Zup'in Canada - Part 10

Bugs

            This trip was not like the one I had taken fourteen years ago when it came to bugs. I only was bit by one hateful fly, which I already mentioned. And, as for mosquitoes, it was relatively mild. It was probably because we were covered in 98% deet, and were glowing fluorescent green to anyone looking from off shore. I will say it kept the bugs off of us. Of course, there was the ever daring or starving mosquito who decided to come in for a bite or a meal. The deet didn’t deter them.

            One night, Tommy wanted to stay up a little later, and I was willing to test out the deet. As the sun was setting, and we were fishing, you could hear the rumble of the hordes coming. It was as if a freight train was heading towards us. In the pitch black, I could hear them swarming my head – at a consistent distance all around.

            I turned my flashlight on and was in awe. There had to be over fifty or more of them hovering around me deciding on whether to stay away or danger the deet and come through. Like I said, not many did, and it was bearable. What was unbearable was the sound, so we ventured to the other side of the island where there were less of them since we weren’t in the cove area.

            After a while, Tommy’s lure got caught on a rock. We had to climb into the canoe and unhook it. We ended up climbing through brush and weeds. Luckily, this time, I did not catch poison ivy. Tommy, however caught a tick on his thigh, and I caught a tick on the side of my ass. Our grandfather helped us get them both out. Tommy noticed his when he woke up in the morning. I noticed mine when we were bathing later on the sandbar beach area.

            Besides those incidents, I think we usually made it inside before the bugs came out in force. The sun didn’t really go down until 10 PM anyway, and it rose at 5 AM. That was a great time to sleep and avoid the bugs. 

Zup'in Canada - Part 9

Weather

            The weather was a little hot. The way the tents were set up and the island was situated did not allow for the breeze to flow through. The days were hot under the sun, and the nights were hot inside the tent. A couple of nights, it was cool. However, the main perception was that it was hot – but not as hot as Florida.

            One night a thunderstorm blew through. There was a ton of lightning and thunder rumbling through the wilderness. The animals were quiet, and the rain was coming into the window of the tent on my side. I reluctantly closed it, because that meant less cool air from the outside rain. This was the one night I didn’t need the white noise of my Uncle Keith’s sleep-aid-breathing machine that keeps him from snoring. And, believe me, it works. The one night he didn’t have it - because his machine’s battery uncharged - Keith snored like the thunder of the storm.

Zup'in Canada - Part 8

Fishing

            Overall, fishing was ok. I wouldn’t say it was great, but it was not horrible. I think overall I caught fifteen fish. Tommy caught the most, but he also had his fishing pole in the water the most. Whether it was on a boat or off the camp shore, he was fishing or doing something. I guess at thirteen you get bored easily. If he wasn’t fishing, he was throwing rocks into the water, peeling bark off trees, or canoeing out into the middle of the lake to get water for later use. He was always moving around, but it seems he had a blast. He was either smiling or looking serious. And the seriousness was only when he was trying to catch a fish.

Rene finally stopped being skunked on the third day. She finally decided to listen to me on how to set a hook. Previously, she had plenty of bites, but never landed a fish. On the third or fourth day, she landed a whopper – I think 32 inches. It was in the protected limit, so we had to throw it back.

            Actually, we threw most every fish back. No one seemed to want to eat any. So, one day, after one of the fish Rene caught died, we started keeping them. Lori wouldn’t keep hers on principle, but would eat some later if we caught enough. As a result, Uncle Keith didn’t keep his either. By the end of the day though, we had enough to fry up. Beer battered and all, the fish filets were good. The only problem was all of the y-bones. Once I got the hang of it, it was easy to find them. Before that though, I accidentally swallowed one. Luckily the bones were flimsy, and it didn’t get stuck in my throat.

            The last day, Rene and I got stuck on rocks in the boat. The one and only time it happened while I was driving the boat. Uncle Keith accidentally air jumped one day over a rock, scratching the motor and the rock he jumped over. I only hit the plastic trolling motor on a little rock. The reason we ended up on the rocks was Rene’s fault.

            As we were floating towards and inlet of rocks and grass, she thought she caught a fish. Then she thought she didn’t, so I put down the trolling motor to get us out of there. Then Rene changed her mind and did have a fish. She pulled it close to the boat as I tried to maneuver the motor and the net. I got the fish on the boat then tried to watch the motor. Rene refused to unhook the fish due to the pike’s teeth. I tried to unhook it, but it was deep in its throat. In the end, the fish had died, and we were on the rocks. If I had known the fish was going to die, I would have made sure the boat was off the rocks. But, in the end, a life is more precious than some plastic and aluminum rubbing on some rocks.

