The winds had come up after dark. Our tent had been pitched in the shelter of a grove of ancient white and red pines and all night long our tent and the ground around us had been pelted by those huge 6" pine cones peculiar to these trees. It was a little unnerving to hear "plop" several times an hour around the tent.

The next day dawned bright and cool. The shot below is the view looking east from the campsite. The rain from the previous day had disappeared, replaced with that crystal clear newly-washed look.

Is it my imagination or are some of these trees in the shot above already starting to turn? Double click to see the full shot and a hint of autumn.....

(double-click below for larger image)

Breakfast was instant oatmeal and coffee and tea. Pretty basic stuff, but I enjoy eating simple on a BW trip. It's quick, easy, no-fuss, and minimal cleanup. After breakfast we decided we had to get out on the lake for some fishing. The wind was still roaring in from the west, but we were semi-protected in the narrows.

Here's a shot of the narrows to the west.



We slid the canoe into the water and paddled up the narrows about as far as you can see in the photo above. Our plan was to drift some leeches along the shoreline and see what we could find. We baited up and tossed in. Mike's leech hit the water.....BAM....he had a fish on. I tossed in....BAM...a fish for me. The wind was too strong to allow us to drift-fish so we tried anchoring. That was almost a disaster. I had tied the anchor line to a thwart and the first time the wind hit us broadside and gave us a push the drag on the anchor line almost submerged that side of the boat. Luckily, I had tied it with a quick release knot....one quick tug and the knot released.

We fished that windy shore for about two hours with the wind blowing us all over. We caught and released about 20 walleyes, most all of them respectable fish. We never got further than about 200 yards from our camp. I would love to have had photos of some of those fish, or even photos of the times we had doubles on. The truth of the matter is the wind was so stiff we had all we could do to control the boat and keep us on top of the fish. For the most part, handling a camera was out of the question

After a couple of hours we decided to quit fighting the wind and we returned to camp.

After an hour or so of holding my gear down I awoke...er..ah.. I mean my attention was drawn to the fact that Mike was once again sitting on shore catching fish. I watched awhile, and after some time I was able to discern his technique:

1.Cast a leech into the edge of the weedbed.
2.Wait a few minutes.
3.Reel in a fish.
4.Repeat

"Hmmm" I thought to myself. "I can do that....."

And I did. I staked out a small piece of beachfront a ways down the shore from Mike and started drowning leeches. And catching fish after fish after fish. By about five PM we had nearly run out of leeches.

And....we had brought to shore 46 walleyes !!!

Here's one of the smaller ones posing for a photo.

We found ourselves in the same pleasant dilemna we'd been in the day before. Nearly all the fish we'd caught today had been released healthy and unharmed. Unfortunately, a couple didn't make it. While I fileted, Mike once again got out the stove, the frying pan, and the fish fixin's.

Double-click below for a full size pan of walleye filets.

Mike with a plate of fresh walleye. Does the phrase "HAPPY CAMPER"
come to mind?

The rest of the day was anticlimatic. Clean up the dishes, put away the gear, hang the pack, gather wood for a fire, check the guy ropes, etc. We discovered a little brandy in one of the packs and ended the day as countless others have in the BW/Q...a couple of stories and a few laughs around the campfire.

Poke at the fire below a bit.....stir it up some by double-clicking it.....

With the wind blowing, Mike took the opportunity to sleep under the stars next to the lake. He set his thermarest and bag between the fire and the shore secure in his theory that there would be no dew with such a wind.
He was right.

Page Three

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