The last month has been filled with lots of activities. No surprise there. Right after my last post we headed up to Quebec for our 5th annual Lac Dumoine fishing trip. It seemed fast and furious this year but that’s probably because Zane and I had to return a couple days early. He got very sick with some sort of stomach issue so I made the decision to get out of there in the evening of the 5th day. What a long night that turned out to be! We drove straight through to home! I don’t ever want to do that again!

As far as the time at Lac Dumoine went, the fishing was great! Very predictable and we branched out some this year trying new spots. Our main fishing location still cranked out some nice walleye very early in the week on a very rainy Sunday morning. We were getting some nice waves with the rain and the walleye were really turned on at times. Zane and I had a great catch that morning! It’s hard to beat that particular point in the lake for predictable walleye fishing! We move around on it depending on the weather and how we are doing. We named a new section off the point “The Strait”. There’s a nice trough between sections of underwater sandbars we discovered. But like most locations results can vary.

The rest of the time we were there the fishing was great as well. The weather was not all that bad really. The normal windy times when the fishing was better combined with calm days when the bite might slow some.But overall we caught consistently. We started freezing our take home fish early in the week to take advantage of the size of the walleye we were catching. It turned out to be a wise decision. We left early but had almost our full take home limit.

Camp life at Dumoine was pretty typical but we had eight people total so the cabin was pretty busy and loaded with people’s gear. It took quite a few walleye to feed the group and the first night no one really caught enough for a fish fry. That’s rare actually. We made up for it on Sunday though! I sure did clean a lot of fish that week! I got Zane started on it also as he wanted to learn. He did well but lost interest after the first day of it.

Camp life settles into a routine rather quickly once we get there. That first day I was running on only a few hours sleep as we drove up from New York. All that preparing and packing gets me pretty wired. The first night was a bit of a blur! But we got out and fished though. It was great to be back and watch the sunset! It was mega calm that night. Good for getting a very heavily laden boat to camp!

Most days we would try to get out onto the water by 8AM. That’s really not that early but quite often the fish will bite right up till noon. So we manage quite well. Brunch is usually around 12:30PM or so. A big meal typically. I don’t cook as I am always cleaning fish before brunch. After eating I usually grab a shower then nap for a couple hours. Up and regrouping for the evening fish happens by 5PM most afternoons. There’s always something to do. Bait containers to check, gas to fill the tank, a snack, etc. Time flies and I get anxious to get out to our spot.

The evening fish usually takes us right up to dark almost. It was still a little light at 9PM even though it was mid August. Zane and I always enjoy catching an evening sunset if possible. We get some beautiful ones there! The mosquitoes were not really a problem at all. That’s a plus! We end up eating a very late dinner usually. Sometimes not till 10PM. We run the Honda generator to power the electric fish fryer and a LED light to add to the gas lights. Plus people charge phones and batteries. This year one of our cabin mates brought a portable Starlink setup. That was cool! I always bring my satellite phone but it’s rather archaic next to the Starlink! And just like that it is bedtime! What a routine! Time seems to fly.

So that’s how the days roll by mostly. Nights are for sleeping and catching mice. I always bring mouse traps to camp! They are pesky little robbers if you don’t thin them out! I caught about 6 before we left. Some are masters of stripping peanut butter off the traps without getting caught. But not all are so lucky! I often would wake up in the middle of the night to the snap of a mouse trap. All part of the Quebec bush camp experience really! Remember in 2022? The stories about Mister Jangles in Cabin 5? Go read them if you haven’t! They are still here on this blog site.

One thing I truly love about the trip to Dumoine is my time with Zane catching up,hanging out, and catching walleye! We make a good team really. He mans the anchor while I drive the boat. I manage the fish finder in the back as well. We net for each other and it works out nicely unless we get two fish on at once! That happened more than once this year. And a fishing rod got broken because of it. Oops!

