Sashihaw Reloaded

Another year goes by and the same gang as last year (minus our Scottish friend, Alan) heads north to Sashihaw Lake once more.  The gang heads up to Gravenhurst on Thursday to save a couple of hours of driving on Friday.  We met up with Marc, and were able to reminisce about our past fishing expeditions over a couple of Black & Tans.  Marc was able to give us an update of his activities, and show us his latest photo album.  Hopefully he will be able to return on one of our trips.

A storm during the previous week left snapped trees, and downed power lines littered along the highway.  It was an interesting ride north with some concerns that there might not be electricity where we were going for lunch.  Well, we think we have solved the Sudbury dilemma.  We can completely avoid the city by getting off on Highway 17 westbound, and then go north on 144.  The highway intersects at Chelmsford where we grab a bite of lunch before moving on.

After lunch, we make our way north.  With the help of maps found on the Internet, we were able to get a good idea of how to get into Sashihaw Lake.  Instead of taking the Unit road north from Gogama, we decided to drive a little further north on 144 before we hit the dirt road.  About 45 km from Gogama, we found the turnoff and headed west.  It was another 28 km in before we found the camp.

We met Eddie at the camp and were able to get settled in pretty quickly.  Ben and Fred take the middle camp while the rest of the gang sets up in the main camp.  Andre and Richard showed up to greet the gang.  This year's challenge was target shooting with a .22 caliber rifle fitted with a scope.  It may appear simple at first glance, but the real challenge was to remain steady when the crosshairs were dancing all over the target.  That was fun. 

We had brought a smoker to try something different this year.  After assembling the unit, we lit her up, and threw the steaks on.  After taking a closer look at the instructions, we noted that beef would take 4 or 5 hours to cook.  Spark up the barbecue....   We also brought along a deep fryer which we used for french fries.

We fished Sashihaw on Saturday, where Pete caught his first 'decent' walleye since he joined the FishingPals team.  Lots of pike to report, and some even made it to the deep fryer.  Ron's curry chicken dinner was slated for Saturday night.  One of this year's surprises was cooking a chunk of bear meat.  Andre was able to secure a big piece of meat, which we put on the barbecue for a few hours.  Although some some say that cooking bear is a hit-and-miss type of experience, I would have to say that we had a definite hit.  It tasted pretty good as well as it was able to last as sandwiches for our Sunday excursion. 

On Sunday, Eddy L and his son, Adam joined the crew for a day trip to Whalsom Lake.  We headed out there with a few canoes and tried our luck on a hot, sunny day.  As you may have suspected, we found that the lake was full of fish.  They seemed to bite well in the morning, but slowed down after lunch.  However, I think that you may find that with a little more time, we would have been able to find a few more hotspots on that lake.  We had to cut the day short and head back to camp.  No problem catching our limit on that lake!  Andrew ended up catching the biggest bass that day, as well as cashing in on the jackpot.

While Pete was working on his chili dinner that night, we were able to clean all of the fish with the extra hands on deck.  Some deep fried fish always goes well to compliment our meals.  Some of the gang head into town for the night, while the rest of us keep the fire burning at the camp.

We woke up to rain on Monday, so our start was a little delayed.  Ben was raring to go so he got all of his rain gear ready.  The rain didn't seem to make much of a difference for the fish, but we were still able to catch a few.  The euchre and Sequence tournament begins...  Guy showed up in the afternoon to pick Richard up.  Fred's spaghetti dinner was underway...

After the morning fish on Tuesday, we decided to give the horseshoe pits a try.  We'll have to work out some teams next year.  Ben's Steamed Fish dinner was on, which turned out great as always.  Post dinner cigars were smoked, and the night was spent with the mosquitoes and toads by the campfire.

We packed our gear and cleaned up the camp Wednesday morning.  Our frozen fish were placed into coolers and transported to the city.  It began raining as we left, and it turned into a pretty wet ride as the day progressed.  We stopped at the Hungry Bear for a little lunch before heading in our separate directions home.  It was a pretty successful trip, with fun had by all.  The FishingPals would like to extend a special thanks to Andre and Eddy for the use of their camp once more.  Also, thanks to Ed, Richard and Adam for their help and assistance as guides for our day trip at Whalsom, as well as for all the help around the camp.  Looking forward to next year already...

Order this year's DVD at the FishingPals Online store!