Away Trip to Drag Lake In Haliburton Ontario

[Deleted]

Gone

[sleepswithdafishes]

Good luck! I have always wanted to fish canada ! Have a great time hope you catch tons of fish! when you get back let us know how you made out .Sleeps

[mikep]

Looks like a long drive but the area looks like a sportmans paradise. Good luck. Would be interested in the outcome for fish .

MikeP

[Raz]

Can't help you Matt but I can say I've wanted to fish Lake Simcoe, west of Drag Lake for years.
I'll get there some day!

[Deleted]

Trip is getting closer, still looking for any pointers... Plan at the moment is to target walleye, but I am thinking of bringing a couple of slide divers for salmon, just in case... They may hit streamer flies better than spoons.. What do you think??

[sleepswithdafishes]

Matt we have real good luck in the fall and spring pulling streamers up here in the nek. Tandomed hooked a must with one small splitshot 18 to20 inches from fly.Good luck!! Sleeps

[Deleted]

Thanks Sleeps, do you use a dodger in front of the fly??

[sleepswithdafishes]

Reelax we dont .The pumping motion entices the fish to strike !! I might add bump up your speed 3.3 to 3.5 it will make a big difference. Also and im not sure if this lake your going to has smelt but if it does your pattern should match like grey or black ghost, magog smelt etc. I think if you troll at this speed a dodger wouldnt work rite.Good luck .Sleeps

[spazzoboxer]

...I grew up every summer on Drag Lake for fifteen summers or so from the mid sixties to early eighties at my Grandmother's cottage.....[ My late Grandfather owned hundreds of acres of Lakefront he bought in the 1930's when there were a couple local residences,...no non resident cottages & no proper roads into Drag Lake,...he built a couple cottages & put in a road,,,,,the rest of the land was later subdivided & sold in the sixties & seventies,...about a dozen cottages & a public beach on the small peninsula were developed,..} ..... Haven't been there in over ten years. The lake is/was exceptionally clean/cold water...and atypically deep for a glacial shield lake with some trenches over 300 ft....( according to the locals ) ....During those summers caught a few fairly large Lake Trout there,...as I recall, fairly deep trolling sets compared to other lakes,...I caught some large, healthy fish,..but the older locals caught bigger ones with me during our passes up & down the Lakes' central arteries,..some of them caught personal bests,..can't remember the weight/lengths,..but I remember they were happy,...I believe there were many trophy fish,...known as an excellent lake for Lakers in the Haliburton/Muskoka/Kawartha area. There were no Salmon there all those years ago,...but I am sure the Ministry has probably stalked the area,..like they did all over the Province,...you probably already know this by doing some tertiary research for your trip & contacting your host....Caught a few decent Small Mouths when I was there as well,....don't remember seeing any Walleye,...but there were lots in other lakes in the area....{ by the way,...many locals as I recall,..all over the vast Central Highlands & even further North referred to Walleye as "Pickerel"......never saw an Eastern/Yellow/Chain Pickerel up there,...but never bothered to correct/argue with local traditions regarding naming & the differences between the Walleye/Perch & Pike/Muskie/true Pickerel families,......laugh,.....many good times,...speaking of which,...in the eighties,...I started to fish mostly for the dreaded "Maskinollunge" as known in the Algonquin Indian tongue,..[ I think? ].....many stories,..caught a few medium sized ones that were stocked in Elephant Lake..{ my other Grandparents cottage } over East in the Bancroft/Harcourt area & York River system from South Algonquin Park,.....caught my biggest fish in the area on Baptiste Lake,...a forty odd inch Muskellunge,..& my biggest one further North on massive Lake Nipissing,......but to me the most impressive fish I ever snatched was a Yellow Perch!!!!...........laughing,..........in the middle of three days of relentless rain & storms,..( including a tornado touchdown & clear cut less than a couple miles away ) ,,yes quite a memorable week long canoe trip in the wilds of Algonquin Park,...{ did over twenty trips into the Park,...mostly Brook/Speckled success,.. } ......anyway on that early seventies' excursion,..camping on Pine Island on Manitou Lake.. { then named Wilkes Lake } in the NorthWest corner of the Park,...overcast, cold, rain,..soaked to the skin,..we were trolling the strait between Pine Island & the neighbouring one in our canoe,...and I landed what turned out to be a 20 inch Yellow Perch,....we measured it,..had no scale,..but the girth was not exceptional.//so maybe only three- three & half pounds,...but I was thrilled,...according to our literature then,...a World $Record,...laughing,....at least by length?...ha,....well I practiced "Catch & Release" before it was a term I had ever heard of & possessed no camera,.....No Fish Story !!!

