Cross-Canada Road Trip - Mountains, Mountains, & More Mountains

In this next part of the trip, we travel through the mountains from Edmonton and out to Vancouver, then down to Yellowstone, before heading home through the US. Since we left off, the next interesting things we saw were a bunch of Bison at Elk Island National Park. We were worried we wouldn’t see any but as the sun started going down they came out, and nothing scares these guys! They were even walking down the main road.

It having been a few days since we caught our last standard-sized fish, I was getting pretty antsy to do some fishing. Luckily, the next 2 days were all fishing :) I convinced Alex to agree on a “small” detour up Grande Prairie and then back down to Jasper so I could have a shot at a few northern species. Finding info for this area proved very difficult so I decided to just go for it and stop at any nice rivers we saw.

The first stop didn’t really pay off. I did catch a decent pike but that was pretty disappointing considering I expected it to be a big Bull Trout. The second stop didn’t seem to be much better, water was high and we weren’t getting any hits. I had given up and was wading back to the car, while “trolling” my lure behind me… of course this is when the fish hit. My lifer Arctic Grayling! Just a small one but a major bucket list species for me :) There aren’t too many fish I care for catching a second time but this is definitely one of them.

After the Grayling, the fishing continued to be difficult, as expected. This was early June and the rivers were still experiencing runoff from the wintermelt. Didn’t catch anything for the rest of that day or for the first half of the next day. Finally, on the last open river of the detour, I found a nice pool with a bunch of Rocky Mountain Whitefish. Another salmonid in the books :)

Next we were back to a few days without fishing and instead did the tourist thing and hiked around Jasper and Banff. I’ll spare you the details but basically it’s a spectacular region and here are some photos to prove it, send me a message if you’d like any travel suggestions.

After the national parks, we headed to k-country, where I hoped to catch a Cutthroat Trout. Incredibly, I could not find a single one! These guys are supposed to be like the Brook Trout of the west XD Rainy weather and bad stream fishing led to us trying a lake out of desperation, good thing we did because I caught a big Bull Trout!! Totally unexpected, I knew the lake had them but never thought I’d get one in shallow water from shore. What a crazy fight, like lakers on steroids.

We also started seeing Grizzlies at this point. They kept to themselves but seeing them was a good warning that we weren’t the biggest predators around anymore.

In the interest of brevity, let’s say we headed to the Kootenay region of BC next. On the way, I fished one river where I caught a fish that was way cooler than I realized at the time: the Mountain Sucker. Wish there was a cooler story to tell about how I poured through documents for hours or something… but nope. Alex visited a wolfdog sanctuary and got some very cool pictures as well.

 

Quick teleport and we were in the Kootenays. A friend I made online had graciously agreed to meet up with us and guide us around his home waters back in the mountains. I was amazed at his generosity, he essentially spent all day bringing us to all his best spots, the kind of places you could never find online. Unfortunately, the runoff came back to bite us and the fishing wasn’t spectacular, but I did catch another Bull Trout! This one was especially cool because it was caught on the fly in a small river way back in the bush: a place I’d never expect to catch something bigger than a pound or two.

 

Hop, skip, and a jump later and we had driven through the rest of the mountains and out to Kelowna and the Okanagan Valley. One last Canadian fishing stop was at a relatively small lake to try for landlocked Sockeye Salmon (Kokanee). To our dismay, all of the boats were already rented out and so we were out of options. Luckily, another friend I had made online said he was on the lake that day and offered to bring us out on his boat! People are amazing. Needless to say, he really knew his stuff and it didn’t take long for both of us to have our lifers.

We then drove out to Vancouver just to say that we had reached the Pacific. Mandatory ocean photo and we were on our way down to Yellowstone. Incredible what living out of a small Toyota can do to your hair, I swear I woke up with it like this.

We had high expectations for Yellowstone seeing as its one of the most popular U.S. national parks. To our dismay, it was quite disappointing :( Sure, it was cool to see the geysers and hot springs, but it’s nothing compared to the grandeur of the Rockies and it seemed poorly managed compared to Banff. Brief failure with some Cutthroat Trout and we agreed to be on our way ASAP.

