|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Trip
The eleventh year of the FishingPals turned out to be another success. Ben dropped out at the last hour but we were still able to pull things together and make the trip work. This year's group only had five fishermen --- Andrew, Eric, Fred, Peter and Ron. This was Peter's sophomore year but it seems that he has settled in comfortably with the gang. Planning for the trip this year involved a quick lunch with Eric, Fred and Peter. Usually, we need a couple of meetings before we go, but this year, time seemed to fly by so quickly that we didn't get the opportunity to have more than one meeting. We dust off last year's menu and grocery list and start making our adjustments. Eric gets on the Internet, logs in to Grocery Gateway (www.grocerygateway.com) and starts ordering. The action starts on Friday night after work. Peter, Fred and Eric pack up the vehicles and head north to Gravenhurst. Andrew and Ron show up later after Andrew's last lacrosse game. We have a few black-and-tans and get a chance to catch up before calling it a night. Next stop is the McDonald's in Parry Sound where we grab a little breakfast. Next we were off to Azilda which was pretty straightforward this time. We made a quick stop at a LOEB grocery store to pick up those last minute items. Things were a little behind schedule at Sudbury Aviation . There was a gang from Ohio that were waiting for their flight in to Bisco, so we had to prepare for a long wait. They decided to fly us in using the smaller Cessna plane using two trips. Andrew, Eric and Peter flew in on the first flight to setup the camp. Fred and Ron followed promptly on the second trip. We returned to Dua Lake and stayed at the North camp this year, which we first visited a few years back in July of 1999. Things were pretty much as we remember except for one huge difference --- there was a brand new sauna. We setup a couple of mouse traps but had no takers. The fishing seemed a little slow at first and we didn't have much on the first night, but we were able to get going on Sunday. We caught enough fish for a few fish frys and even had enough for our Tuesday night dinner. We didn't have our traditional steamed fish dinner but opted to go with some beer batter fish instead. Thanks a lot Ben! With all of the fish frys and the big fish dinner, we're starting to become a little more proficient with getting our fish fillets. We were able to take advantage of the sauna on a cool day. Cigar smoking, target practice, and euchre were also part of the festivities. See it all on the DVD (August 2004 release)! As usual, time flew by pretty quickly and the fun was over almost as fast as it started. We got picked up on time, and were back at Azilda after a short flight. We said our goodbyes to Marg and were off. Eric, Ron and Andrew head back to Gravenhurst while Peter and Fred head down directly to the Big Smoke. Until next year, boys!
DUA LAKE
| |
|
|
