Going fishing this summer for the first time in almost a decade!

[ConcernedCanuk]

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Here's the view from a campsite I created.



I'm on the Ontario side,

we are looking at the Quebec side across the Ottawa River.

Did I do good?

CC

[pinboy3niner]

1. You did good

Lovely pic! Have fun fishing! It can be a lot of fun whether you catch anything or not, but I suspect you're going to have some good eating.

[ConcernedCanuk]

3. Nobody ever camps there, river is full of fish,

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Bass, Walleye(pickerel), Northern Pike

Can catch 2 days worth of fish in less than 2 hours right off the shore.

And that's my view as I sit beside my campfire eating the fish I just caught.

The main reason I decided to retire up here.

I luv the camping/fishing thing.

CC

[pinboy3niner]

11. You had me at bass

Fresh-caught bass fried on the lakershore was one of the most memorable meals I've ever had. Of course, my catching it might have had something to do with it.

You have a lovely setting there--but you may not want to advertise it too much. The last thing you need is hordes of people joining you there.

Have fun there this summer and be sure and post more pics. We'll look forward to it!

[ConcernedCanuk]

13. I always have clean it out, cut grass and all

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Can't even see the fire-pit I built without cutting the grass and stuff down.

Can't put a motorboat in there, so most fisher people wouldn't even think of it.

I ain't new at this.

CC

[Scuba]

23. Keep the walleye and perch. Throw everything else back. Throw back any walleye over 20" ...

... eat the rest, up to your limit of course.

I prefer to very lightly bread my filets in bread crumbs and lightly sautee them in olive oil. Just get 'em hot.

Yummy.

Oh yeah, jig and half a crawler, right on the bottom. Use the smallest jig you can keep on the bottom. I dress mine with a tiny plastic tail, a big gob of worm, and cast it as far as I can (not far as it's light). Let line spool free, giving the jig time to sink to the bottom.

Then slowly bounce it back until it's right under you. When you feel a light tap, set the hook.

Happy dining.

[ConcernedCanuk]

24. Throw everything else back?

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Did ya miss the part where my favorite fish is Bass?

and throw back the Northern Pike?

I'm confused.

Did you read the whole thread?

I don't do fillet, either,

cook the whole fish.

CC

[Scuba]

25. You can filet the Y-bone out of a northern and the filets are good to eat ...

... but once the fish gets too big it tastes, well, fishy.

Smallmouth Bass are fun to catch, great fighters. But they don't taste so good.

[ConcernedCanuk]

27. Ya never cooked Bass the way I do

Last edited Tue Apr 23, 2013, 11:56 AM - Edit history (1)

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You lose much of the juices, which taste quite meaty if you do not filet them.

I figured that out decades ago, that's why I cook them the way I do.

Most of the flavor comes from that wee layer beneath the skin/scales.

All that is gone if you filet them.

Sorta like potatoes - why does a baked potato taste so much better than a peeled one?

Because much of the flavor (and the nutrition) is in that wee layer we like to peel off.

Even when I want mashed potatoes, the skin stays on!

CC

[Scuba]

28. Ah, I understand.

Enjoy your trip, catch lots of fish.

[ConcernedCanuk]

29. Should mention one other thing.

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Bass don't taste good if ya freeze it and eat it later.

The only way I found to enjoy eating Bass is right out of the river/lake.

Freeze it, it ain't the same at all.

Pickerel, aka Walleye tastes good even after being frozen.

but ya just can't beat the taste of fresh!

CC

[Scuba]

30. I'm a confessed walleye bigot!

But then I live on the edge of one of the best walleye fisheries in the world - no minimum length limit, daily limit of 5, open year round.


http://www.lake-link.com/Wisconsin-Lake-Finder/lake.cfm/1490/Lake-Winnebago/

[lastlib]

34. Colorado rainbow Trout is my preferred eatin'.......

slow-cooked with the skin on---finger-LICKIN'!!

[ConcernedCanuk]

38. Speckles mostly up here trout-wise.

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and we cook them just like that, buttered up in a frypan,

seem to taste better when cooked on shore over a wee wood fire.

Well, for one thing -

they be FRESH!

CC

[olddots]

2. yes you did

what kind of fish are you after ?

I haven't gone fishing for 40 long years but all you catch within 200 miles of here you wouldn't want to eat

[In_The_Wind]

17. Toxic fish ... you say!

Damn! We have spoiled so many things.

[HarveyDarkey]

4. Looks better than good

I'd pitch a tent there and just spend at least a week just enjoying the view, and I'm an avid fisherman. I'm guessing Walleye. Smallmouth, Northern Pike & maybe the occasional Muskie. Do you have a boat or will you be bank fishing?

[ConcernedCanuk]

5. I spent 10 WEEKS there summer 2004.

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Bank fishing - no one fishes there. Too shallow for boats, rocks all over the place.

Walleye. Small-mouth, Northern Pike - catch them right off the shore.

2 hours fishing, I got enough fish for 2 days food, throwing back what I don't want.

Had a 4x4 with a slide-in camper on it, still got the 4x4, gotta buy a new camper.

Here's a view from behind the camper facing the Ottawa river

[HarveyDarkey]

6. Oh yeah, I just had a mental fishing/camping orgasm

I could deal with that. Have you considered a kayak? Shallow draft, increases the opportunities. Nothing better eating than fresh Walleye IMO.

[ConcernedCanuk]

8. , congrats on ur orgasm.

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Quite happy to stay on shore

close to everything, beer cooler being one of them.

so just do a lazy drinkin' fish thing, no worries about being on the water with booze in it -

yup, doesn't have to be motorized,

ya can get nailed for booze on a raft up here!

besides, I can catch way more on shore than I can eat or store in a few hours.

