The Land of Dwarfs and Giants Part 3 #82

Part 2 ended with us getting the beauty sleep we so desperately needed. Morning came and as is usually the case, I am the first one up. Keep this in mind as we continue down our path. Knowing that it was 5 am and not wanting to wake my roommate, I dressed and left the room in search of coffee. Yes, this is one of my habits and is really needed each and every morning. During check-in, I had noticed a spot where coffee pots had been set up in the lobby, so I made my way down there to give it a try. As I entered, I noticed a guy behind the reservation desk look up in a sleepy manner. He did not speak, even after I said good morning. Having worked the night shift for a number of years, I could relate to how he was feeling. I found the pots and got my fix. I also found some reading material on Sept Iles and sat down to kill some time. The plan had been to leave early and make our way to our next destination which was about two hours away. The reservation for the float plane was for noon, but we would gamble that if we got there early, they may take us earlier. At about 6:15 am, I decided to go back to the room and when I did, my roommate was up. We packed our stuff and met the rest of the group in the parking lot as was the plan. Both vehicles made their way to the local Tim Horton’s for breakfast. Once we finished, we were off.

This time the destination was Havre St-Pierre, Quebec where our float plan would be waiting to take us to our final location. Once we got to the town, we had two things that needed to get done. The first was to get our fishing licenses which we had been told could be accomplished at the local store. The second was to get some cold items in the local grocery store. We found our way to the fishing license store only to learn that it was closed on Sunday. Hmm, now we had a dilemma. We left there and went to the grocery store. Paul had been given a list of items needed, and I had seen the list at one point on our trip, but when we got there, he could not find it nor could he remember what the list had on it. A quick call to his wife and the problem was solved. We picked up the items and headed up to the float plane base to see what we could do about our licenses. At the base, we learned that the Otter plane, remember this is the bigger one, was not available and we would have to go in two Beavers. 

The man at the base worked feverishly to find a solution about our license issue. There were two options available. We could go without our licenses and when we returned we could purchase them, or we could find another place in another town that was open for business. No one liked the idea of going without a license, and I as a guide was not interested in that at all. Eventually, we found a place forty-five minutes back from where we were that was open. We loaded up and headed out. Once we arrived there, we all got “legal” and then headed back to the plane base. This time not only was the Otter missing, but one of the Beavers was gone too. We were told that the Quebec biologists had swooped in and confiscated it as they needed to go somewhere. So, we were left with one Beaver that could not take us all at one time. A decision was made where three of us would go on the first trip out and when the plane returned, the remaining three would go on the second trip. Keith, Phil and Chris lined up and all their gear was weighed and then loaded on the plane. 

The engine started with a roar and they were off. Paul, Raymond and I would wait patiently until the return of the plane. After about an hour and forty five minutes, we saw a guy come out of the building and walk to the dock. He told us that the plane was on its way, and very soon after, it came into sight. It landed and taxied to the dock where we were anxiously waiting. 

Our gear had already been weighed so the loading began, but It was not long before the pilot told us that we couldn’t take one of the coolers because it was too big. So we replaced the items into a smaller cooler which made him happy. Final loading ended and we all packed into the plane. The engine came to life and it taxied to the end of the pond, turned and the pilot gave it the gas. In no time, we were jetting down the water and lifted up in the air. We banked left and then leveled off. We were finally on our way! In the air, I could not help but notice the number of lakes below us. There were hundreds with one right after another. I had done some research on our location beforehand and had seen that this area was full of lakes and ponds, many within walking or paddling distance from our destination. Finally, the pilot looked back at us and pointed downward. That meant we were there. I could not believe the size of the lake we were going to. The lake was called Lac a l’Eau Claire. It was long, wide and very deep. In some places, we were told it was 1000 feet down. Fast forward a bit and we found that most of the time, the water tended to drop right off the bank and drop it did. Ten feet off shore, you could find it to be 300 feet deep. The pilot banked left and brought the big plane down with a picture perfect landing. He taxied to the dock where Keith, Chris and Phil were standing and came to a halt. WE WERE HERE.

The first order of the day was to get our gear out of the plane and into the camp, and then get the boats and motors out and on the water. The camp was located on an island which we had all to ourselves. There was only one other camp on this lake. It had been recently built and was in a cove not far from our location. The next order was to get the water running and the pump in place to feed the cabin. Yes, we had running water in the cabin, thanks to the lake and an indoor toilet in the camp. No roughing it in this trip. The pump proved to be a problem as the last time Keith had been to this camp was five years ago. Yes, another guy in his ownership group had been there a couple of weeks earlier, but no one had been there before that time. We found the camp in good shape and finally got the water pumping.

Now, our attention turned to the reason we were there. We paired up and headed out on the water to see what we could catch. Raymond and I were in one boat, Keith and Chris in another and Phil and Paul rounded out the group. Now a word of caution, Phil is a cast fisherman and not a troller and this trip was a trolling trip. None the less, he was good about it although he reminded us from time to time that he preferred casting and would like to do some of that while he was here.

I manned the motor in our boat and Ray sat up front. We were using streamer flies and full sink lines for this trip. The deeper we could go, the better and the fish finder showed that. Many of the big ones were down a long way. The streamers we were using were special. Some had been tied by Raymond’s father, Rosaire and some had been tied by his sister, TC. I had put a few together myself and was anxious to find out how they would work.  Just after leaving the dock, we let out our line and began the process. Before no time, I caught a few nice trout and then Ray joined in. The fish were beautiful, all red bellies and quite large. Some were over 20 inches and three to four pounds. We fished until dark and then made our way back to the dock for supper. Once there, we found that the other guys had had the same luck. This evening, we would have hot dogs along with something I had picked up at the grocery store in Harve Saint Pierre, my favorite Canadian maple cookies. Oh and we did bring some spirits to the camp as you might have thought. As I said earlier, Phil had his wine and we helped him with a few cold ones to end the day. 

We cleaned up the dishes and decided to play a little cribbage. Paul had been in charge of bringing the cribbage boards and when we asked him to break them out, he let us know that he had forgotten them. Not to be denied, Chris left the camp and eventually came back with a flat board that he had drilled holes in. That would serve as our board for the time there, and it worked remarkably well. We bedded down for the night in anticipation of what tomorrow would bring. Would we succeed in catching more fish? Was there anybody or anything sharing the island with us? Tune in for part 4 coming soon!