3 SEASONS JULY 26-AUG-3

[CaptainCrappie]

Two years ago Commander Bluegill and I planned to take with us one grandson each to lake Kipawa.  As fate would have it, a week or two before our departure, The Commander’s grandson injured himself which led to my grandson (Brennan) not going with us.  Brennan was very disappointed. As some of you already know, Brennan is autistic.  After years of intense therapy, and a small fortune, Brennan is considered to be highly functional, and there are no outward signs of him being autistic. Soon he will be an Eagle Scout which makes this old man proud beyond words! Brennan loves to fish and I am blessed to be able to take him. Brennan’s mom and dad (daughter Becky and son-inâ€" law Mark), have told me that my relationship with Brennan has done wonders with Brennan’s development.  Becky has told me many times that Brennan idolizes me. A very humbling experience.

Around Thanksgiving time last fall, daughter Becky asked me if I would be interested in going to Kipawa next year with Mark and his dad, (Brennan;s other Grandpa). What?!!!  Uh, no need to ask. First, Mark would have to clear the time with his employer and due to the nature of his job, that could be a problem.  I contacted Reggie at 3 Seasons and he gave me 4 or 5 dates that were still available.  Due to mine and my wife’s health issues, our prescriptions,  put ourselves in the dreaded “donut hole” (in May), where it costs us about $700.00 each month in order to live. Daughter Becky knows this. More on that.

Time passed, Christmas came and went, so too New Years and winter.  Mark had scheduled a vacation with the family to be taken in June and was made aware that he would not be able to take additional time off until later in the year.  I received an e-mail from Reggie asking if the decision on what reservation date was made as he was getting ready for the Toronto show and would possibly fill the remaining dates. I selected a date (still not knowing who was going.)  Well, that date was already gone.  I then selected July 27-Aug 3.  Yes, that is the same date that T-Bone spent at Alwaki.  More on that freakin storm he mentioned in his report.to follow. 

Earlier in the year, Mark’s dad started having health issues and upon learning that Mark would not be able to go this year, bowed out of going. He since has had a heart attack and has had two stints inserted or, … He might have had his heart attack up at Kipawa!  So now what?  Well, here it gets emotional for me. Mark and Becky informed me that Brennan has their permission for him to make the Kipawa trip with me!  And, for this year’s Father’s Day, the trip would be a gift from them to me! All I could say was “thanks” as tears rolled down my cheeks. Brennan was elated to say the least. So it was just Brennan and I this year.  This trip would replace the tremendous disappointment he experienced two years ago. 

The usual trip planning like, what to eat, and what tackle to take began. The  customary countdown also started.  It was just Brennan and I. I never even informed Commander Bluegill of the trip. Also, I never responded to the countdown posts on this web site.  This was to be Brennan and I’s special trip and it was.

I picked up Brennan on Friday morning July 26 and now daughter Becky suddenly became overly concerned on my ability to make the drive and handle the physicalness of the trip. I assured her that I was. I made her aware too of the three Red Bulls I had in a cooler in the truck’s back seat…. To drink If I got sleepy on the way. I did drink one.  The adrenalin did the rest.

We made good time to the Angola rest stop. Traffic was fairly heavy but there were no problems which caused the flow to slow.  After a couple of Sub Way foot longs we were off to the Duty Free to exchange real money for the funny looking Canadian stuff. It was a good exchange as we got far more than we gave.
Now on to the border.  We selected a line with only two cars in front of us and a few minutes later we were face to face with a female border guard.  Having heard of horror stories people encounter when crossing the border with a young person, Brennan’s parents supplied with him a passport card, a notarized statement on their permission for Brennan to travel with me, and both of their birth certificates in order for them to connect me to Brennan’s mom. I handed her all the info, and after looking at it, told us, “Thank you so much for having all this information, very few have it.”  She asked where we were going and after I told her said “you fellows have a safe trip.”  What a nice lady!

