Fishing the Miramichi Aug 1, 2016 to Aug 5, 2016

Itinerary was fish Crawford stretch Aug 1- Aug 3 2016 then of to Ground Hog Landing Stretch to fish Aug 3 to Aug 5.

I left Cape Breton to returned home to Moncton just in time to get ready for our fishing trip to the Miramichi on Aug 1 to Aug 5 2016. There was some prep work like co-ordinate the supplies, put the sides on the trail and repair the dry bags. My wife Sylvia made the Crawford Crew 10 year anniversary sign for the back of the trailer. This sign was to remind us that me and my three great friends Denis, Aaron, and Chad have been doing remote fishing trips for 10 years. We jokingly called ourselves the Crawford Crew because the Crawford Stretch is where we did our first remote trip 10 years ago. Somebody was looking out for us when on our 10th anniversary we were able to go back to the Crawford Stretch as this stretch has to be won in a government draw.

I stopped at Escape Anglers in Riverview, N.B. for some flies the day before but the boys wanted to keep the tradition of stopping at Trout Brook Fly Shop. I bought a fly line because I didn't like the orange one I had on. I was thinking that the orange line had something to do with my low catches I had since I bough it.  My suspicion were reaffirmed when I seen an underwater test some big outfit did and the result was the line was much more visible which could distract fish from the fly.

Reunited at the Crawford Camp Pool.
We arrived at the Crawford camp at 2pm. We reunited at the Crawford Camp Pool which is where we first started fishing together 10 years ago. We took some pictures and clinked our beer cans together to toast our 10 year anniversary. We unloaded our gear then drove our ATVs 10 km to the warden’s camp to get our camp key that was missing. The warden camps sits on the banks of the spawning ground so we looked into the water and seen many nice trout and salmon. Only the maintenance workers were there so we did not get the camp key. This was no biggy because we are so far in the woods that seldom anybody drives by.

A beautiful evening fishing.
We returned back to the camp and enjoyed a chile supper that Sylvia my wife sent with us. At 7pm we went fishing. Denis and I went to Split Rock Pool and enjoyed a great evening of fishing. We had many salmon go for the fly and ended up hooking 6 salmon(grilse) and landing 2 each. Denis also caught a nice 14 inch trout. We kept the trout but the salmon was catch and release. The weather was perfectly comfortable with not many flies. Few evenings have I spent with such great fishing and perfect comfortable conditions.  It is a terrible thing not to be thankful so Denis and I both felt blessed and thanked God for providing this incredible evening.

On the banks of Split Rock Pool there is a lean-to shelter with a big stone fire pit in front. Signatures and recorded salmon counts engraved into the walls gave testament that this shelter dates back to 1962 and many great fishing evening were had. As I read the historical engravings it seem to tell a story of 50 years ago. I wondered did the guys that stayed here have as much fun as we had. I suspect that some of the people that stayed in this lean to shelter have passed away or is no longer able to fish. Do they still think of the great evening they once had here? If their health allows do they come back to reminisce. Don’t they know that this place misses them?

In the mean time Aaron and Chad went to Black and White Pool and caught one grilse each.  Chad had a big salmon on but lost the battle. Man these big salmon sure do fight hard.

The rest of the evening was spent celebrating our 10 year anniversary drinking Glen Breton Whiskey, beer and eating more chile.

Day 2
Denis removed his waders from the wader rack and the camp key fell to the floor as if it were dropped to us from God. Perhaps a sign that somebody was looking after us.

Denis and I were fishing at 6:27a.m. at Black and White Pool and fished to 8:54 am. Denis caught a grilse.  After leaving Black & White Pool Denis and I stopped at every named pool on the stretch. We were exploring and not fishing much. The low water conditions rendered most of the pools only a foot deep. Even the bridge pool was low but the Black and White and Split Rock Pool provided all the great fishing we needed.

Day 3
We were fishing a bit after daybreak. More salmon grilses were caught. This was the last day at the Crawford Stretch before we moved to Ground Hog Landing. Instead of taking the time to pack everything tight I decided to make room on the trailer by driving my ATV 26 km to the next camp. The Crawford stretch treated us good but we knew Ground Hog Landing may not be as good because of the low warm water condition.on the Sevogle River.

