My Armstrong Fishing Adventure

After a short 2 hour drive north from Thunder Bay with my buddy Rohn we pulled into a gravel driveway leading down to a large base camp and cabins along the Shore of Mattice Lake just south of Armstrong.

The clean fresh smell of Northern Ontario forest engulfed us like a handshake with an old friend. The wet rocks, trees, mosses, and lichens of the Boreal Forrest are like no other region of America which is why Wabakimi Park was formed as a protected area for us and for us and the mysterious Woodland Caribou who roam within.

It’s late May, the days are warm but the evenings are still cool. There was a light smell of wood smoke drifting from the camp letting me know that a warm welcome waited inside. I grabbed my jacket and headed over to check in. Several earlier arrivals sat lazily at a big round table enjoying refreshments and telling stories of moose, porcupines, and bear spotted on the road from Thunder Bay.

It’s a bit of a strange sensation; it’s like arriving home rather than at some distant destination. The camp is and entry and exit point from which start amazing adventures, unbeatable fishing and hunting opportunities, and a window into Canada’s history. What is not often written about is that some of the historic outpost locations sport evidence of old cabins or food caches, ancient fire pits and native encampments.

Off in the distance low at first we hear the hum of a Beaver or Turbo Otter approaching Mattice Lake. Rohn and I step out onto the dock to catch a better view and see low over the tree line the Otter. The seasoned pilot gracefully navigates it down to the smooth water surface hanging there just above his perfect reflection as I snap my first of many pictures. As he nears the middle of the lake he touches down generating a beautiful arc of white spray from the floats and gradually settles into the rippled surface waters in preparation for taxiing into the dock.

I hear behind me the excited comments of the earlier arrivals also cameras in hand. This was the first of 6 we watched as groups returned from their adventures before we headed into Armstrong for a restaurant dinner and a cozy cabin snooze before our 9am scheduled departure into Canada’s fishing paradise.

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