            The entire trip, no one caught a walleye. Well, Lori might have caught one, but they weren’t sure. I think she got it up beside the boat, but it kicked the hook. I also think my grandfather was disappointed he didn’t catch any walleye. He was partnered with Tommy, and Tommy didn’t like the slow monotony of trolling the bottom. He liked casting and my grandfather knew it. So he humored his grandson and missed out on the walleye.

Zup'in Canada - Part 7

Day Portage

            The next morning we all decided to take a portage to an inland lake. We were told by Mark that it would be a half mile trek up a hill and half mile trek down the hill. He said it wasn’t easy, but there was a canoe and two motor boats waiting at the lake.

            We didn’t know how much of a trek it was going to be, so we planned on taking our two canoes in over the portage. Boy were we wrong. Once we got there, I wasn’t even sure if my grandfather would make it up and down the hill. So I went up first to check it out. What I found was a very rocky, steep hill surrounded by tons and tons of bugs. I went back down to tell everyone to deet up and asked my grandfather if he wanted to still try, because it wasn’t going to be easy.

            Replaced hip and all, he nodded yes and started walking. I followed behind him keeping my hand on the small of his back during various times. Needless to say, he did well and made it. All of us were a bit worn out from the portage, so I could only imagine how my grandfather felt – let alone knowing he had to do it again in a couple of hours.

            We untied the boats and canoe, climbed in and started fishing. It was a hot day, and little to no fish were caught. We tried fishing the bottom, but all we did was catch rocks. I didn’t catch a fish the entire time on the lake, but did catch one later that evening at camp – one of the biggest caught so far for the trip. However, at the inland lake, we decided to find the flat area on the shore in order to jump in, cool off, and bathe.

            The water was very cold, but refreshing. The rocky bottom was algae covered. So instead of walking in, I basically surfed in trying to avoid stubbing my toe on one of the larger rocks littering the bottom. We all washed up in the cold water, then stood on the shore for a while drying off. It was there that I got my one and only bite by a giant fly. It hurt like hell and welted. The mark didn’t go away until a few days after the trip.

            After everyone was done drying off and changed back out of their bathing suits, we portaged back to our boats. The portage this time didn’t seem as bad since I knew what to expect. However, I think it took a toll on my body and everyone else’s, because after catching my two pike for the day and eating a wonderful dinner, I was beat. I had to be tired, because, once again, I slept through the night mildly tossing and turning.

Zup'in Canada - Part 6

Wilkins Bay – Island Tent Camp

            We woke up early in order to eat breakfast and use a real toilet for the last time. After that, our gear was packed into three motor boats – two boats held two people, the third boat held three. My Grandfather and Cousin Tommy went in one boat. My Uncle Keith and his daughter, my cousin, Lori went in the second boat. My Uncle Bob, Rene, and I went in the third boat. We followed a few of the dock boys (who had all of the supplies and food we would need) to our island tent camp. We docked on the shore, unloaded our gear and tackle, and set up camp.

            The camp consisted of three tents. One tent was for Grandpa Joe and Uncle Bob – the two tallest of the group. Lori and Rene occupied the triangle tent. Keith, Tommy, and I slept in the middle tent. The tents had a cot and a sleeping pad for each person causing the tent I was in to have no room whatsoever to move around in. The others were packed tightly, but not as tight as we were.

            There were two grills to cook food on – and the food they left for us was delicious and plentiful. We definitely did not have to worry about running out of food. In fact, at the end of the trip, Lori, Rene, and I took some stuff home with us – Kool Aide, oatmeal, tea, coffee. The only hard part about the food situation was the drinking water. No one wanted to drink out of the lake itself, so Uncle Bob brought a portable filtration system that you could pump the water through. The water wasn’t delicious and it was very soft, but it did the trick and no one got sick.

            We even had our own friendly squirrel on our island. Seems, some of the small creatures migrated there during the winter when the lakes were frozen, but then got stuck when they melted. They were friendly, as squirrels usually are – constantly looking for food or barking from the trees.

            There was other wild life out there during the days and throughout the nights. I heard many a loon’s call, whistling elk, and howling wolves. At times it seemed as if they were talking to each other, and at others it merely seemed like they were talking over each other. One day I caught a small frog, and one night Tommy and I caught a toad. I only spotted one deer the entire time we were on the lakes. However, we did see fish, and that was the reason we all came up there in the first place. To camp, fish, and get away from everything in the real world.

            After the camp was prepared, we set up the reels and poles, put the tackle in the boats, and started up the motors to fish. Once again, everyone went in the same boats they started in with the same people. Bob, Rene, and I headed out. We started out close to our camp. Bob caught a couple of fish – two northern pike I believe, but then we received no bites. It decided to rain on us for less than half of an hour, but we were prepared with our rain gear. After the short shower, we decided we were going to go to the other side of Zup’s and try a spot over there where Mark - the owner of Zup’s (he is the original owner’s son I am told) - had marked on the map for us before we headed out that morning. Bob was driving, Rene was in the middle, and I was at the front.