We arrived at the Ground Hog Landing camp and was eating supper when I said,  "man I wish it would rain."  30 seconds later it clouded over and it started pouring. Aaron and I washed up under the down pour then the 4 of us went fishing. Aaron caught a nice grilse on his second cast at Peabody Pool.

The evening was spent eating one of the great meals that Chad cooked up. If memory serves me correctly, it was a steak night.

Day 4

We got up at day break and went fishing. We enjoy a glorious sunrise on our way to Peabody Pool.

 I caught a grilse in Middle Pool mid morning. A grilse is an Atlantic salmon which has spent only one winter at sea before returning to the river. Salmon grilse are often indistinguishable from multi sea winter (MSW) salmon except by scale reading.

Like most fishing trips we fish early morning return to the camp around noon, have dinner then sleep for a few hours in the afternoon. We are usually up until 3a.m. telling lies so if we want to enjoy the day we have to catch up on some sleep sometime so we sleep during the afternoon because the fish are less active. After catching up on some sleep, we then go fishing until dark. The evening fishing paid off for Denis because he landed a nice grilse in Middle Pool.

The night was spent eating great food and having a few cold ones and playing guitar and trying to sing.  Denis being smart went to bed around midnight, but Chad, Aaron and I went outside and watch the stars, told jokes and drank some whiskey until 3:00 a.m.. Getting up early to go fishing was a bit painful.

Day 5.
We were up again at 5a.m. and off we went fishing. We broke from the routine of fishing to light my wood rocket stove to boil some water to cook up a few meal packs. The meal packs come in all sorts of flavours and they are both tasty and filling.

Chad is no stranger to a fishing rod but the low warm water and very small time slot the fish were taking caused Chad to get skunked on the Ground Hog Landing stretch. He caught 3 or 4 grilse when we were on the Nor-west Miramichi Crawford stretch so it was not so bad. We all take turns getting skunked so there is no shame in it but we like to trash talk each other about it just the same.

The total salmon catch was 21 hooked 14 landed.

Leaving is never easy.
You would think 5 days would be long enough to spend with 3 other stinky guys but sadly we had to turn our trucks towards home. These great times we have on our remotes fishing trips are reserved for only those who know.


You can purchase the rocket stove by following the link below.

How to making maple syrup cheep with a hillbilly set up.

Jimmy & I do an Overnight in -10 degree Eastern Canada

Adventuring Into a Nor-East Snow Storm

Adventuring In A Nor-Easter Snow Storm

It was minus 10 degrees celcuis with a big nor-easter storm coming in over night. It was March 4,2016 and my nephew talked me into making an overnight camping trip into the woods armed with our bug out bags. 

We took the ATV 1.5 km into the woods and hiked another 200 meters or so to a spot I knew where there was some down trees, a brook, and Southern exposure to keep us warm in the sun while we constructed our shelter. 

Constructing the Shelter and Being Thankful for Our Good Health. 

Jimmy wove the collected saplings to make the frame for the shelter.  We then collected around 200 pounds  of spruce bows to weave between the woven saplings frame.  If the bows are laid upside down and is stacked as thick as the length of your arm, it will not leak.  

The floor of the shelter was constructed by laying 4 to 6 inch(15 cm) diameter logs down as a base. We then laid spruce bows 1 foot thick over the base of logs. This provided a reasonable comfortable mattress which insulated us from the cold ground.  The shelter construction was an amazing amount of work especially considering that Jimmy spent  5 months in the hospital enduring major Crohn’s surgery and getting out Christmas Eve.  After nearly 8 months of being sick he finally felt good enough for this trip.  His improved health was a great novelty for him which he was so grateful for. This gave testament that we should not take good health for granted because it can be taken from us in a second.  After seeing him so sick for so long it was amazing to see him enjoying his health by working very hard to build the shelter. 

I wouldn’t want anyone to think you can wonder into the woods and build a shelter with no tarp in a few minutes.  Jimmy and I spent about 4 hours constructing the shelter. Four hours X two guys = 8 man hours. Before you go adventuring into the woods in -10 degrees incorporate 8 man hours into your formula for shelter building. 

   

Firewood Collection

We were running out of time to process enough firewood for the night with just my folding saw and survival knife so I ran back to the ATV and got my power saw. Still the wood had to be split which I baton using my Schrade Schrade SCHF38  knife

. Processing up enough wood to keep us warm the entire night is another 2 man hours. 

