Lake Ogascanan, 27 July - 3 August 2014 Trip Report

[Dog]

Preface

Highlights from this year’s offseason…

-Dog set the hook on the catch of his life by getting married to Laural on the OBX of NC surrounded by family and friends.  Honeymoon was in Curacao

-Deuce moved across the pond to the land of Big Ben temporarily for that dreaded 4 letter word but he managed to keep his priorities somewhat in order by making it back stateside for the Lake Erie Walleye Charter in June and this years’ annual family fishing expedition to Lake O.

-Pike got a new handle after catching 2 - 10lb walleye on the above Buckets Charters Lake Erie walleye weekend, so “Pike” became “Dime”

-UNC retired from that dreaded 4 letter word.

-Crab thought about retiring from the dreaded 4 letter word, but instead built the Taj Mahal of chicken coops at the Texas ranch.

-Flag retired from the dreaded 4 letter word and hosted one heck of a retirement party at a local watering hole.

This is our Family Fishing Expedition Report to Lake Ogascanan Lodge, 27 July â€" 3 August 2014

The family gathered for the 7th annual Departure Dinner and 3rd annual Farewell Beer Swap (Sky theme) at Dime’s Digs in the burbs of Pittsburgh on Friday, July 25th.


2014 Family Departure Dinner Photo (nice face from a future junkateer, Alex “Rookie”)


2014 Six Pack Departure Dinner Photo


2014 Farewell Beer Swap (FBS) “Sky Theme” Beers
(The top 3 were the “Dark Cloud”,  “Mostly Cloudy” and “Sunset Wheat”)

It’s always great to get family together and this occasion was no different. After a superbly hosted event at Dime’s Digs which was catered & featured some fried Lake Erie Walleye (courtesy of Crab showing off his grill skills), we enjoyed the slideshow presentation reliving memories from our past trips  during the “Juiced Worm” and “Crystal Head” eras.  Before we knew it (mostly due to sampling all sorts of the tasty craft brews above), the evening was drawing to a close and we needed to get hunkered down in our racks. An early departure tomorrow morning at 0515 awaited us as we set off for another family fishing expedition!

The trip north was uneventful with all the usual stops (Which of course, included a stop at the border for Unc & Tex to undergo a thorough inspection of the Ranger and all its’ contents. Um, note to self…, do not premix homemade fish fry powder in unmarked baggies…. Border patrol agents tend to be suspicious of white powder in baggies… d’oh!).

This year we made a brief stop at Giesler Boats in Powassan, Ontario right off Rt. 11 so Flag could meet Liberty Call’s fabricator (Gerry) and get a tour of his boat’s birth place. [If you have time and want to take a walk back in time, I highly recommend stopping here to see the shop, learn some history of wooden boat building and meet Gerry Giesler.  He’s a great guy and the shop is simply awesome. You should make arrangements before stopping as they may not be open or he may have another appt.]



The Steamer

I have a feeling this screw storage container has been used by a few generations of Giesler’s!

We made it to Temiscaming a little after 6pm. Right in time for some dinner, some ice cold Bleue’s and some cigars of course.
Following dinner we all participated in the 1st annual Texas Hold’em poker tournament.  2nd place (Deuce) got his buy-in back and 1st place got the rest. This year’s winner was Dog and has already used his winnings to pay for his 2015 family fishing expedition deposit. 
We arose today refreshed and ready to roll into bush and the Lake O Lodge after a great breakfast at the Auberge Canadienne.



Pulling up to the lodge the familiar feeling of relaxation came over us as we all realized we were officially off-the-grid for the next week. After settling up with the Mullen’s and getting the usual in briefing, we got to loading up the rental boats and launching “Liberty Call” into Canadian Shield waters for the first time with Jeremy’s assistance...

