1992 Trip (#2) - Stats, Highlights, Awards

Participants

• Bill
• Matt D
• Joe
• Andy

Rating  7

Destination  Flindt Landing Camp

Dates  May 22-28

Highlights

• Matt and Bill's first Canadian fishing trip
• 3 Walleye dinners and limit take home (1.5# average; 16")
• Watching Bill eat sandwiches
• Watching Matt catch the first fish most days
• Super morning fishing on 3rd day at the North End
• Early trip (late spring) - high, cool water - fish in different spots
• Pretty good pike action - 9 filleted out (all over 5#)

Awards

Walleye King: Co-winners - Joe and Bill - 3# (20")

Pike King: Co-winners - Matt and Andy - 7.5# (29")

"Bill T Sandwich Eating Award" (inaugural year): Bill T!

Epilogue

Got out of camp at 8:00 Thursday morning. Andy home in South Bend by 6:00 Friday morning. Great trip. Good to have our own group now. Bill and Matt catch more fish that they expected. Could be the start of a great run of fishing trips.

Exploration on the Last Day

The Left Arm

Group decides to explore today after yesterday's success. Went up the Left Arm. All the way. Very shallow where creek comes in. Moved down the east shore line. Used depth finder to work 10-15' of water. Got bored of walleye trolling and shifted to pike casting. Joe and Matt caught "squat" (1 small pike). Andy and Bill had some action - 3 pike (2 casting, 1 trolling). 2nd pike was Andy's 7.5#-er (29") (ties Matt so far for largest pike).

Yet Another Trip North

For evening fishing, the group decided to go to the North End yet again since no one had ever done that before (go north in the evening) and wanted chance at good fishing. But plans didn't work out for Joe and Matt. While Andy and Bill took off in the slower boat, expecting Joe/Matt to catch up, but they had serious boat issues (went back to camp 3 times). Ended up fishing with the armada at Bob's Bay (how deflating). Bill/Andy never saw the fishing pick up at the North End. Stayed until 8:30. Caught 4 keepers. Bill pulled in a 3# (20") walleye to tie Joe for Walleye King honors. When the boats rendezvoused, realizing the need for one more walleye for our take home limit, Bill and Andy stop at The Culvert. Andy pulls in a 1# (15") walleye and later a small pike. Bill's last fish was a "sucker"!

50 Fish in 4 Hours, Matt's 30" Pike

Return to The North

After talking up the North End and having catches of any size only there, everyone agrees to go up there again (taking sandwiches so we can stay as long as we want - Bill needs several sandwiches!). Fishing really kicks in for the group! Day is overcast, looks like rain (only sprinkled though). Very similar to 3rd day last year.

One of the best fishing days ever had by the group as it turns out. Many walleye caught just outside the "hole". About 50 fish caught between 9:00 and 1:00. Some 2.5# (19") but none larger. What's interesting is the number of large pike caught as well. Six so far over 5# (26") - Matt's largest at 7.5# (30") - Andy at 6.5# (28.5") and Bill close. Many other pike caught as well. After a shore (sandwich) lunch, did some pike casting in nearby bay (6 small pike caught). Everyone pretty pleased with the day.

Home at about 5:00. Filleted fish and ate (by unanimous decision) pan fried walleye. Group stays in that night and plays "20 Questions". (LA Man et al given seminar on catching and filleting fish - we're BAD!).

Assessment of Fishing Thus Far

Matt seems to always catch the first fish when we come to a new spot. Turned out true at the North End yesterday and today as well. First fish was his 7.5# pike. Matt played it like a 20#-er! Drag set low so that it took 15 minutes (at least) to land. Made 5 runs. Bill, the net man, spent a lot of time waiting, but got it in the boat in fine shape. Joe is in the bank with the largest walleye so far (3#). Also, Andy has to admit, Joe catches 3 for every 2 Andy catches (except when it comes to pike)!

"The Dime Under the Rock"

Bill put a dime under some rocks at the small island up north to see if it is still there some time in the future.

Success at the North End

Went to the North End to see if that spot at least could produce. The "hole" was empty as a start. No production in the "trench" or at the rapids, but our bad luck broke as we found walleyes and incidental pike all around the second bay. Got our spirits up.  Stayed to 1:00 or so and made stop at the outlet. Andy catches pike below the falls. Evening fishing is so so. Few keepers. Can't get fish at normal places. Only Golden Pond, Rockface, Narrows, and neck between latter two are producing fish (but only 1.5# max size).  Dinner was pan fried walleye.

Introduction to "The Culvert", LA Man and Gramps

Up at a reasonable hour. Hit indicated spots but only occasional success. Bill has heart-to-heart discussion with an elderly lady leaving on train (a vet of 14 years) so we started at "The Culvert" and caught some nice fish. By noon, everyone has caught a fish.

A little down, he group returns to The Culvert where we met "LA Man and Gramps". They're catching fish every cast with minnows (our minnow rap has trapped squat!). We get a lecture on fishing and treated to the mantra "Welcome to Canada" every time they catch a fish.

Bill and Matt D's First Canadian Fishing Trip

Travel Travails Dominate

Things not off to a flying start. Andy leaves South Bend at 1:30 Friday afternoon (driving new van conversion) but does not arrive at Joe's until 5:30! Construction on the Kennedy plus Memorial Day traffic took their toll. Took 1:45 to go from Comiskey Park ramp to Edens. Delays did not end there. Had a 15-30 minute backup paying the last toll before Wisconsin. Them ran into construction on the I90-94 stretch just past Madison - 1.5 hour delay. Some parts were dead stops. Good thing that we left earlier than scheduled (because Matt changed his schedule to work nights and Bill has Friday afternoons off in summer). Seems like crowds everywhere on the way up. Breakfast at Int'l Falls was jammed. Even had to wait to enter Canada. The frosting on the cake though was when we finally got all the way to the end of our journey, we had a 3 hour wait to fly-in - backed up due to "bad" weather - oh yeah, almost forgot - it snowed in Minnesota on the way up and there was some patchy snow on the ground in Canada. Very cold - 37 degrees Saturday morning (had $52 worth of hamburgers in Savant Lake for lunch).

Cold, Cold Start

Matt's flight was not too "turbulent" but he was glad when it was over. Finally got to camp around 6:00 pm but we still got out to fish by 7:00. Coldest fishing day I can remember except for the snow day at Nameigos! Caught a few in regular spots. We're told that it was a very late spring - ice out around May 10 - so the fishing is different than Andy has experienced here (he feels pressure to put the group on the fish. Everyone sleeps like logs that night. Dinner was brats late at night.