.....laugh,....good luck on your trip this weekend!

............. like your lovely Vermont, { which I visited twice, once in October }....they say the Autumn Season in Haliburton is among the most beautiful Fall Colour Spectacles in the World,....I've seen it many times,...breathtaking,...the Canadian Shield Rock that forms the base for the area is exceptionally old,...maybe 4+ billion years......the Mountains that towered over the Central Highlands have all worn away,..but were exceptionally tall,..30-45,000 feet elevation,.....I always thought about the tremendous geological history of the area whenever I was privileged enough to enjoy its bounty,.......visit McKeck's place in town [ former NHL Centre Walt McKechnie ] & go to the lookout above town at Skyline Park for a panoramic view of the whole area,.....or take a trip up and visit the Wolves at the Wolf Centre at the Haliburton Forest Preserve,.....if you have any spare time from fishing,.....laughing,....

.....Best Wishes,.....let me know how it went...

...................................SPAZZOBOXER,..............

.................p.s. ....I believe Drag Lake was named for the huge Drag Barges that "dragged" a massive amount of timber down the lake for building our cities in the late 19th Century & early 20th,....also,...I was likely conceived in a large log & stone cottage on the southern shore of this lake,...probably a hot, late summer night in 1959,......also our cottage was once surrounded by three adult black bears & two cubs for about six hours one Canadian Thanksgiving many years ago,...and a Bull Moose once woke me up by the noise he made by rubbing & grinding his fresh antlers one spring morning against the corner of our cottage,.....

[Raz]

Spazzoboxer;
THANKS! A great read!

[Deleted]

OMG spazzoboxer... THANKS for the post! What awsome info and detail on our target location. We leave tomorrow morning around 7am, hope to be there around 5pm... Fishing all day Sat and again on Sunday before the ride home... Will be bringing warm water species gear mainly, as Gordy's boat doesn't have riggers.. I am thinking of bringing a couple slide diver rigs, as I would feel naked in a boat without them, after this summer...

I am printing your post to bring, the owner of the cottage will love your history lesson... He lives on Murray's road on the south end of the lake. Probably built by your family.. I will look for the log and stone cottage, and If I see it will post a pick when I get back.

Your post was enough to set me off.. Now all I can think of is going... Maybe we leave tonight... yea, another 12hr of fishin.... yea thats the ticket... hmmm....

Thanks!

[spazzoboxer]

.....Thank You sincerely for your kind reply Matt,....your enthusiasm is rekindling my own dormant desire to return to fishing more often, especially the thrill/anticipation of the approaching Road Trip,......so little time,...didn't know if that letter was going to be in any way helpful,...I wrote it on a lark,....I was researching for a piece I was writing,...{ non sporting/fishing } ....and was trying to recall some distant detail from my many memories about Haliburton/Drag Lake & a Google search produced your "Away Trip to Drag Lake in Haliburton, Ontario" as the first item.....laughing,...so I just had to investigate,....and as an impulsive, very fast writer/typist, I rifled that off in about twenty minutes or so,...debated whether to send it,...too lazy to correct spelling/structure or fact check,.... what the heck,..hit "Post Reply",...so sorry for the rambling/disjointed nature of the post,..and I wish I could recall more useful fishing gear/bait tips re. Drag,......but I'm sure you know what you're doing & can adapt to anything & have much more practical experience than I,..especially in the last two decades,.....the Science of Fishing is far more evolved today than the time period of those formative memories I recalled in the previous post....

......Anyway,...I have to take a coffee break from my regular writing,....so let me take twenty & give you a few more details/clarifications/outright corrections from that last post.

.....When I last visited Drag,.......I was a guest for a couple of days at,...what was that pretensious name?... "The Domain of Killean",..{ I think },...the former Haliburton Lodge at the extreme North of the Lake,..( I think ),..ha,..that I remembered as a child & teenager.....
.......I didn't get a chance to boat or drive around the Lake & observe my former summer home & the changes to the area......but, from what I could see there & the surrounding area,..after the Real Estate boom from the eighties & on,...a tonne more cottages were present,...many very expensive,...a big change from the past.....and I hadn't visited before that since the early 1980's,....