Liberty Call looks great in any water, but definitely at home in Canadian shield lake waters with Flag at the tiller for the first time… Here’s a shot of us heading out to Smith’s Pass Outpost Cabin…





Once moored (Jeremy really went the extra mile making sure LC wouldn’t touch the dock by adding extra tires just to be sure, just another example the great service you will find at Lake O) at the Smith Pass Outpost, we wasted no time getting unpacked, settled back into our bunkrooms and prepping our gear for the week…

The 2014 Crystal Head Competition (CHC) Rules of Engagement
-The competition officially begins simultaneously for all fishermen during first fishing session and ends at 2100 the night prior to departure.
-No local fishing regulations may be broken.
-"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
5 points per Walleye (Game Fish) caught
4 points per Lake Trout (Game Fish) caught
3 points per Northern Pike (Game Fish) caught
1 point per fish for all other non game fish species caught

Crystal Head Bonus Scoring
7 points First Game Fish caught over 12” (awarded once)
10 points Longest Walleye caught of week (awarded at end of week to one fisherman)
8 points Longest Lake Trout caught of week (awarded at end of week to one fisherman)
6 points Longest Northern Pike caught of week (awarded at end of week to one fisherman)
7 points for species cycle caught during the entire week  (awarded once per week per fisherman)
20 points for species cycle caught by a boat in the same fishing session (points per fisherman in the boat).
35 points for species cycle caught in back to back fishing sessions
(The species cycle for Lake Ogascanan is defined as 1 blue, 1 yellow, 1 pike, and 1 laker).
5 points for “The Shutout”, a chub and laker caught in the same fishing session (unlimited award)
7 points for “The Hat Trick”, a yellow, blue and pike in the same fishing session (unlimited award)
7 points Last Game Fish caught over 12” (awarded once)

Crystal Head Strategic Scoring
In addition to the Standard & Bonus 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 resume fishing.
To be claimed a "Crystal Head" Fish, the fish MUST be measured, weighed, and photographed.
For each fisherman’s "Crystal Head" Fish, he will get + 3 points/inch* length AND + 5 points/lb* to their point total.
*Length is measured to the nearest ½” and weight is measured to the nearest 4 ounces (both rounding up).

Back to the report already in progress - - -

Our Forecast for the Week

Perfect walleye weather for the first part of the week!

Some Smith Pass Outpost Cabin shots

Filet house with a view


Part of the Smith Pass Outpost beach


Some trees around the outpost cabin

Arrival & First Fishing Day 1: 27 July
With a full belly of Crab’s reheated homemade brisket in our bellies, we pushed off from the dock to start the 2014 chase for the Crystal Head! Boat pairings for the first evening session were Flag & Dog in Liberty Call, Unc & Crab, and Dime & Deuce.

First fish went to Dime with a lil walleye to break the ice. Then Dog, Flag and Doc followed suit and in total we ended up catching 10 walleye in our first session out @ “Area 51”. [Unc and Crab headed to a rock near the inlet and got the smell of skunk all over them the first night].

Here are some pictures from our Sunday evening session with pertinent captions…


Deuce's opening day walleye


1 of 3 Dime's opening day walleyes


3 nice plush seats in LC and this is Dog’s favorite spot to sit, go figure….


Liberty Call & Dog’s first of 4 walleye this session, a nice lil 14” yellow which was released.


The largest walleye of the first night went to Flag with this beautiful 22” bleue! (1 of his 2 fish this session)


A little nightcap from Dog before heading in to the cabin to celebrate with a real one…


We finished off the first night with a few drinks to celebrate from the cabin liquor cabinet…

Fishing Day 2: 28 July

Last year my best man gave me some sage advice before getting married,
“Never leave fun, to find fun”… 

While probably not the application he had in mind at the moment… it is applicable to fishing and so Dog passed it on the Group who decided tol head back out to Area 51 today, as was the case pretty much all week with a few exceptions as it kept producing fish…
here are some pictures from today with pertinent captions.


Slippery little sucker...


A bigger one easier for Dime to hold on to…


Doc’s nice 23” yellow! (1 of 4 fish he caught today). Looks like something even larger was trying to take a nibble from its’ side…


Crab’s nice 22” walleye (1 of 4 fish he caught today)

Next to my wife, Flag may be the only person I know who can squirrel away more crap in a small space and so it didn’t take him long to make himself feel at home in the 4runner passenger seat on the way north and the story was no different once he got settled in at the tiller of Liberty Call… This picture is all too familiar to me from my childhood on Lake Nipissing so I couldn’t resist taking and sharing this picture.


Tackle boxes…. Who needs those when you have a cedar strip?!.... haha


Dog landed a nice 23.5” blue in LC to mark his biggest walleye of the week


1 of 4 walleye Unc caught today.


Crab showing off 2 of his catches….


