool but can be a real problem if the inexperienced caster’s focus lapses. Backlash or birdsnest are apt terms. Rigging and finding bottom are generally not a problem but the ever-spinning spool must be monitored. Casting small light lures against the wind is difficult.

- line capacity
Excellent. These reels can generally be spooled with a vast quantity of line for their size.

- line quality vs. casting distance
Good. Line quantity and quality have little effect on casting. The only consideration is that if less line is on the reel the spool spins at a marginally higher RPM and thus affects settings for casting.

- drag
Excellent to good. These are generally higher end reels and generally have very good drag systems.

- quality of build
Excellent to good. It is very easy to find very high quality reels but you’ll pay the price.

- tangles
Poor to moderate. It’s an operator error problem. I’ve fished with people that were well versed in the use of this reel and seen “not nary” a tangle during days of fishing but I have fished with this reel type and know that if you slip up once you could be looking at an endless tangled mess of line inextricably wound around the reel arbor!

- versatility
Excellent to moderate. These reels have been used to great success through most ranges of fishing except for ultra light use.

- ease of use
Poor. Here is the bugaboo of this reel configuration! It requires a modicum of familiarity and skill to properly exploit the full potential of this reel.

“Douchebag” Reels:

- reel configuration
Ok, ok, I don’t know any other name for this type of reel other than the one that my Dad applied to his. This is a reel with an enclosed spool at the butt end of the rod. The casting mechanism is this – when retrieving the line the spool is perpendicular to the axis of the incoming line (like a spool reel) but when casting the spool is swiveled 90 degrees so that the spool axis is parallel to the line being payed out (like an open faced or closed face reel). It’s a bit of an oddball. But the reel has definite advantages.

- length and ease of casting
Excellent. The length and ease of casts are great and have all the pluses of both the open faced and closed face reels here.

- accuracy of casting
Excellent to moderate. The reels of this type that I have used are again a bit of a mix between open faced and closed face reel. Since the line release is more positive than the open faced reel yet not as definitive as the close faced reel it does just fine thank you.

- line twist
Moderate. Since the line only gets twisted during casting, as the line pays out in spinning mode, and is retrieved like a spool reel the line only gets half the twist of an open or closed face reel.

- line management
Good. I have not observed very much of the openfaced reel line dumping problems and it is easy to manage short amounts of line. It is also easy to truncate casts and find bottom by paying out small amounts of line.

- line capacity
Excellent to moderate. The spool on every one of the freshwater models of this reel that I have seen and used was capable of carrying far more line than needed.

- line quality vs. casting distance
Moderate. The configuration of the reel allows for more flexibility of line test weight and amount compared to the closed face but not quite the flexibility of the open-faced reel.

- drag
Excellent to moderate. This is a tough call since I know of only one manufacturer of these type of reels. The ones that I’ve used had moderately good drag but that was a long time ago. The newer models from Australia are mainly used for surfcasting and are touted to have excellent drag.

- quality of build
? Who knows. I haven’t seen a new reel of this type in a long time. The old ones were pretty well built and performed for years for Dad. The surf casting outfits are probably well built or they wouldn’t standup to the rigor of such fishing

- tangles
Moderate. I encountered some tangle problems about once a week fishing for carp with such a reel which is high praise for a lightweight outfit so I wouldn’t anticipate much problems with tangles. Certainly no more than those associated with the open faced reel.

- versatility
Moderate. We (Dad and me) used them fishing for everything from trout to heavyweight contender carp. I am sure the surf cast outfits could handle damn near anything.

- ease of use
Excellent to moderate. The reels were pretty easy to use given that a young brat such as me had no problem and an old hand like Dad didn’t have any problem either. There was one major drawback though Dave Henderson always made fun of Dad’s “Douchebag” reel! So beware of insensitive wags making fun of your fishing equipment!

I hope this missive, epistle, panegyric, tome hasn’t bored anyone too much but I just wanted to get it off my chest. I know its heady and controversial stuff by hey we here at Sportsmen’s Camp Blog don’t fear to tread into controversial subjects! Let the heated and passionate comments begin!

