It's mid March 2010 and Gerry Heels and I just finished driving up to Sudbury, Ontario where we would stay overnight at his daughter's place before we left early the next morning for an ice fishing vacation neither of us will forget about anytime soon. Gerry Heels and I have fished bass tournaments together for about a decade and over the years I have heard many tall tales about the fishing at his ‘camp' north of Sudbury. I was finally about to experience some of that fishing myself and can now offer Fish On Line Canada readers this tall tale of our excellent adventures
So, grab a coffee, sit back and enjoy!
Our adventure begins after Gerry's daughter Courtney, who is a broadcaster with CTV in Sudbury, dropped us off at the train station 4:30 that morning. We loaded all of our ice fishing equipment, food and supplies aboard the train and then settled in for the 2 ½ hour drive north where we would eventually stop in the middle of nowhere and hike into Gerry's small cabin in the woods.
Sitting in our boxcar were a myriad of individuals ranging from trappers to businessmen to everyday northerners who relied on the train to move them between communities that didn't have road service during the winter months. Across from us was a pretty young bride-to-be carefully guarding her wedding dress on the way north to her wedding the next day. Everyone seemed to have looks of anticipation on their faces but none were as anxious to begin their adventures as the two anglers from southern Ontario save perhaps for the bride to be.
We passed several cabins not far from the railway en route. “These were all built way back when there was no road service and many of them were fishing or hunting cabins that could only be reached by train all year long. Now, they are only isolated in the winter when the logging roads aren't plowed and everyone who visits them relies on the train it's basically the same deal as my cabin which was built in the 1940's,” explained Gerry.
As we began to approach the general area where Gerry's cabin was, we reminded railway staff where we wanted to be left off and it was a good thing too because somehow it had slipped their minds! We unloaded all of our stuff and then hurriedly brought everything to the cabin. Inside were the basics - a bunk bed, small kitchen with a propane stove, sink and even the luxury of an old hand pump to provide fresh water throughout our stay. Outside sat the outhouse, BBQ and the shed with the all important Ski-doos we would use to travel back and forth to various inland lakes each day.
Despite a complete and unprecedented lack of snow back in Sudbury, the good Lord had managed to leave just enough of the white stuff up here so that we could snowmobile deep into the interior to fish several lakes that are most accessible in winter. It wasn't long after our arrival that the sleds were loaded and we were off to our first fishing destination.
It took us about ½ an hour to reach that small lake thru trails and clear cut logging areas outside of camp. Our first lake was a local favorite - where likeminded anglers would travel by snowmobile to catch speckled trout thru the ice. Although no cottages were present on this decent sized lake, it was rather crowded with no less than three other anglers already fishing there before we arrived. We chose the inside shoreline of a secondary point as our first place to set up and were surprised to find just over a foot of ice below the snow. We were glad to have left the heavy gas ice auger back at camp as drilling multiple holes each day with the manual 8 inch Normark Fin-Bore 3 was a piece of cake.
In many respects being surrounded by so many isolated lakes for the next several days while retaining a home base to travel from reminded me of the situation available to anglers at la Reserve Beauchene in northern Quebec. The big difference there though is that this five star resort is on privately managed property and is not open in winter. Here in Ontario we were situated on Crown land with more beautiful unspoiled lakes around us than we had time to fish. Some were stocked with rainbows, splake or brookies while others had natural populations of northerns, walleye or lake trout.
When Gerry and I went to la Reserve Beauchene last spring, some Fish On Line readers may recall how I wrote about the dollar I won from him for the first bass caught on that trip - on my very first cast with my trusty X Rap. Interestingly enough the same scenario almost repeated itself up here north of Sudbury when I dropped my tiny jig down the freshly drilled hole for the first time. “Man you caught that nice brookie before I could even yell out dollar for the first fish,” Gerry yelled over to me. As I quickly unhooked the 14 inch speck and slid it back down the hole I told him that it was ok - he thought it ... so really he should still pay me the dollar. I'm still waiting to collect by the way!
We tried several other spots on the lake that day but none proved as productive as our first choice. We didn't regret our run and gun approach though because it offered us a good understanding of the lake and allowed us to catch a rare glimpse of a beautiful Canadian Lynx along the shoreline.