The completed shelter

The Evening.

Evening came and Jimmy made a tripod chair out of three poles lashed together in a tripod stand. Fabric was then hung from the poles which served as a comfortable seat.   A few laugh were had while reminiscing about the day.  When someone does this type of camping, they certainly grow an appreciation for the natives way of life and for the pioneers who landed here with nothing. 

The night

Crawling into a sleeping bag at -10 is not my favourite thing to do.  The pain of it is reduced by getting a cold weather sleeping bag at amazon.  You also have to be completely dry and that is not easy to do if you spend the day working in snow cutting wood for your shelter and fire.  Extra socks and clothing are essential.  

Neither of us slept great.  The balaclava kept pressing on my throat which worsen my sleep apnea.  You loose a lot of heat through your head so I didn't want to take it off.  Instead I rolled it up to be a hat which was more comfortable and I finally got a bit of sleep.  Around 3:00 P.M. Jimmy got up and stoked the fire.  Not long after he stoked the fire the wind changed and our shelter filled with smoke. The wind picked up speed and it started to snow.  We could not get back to sleep and I had to crawl out of my warm sleeping bag to run to the woods. It was 5am and was time to get up anyway.  We decided to call it a night, pack our gear and head home in the stormy dark -10 morning. 

When it comes to bushcraft survival skills, there are always things to learn or do better. We could of put a door on the shelter and started our adventure earlier which would allowed more time to build the shelter and maybe even put a door on.   It was a fun night in the woods  and I suspect we will do it again after the maple syrup season.

I will be putting some of the video of this adventure on our youtube site LostCaper youtube  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_goWst3odzG__lSzhb91bw


http://amzn.to/1XcdbJZ

Review of the Stan Sport 360 Stainless Steel Mess Kit

Stan Sport 360 Stainless steel mess kit available at LostCaper.ca

In summary

 it is a great light weight, compact stainless steel backpacking mess kit that is good to feed one person under 300 lbs.lol

For those who like to read more:

The Stan Sport 360 is a perfect match for my j-creater portable stainless steel outdoor camping wood & alcohol burning stove.  The size of the mess kit fits perfect on my stove allowing me to cook  with confidence that it is not going to tip over.  The copper bottoms on the mess kit heats up quickly so a hand full of wood cooked my breakfast by the river’s edge. 

Packs size and weight: 

The pack size is 7”’X 3” (17.78cm X 7.62cm) 

It nests inside itself  and the handle on the frying pan is hinged so it folds over the nested kit and locks in place holding everything snuggly together. 

It is light to carry at only 567 grams. Go with stainless steel when you can.  Stainless is a few bucks extra and a few extra grams heavier over aluminum, however it is not noticeable in my pack or in my wallet. Cooking with aluminum can have serious health repercussions. 

Materials and quality:

It is made of stainless steel with a copper bottom. The copper bottom allows it to heat up quickly and distributes that heat evenly. Using it with my j-creater portable stainless steel stove, I boiled water in less than 4 minutes.  Another 15 minutes or so cooked my eggs and bacon to perfection. 

I read where one person said “ I warped mine a bit “ . No-one else that I know of had a problems not to say there isn’t any.  After using it several times,  my guess is if you do not have it on a roaring fire exposed to extreme heat, it should not warp.  A perfect cooking heat is a heat you can hold your hand over for a few seconds.  I personally had it exposed to the direct flames of hardwood to boil water and it never warped. This is not to say giving it that kind of abuse will not warp it.  

I like the fact that the handles are stainless and not nylon or plastic. This way, I need not be concern with melting handles. The stainless steel handles do not get extremely hot if not exposed to high heat. To be safe, I use a cloth when picking it off the hot fire.  The bacon smells to good to drop on the ground. 

I would off like some sort of a removable handle on the dish but overall with the great fit & finish, great price and all things considered, I would give it a thumbs up for quality and for being a great buy.  Having said that, I included it in my handpicked reviewed items on our LostCaper store at lostcaper.ca  

P.S. This week I plan on doing a “finish boil” of maple syrup in the pot so that will be the real test. 

