Favorite Canada "thing"

[NortonJoe]

So we are all under a lot of stress and anxiety about Covid-19  ...let's set it aside a bit and share your favorite thing (or things) about that annual trip to Canada.

I'll start...I guess the best thing for me is that first time you are out on the boat.  Its been a long drive, you've unloaded the truck(s) and now it's time for that first time on the lake.  You buzz out to your location and turn that motor off.  The breeze is blowing with the scent of pine and lake water.  You reach into the cooler and grab your favorite beverage...one for you and one for your boat partner.  PSSSST...ah the flavor of that first sip as you relax in the boat with the sound of nothing except the breeze and the waves lapping the side of the boat.  It's gonna be a good week...no matter what!

[puckster_guy]

 For me the party starts once i turn off maniwaki onto Red Pine rd....

[Oarin]

For me, it's sitting around a camp fire at the outpost cabin with my son, smoking a cigar and drinking a beer. I hope we get to go this year, I don't have all that many trips left.

[Hodgey1]

Norton Joe, Great Topic! I will formulate a worthy response and post.

[Hodgey1]

Where to start! I grew up with a favorite uncle who always filled my imagination with his fishing trips to Canada. He always took fly in trips to the middle of no where. I idolized him and his amazing stories of hunting and fishing trip that he took and hoped some day to be part of such experiences. Unfortunately he past away in 2013 at the young age of 68 from Alzheimer’s

Fast forward to November 2016, my first post here, asking for advice on where to plan a fishing trip in my uncle’s memory.

I was greatly encouraged to give Kipawa a try. I haven’t regretted that advice since! I am now on trip 6 or 8, unsure since I’m now going twice a year . What?

let's set it aside a bit and share your favorite thing (or things) about that annual trip to Canada.

I enjoy it all! The planning is as much fun as the trip. I start with a list starting months in advance. I must admit a lot of my lists and planning is food based.... Please forgive me, but eating at Kipawa is as much fun as the fishing, since I’m a cook / foodie as much as I am a fisherman. Oh the food!

MY Favorite thing about the trip? The Friends I’ve made at Alwaki and hanging out and shooting the crap and drinking some beers while shooting the breeze. The people I’m with at Kipawa, ahhh love the camaraderie. Maybe this is shedding light on my real passion.... People and socializing and partying while participating in an amazing hobby of fishing. Then there’s the fishing....oh and the serenity of being on the water....oh but then there’s the feeding frenzy of the Walleye at different times when it’s hard to keep your hook baited. Dang.... it’s so much fun and so enjoyable, I can’t wait to do it again and again and again... and again.

I sincerely hope things return to normal again soon, because things like my trip to Kipawa/Alwaki, are part of what keeps the Hodge machine moving. Without these wonderful things in my life to look forward to, I begin to die inside because dreaming of things like trip to Kipawa are what keep me sane!

[Captain Hali]

Hodgey1, you realize there is a fine line between sanity and insanity! I'm with you on the dreaming part, only up to a certain point, after all, a dream is just that, a dream. It's when that dream has the smell of the Pine trees floating through the air, the fine spray of cool water hitting your face as you race to take shelter from that black cloud closing in on you accompanied by natures fireworks, and the deafening rumble that follows. Then the calm again, the subtle tug on the line, a quick snap of the wrist, and the fight is on.   Ah, to dream again!!!!
 

[CaptainCrappie]

My favorite time/feeling is an evening anchored at the spot we call Snoopy.  It's out in Hay Bay where you can see several miles in most every direction. Most of the time in the evening, the lake sort of takes breath and relaxes.  The winds usually calm, the beautiful sunset can be appreciated as well as the light that lands on the opposite shore line as the shade climbs the hills.  The sounds of mother nature seem to be amplified, and occasionally only the sound of a far away outboard can be heard.  My fishing partner also takes it all in, and there is a pause in our talking while we just enjoy the moment. Trying to describe that to someone not in tune is virtually impossible. You just have to be there.

C.C.

[Greg]

@CaptainCrappie  - you describe it perfectly 110%.   Sure I enjoy the planning and eating, etc.  But that quiet moment in the evening at sunset... that is what I think about all winter.

