Hey! Hand me the hand sanitizer!

This was year of the coronavirus and a trip that almost didn't happen. Our trip was off and on right up until the week before. Fortunately for us, the Ontario-Quebec border opened; people were allowed to travel to different regions and groups of 10 people were allowed to be in the same space. This was perfect for us and The Eagle's Rest opened for fishermen and vacationers. When we arrived at the place, there was very little talk of Covid-19, no social distancing, no masks and the trip was just like any other. We were all in!

Because of the Covid-19 bs, The Eagle's Rest had a new procedures and regulations in place for renters. Most was easy to take, except there was limited time to use the shower.

Last year, the Madawaska pretty well shut us out. With high cliffs in some places descending straight down into the river and dropping down more than 50 feet right off shore, we found it difficult to find good places to fish. A little map checking before the 2020 trip and we found a place that looked good for fishing. Wilson Bay was just a 20-minute boat ride from The Eagle's Rest and had a variety of nice fish including perch, pike, muskie, smallmouth bass, and brown bullheads. It started out with Kyle catching a sunfish as soon as we hit the bay, then Ron hit a small muskie.

After that, the fish just kept biting! Kyle appeared to catch the most including a bunch of nice smallmouth, a small pike and a 3-pound cat!

Also, on this year's trip: magnet fishing! Ron bought a fishing magnet along with 60 feet of rope in hope of catching some nice things on the bottom of the Madawaska. High on his list were old cans, bottle tops, tools and old fishing equipment. He tried around the docks of Eagle's Rest but got shut out. He told us that he will be back!

Organizer Phil backed out of the trip but all the other regular Gamblers and fishermen were there including Al Davis, Al Heaney, Kyle Heaney, Warren Kidd, Al Macintyre and Ron Zinn.

Alvin Davis has been attending trips for 25 years but was never a regular card player. This year was different, and he appeared to do very well. Al Macintyre took home the canette with a 6.8-pound Brown Bullhead caught in Wilson Bay.

In the end, none of us had the coronavirus when we arrived and there were no reports of coronavirus in the area from Renfrew to Griffith, so we all made it home unscathed. Still, we all agreed to self-quarantine for 14 days after the trip!