Wrapping up the recap of Andi and I's Canadian fly-out fishing adventure...
I woke up sometime around 6:30am, heard rain falling outside the window, and though to myself "Nope!" I'd had enough of the rain on this vacation, thank you very much. At the same time, I heard Joe and Lisa up and moving around in the cabin, presumably readying themselves for fishing, and again thought to myself "Double-nope!" Andi was still snoozing soundly in his neighboring bunk bed, so I rolled over and fell back asleep. Later, we both emerged from our sleeping bags around 8:30am.
Fortunately by the time we woke up at 8:30am, the rain had cleared and the sun was shining. Joe and Lisa were gone fishing, so Andi and I decided to make ourselves a small breakfast before hitting the lake ourselves. Andi made us each peanut butter and jelly toast using the ancient stove-top toaster in the cabin and split a banana he'd stashed in his bag from home. After three days without, it sure tasted great to eat a piece of fresh fruit!
Once on the water, Andi and I drove the boat to the same place we'd had success fishing the morning prior. We drifted the shoreline and jigged for walleyes at first, and then decided to park our boat on shore across the bay. This gave us a change of scenery and the chance to get up and move around. Andi wanted to fish this way our entire trip, but it was difficult finding a place to pull our boat up on shore amidst the dense woods around Lake Jeanette. This particular flat rock cliff we did find proved to be the perfect place to sit and bobber fish for walleyes in the sun.
Andi cleaned our fresh catch while I hopped in the shower for the first time since Tuesday. With only solar power and heated water via propane tank, I was forced to let my hair dry au natural. One of the perks about vacationing in the wilderness is that appearances aren't top priority, I suppose.
Lisa, Andi and I sunned ourselves and chatted on the lakeside deck while Joe took another one of his afternoon power naps. Mid-afternoon, Andi and I split off from Joe and Lisa again and decided to head back over to the Sesikanage River flowage that connects Lake Jeanette to Betty Lake. Joe told us he saw all kinds of wildlife on the river in past years, and I was determined to see a moose, caribou, or bear during our time in Canada.
It was too weedy on the river to fish, so Andi and I just cruised along and enjoyed the view. The sun shined brightly and felt so good after two days of cold, wind and rain. I think it was the first time our entire trip when kicking back with an ice cold Labalt Blue sounded appealing.
We made it about half-way down the river until it was too rocky to proceed. We never did see any animals - bummer! Andi turned the boat around and then we trolled along the shores of Lake Jeanette. Tunes played in the background and we relaxed without a care in the world. THE BEST.
Suddenly, my fishing pole nearly bent in half as a fish took hold. Reeeeeeeeel! the line screeched as it violently pulled away from our boat. I yanked my pole out of the rod holder and used all my might to reel in the fish. I could tell by the strength of the pull on the line it was a big one, and it took over 20 minutes to finally get the fish into the boat. When Andi and I finally laid eyes on the beast, we couldn't believe it -- a 36" Northern Pike!
For reference, Tory is 38" inches tall at 4 years old so it's easy to see -- that's some fish!
After we safely released the fish back into the water, I literally shook from the rush of adrenaline to my system. It was exhilarating to catch a fish like that; to feel its weight and girth up close. I was also happy to watch it swim away from our boat unharmed, and anxious for someone else fishing on Lake Jeanette to have the same experience. These were Andi and I' lucky fishing lures this trip, as obnoxious as they may seem. The silver one was mine and the Northern Pike went absolutely nuts for it.
Andi and I continued to troll for Northerns afterwards, but never caught anything as large as the 36" monster. Eventually, we ran into Joe and Lisa fishing for walleyes closer to the cabin and chatted with them for a bit before concluding our last evening on Lake Jeanette in our favorite fishing spot on the lake. Andi and I conveniently ran out of minnows just as the sun began to set. It's hard to believe the four of us used 60 dozen minnows in our three days of fishing!
This sunset view from our cabin's dock perfectly summed up our trip -- sometimes rainy and windy and sometimes sunny and warm, but always breathtakingly beautiful.
And, here's a video montage from our three days fishing on Lake Jeanette.
Several people have asked me since our trip if I'd return to KaBeeLo Lodge and my answer is 'Absolutely.' Andi and I had an amazing time fishing in Ontario and we can't wait to take the kids back with us someday when they're older. More than the fishing and close-to-nature experiences, I appreciated the complete isolation from technological influences and the outside world. I can't remember the last time Andi and I talked that much - laughed that much, really - and it felt amazing. I wasn't sure what to expect when we signed up for a fly-out fishing adventure but now that I know the details, I can't wait to experience it again.
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