Well, 2 weeks after taking the kids fishing, dad, myself, and another friend went back to the Freeman River.
I had the grandiose idea of floating it, remembering the water levels looked good for a float on June 16th.
Only problem was this:
It is amazing how fast water levels can drop!
Now add in the factor of...misreading of a map. What is 10km as the Crow flies, I figured it would be 20 km of river.
Well, it really meant 25km to 30km...
1. So we start the day, and check this out:
We're the 2nd truck behind this idiot. That's right...he's decided to park right at the entrance of the gravel bar, blocking it for everyone. Cheers numbnut!
2. 2 weeks ago, most of this gravel bar was under water...
3. Miscellaneous pics of my dad and my buddy with several grayling....and pulling the boat through several shallow gravel bars. We had to jump out and do this 6-7 dozen times. It was...a bit of work. Numbers-wise, we caught over 100 grayling between us, with several pushing 13"-14". Check out the tracks in the mud!
Not surprisingly, the trip ended in darkness. We weren't planning to be home at 2am...
All in all, it was a fantastic, long, tiring, adventurous day! It's quite something to float along a northern AB boreal forest river, including some remote stretches that see few anglers. Would I do it again? Perhaps, but
I would need more water, more flow, and start earlier in the day (float began at 11:10am). An 11 hour float is pretty long....
Cheers,
Smitty
Freeman River report (Pic Heavy)
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