2025 Lake Ontario Fishing Day 4 - Home

After getting up, I was ready to head home.  I spent a few minutes choosing my route.  Since I was leaving early, I decided I would risk the 401 to avoid the tolls on the 407.  I also had a quick couple cups of coffee, hopefully giving me just the right amount of caffeination for the trip.

As promised, Denis was up around 4:00.  We loaded up my fish and a few Coho salmon for me to try.  The amount of fish was truly shocking - I've had hunting trips with less (but then again, I've had hunting trips with nothing in the cooler).  I tied down the cooler and I was on the road by 4:15.

I followed the GPS to the 401 and it was the right decision.  It was a bit busy nearer Toronto, but there were no slow downs.  I did have to pay attention - mostly because I was on unfamiliar roads.

I listened to the end of The Secret Life of Groceries.  The end of the book was probably the best part - if also a bit sad.  It got into the psychology of buying, which was interesting.  It also got into the food supply chain - specifically a lot about the seafood supply chain; every time I read about seafood and all that goes into it - I'm appalled at humanity.  The world is doomed and humanity might deserve this.

I guess I did feel a bit better that the fish in my cooler were obtained ethically and in a conscious manner.

After finishing Groceries I listened to Ologies podcasts for the rest of the day.  I almost gave up after the first one - which wasn't very good.  But I was in a hairy spot so I just started another one as the easiest thing to do, rather than find one of my other podcasts.  I was glad I did, since most of the rest of them were good - which just enough humor to get me to laugh a few times in each one.

I avoided buying fuel for the Maverick in Canada, but the level was lower than I was comfortable with.  I did get absolutely fantastic mileage the whole time I was there - even more surprising since my speeds wouldn't suggest it should be this good, but I'll take it.

I crossed the border back into the US at Windsor since this would put me mostly south of Detroit.  The line was moderate, but it was still the right decision.  It was mildly infuriating when a dude forced his way in two cars ahead of me.  But we already know that a small percentage of the population has no redeeming qualities (the internet has reinforced this...).  The border itself took 30 seconds to get through.

I continued my way towards home.  Traffic was actually worse in places than near Toronto.  

Soon enough I was home with enough time to unpack and take the dogs on a quick walk.  Fish were still frozen so it was just a matter of transferring them to the freezer.

I know I'm very fortunate to have friends like Denis and now Julie.  Fishing for big salmon is something I've always wanted to do.  I hope to be able to do this again.

And barring anything unforeseen, I'll be back in Canada in a few weeks!

2025 Lake Ontario Fishing Day 3 - Un poisson

With a little better lay of the day, I was up and ready for coffee.  Denis had kindly set the coffee to start a bit early for me.  Sometimes small things are big blessings.

And with a little better lay of the land, I didn't get lost in the very dark morning.

Signs pointed to it being a very good day.  But sometimes life hands us signposts which go nowhere...

We drove out to the marina which looked very different as it wasn't a holiday.  Additionally, after we got there, a friend of Denis walked up and said their charter was cancelled due to high waves.  We decided to give it a go anyway.

Initially it didn't look that bad, but as we motored out of the protection of the harbor, the waves increased quickly.  It was tolerable - and I counted my blessings that it wasn't the previous day when I wasn't feeling 100%.

We trolled for a while before one line told us there was a fish on.  Julie took the pole and reeled in a nice Chinook salmon.  The boat was hopeful that the less-than-perfect weather was not going to be a significant negative factor.

But it was not to be.  We tried deeper water, but the waves were much worse there.  We had a couple VERY small strikes, but nothing else came in the boat.  Oddly, we marked more fish on the fish finder, but they must have just been snobby fish.

That doesn't mean it wasn't a good day.  The rocking wasn't terrible and the weather, other than that was nice.  We chatted and hoped and dozed.  It was still a good day on the water.

And with only one fish, clean-up was a breeze.  I didn't feel all fishy afterwards either.

We quit a bit early since all we were doing was burning gasoline.  Back at the campground, we had some down time - which was also nice.

Dinner was Alberta Whitetail burgers before turning in for the night.

2025 Lake Ontario Fishing Day 2 - Chinook In Five

I woke up early with a headache (of course).  I dozed for a bit before getting up.  I knew the coffee maker was going to go off at 4:00 and I was ready.

I sat outside drinking coffee before heading to the bathroom - only to get turned around and lost on my way back.  I was slightly embarrassed.

Soon enough we were on the road to the marina.  It only took a few minutes to get the boat ready and we headed out.  It would be an understatement to say it was a stunning morning.  It was cool but not cold, and there was very little wind.  Wildfires are not good, but the haze makes amazing photographs.