Soon, travel started to slow and stayed that way until the 407 Toronto bypass. The 407 was fine until we exited. Then it was stop and go for the next twenty miles or so. Nothing else traffic wise happened and about 11:00 PM we pulled into Corina’s Kipawa bait shop’s parking lot where we tried to catch a little shut eye.  As Saturday morning broke we walked around the parking lot and stared into that Kipawa launch ramp’s water. Amazing how still that lake was.  Soon the activity at the ramp became busy as boats were launching and being taken out.  A boat stopped in front of us , actually blocking us in as the family readied the boat for their travel back home.  I noticed the wife/mom was wearing a Penn State sweat shirt.  I could not resist and rolled the window down and semi yelled… “Penn State!”  She looked at me and said, “I suppose you’re from Michigan!”  “No Mam, I’m a Buckeye!”  “That’s just as bad!” she said. The husband turned his back to us like he didn’t want to get involved. She told her husband that they were blocking us and I told him to take his time as we were waiting for Corina. We had a friendly conversation and soon they left. Corina was exactly on time. We picked up our reserved leeches and bought our licenses there. Those leeches were big and in great shape. Now it’s on to Kipawa at Reggie’s pick up point! Yippee!

We called Reggie when service was available and I left him a message that we were on our way. At the ramp we slowly unloaded our stuff…Uh, Brennan did most of that. Now where is that Reggie?  At the ramp another truck appeared and gentleman with his wife appeared and surprise, surprise, they were staying the week at 3 Seasons too! So we helped him unload his stuff. Brennan did most of that too. Now where is that Reggie?

There that Reggie is. He had a load of stuff from another camper which he unloaded at a nearby dock. After a few customary insults, we loaded both of our gear into Reggie’s Ark.  On the way to camp, the usual talking questions were asked…. How has the fishing been?  Reggie replied…. It actually shocked me a tad…  “What do you care? You weren’t here anyways and it may be different this week!”  When you think of it, he is absolutely correct! That Reggie is almost as bad as Gerry.
After another exhausting unload, and transporting all that stuff into the cabin, (Brennen did most of that too.)  See a pattern developing here? I had to take a nap. The wind was increasing as the day progressed.  Reggie told us it would, and to be careful if we decided to go out in the evening. We decided to stay close and due to the wind direction we ended up at a location known as “The Sign.”  It did rain pretty good and there was the wind to deal with too. We ended up with a nice stringer of 5 smallmouth and a bonus walleye too.  Nice start to the trip. At the fish house our catch was the only carcasses in the buckets.

Throughout the week, we brought in smallmouth wherever we fished. Those smallmouth are everywhere!  And let me tell you, they are fun to catch and are delicious! We ate our fill of those guys and brought home our limits of them plus our limits of walleyes too. Just a side note…  My underwater camera never displayed a walleye!  First time that has happened but those smallmouth were everywhere I put the camera down.  We would catch at least 3 smallmouth for every walleye. We developed a reputation of being “bass guys.”  “Hey Captain how many bass today?” It actually became a joke.

Another web site contributor “Jigginfool” approached me in the fish house and during the week we spent a few hours solving the world’s problems.. It’s nice to put a name on a face… or is it the other way around. That Jigginfool is a good guy and so is his family.  Very nice people.

OK, now the most terrifying ordeal of the week.  The storm… Reggie told us earlier in the day (Monday) that there was to be a strong storm with high winds expected around 7:00 PM. Brennan also received a text from his dad that “the weather forecast up there is calling for a storm in the evening.”  Alright already! No fear here!   I told Brennan that we would stay close tonight. That we would just cross the channel and fish the small sheltered bay not far from camp.  So we had an earlier supper and arrived at our destination at approx.. 5:10 PM.  At what I determined to be a good spot, I told Brennan to drop the anchor. We rigged our slip float leeches to about a 17-18 ft in 22 ft of water. There were blips showing up at that depth. 

