Miwapanee Dead Bear Bay Outpost, July 25th to Aug 2, 2015

[Fort Wisers]

Hey gang, wow, I can't believe it's almost been a month since we've come back from our last Kipawa trip and I have barely been on Kipawa Fishing Forum!!!
Shame on me...but such is life.

This last trip we spent a week at Miawapanee's Dead Bear Bay Cabin.
The cabin itself was great, really well setup and lots of room for our gang.
We had the same gang as on our Grindstone trip, my wife, our two daughters, my mom and myself.
We also had the odd drop in from other family members which was really great!

I am a bit embarrassed to admit that we basically didn't get any fishing in:(
Our plan was to spend the first half of the week boating around the lake and visiting family, and spend the second half fishing.
Mother nature had different plans, the last few days were quite windy.
That, plus the constant threat of thunder storms kept us from anchoring and spending any real time trying our luck.
So, I'm terribly sorry gang to post a trip report on a fishing forum, with no reports on the fishing!

That being said, we had a great trip just the same, nobody got hurt and we had no machine breakdowns, so that's good enough for me!

I did my usual and went up ahead of the rest of the gang early so I could take my time and get the boat launched beforehand.
(I actually went a day early this trip and my brother and sister in-law put me up for the night, for which I'm very thankful as it gave me a chance to visit the old stomping ground)
The trip up was uneventful but inspection at the end of the Mattawa Highway turned up a cracked weld on the trailer.
Luckily it was just one of the supports for the fenders, nothing serious (I will fix sometime before the end of the season):




Launch went well and I turned the boat out onto a calm lake and sunny blue skies:


The next day we took a good long boat ride and visited the Laniel end of the lake:




We also took a run into Dorval Bay:




And ended our day with a trip up Canal Bay and then stopped for a dip and let the kids play on the beach at Ile Clermont:






The next morning the kids tried their luck off the dock but only managed a few nibbles from some small dock dwellers.
We were also visited by a raft of loons, they stuck around and gave us a show for about 15 minutes:






Much of the beginning of the week was terribly hot, so we spent a lot time in the lake:






We also spent an afternoon exploring an atv trail behind the cabin and found much evidence of local wildlife:








We got lucky one morning towards the end of the week, there was a break in the weather so we took the opportunity and met up with others from our family
and rafted the boats together in a sheltered bay (to get out of the wind that was strong for most of the end of the week).
It made for a great platform for adults to socialize and kids to enjoy swimming off of:


Unfortunately, the last half of our week looked mostly like these pictures.
It was ok though, as it "forced us" to spend some time being lazy in the cabin!

[Nancy]

Very nice report, @Fort Wisers , even though you didn't get any fishing in. I really enjoyed your pics of the different areas of the lake. Kids looked like they had a great time. That is what it's all about anyway.

[Fort Wisers]

Very nice report, @Fort Wisers , even though you didn't get any fishing in. I really enjoyed your pics of the different areas of the lake. Kids looked like they had a great time. That is what it's all about anyway.

Thanks @Nancy  they did, and you're right, in the end, that's what counts!

[Canuckbass]

Sounds like our trips, plan to fish but projects and maintenance firs.... Leaves only a couple hours to fish daily. Great safe vacation with family is way more important these days.

[michelle]

Very nice pictures!

[Fort Wisers]

Sounds like our trips, plan to fish but projects and maintenance firs.... Leaves only a couple hours to fish daily. Great safe vacation with family is way more important these days.

I fully understand @Canuckbass!
Next year perhaps we'll dedicate a little more time, it's all good!

[Fort Wisers]

Very nice pictures!

Thanks @michelle!

[Jay Thomas]

Nice to see you and your family enjoying the paradise of Lake Kipawa. Great pictures too. Thanks for sharing.

Jay

[puckster_guy]

 hey great pictures Fort Wisers. Loved those Loons. When my kids were that age we did one trip every summer to different camps. Including one trip to Kipawa....Mine are all grown up and moved out  I rather miss those trips.

[Fort Wisers]

Thanks @Jay Thomas  and @puckster_guy!

Yeah Joe, they grow quick don't they? We're trying our best to enjoy these moments as we know in just a few short years we're into a different stage!
Take care:
Brent

[Greg]

Great pics - I fish dead bear bay every trip and always enjoy the scenery and trolling past that cabin... looks like a great place to spend a week or two.  Got any pics of the inside of the cabin by chance?

[Fort Wisers]

Great pics - I fish dead bear bay every trip and always enjoy the scenery and trolling past that cabin... looks like a great place to spend a week or two.  Got any pics of the inside of the cabin by chance?

Thanks @Greg!
I actually didn't take a lot of pics of the inside, but here's a link to their website that have a good number of them.

http://www.miwapanee.com/Cabins.html

Hope that helps!

[Greg]

Awesome - thanks for the link. 

I remember contacting James (?) at Miwapanee several years ago to see about booking the Dead Bear bay outpost and it was booked solid so I just gave up, maybe I should look into it again!  Dead bear is probably my favorite part of the lake and I love the setting of the cottage - and it looks VERY well equpipped.... hard NOT to have a good time there.

...making me anxious for another visit again...

Greg

[Mattie]

I really enjoyed the little shelf that you can walk out to with the picnic table and fire pit while I was there. Spent a lot of time sitting out there starring over the lake and even watched a good storm roll in out there.

Me and one of the guys in my group also took a hour or so hike into the ATV trail in search of small lake to the side of it. There were a TON of moose tracks that were fresh when we were back there also!

Thanks for sharing those pics! I really enjoyed that cabin as well as their one on lac grindstone!

[johnny walleye]

love the pics