Henry David was right!

A while back Janet wore out her beloved Diawa silvercast reel. I did a little research and then purchased her a Diawa gold cast reel. She really loved both of them. After she had worn out her gold cast (we do a lot of fishing – saltwater and freshwater) she naturally bought another one. Two of them actually, one for herself and one for Sled. The one that Janet used was a “dog” from day one! Since I am the reel mechanic I had the pleasure of fixing the new goldcast. My diagnosis was that it was a problem with the drive pin clearances. Quality control in other words. It worked for a while, with intensive lubrication, but would, as western New Yorkers so quaintly put it, “shit the bed” after any prolonged use. Janet became disgusted with the goldcast series – and when Janet is disgusted stand back! So the search was on for a new reel and brand loyalty was tossed into the dustbin!

During this time period I was using the mighty Zebco Closed faced reels and lovingly referred to Janet’s Diawas as japscrap. Not because they were “scrap”, as indeed the original reels were built more solidly than my All-American Zebcos, but because they were Janet’s reels and they were made in Japan. Neither of these things are bad, its just that if you heard a constant patter of how superior your fishing partners reel was you would search for a simple single word retort to silence them. “Japscrap” was mine.

“OOOOh, look how far my reel casts, and look its so shiny, and it has such great drag, and look how well its built, and did I tell you it has levelwind, and its sooooo smooth and you know it has 6 ball…” “JAPSCRAP” I would retort and blow cigar smoke out of the corner of my mouth derisively as I hooked another bass. Simple economical effective use of language – “Japscrap”. It would silence the patter for a little while anyway.

During this same time period I made the transition to the Calcutta, a Shimano Bait caster. The Calcutta is a gem of a reel and generally a joy to use. But I digress, Janet was on a mission – To find the best reel, the best closed faced reel available. After reading hundreds of tech reviews and spec sheets the reel that was selected was a Zebco Omega! Surprise, surprise! It has all the bells and whistles and appears to be solidly over-engineered. I am impressed with its lack of plastic and the attention to detail. Nice reel!

As we were searching the web for closed faced or “spincasting” reels I read a lot of “expert” reviews outlining the pros and cons of the different reel types.

WHAT A CROCK OF SHIT!

Before I begin my diatribe, let me reiterate that I have used every reel type known to man in as diverse conditions as is humanly practicable. (Get ready, I sense a “rogue wave” approaching) Whyyyyyyy – I’ve fished for and caught (can you hear the rushing water?) musky on the Cawarthas with a handline “criss cross” stacked with 10 pound test. I’ve caught trout with a cut pole and length of braided 18-pound test line. I’ve caught 27-pound carp on my Shakespeare President baitcasting reel mounted on a 4.5’ hex steel True Temper rod. I’ve surf casted with 12’ solid fiberglass poles equipped with baitcast reels or graphite poles and spinning reels for sandshark. I’ve caught trout and emerald shiners with a steel flyrod and automatic fly reel (anathema to the orvis man!) I’ve caught trout, carp, blue gill, and blue fish on a “douche bag” reel spooled with 10-pound test. I’ve caught sharks barracuda, blue gill, eel, flounder, sea gulls, sticks, trout, bass, stones, northern pike, pelicans, mackerel, carp etc. on my Zebco closed face spooled with 8 to 10 pound test line. I’ve hooked into and lost tarpon (hey I got a standing ovation from over 35 people for one of the fights!) on my Calcutta and open faced spinning reels. I’ve caught the mighty mackerel with antique deep-sea spool reels on 50-year-old poles and new fangled spinning reels on brand new poles. I’ve tossed bait by hand from the creek bank, sailed it out by kite, swam it out by dog paddle, trailed it out by planer board, floated it out by raft, tossed it out overhand cast, underhand cast, sidearm cast, roll cast, and flipped it off the end of a catapult board! I have also worked on all these reels and rigs since I have fucked up all of them at one time or another. In short, (or more like long) I believe I am qualified to be an expert on fishing reel pros and cons and proper use there-of. Gee I’ve run out of time and space (nasty “rogue wave”)…. Next Blog – The Reel Conspiracy

I’m not joking, this is my job!

