T-Bone's Alwaki Report - Part II

[T-Bone]

Well...a whirlwind planning session and off me and my nephew Mattie went...leaving last Thursday around Noon for a quick 3-days up at Alwaki. Got into North Bay at 9PM exactly...made silly-stupid time going up. Did the 407ETR from Hamilton to Hwy 400 in 28-minutes...a new record that wouldn't last long.    No real delays anywhere...no cars at all (zero!) at the border around 4:30PM. After a few beers and some chow at the Fox & Fiddle in North Bay we got a few hours sleep and left for Temiscaming about 6AM. By 9AM, we were at Alwaki unpacking and getting rigged-up.

In truth, we were really there to see Kipawa in its autumn dress and do a little adventuring, not really to fish that much. We knew fishing would be "off" compared to when we go in late-July, and that proved to be the case. Also what was "off" was the weather. It was hot...really hot...hotter than when we were there in July. Water was at 70/71, though down about 18" plus from when we were there last. We caught 'eyes in 30', 10', 20', etc. They were all over the water column...and quite tight lipped. Again, it was okay. We only fished maybe 2-3 hours per day. Too darn hot to fish during the day...bake like a cookie in the boat when it's that hot and no clouds. Didn't seem like autumn at all...only a few patches of hardwood trees changing color...a little...near the top. So, in that and the hot temps we were a bit disappointed. Fishing was slow, but somehow we weren't that disappointed as that wasn't our primary purpose. We caught enough to keep ourselves entertained. Bleue still tasted delightful. And there was nobody on the lake...virtually had the whole area to ourselves (seemed like we actually did have it to ourselves). Fewer critters around...loons still there but not calling. No sure where all the animals went, but they weren't flying overhead or scurrying through the bush.

Made it home safely by Monday at 6PM...shaved 2-minutes off the 407ETR time coming home...so we were motivated to get back into some air conditioning as you can tell.

In total, we were glad we did it; hopefully we'll see a bit more autumn in our autumn trip...which we plan on doing again next year. Same time...same place...as you can't ask for more than what we get from Brian and Tina at Alwaki Lodge. Thanks again for accommodating us Brian...we had a great few days with you, once again.

I'll see all of you on the Board...

T-Bone. 

[Fort Wisers]

Great report, even though the weather was not awesome (yes it's been brutal over the last couple of weeks) glad you got to escape and head to Kipawa just the same!
I suspect most of the animals are just sleeping during the day to avoid the heat.
Thanks for sharing the report / adventure!

[GregL]

Nice report thanks!! Man, was I thinking of that nice cool July weekend on Kipawa, as I was sweating profusely swinging a hammer, building my garage walls this weekend! HAHA!

[Jay Thomas]

Regardless of when any of us go on a fishing trip, the weather is the great unknown. During our 6-13 Sep trip, the first 4 days were cold, windy and wet while the next 4 days were outstandingly nice. For your trip, you had to endure exceedingly hot weather for late Sep â€" certainly not the norm. Great to hear that you still enjoyed your trip north and that you plan to do it again next year. Thanks for your report.

Jay

[puckster_guy]

I was at my camp during the same period. Me and a work buddy scratched out several walleye and pike. Took lots of cold ones to cool us down, as well as a dip or to into the drink. Happy you guys had a great time.

[Oarin]

Thanks for the report,T-Bone. Glad you and Mattie had a good time. Capt. Guy always said "weather trumps everything when fishing."
Same thing happened to Jon and me this year.

[SgtCrabby]

Nice report. Thanks.
Sounds like you had a good time even if the colors hadn't come out yet and the fish where scattered.

Yep, weather is always the trump card on a fishing (hunting, sports, whatever) trip.  I understand you faced hot weather.  Take it from a Texas guy that lives in a hot summertime environment;  consuming vast quantities of liquids helps, especially some ice cold beer with lots of cool water.  Shade is also important.


Hey, I've been fishing in an aluminum boat in 110 degrees f  (I think thats about 43c. If my math is correct).       But I complain about cold much earlier than most of y'all  😊 . 
Temperature is relative.

