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The itch to get back in the park is back and I'm starting to think about trips for this year.
Thinking about an ice out trip and want to see if you fine people had any recommendations. I'm really open minded as of now as long as I'm not doing the same one as last year (Happy Isle/Big Trout/La Muir/Hogan/Big Crow).
I've been toying with the idea of Tim Lake, then a big loop up and across the Nipissing, then down through Burntroot and back via the Tim River (or vis-versa). Another idea was In at Brent, then Catfish, Pet, Burrtroot, Nipissing and out.
Wide open to suggestions though. My only consideration is I'm very interested in getting my line wet.
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Funny - I started staring at the map today myself. While Clover Lake has to be part of my Spring trip plan, that doesn't mean I can't tack some other lakes on first!
Big water for an ice-out trip is risky. I don't think I'd want to be paddling across Cedar on a windy day in early May, and unless you're wiling to go way out of your way you'd have to. So I like your Tim suggestion better from that standpoint. Burntroot is big enough to get wavy, but you can hug the shore if you need to.
I can't make suggestions for fishing, but I'll happily suggest some loops. How many days are you thinking? A week or so?
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I'd managed a mental break from tripping after my last one in mid Sept and hadn't looked at a map or been online since. Until today that is!
Yeah I was thinking about the big water crossings and want to avoid it in the spring. Maybe that's a trip better suited for summer. I remember we were chatting about a river trip - still want to do that and I think spring would be ideal for it. Chase some brookies as well. I figure that trip as outlined would be a 6 day/5 night one. I'm not set on any specific duration or location yet.
Clover Lake still causing you to lose sleep huh?
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Up/down the Nip and Tim Rivers would give reliable fishing opportunities virtually along their entire length. The bigger the rivers and the rapids get, the bigger the specs might be. Spring flows take most of the beaver dams out of the equation as well, although they are only minor annoyances in lower levels. If fishing is driving the decision as a primary factor, I'd do the rivers. Plus, the lakes you hit will give a nice change of scenery.
The only drawback is those rivers are long and tortuous...to the point of getting monotonous. If you love working the pry and draw strokes, it will be a dream. If you are easily annoyed and get bored, it will be a nightmare.
The second option isn't bad at all...I would just build a weather day into the trip in case you get delayed along the way. Although I would build a weather day into any spring trip, so there.
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I've been thinking about an early May trip as well. I don't fish, but a few other things to consider taking advantage of would be travelling on popular routes (since they won't be popular during ice out), and strong waterfalls.
I'm considering Cache down to Pardee, to Louisa/Frank, to Clydegale, up to Rock. Probably with 1 more day lodged somewhere in the middle.
Get to see the waterfalls on Head, Pen/Clydegale portage, and Pen/Rock portage while they're at full force. Get to travel through a popular route during a non-popular time. And some of those lakes are particularly great for moose as well (I've never done a spring trip but I assume it would be even better).
There are some pretty big lakes, but you can hug the shore without any setback for pretty much everything other than a small section of Cache (would be early morning anyways on Day 1), and the 15min to cross that section of Louisa.
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I did the Louisa Loop in late April one year and it was fantastic. Virtually no-one around.
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I don't think the potentially monotonous river travel would bother me - the big water from last spring gave me some nervous travel so a river-centric trip is something I'm keen to try. The only thing that gives me thought is duration. I want to make sure I leave enough time to focus on fishing as opposed to travel. Trying to plot a 4 or max 5 night trip to accomplish that.
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i guess we can book a trip now for the month of may, on line?
cabin fever is taken over,,
keeps the trip ideas coming, great food for thought, day dreaming away,,,,,
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basilthegood wrote:
I want to make sure I leave enough time to focus on fishing as opposed to travel. Trying to plot a 4 or max 5 night trip to accomplish that.
Someone page BoKnows for fishing advice! If your focus is fishing then any trips I suggest are just total stabs in the dark, but even I know less fishing pressure = better chance of catching something. So maybe a base camp that gives you lots of fishing opportunities nearby isn't a terrible idea?
I'm looking at McKaskill Lake, which is easy enough to reach in a day from the Shall Lake access point. That gives you a slew of low maintenance lakes to the southeast to explore and fish while leaving most of your stuff on McKaskill (which if you haven't been, I quite like), plus Hidden and Fairy lakes Northwest.
Now are any of those lakes any good for fishing? Of that, I have no idea.
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Yup! Ice out trip booking season is upon us.
I'm fixating on river travel for some reason. The original loop as I laid it out would is about 132km and would take a week, but I'm also thinking that I could travel straight across the Nip and take out A.P. 27 in Brent, which would reduce the trip to about 95km, which I could cover in 5 days. I'd have to shuttle the truck up from an outfitter.
The question would then become what would be a better trip - the upper part of the Nip or coming back down through Burntroot and the Tim river....
Last edited by basilthegood (1/09/2018 3:53 pm)
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Yup! Ice out trip booking season is upon us.
I'm fixating on river travel for some reason. The original loop as I laid it out would is about 132km and would take a week, but I'm also thinking that I could travel straight across the Nip and take out A.P. 27 in Brent, which would reduce the trip to about 95km, which I could cover in 5 days. I'd have to shuttle the truck up from an outfitter.
The question would then become what would be a better trip - the upper part of the Nip or coming back down through Burntroot and the Tim river....
If you go through Burntroot, I will say that Anchor Island and the small east island on Red Pine Bay are both epic island sites, 2 of my all-time favourites. As long as the weather cooperates 
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