Damn, I sure needed that trip. Canada was excellent, the fishing was great, the food was wunderbar, the weather was perfect. I caught the biggest Northern Pike, the two largest walleye, and the largest perch [insert snicker here].
and read on.
It had been seven years since I had last made the trek to Ear Falls, Ontario, the Bald Eagle Capital [of what exactly, they do not specify] for a fishin’ trip. Much was as I had remembered it. Western Ontario is desolate of civilization [we barely had reception on the only radio station — an AM station], and ergo wonderful. God’s Country ma’am. I saw moose, beaver, eagle, mink, bear, deer, loon, otter, and i should not neglect to mention the fish, northern pike, walleye, and perch.
The fishing was the best I’ve ever experienced, my uncles concurred. The Ontario conservation program has done a good job improving the fishing in Canada’s lakes, they lowered the bag limit to 3 fish and 1 trophy fish per species from its previous limit of 5 and 1 respectively. For pike, they also made a protected slot for the fish size, between 27.5 and 35.5 inches. This continuum is the prime breeding size for pike. The pike fishing wasn’t the best [although i did catch a 10 pounder that was 35 inches], but we caught many small ones [hammer-handles] which bodes well for coming years.
The walleye were enormous. In previous years we have been hard pressed to catch an 18 inch walleye, but this year, we gladly released walleye after walleye that were from 20–23 inches in length. These buggers were monsters. We found a spot where we would catch a fish almost every pass of the boat, and returned there for most of the week. 2 of my walleye were the best ones we caught, I had both a 5 pounder and a 6 pounder, filets of which I have brought home to cook for my friends. We go to Canada for the walleye, and the walleye sure as hell were there this year. [they are aliased as pickerel and sauger too].
The ride up was long but not overly so, we ate dinner in Eveleth, Minnesota [home of the US Hockey Hall of Fame] at the Sawmill, as unsophisticated as it sounds. However, it was quite a large place, and chock-full of young beautiful women. I didn’t pay much attention to my food. Next door to Eveleth is Virginia, MN, the Land of the Loon. When we crossed through International Falls to Canada, it was quite late. The border guard who let us through was quite nice for a lady in a flak jacket.
Traveling with my uncles was good, and despite their constant sending me up, i maintained my calm and shot right back at ’em. Corbin was a bit trying at times, telling me how to do everything, but that is just what happens when a Berkshire [him] clashes with another Berkshire [or half of one in my case]. Dean was quite patient and piloted the boat for most of the trip.
We used the trip [us men] I think as a way to talk about things that never get talked about otherwise, we talked about my dad a bit, and they discussed some of the things that troubled them as well. There was even some philosophizing.
While I was up there, I got some ideas for poems as well, which is good news for me.
After being on a boat for an entire day, I had fully developed my old sea-legs. The problem is, once I’m back on land, everything has a nice regular rocking motion to it. Distinctly noticeable when you close your eyes.
The police in Ontario are called the O.P.P.
i’m sure there was more but i can’t think of it now. if you wanna know something just ask.