Up early again, the alarm went off at 5:30 and we left the hotel at 6:01 for the Sea Plane Air Base in Nakina. We were ALL so happy to find Chris hot coffee in
Up early again, the alarm went off at 5:30 and we left the hotel at 6:01 for the Sea Plane Air Base in Nakina. We were ALL so happy to find Chris hot coffee in Geralton at Robins Donuts. We arrived early to the Nakina Airport. There was some debate about whether we were in the right place, and I am happy to report- Cathy was right!! I had properly read a sign that told us to keep moving down the road. In addition to the sign, I was also prompted by the small fact there was no lake at Nakina airport. Down the road we found a lake with a parking lot and a giant float plane at the dock. There were fisher-looking people and gear stacked up everywhere. We finally found someone to talk with to see what we are supposed to do and we learned we were still at the wrong airport. We got back in the car and travelled to our third air base of the morning and found our dock. We unloaded and waited for our plane along with some future lodge mates. They were from St. Thomas (Ontario), Toronto, Belgium, Cincinnati and everyone looked like a fisherman. We got to see our plane come in and land and then we loaded in, along with a mountain of fishing gear. The take off and landing were so smooth.
When we arrived on the dock Sue and Eric were there to greet us (they own the lodge) and all of their dock staff were helping with the bags. By the end of the week we would learn the dock staff were the nicest group of guys you could meet. They helped us dock and cast off every day, getting us dry seat cushions and minnows. They commiserated and celebrated and always had the decency to not laugh at our mishaps in front of us. They delivered our luggage to our room for us and our cabin was everything we could want in a lodge. Cedar walls, quilts, comfy chairs, a flush toliet and shower.
We sorted ourselves out and went fishing. We booked a guide for the day and his name was Ethan. We wanted a guide because we didn’t know the lake, and I have never really fished much so I wanted all the help we could get. Esgamani is a giant lake, with many channels. Ethan took us to several different spots. The first fish was caught by Max! It was a small walleye.
Chris caught the next one and all told we caught about 8 walleye and 2 pike.
Chris caught a little tree branch the water, it was very disappointing. Max was equally disappointed when he caught the same stick a few minutes later. When Chris caught the stick for the 3rd time we left it in the boat.
Ethan made us a “shore lunch” which is our morning catch cooked on a campfire, along with potatoes/onions and beans warmed up in the can. It was delicious. He also taught Max how to clean a fish- life skills!
Afternoon was pike fishing. Chris caught a couple and we got back on time for dinner. Dinner at the lodge was assigned seating. We were sitting with Rob (from London, ON) and Kim and Todd from Ohio. They asked how we did and we said “terrific” and they were so impressed because they had slow days, only catching around 20 each. We looked at each other and came to a silent understanding that we wouldn’t talk numbers. We only caught about 12 between us. These were hard core, experienced fisher-people! After dinner I was asleep within about 8 minutes, and Chris and Max played a quick game of monopoly and followed suit.
For the sake of an accurate record I will report that I didn’t catch a single fish. I didn’t even catch the branch!!
Update: Max just read the blog and shared that I missed a crucial detail, just so everyone knows (especially Chris) Max won the monopoly game. 🙂