We had a wonderful drive along the northern shore of Lake Superior on Saturday. As you can see from the pictures below the sites were impressive. We found our way to the Oskondaga River Outfitters, about a thousand feet left after Hwy's 11 and 17 branch. My friend Bernie is staying in a cabin at the Birch point resort which is about 25 miles west of us on hwy. 11. Bernie had stopped by a couple of times to check on us but we were a little later than expected. he left a message that he would pick me up at 7:00 tomorrow for a fishing trip.
Our hosts at the Oskondaga River Outfitters, Allan & Mary Ward, were wonderful people and did everything they could to improve our stay. Allan is a renowned bear hunter guide and informed me that his "Guys,"clients, always are happy and get their bear. I did see a large black bear when I drove to Bernie's cabin on Monday. It crossed the road, stopped to look at me, and then ambled into the forest. I tried to get my camera but I couldn't reach it in the back seat.
Tippy, Alex, and I had a quiet first evening in Canada. We had dinner in the coach and enjoyed a heavy rain fall. On Sunday morning Bernie picked me up as scheduled at 7:00 and we drove into Thunder bay where we picked up two other gentlemen. The first was Shane who is a policeman in Thunder bay and the second was Terry who is working on road construction at this time. Both of these guys love to fish and the four of us had a wonderful day! I didn't catch any fish that day but did enjoy the scenery along the Wolf River as we fished from the road downstream toward the lake. There were a couple small Brook Trout caught and released and Shane and Bernie were lucky enough to each catch a nice Walleye. Shane weighed out at 6lb 13oz and Bernie's was only slightly smaller. After a long day of fishing we dropped the guys off and headed back to the wilderness. Our place is about 45 miles west of Thunder bay and Bernie is another 25 miles west.
On Monday I drove to Bernie's cabin at the Birch Point Resort on Kashabowie Lake. This place is really cool and has several well equipped cabins, several boats and motors for rent. The folks that run the resort were real nice and Bernie thinks the world of them. You can check out there website at
http://www.duenorth.net/birchpointresort . Kashabowie Lake is simply beautiful!! It is about 17 miles long with numerous bays, coves, and channels. There is almost no development on the lake so we only saw about three other boats all day long. I was lucky enough to catch a nice Walleye, maybe a little over 5 lbs, and several nice Small Mouth Bass. I also caught some rocks and a dock they we fished but enough said about these little hiccups. One of the Small Mouth bass was about 3 lbs and put up quite a good fight on my ultra light outfit. Bernie saw a large Northern pike follow one of the SMB right to the boat. he thought it was going to eat the fish but as I pulled the SMB out of the water the northern swam under the boat. I am sure a fish that size and weight would have spooled my ultralight pretty quickly, so I am lucky he didn't eat the SMB, but it would have been fun for a few minutes.
On Tuesday Tippy, Alex, and I went to see Kakabeka falls. This was a marvelous falls and the sight of much history for the local Indian tribes. We got a few pictures and headed back to the coach to drop off Alex and go to lunch at a nearby restaurant. We had a good meal and returned home to wait for Bernie to arrive for another afternoon of fishing. Bernie arrived shortly after 2;00 and we sat and talked a bit waiting for the sun to go down a bit. We left for a nearby river shortly after 4:00 and fished two different spots that Bernie had found very productive previously. Well we fished and fished but didn't catch anything except two small Brook Trout that were less than 6 inches long. We finally gave up around 7:00 and returned to the coach for dinner. I grilled some steaks and Tippy made a great salad, mac & cheese, and baked beans. Needless to say Bernie and I were full again and it felt good after an afternoon of fishing.
Today, Wednesday, we drove into Thunder Bay and have a wonderful spot here at the Thunder Bay KOA. We get satellite TV, WiFi, and we also have a fishing pond right in front of the coach. Life is good again!! Tippy and I took a drive around Thunder Bay this afternoon to get the lay of the land and made a stop at the Terry Fox outlook which is very close to the KOA. terry was a cancer victim and had lost a leg before his cancer went into remission. he began a walk across Canada by dipping his toe in the Atlantic Ocean and then began to walk east across Canada. he reached Thunder Bay where his cancer returned and unfortunately he passed away in this area.
Tomorrow Bernie and I will fish the Nipigon River. I will tell you about that later but for now be safe and enjoy the pictures.