[SgtCrabby]

It starts for me it starts when I get out of the truck at the lodge;  it had been a very long drive ...
@CaptainCrappie,  you describe it perfectly  (other than I go to Lake Ogascanan).

[Netman]

Several things come to mind, the evening bite when the water is like glass and the silence if overwhelming. Watching the stars and satellites on a dark moonless night. The sound of a loons last call in the evening. The occasional howl of a far off wolf. Remembering my great uncle and grandfather who introduced me to fishing in canada at age 14. And time spent with good friends and family.  All things I hope to experience again this August.

[Chazz]

Really enjoy reading all the favorite things everyone has contributed to this subject.  Totally agree with all of them.  Reading them and reminiscing about past trips is a great way to occupy some of my time even been looking at some of the pictures from my past trips. 
One of my favorite "Canadian thing" is the shore lunch.  Finding the perfect area, gathering the wood, building the fire, cleaning the fish, frying the fish along with onion rings and potatoes.  And of course enjoying some cold brewskies during this entire process.  Then eating this unbelievable feast.
Hopefully I will be enjoying this again sometime this summer or fall.

[T-Bone]

Favorite thing....hmmm. I've been trying for days and I can't come up with one...then I realized why. I don't have one. I have a million and one. From the time I leave the garage on 'travel up' day to the moment I leave my garage on 'travel up' day the next trip...those are my favorite moments. Everything offered already from the food, to the camaraderie, to the tug of that 'ol wally on the line...I love them all. Also love the rain on the roof, the fog above the trees, lap of the water onto the shore, the crack of a cold beer, the everything in between.

Even when not up there, I think about being up there...every day...and those are enjoyable moments too.

Embrace every moment. Now, more than ever, you only get it once.

[fishtildark]

Having missed the trip last year and with this year being in jeapordy, this subject hits close to home. My favorite thing is/are the memories. Whether sitting at the table or running up the lake every view seems to have a memory associated with it. ... there's where the moose swam across the bay, the sight of my first real walleye frenzy, where my dad caught the 11 lb walleye on his 75th birthday and on his last trip there, where my son caught his first pike , the spot where we accidentally found a school of 3 lb walleyes nosed up so close to shore that we ended up dragging the jig off the rock into the water and had nonstop action... Also the trip getting there like the float plane rides in the old days, running into high school buddies at Webbers, meeting Captain Crappie and Commander Bluegill at the Temrose and the wildlife sightings on the trip down the Maniwaki and Red Pine Chute..the list goes on and on so wont bore you all because everyone has similar experiences. They are the things that helps get through the winter waiting for the next trip and particularly this year when not sure when the next trip is.
Wishing all a healthy and short wait til we can experience what everyone here has in common. Stay safe..

[Dog]

I truly enjoy it all...  my favorite thing is my first catch each year. The exhilaration of feeling the first bite (sometimes it's a nibble and sometimes it's a slam) and having a successful hook set, nothing like it after months of preparation and long haul to get there... (I also find of my favorite things each easy is the fish I didn't catch, the one that got away keeps the imagination going on what could have surfaced next to the boat... sounds weird I know but I think about these memories just as much)

A favorite 1.a is having everyone on the lake (usually have 2 to 3 boats worth of people) in the same general area fishing.. The family camaraderie and banter going back and forth (either by voice or over the radio) is great, the scenery makes it better and with a nice soft breeze it's unbeatable (for jigging and to keep any bugs away). Lite up a cigar, sip on some bourbon, lean back and put the feet on the gunwale and enjoy the drift... at this point catching is secondary to pure relaxation and being off the grid.

[Jay Thomas]

The family camaraderie and banter going back and forth (either by voice or over the radio) is great, the scenery makes it better and with a nice soft breeze it's unbeatable (for jigging and to keep any bugs away). Lite up a cigar, sip on some bourbon, lean back and put the feet on the gunwale and enjoy the drift... at this point catching is secondary to pure relaxation and being off the grid.

A great mental picture Dog! Thanks

Jay