Have you ever and if not, why not?

[Swamp Girl]

You all know my style of fishing, which is to launch at some measly lake, too small for anyone to bother with a boat ramp, and with as little development as possible, and to fish, hopefully, without any other boat. When I was young, I drove down paved roads until they ended and then logging roads and then paddled and portaged to be away from even logging roads, which might see one vehicle every two weeks or even every two years. When that became too tough, I hired bush pilots to drop me onto lakes with no logging roads. Now I settle for the largely overlooked water near me. A little like Greta Garbo, "I want to be let alone."

 

For you youngins, here's the Great Garbo, who was stalked by paparazzi: 

 

 

 

So, my questions are these:

 

Have you ever fished a lonesome lake by yourself? If so, tell me a bit about it. No need to name it.

 

Did you like it?

 

If not, why not? The answer could be as simple as, "I can't launch my bass boat at such places." or "I missed fishing with my buddy/wife/son/daughter." or "I don't dance with dinky boats."

 

If you haven't fished a lonesome lake, do you wanna?

 

Lastly, if you have the desire, would it be some deep, never-to-be-developed swamp, some glittering northern lake, or something else?

 

 

[A-Jay]

Nice ~ Has to be the first Great Garbo reference I've seen here.

She was really something.

 

For a good 10 years preceding the Purchase of the Pro-V bass boat,

I was strictly a canoe guy.

Much of the best places included at least some type of portage, the longer and steeper the better.

The Old Town comes in at a robust 120lbs without any gear,

I will not admit to what I've loaded into it, but it's significant is it's heft.

Had to upgrade my boat cart to accommodate such ambitiousness.

 

But what's not to love ?

Eagles, Loons, the sheer serenity of having the entire lake to oneself is almost spiritual.

Had my wife with me a good bit of the time the first several years, except at night.

(which is totally and far more intense deal, but still awesome).

We had a ton of fun regardless of the fishing, but we did and I still do, catch a few. 

 

https://youtu.be/r3vHcCGTNTQ?feature=shared&t=150

 

A-Jay

[Catt]

I was raised in the swamps-n-marshes of Southwest Louisiana. 

 

I've walked levees for miles, fished pushpoling a pirogue, ran Jon Boats hundreds of miles back in marshes. 

 

Don't anymore cause I can't 🥲

[Mobasser]

I fish a lonesome lake often, and fish mostly from a 17 foot canoe. The small lake is mostly surrounded by pine and oak trees. There's an ancient wooden dock that's rotting away and caving into the lake. The water is clear and clean. I love this lake. It's a special place for me.

[Swamp Girl]

40 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Nice ~ Has to be the first Great Garbo reference I've seen here.

She was really something.

 

Ha! I feared that when I included her, the most common reaction would be, "Whoooooo?" followed by, "Crick is a nut."

 

Thanks for the photos, Andy. I knew you were kindred when it comes to understanding the allure of lonesome lakes. 

 

33 minutes ago, Catt said:

pirogue

 

Love those boats!

 

33 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Don't anymore cause I can't 🥲

 

Yeah, I can't reach Canada anymore. Sure, I could do a lodge or fly-in cabin, but they're not the same. I took my father to a few of those at the end of his fishing and they're a little too civilized for me. 

 

26 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

I fish a lonesome lake often, and fish mostly from a 17 foot canoe. The small lake is mostly surrounded by pine and oak trees. There's an ancient wooden dock that's rotting away and caving into the lake. The water is clear and clean. I love this lake. It's a special place for me.

 

Sounds perfect. 

[Tennessee Boy]

We just don’t have the kinds of lakes you have.   Our’s are man made and usually not made with fishing in mind.  They need to be properly managed by their owners and those owners typically don’t like others fishing them.  I actually own two small ponds that are about 1/2 acre each.   I don’t fish them and  haven’t stocked them.  There are of course public lakes but they tend to be very popular.

 

Now streams are a different matter.  When I was young I loved to seek out small creeks that were hard to get to.

[jbmaine]

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

Have you ever fished a lonesome lake by yourself?

More times than I can count, and yes I loved it.

 In my younger days I was mostly after trout, and I had a 4X truck with a cap, and a roof rack for my canoe. Using this I was always in northern Maine or New Hampshire fly fishing as far off the beaten track as I could possibly get. I fished weeks not seeing another fisherman and these were some of my happiest times.