Not afraid of the water at all though,

good swimmer, and when I get a water craft,

my choice would be a canoe, been paddling them around since I was 14.

CC

[HarveyDarkey]

10. No need for congrats, it was just mental, not real LOL

A canoe would have been my second choice, don't need motors. It's just nice to get away from shore, different fishing techniques to practice & all, but I'd be perfectly happy just bank fishing too, especially if it was good beer in the cooler. Good luck & good fishing. I don't have to tell you to enjoy yourself because I know you will, but I'll say it anyway, ENJOY YOURSELF!!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. My dear ConcernedCanuk!

The view alone looks wonderful, and if you can catch all that fish...well, that's a huge bonus!

Have a wonderful, relaxing time...

[ConcernedCanuk]

9. ?? - "if you can catch all that fish" - no "if" about it.

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I'll post time-stamped pix in the fall of what I caught,

here's how I cook em - this pic is in the same place on the Ottawa river



CC

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. That looks wonderful!

OK...no IF about it!

Have a great time!

[patricia92243]

12. Beautiful. Is this close to your new home? n/t

[ConcernedCanuk]

15. yup - about a lazy 3/4 hour drive

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1/2 hour closer than where I am now, at a motel unit on the other side of town which is where I'm staying while the bush road to my new home dries up.

My home is on a non-maintained road, so is pretty much impassable each spring during the thaw.

Drive to my camping spot is through nice country with almost no dwellings or businesses to spoil the view.

road follows the Ottawa River most of the way,

Ottawa River being the border between eastern Ontario and Western Quebec.

CC

[In_The_Wind]

16. It looks absolutely wonderful!

IMO: You did very well!

[ConcernedCanuk]

18. Here's a pic from the water looking at my camping spot

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I'm a few miles down-river from a hydro dam.

Water level changes constantly, depending on the dam's needs.

This is about mid-level, water rises up as far as that little black stool.

I sit on that stool to clean my fish on an old cutting board.

CC

[ConcernedCanuk]

20. My best friend (now passed away) showed me this spot around 2002

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The water level was at about the level in the pic in Post #18 when HE discovered it,

years before that.

He had a new 12 foot flat bottom boat with a wee 9hp engine on it.

First time he was there, did his fishing in the boat thing, dragged the boat way up on the sand,

but in the morning the water had risen,

and his boat was GONE.

Pic below shows how high the water gets,

once saw it almost to the fire-pit.






Bryan was a smart man, knew the river well,

had maps and all so he went walking down the shoreline and 3 hours later

He found it!

Bryan was trying to think of a name for his boat, problem solved.

SKOOTER!

cuz it scooted away in the middle of the night.

Later, I nick-named my camping spot "Skooter Harbor"

CC

[femmocrat]

19. How peaceful!

That view alone could restore one's soul. Sounds like you are having a wonderful time!

[ConcernedCanuk]

21. A link to a fish story (mine), with pix at this same campsite.

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http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018371473

CC

[EvilAL]

22. I fished on the Ottawa

in the early 90's when I lived in Kanata, Ont. I can't remember how far we went, but we caught some nice fish.
If you ever get down to the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec, and find yourself on the south side you should try to get out for some atlantic salmon fishing. I live on the Restigouche River and it is renowned for it's salmon pools. Most tributaries are excellent for sea trout and atlantic salmon as well.

[ConcernedCanuk]

31. Camped on the Gaspe Peninsula decades ago.

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My father took all us 4 kids, plus our family dog on 5 week camping trips to the East coast for 7 years in a row.

Sometimes we traveled through the northern states, sometimes on the Canadian side.

Did the Cabot trail, even PEI before there was a causeway - went over by ferry.

But we always hit the coast, doing Fundy National Park 2 years in a row.

Wonder why I love camping . . .

CC

[EvilAL]

32. Nice, you were probably though here at one point or other.

Northern New Brunswick on one side, Quebec on the other, where the peninsula opens up into the Bay of Chaleur. I live about 2 kms from where the fresh meats the salt.. The snow Geese showed up the other day, we get thousands of them in the salt/freshwater marshes in front of my house as they fuel up for the trip up north.

[ConcernedCanuk]

26. Adding my link to "A fish story, with pix"

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Pictures and narrative of a Northern Pike I caught many years ago,

at that same campsite on the Ottawa River

from fresh to the frying pan.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018371473

CC

[gejohnston]

33. looks great

good luck. Be sure to fill us in on "the one that got away".

[ConcernedCanuk]

35. What can ya say about the "one that got away"?

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oh yeah - one could say it was "HUGE"!!

Can't say that, BUT - I can tell ya about a Northern Pike that got me!

(he's the one hangin on the clothesline that ended up in the fire, then the frying pan).

It was a lazy fishing day off that outcrop of rocks shown in one of my pix.

OH yeah, beer was involved.

Already caught a few mid-sized bass, more than enough for a day or two,

Just started to stand up, when this Northern (which was rare in this spot) and that Pike hit my line.

I was off balance and he dragged me over the rocks into the water, - I refused to let go.

Once I got stabilized, he was pretty easy to reel in.

My best friend was by the campers on shore, laughed his brains out!

He actually saw that Northern heading for my line just under the surface and hit it.

I ATE HIM (the fish, not my friend)

CC

[gejohnston]

37. cool story

Bro

[lindysalsagal]

36. Try not to get a hook stuck in your eye

(Well, he/she said it's been 10 years.)

[baldguy]

39. .