But indeed it does! The point was recently driven home when I got an old pair of my big giant glasses relensed with my current prescription. Oh the pleasure of seeing well through my entire field of vision! Janet brought my relensed big giant glasses and small glasses (large framed by today’s ridiculous tunnelvision fashion standards) from town the other day. I immediately tried both of them on and was delighted. That night, sporting my lensed hula-hoops I played bumper pool like a pro – a drunken pro perhaps – but well none-the-less. Size does matter when siting down a pool cue. I must note that I will continue to wear my “small” glasses in public especially considering the unusual looks my family, friends and camp guests have given me since I began wearing my big giant glasses! Oh the sacrifices we make in the name of style!

Size also matters with outboard motors and boats. This point was evidenced to a “tee” on my latest trek through the bush to a remote lake. Although we didn’t take a motor the 14-foot aluminum boat seemed to be the size of the Titanic at the end of our trek. The next time I make the trek the lightest weight engine possible will be the most desirable! A desperado that is currently on the lam, recently gave me a small basketcase 2hp Johnson engine. No one had been able to get the poor little waif running so it was given to me for parts or resurrection. The engine appeared to have almost no hours of running time on it at all. Interesting puzzle! Starting at the top of the engine I worked my way down. Checking first the ignition system. Everything was in order and in pristine condition so to the carburetor I went. The throttle linkage seemed stiff! Aha! A possible problem! I removed the carb and checked the main throttle butterfly. It was installed backwards! It had been bent to accommodate the misinstallation. The main throttle was thus slightly open when in the start position and completely closed at full throttle! This could probably have been an entry in the Strange Days Indeed posting! Luckily I was in one of my “meticulous” moods and attacked the puzzle with quiet resolve – it also helped that it was rainy and cool and all the camp guests were holed up in their cabins drinking and playing games. After about a half-hour I teased the offending butterfly out of the narrow throat of the carb. I then pounded it flat with a copper dolly and gently filed the edges to facilitate my ham handed reinstallation. The reassemby went well, that is say it only took about 45 min.s and 3 kilos of profanity. I then reassembled the entire engine, adjusted the high and low speed jets and changed the lower unit oil. The little devil was put into the test tank and started with a cough on the 4th pull! After some needlevalve tweaking the bugger was purring like Dweezil laying on her daddy on a cold night! This engine is a particular gem for me since it is of the vintage of the small motor that I used to have on my canoe when I was a teenager and thus elicits good memories when I hear its distinctive exhaust note.

So you see size does matter – its just that bigger is not always better.

The water temperature has plummeted during the past rainy and cool week but the fishing has remained excellent! Many large bass, pike and some walleye were caught by the intrepid souls that saw fit to venture forth. This week’s weather is looking much better too.

Strange Days Indeed!

Every year strange things occur here in camp. I will recount two of the strange happenings from this year – but remember the year is not over yet.

The story of the mysterious squirrel death.

In the beginning of her tenure here the Reverend Bob’s wife (Reverend also) Patti was haunted by a faint “taint” in the air of their bedroom. She initially thought nothing of it, since there was a baby in diapers in the cabin. So we provided a separate dedicated garbage can for diapers that was placed outside the confines of the cottage. Yet the “taint” persisted. The “taint’ grew to a persistent scent of putrefaction! The hunt was on for a dead mouse! Could it be in the wall? No, there are no double walls in that bedroom. It was theorized that the dead “mouse” was under the bed or perhaps lodged in the box springs. So the hunt continued. The floor under the bed was thoroughly swept without discovering the erstwhile “mouse corpse”. No entryways to the box spring were evident. Yet the scent of putrefaction persisted and grew to olfactory numbing proportions! The hunt continued. At long last the Reverend Bob appeared in the store with a pillowcase in a plastic bag!!?? What was this? The offending corpse was a full-grown red squirrel! It was found….. Under Patti’s pillow! Yes – UNDER PATTI”S PILLOW! The soiled pillow and case were enterred with the corpse of the squirrel. The bedding was stripped from the bed and washed twice to remove all traces of stench.