[scaleface]

I use to fish a river from  canoe for smallmouths, never saw another bass fisherman. When word finally got out , it spread quickly and now the river is nothing like it once was. It went from 100 fish days to skunks.

[Bankc]

I've fished a lot of lakes where I was the only person there.  These were public lakes that were usually kind of crowded, but due to the weather, no one else decided to go.  I don't mind the extreme heat or cold as much as most people.  And on a few occasions, I've had the opportunity to fish a pond on private land by myself. 

But generally speaking, that kind of stuff is rare.  We don't have many ponds and small lakes that are open to the public, so unless you know the owner, you can't fish them.  And the small public lakes and ponds we do have almost always have people on them.  If not people enjoying the lake for recreational purposes, then there are homeless camps or prostitutes and drug dealers.  There are no forgotten waters here.  Either everyone knows to go there for fun, or everyone know not to go there because of the other people already there. 

 

And you don't dare enter private land without permission around here.  You will get shot.  And if you don't actually know the owner of that land, going up to them an asking for permission is likely to get a gun pulled on you.  The people who live out in those rural areas these days will be friendly at a diner or hardware store, but if you show up to their door when they're not expecting, they're going to get very angry.  It's crazy how much the world has changed in the last 30 years.  People don't assume the good in people anymore. 

[GRiver]

 I was raised in Wv, I was a member of a club called Trout Unlimited. We would backpack fingerlings way back in the hills and repopulate trout streams. Usually after that we hike over to another stream and fish it, bringing just food not to starve to death. Then fish for a few days, catching smallies and trout, while hiking to the pick up point. I remember coming across beautiful places to fish and camp. 
I think being raised in the backwoods and spending so much time in nature, when I went in the service and was Recon, I felt at home in the woods. 
Now I take my little boats and go in the Ocklawaha and search for those hard to reach places and fish.

[TnRiver46]

I’ll fish anywhere. Stayed on an island for 6 days way out in Lake Superior last month that is a National park/wilderness. It was crowded 😂 

 

I can ironically get to a desolate wilderness much closer to home. 
 

Brook trout streams in the smokies, brown trout in the Joyce Kilmer bear preserve , several federally designated wild and scenic river areas that are class III-IV whitewater and loaded with smallies, or just regular rivers that run thru miles and miles of forgotten communities. 
 

And of course I fish right in the middle of large cities or crowded TVA dams 

 

dont care, I just want to fish 

 

im one of the rare people that actually likes other people 

[gim]

We have a lot of lakes in the northern portion of the state here in MN that are very secluded, with that "wilderness" type feel.  Very little pressure.  Some have boat ramps, some don't.  Minnesota is very pro-access to most of our 10,000+ lakes though, so the DNR has at least made an attempt to allow at least primitive access to them.

 

The BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area) is very much like this.  You need a US Forestry permit to gain access during a specific time period, you have to haul everything in/out, and camp.  I've been there twice during my adult life and honestly did not care for it.  The fishing was good, but not really any better than other lakes I regularly fish.

 

The bugs were awful.  And sometimes when there is a drought, they ban campfires.  Plus when it rains, everything gets wet and takes days to dry out.  My camping days are behind me.  I'm more of a resort or hotel kind of guy now.  But there's lots of people who enjoy it, and keeping it a pristine wilderness is important.

[wdp]

@ol'crickety what you’re describing is my kind of fishing. I’ve fished outta a 12 ft jon boat for 30+ yrs. I prefer small waters around 20 - 50 acres & hope I have the lake all to myself when I go. 😁

[TnRiver46]

36 minutes ago, gimruis said:

We have a lot of lakes in the northern portion of the state here in MN that are very secluded, with that "wilderness" type feel.  Very little pressure.  Some have boat ramps, some don't.  Minnesota is very pro-access to most of our 10,000+ lakes though, so the DNR has at least made an attempt to allow at least primitive access to them.

 

The BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area) is very much like this.  You need a US Forestry permit to gain access during a specific time period, you have to haul everything in/out, and camp.  I've been there twice during my adult life and honestly did not care for it.  The fishing was good, but not really any better than other lakes I regularly fish.

