8 Day Fishing Trip in the Thunder Bay Region of the Canadian Wilderness

Description

Join Joe Robinet and me as we paddle for 8 days through Woodland Caribou Provincial Park in northwestern Ontario in search of monster walleye, lake trout and northern pike. We encounter moose, bears, eagles, wicked storms, forest fires and countless fish.

Tags: bushcraft,camping,canoe,fishing,self-reliance,survival,log,cabin,joe robinet,shawn james,canada

Video Transcription

look at that there is a tree [Music]

we still were planning this trip several months ago a question why I'd want to drive 22 hours up to Northwestern Ontario to do something that I could do at Algonquin Park making the trip up driving through through Thunder Bay area North Shore Superior stucked a really good sense for the land up here but then we jumped in the plane and started flying over the boreal forest into a lake eco resort that belongs to Red Lake Outfitters and started to see the land change saw the remoteness lack of development we landed at the resort and spent a day and the night there and got up the next morning and started on this canoe trip you know it did really became apparent why we're here within 50 minutes of leaving the resort paddling through the mist big black bear came swimming swimming across the lake in front of us followed it and watched it get out of the water shake off and and run for the bush afraid of people not used to seeing humans was amazing extremes that we encountered with extreme wind like I've never seen before here was getting tossed about ended up losing a hat and the insoles from my shoes the canoe was barely kept it from blowing into the water two of us holding on with our might and to tie it down and then that blew through cleared off and before we knew it we were dealing with sunshine and warm temperatures drying out our gear this unbelievable extreme that's all I can say about its extreme extreme weather extreme beauty extremely good fishing just a completely unique experience and it really is something I'm glad we did and I think everybody should experience it at least once in a lifetime oil forest covers big portion of the North all around the globe not see it I think it's a shame not for everybody but I think if you come up here if you're an adventurer if you like to see new things this is something that I think it will take your breath away I think the questions answer were only day one where this is the morning of day two just getting ready to set out to gobble some more or do some more fishing and but another campsite on another lake and I'm already impressed I'm already glad I came I'm already you know of this land a bit of a slow morning so far fishing well day 30 we've been fishing for about an hour I just got one small Pike and Joe had something I don't know what he was fishing with little spoon so he might have had a pike or this lake trout in the section of the lake so not sure what he had he lost it beside the boat all right so it's a 9:35 just approaching the first portage of the trip this is a Wilderness Park so if you're used to paddling places like dong Qin park or even critical Boundary Waters then you're used to seeing Walmart cottages at least well-traveled Portage's up here it's different so we're going to head out on this portage is a 450 meter into a bunch of unnamed ponds and lakes that's another thing about smart kids tub because it is a wilderness park is actually more unnamed water bodies than there is named this is one of the challenge of challenges of Sol canoeing so Jill's trying to get out of his boat into that narrow portage opening which is covered in rocks with a silver bow typically what we do you've seen us in the past you kind of try to get up sideways so you could step on the land or at least up on some rocks or logs or something but when I stare like that you just can't walk up to the front of your boat right our first portage looking forward to seeing how well the trail is what type of condition it's in because this is a new canoe to me and new packs its I have to get used to this system so taking some time to organize my gear here at the first portage and figure out what I'm carrying on the first low of what's on the second load what's in my hand and what's in a pack I prefer to have everything in a pack so that not fighting with something if I'm pushing through boys that I have in my hand so see what I can put together here not bad so far pretty different it's quite different

just some leather leaf when it gets gold and Labrador tea of a birch sapling figure bird saplings lady slippers lots of moss of course a lot to blow down holy smokes remnants to fire off the dead trees none of a then we've got is a big American toad actually not too bad too bad reportage but this is coming out of a lake with eco-lodge on it makes it a little bit more traffic than some of the others we were told by somebody that this is no Algonquin for ties either an easy flat well-worn but we're finding otherwise that was a 450 what's up and down changing watersheds I think and now we're into a nice pretty lake but that was a gonna be slipper have to go back and get the canoe in the pack now I'm going to have to watch my footing for sure alright go first point I've ever with this boat fourth first port I've ever in with anchor pitch apart first time for toshing with this frost river pack and

okay so we're done the 450 computer for toys out of old Lake a nun named like Tatum on named legs actually Otto Rahn up and make sure it yeah good idea before we do all this we're trying to find the path of least resistance and it's still pretty resistant how's it going Joe wearing your neoprene soft in there yeah surprise three girls [Applause]

go wild this is a total boreal this is mature boreal forest so it hasn't been burned in a while great hairy caribou habitat which is why we started seeing caribou charge beautiful slide applause I know a day to Sunday I think decided to cutter cutter day short today timewise cut it short as far as this is concerned so we're hanging up on Lin's Lake it's approaching what we think is going to be our campsite tonight we're going to go check it out and we go through our lines in as we're approaching camp just to see if we can catch dinner and sure enough almost immediately within a 20 or 30 feet each we reach study a place well I could put the beatings as well so it goes up to end our tents up and get ready for the night this [Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

here's our spread Charles going to clean these guys up and I'm gonna build a fire so we can eat some food so I got all these walleye ready to go just in time look at those clouds in behind me going to have a major storm we're dealing with some crazy crazy wind right now news / we both had to grab a side and fight it against the wind it almost ripped it out of our hands Turkey nothing it kicked up man like wow we're not in southern Ontario anymore a bag full of woe I know that's like yeah yeah and go an apple tea no nice shovel it in there oh yeah always wrapped look up

it is good well after dinner time 903 actually he just heading out fishing now it's such a perfect night so Wendy earlier that we couldn't go out at all of course and now we got some nice calm winds and calm conditions and a beautiful sunset but looks of it what about filling the tree