Zane is a good walleye fisherman. He has always had a knack for it. He keeps me busy netting that’s for sure. I hold the title of usually getting the biggest walleye the last couple years though. Just lucky I guess. We like using leeches but our bait shop in Quebec didn’t have any this August. Weird! Lucky for us our outfitter gave us some they had left in the ice house by our cabin. They were a little rank but I got the surviving ones cleaned up in fresh water and we used them. We use more worms than leeches but I prefer to have both. We have a nice system down these days that gets walleye into the boat. “Over the rail and into the pail!” That’s a quote from a friend of mine.

By Thursday morning, the day Zane got sick, we had decided to skip the morning fish and go for a boat cruise up to visit the cabin where we had stayed our first year at Dumoine in 2022. It was a morning of reminiscing and sharing stories. A nice reprieve from fishing given what was about to happen with Zane. I’m glad we took the time to make that happen. We also cruised up past the Pearly Narrows and around the island that sits there. We were on the border of what I named “The Forbidden Zone”. A neighboring lake that connects to Dumoine but is leased by a different outfitter. Off limits to us. We stayed in neutral waters and returned to our own lake on mega calm water. Very relaxing in the sun! It was cool at times and it’s easy to recognize that summer leaves this part of the world quickly.

And just like that our trip was ending suddenly. I never really want to end our trips to Dumoine really. We always yearn for more time there. Time spent there is special and to be cherished. Our catch totals are rather impressive and catching walleye seems easy at times even though it’s not. I had wanted more time with Zane before we left.We had planned an adventure for our final day. But that must now wait. What struck me as strange,as I drove home all that Thursday night into Friday morning, was the passage of time itself. And the shortness of season in the part of the world we call home. There is no endless summer here. And we won’t be able to return until sometime next year. The magnitude of that should not come as a surprise yet it does. For much will happen between now and then. Days and weeks and months of living. Decisions and directions to take. Task and toil with endless details. Bills and financial obligations to meet. It’s a spin isn’t it?

When I sit in the boat out on the waters of Lac Dumoine as the sun sets, I ask myself something. Would I tire of this in time? The camp life and constant fishing? It’s a question that is hard to answer since we never stay that long do we? I suppose I would need to explore more if I were to stay longer. The river system that connects Lake Dumoine to the Kipawa River watershed is vast and winding. More territory than could easily be explored in one summer. It’s nice being in the cabin setting that’s for sure! A fridge and gas stove. A roof and a dry bed. Running water ( when we pump the tanks full!) and hot showers. And reliable boats and motors to carry us around the lake. Those are big positives! There are many things to consider really. But best not overthink all the time.

One thing’s for certain. We were fortunate to discover Lac Dumoine. After my Quebec adventures last summer , the roads that lead to it are a little smaller piece of the world now. But those roads aren’t paved or easy on a vehicle. And we curse the boulders and washouts each summer when we drive in on them. But that’s a part of the adventure we don’t always consider properly perhaps. When you stop the truck in the road in the back bush country and get out, you can feel the solitude around you. And when you walk out onto the beach in front of your lakeside cabin at night hundreds of miles from home? The darkness is not oppressive or evoking fear of anything. It’s truly remarkable in its beauty and simplicity.

I think I’d like to go there in the winter sometime. There’s ice to cut for the icehouse. Imagine arriving the next summer and knowing that you helped stock the icehouse? And what if you could jig up a walleye or two through the ice? Maybe someday?

But there’s my life back here in the valley. Adventure is waiting as the final days of summer tick away. Work too. We are gathering the gifts of the gardens and the land. Freezing and canning things. We are positioning ourselves for the upcoming hunting season. We have hiking in the Adirondacks planned. The trees are already changing color in spots. And we will need more firewood before the next spring finds us. The balance must be struck if possible. It’s all moving so very fast it seems. Or is it? Now is a good time to tune into nature I think. Things are going to happen regardless of my wants and needs. That’s humbling and grounding. But dreaming about what might come next is part of spin for me. And looking back at our MOONTABS teaches and inspires us if we are lucky! ✍️