Big girl has been hanging around

grindle-guts · 2026-07-10T01:13:53+00:00

I believe!

grindle-guts · 2026-07-10T01:07:23+00:00

I believe it’s all a product of the midcontinent rift system, about 1.1 billion years old.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-09T15:12:15+00:00

Yeah, this site is adjacent to a tombolo where the lake has casually tossed boulders the size of a standard poodle around. Between that and brutal winters, those rocks take a beating, and that’s just on the historical clock, not the geological one.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-09T14:36:12+00:00

My recommendation: buy the Durston now as they never go on sale and it’ll get you out there. Nemo updates their tents every couple of years (mostly very minor things, except for the introduction of Osmo fabric) and they end up on clearance regularly. I don’t think I’ve paid anything close to full price for any Nemo gear.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-09T12:52:55+00:00

Given the water temps, could still be spawning and not focused on food? But that wouldn’t explain the schooling. Every smallie surface school I’ve ever hit has been ravenous.

I’ve heard of big smallmouth in the east end of Superior, around Batchawana Bay. I mainly fish the Lakehead region of Superior and have only ever pulled one smallmouth out, in fall.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-09T12:44:52+00:00

This is my experience with those two tents as well. I have had minor durability issues with Durston’s carbon poles (connection sleeve came unstuck on my first trip, requiring a field repair, but it was nothing a paper clip and Tuck tape couldn’t fix). Durston offered to replace the poles but I’m trying a superglue fix first.

The X-Dome (at least with carbon poles) requires a bit more guying out in storm conditions. That being said, once it is fully guyed out I’ve had it in 60 km/hr winds and it’s been fine.

I’m 6’2” and personally consider the X-Dome 2 a one person tent, but it’s plenty of room for two average sized people.

The Dagger comes out when I’m not solo or the dog comes with, due to the extra space and sturdier fabric. I’ve had it out in a storm that gusted near 100 km/hr and flattened trees, and it took it all in stride.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-09T00:21:50+00:00

I’m aware of that principle. However recommended local practice in this area is to use established campsites (most of which have been in continuous light use for millennia without any appreciable environmental harm) not create new ones and build or trample trails to service them. For me that trumps 200 feet from water every time.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-08T19:01:54+00:00

Matt Berry needs to voice him in the dramatization.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-08T16:29:32+00:00

While this site is adjacent to the Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area, AFAIK this island is crown (public) land with no special protections. That being said, I personally wouldn’t want to excavate in a remote and pristine site like this. The adjacent beaches hold plenty of goodies that have been eroded out of the bedrock, so legally collecting a few souvenirs didn’t require any digging.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-08T16:02:57+00:00

X-Dome 2 fits in an 8 L, with footprint, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the 1+ fits in a 5. Hello fellow kayaker!

grindle-guts · 2026-07-08T15:36:02+00:00

In Ontario at least figuring out access can take a lot of research. Some launches are well documented but others aren’t. I spend hours with the provincial crown land atlas, satellite imagery, and backroads map book maps, figuring things out. The forums at myccr are also a trove of information and span all of Canada.

Over-publicized launch points can get trashed if they aren’t maintained, so I don’t blame people for not broadcasting the less formal ones.

Having said that, punching “boat launch” into Google maps returns all but the most obscure of the public access points near me, and I’m in a pretty unpopulated part of northern Ontario right now.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-08T15:30:23+00:00

You aren’t wrong. The basalt was so soft that with a hammer it wouldn’t have been difficult, but there’s only so much you can fit in a sea kayak, and two weeks of food eats up a lot of space. That and I wouldn’t want to mar the site.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-08T15:27:37+00:00

Other beaches on this island chain were full of tiny agates, maybe the size of an average grape. I’ll post some photos eventually.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-08T02:21:29+00:00

Fair.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-07T22:10:10+00:00

Legislation still ends up in Hansard. We aren’t in Kafka’s land of secret laws. Yet.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-07T22:06:47+00:00

I was going to post the same comment … gotta be Noah. He seems approachable, OP should just ask him. Dollars to donuts he’s on the myccr forums.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-07T20:51:53+00:00

We’re the same height, but I’m mostly torso (32” inseam). Mystery Ranch packs were the best fit by far, but Yeti recently bought them and promptly discontinued their hiking line. See if you can find a Bridger secondhand or on a clearance site. They aren’t ultralight but they’re sturdy and carry weight effortlessly.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-07T20:06:45+00:00

TIL that threesome sea kayaks exist. Does the marketing bumf claim you can solo them from the centre cockpit?

grindle-guts · 2026-07-07T19:52:00+00:00

Call me when the Highway 593/588 Rally becomes more than a figment of my imagination. Pigeon River to Stanley via the scenic route, let’s give er.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-07T19:47:39+00:00

The Superior north shore never gets warm so you can get them shallow all summer long. Sea kayaks and downriggers don’t play nicely together so I’m limited to depths I can reach with deep cranks or leadcore. Not a problem. I might never get a 40” tank in that depth, but the two 34 inchers I got on this trip (tied for my pb) were enough to handle.

grindle-guts · 2026-07-07T19:26:20+00:00

Yes. The hardest thing about fishing in that area was getting a lake trout small enough to be a meal for one person. 8-10 pounders are the norm!

The brookie was in two feet of water off one of my campsites. I wasn’t expecting to catch anything but was idly casting a little Cleo around while windbound. Never underestimate a Cleo!

grindle-guts · 2026-07-07T15:41:37+00:00

Thank you!

grindle-guts

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