It’s tough to come home without a bear but it’s
all part of hunting. Dave Smetana has two bear
management areas totalling more than 190 square
kilometres and has built 23 new wooden stands to
handle more spring bear hunters.
Bill and I also spent time fishing for walleye, kind
of tough on the first day but it improved and on the
last day we caught a nice meal and threw back a
4.5-pounder, and a three-pounder. Any fish over 16
inches on this lake is thrown back to maintain the
brood stock for sustainable future fishing. It’s a
beautiful lake dotted with small islands, and the fish
finder showed walleye, pike or smallmouth bass no
matter where you went.
Back home when friends found out I missed a
bear, they’d say, “Oh that’s too bad,” but really I
wasn’t disappointed at all because I really enjoyed
my time at Olive the Lake Lodge. The hospitality
was top notch, cabins super comfortable and the
relaxation was needed – all in all a fantastic trip up
to the near north.
It was kind of tough pulling out onto Highway 11
towards North Bay, knowing that a bear with my
name on it may still be wandering around in the
bush, but I will return one day and that bear is
going to be that much bigger. As all good
conservationists know, there is more to a hunt than
the just the harvest.
Doug Phillips with a chunky walleye
caught (and eaten) during his trip to
Olive the Lake.
View of Olive the Lake’s main lodge
and office.
www.fishhuntandride.ca
FISH, HUNT RIDE | 15