Back From lac Seul

Lac Seul Outpost "Red Tops"

Interesting, usually I find time to write this either at lunch hour or stayed late after work to finish this however now that I don't go in and I was all set up on my computer I have had to relearn how this even works!  As you can see, I did figure it out but finding the time is also an issue believe it or not.  So a couple of weeks ago Bruce called and two guys on their June trip cancelled at the last minute and asked if Pete and I would like to go back up.  The dates would be that we would have to be at the docks at Deception Bay at 8:00 AM on Friday, June 14th, returning out of camp on Tuesday morning June 18,  This put into motion a number of things that needed to be resolved.  First was the Ranger sitting at Frankie's, the insurance issues needed to be resolved before the boat could get started on.  Getting a hold of the insurance guy and straightening a few things out by Friday night the 7th it was a go.  The next Monday found me at Frankie's to see what the possibility of getting the boat by Thursday evening.  It would all depend on when the parts came in.  I did not put the burden on them and I know they did their best but on Wednesday the critical part, the main motor mount, was not in and could not promise.  That's OK, Plan B, talking to my brother Steve, who just got back from Lac Seul a week ago.  "Ya wanna go back up, we are leaving Thursday night, we need your boat, I'll drive" but he had too much going on at work. He did say we could use his boat, that was nice but too much screwing around. Plan C, rent a boat from camp, so Pete called Ken and explained our situation, he confirmed an asked if we could drive a couple of his Red Top boats back into camp, which definitely put us in that Drive All Night strategy. with nothing more than gas and the border in front of us, we left at 7:00 PM on June 13th with the plan on being at Deception around 4:30 AM, sleeping in the car for a bit then head to camp at 8:00.  The ride up was rather uneventful until we left Ft. Francis, Ontario at 12:30AM.  About 20 minutes north on hwy 502 we came across something black laying on the road.  Originally it looked like a piece of tire off a truck so at the last minute I decided to straddle it.  In a split second we decided it was a bear most likely dead already as we ran over it, the big thump and the truck rising up a couple of inches pretty much gave it away.  Everything seemed fine so we kept

Gary Blinn, a sight for sore eyes!

going only to catch a glimpse of a moose entering the ditch to our right, just crossed the road.  That is something one doesn't want to tangle with.  I was surprised at the amount of deer around Dryden but finally at 4:20 we pulled into the landing, parked and attempted to get some sleep.  We were 500 miles north of home and at that time the sun was already starting to rise.  Having slept about 90 minutes the boats started showing up and Mike Wiley, Bruce's son, who stayed in Sioux Lookout would soon be here.  Helping Mike load up the boat, the first of 3 camp boats showed up, it was Ken.  Tying him up and 10 minutes later the barge (the one who towed me back a couple weeks earlier) and 2 more Red Tops show up.  Helping one of the boats, the guy driving was none other than Gary Blinn, a gentleman I know from my friend Keith Holtan.  Gary was in camp last June when we were there and he brought a group again this year, I missed him by a week!  He has a business in Chattanooga, Tennessee and boy did they have the stuff!  Actually the barge was loaded with their groups possessions, enough that they rent an enclosed trailer in Minneapolis, their plan was to drive back then fly south.  I got him to pose for a picture to send to Keith.  He is a very nice man and it was a nice surprise to see him unexpectedly.  It would have been nice to be in camp with him as one of his guest, Lord I don't remember his name, but he is a fabulous picker and it is a pleasure just to hear him.  He remembered me as he got off the boat, we said hi.  Usually Gary will go to Alaska and stay with Keith in the even years as that's when the pinks and silvers are in the Kenai River and apparently both Gary and I believe, is the best time to go.  Maybe I will see him next June.  It was time to leave so after helping Gary load, I got in the Red Top with Mike's friends Dave and Alex and I followed Ken back to camp.  It went pretty good as we passed the scene of the crime from 3 weeks ago and made it in without any trouble.  After unloading and settling in it was time for a little nap which really helped!  We scheduled the rental for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday so the rest of the day was relaxing, not hard to do up there!

