My father and I are going to make every attempt to film all parts of our fishing endeavours and the trip and travels in general. The easiest way to share this upcoming fishing experience is through filming and photographing it. I really hope that we capture the essence of it for you all and you are able to connect with us and the longing to join us out there is kindled within you. I just wanted to list a few pieces of equipment that we will be using to capture these moments on film and photographs:
A Nikon D3100 camera with 18-55 mm and 55-300 mm lenses
A Sony HDR-CX330 Handycam
A GoPro Hero 4 Silver camera
A DBPower HDR dash camera
We hope to catch everything from the ride in the car to Quebec and Labrador, to photos of the fish we catch, the video of us catching those fish on the handheld camera, and the GoPro video for POV shots.
My father and I plan on using a couple of tools to cook food while camping. One of those is the basic Coleman propane stove:
This stove has two burners and relies on a single propane canister to supply the fuel to the burners. The stove also has wind guards on the sides to protect the flame from being blown out.
We will also try using the Bushbox XL stove. This device simply uses broken up sticks and twigs to contain a fire. There is a grilling grate that goes on top of the stove and a pot can be places on top of this. My father and I have already tested both units and they both work great.
We will also be using Stanley products to cook our food in. These are some of the products we have tested and they work great:
My father and I each just got our own Thermacell mosquito repellers. These units use butane fuel to heat an insect repellent pad that creates a 15 feet x 15 feet area free of mosquitoes and black flies. This will be very important while we are in northern Quebec and Labrador; the insects are especially thick there. Here is the link to the website: Thermacell
This will be the first time we have used the Thermacell devices. Just in case the Quebec and Labrador black flies and mosquitoes are too much for these devices, we will bring traditional bug spray. Last year we used Repel Sportsman Max, which is 40% deet.
This seemed to work pretty well, but I found myself applying it more often that I would have liked to. Also, the chemicals in the spray were pretty harsh and ate through my Mountain Hardware waterproof jacket, which had quite a bit of years and use under its belt, but was still sad to see. I've since gotten a new rain jacket for the trip: Columbia Rain Jacket. Rain gear is a completely different topic and I could spend plenty of time of that. But it's safe to say, it rains quite a bit in Labrador and being prepared for that is important. I will update you all on how well the new Columbia rain jacket holds up.
While my father and I are in Quebec and Labrador, we plan on doing some Geocaching. For those of you who haven't heard of Geocaching before, it is basically a worldwide treasure hunt. Anyone can log onto geocaching.com and create a free account. From there, you can view caches located nearby and their respective coordinates. You can plug these coordinates into a GPS unit (like those sold by Garmin and Magellan) and then use the GPS device to get closer and closer to the cache until it is found. Inside the cache is typically a log book or some sort of paper that a person can write their name on to indicate that they found the cache. A person can also log online that they found the cache and add photos of them holding the cache. Geocaches can be tote sized containers to caches the size of a bolt. Also, finding caches can range from very easy to very difficult. Geocaching.com lists each cache size and difficulty. There are also sometimes hints given with these caches to help those looking for them.
My father and I plan on placing a waterproof ammo can along the Hart Jaune River.
There are actually quite a few Geocaches placed along Quebec Route 389 that leads into Labrador City. However, there aren't any Geocaches placed as far as 28 kilometers off of the main road (where my father and I will be near the Hart Jaune Dam). This Geocache will harder for people to find and require more discipline and determination.
I plan on putting waterproof materials inside the container, including a few numbered Rite in the Rain pads, pencils, and a pencil sharpener:
This container needs to stand the test of time and the harsh northern Quebec elements. Visitors won't be common to this Geocache and its contents need to stand up to being wet and cold. I will post the coordinates and link to this Geocache on this page once it is placed. I hope that someday you will be able to find it and enjoy the hunt! In the meantime, if you create a page please look me up: JPB38
My father and I are going to be in a pretty remote area of northern Quebec camping and fishing for a couple of nights. There isn't any cell phone service in this area. There also won't be any emergency services available to us for over 200 km away, or about 4 hours in Labrador City or nearby Fermont, QB. One piece of safety equipment that we are bringing with us is a SPOT Gen3 device.
