dieselbigot
Adventurer
A beautiful old chris craft wood boat at the antique boat show in the Kenora Harbor
Barefoot & Homeless at Last...Adventures of a Young Sasquatch
- Thread starter dieselbigot
- Start date
dieselbigot
Adventurer
The view from my sisters deck
dieselbigot
Adventurer
Random lake sightings
dieselbigot
Adventurer
On Monday I took a trip with my dad and uncle to an island we own out on Shoal Lake. This is one of the largest lakes in the Lake of the Woods system and has very little deeded land. Most of the islands are either owned by the government or the indians. My dad bought this place years ago and my uncle started to develop a make-shift fishing camp here last year.
The Walleye fishing here is insane, and so are the bears. Trying to keep this island from being trashed by bears is an ongoing battle…even with no food or trash left here it’s still be ran-sacked several times this season.
We made lunch on the island, then headed back out on the boat to tour a few of the islands that had old mining ruins on them. Some of these ruins are surprisingly in-tact with racks an racks of labeled core samples used to search for gold back in the day. We fished a bit on the way back to our island, but weather started to roll in from the west…and because we were in a tiny aluminum boat with a questionable 15hp outboard motor, we decided to make a break for the dock we parked in before the wind and rain made the voyage back a miserable one.
It rained hard all that night, but when morning came it was clear skies, flat water and nothing but the sounds of Loons…perfect for getting out on the big lake and Walleye fishing.
On Sunday I had brokered a deal with a local guide (Otis) to take my dad and I fishing, so our timing was perfect. We spent the first few hours trying to find the right depth before hitting a spot where we started catching fish. By 11:30 we had a live well full of Walleye and pulled into a lodge where they cooked up the morning catch. It was amazing…1/2 beer battered, 1/2 breaded and all succulent…this fish is some really good eating. After lunch we almost needed a wheel barrow to get us back to Otis’s Lund for another round of fishing.
The wind had kicked up, so it took a few stops to find where they were biting, but this last spot was ridiculous. Otis was pulling a fish every 1-2 minutes (no joking), and I caught my best for the day…a 24” Walleye. All in all, we had caught north of 60-70 fish between the 3 of us. It was getting late in the day, and with a live well full of our daily limit, we headed back into the Kenora harbor.
The rest of this week will be a rinse and repeat of my fist 5 days here…not a bad program at all
. A few days ago I decided that since I’m going to be as close to Churchill MB as I’ll ever be, and since the recent closing of the port in Churchill may kill it, I’m going to do a detour. Churchill MB is a very remote outpost 700 miles north of Winnipeg on the Hudson’s Bay and is known for whale and Polar Bear watching.
Next Tuesday I’m parking my Taco at my cousins place in Winnipeg, boarding a Calm Air flight to Churchill (no roads to get the) and I’ve booked a couple of days of snorkeling with Beluga Whales and riding in a tundra buggy to see Polar Bears. Should be fun!
Cheers,
B
The Walleye fishing here is insane, and so are the bears. Trying to keep this island from being trashed by bears is an ongoing battle…even with no food or trash left here it’s still be ran-sacked several times this season.
We made lunch on the island, then headed back out on the boat to tour a few of the islands that had old mining ruins on them. Some of these ruins are surprisingly in-tact with racks an racks of labeled core samples used to search for gold back in the day. We fished a bit on the way back to our island, but weather started to roll in from the west…and because we were in a tiny aluminum boat with a questionable 15hp outboard motor, we decided to make a break for the dock we parked in before the wind and rain made the voyage back a miserable one.
It rained hard all that night, but when morning came it was clear skies, flat water and nothing but the sounds of Loons…perfect for getting out on the big lake and Walleye fishing.
On Sunday I had brokered a deal with a local guide (Otis) to take my dad and I fishing, so our timing was perfect. We spent the first few hours trying to find the right depth before hitting a spot where we started catching fish. By 11:30 we had a live well full of Walleye and pulled into a lodge where they cooked up the morning catch. It was amazing…1/2 beer battered, 1/2 breaded and all succulent…this fish is some really good eating. After lunch we almost needed a wheel barrow to get us back to Otis’s Lund for another round of fishing.
The wind had kicked up, so it took a few stops to find where they were biting, but this last spot was ridiculous. Otis was pulling a fish every 1-2 minutes (no joking), and I caught my best for the day…a 24” Walleye. All in all, we had caught north of 60-70 fish between the 3 of us. It was getting late in the day, and with a live well full of our daily limit, we headed back into the Kenora harbor.
The rest of this week will be a rinse and repeat of my fist 5 days here…not a bad program at all
. A few days ago I decided that since I’m going to be as close to Churchill MB as I’ll ever be, and since the recent closing of the port in Churchill may kill it, I’m going to do a detour. Churchill MB is a very remote outpost 700 miles north of Winnipeg on the Hudson’s Bay and is known for whale and Polar Bear watching. Next Tuesday I’m parking my Taco at my cousins place in Winnipeg, boarding a Calm Air flight to Churchill (no roads to get the) and I’ve booked a couple of days of snorkeling with Beluga Whales and riding in a tundra buggy to see Polar Bears. Should be fun!
Cheers,
B
dieselbigot
Adventurer
The island on Shoal Lake
dieselbigot
Adventurer
Mining ruins
dieselbigot
Adventurer
Gone Fishin
dieselbigot
Adventurer
Update on Manitoba & Saskatchewan & starting the Continental Divide
It's been a while since I've update this thread. As I type this I'm sitting in possibly in possibly the WORST campsite ever. I'm in Grasslands National Park. Where the hell is that you might ask? The southern boarder of central Saskatchewan about 20 miles from the US / Montana boarder. I came here because I had to travel through the prairies on my way to Calgary anyway and Explore Magazine named this “one of the top 10 campsites in Canada”. I have to think Parks Canada paid for this accolade, because aside from seeing a few wild Bison (cool) and about 10,000 Prairie Dogs, there is nothing here. Not a tree, not a lake, not a scrub plant. As an added bonus, aside from being locked in a corral with 30 other campers on the open prairie (the ONLY place to camp), I'm also being eaten alive by mosquitoes. If I don't make it to Calgary I've likely died of west nile virus.