Alex and his 35 inch norther off the dock. 

Alex, Dave's son, is 11 years old and reminds me of myself when I was that age.  He could not wait to get up in the morning and fish the dock before breakfast.  The dock at camp is a great place to fish as it's easy to catch walleyes, saugers, and northern pike.  While getting our nap in, Alex was down catching walleyes, one after another.  After finally getting set, it was time to see how Alex was doing.  Within a couple of minutes from arriving he tangled into something that definitely wasn't a walleye.  Finally landing it, it was a 35 inch northern, a beautiful fish.  we got it unhooked, snapped a few pictures and let it go.  That was a great way to start a trip.  He actually casts a bait casting reel pretty good for an 11 year old, I will have to give him credit.  His tackle selection wasn't very good for northerns so I dug into my box and set him up with a leader and some spoons for casting.  With Friday behind us Saturday was the start of a new day as our rental boat was ready and in front of the cabin.  It was a brand new Lund 16 foot with a 30 hp Mercury tiller on back, no electronics, just and anchor and a cooler.  I told Pete he could drive, as it was my turn to relax and complain!  Our first day was in Tuk Bay, one of my favorites.  We did catch a lot of walleyes but admittedly one get's used to the electronics and the trolling motor's anchor function, but heck we were in Canada.  In previous satellite maps I saw where the Tuk River flowed into the bay which looked much like where the Wapesi empties into the lake and we headed up to investigate.  We found the rapids however it wasn't as deep therefore the fishing wasn't very good however we got out and walked up a ways seeing moose tracks, eagle feathers, and the leftovers from something's whitefish dinner.  As we were coming out of the area, I was casting the stumps and a few lily pads for northerns using a red and white Daredevil when something hit it.  it wasn't that big and when it arrived at the boat it was a walleye!  I should have took a picture as the last walleye I caught on a Daredevil was 47 years ago with Hub Rose, we were trolling a small channel going into a lake off of Lake Nipigon, when a walleye hit it.  Hub threw it back because at that time we were fishing northerns and not interested in these trash fish!

Typical Chamberlain Narrows Sunset.

The next 2 days were Sunday in Wapesi and Monday we fished the Bear Narrows region.  It wasn't bad but again really missed the electronics.  Sunday we headed to the Wapesi River and caught a few but not spectacular.  It was good to see a full river as the rapids was beautiful as always.  While fishing a point by an island a camp boat kept going back and forth, we figured he was lost.  Coming up to us we gave him the way out however when we left, about 3 miles up the lake he was still running around.  He finally saw us and decided to follow us home, thanking us later.  Monday was fishing down by Bear Narrows, close to where I had hit the rock.  Coming up to the green buoy it was located in 12 feet of water, apparently someone had moved it to the right position.  We finally found an area along an island on the north side of Bear Narrows that with the wind, offered a perfect drift patterns.  Pete had a hot rod using a chartreuse curly tail so I followed suit and we would get 5 to 7 walleyes each pass.  The wind was perfect and within a couple of hours we had our 8 fish to take home as well a a great time.  Drifting at a pretty good clip made the plastics a great choice, and it was a lot of fun despite the fact that we knew little about the depth, figuring it to be somewhere in the 12 to 18 foot level.  It was one of the best times I have fished Lac Seul, maybe because of the simplicity. Admittedly the Ranger is a lot more comfortable! Heading back on Tuesday was uneventful however I did want to mention that I drove my 2018 GMC Sierra 1500 with a 6.2L V8.  Keeping track of my mileage I was amazed that we averaged over 24  mpg for the 1000 mile trip, and the best we got in a 25 mile segment was 30.1 mpg, pretty impressive.  I will leave you with the view we have each evening, absolutely beautiful!