Thanks

Ray & Jimmy at LostCaper.ca , March 2,2016

March 2, 2016

Warren Power - The man behind the hermit

The Tribute To Warren Powers

The man behind the hermit.

Like most people who live as a recluse, there is a mystery about them. Questions of why and how they lived liked they did. I think it would be unjust to put them under one category and call them crazy hermits for they all have their own story which is as unique as their own individual lives.

Warren was born in the United States, his mother a clearer his father a chauffeur. At the age of three years old, he was sent to live with his uncle who was a McAuley in Big Baddeck, Cape Breton, Cabot Trail Nova Scotia. The census of 1921 had him at 10 years old living in McAuley’s car. He was student.

Best to my memory he died in 1980 which would make him around 70 years old when he died but I feel he was old then that. Perhaps the census or the information I got about the census was incorrect.

Most of Warren’s adult life was spent as a recluse in the woods in the Big Glen area 20 km outside of Baddeck, Cabot Trail, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He came to Baddeck to pick up supplies once a month. I assume a small pension check was his only means to money. When he arrived in the village of Baddeck to pick up his supplies, there were people who were all to ready to take advantage of Warren’s good nature and asked him for money. Warren being a generous man would always reach into his pocket and give them something.

I remember he would sometimes walk the 20 km trip from his cabin in Big Glen into Baddeck with a knapsack on his back. It would be a four hour walk for a younger men then he. If the local gentry seen him walking on the lonely county road, they would pick him up and drive him to town. Most trips into Baddeck he would go to my grandmother’s home. After his visit, if Dad, Uncle Wilfred or Uncle Johnny were available, they would drive him to the road nearest his house. It would still be a long hike into his cabin for the average 15 year old gamer of today, but for Warren it was just a short jaunt.

Warren was a good Christian and knew the bible. He frequently would discuss it at Grammy’s house because there the bible was a frequent topic of conversations. I remember Warren telling my brother John P. and I one day, “It seems some people are in a boat rowing against the current; they are rowing in life but they are not getting any where”. I suspect he meant that they are not growing mature or getting anywhere spiritually. Perhaps that was one of his deep observation that he was having when he stood staring with a distant look on his face as some people made fun of him. Some locals though he was spacing out when he did this; it is not my belief that he was. Perhaps deep in pain or disbelief from how he was being treated or maybe just deep in thought and disappointment with humanity’s cruel ways - a very hard thing to say for sure. In my opinion I believe Warren was a man of deep thought and great intellect and never really space out at all. He was a man that searched deep into his sole for the truths before he spoke - a deep methodical thinker; careful with his words, true to his life’s unique wisdoms - a wisdom that could only be achieved by living a painful life that was so ever searching for the truth while living as a recluse in his lonely cabin in the woods.

Some that did not know Warren well and lack the maturity or time to try to understand him, dismissed Warren as just an old hermit. Some even called him crazy. Yes, he lived alone in the woods and perhaps the isolation allowed him to forget about the egotistical shallow ways of society. He forgot he was to groom his eyebrows, dress in certain clothes, speak a certain way, and speak without thought like most people do. Not that he didn’t have what it takes to blend in to society but where Warren spent most of his time isolated, his interaction skills were outdated. Warren was a very clean, cleaned shaven man. He dressed in a clean jack shirt and sometimes wool pants even in warmer temperatures. He smelled like the woods - not a dirty smell but just woodsy. His supplies for the month was organized in his back pack that he toted - the pack seem to become a symbol of his uniqueness - a back pack I would love to have as a keep sake. For those who new Warren he was lovable, kind, very knowledgeable about nature, survival, life and God.


His voice soft and gentle, his laugh was a unique one simple “huck” sound. For such a simple sound it was sure memorable. His unique character, unique way of living, and wisdom was dearly missed but no place cries out the missing of Warren then the people of Big Glen and the people at Grammy’s house.

Lorne, a friend and distant neighbour of Warren put it elegantly; “Warren was a unique man harmless in his ways. He liked people very much but did not always understand their ways so he preferred to live alone”.

Perhaps we could all learn from Warren but it would not be an easy task to follow his foot steps. I suspect it would be a painful journey to live a recluse’s life so humble, modest, and kind. I suspect a modern man attempting to learn from Warren would find it most difficult to put aside his egos and inflated sense of self worth. RIP Warren.