Your 1st ever Canada Trip: Where and with Who?

[bthomas3333]

For me 1978 Quetico canoeing and camping. First fly in West of Red Lake 1981.

[rockpt]

Originally Posted by hoosiercanadian

I owe my obsession with fishing in Canada to my parents, especially my dad. They started taking the family north fishing when i was a baby , myself and my 2 older brothers and an older sister . That was in 1954 , every summer we all looked forward to the fishing trip , as a kid growing up it just does not get any better . The only year i have missed up to now, was when i was like ten and we went to Yellowstone Park on a sight seeing trip, i was not happy, great once you get there , but a lot of nothing in between. I have pictures of a 1950 ford , with the trunk up setting at a road side picnic table , my mom cooking breakfast on a old white gas coleman stove , part of the adventure was getting there. I have fished all over Ontario, from Wawa and Chapleau to Nakina , to Atikoken , Savant lake , Kenora, and Lake of the Woods, and many lakes i have forgotten. Now i have a place north of Red lake , and also close to Lynn Lake Manitoba, it is a 34 hour drive from my house to there, last 200 miles is gravel, absolutely **** to get there, but heaven once you do. My dad passed away in 87 with a Ontario map beside his bed. My oldest brother who was equally obsessed passed away about ten years ago of ALS , i played a cd of loon calls set to music at his funeral, he has loons engraved on his tombstone. I have 4 daughters who i also started taking to Canada when they were babies , they still look forward to going every year and they are adults , i also have 3 grand kids , and last year i was able to get everyone up there for a week of fishing , swimming, and eating all the walleye every night that we could hold. My biggest fear right now, is hoping that that wasn't my last trip , each time i shut the door on the cabin i say man i sure hope to see you again, it's what keeps me going .

Great story. Thanks for sharing.

I was in college in Buffalo in the mid-80s and my barber, an Italian guy named Joe, always had pics on his mirror of his trips to Nipissing. He'd talk non-stop about what a great time he had up there. I didn't grow up fishing, but after hearing Joe talk up Canadian fishing for a couple years, in 1988 I and a couple of my buds drove up to Nip and stayed at Tall Pines Camp on Sandy Island at the mouth of the French River. That was the start of a lifelong passion for Canadian Shield fishing. Have made about 50 trips between Nip and LOTW, and I'm now looking to buy my first lakefront property on LOTW. Thanks Joe!

[team walleye]

My first time to Canada was in 2003. I was 19 years old. We had a fairly large group that went that year. I give the credit of introducing me to Canada to my dad and my late uncle Dave. We fished on Perrault Lake out of Rocky Shore Lodge. I’ve since been to Perrault every other year since. The “Team Walleye” name was born in 2003 on Perrault during that trip with my uncle.

[Tx Jig tyr]

1970 as a College graduation gift, my mother and I fished LOW for a week. (father passed away when I was still in H.S.) had a great time, My mother was a life long fisherman, and beat me that week too.
2nd 1st trip if you will. 2000, my son's graduation trip to Big Canon Lodge out of Vermillion Bay, he went from there to UND for his college education. We have made several returns to B.C. unfortunately, not every year.
Great thread, thanks for starting it.
Tx. Jig Tyr.

[michigan walleye guy 2.0]

My first trip to Canada was in 1984, to Wintering Lake on 599, near the Silver Dollar/Velora. My old 5th grade teacher and basketball coach, Merle Jacobson, made room for me on this memorable trip, and despite a cold, rainy week and very inadequate rain gear/clothing/equipment, I had a blast, caught a lot of walleye, and fell in love with Canada. Finishing college, beginning a new career and life, and family considerations kept me away from Canada until 1994, when I made another 7 or 8 drive-to trips to Wintering and Pakashkan.

What changed everything for me was that first fly-in to Larus Lake, in the Woodland Caribou Provincial Park, in 2001. I caught more fish in a good morning than I would have in an entire week on my previous trips. I owe another one of my old teachers, Bill Knaack, a huge thank you for that. I have never missed a single year (save for this one), and actually went on 4 Canada trips last summer. I have been lucky enough to introduce a brother and some of my good friends to this incredible experience.

Thanks for a great thread and lots of good reminisces.

[Bstar]

First trip was in 1988 to Wabaskang Lake with my wife. Keystone Lodge on Cedar had a small camp there. I don't know who owns it now. The trip was cut short by my father-in-laws passing away that week. We almost joined him when we almost hit a bull moose while driving down 502 at night. The next year we went with a bigger group to Lac Seul and continued to go there for several years. Started doing fly-ins in 1996 and that's where our passion is now. My wife continued to go on the trips with the guys until 2017 when she decided that she had enough. We have a core group of me, my two brothers and a nephew. Now we are planning a bucket list trip in 2022. Can you see the progression here? It's an addiction that has no 12 step program and that's ok with me!

[fishron]

Being the only fisherman in my family it was 1962 that I got my first wheels. A buddy and I headed north from Philadelphia on old Rt 17 in my new Corvair. No interstate back then. I had heard about a lake, Calabogie, that my brother's girlfriend's father fished.
It was a fun trip. It was years before I became part of a fishing group and started fishing Canada on a regular basis.
I really regret the many years I missed before the trips became a regular thing.

[eyecatcher1]

My wife and I took a trip every September for our anniversary. We bought a boat the spring of 1992 so decided to take a fishing trip that year. I had read about Lac Seul and a coworker had gone there that summer. The coworker didn't like where he had stayed, but brought back a brochure from Anderson's Lodge and gave it to us. We booked the trip and were hooked for life. Soon it was two or three trips every year. If we don't get there this year it will be the first time we've missed since 92.

[kettyspanky]

My first trip to Canada was whitefish lake in December fishing for Perch and walleye. I caught a 29 inch walleye and was hooked. The year was 1996. We went again in February of 1997 and then didn't go again until I bought a boat in 2014. Now we go every summer. Except maybe this year. Always a good time and hopefully we can keep doing it for a while yet.

[LoDo]

Originally Posted by Tx Jig tyr

1970 as a College graduation gift, my mother and I fished LOW for a week. (father passed away when I was still in H.S.) had a great time, My mother was a life long fisherman, and beat me that week too.
2nd 1st trip if you will. 2000, my son's graduation trip to Big Canon Lodge out of Vermillion Bay, he went from there to UND for his college education. We have made several returns to B.C. unfortunately, not every year.
Great thread, thanks for starting it.
Tx. Jig Tyr.

Go Sioux! Lived in GF from '84 to '94. My entire childhood was in GF. Pond hockey, fishing Devils lake, Bemidji, Leach Lake, LOW, etc... often. Dad worked for John Deere, was promoted several times throughout the midwest. This is how the jig and minnow became a large part of my life.