Fishing White Lake 3

We would venture out farther every day. We wanted to see all of the lake that we could but I have been thinking about it and I don’t think we had a map that first trip. We knew the Shabodic River, where Orie fished, was at the far end of the lake. Most people that fished it did so in the spring and this was September. I don’t remember seeing another boat the whole week but maybe we did. It was one huge lake and we sure didn’t see it all, in fact I didn’t see the Shabodic River until my third or fourth trip to the lake. I think it was the third.

We spent most of our days on the Western side of the lake and even considered moving camp if the weather was not so rotten. The side we were on was featureless and very un-Canadian lake like.

We would spend the days on the west side and then head back home, hoping to make it before dark. Most days we did but getting to that shore in the daylight did not make it easy to find camp. We finally decided to head for Pike island and when we saw it head north along the shore. We would then watch for the camp. It was still not easy to find as it was back in the woods about 10 ft and that make it hard to see. If we ventured out in the afternoon we would sometimes leave a colman lantern on low to guide us in but we hated wasting the fuel. We tried tying a white t-shirt on a tree and that helped.

I remember one morning we got up and it had rained and the wind blowen all night long. We had pulled the boat up on the shore but the waves were big enough to swamp the boat. It was full of water and still coming in. Crap! We got out there with buckets and started bailing and eventually we beat lake and got it floating. Maybe the wind let up and the lake let us win. :D We hauled it up further and then went back for breakfast.

After days of relentless rain every dang thing we owned was wet. The only heat we had was a colman cook stove and we strung lines in the tent and hung the cloths over them and cranked up the heat. Heck it was September and hot as heck anyway and we like to have roasted.

Our sleeping bags wre the worse because the water got in them and they just never dried out. There was no way to dry them. We tried in the tent but it never seemed to be very successful. If the sun came out for a few minutes, and we were in camp we would rush to get them outside to dry. It helped some but they just never dried.

There was at least one day that we just could not get out on the lake because the wind was from the west and blowing hard. That lake would have some HUGE rollers and it was an odd lake. It is the only lake I can ever remember being on that the waves cjould be rolling in from Two dirrections. It made impossible to head into the wind when the waves got bad.

One night we were all three laying in our sleeping bags, wet and tryig to get to sleep when we heard a grunting outside the tent. It was rustling and grunting and seemed to be working its way around the the tent
I don’t know who asked me but one of them asked me what it was. Like I was a dang Daniel Boone. I said, “It sounds like a bear to me”

“What the hell we gonna do?” says Gary. We had no firearm with us. I lay there and with no clue what the hell to do I said, “I am gonna go to sleep. If it comes in it will wake us up for sure” then I tried to do just that. In the darkness I saw Gary set up and grab the double bladed axe and set there holding it, as the noise continued. I did go to sleep. That just shows you what an inexperienced dope I was.

The next morning we got up and went out and looked things over. Sure enough, down on the beach there were tracks of TWO bear that came from the south and you could easily see where they had worked their way around the tent and then on north. Now that could have been bad for sure.

One night after that we heard wolves howling but they were far off. Fine with us.

We woke up one bright and early morning, well early anyway and again decided to head west. We had seen some kind of inlet to the south of Beaver Bay and were wondering what was back there. It was a long run in that boat with the little motor but what did we have if not time. The map shows the route we took.

We found the inlet and it was pretty wide but it was what we expected when we dreamed about fishing a Canadian lake. The south shore was like a dang cliff. Not straight up but a good 45 degrees or more, covered with pine. The north side of the inlet was lower and all cedar and pine. Many of the cedar were laying in the water and looked like prime Pike area.

We took the inlet in as far as we could and saw a narrow inlet to the left, you can see it on the little map. It was just beautiful. There were high cliffs on each side, as you went in and it opened up a bit to a flood plane. It was all covered with lilly pads and grasses. At the far end we could see an old run down trappers cabil, long abandond. Eventually we explored it but found nothing that I remember. I wish I could go there with a metal detector though. There were a number of places on that lake that I will eventually tell you about that would be fun to detect.

As I remember it, we pulled back in there and the sun finally came out. It was just georgous! We took off our cumbersom rain gear and started getting ready to fish. Many people shun fishing for Pike but I just love it . If there is any action at all it is with Pike and the chance of catching one of over 10 lbs is good. Well there were a lot of them in there.

As anyone that has fished pike will tell you the dang things will sometimes follow your lure in and not hit at it. Just follow it in and then lay under your boat. This is madening but especially so when it is a dang hammer handle. That is a pike that is small. You don’t want to catch the dang thing but they will lay under the boat and nail your lure as you lift it out. Some times a BIG one with do it too and it is britches changing time!!
The bay was thick with weeds , which lay abut three feet under the surface and lilly pads. I decided to use a SPS Silver Flatfish. This is a spinning size and a floater. That way the chances of getting into weeds is eased. A Rapalla or spinner is constantly fowling on you but these things can be killers. Great for bass too.

I would flip that bad boy out to the edge of some lillys and slowly work it back. The thing to remember is slowly. It will wobble just under the surface and drives Pike nuts. that shallow water it is very exciting fishing because the fish just explode out of the water and
try to swallow the thing. I can still clearly remember a fish that did that that day. It came completely out of the dang water and down on the lure, or where the dang lure was before I screamed and yanked the dang thing half way back to the boat. No problem though. I flipped it back and he took it again.

We were kept very busy that day in that little bay. Gary caught a fish and on landing it found that he had hooked it in the eye socket. Made me sick. We took the hook out and tossed it back but ever after that has been One Eye Bay to us.

This is enough for number three. I don’t want to bore those of you that don’t have an interest in fishing