Unc showing off 3 of his catches…

Doc and Dime built a massive fire for us tonight and we roasted hot dogs and drank some bleue’s on the beach together once Unc got done in the fillet house stripping today’s catch


Fishing Day 3: 29 July

“Deuce” got his handle changed to “Doc” today as it was realized during one of those long relaxing boat conversations while drifting a picturesque Canadian shoreline that he has had his PhD for some time… so… the name change was only natural (performed unilaterally by Dog over our comms net) and probably should have been the case all along. Better late than never.

Boat pairings for the am were Dime and Flag in Liberty Call, Doc and Dog, Unc and Crab…


A morning sunrise over Liberty Call’s bow taken by Dime…

Flag caught these two walleyes to start the day.




Then enjoyed a morning victory cigar…



Flag wasn’t done catching … he laid into this nice laker


The first Laker (22”) of our trip… (and added another walleye for 4 fish this session)

Doc was woken up (he was literally sleeping when he caught this fish) by this absolutely amazing yellow walleye (26.5”, 6lb5oz)  drift jigging the forgotten coast and promptly claimed it his Crystal Head fish and released it back to the depths of Lake O to make babies…


Unc picked up 1 walleye today and Doc added another walleye to his point total. Crab, Dog, and Dime got skunked the Tues am session.

For the Tues evening session

Unc picked up 2 walleyes (1 picture above)

Flag got 1, and Dime tallied 7 walleyes this session but failed to claim his Crystal Head fish. Crab, Dog, and Doc got skunked the Tues pm session

We headed back to the cabin for the first of 5 fresh walleye meals this week


After dinner, we took “The Six Pack” 2014 parting shot


(Flag, The reigning CHC, holds the trophy)

Fishing Day 4: 30 July (Pike and Deuce Depart the dock prior to the morning fishing session)

Boat pairings for today included Crab and Flag in Liberty Call and Unc and Dog. Here are the pictures from today with pertinent captions. (heavy cloud cover all morning this day). In the morning session we caught 8 walleyes total and none of the Core 4 got skunked.


One of Flag’s eyes, with Unc and Dog doing a pass and review in the background.

The reverse angle netting photo of the same catch


One of Crab’s. The eyes were slippery this year!

At the start of the evening session,

Dog laid into the longest fish of the week and promptly claimed it his crystal head fish (31”, 7lb) and released it back to the depths of Lake O. The custom rod made by Eric @Tactical Fishing Co  landed this fish and all fish Dog caught this week (see closing thoughts for review of rod)

Nearly simultaneously Tex came over the comms net (but Dog and Unc were obviously too busy with the pike to listen or respond) so they came speeding over  in LC from Bleue Walleye Bay in vicinity of the Lucky point with Crab at the bow all giddy with excitement like a little kid on Christmas morning….



Because Crab caught his Crystal Head fish trolling over there… the gorgeous walleye (26.5”,6lb8oz) above …


Unc and Dog returned to the cabin to relax for a bit, so Unc showed of our haul


Flag and Crab followed suit shortly afterwards because Dog rang the whiskey bell… now serving!



Fishing Day 5: 31 July

Boat pairings for today included Unc and Flag in Liberty Call and Dog and Crab. Here are the pictures from today with pertinent captions.


Two retired guys trying to contemplate their fishing strategy for today, this outta take a while…

While Flag and Unc were busying standing on the dock, Crab and Dog went out trolling for Lakers in the am but both got  skunked on the laker front,  Crab did manage to catch 2 yellows trolling.


Unc got two eyes this morning session as well. Flag and Dog smelled like skunks.

With the Crystal Head Competition heating up, we added a midday session today.


Flag picked up his first Northern Pike of the week which he released back to Lake O.

Unc landed a Chubbie. Crab and Dog got skunked this session.

Fishing Day 6: 1 August

Boat pairings for today included Unc and Flag in Liberty Call and Dog and Crab.

Dog sat out the morning session due to an exceptional case of rear eyelid examination in the rack… so Crab went out solo to work the motor and fish at the same time. ‘Bout time that guy worked the freaking motor and fished (he’s good for once a year to show us how it’s done by landing a 26” blue walleye by himself (no picture but Flag and Unc veirified the catch from a distance with Crab holding it up before releasing it back the depths of Lake O). Crab caught 5 more walleye this morning going solo. Unc got 5 more and Flag got 2 more eyes.

Unc and Flag faired well with Unc picking up 5 more eyes and Flag snagging 2 more eyes in the AM session.

