BRACE LAKE OUTFITTERS - Family Adventure 2025

On December 31, 2024 while sitting around a campfire at Crandall's cottage relishing in the fantastic day we had building an igloo, we gifted Riley, Bryce, Lauren and Freddie a mystery card. Inside the card, they found out that we were going to be embarking on a family adventure in August, 17h north to a special place called, Brace Lake Outfitters.

2 years ago, I traveled to Brace Lake Outfitters for the first time. I was lucky enough to be able to go with my husband, Corby, and our friends Crandall, Todd and of course, CY. It was such an incredible trip complete with shore lunches, amazing fishing and to top it all off, the skies danced for us almost every night. Before we climbed into the Otter to fly back home, I knew we were going to be coming back. I wanted to share this place with some of my favourite people in the world - my kiddos.

Once we gave the 4 kids the card, it was a looooong 8 months of anticipation. Lots of questions about, how long the drive was, where we were staying, how big the fish were and the most asked question "are we leaving tomorrow?"

Yeah, you can say they were excited.

After a summer full of local adventures, archery tournaments and day camps, it was time to pack up our gear and head north.  Packing was an adventure all in itself, as not only were we going on a fly-in fishing trip, but when we came out of the bush we were heading straight to a wedding in Timmins for a close family friend. So we were packing our cozy gear AND our fancy suits. 

Luckily for us, we were able to break the long drive up by staying in Moonbeam at Kap Outfitters, at my family's place. So our fancy suits didn't have to make the haul to Brace Lake, they could stay tucked away  in our trailer until we came out. Which was great because I didn't want to be the bridesmaid that smelled like fish slime. Although, that wouldn't be totally out of the ordinary for me.

We left our house at 5am and I'm fairly certain the truck was vibrating down the road as the kids tried to contain their excitement. We passed all the familiar landmarks you see on the way to Moonbeam like Earl the buffalo in Earlton, the Walleye in Marten River, and the Cow in New Liskeard. (Although Guy-Paul Treefall has moved in Iroquois Falls and Chimo in Cochrane was under some sort of construction).

We landed in Moonbeam at Kap Outfitters to open arms from my Uncle Ron, Tante Lise and cousin Raney. The kids spent the next day jumping off the dock, fishing (and catching their first pike of their lives and the trip!), and going for sea-doo and side by side rides with their favourite cousin Rowan. The kids even saw the infamous Remi Lake Bigfoot while they were there. The thing legends are made of, I'm tellin' ya!

As much as we wanted to stay up late around the campfire, we all hit the hay early because our alarms were set for the butt-crack of dawn so we could complete the next leg of our journey. Let me tell you, 2am comes quickly, no matter how early you go to bed.

I brewed a pot of coffee and filled up our yeti's,  poured the sleepy kids into the cars and we were headed further north to Nakina. As exhausted as we were, we kept our eyes peeled for those early morning commuters (moose) and luckily (or unluckily) didn't see any. Just a few sly foxes hunting along the ditches of the Trans Canada Highway,

We rolled into the Nakina Air Service airport, where we were greeted by Tracy and escorted onto the scales to make sure we weren't over our allotted weight for the planes. Then our luggage was weighed and we were divvied up between 2 Otter planes and paired with 3 other men who were also flying into Brace Lake Outfitters.

This was Lauren and Freddie's first time on a plane, ever. Danika, Riley and Bryce had flown on a big plane on their family vacation the year before, but never on a float plane. Tracy was such a peach with everyone and offered words of encouragement, light-hearted jokes and even offered to take our picture. She was so sweet and patient with the kids and the questions they had. She really made their first time flying as smooth as possible.

Not that any of the kids were hesitant to get on the planes.

They'd been waiting for this moment for 8 months! They all climbed aboard and buckled up waiting for take off. Our pilots, Bruce and Alex were fantastic and let one of the kids sit up with them in the cockpit, again, making this special experience, extraordinary.

The weather that morning wasn't the best, which resulted in a bumpy, wet and foggy ride into camp. It's a short 20min ride to Brace Lake, which I was glad for given the turbulence. As soon as we were parked, the kids hit the ground running, exploring the camp and getting acquainted with their home away from home.

