CANADIAN FISHING

Canadian fishing… in my experiences, there is nothing else quite like it.
I had such an amazing trip and many thanks goes out to my father in law, Kenny Ray Wilson.
This week was easily one of the best weeks of my life.
I see why the men on my wife’s side of the family have now gone up to Cedar Lake for 15 years in a row!

This is exactly why this trip was so amazing. On the first day of fishing, I pull what I personally would call a “monster” out of the water. This 22″ Northern Pike was my first fish out of the water and the best part about it… you get to experience this every day.

I had to buy a little Canadian whiskey for this mancation! A trip like this just isn’t the same without a little whiskey and pipe tobacco.
Nick Offerman would be proud.

Here’s what I thought would hold me at the top of the charts for our camp’s biggest walleye.
I caught a 22″ walleye one evening with my father in law and that truly was a monster for me.
I still am not convinced that catching a walleye is more fun than catching a northern but this one was a blast.

The end of our night run. Thanks again Kenny Ray for taking me on such an amazing trip!

Here is the true monster that knocked my 22″ walleye off the bottom of the chart!
Dave caught this 25″ beast one morning while we were fishing the hole. I was happy to just be able to net this fish for him.
He was a happy man.

I decided to sleep out in my hammock one of the last couple nights anxiously anticipating a beautiful night sky.
This is what I found when I woke up around 2 am. There was no way I was going to pass up shooting a sky like this.

The Milky Way was mesmerizing and absolutely beautiful. The green tint from the Northern Lights wasn’t visible with the naked eye but I was ecstatic to see it was actually there after my long exposure! It’s hard for me as a photographer to not continue shooting in moments like this. I have to tell myself to put my camera down and enjoy seeing it in person and not only on my computer screen when I get back home.

My compromise was the self portrait below. I was able to take a long exposure shot and walk out on the end of the dock to just enjoy looking up at God’s creation. If a sky like this doesn’t make someone question our Creator’s existence, I don’t know what would.

Our shore lunch was delicious and a much needed break. The lake has grill pits scattered around the water’s edge.
Got to enjoy the break with this great group of guys. I was sad the other half of our clan couldn’t be here for the photo op.

This is why I believe catching a Northern is far more exhilarating than catching a Walleye. This beast fought me all the way to the edge of the boat. It measured around 36″ and it was a blast. This wasn’t even the biggest fish I caught, just wait.
Oh, and I caught that 16″ small mouth below. Bass are also a heck of a fight and super fun to get in the boat!

Here is a photo of the “Missing Person” we sent two search crews out for. Taylor called over the radio and asked, “Anybody out there?” with nothing else following this message after we tried calling him back. Turns out he was catching bass and was wondering what the limit was on what he could keep. He was perfectly safe, just being a man and doing some fishing.

After we made it back from our hunt for the “Missing Person”, we decided to start casting right off the dock to release some tension that was in the air. This next video is aftermath of what immediately broke that tension. I caught my 40+” Muskie that I’d been waiting for all week. It was my last catch before I had to drive myself 12 hours to go back to school and become an art teacher. It was almost the perfect ending.

I caught it. I was holding it in my hands. Before the photo could be taken, it flopped loose. It hit the dock. I dropped and hit the dock. I tried corralling it to prevent it from going back in the water. It flopped once more over my arms and slid right back into it’s home. I was devastated. You can see the slime from it slipping and sliding all over the dock to get away from me. It haunted my dreams.
This video is the only evidence of my classic “Fisherman’s Story”.

These shots from the drive home are only a glimpse into how many beautiful sights are to be seen in this part of the country.
It is so difficult to try to capture the beauty in one photograph but I hopefully accomplished it within at least a couple of these.