My 11th year trip to KO Lodge in Canada found our own country in the midst of a historic real estate slow down, on the verge of a banking crisis and gasoline prices at a record high. It was a good time to be out of touch with the media for a week. I was in the company of new friends and old, and what good company it turned out to be, indeed.

Each year for the past 11, I’ve headed north to spend six adventure-filled days at this family-owned lodge located in southeastern Ontario. During the course of 66 days or approximately 594 hours of fishing, I’ve caught countless smallmouth and walleye, numerous northern pike and dozens of muskie, but I still keep going back.

Why, you ask? Because there’s still so much more to explore and learn and, if you’re lucky you can, for 144 quick hours, almost forget the reality of life you must return to.

The lore of this trip has grown and we have taken up to two-dozen guests with us for the Woods & Waters Magazine Adventure Week. I’ve had 76-year-olds and 12-year-olds with me. Novice anglers and veterans alike have experienced KO Lodge with Woods & Waters. Where else can you spend the day trailblazing (literally and figuratively) on the water and the routes to access water, triumphantly crack the code that brings fish after fish to your boat and then head back to a lodge complete with restaurant style meals, housekeeping services and bar?

The 2008 W2 Adventure Week was marked by my return to venues I’d fished in year’s past, and with added knowledge, even more success. In my immediate crew was my father, my long-time fishing buddy Jeffrey Poling, my father’s fishing partner Gary Cricks, and my new friends David Purcell and Robby Greep.

This year we had come bearing kayaks. In fact Dad and I spent the better part of a day constructing a kayak rack for his Ford F150 that would hold four boats. Some of the places we would fish were remote and well suited to the ease of kayaks. The other days we fished out of the KO Lodge Lund V-hulls, a fine fishing craft complete with console steering, foot controlled trolling motors and casting platforms.

Here’s an account of our six days or 144 hours of adventures. I hope you have a quiet moment to enjoy a daydream with me and perhaps the time and funds to join us in 2009. At the end of the article you’ll find the date and rate of the W2 Adventure Week.

Arrival Day – Just Getting Started

Depending on the time of our arrival, we unpack and then fish or just go to dinner on arrival day. This year we rolled into KO around 1 pm, so we had plenty of time after unpacking to drive 15 minutes to a nearby lake perfect for kayak fishing. Smith Lake is a 20-acre fishery not far off Rt. 17 with no real boat ramp.

The kayaks were launched into the nearly gin clear water at a put-in spot we had found some years back. Within moments all six anglers were paddling and fishing. I knew that the best fishing would be in the far end of the lake where it deepened and was studded with rock formations.

A light rain began falling as I paddled to a particular submerged rock pile I had caught a 5-2 smallmouth from two years ago. I fished with David, guiding him to the sweet spot I knew lay ahead. He was tossing a crawdad imitator and was catching some 12” smallies. I was doing the same with a drop shot and 3” Berkley Realistix Minnow.

The fish of the afternoon fell to David about 20 minutes after arrival. He hooked a solid fish from the rock pile, fought it within two feet of his rod tip and watched it jump head high and snap his line. It was at least four pounds. I told him it would be a shame to have hooked and lost the biggest smallmouth of the trip on the first day!

We stayed as long as we could with everyone catching bass, perch and red eyes before it was time to load up the ‘yaks and head to dinner. Afterward the meal, with our gear ready for tomorrow, a full belly, some good paddling time and a week of adventure ahead, falling asleep was easy. We were just getting started.

Day One – Kayak Until You Drop

This would be another kayak day despite the groans of Jeff. We would begin at a small, un-named tributary off the Ottawa River then try the back of Mackie Bay, another yet much larger tributary. Our time spent on the first choice was more like sightseeing as the fish were just not there.

In years past Jeff and I have caught massive smallmouth here, but that morning all we could manage were small bass and pike. The scenery was breathtaking, though, and the day would feature fair skies and patchy clouds. By noon we headed to a put-in at the back of Mackie Bay. I had never fished this part of Mackie before and it looked good. There were many channel bends with wood cover in the form of tree laps and stumps as well as soft cover like lily pads and water grasses.

Robby caught the first smallmouth - a solid 17” fish that fell for a crankbait. I was having no luck, but kept working at establishing a pattern as I paddled my way further toward the mouth of the creek. About halfway there I figured out the pattern from two fish in a row - one that Robby caught and one that I landed using Tiger Shad spinnerbaits.

The smallmouth were holding on the edge of hydrilla weedlines in very small stretches of sandy banks. It was late in the afternoon by the time I figured this out and it was a bit windy, but every time I drifted over these stretches, I caught fish measuring from 14-18” on the drop shot. I had a long paddle back to the trucks and I was out of communication with the rest of the group, so I pulled steadily and after a few creek bends found them fishing their way back, too.

This was a long day of kayak-until-you-drop fishing and we were all tired and in agreement that tomorrow would not involve the use of man-powered craft. We are in bed with lights out by 9:30 dreaming of tomorrow’s adventure.

