This last weekend my wife let me take a father's day fishing trip. I took my brother and a couple best friends along. We headed to Bistcho lake Alberta. Tapawingo Lodge is the name of the place.
Take just before we left Friday morning.
My wife put this in my plane to find
We had just over 2 hrs of flight time to get there and the boys had fun on the way up.
70 miles out we could see the lake, adding to our excitement
We had read Tapawingos website and read reviews of the lodge. The fishing was apparently awesome. They pulled a 32lb Northern Pike out of the ice in March this spring! Hence the excitement.
The dock at the lodge
We landed on the big strip, not using much and got a ride to the lodge. After a very brief introduction and orientation, and moving into the cabin we headed down to the dock.
First cast and my buddy reels in a fish!
All the first fish were caught within 30 minutes on the lake
The fish came in huge numbers. We didn't go 5 minutes without a fish on the line and often both people in both boats were reeling in fish. A few times we had 3 fish going on lines on a boat! We must have caught 300 fish on Friday. I caught the biggest Pike at 6.5lbs.
And we caught a lot of Walleye in the 3.5-4.5lb range.
We fished until 1 am, and it was still light. This is at midnight.
We went in at 1:30 and played poker until about 4. Whiskey and beer was enjoyed.
Saturday started early with 2 of us fishing off the dock. Caught 6 right away. After breakfast we loaded up some snacks and beer and headed out. We ended up fishing for 11 hours straight.
The biggest fish of the weekend, 17lbs 4oz
We ended the day getting soaked in a heavy rain on the way back to the cabin. Whiskey and beers were again enjoyed. An example of how many fish we caught, this lure was brand new Saturday morning, and this was how much paint was worn of off it at supper time. Note the bent hooks...
Sunday morning we decided to hit the old Walleye honey hole and again hammered a ton of Walleye. The biggest was 6lbs.
We kept 6 to take home with us. We then headed over to try a new spot for Pike. It was awesome. We let 3 over 7lbs go. My brother caught this just over 8lber.
I nailed 2 11.5 lbers about 15 feet away from each other.
This is the string we took home with us, minus the 17lber. About 60 lbs worth of fish.
A few shots of the cabins
Stopped at high level for fuel on the way home. A flight of 4 SEAT air tractors came in while I was there. Awesome looking planes!
Tower guy was a bit of a tool, not sure if I want to go there again...
All in all it was an awesome weekend and a great time. Fishing was incredible. A great time with great friends. I would highly recommend this lodge. It is not a 5 star place. You have to cook for yourself, and clean up when you leave. Perfect for me!
Thanks for taking the time to read l, not much of a writer I know.
David
