The what if’s and what could have been’s.

[Hodgey1]

I was scheduled to leave this coming Friday morning for a week in paradise. I would probably have been going over my list tonight and figuring out what else needed gathered this week. Most of my stuff would have already been packed in the boat today. This week would have been filed with last minute gathering, anticipation and fine tuning.

Thursday night would have been one of the most exciting nights, picking my brother up from the Airport from his home in Alabama. We would shoot the shirt a bit, have a beer or two, then off to bed early, cause Friday we hit the road.

Friday 4 am alarm, quick shower, coffee to go and load the cooler into the truck and off to Témiscaming! We would typically arrive at the Au Bercail around 1:00 and as a new tradition, eat lunch at the Tem Rose. After lunch, walk to the  liquor store where my brother, the wine connoisseur would grab a couple bottles of vino and I a bottle of Jim Beam.  Off to Pro Nature for licenses and some incidentals.

Now the best part, Beer shopping at The IGA! Awe a sixer or two of La Fin Du Monde, sixer of Maudite and maybe 2 or 3 of Trois Pistoles. The last would be a 12 pack of my daytime beer, Blue Moon. Then some fresh veggies, hopefully some sweet corn. A loaf or two of bread and  Off to the Au Bercail, where I meet up with the rest of my crew and hopefully @T-Bone and company. Hotel patio beers begin flowing as well as the best part of the trip, the BS session! The BS and beers continue flowing for a couple of hours until someone with a brain says “ let’s get dinner” off to the Tem Rose.

Ahh the Tem Rose, the food may not be the quality of Paree Lol! but the clientele and servers are! Dinner ruins what was started at the hotel, but that is a good thing, since tomorrow is a big day! Back to the hotel and shut eye early.

Saturday, up early and a quick breakfast at the Tem. Check out from the hotel and off to Kipawa bait for a flat of crawlers and some poundage of Leeches. Say hello to Murph, pay for parking, slip the boat in the water, then begin loading. I then hit the go but on the Garmin and we are off! Typically the ride out in July is spectacular, plenty warm and smooth sailing. We arrive at the Alwaki dock 45 minutes later and are greeted by Sawyer and Roy and maybe even Brian. Gear unloaded taken up to camp, where the part I dislike begins, put things away, in the fridge, cabinets and bedrooms. Once that is all done, the best part of the trip, a beer on the porch and begin setting up fishing gear in anticipation of the evening bite. We grab a quick bite and off to the first fishing spot of the week!

This is the start of a glorious week, of male bonding, story telling, fishing and drinking and eating to excess! Typical days are up early for the pre sunrise fishing, back to the cabin by 10 for late breakfast and then another favorite begins, relaxing and visiting with friends that have been made by coming to the same place at the same time of year, multiple years. When the porch is full, I am at my happiest, the camaraderie is priceless!

This week flys by quicker than any others in my life, I can’t believe it not going to happen this year, which has me in a funk like I have never felt in my life. I am trying to shake it... it’s not shaking off. I am more aware than ever how short life is, having lost my mom recently and caring for my father now. Missing a week at Kipawa  at the stage of my life is earth shattering, the only thing that gives me any solace is knowing...... I’m not alone..

[RHYBAK]

I'll bet it just flew by so fast, you don't even remember being there.

IGA has the most expensive beer this year( unless it's on sale)

[NortonJoe]

We also would have been leaving this Friday morning...ugh. We typically meet up and my buddy's house where the trucks are basically packed because we have dropped everything off sometime during the week; the only thing we need to add at that point is the cooler.  On the road by 6:00 a.m. full of excitement, anticipation and stories.  This year we were looking at a group of eight.  We would drive through to the Angola, NY rest stop and park for a few minutes for refueling (both us and the trucks) and head to the duty free store at the Peace Bridge to exchange US dollars for Canadian, pick up a few bottles of essentials and then wait for our turn through the border.

