Back from my first fly-in trip <<<Hoooolay pics are back on pg. 3!>>>

[Geezle]

*Disclaimer for the faint of heart and 'holier than thou' types - this post may contain pictures and stories involving fish being handled questionably, killed, and likely eaten, as well as the occasional beer or other alcoholic beverage. If you have an issue with any of this, now's your opportunity to click the Back button now. If you continue to read you have no reason to complain.

That having been said, what an adventure it was!

The group was made up of Terry (mooseknuckle), his dad Gary, brother Mike, BIL Doug, our buddy Daryl, and of course myself.

We rolled out of Edmonton headed for Buffalo Narrows around 8 Saturday morning...I don't think I really need to say just how excited we all were. It was Terry, Mike, Daryl and I in Terry's truck and Doug and Gary took Gary's car. We had a bit of a hiccup in our plan so the 2 vehicles headed out separately, but we met up in Bonnyville and pretty much stuck together until we got to the motel in Buffalo Narrows. Although nothing particularly noteworthy happened on the trip up, the trip itself was still a blast...all of us rocking out to the tunes and a lot of the usual fisherman BS sessions.

The evening was pretty much spent just hanging out at the motel having a couple beers and just generally relaxing.


Sunday morning we were up bright and early chomping at the bit to get going. We hit the restaurant for breakfast as soon as it opened up, then we headed off in search of some more mix for our 'adult beverages' however we forgot that on Sunday morning everything in Buffalo Narrows is of course closed We booked it back to the motel where the guy running it was more than happy to sell us a few flats of pop and a case or two of water for a severely inflated price Nevertheless it was a life saver!

So shortly before 10 we get down to the dock and unload all of our gear on to a quad cart to be weighed, and then we loaded up the plane.

Here's the plane that got us there and back...it's a 1954 (I think) Otter with a Walter turbo.


Loading up.


Lucky the dog. Years ago this poor guy got clipped by a prop and lost his tail and a bit of one ear. He's super mellow and friendly, but when one of the planes starts up he just loses it and barks at the plane.


Since I'd never been in a small plane like this before the guys elected me to be the one to ride up front with the pilot. It was definitely a very neat experience to see all the stuff that the pilot is doing to keep this little plane in the sky. It also amazed me just how little speed these planes need to get up off the water. The window was kinda scuffed up but I managed to get a few decent pics from up there

Sittin' up front.


Looking back across all our stuff at the rest of the guys.





...more coming

[Geezle]

Here's some random pics from the flight

I can't believe just how many lakes there are up in Northern Sask...i'm guessing some of these bodies of water haven't been fished for years, if at all.







Coming in for the landing...


And seeing this!





...of course there's more coming

[DAVENYK66]

looking good so far

[Geezle]

So once we landed we unloaded all our stuff off the plane and on to a quad cart to be taken up to the bunkhouse, then we hit the kitchen for a quick lunch and a rundown of the rules, and then we were set loose on the lake!

Since it was sort of a short day of fishing (we were still on the lake well before noon) we all decided to do some exploring on the main lake. I was sharing a boat with Terry that day. We all started off in a nice bay that the guys had good luck in last year, and then slowly scattered around the lake.


Terry and I quite by accident found a really neat spot a few hundred yards out from shore where it was a pretty steady 12' deep and had tall tall weeds...we started casting around there and were in to fish in no time. Lots in the 3-4lb range, and then Terry pulled this guy out of there!


After we cleaned that spot out, Terry wanted to try to scratch lake trout off of the 'to catch' list, so we found some deep water and dropped a couple poor man's downriggers down with a couple big spoons and went for a troll. Also, his dad Gary had said that lake trout were poor fish for eating, and I had a goal to prove him wrong on this trip.

Well, it didn't take long before we were into the feesh again. I got lucky and pulled the first couple out.





Then Terry got his first ever lake trout () and just as I put the motor into neutral and killed it and started reeling in my line, I got a hit as well. Oh yeah laker double header!!

With only two of us in the boat this was the only way we could really get both fish in the pic.




Doug caught a net our first day out. Nobody is quite sure when the lake was last netted, but it has to have been a long time ago...the net looked to be in pretty rough shape.



And here's what we brought back to show Gary that lakers are good eatin'!



One was battered and deep fried, and the other was stuffed with crab meat (I think?) and baked, as well as a pike done the same way...mmmm soooooo good!


...more coming...

[Kokanee9]

I was wondering if you were back yet.

If you want lakes, Northern Sask will definitely fill the appetite!

[JohninAB]

Looking good.

Kind of blows a bit that the Otter had the turboprop engine kit as nothing like a Pratt and Whitney radial coughing and burping as it comes to life.

To copycat the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers "Alcohol will get you thru times of no fish better than fish will get you thru times of no alcohol!" Sounds like you guys planned the trip out well.

