Alwaki Sept 13-17

[Hodgey1]

Kipawa/Alwaki trip take 2.

Some of you may have read my newbie boat posts, for those who haven't, I just recently purchased my first boat. This purchase was near 100% spurred by my experience being on Kipawa for a week this July/aug and man, what a great enhancement to fishing kipawa. So, I picked the boat up a couple of week ago and said to myself, it's still decent weather , what's to stop a guy from going to Kipawa twice? My wife "innocent bystander" who never has really fished, particularly from a boat, was more than a little apprehensive about agreeing to my crazy notions. After much back and forth and assurances that we'd do more than just fish, she broke and gave the dim green light to 4 days on the lake. Next came my work "hey boss? i want to take a few days off and go fishing" he said "can I go too ."

We packed up most everything Monday after work and then Tuesday morning before work, we loaded the cooler with all our food, mostly frozen and we headed to work. After work, my wife met me at my office and we departed for Kipawa and were heading north by 3:00p. We had very smooth sailing the whole way and did 460 miles in 7hrs 15min. We arrived for the night in Timiscaming at 10:15 and got a good night’s sleep at the Au Bercail.

Wednesday morning, breakfast at the Tem Rose, then to Stop 102 for bait and licenses. Off to Kipawa, where we had our boat in the water and loaded with gear by 9:00a. Brian from Alwaki was coming into the dock to pick up some customers and offered us to follow. I had studied the map and felt confident I could find Alwaki on my own, all I needed to do was find those dang Red roofed cabins. Smartly, I decided to take Brian up on his offer to follow. Glad I did! I'm certain we would have spent an hour or two finding the right passage, all those islands and shore lines, all look way to similar. So I marked waypoints on the Garmin along the way, which made coming back on our own a breeze.

Coming into Alawki, we were greeted by a few cabin neighbors expressing negativity on the fish bite. They painted a picture of doom and gloom. I thought wow, the fishing must have nose-dived the last 5-6 weeks, could it be?  We unloaded our stuff into our cabin and chilled for a couple of hours enjoying the amazing weather, the amazing views and a couple of cold ones from our deck at cabin 9. It was very, very peaceful, relaxing and part of what I love about being there. Early dinner at 3:30 “Grilled Lamb Chops!” and off to the evening fish bite. My wife and I dropped anchor at a favorite spot and within 10 minutes my rookie wife landed her first ever walleye and it was a nice keeper! We proceeded to catch plenty of fish that night “20 some” and four were keepers and all keepers caught by my wife. She was hooked…….

The rest of the week, the great weather continued and so did the fishing. The early morning bite every day, was not good, if I could do it over, I would have slept in, for relaxing coffee on the deck. The evenings were on though, I had to go deeper and once we figured out that the sweet spot was 30’ deep, we were good to go. One night we landed 40 fish in the boat of which 23 were my wifes .

It was a very short 4 days, felt more like 2.  I really wish we would have taken the whole week, especially since the weather was spectacular! My wife enjoyed it enough that we booked a whole week next September. Our final fish count was 90+ fish in 4 days of which 14 were in the slot, but no monsters. We had one fresh walleye meal that was nothing short of heavenly.

That's a wrap, Alwaki A+ Kipawa A+! Thanks for reading and thanks to this forum for helping me discover the wonderfulness of Kipawa.

[Greg]

Great job and another successful trip!  ...and you got the wife hooked on Kipawa also!  some may call that a double header... Way to go Hodgey!

[Canuckbass]

Best feeling in the world is leaving town of Kipawa and travelling the lake and seeing the red roofs, usually slow down and embrace the peacefulness before firing up camp and unloading.

[Hodgey1]

Great job and another successful trip!  ...and you got the wife hooked on Kipawa also!  some may call that a double header... Way to go Hodgey!

Thanks Greg. We both enjoyed it immensely! I normally vacation with my entire family in places like the Outer Banks and such, but now trying to figure out if the family would be willing to gather in Kipawa next summer instead. I understand there's a dandy beach out past the Alwaki Outpost cabin.

[Hodgey1]

Best feeling in the world is leaving town of Kipawa and travelling the lake and seeing the red roofs, usually slow down and embrace the peacefulness before firing up camp and unloading.

I kept ocasionaly asking my wife "You hear that " she would reply "what? I didn't hear anything" I would reply "Exactly!

[Nettie]

Thirty years ago my husband,getthenet, asked me if I would like to go to Kipawa to go fishing for a week.I told him no but as the time drew closer I changed my mind.  Glad I did. At sometime through the years we decided one week wasn't enough and started going for two. Glad your wife enjoyed it so much!

[limacharley]

I kept ocasionaly asking my wife "You hear that " she would reply "what? I didn't hear anything" I would reply "Exactly!
[/quote]

Exactly why I go almost every weekend. .....to hear nothing! 

[Hodgey1]

Thirty years ago my husband,getthenet, asked me if I would like to go to Kipawa to go fishing for a week.I told him no but as the time drew closer I changed my mind.  Glad I did. At sometime through the years we decided one week wasn't enough and started going for two. Glad your wife enjoyed it so much!

Nettie, glad that you changed your mind, two weeks would be heavenly! I am now able to talk fishing with her Last night I asked her if she had any interest next year to troll for trout, she replied " I don't know, I've gotten pretty good at catching walleye"

[Hodgey1]

Exactly why I go almost every weekend. .....to hear nothing! 

One thing that I noticed also, on the quietness of Kipawa, was the lack of jet noise. Apparently Kipawa isn't a major fly way, which also helps reduce noise.

I also love the lack of cell phone service. My cell phone anymore, is a instant connection, to instant issues and problems. Between work and elderly parent issues, I cringe every time it rings, with a feeling of what now?? I nearly missed my second trip with my wife, when my father was admitted to the hospital with a GI bleed. Thankfully, he's ok now and got released two days before heading to Kipawa.

When I'm at Kipawa, I feel as de-stressed as I've been in years!