A Canadian Retreat

School is out!  Teachers across our great state have dismissed their classes, summer plans are being initiated.  As educators, my wife and I are no different as we prepared to make our annual pilgrimage up to Bright Lake in Ontario, Canada.   Bright Lake is a place I have been fortunate enough to visit since I have been a toddler, and it holds a special place in my life as somewhere fond memories have been made.  Not only is it scenic and picturesque, but it is also chocked full of pike, walleye, perch, and bass.  This combination of beauty and action make it the ultimate destination for any sportsman.

After arriving home on Monday from the final day of work, the packing began.  Our plan was to stay at Bright Lake for 5 days.  Over my 27 years of traveling to Sunset Beach, the appropriately-named road our cottage rests on, I have found that I always pack far too heavily.  While in Canada, I rarely, if ever, shower, and I may only wear two or three outfits in a week.  That’s what a true outdoorsman does, right?  Keeping this in mind, I filled a small book bag with a few shirts and a pair of shorts, as well as my cold kayaking gear, and stuffed everything, including the kayak into the car.  I then turned my attention to the fishing supplies. 

Canada taught me to fall in love with fishing, and the main method used is trolling.  The fish go through phases where they will hit certain lures, and will not touch others.  The spectrum has included Rapala X-Raps, Storm Hot-n-Tots, Spoons, and now it is on Berkley Flicker Shads.  As long as you have a firetiger Flicker Shad tied on, you’ll be in business.  I suspect next year Rapala Scatter Raps will be successful as I tipped my uncle off on these and he was hitting them hard all week with the newest lure of choice.  If you have ever fished with a Flicker Shad, you know the hooks are downright terrible.  These were something I was going to need to change before wetting a line in Bright Lake. 

After 2 hours packing up, checking, and double-checking my fishing gear, the car was set to go.  Waking up Tuesday morning, it was time to leave.  It is a 550-mile drive from my home, and normally takes 8.5-9 hours to drive with limited stops and infrequent traffic incidences.  Unfortunately, this was not going to be the case for us this trip up North.   We ended up leaving around noon, expecting to see the beautiful sunset on the beach and tuck into bed happy and relaxed.   This notion soon was hindered as I forgot my kayak registration in the garage at home.  Being 30 minutes from home, we turned around and picked it back up.  10pm is the new arrival time.  No worries, the sun does not set and get dark until an hour later on Bright Lake, and this was but a minor hiccup.

Leaving a second time, we planned to stop at Bass Pro Shops in Rossford, OH or in Cabela’s in Dundee, MI on the way up.  Fortunately both of these are literally right off of the highway on the way up.  We decided on Cabela’s as it is truly a world-class outdoors store in Dundee.  After picking up a few Flicker Shads, some new X-Raps, and Mustad treble hooks, nothing was going to stop us now.  After the hour-long stop, no more sunset on the lake that night.  Regardless we were determined- next stop, Canada.

At about 11pm, my wife was driving and noticed the temperature gauge on the car reading extremely hot.  We were in the middle of northern Michigan, about 15 miles from the Mackinac Bridge.  We had to pull the car over in I-75N.  We waited for 20 minutes and turned the car back on.  Immediately, the engine over heated again.  Driving 15mph till the next exit, we pulled into a dark and abandoned gas station.  In my mind, I thought, “this is exactly how I have seen countless blood-spilling horror stories begin.”  I do not have a smart phone, but my wife does.  Unfortunately, we had been surfing the internet for the last 6 hours and the battery was dead.  We were in some serious trouble.  The temperature was under 50 degrees and it was pitch black.  I put on my head lamp, got the coolant out of the trunk (yes, I carry extra coolant in this vehicle for this scenario) and opened the radiator after letting it cool for an hour. 

I soon called my parents and had them look up a hotel in Mackinac where we could stay and a car shop where we could get repairs the following day.  I was beginning to doubt we were going to see the sunset the following day on Bright Lake at this point.  Soon, we received a call back from my parents saying there was a hotel where we could stay with the auto shop close by.  With the hazard lights on, we chugged 30mph up I-75 20 more miles to Mackinac.  At 1am, we arrived at the hotel.  Tired, stressed, and not feeling very vacation-like, we fell asleep.