The chatter in the trucks is always the same, but that's what is special about it.  I have been making this trip every year for 32 years (except maybe 2 or 3) with a lot of the same guys the whole time.  It makes us more brothers than friends...

Then its the drive north with a minimum of bathroom breaks until you start seeing those granite outcroppings and smelling more pine on the air.  Our first major stop is always in Huntsville for a late lunch by the Muskoka River...a time to relax and crack that first Canadian beer (and second).  After a leisurely lunch, its back in the trucks and next stop North Bay where we spend the night.  A few more beers and some wings and off to bed to get some rest for the last leg of the trip back to camp.

Saturday morning its up early and some breakfast and off to the grocery store for all the "perishables", pick up our license and beer in Temiscaming and head for the Maniwaki Road.  I'm amazed at how much work they have done in recent years on the Maniwaki and Red Pine Roads, but the quality of the roads decreases significantly on the way back to Watson Lake.  Ah well, it keeps it from being too crowded.

We usually arrive at camp around noon or 1:00 and unload everything as quickly as possible.  Generally, everyone is ready to get out on the lake so the major unpacking is left for later.  I can't even put into words the feeling when you jump in the boat that first time, and head to that favorite fishing hole...the drone of the motor, the smell of the lake and trees and, yes, exhaust!  You get there, get rigged up, open a beer and it's a little slice of paradise.

Much like everyone else our days are a mix of food, fishing, brothers enjoying the time together.  The lazy afternoons having a cold beer and cigar, just relaxing...maybe playing some horseshoes. The evening fishing, then a meal and a card game. I will definitely miss it this year and, like @Hodgey1, I have been in a bit of a funk.  But, here's hoping Covid-19 is under control next year and we can, once again, visit that special spot with some treasured brothers.

[Hodgey1]

We also would have been leaving this Friday morning...ugh.

It's painful for me not to be going and I've only been going a few years, I feel your pain @NortonJoe

I have been making this trip every year for 32 years (except maybe 2 or 3) with a lot of the same guys the whole time.  It makes us more brothers than friends...

Absolutely.

You get there, get rigged up, open a beer and it's a little slice of paradise.

Absolutely.

I will definitely miss it this year and, like @Hodgey1, I have been in a bit of a funk.  But, here's hoping Covid-19 is under control next year and we can, once again, visit that special spot with some treasured brothers.

Absolutley!

[Netman]

Although I have been going to Canada fishing since I was 14 years old, this year was going to be a special one. My son that lives in Atlanta was going to coming along with his younger brother who has made several trips with me in the past. It was going to be his first trip. I have been on an every other year schedule for the last several years but do some schedule conflicts we could not make the trip last year. I have a lifetime of good memories from fishing both in Ontario and Quebec. The Kipawa area has always been a favorite. We started out on Booth Lake, and used it as a base to fish a lot of the surrounding lakes within the ZEC’s. (White Pine, Blue, Sand, Caughnawana, etc.). Lately we have concentrated on Grassy Lake (Just up river from Joe’s fishing hole on Watson lake). The thought of waiting another year to fish the Kipawa area just plain hurts! I am hoping that we can all be together again next year and enjoy some fun times with family and friends. My thoughts go out to all of the outfitters, and anyone affected by the Pandemic. I never really thought much about how easy and nice the travel was between the US and Canada, and quite frankly probably took it for granted that the border would always be open. Let’s hope the NEW normal mirrors the Old one!

[Hodgey1]

@Netman  , I am sorry to hear about your trip not coming together with your son’s, thats definitely a tough one.  I hope you are able to get it together for next year, if not sooner.

How is the fishing on Grassy Lake?