[Geezle]

Here's 'Mel's Bar' where we kept all the booze. Take note of the giant 3L bottle of Belvedere...it'll make a couple more appearances in this thread



After a big day of flying in and fishing all over the lake we came in for supper and a few well deserved beverages and a solid BS session.






There's that bottle of Belvedere again!





...TONS more coming still!

[AppleJax]

Haha love the disclaimer bud! Great story and pics so far, keep er coming!

[Master_Baitcaster]

cant wait for more pics. how do I get an invite to one of these trips :P, looks like a absolute blast!!!

[Geezle]

Tuesday was an interesting day to be sure. There was a minor incident the first night that put a bit of a funk in the air, and Terry and I ended up staying up waaaaaaay too late talking about it while everybody else had gone to sleep, so being the responsible adults we are, we decided to just stay up and keep drinking and go catch a fish before everybody else was even up.

We waited until Mel got up and let him know our plans, and then headed out on our way. We trolled for a bit and got a baby laker, and then decided that we should probably come in for breakfast. Blueberry pancakes (with fresh blueberries from the bush) and bacon!



After breakfast we headed to a different lake...well actually it's two lakes joined by a little canal. I don't recall the name of the first lake, but the second was called Hidden Lake. This day I had Doug with me, and we cruised around the two lakes and got little pike all over the place.



Pushing over the beaver dam to get into the second lake.





Nothing terribly noteworthy happened that day, but that doesn't mean it was a bad day. In fact, considering my lack of sleep, a quiet day was probably a good thing!


Oh yeah, there were blueberries EVERYwhere out there. At first I felt bad because if you're not paying attention you'll step on them, but they're so thick in places, especially in an area that burned in 2011 that it just can't be helped.




...more...

[Geezle]

...a few pics of the day winding down












The kitchen building.




STILL more

[Geezle]

So on Wednesday we kinda split up. Mike and Terry went back to the two joined lakes, and specifically to the Hidden Lake to go try to get some walleye, and the rest of us hit the main lake.

This day it was Daryl and I in a boat together. We cruised the main lake and got pike all over the place, but when we went in for lunch and saw that Mike and Terry got into some walleye we loaded our gear out of the boat and into the quad and hit Hidden Lake with those guys for the remainder of the day and got ourselves into some walleye, as well as more pike.




Nap time for Terry?



A couple walleye from the afternoon...fish bonker courtesy of Ken07AOVette


We'd had such a big day of fishing that we decided that we needed a break and a snack.









Yep...still more coming

[Geezle]

Heading back at the end of the day.




Mel wanted us to get a few pics in front of their sign, so of course we obliged him.


Snack time! Oysters on rice crackers with a little Tabasco sauce.



And everybody just hanging around the 'kitchen'






Another day winds down...



Getting ready for supper...ah-whatup ribeye!






Still more...we're only at Wednesday night!

[Geezle]

So after we all ate until it hurt (did I mention I gained about a pound a day while I was out there? ) Mel cleaned up the walleye for us and popped them in the freezer. I've seen a lot of fish cleaned in my day, but man this guy is good!





After that it was time to retire to the fire pit for a couple cocktails.

I think Daryl had a couple too many cocktails though!





So Thursday morning comes and we're off for a new adventure. Well, after Doug was done playing video games at breakfast anyway Who plays games on their iPhone in a place like this?

Anyway, adventure time! We loaded up the quads with our gear and ourselves and headed off to Loon Mud Lake, which was around an hour quad ride from the cabin. This is a pretty small lake, and they only recently managed to access it, so there was only 2 12' boats there, and two old Johnson 9.9 motors (which ran great!) so we had to go 3 guys to a boat.




At first the fishing was so-so...we were catching fish, but not a ton of them, and none with any substantial size to them...







Yep...more

[Geezle]

Mike drivin'


Daryl up front


And of course my ugly mug!


And then Daryl managed to scare up a more substantial fish


I also got a couple walleye out of this lake on cranks...check out how orange the belly of this fish is. I've never seen them like that before. We were guessing it had to do with the tea colored water, but the pike didn't have any noticeable color differences.



We headed in for lunch, and while we were gone Mel had done some wading and fishing of his own. Turns out that while he was out fishing a big black wolf passed by our stuff on shore where we were going to have lunch! I really would have liked to have been able to see the guy who left this track.





Hot dawgs for lunch


With a side of reel repair

[Geezle]

Aaaaaaand back to fishing!


I think this is the biggest fish of the trip...Mike's 15 1/2lber!



And headed back at the end of the day. It would have been nice to spend another day on this lake, but hey, they can't all be winners!





Going across the sketchy bridge.





And back in front of the sign.

