Kenauk - I Vaguely Remember....

The spring and fall Ottawa Fly Fishers trips to Kenauk are usually among the highlights of my fishing season but here it is six weeks later and I am just now putting down my thoughts.  Fortunately I did make notes for myself at the time so the details are still accessible. This fall's trip was a bit different - mainly because of some sort of bug that left me feeling less than wonderful for the three days I was up there.  It didn't help that most of the time on the water the weather was either misty or rainy so I came away with almost no photos.  A business trip immediately after, a busy month of October and just one fishing day at the end of the month seemed to have the effect of damping my memories of what really was a great trip - according to my notes.So enough whining.Kenauk is a fish and game preserve owned by the Chateau Montebello which is managed by the Fairmont Hotel Chain.  The preserve is expertly managed and the facilities are excellent.  Within the preserve there are several lakes with only a single cabin on the lake.  Rent the cabin and you gain sole access to the lake.  Our OFS bunch rents two cabins on Lac Vert and Lac Sugarbush both relatively small lakes but well stocked with rainbow trout.  The story is that Lac Vert contains more fish while Sugarbush offers the chance at bigger fish.  This trip I was at Lac Vert although everyone was free to check out either lake.  And as a bonus, as compensation for some roof construction at Sugarbush, we were given the opportunity to try a couple of Kenauk's trophy lakes.  The lakes are all equipped with row boats and canoes but because of their small size a lot of us prefer our float tubes or pontoon boats.Although we have been told that there are times when the fish can play hard to get, that was certainly not the case at Lac Vert this time around.  Despite feeling lousy most of the time, the fishing was great.  Each day the fishing was steady, sometimes slowing for up to an hour but it wasn't long before the hits came again.I used an intermediate sinking line exclusively, pairing it almost exclusively with a variety of streamers.  Other setups ranged from floating to full sink lines and all worked at different times. On Sunday the killer fly was a black polar chenille bugger.  This was a fly recommended to me by Paul Ricker earlier in the season for trout.  Not to be too narrow minded, I spent most of the summer successfully enticing smallmouth bass with it but this was my first serious opportunity to try it on trout and it didn't disappoint.Most of my fish were caught within a few feet of the surface.  And there were many fish - the numbers recorded but not so important.  They were cooperative in taking the hook, usually lively in their fight and always quite willing to sink back into the water when released.   As I think about it was a great trip.  Enough to wet one's appetite for next spring.