Lake Ogascanan, 2-9 June 2013 Trip Report

[Dog]

This is our Family Fishing Expedition Report to Lake Ogascanan Lodge (www.ogascanan.com)
2-9 June 2013.

May 31
After a sub-par catching year last year, we used the long offseason to rethink our fishing methodology and to research areas of perceived knowledge weakness (mayfly hatch tactics, weather effects and lake ecosystem trends in particular)... So after a year of our most extensive fishing preparation and with zero bottles of Bleue on the wall, it was finally departure dinner time!
The 2013 expedition included “The Core Four” plus the two sophomore junketeers who earned their handles last year, Pike and Deuce. Together, we formed the “The Six Pack” motley crew for the expedition north. Pike and Deuce did the shortened trip (again), arriving with us but departing on Wed morning due to the dreaded four letter requirement stateside.
Tonight saw everyone rendezvous at Pike’s Palace in the burbs of Pittsburgh en’at for the 5th annual Departure Dinner and 2nd annual Farewell Beer Swap.
The theme for this year’s beer swap was a “Lady Theme”.



All junkateers brought a Six Pack of brews to share with everyone that either had a lady pictured on the label OR was named after a lady OR had a beer name by which one could easily follow the sarcastic lady related phrase â€" “That’s What She Said”(TWSS)!… you get the idea. There were quite a few tasty brews to try, that’s for sure.
Following the Departure Dinner and the Farewell Beer Swap we took the family departure picture



We then watched the expedition slideshows from years past put together to music by Dog.

Also on the agenda for this evening was the distribution of the official 2013 fishing shirt’s courtesy of Flag, a review of the rules for the 1st annual Crystal Head Competition, the unveiling of the Crystal Head Trophy (Designed by Dog, Assembled by Flag) and to issue the official Crystal Head Hats.



Patience grasshopper, the trophy will get presented to the winner at the end of week, so you’ll have to wait until the end of this report to see our homemade trophy masterpiece...
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The "Crystal Head Competition" (CHC) is replacing the Individual Bragging Rights Contests beginning 2013.
In addition to having trash talking rights over all other expedition members for an entire year, the winner will claim The Crystal Head trophy AND receive the embroidered victory year patch to add to his officially issued Crystal Head hat.
The rules of the Crystal Head Competition
-The competition officially begins with the first wet line and ends with the last dry line for each fishing expedition.
-No local fishing regulations may be violated.
-The winner is solely responsible for keeping the trophy safe until it can be presented the next year.
-"Caught" is defined as IN THE BOAT (photograph evidence is required if fishing solo). The only duties a fishing boat partner is permitted to perform are netting and photography of the catch. Any other activity by the boat partner will constitute the fisherman forfeiting his points for that catch. Essentially, this means you must unhook your own fish to get the points for that catch
-The fisherman with the most points is named Champion for that year.
"Crystal Head" Basic Scoring
   +7 points First Fish caught
   + 5 points per Walleye caught
   + 4 points per Lake Trout caught
   + 3 points per Northern pike caught
   + 1 point per fish for all other species
+10 points longest Walleye caught (Does not need to be claimed as “Crystal Head Fish”)
+8 points longest Lake Trout caught (Does not need to be claimed as “Crystal Head Fish”)
+ 6 points longest Northern Pike caught (Does not need to be claimed as “Crystal Head Fish”)
+35 points if catch for the species cycle in any two consecutive fishing sessions
+7 points if catch for the species cycle during the week(The species cycle for Lake Ogascanan shall be defined as 1 blue walleye, 1 yellow walleye, 1 northern pike, and 1 lake trout.
+7 points Last Fish caught
"Crystal Head Fish" Strategic Scoring
In addition to the Basic Scoring above, all fisherman may claim 1 catch (any species) as their "Crystal Head" Fish. This must be claimed before putting his line back in the water to fish.
To be claimed a "Crystal Head" Fish, the fish MUST be measured, weighed, photographed, and released.
For each fisherman’s claimed "Crystal Head" Fish, he will get + 3 points/inch length AND + 5 points/lb to their point total. (Length is measured to nearest ½” and weight to the neatest 4 ounces for scoring purposes.)- That’s What She Said (TWSS)!
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Back to the trip report already in progress…

Before performing the nightly inspection on the back of our eyelids, it was time execute the final load out of the vehicles. The vehicles on this year’s expedition were Unc’s Ranger, Deuce’s Escape, and Dog’s 4Runner, = “handle” Stella (the Wrangler got traded in since the 2012 expedition). Despite all efforts to pack less this year, we ended up shoving 20 lbs of $hiet in a 5 lb sock because “we want more, we don’t want less, we want more because more is better…more is more”… as explained in the AT&T commercial.