Day Two – We’re All Catching Fish

One of my favorite and most productive places to fish since I discovered it during the Adventure Week some years back has been the islands of Petawawa on the Ottawa River. This is a massive bend in the river, broken up into dozens of little channels and chutes by over a hundred purple rock islands. Here the water seeks its way through the rocks and the fish can be found in schools concentrated by the current.

One place we’ve been able to consistently find an amazing school of smallmouth is right out from the Petawawa City Park ramp. A rock ridge runs out into the main channel and creates both push water and an eddy. Baitfish congregate here and draw smallmouths and northern pike. Seagulls tip off savvy anglers to the presence of the school.

This year is like the best ones in the past and there are plenty of smallmouth present. A stiff wind is the only impediment to loading the boat, though, at one point we have all three – Dad and Gary, David and Robby and me and Jeff catching smallmouths one after the other. In about two hours, I think we caught nearly 60 up to about four pounds.

When this action slowed we headed over to the wind-protected Quebec side of the river and fished a similar area that offered current and rocks. There Jeff and I returned to a spot just above dangerous rapids and caught walleye and smallmouths on Power Grubs while the rest of the crew explored and fished on a warm, calm and sunny afternoon.

As we casted the hand helds would crackle to life from time to time with a notable catch report, but otherwise it was the wind in the pines and the sound the water made as it rolled endlessly onto the ocean far away to the east. As the sun slipped toward the horizon we made our way back to the ramp and all agreed we needed to come back later in the week because we were all catching fish.

Day Three – Beginning To Settle In

My father really wanted to fish Sec Lake and this was the day. Sec is located just inside the Sand Lake Gate of the Algonquin Provincial Park where most waters are no-motor only. We launched the kayaks at 9 am and paddled forth onto the clear, calm waters of this 250-acre smallmouth fishery.

I had fished here before and drilled into my Sec rookie companions that the key was fishing off the back with a drop shot or other near bottom offering. It took a little work to find out where the fish were holding, but by lunchtime I had determined a 15’ spot I was fishing a good 100 yards from any shore just off a submerged weedline held a bunch of fish. I caught largemouth and smallmouths, but I knew I was missing the bulk of the pattern.

After a late shore lunch and a couple more hours fishing, I was ready to make the 45-minute ride back to the lodge. David and Robby were still fishing and out of hand-held com. They missed the 5:30 pick up time, too. We decided to leave Dad at the take-out to wait for them while Jeff and I moved out. We found out later that the AWOL anglers had found that mother lode of smallies on the far side of the lake next to a cave-like rock formation. Later, over a cold, Canadian beverage, David told me they had caught over 50 fish.

“We just couldn’t leave,” he said with a big grin and sparkling eyes.

Tonight is the weekly cookout along the shore of KO’s private lake. It’s the last one of the year for the lodge staff. The mood is festive. The sunset is magnificent. The Canadian beverages are plentiful and cold and the food delicious. As I turn out the light I think to myself that everyone is beginning to settle in. I don’t want to think about the fact we only have three more days left.

Day Four – Sweet Schyanne (Shy-Ann)

No trip to KO would be complete without a day spent on the middle section of the Ottawa River that flows right in front of the Mountain River Lodge. The Lunds are waiting and ready to go at the docks for us at 8 am. All we have to do is load our gear and head downriver to Schyanne Point, just across from the town of Deep River.

Once here Jeff and I pay close attention to two seagulls scanning from above. When they wheel and dive, we know baitfish have been pushed to the surface by schooling smallmouth. We don’t have to wait long.

The fish begin swirling and we begin winging Vixens and soft plastic stickbaits to them. While the topwater bait doesn’t draw strikes for me, the stickbait does for Jeff. We crack the pattern within a dozen casts and the fun begins. Dad, Gary, David and Robby take turns targeting the school and we all catch fish. I know there’s several logging cribs below that often hold the smallies and a school of walleye, so I lower a drop shot rig tipped with a minnow.

The faint tap of a bite some 28’ below reveals the presence of ‘eyes and I pull my first of the trip – a decent 14 incher. While the other anglers are catching smallmouth, Robby and I do a little dinner fishing and manage our limits of walleye by the time the bite is over and the wind makes holding on the point difficult.

Jeff and I head up river in search of northern pike. I’ve got some of the new Berkley Hollow Belly swimbaits and the Sebile Magic Swimmer baits I want to try. While the triple jointed Sebile looks absolutely incredible in the water, all I get is follow- ups.

On a hunch I try a Lucky Craft Pointer 78DD off some deep rocks and within a dozen casts find what works for pike around rocks! Later in the day as the wind increases and many of my crew are scurrying for calm spots, Jeff and I slip into a bay just across from the Mountain River launch where dozens of deadheads lay just beneath the surface and eelgrass matts in clumps.

I break out the Hollow Belly swimbait in the AYU color rigged on the belly-weighted hook that comes in the package and start casting it with the wind and Fireline. I’m getting 35-yard casts and covering a lot of water with no bites when suddenly, at the end of a cast, the water erupts and a pike I estimate to be over 20 pounds breaks down on my bait.