In the morning, we got our car checked out at a mom-and-pap car shop.  They could not find anything, and sent us on our way, charging $30 in the process.  Since the car was not overheating any longer, we decided to forge on to Canada.  Crossing the Mackinac Bridge is always a majestic site and one I would highly recommend to anyone.  Connecting the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan and dividing Lakes Huron and Michigan, the “Mighty Mac” makes you feel like you are on top of the world. 

After crossing the Mackinac, we only had 50 miles until Sault Ste. Marie, which is where we cross the bridge over Lake Superior into Canada.  Crossing the bridge, you always get nervous as you have to pass customs.  I have only ever been pulled over to be checked once.  Nevertheless, you have to be on your best behavior.  As we passed customs, we were now in Canada!  The car began overheating from being stopped on the bridge as others passed their customs checks, but as we drove the cool Canadian air satisfied the engine and we made it the extra 70 miles to the cottage.

When we arrived, I opened up the cottage, and we were finally on vacation over 24-hours after leaving West-Central, Ohio.   Unloading the Jackson Cuda 14 from the roof of the car and dropping it into the sand was a great feeling.  I geared up the kayak and neighboring Canadians stopped in to see the sight.  It was obvious that none of them had ever seen a fishing kayak before. 

That evening after the waves died down a bit, it was time to go out trolling.  I paddled an area called North Shore for 90 minutes.  This was as much of a learning experience as it was fun for me.  Being an experienced kayak angler, I underestimated the sheer ferocity of Northern pike.  I have caught largemouth, smallmouth, walleye, crappie, catfish, freshwater drum, and more out of the kayak. I have yet to experience a fish that wreaks havoc quite like a pike when it is on the deck of your kayak.  Here are a few friendly pointers:

1.       Only bring one rod.  In Canada, you can only fish with one at a time, so having two is pointless, and mine got tangled as these fish run all over the place once hooked.

2.       Clear everything off of the front deck.  I lost baits, my new pliers, and almost my paddle from crazy, flopping and thrashing fish in 90 minutes of fishing.  One pike slapped a Flicker Shad with sharp hooks right at my face with its tail. 

3.       Bring fish grips.  There is no way you are going to handle a pike in a kayak without a pair of grips to hold its mouth.  Many people around here call saugeye “Gators.”  On the contrary, Northern pike have a mouth full of teeth that give them the “Gator” nickname in my book.

Several pike and walleye later, it was time to head in.  The mosquitoes in early summer are overbearing and swarm after you like the undead in a zombie movie.  I wear a mosquito head net on my morning and evening trips.  It looks silly, but it’s worth saving hundreds of mosquito bites. 

The following morning, I trolled north shore again.  I ran the same program, hauling my fire tiger Flicker Shad at about 2mph.  I ran into a few nice fish but also some smaller walleye and pike on this trip.  One pike was just a hammer handle that had two huge catfish chasing it around while it was on the hooks.  I saw this and saved him from an untimely death and he willingly jumped into my boat.   

After an enjoyable but rather un-noteworthy morning, the thin and crisp Canadian air lulled me to sleep and I took a nice long nap.  I woke up to crashing waves and wind.  I still decided to go out in white-capped waters to test my luck.  Within an hour it was apparent I was not accomplishing anything and was forced to beach my kayak at the local bear-friendly park named after my great, great grandfather.  70 years ago he bought hundreds of acres around the lake.  5 generations later, we are still going.  Talk about foresight. 

Regardless, there was going to be no trolling until later tonight in the kayak.  I began to change-out all of the hooks on my lures.  The Mustad hooks are so much wider my hookup ratio is almost perfect with them.  For an extra $5, it is worth it for me. Notice the size difference of the hooks.

4:30am rolled around the following morning and I rolled out of bed and into my kayak.  The lake was dead calm.  The sun was already beginning to come up as I reached my destination and the smoke rolling off the lake welcomed me.  I decided that for as long as it was calm that morning, I was going to troll, regardless of how far I paddled.  I began the familiar North Shore program, since it is within a mile of our cottage. The rod doubled violently three times over on North Shore, producing a nice trio of pike and walleye.

