Watson Lake Cabins Aug. 30 - Sept. 7

[Teach]

Thank You Nancy!!!!

Travel:
Travel up from Metro Atlanta was smooth and uneventful through the States and boarder crossing. The trip in from ProNature takes me 5+ hours.  It is becoming a more beautiful trip each time, except the Bearn section.















Food:

Our menu consists of Fryin Magic twice.



Beer Batter with an Onion "funnel" Rings twice.





Fish Tacos twice.











And this trip Friday was Cheeks Chowder with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.







And breakfasts were pretty good also.



Sun Rise:

I am an early riser and was not disappointed when the sun made its appearance. The loons began to chatter during this time of the day also.

















The Fishing:

I would describe the fishing as GOOD.  Lots of fish.  Lots of nice fish.  No big fish.  Biggest walleye was 24 inches.



The smallest walleye was not measured.



And biggest northern pike was 32 inches.



I sure hope Norton Joe can post some pictures because the skeletal remains of the pike he described in his post were super impressive!!!!!

I have 16 pictures of 21 - 23 inch walleyes.  I will spare you all the images, but here are some.







We ate 21 fish that week between 15 and 16 inches long.  We brought home 18 fish between 17 and 18 inches.  I had 15 "freezers" in the freezer after Sundays fishing. 



Coming home we stopped at an OnRoute and was asked how was the fishing.  Dad gave the guy a thumbs up and he shook his head in disbelief.  I was not about to tell him that a conservative estimate of 400+ walleyes were boated.  We had constant double headers and the occasional triple header. 



So if we boated 60 per day for 7 days of fishing that is 420.  But 60 per day is probably low.  I think on Wednesday my sister boated 60 by herself.  It was a constant tip the jig with a worm, drop it in, set the hook, "do you need the net", boat the fish, and do it all over again.  I asked where did they want to try next and she said, "It didn't matter.  You could drop me at the dock and I will still catch them."  Cocky!  She drug a jig and worm all week.  Dad used the jigging rapala for slower drifts, shiver minnows and jigs when the speed of the drift increased.  I used spoons and jigs.  When they are aggressively feeding, nothing is more fun then using heavy metal.

The Experience:

We had a great time.  Saw eagles, loons, two bears, and found lots of time to hear yourself think.  I need that!  Thinking is sometimes hard.





Countdown:

10 days.  We will be in camp again October 4-12.  It has always been a bucket list trip to see the region in full color!  (Sorry Hodgey1, gloating.)

[Greg]

Wow. Great report and pics.

Congrats.
Greg

[Oarin]

Thanks Teach! Love the pictures. Glad you guys did well.

[Jay Thomas]

Thanks for a great report Teach. Loved the sonar pictures showing fish stacked up. And your Cheeks Chowder with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches was mouth watering. Thanks for sharing.

Jay

[Jig and drift]

Great report. I can't wait to see the October pictures. That has been my dream to see the area in full color fall as well. I am a retired teacher but the Mrs. Has 4 more years to teach till she can retire and then the fall trip. Very envious. That Bearn road is a joy isn't it.  Enjoy

[Nancy]

Wow, @Teach . Great report and awesome pics. Your food pics make me so envious along with seeing the area in full color. I am green with envy.

[T-Bone]

Great trip report! And man...you're into what I call a "food calabash"!!! Nice work. Seems to be a lot of fillets in that cooking which makes sense as you had very solid fishing, in my estimation. Not sure why you'd want to eat fish that much though. [blaaaap]  If presented with the option (for the whole census of fish eaters..not just you Teach), would you prepare steak every day, multiple times a day if you could? One might think you'd get bored with it...

Again...awesome report...love the pictures. Glad you had a great trip. Safe travels on next one!

[Hodgey1]

Dang Teach, that was a home run report and trip. Three trips in one year, wow, envious, gloat on!

@Teach , do you really travel all the way from Atlanta, then drive an additional 5hrs to Watson?

I am a foodie and I must say, your dishes looked amazing, especially the Fish tacos. Nice, nice job!

@T-Bone, to address your question/statement. I can get a piece of quality beef any where at anytime.  If I couldn’t and could travel somewhere once or twice a year and catch and eat all the beef I wanted, I might eat beef everyday for a week. 

[Ozmo]

Awesome trip report! Those meals look amazing!

15 years ago I was up on Kipawa the end of sept beginning of October. It was beautiful and the weather in my mind was perfect. Good luck on your return.

[T-Bone]

@T-Bone, to address your question/statement. I can get a piece of quality beef any where at anytime.  If I couldn’t and could travel somewhere once or twice a year and catch and eat all the beef I wanted, I might eat beef everyday for a week. 

Interestingly, they sell quality beef here in grocery stores. Also interesting, they sell fillets of walleye also.    Yeah, I know..."It tastes better up there...". My question...better than what?

I agree with Hodgey though...some of those dishes Teach look amazing. Not sure why you'd want to ruin them with fish... 

[Jow]

I love eating fish while in the north. Those dishes you prepared look absolutely amazing.
Well done!!
love the graph pics
cheers 

[limacharley]

Nice report Teach and thanks for sharing your pictures.
Glad to see someone else harvesting the cheeks. We also prepare the gullets.