            Driving over the water, my uncle gunned it. The wind whipped against my face as my brimmed fishing hat bent from the force. We held on, bouncing over the little waves and the wakes of other boats. We cruised around little islands and through inlets until we came to a small cove area. We opted to fish there.

We caught some fish – all smallmouth bass – and tossed them back to nature. I have never eaten smallmouth bass, but from what Bob and Keith say from past Canada trips, I don’t want to eat it if I have a choice. The sun was beating down on us; we were getting hungry, so we decided to head back to camp. Again, the ride back was fun. We docked at our island and climbed up the trail. Everyone else was there and we had a late lunch.

            I think we went back out after that to go fishing again, but I caught no fish. For the first day, I caught two smallmouth bass. At least I wasn’t skunked like Rene had been, but to her defense, she didn’t know how to set a hook – which she finally learned on the third day. Everyone else caught something the first day – whether it was northern pike or smallmouth bass.

            We ate a big dinner. I can’t remember what we had on what particular day at what particular meal. However, I do know we had hot dogs, sausage, hamburgers, steak, lunch meat, salami, eggs, hash browns, oatmeal, coffee, orange juice, and more. My cousin Tommy got the nickname “Garbage Disposal” since he ate whatever was leftover. I can’t blame him. When I was thirteen I ate like a horse too. He’s a growing boy, but man. At night, after the food had started through his digestive system, he would let out roaring farts – some causing the squirrels to cry for mercy and the wolves to howl in fear.

            That night was a bit uncomfortable sleeping on a cot without a pillow. However, I must have been tired, because I don’t remember much tossing and turning until later on during the trip.

Zup'in Canada - Part 5

Zup’s Resort

            Zup’s was pleasant to the eye. It looked like a camping resort. A giant lodge, small cabins placed around the area, a shower room, garage / storage area, tons of aluminum and fiberglass canoes, motor boats, and of course, two dogs – one young, one old – both yellow labs. The entire time we spent there, the young dog wanted to play fetch – on land, but mainly in the water. He was good at it, and we all thought he’d be a great hunting dog.

            When we arrived and checked in, it was dinner time. We all sat down to a giant meal of salad, steak with mushrooms, French fries, a vegetable, and lemonade or iced tea. It was too much to eat, and I don’t think anyone finished their entire plate, but I could be mistaken.

            After dinner, we were shown to our cabin. It was big and could sleep ten. There were four bedrooms – two with two beds, two with three beds. There were two bathrooms. That was it. There were portable fans to keep us cool and a fridge if we needed one. We all took our gear to our rooms and settled in for the evening.

            Everyone knew it would be an early night. We enjoyed the outside on benches downstairs from our cabin. It was hot in the cabin rooms so we sat, chatted, and played fetch with the yellow lab, who I think was named Dawson. My grandfather and Uncle Bob smoked a cigar. My sister and I smoked a few Winston cigarettes. My sister and I had packed a bottle of Jim Beam, and Uncle Bob had stopped off on our way up and bought some Jose Cuervo. We took a few shots, laughed a little telling stories, then waited for the sun to go down and the bugs to come out. It was time for bed. In the morning we would be heading to our tent camp on an island in Wilkins Bay – Ontario, Canada.

Zup'in Canada - Part 4

Scott’s Transport

            Scott’s sat on Crane Lake. It wasn’t only a transport. It seemed it also owned land and sold lots based on the signs I saw amongst whatever else this mysterious Scott did. The lots all ran over $300,000 – much more than a humble teacher can afford. We unloaded all of our gear and tackle then waited for our turn to be taken into Canada via boat. Last time we road a giant bus, and we went through a different outfitter. This time, instead of driving through Dawson’s Portage on a bouncy 45 minute drive, we were going to be boating it – and they had an interesting way of portaging the boat from lake to lake which I’ll get to in a minute.

            The people at Scott’s piled all our gear into the jet boat and we were off. Our first stop was at Canadian customs. We had the appropriate identification, and it took a whole five minutes for all of us to be back in the boat. The kid driver was a crazy fool. He had to of driven this passage many of times, because he was cruising through little inlets and taking giant sweeping turn around bends.

            We drove to the end of one lake and got out. The driver hitched a chain to the front of the boat and loaded it onto the platform. The boat was pulled over land on railroad tracks to the next lake. It was an interesting set up. Walking over the short portage was much easier and more pleasant than portaging in a vehicle after spending three days on the road in a mini-van. We had one more portage like this to go through then we would be at our destination for the evening.

            The kid driver took us all the way into Zup’s. The dock boys unloaded all of our gear and told us to leave it on the dock. They would put all of it up by the cabin we would be staying the night in.