This is getting long so let’s just say it was almost a straight shot from there to home. One last memorable stop was at the Garrison Dam in North Dakota where Roughfish member Paul Schumann had been posting pictures of mystical Blue Suckers, Shovelnose Sturgeon, Buffalo, and more. Just about anything here would be a lifer for us since we’ve never been in the central U.S. Indeed, it didn’t take long for us both to get into some Bigmouth Buffalo. Alex caught her biggest fish ever and we both enjoyed some epic battles in the current. We also caught some good Pike :) Oh yeah, and we visited the hatchery and got to see/hold some Paddlefish, Shovelnose, and Pallid Sturgeon.

And that’s about it for our big trip. Incredible adventure and we’re super excited for the next one. Only one province and three territories left to go, and I’m sure it won’t be long before we make our way over to them :) Here's a couple extra wildlife shots, couldn't think of the right place to fit them in the report.

Cross-Canada Road Trip - Shield, Prairies, & Badlands

June of 2018 was the month of our biggest adventure so far. My girlfriend Alex and I planned a trip across Canada, adding 15,000km to the odometer and crossing through 7 provinces and 9 states. I also added 11 new species to my lifelist :)

The journey pretty much started on the Niagara peninsula with an obligatory stop to see the falls. Crazy amount of tourists so it didn’t take us long to decide to switch gears and try for some fish. Primary goal was to get the Grass Pickerel that have eluded me for so long. Long story short, we failed and they continue to elude me. I did get a redemption lifer Rainbow Darter though!

We did see some of the elusive Ontario-population peacocks before heading up to the bigger Great Lakes.

Tried and failed for some Northern Sunfish before continuing on our way to Bruce Peninsula and Lake Huron. Did manage what I think is a Spotfin Shiner but nothing to write home about. The peninsula was awesome and it was great to take a ferry across to Manitoulin.

Didn’t do too much fishing during the rest of the way through ON but that didn’t take away from the beauty of north shore Lake Superior. The little bit of fishing I attempted yielded a small Pike and exactly 0 Round Whitefish.

The last stop before transitioning to Manitoba (MB) and the prairies was in Thunder Bay. My friend Corwin gave me some key info for Lake Chub and Ruffe so I did my best to catch both of them. Despite being invasive, it was super cool to catch these Ruffe so far from their homeland. The Lake Chub mission was mostly a failure, I managed a juvenile with my dipnet but nothing on hook.

Our first real day in MB was nothing short of epic! We fished the mighty Red River just about an hour outside the province’s capital. My main goal was to get a Goldeye but Alex needed a lifer Drum and neither of us would mind some of the giant Catfish and Carp the area is known for. The fishing started off slow but once we discovered the proper technique the action was great. We both got nice Drum, and I had my 5/0 hooks bent out by some giants.

Around lunch, we gave the river a break and drove over to a stream where I heard rumours of a White Bass run. They were just random pictures I saw online and matched the background to Gmaps but it paid off! We both caught our lifers, both on master angler fish by the province’s standards.

We returned to the big river so I could make one last attempt at the Goldeye. I casted out as far into the current as I could and finally ended up setting the hook into something small after catching big fish all day. Reeling in was nerve-wracking but shortly later I was holding my lifer in my hands :)

We pretty much skipped through the rest of the prairies and made our way to the Alberta (AB) badlands. Didn’t fish much in the southern part of the province but did get a lifer River Shiner while I was trying for Flathead Chub (which I didn’t catch).

 

I know these aren’t fishing pics but I had to include some shots of the badlands because the terrain was so different from what I was used to. I’ll end this report here for now and in part 2 we will finally reach the mountains!

P.S. The world's largest dinosaur isn't real ;)

Exploring the Maritimes - Day 6

Day 6 May 25^th – Heading Home

We woke up to a loud, incessant clanging sound. Confused, we got out of the car and investigated to find the source of the noise. It was a woodpecker that had decided that a metal trail sign would perhaps contain some delicious grubs lol.

