Rock Island camp II.
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
1-So many lakes to choose from.
2-Today it was a light breakfast.
3-This was another lake called Upper Hardcastle Lake that was accessible from the main lake. See picture #1.
4-To get there, first I had to find the waterway opening that was not easy to see from the distance.
5-Lovely lilies were at one corner of the lake.
6-Life is good when one can catch fish in different lakes.
7-I pumped the stomach and found a lot of red worms as well as Chironomid.
I landed three fish and released them and lost two. I even caught one with a fly that I had tied myself.
There were lots of bugs flying around, but I was ok in my head net.
8-The first lake was connected to another lake, called Lower Hardcastle Lake.
After touring the lake and watching the loons perform, I finally found the passage way to the other lake.
9-More of the wild mushrooms.
There are no motors on the boats in the remote lakes. Only at the main lake. Thus, there is all day of rowing when fishing other lakes.
10- That night for dinner, it was a thick stake under the mushrooms.
11-Full moon at the camp.
Thursday, July 21, 2016
12-Time for another filling breakfast.
13-My view from the eastside of the cabin.
14-Happy as can be angler getting ready for another day of fishing.
15-Althogh the purist would not consider trolling—fly fishing, It was the best method to catch fish on these lakes.
16-Nice looking Kamloops trout on the deck.
17-Only some small shrimp looking insects in the stomach.
18-I wish I had this map while looking for the camp.
19-It cannot get better than this. Cheers.
20-As you have seen in the past pictures, the food was excellent.
After dinner I took the boat out trolling again till about 9:00 PM. I suddenly hook a good size fish. I netted the fish and removed the hook. I threw the leader and the hook in the water to keep them out of my way.
As I was busy pumping the stomach of yet another fish, I saw the tip of my rod bouncing! I released the fish in hand, and grabbed the rod. It turns out that a fish had seen my green leach pattern fly and had taken it! Two fish in about 5 minutes. A great moment to be remembered for a long time.
21-More lake pictures.
22-Ribs were this night’s dinner. Yummy.
23-Veiw of the clouds in the water.
24-Could get enough of lake pictures.
Friday, July 22, 2016
It was not the best day of the trip. I fell twice while getting off of the boat. Ran out of battery power, so lots of rowing on the main lake. Had a hard time alone putting an aluminum boat in the water.
25-So many nooks and crannies to fish. There is an entrance to a waterway in the distance.
26-Good trout bait.
27-Little black spots are actually tadpoles. Later they become full size frogs.
Todays “lake du jure” was called Cone Lake.
28-There was a boat available for the guests to use.
29-Some more lake pictures:
30-On almost every lake that I visited, there was a family of loons. Maybe the same ones, but I could not tell the difference. They have a very powerful and unique call.
This was the only lake that I got skunked. After a long troll, I noticed that the hook was gone. The drag on reel was very light, so I don’t understand what happened.
However, after dinner I caught two of biggest fish of the trip, along with some smaller ones.
31-One of the two catches that I kept.
32-Its stomach was full of various foods.
With all of the rowing and walking on the trails, my blood sugar was in check and had not gained any weight, even though I had great meals and plenty of them.
33-How would you like to have house like this?
Saturday, July 23, 2016
34-Dinner on the last evening of the stay in the camp.
Once again I went trolling after dinner and this time, I did some recording with Gopro. I only caught fish as I was getting back to the dock for the last time. So far I am unable to download the recording.
The stomach pumping showed a lot of red worms digested by the fish.
Side note:There is a painter named Thomas Kinkade.
https://thomaskinkade.com/
He is most famous for painting of structure with interior lights looking so realistic. He is also a fly fisherman.
This painting is titled “it doesn’t get much better”.
I have a copy, and wanted to copy it in real life. I bought and transported the outfit similar to the anglers clothing. I could not find an exact place, so I found a stream though it cannot be seen.
Here is my version.
Unfortunately, I could not see in the small camera screen, and had the lens on manual focus. It came out not focused.
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Left camp at 7:00 AM for Vancouver. It was a great trip so far not counting getting lost on arrival!
35-On the way home, I noticed the new signs posted to direct the guests the right way.
36-Even some intruding branches were cut to make sign more visible.
37-A previous guest had sent this letter which is an extremely vivid description of the camp.
TO BE CONTINUED