Once we were all settled in camp and enjoyed a wee cup of Kintore Coffee, we decided to head out on the boats to a new part of the lake we had never fished 2 years prior. The weather was still foggy, wet and windy but this new side of the lake appeared to have calmer waters, making it an easier pill to swallow rather than fighting white caps for the remainder of the afternoon.

While loading into the boats Bryce caught a pike at the dock but wasn't able to land it. Then he caught a 22" walleye (the biggest of the trip). We managed to catch some small walleye, pike and perch that night, nothing crazy big but the fish were biting, which always makes for a good trip.

We snuggled up by the wood stove and enjoyed some lasagna and soup and tucked in for the first of our 5 day trip. I remembered the beds being super comfortable and the linens being so soft. Maybe it was the 2am wake up call, or maybe it's the insane quality of the accomodations not expected in a remote camp, but I had some of the best sleeps of the summer in that cabin.

Fun fact - I can't sleep in. So the first morning I headed down to the dock for an early morning fish and caught a dinky pike. Watched the sunrise and took a deep breath. Welcome to God's country.

Headed into camp and slammed some breakfast and then we were out on the boats for our first full day of fishing.

I snapped my rod while Riley and I reeled in a double header pike, Lauren caught all the walleye that day, Riley caught the motor, weeds AND a pike all in one cast, and Crandall hooked his thumb right to the bone. But thankfully, Kyle was able to doctor him up. Ended the night with a chicken and steak supper and the kids doing dishes (which they did every night). It was such a small gesture, but something the parents appreciated as we relaxed after a day on the boats.  Then we piled a bunch of blankets on the deck and watched the stars and some faint northern lights tickle the sky.

The next day during my early morning fish on the dock, I landed a dinky walleye while listening to the eagles and loons sing their morning songs. Truly a magical morning.

We headed out to Ara and Meta lake, an hour from our main camp, searching for walleyes for a shore lunch. They were eluding us, hanging out at 15' along the ledge. Freddie reeled in a nice walleye and Crandall's boat supplied the rest of shore lunch. 

We boated over to a private island (which didn't have a name...yet) and docked the boats for shore lunch. Kyle made a beautiful feast of walleye, fries, onion rings, beans and peppers. The adults enjoyed a cold beverage and exchanged fishing stories while the 4 kids played by the waters edge. Just as shore lunch was finishing in the pan, Riley limps over and says, "Mom? I cut my foot and my insides are coming out."

RECORD SCREECH. Pardon moi?

 Riley had sliced her foot open on a sharp rock while playing by the shoreline. That pretty much put an end to the shore lunch festivities.  Adults went into full logistics mode. Here we are, on an island, an hour from camp, with no reception and a little girl who very clearly needs some stitches. I have to admit, everyone maintained their cool through this situation. Crandall and Corby are firefighters, so with their first aid training and experience, we were able to get her foot wrapped up. Kyle was able to use my iPhone 16 to satellite text back to the airport and arrange an emergency flight back into Nakina. Thank you Steve Jobs!

Crandall, Danika, Rob (another client of Kyle's who was there for shore lunch) and Kyle all headed back to camp to wait for the plane to take Riley to a hospital while Corby, myself, Lauren, Freddie and Bryce slowly trolled our way back to camp. We had all 5 lines in the water, and miraculously, not a single tangle or snag. We were able to wave at The Otter while they flew Riley out, a core memory for both her, and her brother in the boat. During our cruise back to camp, we decided to name the island, Roo Rock Island, for obvious reasons.

The Crandalls spent the night in Nakina, awaiting news on if there was a flight for them to return back to Brace Lake, and we adopted Bryce for the night. We dined on leftovers and talked about the day, allowing the kids to unpack the trauma from Roo Rock Island, while maintaining, she would be ok. This was the night the kids befriended Rob, the other client who was at shore lunch with us. 

Rob is a 75 year old American who has been visiting Brace Lake for 25 years. It truly melted our hearts to hear the kids and him swapping fishing tales and teaching him all the songs from K-Pop Demon Hunters and the opening lyrics to the poetic ballad of "Baby Got Back."