There are several scenarios that have been developed to explain “the mysterious case of the squirrel corpse” but the most plausible is this – Our family of foxes inhabiting the camp this year may have injured the hapless squirrel. He crawled to safety, into the cottage, up onto the bed and under Patti’s pillow after the cabin was cleaned but prior to her arrival. That may be the most plausible scenario but my favorite one is that the squirrel was sleeping comfortably under Patti’s pillow when they arrived. The squirrel then decided to “lay low” till the coast was clear to make his retreat. Little did the squirrel realize that the good Rev.s were planning another addition to their burgeoning family. Sooooo, in the pursuit of said goals the good Rev.s unbeknownst to them were having an interspecies threesome that resulted in the demise of their companion! Yeegads! The strange goings on here at Sportsmen’s Camp!

The case of hung teenage girls or teenage girls taken out of season.

This was a case of planned strangeness! The two girls in question approached me not long after they arrived in camp with a strange request. They wanted to be hoisted, by their feet, on the “bear pole”! Well I am an accommodating fellow and besides the idea of tying up teenage girls…hmmm, well I’ll leave it at that. So I selected some nice silky rope and rigged the block and tackle, used to cock the trebuchet, on the bear pole. Up they went to the delight and giggles of the accumulated spectators. A photo of the result is posted below. Strange days indeed!

The water temperature finally got above 74F yesterday. It made it all the way to 78F in the afternoon. Wonderful swimming! The fish have been biting sporadically with periods of frenzy and some slack times, but overall the fishing has been good. The Baxters just pulled into camp with a fine stringer of about 35 jumbo perch taken from my favorite weedbed on the Montreal River.

Forward the Boat Humping Brigade!

Great ideas are sometimes hatched during a nice afternoon beer buzz – this was not one of them! The idea was to take one of the old camp boats and drag it about a mile through trackless bush, tangles of alder, fallen logs, up hill and down to one of the most remote lakes in the region to catch pike.

We got up bright and early, loaded up four boats and embarked on our “adventure” or as my sister so aptly called it “the Bataan death march”. About an hour in the boats later we landed on the shore to begin the real work. Staring in our faces, laughing, was the forest primeval! Off we went, picking our course through the trees with an eye to the boat fitting between the obstacles. We tripped and fell periodically from exhaustion or was it the alders tangling our feet? We trekked interminably. No more than 200 hundred yards from our goal one of our members suggested that we abandon the boat and head back. I bush whacked on to the lake and came back with a glowing report – hey it’s only about 200 yd.s further! I neglected to mention that we had about 100 yd.s of tightly spaced black spruces followed by about 100 yd.s of knee deep sphagnum bog! They bought it and forged on! Its all marketing you know! All was forgotten when the lake came into view. We pushed through the bog. The boat went into the lake with a sigh. It seemed that the boat was as relieved to be in the lake as we.

Now for the fun part – the pike, feeding frenzy began. The first wave of the party piled into the boat and paddled out – First cast by Hogfish Jim nabbed the first fish. The rest of our crew casting from shore were catching fish like crazy too! It only makes sense since these pike had likely never seen a lure in their entire life! It went that way for a few hours. We then decided it was time to stash the boat and begin our return trek. Although it is much easier to walk through bush than drag a 14’ aluminum boat it still took about 45 minutes to walk back to the landing point. I was hastened by the fact that I left a cooler full of ice cold 50’s (Canadian ale) in the boat. I was parched! Humping a boat through the bush and catching pike can make you parched Ya-know!

Psssht – psssht – psssht – psssht – the sound of cold ale opening – the best sound and taste on earth! Good ale, good friends, good fishing! Was it all worth it? HELL YES! Would do it again tomorrow? HELL NO! Would I rather be anywhere else? HELL NO!