Turn out we had set up camp in the wrong area, likely due to our exhausted state the night before as well as confusing signs. We wanted to hike to the “Grotte des Fées” which translates to “Fairy Grotto”. It didn’t take us long to reorient ourselves and we soon made our way up the trail. The grotto was a pretty cool sight and we were glad we made the stop; it was nice to get off the beaten path.

That hike concluded our planned activities for the trip, so we prepared to make the rest of the drive home to Montreal. We drove along the 132 and enjoyed views of the Gulf of the St-Lawrence for a good part of the way home J

Exploring the Maritimes - Day 5

May 24^th – Deception & Exhaustion

Day 5 began with a visit to Kouchibouguac National Park, where we would finally get to take a shower! Since it was the first shower of the trip, it was an incredible morale booster to finally feel clean. Despite being in a relatively uninteresting location compared to the national parks out west or even in Cape Breton, Kouchibouguac had a large beach and a cool saltwater marsh. This latter area particularly interested me as I had some intel that it contained the 2 remaining Sticklebacks that I needed to complete my slam. We ate lunch on the boardwalk that crosses over the marsh before I set up to catch some micros. I could see large schools of something small below us so I was excited to get started. The fish I was seeing ended up all being Mummichog, but I was noticing some smaller, more discrete fish darting in and out of the kelp. They were Stickleback! I caught many of them, but did not have a field guide so was unsure as to whether they were Threespines or the Blackspotteds I was looking for. After a good amount of tanago fishing, I switched to my dipnet and succeeded in catching a consolation Fourspine Stickleback! On the way out of the park, we stopped to use the internet and I confirmed that I had caught a Blackspotted Stickleback! Slam complete.

Leaving the park, we drove to our next destination: the Miramichi River. The plan was to stop at an Acadian restaurant for lunch on the way and sample some of the traditional cuisine. To our dismay, the restaurant we had selected was closed permanently L After looking around a bit, we gave up and continued on our way to the supposed Striped Bass paradise.

Arriving in Miramichi, we were simultaneously amazed and dismayed to see at least 200 boats on the river in front of us :o It was the day before the annual Striper Cup so there were many anglers prefishing. With stories of 600 fish days and non-stop action, we were getting antsy to cast a line in the water. Armed with 50lb braid and heavy swimbaits, we launched our lures as far as we could into the strong current of the river. Unfortunately, I was having an issue with my reel where the bail would snap shut if I made powerful casts. This led to me quickly losing all of the expensive baits I had bought specifically for Stripers. The day did not pan out as expected; the bite was off. We fished for hours without seeing a fish or getting a single hit; other fishermen we met on the bank told similar stories. After trying every spot I had researched, we were losing hope so gave up and made PB&J’s. Before leaving, we tried one last Hail Mary spot located on a rocky shoal where we could wade a good distance out into the river. It payed off! First cast and I had a fish on! Same for Alex! We were getting hits and/or catching fish every cast. We ended up catching about 50 Striped Bass total, even after the tails on our last swimbaits had been ripped off by the aggressive fish.

The sun had set while we were catching fish so we made our way back to the car before it got too dark to find our way. We then gunned it to make some headway back towards home. Alex did the bulk of the driving and kept us on the road until 2AM despite bad driving conditions. We made camp down a rough road into crown land.

Exploring the Maritimes - Day 4

May 23^rd – PEI

Day 4 was dedicated to visiting Prince Edward Island. Therefore, the day started with crossing the Confederation Bridge: a 13km long bridge connecting PEI to the rest of Canada. It was quite an impressive structure although we weren’t looking forward to paying the $50 toll on the way back out XD Upon arriving on the island, we soon noticed that there was red dirt everywhere: roads, fields, cliffs, etc. We also enjoyed seeing the houses which were painted with bright colours such as turquoise, pink, and orange.

