New adventures of Dave and Ronna: Canada 2014

Great friends, great weather and great fishing are a perfect description of this 9^th biennial Canadian fly-in fishing trip of the Kohibas, as we call ourselves.

My Dad “Fast Eddie”, brother “Fingers John” and I “Skipper Dave” began using Canoe Canada Outfitters in the early 1980’s. My good friends, “Catfish Larry”, “Hooks Len”, “Backwoods Bob” and “Thumper Scott” joined us in 1998. Catfish, the now eldest of the group, coined the name Kohibas because of our love of cigars and it stuck. "Fast Eddie" passed away in 2008 and "Fingers" died suddenly in 2012 so the group is now down to 5. Some of "Fingers’" ashes were spread over McQuat Lake where we returned this year.

I departed Illinois on Wednesday, July 30, spent a few nights on the road and met up with the group in Atikokan Ontario on Saturday, Aug 2^nd.

My first night was spent in Black River State Forest near Black River Falls WI. Nicely wooded, pull through site here with good Verizon reception for the Internet and several over-the-air TV channels available.

Camp at Black River State Forest

The second night was at Pattison State Park, south of Superior WI. This is the home of Big Manitou Falls, Wisconsin’s highest waterfall. The park also boasts a swimming beach and hiking trails. Another nicely wooded pull-through site but strangely enough Verizon Internet coverage was spotty, although talk and text worked OK. No over-the-air TV stations were available.

Beach

Bridge over the Black River that feeds Manitou Falls

Friday morning I crossed the high bridge that connects Superior with Duluth MN. Then over the Laurentian Divide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurentian_Divide), through Superior National Forest and the Mesabi Iron Range (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesabi_Range) past the US Hockey Hall of Fame and Voyagers National Park and finally into International Falls MN.

International Falls, aka "The Nations Icebox" or "Frostbite Falls", is proud of its Voyagers history as noted on this plaque.

There used to be a 22 foot high thermometer in the park here but it no longer exists. The Smokey Bear statue still stands, although it was a bit sad to see sponsor labels on Smokey’s vest.

After crossing the border into Ft. Francis Ontario, without incident I might add, and stopping at Rainy Lake Sports to pick up 5 pounds of leeches I met the group at Canoe Canada Outfitters. We had a great meal and played few games of pool at local establishments before spending the night in one of the outfitter's bunk-rooms.

Canoe Canada Outfitter

The "Ready Room" at Canoe Canada

Walls decorated with paddles left from many, many past canoe parties

Sunday morning we drove out to the seaplane port for our short flight into McQuat Lake. Atikokan Areo is owned by Canoe Canada and the planes are De Havilland Beavers. These single engine workhorses can carry the pilot, full fuel tanks and 1200 pounds of passengers and gear. You can read more about these classic planes here: http://www.bush-planes.com/DeHavilland-DHC-2-Beaver.html

Wonder if anyone actually reads this?

De Havilland Beaver

Gear, food and passengers are weighed so the weight can be divided between two planes. Bob and Scott took the first flight in and Larry, Len and I followed. Even after so many years the flight over the Canadian wilderness is enthralling; on occasion the sharp eyed pilot will spot a moose and point it out. Nothing for us to see this year, although on his mid-week flight check to our cabin the pilot spotted a moose swimming across North Bay on McQuat Lake.

Weighing of the gear

"Catfish" loading up

Arrival at camp means chores. All food and gear must be hauled up to the cabin, things unpacked and stowed. Boats need to be taken off the hard, motors gassed and fishing gear readied. There are 2 propane fridges for food, beer and bait as well as a propane stove and hot water tank. The cabin has running water for the kitchen sink and shower but the “little brown shack” still stands out behind the cabin. Once the sound of the plane engine fades and the initial chores are done we can all settle into the silence and solitude of being the only cabin on the lake. No phones, no TV, no radio, no newspapers; just the mid-week flight check to bring in more ice, and perhaps more refreshments.

Arrival

Main cabin

Kitchen

This is for heat

Bunk room

Sauna cabin (door on the left inside screened area leads to a wood burning sauna).

Little brown shack out back

The days pass by, all similar; a relaxing morning and breakfast, getting on the lake around 10 AM and back at the cabin with our limits of bass and walleye by 2 PM for a big lunch of fresh fish fillets dropped into the turkey fryer. Then time to chat and have a cold drink with a cigar during the heat of the afternoon before heading out later for some catch and release fishing. A hot shower and light dinner followed by camaraderie on the cool, screened in sauna cabin porch and a good night’s sleep. Except for a few drops of rain on Sunday the weather was perfect all week; sunny with highs in the mid 80’s and cool nights in the upper 50’s. I think "Hooks" caught the largest Smallmouth of the week, which we released for breeding. He may have also had the largest Walleye.

Dock

"Catfish" (foreground) and "Hooks" clean fish

The skilled hands of the "Catfish"

Waiting for lunch. "Catfish" on the left, "Hooks" on the right, "Thumper" right rear

Fresh fried bass and walleye fillets

"Catfish" and "Hooks" with the morning catch

"Skipper" with a nice Smallmouth

Ready to be taken to the cleaning table

"Backwoods", the Condiment King

Some nice "smallies" and a Walleye

"Catfish" with the catch of the day

"Backwoods" ready for a days fishing

Evening camaraderie "Backwoods" left front, "Thumper" left rear, "Hooks" right front and "Catfish" right rear

We did become familiar with some of the local wildlife. There was Sweet Sarah, the VERY large spider who greeted us on the dock when we departed each morning and returned each afternoon.

Sweet Sarah

Greedy Gull, who liked to stick his head into the fish gut bucket for his afternoon lunch.

Greedy Gull

And Len’s favorite, Rodger Rabbit who lived under our cabin.

Rodger Rabbit

Sadly I didn't bring the long lens because there was a pair of nesting Bald Eagles with 2 youngsters who, while very large, hadn't yet gotten their distinctive white head and tail; that takes about 5 years. There was also a large turtle near the dock that always seemed to elude me when I had the camera handy.

Before one realizes it’s time to say goodbye to our lake and take our sea plane ride back to civilization.