Rob actually mentioned to Corby and I about how well everyone handled the situation at Roo Rock Island, and how so many other kids and parents would have escalated the situation but we were all so calm, cool and collected that it made a crappy situation, totally normal and fine. He was amazed at how well behaved the kids were, and how they were totally at home tromping through the bush, catching snakes, collecting pond scum and hanging out on the dock. It was a moment that really helped calm my nerves personally, because at this point, I didn't know if Crandalls would be coming back in to finish the trip.

But they were back before breakfast was on the table. Lauren, Freddie and Bryce met Riley on the dock with a cardboard "Welcome Back" sign and a handcrafted ipex cane courtesy of Kyle.

The band is back together baby!

We decided to take the pressure off of catching fish for shore lunch, and opted for a shore lunch consisting of sandwiches, cold drinks and chips. It was a windy day on the boat, but we were all bundled up in our toques, sweatpants and hoodies .The fishing seemingly slowed down this day with a swing in the weather. Bryce and Freddie were in our boat and they both managed to catch a pike or two. We had a SHARK of a pike go after our perch on the stringer, igniting a fire in our entire boat to change our lures for bigger ones, in an attempt to catch the elusive "Brace Lake Shark." 

Bryce lost a few, snapping lines, losing lures (including his lucky lure, favourite lure and his dads lure) which resulted in him putting his pole down and slumping in his seat. I asked him if he was OK and he replied with a sigh saying, "yeah... I'm just a bit defeated."

The day started winding down, and the wind calmed to a light breeze. We headed over to a little cove where the Crandall boat was fishing and we just drifted. I popped the drone up and was able to get a nice walleye on film. What are the chances?!

And then it happened.

Bryce was reeling in his line and a pike hit the bait right at the boat. Splash! He was able to land it in the boat. I was beyond stoked I was in the boat when this happened. Bryce's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and his voice grew even squeakier than normal. His monster pike he was chasing all weekend, was finally here.
31" of pure, innocent excitement. It didn't matter that the fishing was slow that day, because this moment was worth every minute we spent in the boat.

Moments later, I landed a pike of similar size, but we didn't even bother measuring it. I didn't need to know if it was bigger or not. I wasn't going to take that moment away from Bryce for the world. Even as I'm typing this, I have a shit sniffing grin on my face. Truly a memory he'll never forget, and I know I'll cherish forever.

That night, the kids learned how to fillet a fish (as well as Danika). Again, another proud moment from the trip. Seeing the kids and Danika take interest in not only the fishing aspect, but the cleaning and preparing aspect of the sport was incredible. Teaching them that we only keep what we can eat, and the importance of conservation in the sport was a highlight for me. The next generation is here, and they're listening.

The next day was the last day on the boat and we opted for a cozy shore lunch of VietFresh soup. I cannot speak enough about how clutch these soups are for adventuring. They're frozen pucks that you literally just put in a pot. You don't need to add water, you just heat them up. To have a nice cozy soup, cooked over a fire, sitting on the rocky shale in remote Northern Ontario... chefs kiss. No notes. 10/10 recommend,

That night, sitting back at our cabin with full bellies and full hearts, sipping our whiskey and watching the faint northern lights tickle the sky while the kids giggled and looked back on their trip, I was absolutely brimming with pride. My eyes might've been brimming with tears.

When we told people we were going on this family adventure 17h north, there were some skeptics. People who were so hesitant, on our behalf, thinking that this trip would be somehow "ruined" by the fact we were bringing kids. That we would spend more time at camp than on the boats. That we would be spending the week eye rolling and yelling instead of smiling and laughing.

The kids proved them wrong.

These kids were fantastic. Spending 8+hours in the boat every damn day. No complaining. No lamenting how bored they were. No meltdowns. Nothing but laughter, smiles, belting out K-Pop Demon Hunters, counting stars, chipping in and supporting each other from sunrise to sunset and beyond. I could not be more proud of all four kids for their tenacity, manners, eagerness to learn and their general sense of adventure. Seeing Bryce land his big pike, Lauren haul up her stringer full of walleye, Freddie reel in his first fish and Riley powering through the pain to complete her adventure are just a few things I'll never forget.

Hugging Kyle (or KyKy Baby as the kids named him) on the dock as we were loading up to leave, we were already planning our return back to Brace Lake - The land of eternal memories and full hearts.

Although next time?
We're going to the Albany River.
Let the countdown begin for the next big adventure.