How Did You find Kipawa?

[NortonJoe]

So I'll start this little topic off (something to think about during the dark days of winter.)  I first started fishing in the Kipawa area (I've always fished in Lac Watson) with my father-in-law one month after I married my ex-wife in 1988.  He and his father, uncles, cousins and friends had always gone to Canada and kind of worked their way to Lac Watson via Lac a la Truite, down the road from Belleterre.  Unfortunately, after only being able to travel to Canada with him three times (once in 1988 and twice in 1989) he passed away at a much too young age.  However, the trips to Lac Watson did not end, sometimes travelling with relatives, other times with friends and sometimes both.  When my son turned ten years old in 2005, he celebrated that birthday in a cabin up by Lac Watson.  One year we talked about the facts of life sitting on the lake with the loons calling...We spent some great times together until work and school made it difficult for him to go for the last few years (someday we will get  back there together.)  I will always be grateful to my father-in-law for the gift of Lac Watson he gave to me.  My first trip out on the boat is always to his favorite spot on the lake to open a beer and remember him!

[Oarin]

Good topic NJ. My 1st trip to Quebec was in 1990 with a friend from the school I taught at. We went down the Road to Clova, AKA the Road From heck-8 hours to go about 150 miles to a place called Martins. Being a city boy I had no idea what I was in for, but I survived and had a great time. The next year I went back with Capt. Guy, our first fishing experience together. We did great, with Capt. Guy winning the biggest fish award-46 inch pike, and a free trip for the following year. The trip in was so brutal though that we decided to look for another spot. We went to the Harrisburg Show and found a place called Lac Matchi-Manitau. and fished there with the original friend and another-Jim, and had a great time. It was a really nice little lac. After a year or two the place was getting run down and we were afraid we'd get there and find it closed so back to the Sportsmen Shows and luckily we found Taggart Bay Lodge And have going there ever since. Now it's just Capt. Guy and me and that works out well. If your going to spend 7 days in a cabin you better be able to get along and we do. I now do 2 trips each year, 1 with Capt. Guy and 1 with my son and they are the high points of my year. Kipawa is amazing!!!!

[Jay Thomas]

My Dad started me walleye fishing when I was about 7 years old. We fished the western basin of Lake Erie, the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. I moved to Ottawa in 1966 to begin a career. The fishing enthusiasts I met in Ottawa were trout fishermen. Consequently, for the next 30 + years, I fished exclusively for trout (brook trout, rainbow trout and lake trout) in south western Quebec. Finally, after years of listening to my pleas to do a walleye trip, 7 of the guys joined me for a 4 day trip to Lac Ogascanan in Sep 2000. We ended up at Lac Ogascanan after searching the net for Quebec outfitters who could provide access to walleye fishing as well as lake trout fishing. After that trip, the guys were hooked. And every year since, a number of us have been together walleye fishing somewhere in the Abitibi/Témiscaming area. All the lakes we have fished have been scenic and provided a grand location to spend some time with fishing buddies. The fishing has been pretty good too! We have two one week walleye trips planned for the area in 2015.

Jay

[CaptainCrappie]

Commander Bluegill and I used to faithfully go the the Cleveland Sportsman Show held every Spring at the IX Center in Cleveland.  Usually we would wander the isles looking for what we thought were good deals, on the latest fishing lures etc. and of course we would always visit the Shore Lunch display and split a case of the various batter mixes in anticipation of our early crappie fishing results.

The Canadian outfitters had their own isle and we would collect a bagful of pamphlets and brochures that we would dream and talk about during our fishing trips throughout the year. In 1996 during our annual trip to that isle, we stumbled across the former owner of Three Seasons Camp (The Legendary Gerry B.) and after talking with him a while, we decided that he was a nut case that warranted our consideration as a potential host.  The problem was.... He was booked solid for 1996 so we scheduled a 1997 trip and the rest was history.

The adventures, the people we've met, and the memories of those trips will always remain deeply etched in my soul and spirit.  Kipawa is a very special place.

C.C.

[JigginFool]

The year was 1975 that my dad took our family to 3 Seasons Camp and Gerry was the owner, this was when you had to take a 25 mile boat trip from Laniel to get to camp.  Each cottage didn't have a shower so you had to use the shower house, but it was a magical time for me.  Since then I have been in love with the place and have been back 20+ times staying at 3-seasons, 2-Moons and Smith Bay.  My dad started going up there in the late 40's/early 50's and my uncle would camp on islands with his friend.  I started taking my son up there 3 years ago and plan on never missing another year if possible.  I posted a picture (though not the greatest) in the gallery of the 1st lake trout I ever caught on my first trip.

