Getting out on the water for fishing trips, be they for a week or weekend, are not about getting away from my family, but going to a destination to experience the outdoors. A few years ago my father, brother and I were joined on our first “couples weekend”, which not only allowed our partners to experience the joy and relaxation of a weekend on the water, but it also turned out to be the start of another annual trip!
This past year we headed to Totem Point Lodge, an outfitter that my brother Chris and I had scouted out earlier in the year. This year our trip was near the end of August, before the kids had to go back to school, and one of our last chances to enjoy the summer. Being on a new body of water, we were looking forward to trying out new haunts and enjoy the unfamiliar scenery.
Our previous visit had allowed me to mark number of way points on my Humminbird Unit, so I was expecting to have some early success. This plan was put into a tailspin of course when my boat had to be in the shop during the trip, getting a new lower end installed (that’s another story). So without the Navionics chip to work with, we relied on my brothers hand held Garmin to get us around. Our first evening was a quiet one, with my father and I trolling near the lodge while our wives enjoyed some wine, and we waited on the last couple to join us. Our first evening was peaceful, as we were not even disturbed by a biting fish! On this particular weekend, fish were the bonus as we were planning to stock up on laughs and memories. Rather than who caught the big fish, we’d be bragging about who played the best cards.
Come morning, after being well fed, we were set to head out for a full day of fishing with a mid day stop for a traditional shore lunch. With my brother leading the way we began hitting various spots where we had caught fish in our earlier visit. One challenge we encountered was that when Chris and I were up earlier in the year, we were 100% jigging for walleye, which is great, if you like to jig. Historically on our couples trip we have stuck more with trolling as it was something that everyone could do equally, and required less specialized gear or skills. After doing a bit of jigging and picking up some small fish, we continued moving from spot to spot in search of fish.
I confess it was a pretty slow morning as we attempted to find easy trolling locations. If you have ever fished the French River, you’ll know that there is a lot of very deep structure, and sharply dropping shorelines, so it was a challenge. Our plan was to work our way up to an area called the Five Finger Rapids which we knew would take us until about noon, providing both the perfect time, and location for our shore lunch. We pulled up to a spot we had previously used, which we knew had easy boat access, great scenery, a fire pit and grill, and several spots to cast from shore, or go for a dip!
As people got settled, we began working on getting the fire ready, and the food prepared. We had brought a supply of Walleye that we had caught on an earlier trip to ensure we didn’t miss out on fish. Today our meal would consist of Walleye, French Fries with Sausage (dusted in lemon pepper), beans, warm bread with tea, coffee and cookies to finish it all off. Everyone also had whatever their drink of choice was.
I know I may comment on this too often, but if you do not take advantage of having a shore lunch, you are missing out on one the the great Canadian traditions. Food cooked on the open fire, pulled up on a piece of Canadian Shield while enjoying the wonders of northern nature, it’s hard to beat. While we ate our meal we enjoyed each others company, and chatted about our morning experiences. Even though we were fishing in close proximity, never losing site, we didn’t really talk to the folks in each boat, we we had a lot to get caught up on.
The food prepared and consumed, it was time to make our game plan for the afternoon. Our weather forecast going into the day said there was a 10% chance we’d get some rain. 10%, really, what are the chances it would even get us, and in any real quantities…
We headed to the rapids to do some fishing, and had some pretty good luck landing some bass, perch and rock bass before the clouds began to roll in and we decided to head back. Normally it wouldn’t be a concern to get a bit of rain, but we had two things working against us. One was our over confidence of not thinking we’d need our rain gear (rookie mistake), and the other was that we were over 15 km away from the lodge. Even if I’d had my Princecraft that would have been a hike!
As the rain began to fall we knew we needed to get back to the lodge. Not only did we not have rain gear, but most of us were dressed in T shirts and shorts. The warm muggy weather of the morning was quickly giving way to the sharp drop in temperature that often accompanies summer storms. Now, I don’t want to mislead you, we did want to get home, but we were not going to drive right by great fishing spots. Evidence of that is the shot of Betty (yellow jacket) with not one but TWO bass on the same lure, at the same time. You don’t see that very often!
A couple hours of fishing and boating in driving rain, we finally made our way back to the dock, and were able to get in doors for some dry clothes, and a wonderful hot dinner. The rain did not let up so we forfeited the evening fish for some euchre.
The morning saw more of the same wet, cloudy and windy weather. The guys decided to head out for some fishing while the rest of the group took a wiser course of relaxing in the cabin and staying dry. We had an early check out so we had only a couple hours to try and catch a few fish.
We stayed close to home this time, decked out in full rain apparel and equipped with high spirits. Three guys in a small boat is not ideal, particularly for trolling, but when you’ve been fishing together for almost 3 decades, you learn to make it work. We didn’t set the lake on fire that day, but we did managed to catch a few smaller pike to wrap up the weekend. In short order we packed up, loaded our cars and shook hands and hugged before heading our separate ways. Our couples trip is a perfect example of how fishing can bring people together, and that the act of fishing is sometimes even more enjoyable than the catching of fish. Every year on this trip I catch by far my fewest number of fish, and I can’t wait to go it again next year.
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