I had not been fishing with my dad since I was about 5 or so when I lost my plastic fishing rod to Greenbough Lake.  It was a traumatic experience for me and I was heartbroken. I loved that little plastic fishing rod and the cute colored fish that came with it.  With no other options, I went back into the bow of the boat with my coloring book and wrote off fishing for many years.

I have fished on and off since I started backcountry camping in 2002.  I bought a telescopic rod from Canadian Tire that you could shrink down to a few feet and it was great!  I fished on and off but didn’t ever catch much and if I had, I didn’t know what to do next, so it was kind of a mute point.

Over Canada Day weekend, while fishing with The Happy Camper, Kevin Callan, I caught a fish. Kevin caught 3 and when it was time to clean them, I asked if he would teach me how to do it.  I had always wanted to learn and had watched it done many times, but I am a firm believer in on hands learning so he did the first fish, and I cleaned the remaining 3.  There were no bones in any of them when we ate them and I was elated!

Now I knew how to catch, clean and cook the fish. I was ready to really apply myself and catch one.  The problem was, I hadn’t caught any since that trip.

My dad used to fish a lot and he was sending me tips via text over the last month, witnessing my fishing drought via youtube  (at 11:26) and my blog.  I thought it would be fun to plan a daddy daughter fishing day, so we picked a date and he drove up from Niagara to give me some tips and spend the day with me.

He arrived early Saturday morning, leaving his place at 5.  Before we even left the house, he was fixing up my reel and restringing it and getting it all set up for the day.

We headed to the Bait & Tackle around the corner from my house to pick up some  worms.  The guy was really nice and we were on our way in no time.  Unfortunately, the bait shop and the boat rental couldn’t be done until after 8am, hence the late start. (well, late for fishing anyways)

We arrived at Mill Lake Cottage Resort around 9am and Mike was very happy to help us.  We paid for the boat rental and then Mike showed us a map with information on what fish were where and where the shallow areas were to avoid with the boat, etc.  So incredibly helpful and informative.

They also rented cottages there and had 5 of them. The property was clean and well taken care of, and the guests that were leaving seemed disappointed it was time to go. Their guests return every year and seem to really enjoy the property.

Mike and my dad went over the map together. Then we were taken down to the dock to be shown the boat and where to get the pfd’s, bailer, etc.

After a quick little lesson, we went back to the car to get our stuff and headed out on the lake to do some fishing.

It was really nice being out on a boat that I didn’t have to paddle myself, but just for a change.  LOL.

We spent some time fishing under the bridge and then went into a bay at the far end of the lake.  The sun was out and it was hot and the fish were not biting at all.

At the end of the lake there were rapids, we could hear them but not see them. My dad thought this would be a great place to fish and he was right. He caught a bass here. It wasn’t very big so he put it back, but at least he caught one!

After that we fished and fished. We had a nice lunch I’d packed and then fished some more. We went all over the whole lake.


We had an awesome day. We chatted about lots of different things and I really enjoyed the time we spent together.  My dad spent some time  telling me which lures are for what etc and you can see that info on the video posting later this week.

It was so hot out, about 30 degrees and super sunny. We only found one teeny tiny shady spot on the lake and spent some time fishing there but  the fish just didn’t want to come out and visit with us.

After about 5 hours on the water, we were both hot and our butts hurt from sitting in the boat, so we decided to head off the lake and go get a cold drink!

We brought the boat back to Mike and chatted with him for a bit. He was so nice!  Then we packed up and headed to the Parry Sound waterfront for a nice cold beverage.

I really enjoyed my daddy daughter fishing day and even though we only caught one fish, it didn’t really matter. The important thing was that I had a great day fishing with my dad and I learned a lot from him. I know I am going to catch some fish soon, but most likely not on a big lake full of sunshine without any shade.

The time we spent together was priceless and I am grateful to have such an awesome dad who will come visit and show me things when I need him.  Thanks to my dad for taking the time to visit with me and for showing me some fishing tips and tricks!

I hope you enjoyed my post and will come back and visit again soon!  Stay tuned for the video on this adventure being posted on my youtube channel later this week. Also, check out my blog post next week on my day trip to QEII Wildlands with the guys from Paddling Adventure Radio!  What a fun day that was!

Happy Fishing!

Camper Christina & Dad!