New Trip Report posted by PineKnot

Trip Name: Quetico Solo - Part 2 of 2.

Entry Point: Quetico

Click Here to View Trip Report

that was one fantastic journey, is it may yet?

great report and awesome pictures

Nice job - I really enjoyed reading your report - fantastic pictures. Thanks for sharing.

great report. unbelievable fishing. thanks for posting.

Very good read. Sounds like you really enjoyed it.

Thanks for the second half. Great trip and great report. I am very fond of the campsite you stayed at on Robinson. Thanks.

Best fishing trip report I've read in a long time. It's extra work to take portage and fishing pics with yourself in them. Nice details on fishing techniques and locations. I often find myself skimming through some reports but I read and enjoyed every word of yours. Nice job.

definitely worth waiting for the second part! half way through i'm wondering how you remembered all the finer details to be able to recreate this report. a voice recorder is a fabulous idea!

a wonderful story.i have been on some of that canoe path and it's a great part of the Q.

quote mocha: "definitely worth waiting for the second part! half way through i'm wondering how you remembered all the finer details to be able to recreate this report. a voice recorder is a fabulous idea!


"

Hi, Mocha. I was very pleasantly surprised with the Sony recorder. Easy as pie to use for this tech neophyte, and it cost under $50. It weighs nothing and is about half the size of a cell phone...even survived a dunking when it fell out of my shirt pocket into the water at the take-out on the portage to Side.

Great trip and great trip report!

Excellent report and kudos for all the pictures you took of yourself -something I never seem to do when soloing!

Great fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rich,
Merry Christmas!
Thanks for the report, I will read it again to make sure I didnt miss anything. Was wandering how you liked the Canoe modification? Seat you put in? How long was the yak paddle? I love the story of your trip, and my favorite picture is the second to last one with that huge Northern, not so much because of the awesome fish, but the awesome smile, you look happy!
SunCatcher

I really enjoyed reading this and the pics were great in documenting what you were talking about. I am amazed at the amount of fresh food o brought along. Fresh eggs and bacon on day 10??

I have a few questions. It sounds like you might not have filtered your water. Am I correct about his? I ask because I am toying with the idea of not filtering on my next solo.

What setup did you use to take self portaits of you and fish in your canoe? This is genius. I always had to take pics of fish laying in my canoe when solo.

And lastly, I just want to commend you for the fireplace creating on that small island. Well done! Your trip is a great inspiration to all of us soloers out there. Thanks for posting.

Wow, nice report so far and I'm just started.

Love this quote "Paddling like madman on a mission from God"

Thanks for sharing your adventure.

quote SunCatcher: "Rich...Was wondering how you liked the Canoe modification?... How long was the yak paddle?..."

Northwind mod worked much better than expected with the yak paddle. Not sure I would use it solo if all I had was a regular canoe paddle, though. The rental yak paddle was probably 220 or 230. I’ll be on the hunt for a 260 or longer at Canoecopia in March.

quote TomT: "…Fresh eggs and bacon on day 10??...It sounds like you might not have filtered your water. Am I correct about his?...What setup did you use to take self portaits of you and fish in your canoe?..."

I brought in 18 medium eggs and 2 packs of Hormel pre-cooked bacon that doesn’t need to be refrigerated. Just put them in a bread-loaf sized plastic lock container. I did not filter, just dipped out of the large lakes and brought a plastic gallon milk jug to fill up on way to campsite. On shallower lakes/streams, I used iodinie/neutralizer tabs.

For pictures, I used my little Nikon S3000 point and shoot in 10-sec delay mode. Land the fish, turn on the camera, put it in the rod holder, smile, and release the fish.

quote SevenofNine: "… Love this quote "Paddling like madman on a mission from God"…
"

For some reason, the Blues Brothers popped into my head while paddling that stretch of water. :-)

For pictures, I used my little Nikon S3000 point and shoot in 10-sec delay mode. Land the fish, turn on the camera, put it in the rod holder, smile, and release the fish.
"

I am thinking about using one of those pliable three armed grippy thingys to screw my camera into then wrap around a thwart. I think it's about time I picked up a rod holder too. I always stuck the rod under my leg when trolling.

And I've also decided not to bring my filter along for my next solo. Just gotta be careful is all.

Awesome report! Great reading and pictures. Those are some great fish as well.

Thank You Pineknot for a great Trip Report! Like Suncatcher I look forward to reading it again this winter over morning coffee.

Great photos. Those wounds on your shins had to hurt!

I will be looking forward to more Trip Reports next year.

Great photos. Those wounds on your shins had to hurt!

Saw that too. Looked painful.

Really glad you shared your story with us. You told your story well and have great attention to detail. I will have to pick up a voice recorder for my next trip, I think that would be awesome to have along.

The fishing pictures were great. I have no idea how you managed to land that monster pike. I would've wanted a picture but I think I would have cut the line and said good bye. In my experience, much smaller pike can be a handful to land and release from a canoe. My brother, on our most recent trip to the bwca, tried removing the trebles from a small pike and ended up with two of them buried in his thumb. That was a mess. A very painful mess.

What kind of rod holder do you use? I'm looking into purchasing one myself.

quote BearBrown: "

Great photos. Those wounds on your shins had to hurt!

Saw that too. Looked painful...

...I have no idea how you managed to land that monster pike. I would've wanted a picture but I think I would have cut the line and said good bye....

What kind of rod holder do you use? I'm looking into purchasing one myself. "

Thx for the kind comments. The shin cut looked worse than it was...I slipped on the portage into Side...the next couple of days, everytime I brush by some limbs the darn thing would bleed again...shoulda kept the bandaid on longer I guess.

I carry a leather glove to land larger pike, trout and walleye...that way I don't have to worry as much with their teeth or hooks...The only reason I landed him was to get the photo.

As for the rod holder, it's a Scotty with a bracket I made to attach to any thwart, bow or stern...much easier for me than the old under the leg method.

Your report was great! Such great detail, and well told. I'm researching a Q trip for mid-June and womndered if you might have some ideas. It'll be my son and I, my brother-in-law and his two sons, and possible one other canoe w/ two people. we'll have 7 days in the park and wanted some beautiful scenery and good fishing. I've been considering 3 options: 1. going up the S-Chain then down Agnes, 2. Going to Kahs then Trant to Silence and down Agnes, or 3. McNiece to Kahs to Sarah, Bart Joyce, Marj and McIntyre (not in that order necessarily) but was worried that trips 2 and 3 might have too many tough portages to be enjoyable for my crew. This is our 5th year of canoeing BW (and one Wabakimi Trip). We're in decent shape, but aren't mountain goats. Anyway, any 7-day trip that you'd recommend that would give us some time to fish, maybe one or two layovers?

billgkna11,

Sent you an email. Agnes or Kahs are great routes. IMHO, I'd go Kahs if you're looking for better fishing--go through Yum Yum to Kahs and then back to North Bay via Side. You can go over from Kahs to Sarah or McIntyre, but with only 7 days, you might find it hard to load in a couple layover days.

Rich,

Awesome report. I love the reports that make you feel like you are along for the ride. The details and photos are great. Hope you have many more just like it.

Rob

Pineknot: FANTASTIC! --Goose

These were both fabulous trip reports--and I don't even fish!

Great report, great photos. Thanks for sharing all of this with us.