Conference wahoo::fishing

Got back from the trip and immediately headed out of town so this is my
first opportunity to bring people up to date on our trip.

Now my brother had not been up there in the last five years and we had
the most current government topographical maps (1983) so we wouldn't have
any problems.

We left Wednesday at 3:00 am because we had a three hour drive on paved
roads and this would get us to the logging road in daylight. There were 
six of us, four in a van with one boat on top, two in a pickup with one
boat on top and a utility trailer behind with a third boat on it.

Reached the turnoff at 6:19 am right on schedule and started on what 
should have been approximately 300 Km (190 mi). The road was pretty 
rough but we were making reasonable time. Weather was clear and road was 
dry and dusty.  After about 1 1/2hrs the truck died. 

Untied the boat, lifted the hood and started checking around. Lift the
air cover and lo and behold no air filter. Seems my cousing forgot to
put one in before lending it to me.  Finally got the truck started and
I took the lead.

After four and one half hours or so we reached Clova and went to tank up.
Price of gas, regular unleaded, was .69 per litre (approx $3.00 per gal).
Now we are only 50Km from our camp spot so off we go.

Road is getting rougher now with lots of washouts as we have passed the
last bastion of civilization. Approx 35Km up the trail, we pass under
some monstrous hydro towers and lines and my brother stops.  

"I don't remember passing under wires" he says, so we dig out the maps. 
The only hydro lines on the map are quite a ways East of the road to 
the bay. Aha see hear about 13Km back, we turned right instead of left
at the Y junction. So turn everything around; the trailer didn't want 
to cooperate and turn in the blueberry patches but we made it.

We find the turn off and head down the trail. Not too much later we come
to a hill where the road is very bad because of water run off. Some 
skillful driving and we continue. Hmmmmmm, road looks to be getting worse.
Come around a corner to where there is supposed to be a bridge and sure
enough there is, but most of it has been washed away.  Break out the axes
and chainsaw and start making a cordorouy road across the creek.

Two hours later we barge across and continue. Road, no trail is getting 
even worse. Branches rubbing against the vehicles. Roof rack on the van 
gets dislodged so we stop.  I continued walking up the trail and found
another creek about three feet deep and six feet across about 2Km up. 
No way we are going to cross that. In fact we now all accept the fact
that we are lost. 

No sweat turn around and go back. Ahhh, but how do you turn around when
the trail is right up to your door which you have trouble opening because
of branches. Take the boat off the trailer, unload the trailer, use axes
and chainsaw to cut a clearing, reverse vehicles, load trailer, load boat 
and set off. Barge across the creek again. Up the washed out hill. Back
to the 'main' trail and head back to Clova. Notice that the tongue to 
the trailer is bending, but what the hell we're on good road.

Come to an outfitter's camp and someone goes to ask directions. Meanwhile
notice that one of the tires on the truck is flat, so we change it. 
Directions are to go up the original road about 25 miles and we will get to 
the lake. Ask about the hydro lines and find out that they were only put in 
place three years before. AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHH  We have just spent six
hours down some godforsaken trail and we were only 1/2 hour from our
destination.

We set off and figure to arrive within an hour. Approx 15 mins up the 
road the tongue to the trailer breaks in half. Jury rig a connection with
chains and rope and keep on trucking. Because of the double hinge now in 
effect the trailer is swaying all over and we have to reduce speed to about
5mph.  Finally decide to send the van on so that the camp can be set up. 
It is to return and we would be able to transfer the gear from the trailer.
Two hours later we meet the van and one hour after that we arrive at the 
camp.  All told we have been on the road almost 17 hours and not a line
wet yet.   Well things can only get better. Right???

Next morning we get up and it is cloudy and overcast but that is 
not going to stop us.  Load up the boats and away we go. 

45 minutes later we arrive at the 'good spot'. We've seen around
15-20 boats on the way but now we can't see any, and won't see 
another until we head in that night. 

We're trolling around looking for fish and the screen goes crazy. 
There are all sorts of them at the 40ft depth in 50-75 ft of water. 
A straight line of fish, all sizes. We tried various spots for two
hours without a nibble.  Started to troll the dropoffs in 10-15 ft
of water and started catching pickerel and pike. By the end of the
day we have probably caught 15 pickerel and five or six pike. Not 
too bad.  On the way in we meet some guys who have been there for
five days and had only caught two fish that day, however one was
a pickerel about 30-40 ins long which probably weighed in over 12lbs 
and the other was a pike that was longer and probably would come
in at 20lbs. The lake is so big and with so many islands that noone
does any night fishing. It is just too easy to get lost.

Next day the weather is a bit better but we still need to keep 
rain gear handy and put it on from time to time. This time we only went
to the mouth of the bay and fished the islands. Same as the previous
day....all sorts of fish at the 40ft mark in up to 100ft of water but
nothing biting. Trolled the dropoffs again and did well again.