[puckster_guy]

This was around 1978  when i was around 20 I went up with a buddy who had fished there before. We went up around 5 times in 2 years. (4.5 hour drive). Partying most nights at the Red oaks Inn. We fished Lake Temiscaming/Ottawa river. Kipawa, Brennen. A few other spots I can't remember. I fished with a couple of local guys for a few years Who taught me a lot. Kids and sports stopped almost all trips to Kipawa. except a couple of cottage rentals in the town of Kipawa. I kept a boat on Georgian bay instead. a 35 minute drive from home. Much easier! About 4 years ago I bought a lot at the Red pine chutes and I'm back to stay.

[getthenet]

In 1989 an old timer friend of my father's who had been going to Kipawa since the 50's approached my wife and I about taking a trip to Three Season's with him, his wife and group.  Our group filled six of the seven cabins for many years.  We would stay at the motel in Laniel and drink at the bar that was a boat cut in half.  After a few years we decided one week wasn't enough and started going two consecutive weeks. One year we even made a second trip in September.  Now it is just my wife and I but we have met and made alot of friends through the years.

[Jerry "SKO FSHN"]

Interesting topic NJ. I have only been a member of this fishing forum for only a few months but I quickly got a feel that many if not most of the forum's members are from the states or travel long distances to enjoy the solitude of Kipawa lake. It appears also that the majority of the members started their fishing days with their fathers.  My father was a steel worker in W. PA and the news about Kipawa lake spread quickly thru out the mill. This was back in the 60's  College and early marriage kept me from returning the first years but  now that I am retired the visits are longer and mid-June seems to be my call to the wild. Fishing has changed for we fished from birch boats with 9.9hp motors  but have graduated to trailing 20 ft. Boats 150 hp and best of all GPS and fish finders. Spent a lot of nights on the lake when fog would set in and No GPS. The good old days. First  fish finders were the Lowrance black box and I owned the first Humminbid s(liquid crystal) finder. The total pixels on the screen was about 90 and they were large squares. It was the state of the art then . Our first trips were to Turtle camp and White Birch camps which are no longer renting cabins. Thanks for the great topic. I am certain a lot of your members will chant in on this
Jerry "Sko Fshn"

[michelle]

We bought our camp on Lake Kipawa in 2004 but lived in Temiscaming when we bought it. Was only an hour and a half trip at that time. We now live in Sudbury and the trip is now 4 and a half hours, but still really can't complain, a lot of ppl on this forum drive so much further.... try to get out there as often as we can in the summer!

[NortonJoe]

I remember that first trip like it was yesterday.  My father-in-law got home from work, we ate a quick bite, loaded up and hit the road.  We drove all night and arrived in North Bay early in the morning and slept outside a diner for a few  hours waiting for breakfast.  Every time I get that whiff of fresh air with a hint of pine on it, I smile.  Then it was north through Belleterre and down past Lac a la Truite to Lac Watson.  It was early June, raining cats and dogs, cold, wet and the bugs were like clouds around your head.  We unloaded quickily (dumped everything in the cabin) and hit the lake.  We hit his favorite spot (now called Johnny's fishing hole) and hooked fish like crazy; but I was the one that was hooked.  We caught alot of fish that trip, got alot of black fly bites and most importantly I caught the bug for "Kipawa." I've had so many good times at that camp (been there every year since 1988 except for about four years) and hope there are many more.  As I've told so many people, the place is magical.

[Nancy]

John and I have had a discussion about when our first year was at Ogascanan. I say 2001, he says 2000. But anyway, we took a trip to the outdoor show in Harrisburg. As far as I knew at the time, it was just to look at boats and outdoor stuff. John had been to Canada many years before we got married (in 2000), but the camp that he used to go to were run by Indians up north of Senneterre and the government shut them down. So I think secretly he was on the prowl for a new camp to go fishing in Canada. I had never been up there at that point. We were strolling through the isles at the outdoor show, he was looking at some outfitters on the right side of the isle, and I started talking with the Mullens on the opposite side, and 13 or 14 years later as they say the rest is history. My only regret is there isn't more time to go as many years as some of you guys on the board.

[pike mike]

Our group ,primarily made up of Coca Cola employees from Hamilton , had tried many different fishing locations in Ontario and Quebec before we happened upon a very friendly and helpful lodge owner at the Toronto Sportmans Show .Gerry became ,it seemed ,a member of our brotherhood instantly .It was as if we had known him all our lives . 3 Seasons Camp has been the home of the "Spring Classic Invitational " ever since .We will be returing for our 17th year this June . No better place or people have we ever found .Reg and his entire family have more than successfully taken over the ever helpful reins since Gerry has stepped aside . 

[NortonJoe]

@Nancy @pike mike Unfortunately the Sportsman's Show at the IX Center in Cleveland has deteriorated significantly...almost no outfitters anymore.  It has basically become nothing more than a flea market in my opinion.

[getthenet]

I agree with NortonJoe 100% about the sportsmans show at the I-X Center in Cleveland ! We use to look forward to going every year,it use to be 2 weeks long,now only 1 weekend . Have no desire to even go anymore !