I actually see one of its eyes loll to look at me as it submerges with the swimbait in its huge duckbill-like mouth. I press the freespool button on the ABU Garcia C4 and let the fish take the bait – something that takes a lot of patience. After what seems like an eternity, I engage the spool and set the hook. It feels solid and the massive fish lunges away, pulling drag smoothly. After a few moments, though, the lure pulls free and I’m left with nothing but mangled plastic.

Dismayed but buoyed by the success of the swimbait, I re-rig and start slinging again. Within 10 casts I have another fish on.

“This thing works,” I tell Jeff gleefully as I battle what turns out to be a 13-9 northern boatside. The fish is weighed, photographed and released and I know the day is at end.

Once again we’ve chased the sun to the horizon, squeezing out all bits of sweet fishing time we can. Sleep comes swiftly, though the eye of that pike haunts my dreams.

Day Five – It Was That Good

David and Robby want to return to the Islands of Petawawa and I’m happy to oblige them. Today starts overcast and calm. We are at the ramp by 8:15 and three boats are fishing by 8:30.

Of course we start at the current break in front of the ramp and we catch many fish. Jeff and I go hunting for others and leave the spot in good hands. Robby catches a 12-pound northern pike that bites a smallmouth and won’t let it go.

We again end up on the Quebec side of the river, Jeff and I wanting to catch a few more walleye, David and Robby just wanting to explore more. Dad and Gary, well let’s just say they had more than their share of adventure that day.

By the afternoon, Jeff and I are fishing where we’ve never been before, casting Lucky Craft CB100s on gravel flats along the Quebec side of the Ottawa. We are still catching smallmouth and pike. This place is full of fish.

On a hunch we head back to the current break and catch the bite just right and whack another 30 smallies before the other two boats in the party show up an join the party.

This was an amazing day filled with fish, friendship and adventure. It’s hard to describe it, but back at the lodge over dinner, Dad bought us all a pitcher and said “Thanks”. It was that good.

Day Six – Do We Really Have To Go Home?

On our final day of the Adventure Week we encountered a bit of weather. We decided to fish the middle Ottawa River again out of the Mountain River Lodge and we launched into a headwind and light rain. By the time we reached Schyanne, I was glad I was wearing long underwear.

It was just Jeff and I, plus David and Robby. I wanted to finish out my take home limit of walleye, as did Robby. We did this despite the windy conditions and rain, sitting on the same spot we had earlier in the week. The smallmouth were there, too, just a little less willing to come to the surface.

By 10 am I was moving back up river to fish a couple more walleye and pike holes. I encountered a fishing guide I’d hired 10 years ago and watched him catch at least a limit of walleyes off Frazier Point.

Around noon, David and Robby headed back in to pack. Within an hour the wind and rain stopped and Jeff and I ate our lunch in the protection of a creek mouth on the Quebec side of the river.

We then made our way upriver to an area known as the Swisha where Upper Holden Reservior water is released through a hydro dam. Jeff and I caught some small smallmouth and several decent pike before we both noticed seagulls wheeling and diving about a quarter mile upriver in front of the sea plane base docks.

“Back at home when the birds do that it means there’s fish under them,” I told Jeff.

He watched them carefully for some minutes and then said, “Chris, Chris, there’s fish breaking under them!”

I fired up the Mercury and powered the Lund within casting distance and sure enough there were fish swirling under the birds. We started with soft plastic jerkbaits and had too many short strikes. Then I switched to a soft plastic stickbait and let it fall on a swirl. My line jumped and I set the hook into a three-pound smallmouth.

That was it. For the next two hours, Jeff and I caught dozens of smallmouth up to 4-8 using that pattern as they swirled and broke all around us. There seemed to be no end to the fish, just our time on the water.

At 5:30 it was time to head back. I gave a bunch of lures to some Canadian boys watching us from the docks and headed downriver. That was tough, leaving those biting smallies. It’s a memory that will get me through a lot of days until Adventure Week 2009. I thought of them a lot on the drive back home.

Well, that was it. Approximately 144 hours of fishing brought over 300 fish to Jeff and I’s boat, over 200 photos to my digital camera and countless spectacular sights etched into my memory. Are you ready to join us? Read on to find out how.

Trip Check

This year the KO operation will double in size. The main lodge will combine with the Mountain River Lodge under the guidance of Terry Carlin and his son, Terry Carlin, Jr. Both locations offer trip packages that can include all meals, house keeping services, boats and guides. You can actually choose what kind of trip you want from three days to seven days, boat or bring your own boat, meals or cook your own. I’d welcome you on our Adventure Week, which will be August 1-8. Total cost for the trip is around $1,400 and that includes some nightly drinks, souvenirs and the gasoline up and back if you share ride. To book into our week, you need to contact me at 540.894.5960 or email at info@woodsandwatersmagazine.com and I can send you a Canadian Readiness Packet. You can also book your trip any time during the KO season (mid May through mid-October) by visiting their booths at the Bass Expo in Timonium or the Fredericksburg Outdoor Expo or by visiting www.kolodge.com, calling 1-877-584-2411 or emailing them at mailbox@kolodge.com.