I'm not sure if northern Manitoba fits into "The Great Northwest" forum, but it's dang sure Northwest of Georgia by 2,000 miles.
This is a bucket list trip that's been almost 3 years in the making. We were supposed to fish the Maria Lake outpost in 2020 but Covid put a 2 year hiatus in that plan. I'll now be there Aug 5-13. Maria Lake is one of the Gangler's North Seal River outposts with trophy Lake Trout, Northern Pike, Walleye, and Grayling. I've never caught a Lake Trout or a Grayling. Trying to limit everything I want to take into the 60 pound weight limit has been a challenge. I can either fish naked or dress warmly and watch other people fish. So I've compromised and decided to wear the same clothes all week. I need everything from 4 lb mono to 40 lb braid. And I spent hours with a Dremel removing barbs from hooks and lures.
In any case, should be an interesting trip. My fishing partner is even older than I am, so if you hear of a couple of septagenarians who couldn't outrun a polar bear, it's been nice knowing you. Hopefully I've improved my chances of survival by picking an older and slower partner. The caribou are supposed to be migrating through the area during August, an occasional polar bear is seen wandering around, and I've never seen the northern lights.
Even with the 2 year delay, and all the associated hassle of plane ticket refunds (NOT), trip insurance not covering pandemics, and Gangler's sitting on my money for 2.5 years, I'm still looking forward to the trip. But I won't make this trip again.
GA Mike
Sounds like a fun trip.
(https://alantani.com/gallery/21/1583_11_09_17_11_46_30.jpeg)
Awesome dude! Polar Bear territory! Never been. Have witnessed a Caribou migration across the river we's camped on in Ak.
Same clothes for a week ain't thing up there. You'll be able clean-up before flying back.
I'm envious, I wanna go! Nothing like the extreme North, wild and natural as can be...
Trip of a lifetime! Enjoy it!
Have a great trip mike. I fished southern Manitoba the second week of june on a northern and walleye lake, it was great fishing after being closed for 2 years and only 2 groups in before us. Enjoy! - Jimmer
Hope to see some pictures.
Maybe they have wolves in the area. Unless they's starving, they avoid humans.
All I know about Lakers, is that they are down deep. Lee obviously knows how to get 'em. Grayling seemed to like flies best. Prolly got Char species up there too.
Quote from: Gfish on July 31, 2022, 06:40:04 PMHope to see some pictures.
Maybe they have wolves in the area. Unless they's starving, they avoid humans.
The email said there would probably be wolves following the caribou to take down the stragglers. There are a couple of portage lakes I'd like to try out. But not if there are bear and/or wolf sightings. I'm leaving the ole 1911 ACP back at the homestead. I plan on taking lots of pics. My phone, my camera, even my GoPro, which I haven't used in several years. This is my one and only trip up there, hope to record some nice memories.
GA Mike
Have fun and catch them up. Don't worry about bears and wolves as long as you can run faster than fishing partner.
Cheers
Todd
Bears can not run fast through poop too.
Your guide should have a rifle with him.
After watching several hundred Caribou cross the river, when I's up there, the next AM something was outside our tents. Of course I thought Bear! Nope, a baby straggler, probably left behind. Cute friendly little guy. But I know he prolly fed some Wolves or a Griz after we left.
What Lee is saying, dont bother taking any toilet paper, ha haa, cheers don.
Not using a guide for most of the week. Only the 1st 1/2 day and the 2nd full day. Self-guided after that. If you're bored, type in Maria Lake in the UTube search engine. Some incredible fish, mostly Northerns, being caught. 40"+.
This wouldn't be a proper AT forum topic without mentioning REELS!
For baitcasting I'm taking a Shimano Curado 300 DSV spooled with 30# PowerPro (15# max drag) for deep trolling Lake Trout (and Calico bass at Cedros!). Shimano Curado 100B SF with 15# mono (8# drag), and a Shimano Bantam Curado CU200 with 15# braid (12# drag) for Northern Pike. One of the 15# reels is for my partner, who doesn't even own a BC. I really like the Curado line of baitcasters. I've had the 100B SF for 30+ years and is the finest bass reel I've ever owned. It actually sends the lure where I aim it most times.
My BC rods are the only 2 piece 7' MH rods I own. Bass Pro branded. To save weight, I made my own rod carrier out of 40" of 4" thin wall PVC sewer pipe. Saved about 3.5 lbs.
For spinners, I had to scramble to come up with what I needed. My 3000's and 4000's all perished in the fire. I somewhat downsized to what I needed, with spare spools for flexibility. Penn Battle II 2500 with 15" braid (Pike) and a 30# braid spare spool (Lake Trout) (12# max drag). Diawa Exceler 2000 with 8# mono for Walleye on one spool, 4# for Grayling on the other. I have some 40# braid as backup if we get heavy duty into the Lakers. One MH and one UL 2 piece spinning rod. Both 7' to fit my homemade rod carrier. For lures, this is a barbless lake so I took a bunch of bass stuff (Zara Spooks, Johnson spoons, Rattletraps, Ribbit frogs, etc.) and ground the barbs off. I did buy some #5 Mepps lures and some soft plastics.
There, that makes this a quasi-official AT post. Whew!
GA Mike
Oops, typo. The 100SF is a Chronarch, not a Curado. Proofread much?
GA Mike
Even not changing clothes won't make you look any better :) !
Have a blast up there, I can't wait to out fish you at Cedros!