We didn't go out very far before Denis started setting out lines.  As he was getting the second line out, he yelled, "Fish On!" and grabbed the first pole handed it off to me.  I wasn't sure what was on it, but it was big and it did not want to come in.

It took about 15 minutes to get the first Chinook Salmon I've ever caught into the boat.  It may not have been a monster, but it was close enough to a monster for me.

I have to admit though, that when reeling in big fish, there is a small part of me that is rooting for the fish; just a small part though.

The good thing about all the early excitement is that it basically ended my headache.

An hour or two later a much bigger Chinook came on the line.  This one took almost a half an hour to get it into the boat.  Thankfully I did not lose it.

And so it went throughout the day.  We would have slow periods followed by action - such is fishing.  We went out to deeper water and got into some Steelhead.  When I was a kid - Steelhead was THE fish to catch on Lake Michigan.  So it was pretty cool to be able to catch a few.

I felt somewhat bad that I was the designated catcher.  But Julie said that was the plan for the day.  I have to admit I also did enjoy it.

We did miss a few fish.  Sometimes this was user error - at one point I think we were all sleepy and missed the strike.  We had the line break once as well.  And there were a few releases of smaller Steelhead to be caught another day when they are bigger.

Total count for the day was three Chinook and three Steelies.  But this was only part of the point - it was, frankly, just an amazing day on the water.

As the afternoon wore on Denis brought in all the lines.  Then he fileted the fish right on the boat - which makes total sense to do.  The filets were packed on ice as we made our way back to the marina.  In the later afternoon it got almost hot, with just enough wind to give the lake some chop.

Back at the camper we packed up the filets in individual bags and dropped them in the freezer.  Hopefully they freeze before the trip home.  I was feeling quite fishy and gross - so a quick shower brought me back to the land of the living (even if I thought I still smelled a bit fishy).

Dinner was pork chops - which were great.  Fish might have been more appropriate, but it had been a fishy enough day.

2025 Lake Ontario Fishing Day 1 - Breezing Through the Border

I think I first met Denis in 2013.  Since then, we've hunted together in South Carolina more times than I can recall.  Denis has a big boat and as he's (I think) partly retired, he spends much of the summer catching fish on Lake Ontario. 

We talked in 2024 about me coming out to fish with him, but that ended up being a busy year for him and for me it was the year of health challenges.  Fast forward and we made plans to go fishing.

I was a bit apprehensive - which was stupid.  It is way too easy to get caught up in the work-eat-sleep routine and to take work too seriously.  It didn't take too long for me to realize how awesome this would be.

The summer so far has been exhaustively hot and humid.  Friday came gloriously with cool air and decreasing humidity.  This allowed me to spend Saturday getting caught up on some chores around the house as well as spending time doing some maintenance and small repairs (that required doors/windows to be open).  I felt wonderfully productive, if somewhat tired.

One of my repairs was going to need some subsequent work, but it was good enough and didn't stop me from heading out early Sunday after some quick coffee.

I was out the door and on the road around 5:15.  Predictably, I had the Sunday morning road to myself.  I was listening to The Secret Life of Groceries by Benjamin Lorr.  The first  section of the book felt a little like and advertisement for Trader Joes - although he does make a disclaimer that he's agnostic on the chain.  It might have felt a little more real had I ever been to a Trader Joes, I suppose.

My mind did wander a bit, which is to be expected.  But the book was pretty good.  At some point I realized I wasn't going to finish it, so I switched to some rather forgettable pod casts for the last few hours.

I bypassed the Detroit/Windsor border and continued, crossing at Port Huron.  This may have added a few minutes, but I was anticipating the crossing a drive to be a little easier.  I breezed through the border within a few minutes.  The line of trucks coming into the US was crazy; I couldn't help but wonder if it was to avoid the next round of tariffs?

I  realized this time was my first time out of my home state since January (I think).  This is a bit sad.  Although I guess I could count my dog walks into Indiana.

Once into Canada, the traffic was nonexistent at first.  

It got much hairier and uglier as I got close to Toronto.  The roads seemed overly complicated, but I just followed the GPS - or tried to.  I'm a bit terrified I'll need a second mortgage to pay for the 407 tolls - but I guess that is just part of the trip.

I made my way to Denis and Julie's campground.  Denis was out getting the boat ready.  I had never met Julie before so we had a while to get to know each other.  It was fun and she was easy to talk to.

Denis showed up on his motorcycle late afternoon.  It was good to see him as well.

Dinner was beef steak and veggies before turning in relatively early in preparation for a fairly early morning.