[BGSH]

right on, looks like a blast

[Wild&Free]

Looks like a great time. I love fly ins to remote lakes. So peaceful and yet, probably not the most relaxing vacation. Late nights and hard fishing I need at least day to recover after mine. The exhaustion is so worth it though.

Thanks for sharing!

[Geezle]

And back to the cleaning station.

Unfortunately Mike's big pike didn't survive its ordeal, so after it floated for a bit we ended up going back and scooping it up. Nobody wanted to see it die, but if it was going to die, we weren't about to waste it. And that big ol' pike definitely tasted like a big ol' pike! But battered up and deep fried with some lemon and tartar sauce, it was far from the worst fish I've eaten





Look at the size of the fillet off that slob!




Ahhhh...and you know it's going to be a good meal when it starts off with this much butter!




OMG fresh walleye...jealous yet?




So needless to say there are a lot of squirrels around the area...and Mel hates those little buggers. Given the chance he'll pop them with the .410, but Gary also brought out his .22 pellet pistols that have been juiced up a little for plinking cans. Well, Daryl proved that they work well for plinking squirrels as well!

[JohninAB]

That is a yellow belly on that walleye. Checked some pics of walleye we caught in NW Ontario and nothing yellowed up like that. Cool.

[Geezle]

And so begins Thursday I think? It's hard to keep track of what happened on what day out there

The lake was just like glass...we really did get lucky as far as the weather went all week.




So this was my day sharing a boat with Mike. We started off by catching pike for the first half hour or so and then since Mike had never caught a laker before we headed for deeper water to scratch that one off the list for him...and it didn't take long!






Mike taking a much deserved break.


It was such a beautiful day we actually headed in a little early at lunch time so we could go for a swim before lunch, and Mike did his laundry!



The dining cabin.


Time for another break!

[Geezle]

Nice healthy lunch! Shrimp, and fish, and a bunch of cooking oil!



After lunch we went and helped Mel pull the dodgy bridge out of the water for the season, before hitting the water again ourselves. After we pulled the bridge we went for a hell of a quad ride with Mel through his trails at breakneck speeds trying to keep up with him. We had the quad up on 2 wheels briefly, almost clipped a tree, and took an ill fated short cut but still managed to keep up with him!

Then back to the water.

[Geezle]

And finally Friday, our last full day there rolls along. This was my day fishing with Gary, who also had never caught a laker, so that was our first item on the agenda. Got him set up with a giant spoon and a slip sinker rig and off we went, and he nailed 4 in a row! Unfortunately, although I took pics of his first lakers I can't seem to locate them I know we got a couple on his camera, so I'll try to get them and post them up

After the lakers we did a little pike fishing and then headed in for lunch.

After lunch Gary and Doug were feeling rather burned out and opted to hang back at camp, so Mike and I took one boat, and Terry and Daryl took another and we headed off to the island on the main lake.

First off this island is just kinda neat...it's quite small, and I'm pretty sure it's all rock, but there's a thick layer of dead pine needles and moss everywhere, and the trees were really dense. We did a small amount of exploring, and then left a little treasure stash there for whoever is out on that island next.








After our little island adventure it was time for more fishing! We trolled around and got a few more lakers before some incoming weather chased us off the lake for a couple hours.

[bwackwabbit]

Epic!

[Geezle]

So since the rain chased us off the water, Mel did up supper early for us, and by the time we were done eating the storm had passed. Mike and Daryl were in one boat, and I was alone in another. We trolled around for an hour or two for lakers with no luck, but it was one of the most peaceful, relaxing times I had out there all week

[Geezle]

And finally Saturday morning...the day we had to fly out.

Being the eager beavers we are, we hit the water for an hour or so of fishing before we really had to pack it in. Mike and I trolled for lakers with no luck, but Terry and Daryl were out in another spot, and they managed to pick up a couple.


We were told to be back at the cabin by 10 as the plane was supposed to be coming in around 11, but as we were heading back across the lake at 9:45 we saw the plane coming in!! We raced across as quick as we could, gave a quick hand loading our gear up, and we were back up in the sky on our way out of paradise

[Geezle]

And finally, the drive home. The drive itself was mostly uneventful, however we did stop at a place called Porky's in Ashmont where we all got t-shirts and caused a general ruckus in the little place for an hour or so Then back on the road home.








Congrats to anybody who actually read all of this! All in all it was a hell of a time, and I really have to put out a huge thanks to mooseknuckle for inviting me along for this adventure. I sincerely hope we can pull this one off again next year!

[Fishfinder]

Originally Posted by BGSH

right on, looks like a blast

X2! Good times, thx for sharing

[wags]

Fantastic story, adventure and pics! Thank you for sharing.

[JohninAB]

Excellent report,pics and trip. Thanks for posting.