......so,...I looked at your map & Google Earthed the Lake myself & of course found out I was mistaken!!!...misguided?....ahh the fog of ages,....our cottage was not on the south shore near your pal Gordy's,.....but,..I think { quantitatively guesstimating 75% accuracy } ,.....right in the middle of that three pronged - middle West shore of the Lake,...looking due North from Gordy's,....about 11:30 on the directional clock,..if your placement of the map pin is correct,...

.....now,...the first,...most southern point, ..[ the one closest to Gordie's ] is the first point,..

................the second point,...I believe,..is the rocky point where my Grandparent's Cottage was,..& I wouldn't be surprised if it had been replaced by a more expensive/massive vacation home,..as the location would have been prime/desirable for the thousands of Toronto area Yuppies who invaded in the eighties & on,.....the lots he sold & cottages he built,...many of them were the direct/consecutive neighbours along the shore,...heading North,...many sold to friends/families from my home town,...Preston, ( Cambridge, today ),..Ontario.......

............Now,...the third point,....I believe,..and still there today,..I hope,... was the Sandy Point that jutted into the Lake,...pointing due East,....I remember the construction crew clearing the underbrush & putting the road in so the public/non cottage owners-renters could enjoy the beach & not have to journey there by boat only,....

.....anyway,...I think the "Sandy Point" road labelled on Google,....is part of,...and an extension of the road put in for the cottages he had built/sold,...ostensibly to the "Sandy Point" peninsula,.....I have no idea what the status/look of all of this is today,...laughing

.....Now,...if I am accurate,....North-East of your friend Gordie's,....on the southern peninsula of the strait leading into what the Google Map calls appropriately... the "East Bay",....a legendary local lived year round in a lonely cabin,..his name was "Uncle Bill" Nidrey, ( sp.)...... He knew all about the fishing/history of the region,..including,.. of course,.. Drag Lake,... he directed us to troll down the middle of East Bay & then mirror/trace the rocky points shoreline while trolling, & casting other lines from the motor boat around those rocky outcrops,.. ...especially in early morning,...I do remember that is one of the places I caught the biggest Small Mouths,..and maybe some Walleye,...but I don't ever remember personally pulling any in,..but as the recall becomes clearer,...I do think some of the large walleyes I can remember watching others pull in,...actually were on Drag Lake,...and from navigating the East Bay,....laughing,.....anyway I am sure,....that one of the biggest Lakers I ever caught was very near the straits of the East Bay after just entering the main body of the Lake,...heading due West,...home to our cottage on the rocky point,... an overcast early evening,...steady cool drizzle,...probably minutes away from sundown,...the lights of our cottage guiding us home,....a helluva fight,....took many minutes to pull in,...probably seemed like an hour to this ten-or-so-year old kid,....my neighbours in the boat directing me to let line out & how to land it,...{ My Dad & brother didn't fish, } ,.....when I got it to the boat,...I remember that it had gotten darker, & we needed a flashlight to look at it properly,...I remember that sheer exhilaration,...breath stealing endorphins & pride coursing through my veins, elevated blood pressure..& the unmistakable/perpetual smile of a kid who had just experienced hereto-with the biggest thrill in his young life,....

......don't remember if we released it,...or ate it,...I think I let the neighbours take it,....alas,...no camera that I remember,...and I certainly don't remember the gear,...except it was heavier than my casting rod & I can visualize the out-riggers on the back of the boat,...which I'm sure I probably didn't even understand,....looking back,..it was probably the largest Laker I ever caught,.....not as big in girth as the one in your picture certainly,...but maybe not much shorter,....anway,...I remember everyone being impressed & telling me it was a trophy!!!...but I also remember that the neighbours caught larger ones & the recall that mine was not close to the biggest that Summer or typically for the lake....... { some stuffed specimens of Speckled, Brown, Rainbow & Lakers some the size of your pictured one,...certainly appeared on Hardware Store walls & Gas Stations,...the biggest ones labelled as "Caught on Drag Lake" }... a certain little kid always remembers that,...staring at their awesomeness, fantasizing about landing something even bigger, when the family returned home to the cottage and I could pester the neighbours to take me out on the next Adventure,....Ha...ha,...ha,.....sorry to ramble,....hope I'm not screwed up on the Geography.............and I have the cottage location right,........because that strait to the good fishing Bay { I don't remember anyone calling it the East Bay } ....was straight down the rollers from our boathouse on the rocky point,...directly,..straight across the Lake,.....{ due East it appears,... from our cottage & North East from Gordie's },.... and maybe,...just maybe,...even with the "Passage of Time" and the introduction of Salmon,.....the good fishing spots are still the same,........

