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genoel
07-26-2014, 10:21 PM
Hi all, I haven’t posted for quite a while so I guess it’s time to do so.

My lovely wife Liz and I were able to get away for an 8 night venture up into the north country for a bit of “little boat fishing”. For us this means loading the 12 footer on top the camper and the electric motor inside, to troll with flyrods for trout.

As I was just getting off of a night shift the morning we left, July 9, we headed only as far as Petite Lake, north of Hinton. We spent a couple of nights there, and on the first day had a memorable experience with a large group that appeared, set up right next to us in an otherwise completely empty campground with a huge toy hauler, unloaded 6 quads and vanished in the hour in which we went for a walk and returned. Bizarre!

Anyways back to the trip. At Petite Lake we also saw what would be virtually the last clouds or any sort of breeze we would experience for virtually the entire trip as you will see in the upcoming photos.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_8681_zpsee74b62b.jpg

We didn’t catch any fish in the few outings we had on the lake but did spend the better part of our 1 full day there, driving the back roads doing a bit of creek fishing and did manage to pick up a couple of nice grayling in one of the nearby flowing waters.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_8726_zpsf77898b7.jpg


As this was only a brief stopover to recover from my night shifts, we were on our way Friday morning and headed north, through Grande Cache, Grande Prairie and into the Peace Country to one of our favourite little trout lakes.

Fishing there was considerably better and we were soon into some beautiful rainbows and brookies like this one.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_8749_zpsba98c171.jpg


It is a special little place that will remain unnamed in this story. It is the type of place where one morning I was able to, as I trolled along alone in the boat while Liz enjoyed a little well deserved sleep, have an eagle fly by,

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_8793_zpsc944f371.jpg

while a cow moose swam her calf across the lake right in front of me.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_8797_zps1578b4f3.jpg

They reached the other shore and instead of just stepping out onshore, which they could have anywhere along the bank, the cow walked along for about 50 yards while the calf swam along right beside her. It was as if she was giving it a swimming lesson. Amazing! I trolled along following them and they finally stepped out on the shore where they stood and ate for at least another 15 minutes seemingly without a care in the world. Meanwhile I trolled along watching all of this unfold, taking pictures by the dozens of the eagle flying by, the moose and the loons swimming along watching it all happen.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_8829_zps965e8d68.jpg

Oh, and at the same time, I was busy fighting, netting and trying to photograph the nice rainbow that interrupted what I thought was already a pretty special moment.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_8832_zps4f6b4bff.jpg

Anyone who thinks this is a bit too much to believe, is welcome to pull the data off of the digital files and will see that the last 4 images were all taken in just a few moments time as well as about 50 more that I obviously can’t post all of.

We spent 4 nights at our little spot with virtually no one else there. I believe in the entire time there was maybe 2 or 3 hours where there was even another boat on the lake with us. We trolled along for hours continuing to catch at least 4 different age classes of rainbows and brookies.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_8926_zpse9896e88.jpg

The weather was scorching hot with the temperature reaching 35 C on the thermometer on the dash of my truck as we trolled along watching the world go by.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_8901_zps6146daed.jpg

For 4 days and nights it was just hot weather (too hot for me), calm water and beautiful fish one after the other.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_8972_zpsb494ea94.jpg

(More to come.)

genoel
07-26-2014, 10:22 PM
But, we can’t ever seem to stay anywhere for too long no matter wonderful it may seem, and there was another lake nearby that we had never fished before, so we packed up on Monday July 14th and moved a few km down the road to give it a try.

While we seemed to catch a few less fish there, we certainly made up for it in the quality of fish we caught. Again, with these lakes stocking rainbows and brookies on alternating years, we were able to again catch fish from four different stockings with 2 very different size classes of each species.
We again caught beautiful rainbows,

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_9025_zps419215dd.jpg

and brookies.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_9029_zps1ede9b26.jpg

We experienced more beautiful weather and witnessed beautiful smoky sunsets.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_9022_zpscd1d5db7.jpg

And every time you were busy doing something it seemed you would hook into another fish that would bend the 8 weight rods over in half, and strip off spools of fly line over and over,

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_9059_zps10700137.jpg

before filling the net, yet again.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_9047_zpsa6f65e5b.jpg

Alas, with only one night left before it was time to head home, we decided to shorten the trip home and headed back towards the city on July 16th and stopped at Edith Lake north of Swan Hills. This is a beautiful little spot that I have personally been visiting for over 30 years and while it has remained very pretty,