For the Friday midday session Unc tallied 2 more walleyes  and also landed this Laker trolling which he quickly claimed as his Crystal Head Fish

26”, 9lb8oz Lake Trout!

Flag also caught his Crystal head fish this session.


This nice 30”, 5lb,6oz northern pike which lived despite a ripped lip caused by inhaling the lure and being released twice (long story…. )


John and Nancy, @Administrator  and @john c  ,rolled through Area 51 to say goodbye and chit chat on their return to the cabin for the night before their departure. …

During the evening session Flag hoists in a small walleye and Dog takes some time to snap some sunset pictures with Flag and Liberty Call. Unc, Crab and Dog got skunked this session.









Upon returning to the cabin we found the Crystal head taunting us by glowing green = #WhoWillBeThe2014CHC?



Last Fishing Day 7: 2 August

Boat pairings for today included Dog and Flag in Liberty Call and Unc and Crab.  For a second straight year Crab, Flag, and Unc went down to the last day to determine the Crystal Head winner! Dog was officially out of the running  since he hadn’t caught a fish since Wed night July July 30th….  Here the some pictures from today with pertinent captions.

Tex and Unc each tallied two walleyes this session. Flag and Dog smelled like skunks.

Crab netting 1 of Unc’s eyes this session…

The last session saw Crab finally get his Lake Trout


And
Flag finally caught a walleye on Greg Bohn’s “walleye limit minnow” for the first time all week…
http://www.gregbohn.com/modules/cart/products.php/page/1/id/19/name/NEWWALLEYELIMITMINNOW



That’s it, that’s the list for this session as Unc and Dog (noticing a trend here) ended this years trip with the smell of skunk on them!

Here’s how the 2014 CHC standings fell out… (+notable achievements)

2nd Place: Crab with 239.5 points (Was singing the 20+” bleue walleye blues all week as he was the king of catching walleyes over the slot this year)

3rd Place: Flag with 223.0 points (only fisherman to catch the cycle this week)

4th Place: Dog with 170.75 points (caught longest fish but also got skunked the most: 9 sessions in total with 7 in a row to end the week, yikes!!!)

5th Place: Doc with 157.25 points (Got a new handle and had an epic 2 days of fishing and unplugged relaxation)

6th Place: Dime with 67 points (caught more fish in 2 days than Dog did all week)

Drum roll please...

The 2014 Crystal Head Winner: Unc!!! with 248.5 points

Unc promptly donated his crystal head fish lure to the trophy head and Dog engraved his dominance onto the trophy base before departing the smith’s pass cabin… Unc will place the picture of his crystal head Laker in the base along with sewing the 2014 Champion patch onto his Crystal head ballcap thereby forever proclaiming him as the best catcherman of our 2014 family fishing expedition, Congrats UNC!!! Some parting shots of the 2014 CHC in action throughout the week.





Departure day:

Got the boats packed up and enjoyed a spectacular sunrise on our boat trip back to the main lodge for loadup and checkout before heading out on the road back to Pittsburgh for the night.  (For the 2nd year in a row the Quebec natural resource fish folks or whatever the heck they call themselves…. were waiting to inspect our vehicles for fish.  No issues after about a 10 minute inspection upon exiting the Maniwaki coming onto the paved road in Temiscaming)

Closing Thoughts:

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This year was our first year going later in the season and that turned out to be a really great decision for a lot of reasons… less bug (heck, we experienced practically no bugs), no ice off worries or snow to deal with, no spawn to deal with, no mayfly hatch to contend with, the thermocline in the lake was well-established in the lake and so it’s no surprise this year was also our best catching year in both size (~12 walleye over 22”, mostly caught by Crab) and numbers since we started keeping track! It’s hard to imagine going any earlier than mid July in future years for all the reasons above…

The Mullens, as always, did a really superb job as our host outfitter.  It’s hard to imagine a better outfitter in such a remote drive-in destination! 5 Stars on any scale for a fishing lodge/outfitter in terms of cabins, equipment rentals, and level of service. This outfitter is worth the drive if you’re looking for a more remote destination!

Here are the catching results:
Blue Walleye: 47, Yellow Walleye: 40, Pike: 3, Lakers: 3, Chub:2 = Total 95
(We harvested 18 walleye and 2 lakers from Lake O this year)
Unc: 24, Crab:22, Flag: 22 , Dime: 12, Dog: 8, Doc: 7
(90% of fish were caught in 19-25’ of water, a few stragglers were caught deeper, nothing shallower than 15’.)

