"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 18 Jan 2007 21:17:11 -0500, "D.Duck" wrote:


Since 1969 I've be frequenting the same camp just south of Kenora on LOW.
Over 50 trips, I've lost count. I've been in Central Florida for 15 years
and have been back up there every year, sometimes twice, except the past
two. Hoping to get up there again this summer at least once.

The trip was not so bad when I lived in Chicago but it's almost 4K miles
round trip for me here in FL. And, I tow my boat, a Lund 1900 Pro-V.

Damn!!!!!! You're a driver, you are.

I just love it up on the Canadian Shield if for nothing else than the
beauty
and tranquility. The fishing is almost secondary.

Second that. Run into any bears?

For my money, walleye, is my favorite eating fish. Of course up there
they
call them pickerel, eh.

Almost every fisherman from this area says that, and I won't argue.
It's good for sure. Maybe I like sand perch, grunt, drum, etc because
I've caught more of them and got them fried up quickly after catching
them. Except for shore lunch walleyes, which weren't cooked how I
like them, all my walleyes were frozen before eating.
Or maybe I just like best the most recent fish I've eaten.

I don't care for ocean fishing, but here the past couple of years a buddy
has got me into flats fishing for red fish.

Funny, my dad's been in Florida for almost 30 years now, fishing many
of those days, but still wants to go to Okee, WI on the river or up to
Canada. Talks about it all the time. I just like salt better.

I do a fair amount of bass fishing on the Harris Chain and my favorite get
away is to the Stick Marsh/Farm 13. Now there's some big bass. Also
crappies, or more correctly down here specs, are unbelievable in the
Marsh.
Couldn't believe the size of them beauties the first time there.

I fished for crappies more than any other fish, and they're good
eating too, but the ones we caught weren't big enough to fillet so the
bones slowed down the eating. Never caught or ate those southern
"slabs." Do you fillet them, and how do they taste?

Now I'm really longing for a shore lunch with fresh walleye on some
secluded
LOW island.

If you're interested, you can see the camp I'm speaking of at
witchbay.com.

Thanks for that. Looks real nice. When my wife gets more vacation
time I'd like to drive up there, even if only for a few days. Those
boats appear to be rigged up just right.

--Vic

The only place I've fished in Wisconsin lately is up near Hayward where a
friend has a place. I checked Okee on the map and that's right by the Dells
tourist trap area. Too crowded for my blood.

Believe it or not I have not kept a single fish in the 15 years I've been
here in Florida. Friends of mine do keep some crappie and they are quite
tasty. The ones I mentioned from the Stick Marsh go over two pounds and are
easily filleted.

Just for fun I posted a picture over in alt.binaries.pictures.sports.ocean
you might get a kick out of. When fishing with wild shiners and not free
lining we use balloons as floats. They attract pelicans and alligators.
Just after I snapped the pix I posted that gator opened wide and clamped
down on the balloon. It held on for quite a while as by partner tried to
get it closer to the boat for a better picture. It's not unusual to see a
pelican flying around with a shiner in his mouth and the line/balloon
trailing behind.

WitchBay has come a long way with the equipment they offer. We I first went
there in 1969 they had 14 foot Lunds with 10 horse motors. Not much of a
rig for all that available water. And it's soooo much nicer to have your own
boat that is rigged especially to your liking. Also when I first went there
it was $10/day for room and three squares.

I had a couple of interesting bear encounters over the years. The year I had
my 11 year old son up there with me for his first Canadian trip we came
across a bear swimming from one shore to another. I got quite close to get
a good picture. My son was petrified. Had a death grip on the gunwales.
He thought for sure that bear would climb in the boat. I took some pictures
and the bear continued his journey.

A friend I was fishing with had to relieve himself in the middle of the
night. The cabins don't have indoor facilities. He opened the door to go
outside and a big ole black bear was on the cabin porch. Took about five
years off his life, my friends life that is.

I get real home sick to be up there when I start thinking about that place.
Hopefully this summer.