The Man
Went almost that far up in the mid '80s in June with my dad, uncle and a couple of other guys. We drove a Barth for 26 straight hours from Omaha to Sandy Bay and then flew in from there to an outpost on Lake Kamuchawie on the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border, which is just south of Reindeer Lake. The fishing was great and the scenery and weather was beautiful. Kamuchawie is so big and has so many islands we had to have guides so we wouldn't get lost. The shore lunches were to die for!
Dang! I'm in Winnipeg, it's 2:40 AM, and my luggage and tackle is in Montreal. Apparently the earliest I can get it to the Maria Lake outpost 600 miles N of here is Tuesday. Wearing the same clothes for 4 days is no longer just a joke. No tackle for 4 days is a real issue. Hoping they have some loaner gear we can use. My fishing partner is missing his stuff as well.
GA Mike
Oh dang. Here's hoping for a few positive surprises for you.
Been reading a lot about delayed and lost bags. The airlines cannot keep up with the amount of people traveling. They also cannot hire enough workers to handle the volume It stinks that you don't have your personal items. Make the best of it. Buy a bunch of stuff and send the bill to the airline. Dominick
Quote from: Dominick on August 05, 2022, 04:23:53 PMBeen reading a lot about delayed and lost bags. The airlines cannot keep up with the amount of people traveling. They also cannot hire enough workers to handle the volume It stinks that you don't have your personal items. Make the best of it. Buy a bunch of stuff and send the bill to the airline. Dominick
[/quote
HHHHAAAAAAAYYYYY Does that include a rod and reel ??????????
Yes, everything. Dominick
Dominick hit the nail on the head, Mike —-
Buy whatever you need to replace what is needed for your trip.
This is a trip of a lifetime —- don't let any company take that away from you. Take control —- enjoy your trip —- move ahead.
When you return, contact the airline —- let them know you will be sending in receipts and a claim for reimbursement of your items.
If they balk —- don't get upset or cause an issue —- just have your Attorney write a letter to the CEO of the Airline.
Keep track of the dates, exact times, departments, and persons you talked to —- along with their job title.
At the end of the day —- whether or not you are reimbursed makes no difference in going ahead and enjoying a trip of a lifetime. You are in charge of your experience.
We need photos of some great fishing and the area!
Last time I went to Alaska —- Alaskan Airlines sent my luggage to Mexico. Took a few days for it to get back to me. In the meantime, I just bought some warm clothing and items I needed. Not a big deal.
Also —
Under DOT regulations (for domestic travel) and international treaties (for international travel), airlines are required to compensate passengers if their bags are damaged, delayed, or lost.May 27, 2021
Lost, Delayed, or Damaged Baggage
And your USAA Homeowners insurance also covers you — it follows you when traveling — whether on a plane, car, train, or boat. But of course, there is a deductible.
Best, Fred
Man, that really sucks! I hope you end up getting what you need, but enjoy your trip as best as you can. Seems like everyone is blaming efficiency and quality control on the Virus nowadays. ::) That's really getting old! :( Good luck!
Canadian air carriers have had a lot of trouble. A few weeks ago my son-in-law were stuck in New Brunswick for 4 days and had to go a round about way to get home in SE BC.
Got in about 5 hours of fishing yesterday. Steve and I caught 22 pike and he caught his 1st Lake Trout. Both using borrowed gear- me a nice Ambassafor 5500 C3. 20 mph winds and sputtering rain most of the afternoon. Bought some lures but using channel locks to remove hooks, utility knife to cut braid, and the camp cooks pink nail clippers for mono. Have marginal internet here.
On the home front, they used a skid steer to tear out the sill plate, damaging the garage concrete. After we had agreed they would Sawzall around anchor bolts, cut damaged ones flush and add others as necessary to meet the 32" code. Left some choice words in a text to my contractor. Haven't heard back.
I like Central time, but not in the AM. I get up at 4 Eastern but they won't have coffee ready until 6:15 Central.
GA Mike
I made it back home, finally. At 2:30 AM yesterday (Sunday) morning. I only had a 1.5 hour delay departing Winnipeg. My fishing partner is still stuck in Winnipeg. Air Canada cancelled his return flight to Detroit and he's been on standby for 2 days.
Our checked bags and fishing gear made it to Maria Lake outpost on Wednesday, 5 days after we got there. We had one spinner and one bait caster on loan until then. Most of the lures we purchased didn't really work. We were with two other groups of fishermen that did loan us some better lures and a line counter baitcaster for Lake Trout.
We didn't even go Grayling fishing, and only a part day Lake Trout fishing. The rest was all Northern Pike fishing. I caught a 36" and Steve caught a 38" and 39" Northern. One of the other guys caught a 41" NP.
Maria Lake is a great fishery for NP and Lake Trout. a 34" Laker was caught by another group.
Weather was good, 50 low, 70 high, only rained part of 2 days. Wind was a constant 10-15 mph with one afternoon 25 mph with 3' waves.
I did not lose that many fish due to barbless hooks. And they're easier to remove, even with channel locks.
All in all, not much to show for a $6K "bucket list" fishing trip. My most productive lure was a blue/chrome Rattletrap. Steve's was an orange/ black dots 1 oz Mepps spoon.
I'll try my best not to use Air Canada again. They did give me an ecredit for $60 CAD towards my next flight.
On a positive note, my garage rebuild is progressing nicely. Walls are up and half the roof plywood is in place. And the contractor is easy to work with.
GA Mike
Good to hear Mike, and nice jackfish dere eh? - Jimmer