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Thunder Bay Chronicles
The
Thunder Bay Chronicles
Day
5: Back to Nipigon .... the day of all days
Everything
came together. Ideal
weather conditions, a full camp, and lots of fish.
In
Minnesota, when anglers pepper unspoiled ice and return the next day
they find that they’re no longer alone.
In Ontario’s outback, in all likelihood, the area will be
as you left it. Such
was the case with Gord’s spot on the Nipigon River system.
We
arrived to low to no wind and cloudless skies.
Our practiced crew, in high spirits, loaded gear, linked Fish
Traps, and re-embarked down a trail that we pressed two days before.
Easy going.
This
was a day for walking around; hole hopping; mingling; enjoying
March’s warmer sun. Catching
fish would be a bonus, and according to the big board, we were in
the bonus round.
 A
couple of hefty lake trout were quickly iced.
And it was the Americans who shone under translucent blue
skies. A four pounder,
then a six and a seven. Brad
Dokken, Bill Schrader, and some other Yankee were hooting and
hollering about a fish. The Mikes, also representing the red, white, and blue,
sounded off from across the way.
They too had stuck a laker.
But
it was a lone gunman who put on the day’s greatest show.
Positioned 30 or 40-yards from the epicenter, a jigging
maestro worked his fishing-baton with the precision and command of a
symphony conductor, and this, possibly John Peterson’s greatest
performance.
He
summoned up one, then two, and three, four, and five lakers before
anyone knew what happened. We
started asking questions. “How
deep?” “Live or
dead bait?” “On
what?” That was the
magic question…“On what?”
John
contentedly revealed a Northland Mini Air-Plane Jig, one of his own,
and a very specific one at that.
A chartreuse and white, ˝-ounce, bucktail, Mini Air-Plane
Jig. John rummaged
through a couple of his personal tackle boxes – I knew what he was
up to. And like candy
on Halloween, he gave them away, walking from angler to angler,
grinning from ear to ear. John
was proud, but not surprised, because his lures have duped Canadian
lakers for years.
Trout
Fest 2001 was interrupted by the haunting throb of a low flying
chopper. It remained
out of sight. The
reverberations greatened, echoing off shoreline rock.
We quit talking. Heads
spun around in that Close Encounters-looking-for-the-alien-ship sort
of way. The whirlybird finally appeared, sunlight glistening off its
custom paint and graphics. We
were convinced that its pilot was a Conservation Officer dropping in
to check licenses and limits.
The
steel avis set down on our perimeter, causing my fishing line to
spin into a nest. No
one disembarked. Curiosity
grew. Then, like a rock star stepping onto the field at Wembley
Stadium was the Ministry of Natural Resource’s Lisa Brygidyr. An awesome entrance.
Senior
Fish & Wildlife Conservation Officer, Ross Johnston, piloted the
craft, and he had room to take four journalists skyward, on a tour
of incalculable acres of land and water that is preserved by
Ontario’s Living Legacy Land Use Strategy.
The Strategy is a cooperative effort amongst government
agencies, interest groups, First Nations and communities to protect
the outstanding scenic beauty and ecosystems of the area.
Mike
Seeling boarded. So did
Brad Dokken and Larry Curthoys.
Shawn Perich and I, ducking like folks always do when walking
toward an oscillating helicopter, were informed that there was only
space for one more. I gestured for Shawn to take it.
Shouting against the machine noise, Shawn asked if I’d ever
been up before. I said
no, and that’s how it was settled.
He gave me the thumbs up and turned away.
Hopefully,
Shawn wouldn’t forever be retelling the story of how fate stepped
in one day and rescued him from an Earhart-like disappearance.
I
was in, headsets on and adrenaline pumping.
The bird lifted with an unexpected smoothness.
Officer
Johnston greeted us, radioed our names to the tower – a necessary
but eerie formality – and the excursion began.
We saw endless stands of virgin timber, as well as logged and
burned out areas; rocky waterhole after rocky waterhole, which
Officer Johnston said contained native brook trout; an Outward Bound
camp complete with cross-country skiers and dogsled paths; authentic
teepees on the shores of Black Sturgeon Lake; a pair of moose.
Yes, moose. My
goal of seeing a Canadian moose was realized, and then some, when
the helicopter banked a hard left and dropped us in low.
One animal, a young bull, still hung on to a horn.
The
final leg of our tour was a shot down the Nipigon River, Apocalypse
Now-style. We sang over
the top of a hydroelectric dam, dipped, and traced the river’s
contours all the way back to the group – the highlight of my trip.
Meanwhile,
back at Camp ON ICE TOUR, the lake trout flurry continued, and so
did Team USA’s prowess. Enough
was enough. Gord and
Smeds sought to recapture the Canadian’s earlier status.
They quietly packed and mobilized.
Team Canada, along with Bro – a possible traitor? –
headed inside to shallower flat.
From afar, we watched them gather every now and then, which
generally signifies a hook-up.
Distant chants of “CA-NA-DA” were matched with
“U-S-A”. Back and
forth it went.
Team
Canada returned with tales of having caught seven fish.
Bro looked beaten. Gord claimed that during the melee Bro renounced his U.S.
citizenship and would soon be moving to Thunder Bay. I think Bro was more frazzled at having been busted off a
couple of times.
In
the end, it was difficult to determine which nation triumphed in our
friendly competition. There
was peace on the Nipigon and a meal’s worth of lakers swimming in
an ice-well, many having been released.
The day’s top catch was Chris Kuduk’s 30-incher.
The
last snowmobile disappeared into the forest, soon, even the faint
hum of its engine dissipated. The
silence was numbing. Ravens
cut along the tops of jack pines and spruce.
I removed my helmet just to take it all in.
I could have stood there forever.
Gord
and his banana-machine came back to pick me up.
Tomorrow,
walleyes.
Webmaster’s
notes:
Noel Vick is a freelance outdoor writer and member of ON ICE TOUR. meadowlark@uswest.net
Special
thanks to:
-
Bill
Lindner Photography (651) 487-0586, www.blpstudio.com
-
The Best Western Nor’Wester
Resort Hotel, located on Highway 61 in Thunder Bay, Ont.
They can be reached at 1-888-473-BEST (2378) or www.norwester.net
-
Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources Great Lakes Heritage Coast
Project
(807) 475-1274, www.mnr.gov.on.ca and www.ontarioslivinglegacy.com
-
Sleeping Giant Taxidermy & Bait
(807) 622-9989
-
Old
Fort William
(807) 473-2344, www.oldfortwilliam.on.ca/homepage.html
-
CANUSA
Travel Information Network (807)
475-3035, www.gottagonorth.com
-
The
Neebing Road House
(restaurant & tavern) on Highway 61, across from the Best
Western
-
Nor’Wester Resort Hotel (807) 475-0792
-
Airlane
Catering
(Travel Lodge) (807)
473-1607
-
Wisk-Air
(helicopter service) (807)
475-4510
Tight Lines,
Noel
Vick
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