Maybe 5 minutes later, if that, I heard the telltale sound of strong wind and rain approaching. It was coming fast!  That first blast of wind and rain was incredible!  We found our rain gear and struggled to get it on!  Then the boat began to be pushed backwards.  The anchor was useless! I told Brennan to let out all the anchor rope hoping that it would increase the holding power. No way!  A gust of wind, the strongest I’ve ever felt (in a fishing boat) hit us broadside and lifted our boat on that side and almost capsized us!  Now I’m very, very worried. I started the motor in hopes of slowing our drift out into the channel.  The boat was continuing to sway back and forth, I could not control my heading, as the rain pelted us. You could hardly see!  I decided to try to get closer to shore.  Then Crack!  A massive white birch tree dropped into the water, maybe 50 ft from us! I was frantically mumbling prayers, I didn’t know what else to do!  Just about minute later the wind stopped and the rain slowed to a drizzle. I joked with Brennan about how wet I was.  Uh, that was because I was unable to snap my rain suit closed and all that water that now was in my shorts, was what was forced through the rain suit zipper!

OK, Brennan, the rain is over, where do want to go now?  We ended up at “The Sign” again and brought back 4 nice smallmouths. Back at the fish house.. It’s Reggie and Nadine.  “So Bob, was it worth it?”  “What do you mean?” I asked.  “Those fish”  Absolutely!!!  “ I saw you guys over there, in that storm.  Nadine was screaming at me to go get you guys!  I told her that I couldn’t!  “Not even in the big boat! When I heard your motor start, I knew you were OK. You now have something else to add to your reputation!”  (LONG STORY)  Reggie told us that it due to those wind gusts that it was the worst storm he had seen. I would have loved to take a picture or two during that storm but I was hanging on for dear life! Reggie told us that it was the worst storm in many years! Reggie, you lied to us! You said 7:00 PM and it happened at 5:10!  Several other campers along with Jigginfool were also worried about us. We were the talk of camp!

So, I now have to bail out the boat. I carry a battery operated bilge pump with me on my Kipawa trips. I put a couple of alligator clips on the power wires then attach it to my battery.  It always comes in handy and beats bailing the boat out with the jug. We were still attached to the dock. My automatic inflatable life jacket is atop my boat box. I accidently bump the boat box and KAPOW!!! The life jacket explodes as it hits the water in the boat!  At point blank range that KAPOW! Is something else! Brennan laughed uncontrollably!  Darn near pooped myself.  So I gotta get a reload kit for the jacket.  Big deal!  Just for the record, that inflated life jacket lasted three days.

The most productive spot turned out to be at “Snoopy.”  (pic below) Always caught something there. The most productive way we used to catch them was with a leech and slip float. We caught a couple walleyes using worms with the float, but by far, leeches were the ticket. Jigginfool was kind enough to give us some leeches when I accidently forgot to bring my leech tamer bag back into the boat and we zoomed back from “Snoopy” at warp speed… and the Velcro partially opened.

I have to ask you guys if I’m nuts or if there is actually some sort of gremlin that reverses your shirt as you put it on.  I can locate the tag or writing which usually signifies the back of the shirt and by the time I get it over my head, it’s backwards!  How in the heck does that happen?!!! 

The week flew by, the way it always does, and soon we were experiencing that melancholy ride out.  On the way out, Reggie shared with us a story that just happened during the night.  His son, son’s girlfriend, and her parents were visited by a bear while camping during the night!  They were camping on an island and the bear appeared between their tents as the tents were at opposite ends of the island. Reggie was extremely excited telling that story.  They had no weapon so when Reggie got his son’s call during the night he took wih him some sort of cannon! But when Reggie got there that bear was gone. Ya just never know!

The ride back was a nightmare!  Stop and go as soon as you got off the 407. The lines at the border were all full and that took almost 2 hours to get through!  To top it off, in Buffalo there was a detour to get back on I 90.  What a mess!  One more thing. At the border coming back into the USA….The guard. A male this time, asks for our passports. I hand him all the same stuff I handed  to the Canadian guard. He looks at it and says, “What’s all this crap?”  I explain and he asks “How old is he?”  Seventeen.  “He’s got his card, that’s all he needs! You should know that.”  Maybe he was having a bad day, or maybe he was just an ass hole!

Another trip has come and gone. I am so thankful that we were spared from some tragedy during that storm. I am also thankful that Brennan was able to experience another Kipawa adventure, and he was with me! I had pictures developed and had them laminated on a poster board and gave it to him a week after we returned.  That poster is on his bedroom wall now.  Becky tells me that he looks at it a lot.  That means a lot to me.

