Below are pictures taken at Echo Lake, which is in the Whiteshell area of Manitoba. My dad and several others leased a cabin from an old fur trapper on the lake. You can see from the pictures that this was the real deal, dirt floor and all. They fished the lake several times a year from the late 50s until the early 70s. My dad took my brother and myself on trip in about 1971 with 5 others. We spent a week on the lake in June and caught lots of northerns and walleyes, however no really big northerns like you see in the pictures below. Shortly after that the Canadian government forced them out of the lease as they wanted to make it a wilderness area. This was really the end of an era, where catch and release and conservation were not practiced like we do today. In today's world, stringers of large northerns like this are a thing of the past. Some day I hope to return to Echo Lake and catch fish like those in the pictures.
To get into Echo Lake you either had to go up the Winnipeg River which could be quite treacherous depending on whether the dams were open or not. When we went we flew in as they had boats and motors on the lake. This is a picture of Roger Beckstrand and my dad in about 1968. They didn't have nice packs and lightweight gear like they have today.
This is a picture of my dad with Father O'toole and some big Echo Lake northerns.
Another picture of my dad with Kenny Snare, one of the many people he took with him on these trips. This picture is from about 1965.
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