Sault Ste Marie...and me

So for the last few weeks I've been eluding to the fact that I was going to Sault Ste Marie this past week for the fishing trip of a lifetime. Myself and two others have been planning this trip for the past year, and our intentions were to absolutely slay the Pinks with hopes of bringing in the odd Atlantic, and then hit up some of the smaller brooks and rivers around town to put a beating on the local brook trout population. We left Trenton on Saturday the 1st around 4:30pm. We got in to the Soo around 8am the next morning as we ended up stopping in Espanola ON for a quick nap. We stayed at Glenview Cottages, which was conveniently located just north of downtown Sault Ste Marie, about a 10 minute drive out. The cottage we were in had 2 bedrooms, a full kitchen, and bathroom, nice flat screen TV and cable, as well as A/C. (conveniently enough Mr Tom Jackson (Canadian Musician and Actor) was staying in the camp ground with a few other celebs, while shooting a movie) There was a double and a single in one room and a double in the other room with a pull out couch in the living room. So be it to say there was no lack of comfort, we all had plenty of space, and all the creature comforts of home. Our first evening in town Pat and I did a little reccy at the Saint Marie's Rapids to determine our best routing in the morning, and to see what the water conditions were like. We spoke to a few locals at the water front to determine what we should be using for flies and such. We spoke to a young man by the name of Jake who was quite knowledgeable and extremely helpful. Monday we were up extremely early and on the water where surprised to run into an acquaintance of mine (Brian Beck) who is from the Toronto area and was fishing for atlantic's and pinks as well. One of his friends was quite helpful to lead us to the rapids via some shortcuts, and then explain to us the holes, and give us some much needed safety advice with regards to wading the rapids. To make an extremely long story short....we fished for 4 days straight, 8hours or more each day.....and a side from our buddy Peter bringing in a decent coho.... there was not one single fish hooked or brought to shore. It was the most depressing experience of my life. We fished hard, we fished everything in our fly boxes, tried everything including the kitchen sink and not a single follow. We went to a few brookie rivers, some of the most pristine waters I've ever had the pleasure of viewing. The water was so clear it was like looking at tap water everywhere we went. On wednesday night we had a little discussion to determine that we were going to throw in the towel and concede to our apparent fate's.... we packed up our things and departed for home Thursday morning around 10am. I must say my heart was still aching from the utter disappointment of the trip, but some of the things we saw up there were breath taking, and no amount of money could compare to it's beauty. The truck was performing at it's max capability on the drive home...2012 Dodge Ram 1500 Long Horn....we filled up in the Soo, had some breakfast at Timmies and then hit the road. Well, I was so happy to see I was averaging at best 11.5L/100Km. I was still over 1/4 of a tank (100L tank) at the Cookstown exit on the 400, and honestly if I had the security of a 20L jerry can in the box, I've had attempted to make it all the way home on the single tank. We arrived home shortly after 8pm in time to surprise my wife and kids, and say my goodbye's to Pat as he grabbed his car and made his way for home. The next morning I met Peter (our 3rd) in Port Hope for a little fishing. The rivers were blowing up at the seams because of the massive downpour of rain that we had back home while I was gone. Peter was already on the water very early in the morning, and I had a txt by 7am saying he already brought a Chinook to shore. I met up with him and it wasn't long before I was into a fish as well. Unfortunately it was foul hooked, but fortunately I was able to release the hook without too much harm to the fish. A short while later and a fair walk up stream, I finally hooked clean into a nice male. All in all, the trip was a bust fish wise, the memories were fantastic, the food was amazing (thanks Peter) and the fishing back home never ceases to impress. Best of luck on the water folks. Tight lines!