Tactical Fishing Company custom built Walleye Jigging Rod review:

As the regular members of this forum probably know, I had Eric eric@tacticalfishingcompany.com @Tactical Fishing Co The Tactical Fishing Company http://www.tacticalfishingcompany.com/ build me a custom walleye jigging rod for this year’s trip. I met Eric through a 4Runner forum and we immediately starting PM’ing each other as we shared a common fishing interest, along with a 4runner interest…
[I paired Eric’s rod with an Abu Garcia Orra S20 reel (primarily because of the sale and clothing rebates being offered by Cabela’s at the time… but it turned out to be a great match for his rod!)].

The rod he made performed flawlessly all week and I fished the entire week with it (except a few trolling and casting sessions), sometime 14 hours in one day without any fatigue. The rod is extremely light (lighter than the criox I own) with a center of gravity closer to the handle than my other similar Criox rod (which is a great all around rod). I only compare it to that because it’s the highest quality rod I had in my arsenal before Eric’s.
The rod has an extremely responsive tip and superb backbone for hook setting and during the fight it bent in a symmetrical fashion to allow some extremely fun trips back to the boat. I only wish someone would have got a picture or video when it caught that 31”, 7lb pike because it looked like a dancing horsehoe, just great fun!!! If you’re in the market for a custom rod (whatever species…) I highly recommend you send an email or call Eric. He will be the guy I call in the future for any and all my custom fishing rod needs. His rod’s quality are second to none and after this build, I’m confident he can build whatever type of rod with whatever feel I desire to my exact specifications (including thread color).

The 2-piece, high modular material rod blank and cork handle is made in the USA, the guides & reel seat are made by Fuji (Japan) with everything is assembled by Eric in Florida.

Here are some pictures of the rod…

Until the 2015 expedition…

[Dog]

Another year documented, my work here is done.

[johnny walleye]

great post and congrats to unc

[Jow]

Great report! Love that boat 

[john c]

Dog,

Great report, Although it's not nice to say I am very happy the skunks stayed at Smith Pass cabin .  It was nice getting to talk to you all and getting to see Liberty Call live and in person.  We are planning to be there over the 4th of July next year.  That is the earliest we have been there.

John

[600 miles north]

     What a great report and some awesome pics dog! it was a pleasure to read it! It never gets old looking at that beautiful boat! Thanks for taking the time to do it, and glad to see it was another great year up north!

     Cheers!
     Brad

[puckster_guy]

 There's an hour of my life I'll never get back....Do you write books too?? Great report and trip bro. I felt like I was there. I think I will look into that rod. I need  good jigging rod the one I'm using now feel like a 2x4. Loved the photography So glad y'all had fun.............Joe

[SgtCrabby]

The pictures are a mix from everybodies cameras, so we capture most everything happening.  Except my camera quit working midweek (dang it!). 

That boat (Liberty Call) is a nice and comfortable riding boat.   
John; I had wished several times that skunk would have moved somewhere else (Island outpost maybe?), it was not nice.   
"Sometimes you're fishing and othertimes you're catching".
I hated throwing out my fish batter dry mix, but after it was used with a junior chemistry set, I didn't want to use it anymore.  Time to buy more ingredients in North Bay...

[wvmedic]

Great report, looks like fun for all.

Jeff

[CaptainCrappie]

Dog, I've said "WOW" before but "WOW" takes on a much higher meaning for me now.  Those pictures are amazing!  If you don't mind me asking, what make is your camera? I'm in the market for one now. Thanks for posting another spectacular report and congratulations on that "catch of your life!"

C.C.

[Dog]

Dog, I've said "WOW" before but "WOW" takes on a much higher meaning for me now.  Those pictures are amazing!  If you don't mind me asking, what make is your camera? I'm in the market for one now. Thanks for posting another spectacular report and congratulations on that "catch of your life!"

C.C.

C.C. The camera I took was a Nikon D7000 dslr, the other guys had point and shoots of various brands. Thank you on the Congrats.

[Dog]

There's an hour of my life I'll never get back....Do you write books too?? Great report and trip bro. I felt like I was there. I think I will look into that rod. I need  good jigging rod the one I'm using now feel like a 2x4. Loved the photography So glad y'all had fun.............Joe

Joe, I figured you were about to be retired so you had nothing but time....  -Nate