The SPOT Gen3 will bring some piece of mind to us while we are out in the middle of nowhere in Quebec and also bring less worry to friends and family back home. If there is a problem along the way such as vehicle issues and we need help, we can press the left button of the two hands. This button will be linked to my aunt and uncle in Labrador City and it will send a message to them letting then know we need help that isn't life threatening. The S.O.S. button on the right will also be linked to them and family back home that will alert them that we need emergency assistance ASAP. If this is the case, a helicopter with EMTs will be dispatched to our GPS location to provide assistance. This piece of equipment is relatively inexpensive compared to the services it provides.
In addition to these features, this device also allows others to follow our travels. I will post the link to this device and you will be able to follow us on Google Maps as we travel from New Hampshire to Quebec and Labrador. I can also check in using this device, sending a message that we are ok. Also, I can preprogram a message and press the word bubble button to send this message to predetermined contacts and Facebook.
My father and I are going to be camping and fishing along the Hart Jaune River in Quebec on July 2nd and possibly July 3rd if the fishing is going well. We will be traveling further east on an unnamed road off of Route 389 between Relais-Gabriel and Gagnon. On this road, we will come to a dam and hydro-electric plant at the beginning of the Hart Jaune River and Petit Lac Manicouagan, which flows into the Manicouagan Reservoir. This road also leads to what looks like a train depot station of sorts further southeast of the dam.
Neither of us have been to this area and there isn't much information about this area online. I think this makes camping and fishing here all the more appealing. It's very remote and untouched. With this area being an extra 45 minutes from the Route 389, it's more out of the way and we are assuming a lot less people visit and fish this area. About 15 years ago, my father had the opportunity to fish at the Lobstick Control Structure in Labrador on the Smallwood Reservoir and was very successful. The Hart Jaune Dam looks very similar to the Lobstick Control Structure and we are hoping to have the same luck.
Also, according to Quebec fishing rules and regulations, in order to fish above the 52nd Parallel, a person must hire an outfitter to guide them. This area is just south of the 52nd Parallel, which allows us to fish without a guide and be on our own.
The following link shows a picture of the dam: Hart Jaune Dam
Last summer my father, friend (A.J.), and I traveled to Labrador City to visit my family who lives there and to fish. This trip was relatively short (June 28, 2015 - July 5, 2015). We left on a Sunday morning and didn't arrive in Labrador City until Monday afternoon. Google Maps shows that it takes a little over 18 hours to drive the 924 miles, which is pretty accurate. With basically 4 days of travelling to and from, that only left us with 4 short days in Labrador City to fish.
That Sunday we drove over 10 hours and spent the night in Baie-Comeau, Quebec at the Motel Manic 2000. We woke up early on Monday and headed in on "the road" (QC-389). That is where the people thinned out and the country became more rugged and remote, more so with every mile. The road takes about 8 1/2 hours to complete, twisting and winding about 360 miles to Labrador City. The road is made up of decent paved portions and large dirt/gravel portions.
Along the road, there are a series of 4 hydro-electric dams operated by Hydro-Quebec (Manic 4 was never built, but they had planned on 5 dams so kept Manic 5's name). Manic 5 is the largest of the dams and is one of the largest arch and buttress dams in the world. My video doesn't do Manic 5 justice. I'll try and get better photos and videos of it this year.
We made it to Labrador City on Monday and had a great 4 days of fishing and relaxing in some of the most beautiful country there is. Here are some photos of the fish that were caught, primarily at The Narrows in Labrador City:
A.J. caught some great fish also:
Here is a video of my father catching a beautiful lake trout:
Here are a couple other videos of A.J. and myself catching northern pike:
Future posts will focus on the upcoming trip next month. I'll explain the duration, route, different areas we are going to fish, equipment we will be bringing, etc.
This summer, my father and I (The Boonies: Rich and Josh Boone) will embark on a do-it-yourself fishing trip to remote northern Quebec and Labrador West. We hope this blog will help others in creating and preparing for their own do-it-yourself fishing trip to The Big Land.