 

The bugs were awful.  And sometimes when there is a drought, they ban campfires.  Plus when it rains, everything gets wet and takes days to dry out.  My camping days are behind me.  I'm more of a resort or hotel kind of guy now.  But there's lots of people who enjoy it, and keeping it a pristine wilderness is important.

Just got done doing all that, I love it haha. Mosquito nets stayed at the ready 

[Swamp Girl]

52 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

im one of the rare people that actually likes other people 

 

And people like you too, gosh darn it!

 

 

Seriously, people do like you. I see all your fishing and paddling pals. Heck, I like you too!

 

40 minutes ago, wdp said:

@ol'crickety what you’re describing is my kind of fishing. I’ve fished outta a 12 ft jon boat for 30+ yrs. I prefer small waters around 20 - 50 acres & hope I have the lake all to myself when I go. 😁

 

The pond I fished yesterday was 49 acres, which is perfect for a morning's fishing. There's just enough pond to keep me busy all morning. 

 

@Bankc: Do you ever want to fish far from OKC, where there are lonesome lakes, like Alpine lakes in the Rockies or Canada's endless lakes? There are swamps in Louisiana where you can leave people behind too.

[gim]

20 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Just got done doing all that, I love it haha. Mosquito nets stayed at the ready

 

I have a co-worker who does it about twice a year, usually in late May or early June, and again in early September.  Each trip is about 3-5 days long.  He's done a week, but that's too long he says.

 

There are always 3 things that says ruin the trip, if they occur:

1) a fire ban.  Camping in the wilderness downright sucks if you can't have a campfire.  But campfires start forest fires, and we've had drought 3 out of the last 4 years.  So it does happen.

2) high winds.  Canoes and big winds don't mix.  I'm sure @ol'crickety can confirm this one.

3) heavy rain on the first day.  Everything gets soaked and drying it out takes time in the wilderness.  By the time it dries out, its time to go home.

[Team9nine]

Did true remote wilderness once when I was younger. A group of us (4 or 5) drove up to Atikokan and got dropped off on the far west end of Quetico PP after a very long drive along a dirt trail road. Outfitter told us to meet him 10 days later on the east end of the park at a certain time and ‘Good luck.’ Was a pretty neat experience that I’m glad I did. After the first day, only ran into one other human being over the next 7-8 days. Packed very light as we planned for fish meals twice a day during the trip. This was before cell phones, etc. Just a watch, a map and a compass, along with a camera. 
 

Only similar thing since has been fishing some of the old abandoned strip mines which usually have questionable access trails, or similar 4-wheel drive access paths to some secluded river stretches, but those were just day trips. 

[TnRiver46]

53 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

I have a co-worker who does it about twice a year, usually in late May or early June, and again in early September.  Each trip is about 3-5 days long.  He's done a week, but that's too long he says.

 

There are always 3 things that says ruin the trip, if they occur:

1) a fire ban.  Camping in the wilderness downright sucks if you can't have a campfire.  But campfires start forest fires, and we've had drought 3 out of the last 4 years.  So it does happen.

2) high winds.  Canoes and big winds don't mix.  I'm sure @ol'crickety can confirm this one.

3) heavy rain on the first day.  Everything gets soaked and drying it out takes time in the wilderness.  By the time it dries out, its time to go home.

Yeah we could only have a fire at one of our 3 campsite on isle royale. Some guys had a pike on the fire pit with wild thyme they gathered stuffed into its belly cavity 

[Choporoz]

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Yeah, I can't reach Canada anymore. Sure, I could do a lodge or fly-in cabin, but they're not the same. I took my father to a few of those at the end of his fishing and they're a little too civilized for me. 

Went on fly-in trips to NW Ontario in the 70s and 80s when the camp was pretty primitive. Was back about four years ago and there is a generator and running water.  I was nostalgic for 'the old days', but I'd be lying if I said I didn't prefer a shower (with water heated by the sun in a big tank) to jumping in the cold lake. Lol.  Also, the fridge was a welcome change from hoping the coolers hold up for at least a couple days

[TnRiver46]

Also for some reason we had to treat the water with drops in addition to filtering, apparently Lake Superior has some weird bacteria. We only have to filter water here at home in the backcountry 

[king fisher]