Our first stop was at a small village called Victoria-by-the-Sea. Honestly, it was quite disappointing; it looked much better in pictures on the internet. One nice thing about PEI is that everything is very close together, so messing with our itinerary was not an issue. In fact, we never drove more than an hour at a time :p So we headed to North Rustico, an area where Ken said I would have a shot at a Blackspotted Stickleback. I fished for an hour but could only find Threespines and Mummichog, the Blackspotteds were nowhere to be found.

We drove along the Coastal Scenic Parkway in order to get a good view of the famous red cliffs as we headed to our next destination. Along with Thunder Cove Beach, we thought it offered the best views of the cliffs so it was well worth the drive.

The next stop was a visit to the Anne of Green Gables house, I had no idea who she was but it was a must-see for Alex. Apparently, it’s a very famous Canadian story that I was somehow oblivious of. It seemed like a pretty standard house to me but it did have this useful fireplace without a place for a fire LOL.

Our final stop on the island was to eat dinner at the Chip Shack in downtown Charlottetown. It ended up being the highlight of our quick tour of the province. The lady who runs the place is super outgoing and enthusiastic; it seemed impossible to not have a good conversation with her! The food was delicious; I had a lobster roll while Alex enjoyed fish and chips.

Exploring the Maritimes - Day 3

May 22^nd – Saltwater Species

We woke up to an amazing sunrise over the white sand beach; it was beautiful. Alex went to explore the beach and see some seals while I packed up the car for the day.

The next activity of the day was a hike down to the Kejimkujik National Seashore. We saw deer, rabbits, and seals, but overall we were unimpressed with this Oceanside area. Carter’s Beach is only 10 minutes away and is much nicer.

We then made the 2-hour drive to Peggy’s Cove, one of the more popular tourist attractions in NS. We understood why: it was exactly what you’d expect a small Maritime fishing village to look like. Large boulders worn smooth by the pounding of waves, and a protected harbour with lobster boats waiting to be taken out to check traps. To top it all off, a majestic lighthouse sat on the highest point of the outcrop, allowing for some awesome photo opps. Alex took the opportunity to send a postcard back home; apparently the lighthouse doubles as a post office.

I also tried a little bit of fishing in the harbour, but only found juvenile Atlantic Cod (EDIT: Haddock), a species I had previously caught in Massachusetts and Saguenay.

Today was going to be the only day I would target fully saltwater species. My friend Kenneth Tse had given me a spot at a pier nearby where I should have a good shot at Cunner, Shorthorn Sculpin, and Longhorn Sculpin. Alex dropped me off at the spot and we parted ways because she wanted to go explore Halifax. I didn’t have any regular saltwater bait so I just fished with nightcrawlers on a pickerel rig. It didn’t take long to catch a Cunner; they usually found the bait within 10 seconds as long as you kept it close to the bottom and near the pillars of the pier.

After checking Cunner off the list, I tried casting further out to see if I could catch either Sculpin species or whatever else happened to be swimming by. It took a couple hours of dragging my rig slowly along the bottom before I had my first solid hit! A short fight later and I was looking at my lifer Longhorn Sculpin, what a crazy looking fish! Many of my friends described it as a dragon-fish; I have to agree given its crazy shape and large spines. I’m still not sure if these guys are venomous or not…

I kept casting in hopes of getting lucky and hooking a Shorthorn, but just couldn’t get away from the Longhorns. Finally, I felt a smaller tap and dragged in what I expected to be yet another Cunner. What came up over the side of the pier initially looked like a smaller Longhorn but upon closer investigation was my lifer Shorthorn Sculpin J

A couple hours of fishing later and Alex came back to pick me up. Our next destination was Fort Beausejour, which we planned to explore before heading to a nearby camping spot. BTW, I used “freecampsites.net” to find most of camping spots this trip, we only spent $70 in accommodations for all 6 weeks of travelling. We got gas and washed our hair at a gas station before driving into the fort. It was pretty cool to see overall; much of it was what you’d expect an old fort to look like, but it did have a good view over the Bay of Fundy.