Our annual trip to the Park this year had a couple additional people - who were more on a canoe trip than a fishing trip - and so our numbers suffered a bit. Our group of 6 people in 3 canoes managed 135 trout. All lakers but one brookie. The lakers here are very much bug-fed and therefore behave much more like you’d expect from brook trout. They fight like crazy for their size and you can find them anywhere and as shallow as 1 or 2 feet right beside the shoreline at this time of year - if you can find hatches of flies, all the better. Majority were 1-2 lb fish, with some under and some over.
Day 1 is travel/portaging in. Day two and three are fishing dawn to dusk (breakfast and dinner get in the way). Day 4 is the travel/portaging out.
My daughter was stoked we were finally going to our usual lakes this year - last two years she came along we went to new places and had some slower fishing - and before that she was too young to take on spring trips with the cold nights/rain/portaging/etc.
So on the way in day 1, and way out day 4 we always drag a line. I don’t really call it fishing cause we’re travelling too fast, trying to reach a destination, but all the lakes hold trout, so there’s no harm except maybe some twisted mono line from trolling too fast. And we always pick up the odd fish here and there.
Day 1 - we got 11 in our boat
Day 2 - we were doing well, catching a trout about every 10 minutes or so between us up in a shallow bay. We wanted to move across a short (30m) portage to another lake, but we kept getting a fish trolling that way, until we were 8-7 between us after maybe 3 hours of fishing. “You don’t leave fish to find fish” we kept saying. But we knew it was slowing down. So at 3:30pm we crossed the portage and entered a new lake. Instantly, before even getting in the canoe I see tons, and tons of what I call chironomid casings. There was a major hatch happening someplace on this lake and all the remains were blowing into this little cove where we were launching. I said to my daughter “we pinpoint where this hatch is happening and every fish in the lake will be there”. Out we go paddle up the shore, into the wind, watching the water for wherever there’s no more surface evidence of a hatch. Once the surface cleans up, we turn back and start fishing there. Gulp minnows on 1/8oz jig heads. Fish ON. Net it. Release. Drop - Another. Net it, drop down, bite bite, set hook. Double header. Drop again, fish. On and on it goes. For an hour and a half- two hours. All of a sudden we’re at 27-17 fish between us. It’s time to leave. Our camp mates will be wondering where we are for dinner, so time to get going. We leave a very aggressive bite at 5:30 and get back to camp by 6 for dinner. Catch a few more after dinner on our home lake and end the day 31&20 in our boat for the day.
During our after dinner outing, close to the campsite, we had the resident loon pair come for a visit. For many years they’ve been harassing us, following us, have attacked fish we’re reeling in, they swim along a foot below the surface under the stern man in the canoe, waiting for an easy trout meal. They have learned exactly where the tired out, slow trout get released and await boat side while unhooking a fish in the net. So almost dark this evening maybe 8:45, near full moon rising, and daughter had a fish on, almost to the canoe. She yells…ahhh what the heck!…. Loon attacks her fish within a couple feet of the net and has it in its mouth pulling hard. I could have hit it with the net or paddle… instead I grab my phone to record. Got some cool video of it after it lost its grip on the fish, chasing the trout around and around beside the canoe - screenshot from video below
Very cool scene with the loons and almost full moon light coming up near dusk
Next day our whole crew of 3 canoes goes into the ‘hot’ lake and instantly we start catching right where we left. Made it to about 13-8 between my daughter and I. Other 4 party members were doing well too, but not quite up to our pace. Right beside shore, 30-40 feet deep, lots of 2 lb lakers, some just a little thicker than others and all scrappy fighters rod warped right over and drag slipping a bit with 6lb mono. Not sure who was hooked more, the fish or my daughter. So north wind stops. Bites stop. Can’t find a fish. Nothing works. Move around the small lake. Other end of lake - bite stopped here too I’m told. Lake goes glass calm. Dead zone. We troll around. Have to work to get a couple on the stringer for dinner and that’s it. OFF. Just like that. Switch has been flipped. Around dinner time a south wind started up - it’s really the only thing I can think that ended that hot bite - nothing changed besides the wind. Couple more trout after dinner and a couple on the way out day 4.
We landed 53 (me) and 35 (daughter) in our canoe for 88 out of our groups 135 trout. Another Park trip in the books.
Algonquin spring trip, 4 day portaging for trout 