My first 4 months in Alaska, was spent caretaking a homestead, a guide used for a hunting camp.  The camp was 60 miles from the nearest town on the Alaska Peninsula.  He was guiding in another part of the state and wanted someone to watch out after the cabin he had recently built.  I was 25 years old, and looking for an adventure,  I thought it sounded like a great way to spend the summer and fall.  After talking with the guide over the phone for a few minuets I drove 150 miles and met him in Wasilla that evening.  The next morning he flew me in his plane 300 miles landed on a small dirt runway and dropped me off at the cabin.  It was the first week of July 1988.  He told me there were fish in all the streams and lakes but to watch out for bears because they were everywhere.  He said do not go anywhere without a rifle he gave me, but to not shoot any bears unless I absolutely had to.  He said they will false charge often, but will usually stop at about 5 yards away.  If they don't stop make your first shot count.  He then got in his plane said he would be back in October, and left.

 

I spent the summer exploring and fishing streams that had never been fished.  They were all full of spawning salmon, along with char, Dolly Varden, and grayling eating the eggs of the salmon.  The streams required long difficult walks that took anywhere from 1 to 3 hours to get to, but were well worth the effort.  The fishing was amazing, and I have many fond memories of that summer.  I did get sick from drinking the water, but after a couple of weeks my body got used to it, and I wasn't bothered by the water anymore.  Some of the places I fished have not seen a line since that summer.  The owner of the property takes fishing clients there, but none are willing to make the strenuous walks to get to the true virgin water.  I don't blame them, there is plenty of great fishing close to where you can land a plane.  On the 31st. of October I heard a plane, and the outfitter came and flew me back to civilization.  He was happy to see I had survived, and was glad to hear I hadn't had any problems with bears.  

 

I ended up spending that winter trapping in the same valley, and worked for the outfitter for over 20 years.  I learned to fly bought my own Piper cub and flew over the area often. Every time a flew over one the small streams I walked to that summer I would first cringe at how much work it would take to fish there, but  would always tell myself that someday I would take the time and make the effort to fish there again.

 

I still tell myself I need to go back and fish a couple of those streams.  The guides children now own and operate the guiding service.  I still keep in touch with them, and they are always asking me to come visit, and go fishing one more time.  They still refer to many of the places by the names I gave them, and tell their clients stories of my summer of exploration.

 

I now live in Mexico and still explore new places to fish with my kayak.  Most of the places I bass fish take some effort to get to, and have few if any other anglers, but none are as remote as those unfished waters in Alaska.  Unfortunately my joints and back have failed me, and I will never be able to get into the kind of physical condition I would need to walk for hours in the marshy tundra so I wont be going back to any of those magical places, but I will always have the memories of casting a line in places that no other angler has ever been.

 

 

[TnRiver46]

@king fisher has definitely gone about as remote as you can get for North America 

[volzfan59]

I much prefer small lakes, streams and rivers and away from people. Where I live now, we have a city owned pond, more like a small lake. There's a boat ramp, but other than bank angler's no one seems to want to fish it. It's electric only and I've fished it several times. Plenty of bass, none very large it seems. There are several other small lakes within about thirty miles. When I go, I like the quiet solitude of these small bodies of water.

[Bankc]

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

 

@Bankc: Do you ever want to fish far from OKC, where there are lonesome lakes, like Alpine lakes in the Rockies or Canada's endless lakes? There are swamps in Louisiana where you can leave people behind too.

Yeah I do!  But I don't like the idea of driving that far or buying a plane ticket, just to go fishing.  And I rarely go fishing on vacation.  That's my time to focus on my wife, so I prefer to do things we both enjoy. 

 

Besides, I'm okay with being around people.  If nothing else, it's nice to know if you have a problem out on the water, there's someone nearby to lend assistance.  And if I truly want to get away, there are places to do that.  There's a national forest out east that you can hike around for days without running into another person. 

 

I'm pretty chill, so I don't mind sharing the lake.  Even with wakeboarders and jet skiis.  I'll run into a jerk out there ever once in a while who tests my patience, but for the most part, I try to focus my energy on relaxing and having fun, rather than focusing on who's done me wrong. 

[Swamp Girl]

42 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

@king fisher has definitely gone about as remote as you can get for North America 

 

Agreed. Plus, he catches fish for a living, DDs for fun, and has a great sense of humor.