Let me back up a week or so. I left the family cottage about a week ago, drove to Winnipeg to catch a flight to Churchill MB. My goal was to ride in a Tundra Buggy, see some Polar Bears, snorkel with Beluga Whales and see the gateway to the Arctic. I got 3 out of 4.
When I landed in Churchill it felt like winter in Cali. Winds were high, it was raining hard and near freezing temps…but luckily the tour I'd booked for that day was the Tundra Buggy, so weather would not effect my plans. I don't know if I was more excited to see Polar Bears or ride in one of these awesome Tundra Buggy machines! The frames sit about 4' feet off the ground and the tires were nearly as tall as me (I'm 6'). Powered by a Cat diesel with some kind of monster low range T-case, these things are nearly impossible to get stuck and will plow through most anything.
It's been a while since I've update this thread. As I type this I'm sitting in possibly in possibly the WORST campsite ever. I'm in Grasslands National Park. Where the hell is that you might ask? The southern boarder of central Saskatchewan about 20 miles from the US / Montana boarder. I came here because I had to travel through the prairies on my way to Calgary anyway and Explore Magazine named this “one of the top 10 campsites in Canada”. I have to think Parks Canada paid for this accolade, because aside from seeing a few wild Bison (cool) and about 10,000 Prairie Dogs, there is nothing here. Not a tree, not a lake, not a scrub plant. As an added bonus, aside from being locked in a corral with 30 other campers on the open prairie (the ONLY place to camp), I'm also being eaten alive by mosquitoes. If I don't make it to Calgary I've likely died of west nile virus
.Let me back up a week or so. I left the family cottage about a week ago, drove to Winnipeg to catch a flight to Churchill MB. My goal was to ride in a Tundra Buggy, see some Polar Bears, snorkel with Beluga Whales and see the gateway to the Arctic. I got 3 out of 4.
When I landed in Churchill it felt like winter in Cali. Winds were high, it was raining hard and near freezing temps…but luckily the tour I'd booked for that day was the Tundra Buggy, so weather would not effect my plans. I don't know if I was more excited to see Polar Bears or ride in one of these awesome Tundra Buggy machines! The frames sit about 4' feet off the ground and the tires were nearly as tall as me (I'm 6'). Powered by a Cat diesel with some kind of monster low range T-case, these things are nearly impossible to get stuck and will plow through most anything.
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dieselbigot
Adventurer
Tundra Buggy...these things are way cool. I want one!
dieselbigot
Adventurer
We drove out on old military roads used during the cold war in search of wildlife. I guess the US military figured this place was a close resemblance of Russian terrain and a good place for war games, so there is a large network of trails to drive on. Our guide told us there are a number of undetonated dud bombs still kicking around the tundra. We saw a few Caribou, a bunch of arctic birds, an arctic fox…and yes, Polar bears! A mama and her cub walked right in front of us before finding a good spot to lay down and sun-tan for a while as we looked on and snapped some pics. Pretty cool.
dieselbigot
Adventurer
My first polar bear sighting
dieselbigot
Adventurer
Next day I was set up for the whale snorkeling thing (which I was totally looking forward to), but due to the high winds and 10’ waves in Hudson’s Bay the day before, the visibility in the water was less than a foot…so snorkeling was cancelled. I opted for plan B and did one of the boat tours. We saw about 100 whales dancing around the estuary including a few calves that we just a few weeks old. I expected them to be bigger, but they look and act just like an oversized dolphins. The captain of the boat dropped a microphone into the water so you could hear them echo-locating…it was really neat listening to them. We also boated over to the Prince of Whales stone fort which was built in the mid 1700’s to facilitate the fur trade with the natives. Many men lost their lives during it’s 40 year construction due to the harsh living conditions and unrelenting cold…you can still see the names of these men carved into the walls over 260 years later.
dieselbigot
Adventurer
After less than 48 hours in Churchill I’d had my fill. It’s not much of a town and once you’ve seen all the wildlife and experienced the terrain, you’ve pretty much got it . The housing there reminds me of what you might see in Siberia...pretty depressing . As I flew out under clear skies the next day, it became very apparent why there are no roads to this part of the world…once you leave the airport and the bedrock it’s built on, there is nothing but water and muskeg for hundreds of miles. The cost to build and maintain a road in this terrain would be enormous. As the plane climbed to it’s cruising altitude the setting sun lit up the lakes and made them shimmer like diamonds in the dying light. It was at that moment I got the best visual of just how much of the north country is covered by water…almost all of it.
. The housing there reminds me of what you might see in Siberia...pretty depressing . As I flew out under clear skies the next day, it became very apparent why there are no roads to this part of the world…once you leave the airport and the bedrock it’s built on, there is nothing but water and muskeg for hundreds of miles. The cost to build and maintain a road in this terrain would be enormous. As the plane climbed to it’s cruising altitude the setting sun lit up the lakes and made them shimmer like diamonds in the dying light. It was at that moment I got the best visual of just how much of the north country is covered by water…almost all of it.dieselbigot
Adventurer
I left Winnipeg last Friday and drove up to Riding Mountain national park to spend the night at Moon lake. I had the entire place to myself. It’s your typical central Manitoba lake country with lots of trees, lots of lakes and a few hills. I put my SUP board in the lake and had a paddle before dinner…it was very relaxing.