[T-Bone]

Thanks everyone...it was a good time and we kept ourselves well hydrated with Bleues...believe me. 

In all assessment, I really don't believe the weather had anything to do with our fishing success. I believe our vigor to pursue and adapt probably did. My expression that the fish were "tight lipped" was more a descriptor of comparison...maybe "scattered" would have been more accurate. The weather probably had more an impact on our personal comfort level than anything else. And considering the past several years, again, I don't think the weather really impacts our success to any meaningful degree. In July the wind and weather couldn't have been more variable, but we caught fish in heaps day after day. What's going on above the water line with weather affects us, but I don't believe it has much effect on fishing 'appetite'. I believe it has a ton to do with fish location though. To the fish, it's 70 degrees and wet below the water line...day after day...week after week. It's not that simple, but I think you see where I'm going.

Based on some of the reports I've read over the past few months I'd think many of you would consider the fishing to be pretty good when we were just there. But compared to our trip in late-July when 15-20 'eyes per session per person were normal, it was slow. What we did catch were fat and happy...nice fish...they just weren't taking that jig within a few seconds on every drop down and they weren't stacked like cord wood on tight locations. Our laziness affected our success more than anything...and the fishing was tertiary to other pursuits we were chasing anyway.

Can't wait for late-July...a mere 301 days from now... 

[limacharley]

Thanks everyone...it was a good time and we kept ourselves well hydrated with Bleues...believe me. 

In all assessment, I really don't believe the weather had anything to do with our fishing success. I believe our vigor to pursue and adapt probably did. My expression that the fish were "tight lipped" was more a descriptor of comparison...maybe "scattered" would have been more accurate. The weather probably had more an impact on our personal comfort level than anything else. And considering the past several years, again, I don't think the weather really impacts our success to any meaningful degree. In July the wind and weather couldn't have been more variable, but we caught fish in heaps day after day. What's going on above the water line with weather affects us, but I don't believe it has much effect on fishing 'appetite'. I believe it has a ton to do with fish location though. To the fish, it's 70 degrees and wet below the water line...day after day...week after week. It's not that simple, but I think you see where I'm going.

Based on some of the reports I've read over the past few months I'd think many of you would consider the fishing to be pretty good when we were just there. But compared to our trip in late-July when 15-20 'eyes per session per person were normal, it was slow. What we did catch were fat and happy...nice fish...they just weren't taking that jig within a few seconds on every drop down and they weren't stacked like cord wood on tight locations. Our laziness affected our success more than anything...and the fishing was tertiary to other pursuits we were chasing anyway.

Can't wait for late-July...a mere 301 days from now... 

Hey TBone-Glad you enjoyed yourselves at Alwaki. My son and I were on Hunter and the fish were stacked on humps there but just wouldn't bite. I did beep the horn as I was going by Alwaki on Sunday. Someone waved or did they give us the finger...hard to tell from 200 yards away.

BTW everyone- I am almost positive I saw a bass swimming under my dock on Sunday afternoon. Looks like they have extended their range beyond the west side of Kip.

[puckster_guy]

Gee a couple more years and they'll be at my end of the lake. I haven't caught one since I left Georgian Bay 7 yrs ago. I'm not sure if I want them or not. I've gotten used to a walleye/pike lake.

[BH]

Thanks for sharing T-Bone.  Your bill for the ETR should be arriving shortly.  I'm paying my bill today and I think it is worth the few extra bucks to save considerable time in the traffic.  Counting down to next year!

[Canuckbass]

We just got back from an awesome weekend and closed up camp. Only fished a couple hours each evening. Everyone caught a few each, got a bunch of keepers for the guys to take home. One area produced well, others were scattered.

[SgtCrabby]

SM bass are spreading, something I'm not in favor of.  The only time I've dealt with them was the one year we went to TBL.
None around where I live - we have the large mouth bass here.

@BH ; your reference to the ETR bill reminds me- my bill hasn't shown up yet. And we all know its not because they want to be nice all of a sudden.