Third day was a bitch. Rain, cold, wind. We couldn't even get into
the main lake. The wind was very strong and waves were ~3ft high. So
we stuck to the islands where there was some protection and the waves
were less than 2ft. The best fishing was on the wind side of the
islands especially where the main channel was running. Everyone was
getting hits. The majority of the fish had come up to approx 30ft but
they still weren't hitting anything.

Results of three days fishing: 70-80 pickerel (largest 6lbs ave 3lbs) 
and ~30 pike of which we only kept four which were over 8lbs. We ate 
pickerel each day and brought home our limit.

Meanwhile back to the trailer. There was no way we were going to tow
it home, so we took it apart piece by piece. Now we had to load 
everything into the truck and the van. It was a tight fit but we got 
every piece loaded except for the bed which was too big. It is still
there.

Next year we are going back, after all we know the way. However, 
instead of camping at the entrance to the bay, we are going to take
everything up the lake and set up camp on an island. This will also
allow us to do some night fishing as we can set up a lantern at the
camp as a guide for us.  

All in all, a most memorable trip.

    Sounds like a lot of fun, once ya get the "UH-OHs, OH-NOs and 
    OOOHHHHHH SHITs" outta the way.  :^)
    
    How come the pickerel are so big and pike so small?
    What would ya be huntin for in a nocturnal species?
    How about the bugs??
    With reference to Chibugameau, Mistasini or Fire lake,
    where is this located?
    
    Fred
    

    
    I don't know that the pickerel are that much bigger than the pike.
    We just didn't see any real big ones. I have seen pictures and heard
    reports of 20 lb plus pike being caught on a regular basis. It could
    also be that the big ones were well down in the water.
    
    We have good luck night fishing (up to a couple of hours after dusk).
    Pickerel usually come up from the depths then to feed on the shoals
    as the light doesn't affect there eyes too much. The problem there
    is that you can't really move around at night because of all the
    islands. It's easy enough to get lost during the day let alone when
    you can't see.  We plan to raise a lantern at the camp sight and
    keep in sight of it so we won't get lost.
    
    Bugs..... Black flies were terrible on shore but there were practically
    none on the islands, no wildlife on them.  At one point my jacket
    was almost covered with black flies after about five minutes. You
    had to wear rubber boots with your pants inside or they got you.
    
    
   We are west and somewhat north of Chibaugamau. Not sure of Mistasini
    or Fire Lake....will have to look them up.
    
    Roger

    Hmmmm, wouldn't a 12lb pickeral be a world record ? Maybe some
    of us are confused due to terminology here. Could the pickeral
    you refer to be Northern Pike, and the Pike you refer to be
    Walleye Pike ??? Either way, sounds great though!
    
    Marty

    If I'm not mistaken, Walleye are called Pickeral in some parts of the
    world (like eastern Canada, maybe).
    
    -SSS-
    

    
    Roger, sounded like a hell-of-a trip.. But really,isn't it easy
    to forget about the problems and those Black Flies when you caught
    big fish ??
    
    I fished Lake Albanel 3 times and that was a 24-26 hour drive and
    we had our share of problems,but we always forgot them the following
    year when we planned another trip up north..
    
    I looked on the map and that road from Senneterre to Clova looked
    like a good secondary road, I take it,it wasn't.. I hate those logging
    roads, you never know what laids ahead..
    
    Good luck next year when you go back.. If you like 3-5 pound Brook
    Trout and BIG Lakers try Lake Albanel, Its an adventure further
    north and it only has 254 miles of Good dirt roads..
    
    
    Arnie
    Another Canadian Fisherman

    
    I sometimes get confused also when I read in these notes about pickeral
    (usually spelled with an 'a' in here) and the pickerel I am talking
    about.
    
    In Ontario/Quebec for sure, and maybe the rest of Canada, Pickerel
    or Walleye or Dore or Sauger are all the same species with some
    coloring difference (for instance Sauger is also known as Red
    Pickerel).
    
    They are definitely not pike. Their heads are not as sharp and thin,
    although they also have good teeth. They have two dorsal fins and
    usually have a white dot at the bottom of the tail fin. They are
    quite dark on top and have a light belly. The most distinguishing
    feature is the eye which is very large and looks like a cloudy marble.
    
    I believe that the fish referred to as pickeral is actually a small
    pike; what we would refer to as grass pike, jack pike, or even 
    pickerel-pike. Ours are usually less than 24ins long and probably
    weigh less than one pound.
    
    As to pickerel size, I believe the record is >20lbs. Common weights
    are 2-3 lbs with good size fish coming in at 6-8lbs. Anything over
    ten pounds is a big fish.
    
    Pickerel are also the best tasting freshwater fish going.
    
    Roger

    If you look at a text on fish species you'll see that "pickeral" is 
    a similar species to the northern pike, with the most common being 
    the Eastern Chain Pickeral, which looks very similar to a small
    northern pike.
    
    Pickeral are commonly referred to as jackfish in many parts of the 
    country.
    
    The walleye (which is actually named 'walleyed pike') and sauger 
    are in the same family but do not resemble the northern pike or 
    pickeral.  
    
    donmac