June 1
We’re rolling on our 3rd consecutive year departing at “O’Call Me Maybe” early to drive north to Lake Ogascanan. Along the way we hit all our usual spots from Da’Burgh to Da’Auberge hotel in Temiscaming, Quebec. Pertinent mission progress time stamps were recorded as follows by our convoy along the way:
Wheels rolling in convoy formation 1 from the Harmar Get Go: 0610
Angola, NY Rest stop for Gas: 0935
Departing Border Currency Exchange at Peace Bridge:1030
Departing Weber’s Lunch Stop:1345
Departing Billy Bob’s with ½ flat of worms:1545
(Note: The bridge to Billy Bob’s is out for construction. Use alternate routing to Billy Bob’s. Same exit, 1 right then 3 lefts to loop around. 5 minute detour, no biggie)
Departing North Bay Walmart for Grocery (Since Provigo and Temiscaming is closed):1615
Stop for Shell gas station in North Bay to fill up: 1630
Arrival in Temiscaming: 1715
Stopped at Cervair gas station in Temiscaming for beer (great selection = highly recommended): 1725 (Note: VS liquor store in downtown Temiscaming closes at 5pm on Saturdays)

Smokin’, Drinkin’, and Story Tellin’ at the Auberge Hotel Bar:   - 1755, JACKPOT!
We managed to partake in quite a few beverages of choice (Bleue’s of course) this evening and even enjoyed game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Pens and Bruins. Despite a Pens loss it was still nice to be able to watch Game 1.

June 2
Dog failed open at 0530 this morning so he walked around Temiscaming a bit. The new hunting and fishing store, Pronature, looks great thru the windows since they were obviously closed. Here are their hours of operation.



By 0630 as Dog circled back to the Auberge and Pike was awake and out and about looking for coffee. Before we headed to the diner we walked down the road and onto the 101 bridge near the Auberge to have a look (first time ever). The Lake Jadot runoff below forms a gorgeous river valley which flows to form Lake Brochets down river.



What the pictures don’t show is a monstrous school of walleye sitting under the bridge. We saw them clear as day from 50’ up on the bridge. Had we had our licenses, we may have tried to get an early start on the chase for the Crystal Head!
By 0800 we were off like a herd of turtles down the dirt road towards Lake Ogascanan Lodge after filling up on a superb breakfast at the Auberge diner.
Not surprisingly, the non-paved road conditions were far worse than any of the previous 3 years due to the heavy winter ice and late thaw combined with a wet spring (including rain as we were driving in to the lodge). Sometimes a picture is worth a whole paragraph of words, so I’ll leave you with this sole image of our drive in towards the lodge…
 
After saying hello and catching up with the Mullens, along with waiting out an arrival downpour of rain, we got to fighting off the walls of bugs waiting for us and overflowed our assigned fleet of 3 boats and Dan’s boat to head up the lake to the Smith’s Pass outpost cabin, our home for the next week.
Upon arrival, Unc promptly got the Bleue on ice and everyone got to unloading their assault gear. Dog took one for the team and was the man on the porch pushing everything inside the door. He paid for this with some pretty knarled up hands from bug bites. Needless to say, the bugs (mosquitos, gnats, even bees) were a major issue the entire week (Lodge owners said this was the worst they’d ever seen the bugs up there).
With our revised 2 sessions of fishing for this year (new methodology), Flag invested in a sweet Garmin marine navigation to get us around the lake safely before sunrise and after sunset…



After some superb arrival meal brisket, brought all the way from Texas by, you guessed it, Tex. We all walked around with a food coma (or was that the alcohol and cigar smoke already working its wonders?) while situating our bunkrooms. Eventually, we were ready to head out onto the lake for our first evening fishing session. Water level was above normal for this time of year (according to the outfitter) and we definitely noticed it higher than at any point during 2011 or 2012. (Note: The week we were there the lake did drop a solid 8” as we marked it with a stick on the beach shore upon arrival)
We were all anxious to get out on the lake and “hit it hard”-TWSS and so the flotilla was launched into very well charted waters (courtesy of a guy we know), 2 persons per boat and heading out for the first night assault. Boat pairings were Flag and Dog, Unc and Tex, Pike and Deuce for the assault onto Sweetwater shores.
BUT WAIT!… Flag and Dog were all the way up by No Name Island when they realized no one was following them.
We circled back around to find this…



Pike and Deuce getting towed back to the dock by Unc and Tex. Their boat was bogging down after a few seconds and wouldn’t stay running due to being starved of fuel. Once moored, Dog climbed onboard and did some troubleshooting to the fuel line to get the boat back up and running. After a succesful optest around the bay, it was time re-launch the flotilla.
Once on station at the  destination of choice to start the night, TEX got on the scoreboard first with this little guy (spawning the first rule change to the CHC for 2014), and so began another week of fishing on Lake O.