[johnny walleye]

No trip for my crew as well. It stared on march 19 when the hospital I worked at closed its doors just as the covid started to hit the fan.
then long time fishing partner Benny the bushman wife went in labor way to early ,every thing turned out good but would not have been able to go with a pre mature baby at home ,I got a new job but do not have any paid days off. I am so looking forward to retirement next year on the bright side I been blessed to fish my summer home for many years let the summer of 2021 dreams begin. i would like to thank my fellow members that make this board so special

[Netman]

@Hodgey1 , the fishing on Grassy has been very good. The average size has started to creep up with the introduction of the Slot limit. As with any fishing you will have good and not so good days. The good days yield catches in excess of 50 fish (mostly 12 to 20 inches) per boat primarily in the evening. The slow days may only yield 3 to 5 keepers per boat. We usually hook into on or two per boat in excess of 25 inches, and we have occasionally landed a few in the 30 range. It is a smaller lake and very fishable with a 14 to 16 ft. boat and a 15 hp outboard. The northern Pike are plentiful and tend to run on the smaller side (24 to 30 inches) during the summer months. One of our crew usually take some time to play with the pike on a fly rod - a great way to have fun on those dead calm hot afternoons!

[Hodgey1]

I am so looking forward to retirement next year on the bright side I been blessed to fish my summer home for many years let the summer of 2021 dreams begin. i would like to thank my fellow members that make this board so special

@johnny walleye congratulations on your up coming retirement. Sorry that your trip had to be cancelled also. Here's to a better year, next year!

[Hodgey1]

One of our crew usually take some time to play with the pike on a fly rod - a great way to have fun on those dead calm hot afternoons!

That sounds like fun! Thanks for the insight on a Lake I've never heard of.

[NortonJoe]

@Netman we will have to see if we can coordinate next year and meet up!  We have, at times, taken the boats up the rapids and into Grassy.  It's a good,  day-long adventure for us and gives us some other water to fish in.  I remember one year (probably a good 15-20 years ago) when we couldn't catch a single walleye on Watson.  We tried every spot and every method and they just weren't biting.  The three of us decided to go up into Grassy.  We loaded things up in the boat and drove through the lower rapids then pulled the boat up through the upper rapids (the water was pretty low because it had been a hot dry summer).  As a side note, when we first started going to Watson, the bridge over the river at Watson was still in pretty good shape and passable so we used to throw a motor in the truck and use a boat that Andy kept up at Grassy for his fishermen, so it was easier to fish both lakes then.

We fished in that larger bay just above the rapids for awhile then moved to the mouth of the Kipawa River at the lower end of Grassy. We used white Hot 'n Tots and killed the walleye!  We ended up fishing until it was nearly to dark to make it back down the rapids safely but ended up with a nice catch of walleye.  It's a fun story that we reminisce about every time we get together! I think maybe next year I'll talk a couple of the guys into heading back up that way!

[Netman]

@NortonJoe  It’s funny how two lakes Grassy & Watson) connected by the Kipawa River and less 2.5 miles apart could fish so differently at the same time!I would enjoy swapping stories with you some time. I have never made it down to Watson, the water has always been too low to run a boat through the first rapids. We usually make the trip the end of July or the first of Aug. (good weather and almost no Bugs).  We fish both the main lake as well as the lower bay near Jimmy Constant’s cabin. Occasionally if the water is up a little we will take a trip down through the swamp and into Black lake. (The very southernmost point accessible from Grassy â€" some years it’s more poling than motoring).  We usually stay up at the cabin north of the Kipawa river entrance (Cabin#3). Stay in touch, and maybe our paths will cross.

[Hodgey1]

I could have been crossing the Canadian border right now with my brother, but we ain't.  I could have been 5 hours from lunch at the Tem Rose, nope-er. I could have been 7-8 hours from hanging with a great group of guys " @T-Bone  @Mattie & Co. "  drinking beers at the hotel . I could have been 24 hrs away from a boat ride back into paradise, no way. Instead I sit at my desk at work, waiting for another day to commence in 15 more minutes.

[NortonJoe]

@Hodgey1 right there with ya...We would be well on the road by now probably getting close to our first stop in Angola for some coffee, gas and a bite to eat. UGH...next year!    So I'm gonna put my earbuds in and listen to a YouTube video of Watson Lake!!

[Ozzy30]

I'm definitely going to miss you guys this weekend.