3 Days Alone on an Island (May Long Weekend 2024)

#solo #backcountry #camping #kayakfishing #walleye #fishing

What a wild adventure! Once again I am bringing you a back-country camping video. I spend most of my time outdoors on day trips because where I live I am literally surrounded by 1000s of lakes. I am not exaggerating when I say we have more lakes than people living in the area.

This trip was on May Long weekend, In Canada Monday was a holiday so it gave me an extra night in the woods. Like most years, May Long weekend coincided with the walleye opener in NW Ontario.

My main goal, beside living in the wilderness was to catch a walleye or two for shore lunch. What is a camping trip without at least one shore lunch? I did catch many walleye on this trip but it was a challenge to get one and cook it before the last day. The reoccurring theme was definitely the heavy winds. Day 1 was windy, I was somewhat racing mother nature to find and set up a campsite the first day. Day two was the gusts were almost double the first day. I only got to fish for 30 minutes early in the morning. I was able to catch walleye for shore lunch but had to wait all day for the 36+ knot (67 km/h) gusts to subside in order to cook my fish.

The last morning I packed up camp super early, I was in the kayak before sunrise. The wind had disappeared and the lake looked like glass. I went to the spot I caught the day before and the walleye fishing was ridiculous! I was catching a lot of chunky quality fish, 3 dozen in 2 hours. The biggest challenge was finding fish small enough to legally keep for my limit.

Not in the video but the story continues to get wild after I left the lake. I pulled onto the Trans-Canada highway to visit my parents 20 minutes away. Not long after leaving the gravel road I came to a unexpected scene. The forest on either side of the highway was blackened from a forest fire I had narrowly missed. The cause of the fire was a tree blown over in the heavy winds onto a high voltage power line. The fire caused the highway to be closed until extinguished. This was Sunday, it all happened while I was camping about 8 km away. I had no clue aside from a water bomber I spotted flying in the distance.

On Monday, while eating fresh walleye with my parents we saw the traffic on the Trans-Canada come to a stop. It wasn't long before we found out the highway was closed for a second day in a row. There unfortunately was not 1 but 2 separate fatal accidents between Ignace and Dryden. That also meant I couldn't take the highway home. Since I was well prepared to spend time in the woods in case of emergency I decided to drive the opposite direction, towards Thunder Bay, and take a gravel bush road I have never driven before home to Atikokan. I knew of it's existence but could not guarantee a safe passage home. Anyway I made it home with a weeks worth of stories to share.

I hope you enjoy this video. Cheers and tight lines everyone! Have a great open water season in 2024!

#oldtown #kayak #camp #adventure #openseason