A trip around the horseshoe...

Dad, Brad, Freddie & I set out last week for a canoe trip around the horseshoe. This was my first real outing for bright fish this year and we were going to do it in style - by canoe. The water level was just about perfect (0.96 metres), clear and dropping so spirits were high even though the alarm clock went off at 4:45 AM - otherwise known as the crack of crow piss..

Sunset at the Den the night before...

We met Freddie up river and we were ahead of schedule - a great way to start a canoe run!

So we headed up river to our starting point - about a 10 minute drive. Pretty crazy to think that a 10 minute drive will take most of the day to canoe!

So off we go down the river to our first stop which is just a short paddle down.

There wasn't much happening here so we headed on down to our next few stops... Freddie hooked his first fish of I think at least 4 that day shortly after he stepped up on that rock in front of him ---- he sure had a great day!

So on down the river we paddled, I have to add - we were ALL having a great day on the water - the weather was perfect, the water was a great level and we were all doing what we love - chasing salar!

One of our next stops was one of my favorite places, Freddie even let me raise a fish here!

In this pool, Freddie hooked one, raised a few and even landed a grilse!

Dad managed to get in on the action by catching and releasing a beautiful trout. I am very proud of him for releasing it - there was a time when He or I wouldn't have hesitated to bonk it for the pan but this fella swam free to grow a bit bigger and hopefully add some more small trout to the river. Good stuff!

So it was finally time to head down stream to what would be a date with a beautiful bright fish...

We all fished down through with Freddie fishing last -- being the good fellow that he is he allowed the unlucky (Brad, Dad and I) have first crack at the pool... which didn't matter! I stepped out for a break and to head back to the top of the pool to chat with Freddie - I also had a few flies for him:

He tied on that orange one with green tail and made about 8 casts before coming tight on what he described as his 'biggest early bright fish ever!'

FISH ON!

Chasing a fish down river!

The epic battle!

The money shot!

LEGENDARY!!

It was a hell of a canoe trip and I can't wait to do it again! When can we go, Freddie?

Here's a few pics from some work we managed to get done on the camp during the rain on Saturday:

With any luck, i'll be heading back up this weekend - I can't wait!