Smoke em!

[Species8472]

So the original plan was to head up to my place with a couple buddies and fish the last 2 days of the Nipissing Walleye Season (Closed March 15th). Well sometimes #[email protected]% happens. Unfortunately one buddy had a serious family emergency and had to cancel. Than yours truly got #$%^&'d by the province when they dumped a surprise 2 day audit on me at one the water treatment facilities that my company operates. Audit was fine but it happened Monday and Tuesday meaning i was not able to facilitate the trip and had to cancel on short notice on the other buddy. I hate that.

Anyways i was able to take off the morning of the 15th and lines in the water just after lunch. Was a beautiful day but with just enough wind i put the shelter up. The Nip view on the last day of the season:



Bite was non-existent until about 5 pm. Than from that point until 745 pm i managed to ice 8 walleyes and lost a few to boot. They were remarkably consistent in size between 15 and 15.5 inches - just under the slot:



Did manage one keeper at 16.5 inches:



At dark i headed for the truck, loaded up and drove straight to the Super 8 in Kirkland Lake (200 miles further north and a season that is open until April 15th). Pulled in shortly after midnight. Hit the sack and slept until 9 than headed for Big Abitibi. Access is via a logging road for 15 miles and than 8 miles by snowmobile on a bush trail. It is a very shallow lake mostly between 8 and 10 feet deep which means there is only 5 to 7 feet of water under the ice. Had lines in the water just after lunch.

The Abitibi view:



The weather was warm and no wind so fished open air all day:



Bite was steady all day - mostly golden eyes - kept 20 of them to try on the smoker. They are no good to eat cooked conventionally but smoked they are supposed to be quite good:



And a few little gaffers like this:



Was planning on hitting Abitibi again Friday but weather man issued a winter storm warning with 20 inches of snow expected. Decided not to chance it as not sure the truck could manage that logging road with that much fresh snow and pulling the trailer. Not a good place to get stranded either especially solo - nearest cell signal is 20 miles away and even that is spotty. Nearest reliable cell signal is 35 miles away at the nearest town (Matheson). Hindsight says it was a wise choice as i left the hotel in Matheson Friday morning and driving south just managed to stay ahead of the road closures. Regardless all and all a fun few days.

Just finished preparing the 20 goldeyes about half an hour ago and got the first batch soaking in the brine in prep for the smoker. If they turn out as good as i hope i am gonna go back in 2 weeks and fill a barrel - no limit on these guys!

[janesy]

Another awesome adventure!

[artifact]

Hope they turn out well for you.
We fish for American Shad in a local river, the old saying is to nail them to an oak plank, cook them. then throw the fish away and eat the plank!
One day I ran into a guy who said to bring him some, and that he smokes them and that they are delicious, ok, why not, and worth a shot. He was right, those smoked shad were very tasty. One thing he did mention about his method was that he occasionally turned them and misted them with water to keep them from being too dry.
DO NOT smoke those walleye, they are just too darn good to smoke!

[gerald strine]

Nice getaway thanks for posting it !

[papabear1]

I think i enjoyed your trip as much as you did,
Thanks for shareing

DAVE

ps
I'll pass on the shad though

[Boo]

That is quite the trip to go ice fishing up there! Lake Abitibi is really north! It is well past the southern edge of the Hudson Bay watershed were all the water flows noth. I've worked in a pulp and paper logging operation in Gogama and went on the Polar Bear Express that goes to James Bay. But Lake Abitibi is pretty remote, especially in the winter. The land of ice roads and ice hwys!