The drive back with our snowmobiles was a little more challenging then getting there as a fair bit of snow had begun to melt that afternoon. Little did we know at the time that we would be in store for a whole lot more of the big melt before our trip was over.
That night as Gerry fired up the generator to run the lights and the TV (yah ... I know what you're thinking - some roughing it eh!) we enjoyed our T Bone steaks, fresh asparagus, potatoes and a speckled trout we decided to keep for dinner. We also enjoyed tuning into our only channel - CTV where we were lucky enough to see Courtney reporting on a major car fire in downtown Sudbury earlier that day.
The next day saw us up bright and early to fish the largest of all the lakes near the camp. At over seven miles long and over an hour away we planned on spending the entire day there fishing for wild lake trout. “We always get our two fish limit there during the open water season at the far end of the lake but have only had a chance to ice fish the lake once before - so I'm not sure how we'll make out,” Gerry said. He needn't have worried as the same high percentage area that produces so well for him each spring was alive with hungry lakers lurking below the ice.
Unlike the day before when we were fishing brook trout in 3-10 feet of water, we set up for the lakers to start in the 25-50 foot range. This was not a lake like Simcoe with predominantly slow tapering shorelines as even in the deepest water we were still only a cast away from shore.
Of course here the Lowrance Ice Machines proved invaluable as both of us watched them to not just keep an eye on our lures but on the numerous charges from aggressive lake trout.
“Up here the locals all troll deep water for trout but I prefer to fish for them at that time of year much like we do for bass - tossing Rapala floating minnows near all these fallen trees along shore. You can go around this entire lake and not see as many fallen cedars as you do along this 100 yard stretch right here,” said Gerry. As we were about to find out - we definitely were among those rare wood oriented lakers!
I was just lowering a tube jig down my hole when Gerry already yelled that he had one on. He was jigging with a Mepps Syclops (the lure that caught the world record rainbow; a giant 43.6 pounder from Lake Diefenbaker in Saskatchewan). For the next couple of hours he spanked me big time with that damn spoon as fish after fish came from his original hole. I would no sooner hear him say ‘there's one' as he noted one on the screen of his Ice Machine and invariably he'd be hooked up a few seconds later.
Meanwhile I was struggling with that tube and although I finally landed one I was missing far more than I was connecting with - something that doesn't usually happen with a tube jig. While I was watching all those fish being caught and released I was trying to figure out if it was the lure or the hole or the highly skilled angler that accounted for the hot stick not far from me. In either case I finally switched baits and began to drill a series of other holes in various depths and locations in the area.
It was well into the afternoon before the action had begun to die down for Gerry and his spoon and I had begun to enjoy some success by downsizing to the same small rig I was catching brook trout with the day before. The only difference was that instead of a chartreuse and orange HT Marmooska jig tipped with a Berkley Micro Power Craw and a Power Maggot - I switched up to a Power Gulp! Micro Minnow. I stuck with 4lb test line and the same ultra sensitive HT Polar Lite rod I love for Simcoe perch.
I had also begun to move progressively shallower and closer to shore after trying the exact opposite to no avail. “Sometimes I guess these lake trout break the rules and instead of moving deeper when the bright sun comes out later in the day - they actually move shallower - and in this case they're right up close to the fallen trees here along shore.” I remarked as I landed another typical 20 inch laker. There really was no depth pattern as they were caught as shallow as eight feet and as deep as 68 feet! Fighting these lake trout so close to shore while trying to keep them away from the sunken wood behind me was such an exciting challenge that I almost felt guilty it was so much fun!
The ride back that day was a taste of things to come as much of the snow was beginning to melt at an alarming rate. While most of the trails within the confines of heavily wooded areas would remain fine the real issues arrived within the large clear-cut areas. I've never been a fan of this destructive forest industry practice and now had even more disdain for it. Large open tracts that were snow covered on the ride in were now rocky coble thanks to the complete lack of shade trees offer. Of course rocks are not the best surface to travel across for Skidoos so we knew this would be our first and only trip to this particular lake.
That night we regrouped and met up with the only full time residents for miles around. Pete and his wife Annette have carved out a comfortable yet still rugged lifestyle here in the wilderness of northern Ontario. They provided us details on several other lakes that we could reach without much travel thru clear cuts. One of those lakes was a trophy speckled trout honey hole that he and Annett would take us to the following morning. We could hardly wait.
