Canoeing in Prince Albert NP

Linkhttp://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/sk/princealbert/index_e.asp

Just back from a wonderful canoe cum fishing trip in Canada’s Prince Albert National Park. We chose to make a circular trip through what is known as the Bagwa route. The sunset across the lake was reward in itself.

The trip involves a two-hour paddle across the western side of Kingsmere Lake, one of the largest in the park, a quiet trip for forty minutes or so up a shallow, weed-filled channel into Bagwa Lake and an overnight stop there after hopefully catching a supper’s worth of walleye, known more commonly as pickerel.

From here it was to be a short glide through Lily lake, a portage around the base of a slight rise, some more fishing (for Northern Pike, also known by several derogatory names such as slough shark and hammer handle in Claire and another portage, this time across a board walk over a swamp, back into Kingsmere and base camp at South End.

We had first done the trip over thirty years ago and it is a real pleasure to be able to relate that little has changed in the area over that longish gap. The campsites have improved, with much better places to put ones food, and no garbage. The bear-proof food caches are about 15 feet up on platforms that have metal-clad legs, to prevent sharp claws from getting a grip, and have ladders up to them that can be pulled away. I have never seen a bear climb a ladder, but you never know.

The first leg was a huge success. The wind, what there was of it, had no negative effect on the canoe. Kingsmere can be dangerous, turning from millpond to maelstrom in moments when strong winds blow, but we skimmed across and had the added bonus of landing three nice lake trout as we went. The Bagwa channel was gorgeous. The water lilies had just begun to open their buds and yellow balls dotted the water surface. There were mallards galore, lots of grebes, and small flotillas of pelicans sailing along. More pelicans planed down in tight formation to join them.

On that first trip we had sat on a beaver lodge and watched enthralled as a moose cow and her calf swam towards us. We only moved when it became obvious that she wanted to exit on the lodge that as our viewpoint and that there really was not enough room for both groups. She had turned aside and landed about thirty metres down from us, stopping briefly to take a disdainful look at us. This time there were no moose, but we did see three white-tailed deer, one of them a buck in velvet, walking along the lakeshore with a complete lack of concern.

There was one sour note, as a motorboat roared up the channel and into the lake, stopping for the night away from the official campsite. Bagwa, and even its entrance channel, are off limits to motors, and there can be no doubt that the people in the craft, tow men, were there to catch pickerel. If they had disregarded the motor rules, how many pickerel above their limit did they take out?

We forgot the intrusion as we fell asleep to the manic cries of loons and the cackling of grebes

The pickerel fishing was as good as we remembered and so we did not complete the round-trip, with its two portages, as we guessed that a paddle out back through the channel and across a slightly more windy Kingsmere. This proved to be a good choice as we caught the last trout on our permit and came home with a limit.

Trip to Newfoundland

Without doubt the biggest disappointment about our trip to Newfoundland has been the fishing.

As small stream trout fishing is my number one obsession when it comes to rod and line I was keen to get a chance at the famous waters on “The Rock”.

This photo was taken by similarly addicted Jim Oosterhuis as we fished a small stream in the foothills of Canada’s Rocky Mountains in July 2008 and this one was taken almost 40 years ago by Henk Faberij de Jonge below a waterfall on the Kazita river high up in the Mount Kenya forest. The best Kenya flies were undoubtedly a Royal Coachman in clear water, or a Kenya bug when there was some colour in the stream. The Mrs. Simpson was also a very good bet. Just for the hell of it I tried a Royal Coachman in Alberta, with success!

Here is a good-sized rainbow from those Kenya days which was used to feed a camp of four the day before I had an exciting encounter with safari ants – I even had some hair (not much).

Here is Jim with a nice brown trout about to be returned to Alberta’s Bow River in 2008.

But I digress. We searched for medical conference for Jo, and after finding a family medicine one in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, I searched “Fishing Newfoundland” on my Mac.

Of course I got lots of hits. After winnowing out almost all of the ones on the first three pages of the Google list because they simply wanted me to stay at their Bed & Breakfast places or hire them as a guide, I made a couple of calls and was told that the fishing season had closed last year in late September and that both trout and salmon fishing were readily available all over the island. I would be able to stop at almost any small stream and dip a line. The major hit that came up was the Newfoundland and Labrador official 2008 Traveller’s guide, and it was plain that I could write away for a copy, so I did. It turned out to be one of the most useless pieces of paper (425 pages useless) that I have ever come across. There was nothing in about fishing, fishing seasons, fishing licenses, or anything other than references to fishing museums or one “Fishing Point Municipal Park.”

Perhaps for Newfoundland residents, who know their way around the island, the index of B&Bs, hotels and restaurants is useful. For the stranger it is merely confusing. You can get so far, and even find a night’s stopping point with as many or few stars to its name as you want, but can you find out where it is? Not unless you know the island.

In some cases I was even wrong about local knowledge. At least fifteen times locals agreed with me about the muddled guide and urged me to write to the ministry of tourism. Some of those locals make their living in the tourist industry. They do not seem to be impressed with the brochure, although they told me firmly that it is light years better than the 2007 version.

When I finally got to St. John’s and went into a fishing tackle shop to enquire about local flies and good spots I received a body blow. “I’m not going to sell you a license,” said the proprietor. “The trout fishing closes tomorrow.” He then showed me the 2008 Angler’s Guide, which had not come up on Google, and there it was. All trout waters closed on Sept 7th. At least half the reason for coming to Newfoundland had just gone up in smoke.

I later learned two things. Last year the trout seasons did indeed last until the third week of September, which would have suited me exactly, and some restricted catch-and-release salmon fishing is available until early October on three rivers. I did manage to get two-and-a-half days of guided salmon fishing on the lower Humber, and we saw some magnificent fish surface, but never hooked one.