....... You've helped rekindle my love of fishing,... of the journey to the fishing ground & the thrill of anticipation,....appropriate music in the car was Gordon Lightfoot,...{ most of his compositions were conceived in the Canadian North,...many during canoe trips & many revolved around the subjects of the near & far North,...listening to his tunes while sitting around a campfire/fishing/relaxing while loons haunt the outside evening audio gives them a whole new perspective,....

.......18 more hours of fishing!....leave right now!!!!...that's the ticket,...

........Good Luck Matt!...okay,...that took almost 50 minutes,......back to work,...got carried away,....

..................SPAZZOBOXER.........

[spazzoboxer]

......Sorry,...couldn't resist,....I forgot,...one last anecdote,....

...About 80-100 years ago,....during the Winter,.....a ten to twelve horse team,..{ big Irish Shires, draped in heavy blankets/canvas to resist the cold,.. } ...pulling a huge load of timber was traversing the Lake......across the ice,...I could be wrong,...but the vehicle may have just been one of the large barges used in Summer,..with runner blades refitted,... equipped for the ice & multi horse harness added,......

....regardless,....unexpectedly,.....because it was very cold,....the entire team & Drag Barge Sleigh went through an unseen thin spot in the ice,......drowning all the men & horses,......two trappers witnessed the catastrophe,.....a terrible storm hit the area that night,.....and no recovery attempt or report by the authorities could take place for several days,...the hole in the ice remained however till Spring,....never completely freezing over,......

.........according to some locals,...the Lumber Company involved lied about the number of men lost,.....saying there were only four,...instead of eight or something,...to avoid loss of Insurance payout by being guilty of violation of certain weight & human limits to the transportation rules for crossing lakes or something like that,....and also to avoid paying out company life insurance & owed wages to the families,.....but, even though families had enquired as to the official story & lack of account for their loved ones,...the Company had covered its tracks well and there was never enough evidence to charge them with negligence or a criminal cover-up,.........

......for many years,....divers have attempted to recover something from the tragedy,...but as far as I am aware,...at least up to the early eighties,...no trace of the bodies or equipment had been recovered,............{ I remember vividly as a boy,...the Provincial "Department of Lands & Forests' ( The Ministry of Natural Resources today ) ....boats out in front of our cottage,...and skin divers searching for several days,...and this being "Big News" with the locals,...but nothing being recovered,......

.........Well,...according to local & Indian Legend,......the spot in the Lake where the crew & huge work horses went through to their unfortunate/freezing demise to the depths of Drag,...
is right above a very deep trench that runs double the regular depth of the Lake,...in a North-South Direction approximately in the middle of the Lake, so very hard to find anything in those dark recesses....the location was right in front of our Cottage,...and if I have surmised accurately,......about due North from your buddy Gord's,...right in the middle of Drag,....

...............According to the late "Uncle Bill" Nidry, ( sp.)....the sage who lived just Northeast of Gordy on that Peninsula below the East Bay,...his take on the true story of this Lake tragedy was this,..

......as the story goes,...that spot never completely freezes over in the winter,...ever!......and on certain winter & summer nights,....[ sitting on his little porch he himself witnessed it many times ] ,..overlooking the Lake,....when the loons have quit calling & any wolves in the vicinity have stopped vocally marking their locations for the evening,......you can hear faintly,...yet distinctly the unanswered cries of the drowning horses,........and anguished human yells from the lost/forgotten lumbermen.....and their unanswered cry for justice,..for the name they call:

............... is the name of the Lumber Company Owner who betrayed them and their families of justice & their rightful compensation,....

....( and of course I cannot recall the name of that individual to fully round out the story,....should have made one up to leave a satisfying end to this ghost fable,... )

....Ha,...ha,...ha,....

....Good Fishing,.....Best Wishes,...Safe Driving Matt,...

.............SPAZZOBOXER..........

[Deleted]

spazzoboxer... You are truly a gifted writer... I can't tell you the emotions I went thru reading the story you ended your posts with... I think I will read it over a camp fire as we sit tomorrow night on the lake looking out toward the middle of the lake where the horses and men met their end. I have [glow=red,2,300]goose bumps [/glow]right now just thinking of it....

I have printed your posts and they will accompany Theresa and I to the lake... It will be packed right next to our fishing gear where we won't forget it!

Thankyou so much for taking the time to write this.... it is truly a gift.

[Raz]

Great stuff.
Hey Matt...I hope you don't snag a downrigger ball on "something"!!!
Lot's of pics Matt, drive safe, have fun, and return with stories of your own!