“This isn't the type of lake where you'll catch a lot of brookies but f we do get bit it will likely be one you can write home about,” said Pete. The first hour was slow ... as the elusive speckled trout were slow to bite. We agreed to try elsewhere and while I chose to fish in front of a Beaver lodge ... the rest set up off of a point near a shallow section that we later called Otter Bay.
I quickly punched a few holes in front of the Beaver House in water depths ranging from 3 feet to 10 feet. If I thought there were a lot of sunken branches and obstructions below me yesterday while laker fishing - a quick peek down the holes today revealed there were even more. “Oh boy if I ever get one on it'll really be a wild ride to try and land it,” I said to myself. I walked around fishing the various holes and then settled in to concentrate on the one in six feet of water. As much as I love my Ice Machine - I must admit, right here I didn't need it as I could see down to bottom in the crystal clear water easily enough.
I placed the rod down onto my chair and reached for a sandwich ... took a couple of bites and saw the sensitive tip of the Polar Lite rig signal something was munching on my Marmooska jig and Gulp minnow. I quickly grabbed the rod and set the hook and then began to gingerly play the big brookie. I could see the entire battle below which helped me steer the fish away from the worst of the brush below. With four pound test I couldn't horse the trout too much but I could see the little jig was well hooked and I soon was able to reach into the hole and land my personal best brookie thru the ice at just over three pounds.
After the morning of fishing brook trout we headed back to the cabin with the Ski-Doo's thru some massive puddles of water that were now common even along the sheltered trails. When we arrived back at the cabin we cooked up a delicious fish and chips lunch thanks to a nice freshly caught brook trout.
That afternoon we did our only splake fishing of the entire trip. A cross between a lake trout and a brook trout, splake do not reproduce but are a delicious and hard fighting fish that grows quickly. Despite rumours to the contrary, they are still stocked in many lakes throughout northern Ontario. We tried a couple places on this one particular inland lake but only managed one splake in very shallow water next to a point. Once again ... it was the Marmooska, Micro Power Gulp! Minnow and light line combo that fooled this finicky fish in the ultra clear waters.
I was actually watching my jig thru the hole in four feet of water when the splake appeared and engulfed the tiny bait ... it then raced for deeper water and stripped line from my tiny HT Accucast reel. Then without warning - one of the most incredible incidents to have ever happened to me while ice fishing occurred that I still find hard to believe ... really happened!
This splake actually shot up clear thru the hole, jumped out and landed right back in the hole and then shot for bottom only to begin the battle all over once again. Somehow I managed to tire it out after a couple of minutes and was able to bring it back up thru the hole in a more conventional ice manner to land it!
The next day would be our last. We explored three other lakes and two of them were ones Gerry had never fished before. Our first lake was a tiny secluded brook trout lake that didn't produce any fish but was so gorgeous that we had a tough time leaving. We drilled holes around the entire mill-pond sized lake before we finally gave up and headed for greener pastures. By the time we reached this larger lake the sun had come out in full force. There was still over 15 inches of decent ice - but the weather was incredible and it was definitely the hottest part of our trip.
After an early supper that afternoon we fished our last lake of the trip - one near the cabin were walleye predominate. Unfortunately the slush on this particular lake was so deep ... unlike all the others we had fished ... that we couldn't reach our desired location.
Back at the cabin we prepared for our train ride out ... which wasn't scheduled to arrive until 11:30 pm! “Once I had to wait out there all night before that train finally arrived at 4 am,” said Gerry. Nevertheless, seeing as how this was a rather unconventional pick-up, we decided to load all of our gear beside the tracks a full hour before the train was to arrive ... just in case.
While Gerry was taking care of the business of closing down the cabin ... I was, er, taking care of some other business in the outhouse. I had no sooner settled in when I heard the unmistakably alarming sound of the train blowing its whistle. Freight trains wouldn't do that I yell - as I quickly finished what I had to do. With the next passenger train not scheduled to go by for another three days - we couldn't afford to miss our ride.
We hastily ran to the train and were relieved to see it already slowing down for us. “Holy cow - you guys are an hour early” we remarked to the railway staff as we loaded up. “Yah - sometimes we're late, sometimes we're early too ... but one thing's for certain we hardly ever forget about our pick-ups way out here in the middle of nowhere”.