Soon enough, I got antsy and wanted to hit the other side of the lake.  As fishermen know, the grass always seems greener on the other side.  Bright lake is approximately 3 miles long and 3 miles wide.  Paddling the 3 miles to the other end of the lake was going to take its toll, but I know the fish tend to be more abundant and larger over in a place called “Sugar Camp.” 

After arriving at Sugar Camp, I soon hooked into two nice pike.  The decision had paid off.  I worked the area a couple of times and did not hook into any other fish.  I looked across the large bay and eyed another pike-producing area called Schoolhouse.  Paddling the 3/4ths of a mile over to Schoolhouse was no big deal.  Schoolhouse is very weedy and undoubtedly holds monster pike. 

My Flicker Shad was dragging bottom and bringing up some nice catches of weeds when the first pike struck in Schoolhouse.  Soon enough two of his close friends also joined the party and the morning was turning out to be one to remember.  

At this point, I had already paddled 8 miles that morning and it was time to head in.  All-in-all, 11 miles of paddling that morning left me sore, but rewarded for my efforts with many nice fish.  

That evening, my wife and I hit the lake together and I was fortunate to pick up a couple of pike and walleye as well.

There is really nothing like the good fight of a fish in a kayak.  Seeing that rod double back with pure aggression on the other end creates a rush like nothing else.

 

Catching pike and walleye hand-in-hand, you do notice differences in the way they fight.  Pike give you major head-shakes.  They really want to spit the hook in a bad way.  Their violence is second to none both in the water and once you land them.  I have witnessed many pike actually knock themselves into a comatose state after thrashing so hard on the deck.  Walleye bite differently.  They simply want to bury your rod under the kayak with a strong and steady motion.  A pike will initially almost break your rod in half from the rod holder, whereas a walleye is a slower but sturdier bend.

Either way, you want to use fish grips when handling either fish.  Both species have sets of teeth that can harm you.  In addition, using fish grips stops the fish from thrashing, which removes the dangers to you and the fish.

Bright Lake produces very few monster walleye and pike.  Do not mistake me, I have landed, re-landed, and re-landed, then ultimately missed a 20lb pike from this lake that was approaching 4 feet long, and there are 28-30 inch walleye mounted throughout several cabins.  But, a vast majority are strong-fighting eater-sized fish.

After landing this walleye, it was time for a few casts just to exhaust all possibilities of schooling fish.  In fact, there was one more willing to be fooled by my lure. Then it was time to head in.

Paddling in and taking in the sunset, it is not hard to see the beauty on the lake.  With no other boaters around, I was able to take in the tranquility of the surroundings and enjoy the sport I love so much.

As the orange of day gave way to the blues and blacks of night, I decided to stop at the drop-off, an infamous spot right outside of my cabin and cast for some pike.  I did not get any, this time, but the experience is still second to none.

The following day, I decided to take the morning off of trolling.  Instead, we had a nice lunch of yellow perch over at my aunt and uncle’s cottage.  My uncle had just come in from perch fishing and had several 14” perch to boast about.  He had caught them over at Sugar Camp while I was trolling around.  He also caught two 30”+ pike.  I still have some things to learn.  My uncle is the Bright Lake guru and has landed many citation-worthy fish out of the lake, including this 6’2” 104 lb sturgeon through the ice.  It was the biggest fish caught in Ontario in over 50 years.  Very impressive. 

Taking a break from trolling, I turned from the main-lake over to the shoreline, and I noticed several minnows busting the surface around brush.  I assumed bass were chasing them around like normal, but I saw several pike swimming around crushing their prey as well.  I decided to take my wife out with me to watch this spectacle as it is rather entertaining to observe.  I tempted two pike into taking my rig.  Sight-fishing shallow water pike is something I had not done before, but it is certainly something I will do again.

With this final fishing trip logged, it was time to head home.  It was a memorable and enjoyable trip to Canada.  Overall, I caught 21 fish in 3.5 days of fishing.  Each fish was caught and released but the memories made will be kept forever.

Tight lines and be safe,

Aaron