C.C.





         


               

[Jay Thomas]

Hi CaptainCrappie,

Great trip report. Thanks for sharing. I can only imagine how satisfying it was for you to enjoy a week at 3 Season's Camp with Brennan. I sincerely hope you will have more opportunities to do that again. Please say hello to Commander Bluegill if you get a chance.

Best regards,

Jay

[Fort Wisers]

Great trip report and pics Captain!
Your story telling ability really brings your reports to life.....nice job as always.
Glad you guys had a good trip, survived the storm and got to spend a trip together like this.

[Oarin]

Wow, excellent report and pictures! The smile on Brennan's face says it all! Taking my son on the Kipawa trips is very special too. Thanks for the report!

[michelle]

I don't think I've ever read a trip report that brought tears to my eyes before...lol. That trip sounds amazing, and the smiles on your grandson's face says it all....he will never forget this trip

[T-Bone]

Great report...and what the whole thing is about in my book. My dad took me first when I was only 8 years old, my grampa (his Dad) was there too, and I've been going back ever since. Glad you got out of that storm okay...not sure we would have made it from anywhere back to camp when that thing blew through. Thanks so much for telling such a personal story C.C....good stuff.

[Greg]

Great report - as many others said, absolutely fantastic relationship building with Brennan and memories forever for him.

Super congrats... you win the "Best emotional background trip report of 2019!"

Greg

[CaptainCrappie]

Thanks for your comments everyone. If it wasn't for T-Bone stating that he hadn't seen a trip report posted by me, I wouldn't have done it. I am amazed how aware the good people who visit this site keep track of things. and Michelle, you  sharing your feelings about your tears says a lot about you.  Some of you may remember "Rambler" I haven't seen a post from him for some time. I posted a trip report maybe 6, 7 or maybe even 8 years ago (maybe it was on the original site) and Rambler's wife (Ellen) gosh, maybe that was even before they were married, responded that I brought her to tears too. That report included Brennan as well. All of you people are like family and it is very apparent what Kipawa means to each of us. Compared to how the world is at each other's throats now, this site is a breath of fresh air.

C.C.

[JigginFool]

CC- Awesome trip report, and it was great to meet you and Brennan while we were there and to be able to put a face to the name.  Brennan sure is one lucky and fortunate person to have a grandfather like you to take the time to share your love of Kipawa with him and to build memories he will never forget, memories he will cherish for the rest of his life. The smiles on his face is proof of the great time he had, and the last night you were there he stopped and talked to me in the fish house as I was cleaning fish to tell me how much fun he has up there and can't wait to be back.
And that storm, dang!  I didn't even want to go down and cover my boat and you were out in it!!  Sure glad you weathered it out.
It was great sitting around and talking with you, I sure hope to meet up again!!...we will be there the same 2 weeks next year!

[RoK]

Great report CC - I am sure your grandson will remember this for the rest of his life, priceless memories

[Jig and drift]

That may have been one of the best reports I have ever read. Neither of you will ever forget that trip. Congratulations

[Chumy77]

Wow ,great report Captain,great memories,wish you many mores with the grandson, maybe you guys can start writing a book and each

take a paragraph and call it The Kipawa paradise, best seller for sure. Have healthy winter...Chumy!!!!

[ziggy6]

I agree one of the best reports that I've had the pleasure of reading!  Thanks for sharing....

[RHYBAK]

Captain
I salute you.
That is an awesome report.
Man., Has Brennan ever grown up into a young gentleman.
I wish that there might be a future trip with you and your grandson while I am in camp

Please tell me one thing..... How did you catch that Herring.
I had no idea that they were that big in Kipawa.

[limacharley]

Captain,
Thank you for taking me an that emotional journey. You guys are both lucky to have each other.
Pretty soon, Brennan will help you drive that long distance.

Walleye, Bass and herring...the trifecta. All you needed was a pike to hit for the cycle.

@ the border- you wouldn't believe how many people have a rabies vaccination certificate for their dog
but nothing to show for the kids in their vehicle...!

Heavy thunderstorms while at sea builds character. Lol