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| Trip Planning » When are the bugs coming this spring? » Today 11:39 am |
Evan Briden wrote:
Going in tomorrow morning, I will take the opposite opinion and lean on past experience.. bugs are rarely THAT bad on our May long weekend trips. Bug dope, big fires, and strong whiskey and you don't even feel them!
Cheers all!
Agreed they are normally not too bad on May long but, I was up over this past weekend and they were pretty thick. The high temps definitely brought them out a bit earlier than normal and they were hungry. Hopefully the cooler weather and rain keeps them at bay for you.
And yes, June is always peak but I was still surprised with how thick they were getting last weekend.
| Fishing » fishing/weather question and stringer question » Today 11:30 am |
Maybe the best solution is to plan to eat fish that you catch closer to the end of the day, or closer to the time of consumption. It's a slippery slope though...sometimes you're catching them left and right but it cools off when you are thinking of keeping the next one!
We release nearly all (90%) of what we catch and typically keep two for the pan if we are close to the point of consumption - especially easy if you are camping along the river - and sometimes so fortuitous that you catch one from the site! That way they are quite lively on the stringer and the flavor is excellent.
| Equipment » Packing » Today 10:13 am |
... I discovered that the cats had been peeing all over it.
That's unfortunate but at least you got to buy new gear! Unfortunately our senior citizen dog who we acquired during COVID can't really hold her bladder when everyone is at work all day. Last time she peed it leaked down into the basement but thankfully it hit the freezer and not my gear!
| Trip Planning » When are the bugs coming this spring? » Today 9:54 am |
Agreed- they are far worse in June. Preparing for the worst but I'm optimistic they won't be too bad based on the cool weather forecast for the weekend.
| Equipment » Packing » Today 9:41 am |
....and go "shopping" in the basement where I have all my gear.
Twenty years ago I kept my gear in the basement. Then I discovered that the cats had been peeing all over it. That was a very expensive litterbox. Now my gear lives in rubbermaid bins, etc., in my bedroom closet. Those cats have since gone on to their reward, but I'm not giving the current generation of cats any grand ideas.
| Equipment » Packing » Today 9:38 am |
... but I tracked everything down eventually!
I bought "Triangles" a few months ago for my roof rack to stabilize the canoe. Put them in the garage. Have been looking for them off an on for the past two days. Where the H did I put them? OH. I put them in the box with the Christmas lights. Of course I did, where else would I have put them? With the canoeing stuff? That's for amateurs.
| Equipment » Packing » Today 9:26 am |
The initial packing always takes the longest and it's annoying and time consuming. I want to make it quicker and break the habit of carefully fitting smaller items into pots or have stuff sacks carefully fitted into the limited confines of my backpacking pack. My backpack will always require carefully filling the bottom side spaces with fuel bottles, nalgenes, tent poles, thermarests etc. But I'm going to start carelessly dumping the little stuff into sacks and just throwing it in, hoping that I can still close the top of my pack.
To cut down on initial organizing I just skim my packing list, get a big box, and go "shopping" in the basement where I have all my gear on shelves. Hopefully I don't forget anything critical.
| Equipment » Packing » Today 8:27 am |
It takes me a month to properly prep for the first trip of the year. If I do enough trips, then I can get in a groove and know that all the gear is ready to go. There is usually maintenance required that didn't happen in the winter. Stuff that you knew exactly where it was "in season" you find yourself hunting down. Part of my challenge is too much gear being around. I *think* that I'm pretty consistent in what I use, but there is enough stuff around to outfit all 5 of us at least 2X over.
| Equipment » Packing » Today 8:23 am |
Being a kayak camper, having my gear properly organized isn't something I can mess around with. Everything I take on a camping trip has a specific place, in a specific bag, and even how I put things in bags is pretty much consistent from one trip to another. My gear checklist is likewise broken down based on how I organize everything.
Which is to say No, I don't have this particular issue ;). Now finding all of my stuff can be a bit of a challenge. My water filters came in the house for the winter so they wouldn't freeze in the garage, as did my batteries, as did other random bits of gear... but I tracked everything down eventually!
| Equipment » Packing » Today 8:16 am |
Always an unpleasant activity. It has gotten better since I started using a Portage Pack though, since that is packed predominantly with stuff sacks and not individual items stuck in side pockets on the side of the bag. My packing list shows the "Kitchen bag" and its contents, for example, so usually I can just confirm that what was in there last time is still in there. My list identifies consumables so that's a reminder to determine whether or not to replenish. Process starts about a week in advance. OK, earlier than that, because there's always some new piece of capital equipment....like a bug shelter...
This time it has been frustrating: first trip since last fall, lots of evening obligations this week, and my daughter is taking a separate trip that is simultaneous with mine, so I had to prepare a packing list for her and find duplicate items in my camping junk for her. On the plus side, that has forced me to do some things early.
All that so I can have a board meeting with the black flies next week.
| Trip Planning » When are the bugs coming this spring? » Today 8:12 am |
Going in tomorrow morning, I will take the opposite opinion and lean on past experience.. bugs are rarely THAT bad on our May long weekend trips. Bug dope, big fires, and strong whiskey and you don't even feel them!
Cheers all!
| Trip Reports » "The Big Dipper" - 8 Days Alone in Algonquin Park, September 2021 » Today 7:46 am |
Really well done!!!
Ah the old stomping on the wood injury. . . . . . . yep you only do it once.
How many times do you do the "hmmm my hand is in a bad position as I'm using this saw, I better change positions TOO LATE" injury before you learn? Asking for a friend. Hoping the answer is also one.
Depends if you're ambidextrous!
| Equipment » Packing » Today 7:41 am |
I think I’m finally at the point where this doesn’t happen. I think it’s because I am light enough and have my food dialed in so it doesn’t take as long anymore. But it took a lot of practice and gear upgrades to get here!
| Equipment » Packing » Today 7:38 am |
Yes this is me for sure! And every year I say "next year I'm packing less and going lighter" and come game time I end up packing more and getting heavier. I head in tomorrow morning and still have a lot of work to do....
| Equipment » Packing » Yesterday 9:53 pm |
Anyone else somehow completely forget how to organize their pack from year to year? I’m heading out tomorrow and it’s taken me hours to get everything sorted. Let’s hope that gets more efficient when I’m actually on the trip 😬.
| Fishing » fishing/weather question and stringer question » Yesterday 8:56 pm |
Thanks guys. I will honour the trout.
Mr. Pimple, I am a beginner fisherman and a little dense. Are you saying I should use bait that look like sucker fish? Or perhaps their eggs?
| Fishing » fishing/weather question and stringer question » Yesterday 8:45 pm |
answer to your first question is yes,, suckers are the key.
the answer to your second question is ,, do not use a stringer , take the sides of off the fish a.s.a.p. and wrap the fillets in a wet towel,, and cook a.s.a.p.
dragging the fish around in warmer water above the thermocline releases enzymes and effects the quality of your meal. watch and see how the fish will loose it's colours and stiffen up,, not good,, it is really a form of torture for the fish.
have your shore lunch and then try fishing barbless and practice catch and release. the algonquin trout are under a lot of year around fishing pressure. try killing a bass and saving a trout. every algonquin trout is a trophy,, i hope this helps,, cheers
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