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_9106_zpsa7a38583.jpg

there seems to be a bit of a squatters camp that has formed there.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_9094_zpsbe6432fb.jpg

And although our evening there was very quiet and peaceful, the ones there that are truly laughing at us there are the loons,

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_9097_zps0268be0a.jpg

which must be greatly enjoying the absolute stupidity of whomever the idiots are, that have changed this place which used to be a wonderful brookie—at one time even grayling fishery—into what has become sadly, another lake that is festered with pathetic perch like this.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_9116_zps157eee36.jpg

I would personally like to wish whomever it was, a safe and speedy trip straight to Hell for their ignorance for doing so.

We were able to enjoy a brief bit of fishing on some nearby flowing water the next morning and managed to pick up one more nice little grayling before the rain chased us out of there and we headed for home.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_9128_zpsfad9182a.jpg

We meandered the back roads as we always do, home from the Swan Hills, and were fortunate to enough to stop a photograph a nice deer in the canola, before returning home safely to the “real world”.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_9130_zps9dfa8a67.jpg

All in all, another wonderful trip was enjoyed. Beautiful weather, spectacular scenery and wonderful company as we experienced both the good and bad fishing that we love so much. One more month and we’ll be off on our yearly pilgrimage to Ryan Lake with Mikisew Sportfishing for my 10th consecutive year. We can’t wait and will surely post a report when we return from that adventure as well.

Hope you enjoy, George and Liz Noël

pickrel pat
07-26-2014, 10:34 PM
Awesome report!!! Used to have a lake like that west of Dixonville. Boy I miss it!

Albertadiver
07-26-2014, 10:35 PM
Now that's what it's all about. Spending quiet time with the wife and being out to have some great experiences!

Pinhead
07-26-2014, 11:19 PM
Sound like you had a blast, thanks for sharing your story. You are a great writer.

Dan. :sHa_shakeshout:

pikergolf
07-26-2014, 11:30 PM
Looks like you had a grand time, thanks for the pic's!

bwackwabbit
07-27-2014, 07:27 AM
I felt like I went with you!...lol.
Great report!

Redfrog
07-27-2014, 09:40 AM
Thanks for the pics and tales.:sHa_shakeshout:

CanuckShooter
07-27-2014, 10:26 AM
Great post...those little lakes are great places to frequent. I really like the ones that don't have big power boats zooming all over the place.

MoFugger21
07-27-2014, 10:35 AM
Thanks for sharing!! Looks wonderful!

Mayhem
07-27-2014, 11:07 AM
Great trip...Thanks for the story and pics!

58thecat
07-27-2014, 11:15 AM
Serenity:)

waterninja
07-27-2014, 06:39 PM
great report and pics. looks like a beautifull vacation.

outdoors forever
07-27-2014, 06:56 PM
excellent pic thread :)

catnthehat
07-27-2014, 07:00 PM
I love fishing small uncrowded lakes in my canoe!:)
Looks like it is nice and quiet there.....
Cat

genoel
08-02-2014, 06:32 AM
Thanks for all of the wonderful comments. It was a great trip.
Here are a few more photos that didn't make the original post.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_8732_zps7306974b.jpg

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_8749_zpsba98c171.jpg

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_8960_zpscf22f860.jpg

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_9026_zpsceb59db7.jpg

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_8976_zps69f71d4d.jpg

But we find this sort of trip even a little too crowded for us, (there was another boat out on the lake with us a couple of times) so I was on the phone with Tim Gillies from Mikisew Sportfishing yesterday confirming the dates for our annual visit to Ryan Lake. Its time for more of this,

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_6323_zps08c190aa.jpg

and this,

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_6241_zps506a501f.jpg

and this.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/genoel3/IMG_6281_zpscf4a0bef.jpg

And believe me, it is a special feeling, knowing that no one else will ever enjoy that sunset, in that situation, because no one else is even close to you there. My understanding is that Ryan Lake has seen about 20 people so far this year!
Think about that the next time you are lined up somewhere considering the boat launch etiquette of those ahead of you in line. Have a great day! GN :)

Norman
08-02-2014, 07:15 AM
Some really great fish, looks like a small slice of heaven. Thanks for posting the pictures

dean2287
08-02-2014, 03:47 PM
Great pics and as others said, they sum up what it's all about! I just bought a 12' aluminum boat and outboard, can't wait to do a similar trip with the kids.