What lengths would you go to discover someone else's fishing spot?  :)

This may be old news to some people, but I'm guessing most of you guys on this forum aren't aware of the story.

Back in late May I posted a link to a video in the trip reports section of this site which documented a 12 night trip to Algonquin Park with my 10 year old son. We had a spectacularly successful trip catching a number of giant wild brook trout in the 5-6 pound class. That is exceedingly rare for Algonquin. As one park biologist told me "what you guys did last May probably hasn't been accomplished since the year 1917".

The video was made purposefully vague for obvious reasons. I wanted to share the amazing experience with people, but I had no plans to divulge the location of the lake.

I suspected the video would cause a bit of a furor, but even I was surprised at what happened.

An unknown person filed a request for information under Canada's Freedom Of Information Act for a copy of my interior camping permit. Unlike Quetico, you must reserve specific lakes for each night of your trip in Algonquin. In theory if someone had a copy of my permit they could easily figure out which lake I caught the fish in.

I made a reference to what was happening on social media in July and was immediately contacted by a reporter from CBC who wanted to cover the story. The entire thing went kind of viral and was picked up by media outlets all over North America. At one point last summer this was the number 3 news story in all of Canada LOL!

What most people who have been following the story don't know is, it's still going on! Initially the person's request for info was denied and they subsequently appealed that decision. They were denied again, and once again they appealed. A decision on the latest appeal should be forthcoming fairly soon and I truly hope it will all end finally.

If anyone's interested here's a link to a short story and a radio interview I did with CBC on the subject:

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Nuts eh?  ;D

I've been to Algonquin 2x, both trips were my first attempt at going solo to see how I would like it.

  I didn't get deep into the interior like you did but did catch some nice "normal" sized lake brookies.

I thought they were monsters compared to the stream brookies I catch here in MI.

I hope you CAN keep that lake secret because IF it becomes public knowledge that will be the end of those monster fish that take years to get that big.

solotripper wrote on Jan 1^st, 2018 at 2:04pm:

I hope you CAN keep that lake secret because IF it becomes public knowledge that will be the end of those monster fish that take years to get that big.

I hope so too. Truthfully though what bothers me even more than the freedom of info claim, it's how the MNR chose to handle the situation. The Freedom Of Information Act in Canada was never intended to be used in this manner. The request should have been immediately dismissed. Because the MNR seems more interested in following protocol to the Nth degree rather than using common sense, a gigantic can of worms has been opened. IF the info is released it will set a precedent with far reaching implications for every citizen in Canada.

The MNR's number one mandate and the very reason they exist is to preserve and protect our natural resources, something they're clearly not doing here.  :)

When the choice is between "protocol/PC" and COMMON SENSE, the bureaucrats get easily confused.

There are some lakes in the Q, that people have posted about how good the fishing is but how old and limited the fish are. It only takes a few people in a closed environment to do a lot of damage.

Whoever filed that is a supreme jerk.  I hope you get the person's identity and post it on here.  Maybe his phone number and home address too. 

Not exactly the same, but when I’ve been on a lake and sense that other parties are trying to figure out where I’m fishing, I’ve been known to set a marker buoy in a place that, if there are fish present, they will be hammerhandles or juvenile bass.  ;D I will leave it there, in sight of my Camp, of course, as it provides great entertainment and humor. ;D

Of course, the optimal set up is, if they come by and ask about the fishing, is to hold up a nice stringer, and point to the general area of the lake where they will find the marker.  ;D

Old Salt ... you sly old devil you !

Old Salt wrote on Jan 2^nd, 2018 at 1:21am:

Not exactly the same, but when I’ve been on a lake and sense that other parties are trying to figure out where I’m fishing, I’ve been known to set a marker buoy in a place that, if there are fish present, they will be hammerhandles or juvenile bass.  ;D I will leave it there, in sight of my Camp, of course, as it provides great entertainment and humor. ;D Of course, the optimal set up is, if they come by and ask about the fishing, is to hold up a nice stringer, and point to the general area of the lake where they will find the marker.  ;D

Is that what you take markers for!

As with everything else, markers are multi-purpose. ;)

Old Salt wrote on Jan 2^nd, 2018 at 3:12pm:

As with everything else, markers are multi-purpose. ;)

Yeah, he's crafty.

One year Old Salt brought a whole flock of pink flamingo "buoys" with him.  They were set up within sight of his camp on Suzanette Lake, just as he says.  When my party arrived at his camp (for Pink Flamingo Stew, as it turned out), he told us we were early and that we should "follow the birds" to find the good fishing hole.

So, we spun around and paddled off to follow his directions. I suspect he was giving us the bird, too, as we headed out....

Jimbo   8-)

TomT wrote on Jan 1^st, 2018 at 6:43pm:

Whoever filed that is a supreme jerk.  I hope you get the person's identity and post it on here.  Maybe his phone number and home address too.

I'm really not a vindictive person at all. Even if I did manage to unearth his identity I wouldn't reveal it. I do however believe in karma and have no doubt at some point it'll come back to bite him in the butt.  :)

Old Salt wrote on Jan 2^nd, 2018 at 1:21am:

Not exactly the same, but when I’ve been on a lake and sense that other parties are trying to figure out where I’m fishing, I’ve been known to set a marker buoy in a place that, if there are fish present, they will be hammerhandles or juvenile bass.  ;D I will leave it there, in sight of my Camp, of course, as it provides great entertainment and humor. ;D Of course, the optimal set up is, if they come by and ask about the fishing, is to hold up a nice stringer, and point to the general area of the lake where they will find the marker.  ;D

You know, it's funny how you can instantly like someone who you've never met. We'd get along just fine.  ;D

Wow, if this request goes through, I might have to file my own freedom of information request to find out which lake in Quetico is known to have the highest biomass of lake trout of any lake in Ontario.   (You need to Login or Register ;)

Last year I asked someone in the know at Canoecopia about it and they would not tell me the lake directly, but I pointed to a lake on a map and asked if it was "that" lake and he nodded it was.  (BTW, It wasn't the lake that is named That lake).  Now I wonder if he was just messing with me.   :o

Park fees could be headed higher to deal with all the added paperwork. >:(

arnesr wrote on Jan 2^nd, 2018 at 5:47pm:

Park fees could be headed higher to deal with all the added paperwork. >:(

Or, people might just sneak in without a permit, consequences be damned if it's clear the MNR can't be trusted with their private info.  :)

Jimbo, I would never give you or anyone the bird, but I might have danced the dirty bird.... I wish I could remember... ;D

To someone who doesn't fish but used to (me) this thread is hilarious!