First Fish = 7 points, 1 for every inch of this catch…
(Apparently not everything is bigger in Texas!)

Pike followed up with a little pickerel fingerling of his own…



After it became apparent that catching pathetic little fingerlings (not a good sign) was all the luck we were going to have at Sweetwater Shores tonight, Dog and Flag departed and started the trend of anchoring in the Narrows. BAM!
Flag struck with the first pan volunteer for the 2013 Smith’ Pass cabin fish dinners.



Upon radio transmission of a pan size catch, the other two boats join us at anchor in the narrows and the catching continues…
5 minutes later, Dog struck with his first pickerel of the trip, BAM BAM!



Another good looking fish that will taste even better!
Pike, Unc, and Tex get in on the catching action and then Flag and Dog rounded out the evening with another walleye each for the livewell.








Bellies UP! A decent catching start to our 2013 trip!

June 3
Today saw the boats split up in an attempt to locate the school.
Dog and Deuce headed all the way north to Taylor Bay and explored the entire northern section of the lake. We hit the Lescott creek entrance along with some other picturesue shorelines the outfitter recommended on the way back south, but with no luck.
Dog & Deuce met up with Pike & Flag on the north side of the island above northern Bourbon Street for some jiggin’ and pluggin’ action, again nothing there either at the recommended spots.
Tex and Unc hunkered down in the Narrows for the morning and picked up 1 pike along the south eastern shoreline in real shallow water. On the drive back Deuce and Dog stopped for a long easterly drift thru Sweetwater Shores that ended up north of the Narrows and Deuce landing this beautiful yellow pickerel.



Back to the cabin for a double decker breakfast casserole lovingly prepared by Pike’s better half.
Afternoon siesta and then back awake to eat again, our 1st fish fry of the trip, before heading out for the evening bite.
Dog, Deuce, Unc and Pike headed to the Narrows (never leave fun to find fun) and Flag and Tex went exploring in Fergy Bay.
Fergy Bay had no action, it was dead = no fun.
Pike picked up a 15” hammer handle in the narrows



Then, because no action was happening, Unc started whispering to the walleye, only problem, they ended up biting Deuces bait not his! Deuce caught this walleye shortly after the whispering started, the largest pickerel of the entire week, tipping the tape at 20.5” and just shy of 4 lbs…



Followed by crickets (literally and figuratively) so all boats rdvz’d back at the cabin for a pre-sleep soup snack and to tell stories.

June 4
Up early and the flotilla launched from the dock slightly before sunrise. Headed north to the Narrows and Bourbon Street. Only fish caught was this one by Pike on South Bourbon Street.



Back to the cabin for some of Flag’s “Quebec” Toast, Bacon, and hash… and it was only now that we all realized the cabin had been infiltrated, not by bears, but by Flag’s TWWS signs…. Gotta admit, these are all funny in their own way, but maybe not as funny as UNC’s quote after catching a walleye later in the week, “I wish it was a few inches longer” â€"TWSS Boom… hahaha




While we were eating breakfast the clouds cleared off and a north wind started to churn up the lake a bit.
For the afternoon bite Pike and Dog went over to explore the cigarette creek area with not much luck. Dog picked up 3 chubbies in 5 minutes in the chokepoint back to the bay and Pike caught, you guessed it, another pike while trolling through the shallow bay on the way back from the creek area.
We did some experimenting with water temperature and depth (using a Marcum underwater videocamera which displayed depth and temperature on screen) this afternoon out in the main bay outside the cabin. We discovered the thermocline had not yet formed in the lake. Surface temp was 58 and within 8 degrees of that all the way down to 60 feet. It appeared the temperature gradient was just barely starting to form in the top 15 feet but there was no noticeable depth where the temperature remained constant.
Dog took a knee this evening due to being disgruntled by traveling to such a remote lake, with such little fishing pressure to catch garbage fish, chubs…
The rest of the crew headed to the Narrows for the evening where Flag laid claim to the First Crystal Head fish of the trip:


This mean 35”, 7lb 11 oz northern pike worth 143.75 points in the chase for the Crystal Head.
Once everyone got back to the cabin, we took The Six Pack parting shot this evening



June 5
Pike and Deuce departed the dock at 0415 to begin the long trek back stateside and to that for letter word (insert one of your choosing here…).
Tex and Flag went out trolling for Northern from the cabin up along the Forgotten Coast. Tex picked up one.
Dog and Unc got skunked in the morning session fishing from the boat. Once back moored at the dock with colors shifted, Dog threw in his line from the bow of the boat and started to offload his gear to the dock. FISH ON!  Dog almost lost his ultra light over the bow of the boat to the depths of Lake O as the fish was pulling it out of the boat until he was able to grab it and set the hook. Here is what was on the other end of the line:



Dog claimed it as his Crystal Head Fish, a 26.5”, 3lb 11oz Northern Pike worth 98.25 points in the chase for the Crystal Head.
Still shaking heads with the pure luck of this catch, everyone headed in to the cabin to regroup and discuss strategy for the rest of the week.
For the evening bite we headed north once again thru the narrows up to Bourbon Street. Unc caught a 17.5” pike and that was it. Tex and Flag laid back at Sweetwater Shores and picked up 2 yellow, a blue, a pike and a chubbie (no comment) between them.
Having been skunked on the evening bite and now back moored at the dock, Dog figured he’d go for broke and throw a line in again… He was back up in the cabin getting settled when Unc and Flag stroll up thru the door and ask Dog if he wants to go claim the fish that is on his line! No way, not two times in a row! Sure as a grizzly relieving himself in the woods, it happened a second time. Dog caught a fish from the dock deadsticking… this time though it was a chub, go figure, a common theme this week (a quarter of the fish caught were garbage chubbies)
June 6
Dog woke up to an empty cabin this morning as FLAG, UNC, and TEX were all out fooling themselves of a morning walleye bite. They did however pick up two Lakers. Tex laid claim to his Crystal Head Fish.


This 26.5”, 7lb, 4oz Laker worth 115.75 points in the chase for the Crystal!

He also honed his solo landing skills (as Dog was back at the cabin) as part of this catch.
Unc also landed a baby laker while out trolling this morning…



That was it, that’s the list.
A light breeze picked up which provided a slight reprieve from the brutal bug population that was swarming us all week. After a fried pike dinner we hit the Narrows again for the night bite. That didn’t last long as we got blown out of the Narrows by a strong south wind that kicked up 3’ white caps coming north into the narrows. Before we retreated back to the cabin though UNC was able to lay claim to his Crystal Head Fish


This 29.5”, 5lb 12oz Northern Pike worth 117.25 points and put him right back in the contention for the Crystal Head with 2 full days of fishing remaining…

June 7
We got a late start this morning due to a late night finishing off the Blanton’s and Kettle One. Unc also spent the night practicing his sleep swat of mosquitos…
Trolled the forgotten coast this AM and Tex was the only one to land a fish.


This 27” Northern Pike

Back to the cabin for a 1pm breakfast (time is relative up here) and then back north for the night bite.
Flag landed this


29” pike
Unc landed a walleye. Tex landed a walleye and Dog landed a walleye. Then it was back to the cabin for the night.

June 8
Dog and Unc slept in, started to prep for departure.
Tex and Flag went out for the AM bite and Flag landed this


Yellow walleye

The completion for the Crystal Head Trophy was close between Flag, Tex, and Unc going into the night bite so everyone went out for one last session right after taking the parting Core Four shot


Dog picked up this

Northern pike

Tex and Unc got skunked and Flag landed 2 more fish (including his only blue walleye of the trip…)
The last session ended at 9pm since we still had a lot of departure prep and packing to do before going to sleep.

June 9
Departed the Dock at 0515 and arrived in Pittsburgh at 2030.
-   - -   
2013 Crystal Head Trophy Results:

Last Place with 20 points: PIKE
5th Place with 26 points: DEUCE
4th Place with 123.25 points: DOG
3rd Place with 167.25 points: UNC
2nd Place with 181.75 points: TEX

Drum roll please… 














In 1st Place and the Inaugural Crystal Head Champion with 208.75 points:

                                                                              FLAG

He donated the lure used to catch his Crystal Head Fish to the Trophy after the presentation and he will put the picture of him with the catch inside the wooden base during this off season…


--- The Species Breakdown ---
Total Fish Caught for the entire week: 65 (Kept 26, Released 39)
Blue Walleye (10), Yellow Walleye (17), Northern Pike (18), Lake Trout (2),Perch (0), Chub (17), Sucker (1).
Longest Catches of the week:
Flag: 35”, 7lb 11oz Northern Pike
Deuce: 20.5”, 3lb 7 oz, Walleye
Tex: 26.5”, 7lb, 4oz Laker
Unc: 22” Chub

Closing Thoughts:
This was our 3rd consecutive year of choosing Lake Ogascanan to host our annual family fishing expedition. Once again, the Mullen’s hospitality, accommodations, and equipment (minus a temperamental fuel line at the start of our trip, which we easily repaired) were top notch. After 3 years, we have zero complaints about the services this outfitter has provided us.