Northern Quebec Day 05

Day Five: Thursday, May 26th

Joe and David packed another lunch and headed back to South Lake very early trying to beat the 10:30 winds. They picked up seven pike, one walleye (which they brought back for dinner) and one “other”—a river chub. They were back at the cabin by 3:30 PM.

John and I tried the north end of Lac Larouche again and picked up three pike up to 28-inches in size. We brought one back to add to the fish platter.

The wind was really blowing out of the North-northeast after 10:30 or so. John and I had returned to the cabin for lunch in some very, very rough water. At 11:30 the wind had shifted 180 degrees and was blowing from the south in front of the cabin. Our pilot had said to expect some rain if the shift occurred, we will have to see what kind of forecaster he is.

John and I went across Larouche to the small lake/cove on the west side to try our luck there again. We got nothing. When we got back out into the main body of Larouche, the wind was really howling out of the north. Some waves were clearly over a foot and a half in height and there were lots of white caps on the lake. We decided not to fight the water and headed back to the cabin even though it was only 2:30 PM. Joe and David pulled in with their walleye about an hour later.

Total fish for the day: 10 pike, 1 walleye and 1 “other”

As we sat on the porch, the wind in front of the cabin was blowing out of the south and some cloud cover was beginning to drift in from the southeast. Perhaps we will get some foul weather after all.

There have been a few tree swallows in the area. The number seems to be growing daily as the bug population climbs. One or two have taken to checking out the fish cleaning table, knowing that the smell, blood and slime attract the flies. They will perch on the table and pounce on any fly that comes near. Add the two or three whiskey, or gray, jays that have come to the cabin every morning looking for hand outs and the solitary herring gull that comes calling when the boats pull into the dock and we have a very entertaining bunch of neighbors.

Tree Swallow


Whiskey Jay, Gray Jay or Camp Robber


Fried fish for dinner again tonight.

Sunset tonight was as dramatic as the other night. The clouds were lit from behind the western hills but instead of pinks, reds and purples we had yellows and golds.