Kag 2010 #19 - South River

Steve and Sean in the South River preparing to do battle with Northern Pike there.

Kag 2010 #18 - Labs

Had 2 great black labs at camp, providing much entertainment. Got one to stop jumping into the lake after a stick long enough to take this picture with Joe.

Kag 2010 #17 - Cabin Interior #4

Joe educating Frank on exactly how to finesse in a big walleye.

Kag 2010 #16 - Interior #3

Kag Cabin #1 Bathroom. Shower, toilet, sink. Can't beat that for roughing it.

Kag 2010 #15 - Cabin Interior #2

Kag Cabin #1 Kitchen. Had everything we needed and everything worked great. Each cabin had a propane grill on the deck also.

Kag 2010 #14 - Cabin Interior

Stayed in Cabins #1 and 2. Very nice and comfortable. Only burned a fire in the woodstove the first morning and never needed it again.

Kag 2010 #13 - Fish cleaning

Crede, Frank, and Scott manned the fishcleaning shed. Had fried walleye 3 times during the week and foil-grilled walleye twice.

Kag 2010 #12 - Food

We went with the housekeeping plan, so we were on our own re: cooking. We did pretty well. Steve and Scott were grillmasters for the week.

Kag 2010 #11 - More walleye

Did pretty well with the walleye all week. Here is Steve with a typical Kag 'eye.

Kag 2010 #10 - Ling

For the last 15 years, whenever Joe has told someone he is going fishing in Canada they have always asked, "What are you fishing for?". "Ling," has been the reply. So wouldn't you know that it would be Dan who would finally put the elusive ling into the boat while fishing Old Cabin Point. Joe took it very well - only setting his pole down and refusing to fish for about 20 minutes - before he was back in the game. Per official family records, the last successful Hiestand ling boating occurred almost 46 years prior to this one.

Kag 2010 #9 - Lake Trout

Never intentionally fished for lake trout in Canada before and didn't this time either. Crede and Joe drifted a little far out while fishing 3 Sisters and Crede hooked into a decent fish. After about a 20 minute battle Joe successfully got the net on it. A nice 22 incher. Then the debate began. Joe thought it was a short/fat pike (with no teeth apparently). Crede favored some sort of walleye/pike hybrid (rejecting all known biology). In order to be certain, Crede tasted the fish's scales, and then changed his vote to toothless short fat pike also. Eventually cooler heads ("sanity") prevailed and the proper I.D. of lake trout was made.

Kag 2010 #8 - Northern Pike

Fished a little for pike in the south end of the lake and into the South River. Didn't catch any over 38" but once again, Scott had the hot hand.

Kag 2010 #7 - Walleye

Sean with a nice walleye. We caught most of our walleyes in 15-22 feet of water. Jig and a tail, leech, minnow, crawler, salted minnow. All seemed to work well. Scott also used some crankbaits to put some in the boat, just to show me that he could.

Kag 2010 #6 - Fishing

Had good numbers and decent sizes of fish. Fished primarily for walleye. Best spots : Frying Pan Island north shore and south reef, Old Cabin Point, 3 Sister north shore, shore lunch island with Dale. Scott did well on a trip out the Kag drainage towards the Opichuan River.

Kag 2010 #5 - Boats

Boats were 14 ft. Lunds with 15 HP Mercs. Padded swivel seats, emergency kits, and minnow buckets provided. We brought our own depth finders.

Kag 2010 #4 - Lodge/Cabins

Stayed in Cabins #1 (Dan, Joe, Crede, Frank) and #2 (Steve, Sean, David, Scott). Full kitchen, Indoor plumbing, Propane grill, full linens, wood stove. Made a fire in the woodstove the first morning. It was the only time we used the woodstove.

Kag 2010 #3 - Fly In

Gear came in at 15 lbs per person under weight. Flight left Nakina approx. 12:00 Noon. A nice easy flight in with a nice landing.

Kag 2010 #2 - Leuenbergers

Up early Saturday 6/12/2010. On the road by 6:00AM. Arrived at Nakina at 9:45 AM. Claudine Leuenberger issued us our conservation licenses and 3 - year cards while Malcolm put us thru the rigorous boat safety course.

Kag 2010 #1 - Travel Up

Left Powell, OH at 8:00AM 6/11/2010. Steve Hiestand and Dan Hiestand in Jan's SUV and Frank Hiestand, David Hiestand, Scott Minard, and Sean McIntyre in Frank's SUV. Met up with Joe Hiestand and Crede Hiestand at the Arby's in Flint, MI at 11:30AM. Little to no construction delay in Michigan. Sault Ste. Marie border crossing took less than 10 minutes. Stopped in SSM, ON at the LCBO, Wendy's, Beer Store, and The Trading Post (2 lb. of leeches, flat of crawlers). On to the Northstar Centre Inn in Hornepayne, ON. Arrived at 10:45 PM. Saw 2 bear and 2 moose along 631 on the way up.

March Updates

We currently have 10 anglers signed up for "The Big Adventure." If you look a couple of posts down, move Frank Hiestand from "?????" to "In". Move Matt Hiestand from "In" to "Out". Apparently his arm muscles still haven't recovered from reeling in all of those fish on his latest trip to the French River.

I talked to Malcolm Leuenberger. He says the cabins have 24 hour electricity (for recharging cameras, etc.).

I will be posting and emailing more details as well as packing lists and "trip assignments" soon.

Kag 2010 Bunk and Boat Assignments

Good news! Canadian Master Angler Crede Hiestand has once again decided to accompany us on our 2010 expedition to northern Ontario. He did, however, make a couple of requests which I elected to honor. 1st - He will get to choose his bunk before the rest of you non-Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame inductees. 2nd - He would like to be assigned a good boat captain. As "good" can sometimes be difficult to quantify, I have agreed to assign him "best available" and hope that it all works out. In other news, I will be calling Leuenbergers in the next week with a number of questions....just to make sure we are on the same page. You will need to bring a lifejacket with you. I will post on this blog and email everyone once I have all the info.

Food planning is 90% completed. More info to follow. Also working on a new salted minnow recipe for optimal lunker action. (Note - the salted minnow recipe is NOT part of the aforementioned food planning.)