Last Day O' Fishing

Last Day O' Fishing, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

Windburnt, Fatigued, and heading for a couple of last weedbeds to catch some Northern, our fishing experience finished July 3rd at around seven pm. Everybody had a turn at driving the boat, and we wrangled our way through rough waters all day as a storm was blowing in.

English River

English River, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

This fine site became the location of our shorelunch. We cooked up six Walleye, potatoes and onions, all cooked in lard. It was delicious. We worked together to build a fire, prep, the food, and then we enjoyed a scrumptious meal of fresh fish. I love the sound of waterfalls. Liz caught our sixth fish out of those falls in a pool to the left in the picture. Other people caught snags—Liz caught fish.

Eagle in Flight

Eagle in Flight, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

Unfortunately, my camera does not have the lens necessary to bring these eagles into sight. Eagle’s were commonplace along this lake. Although we didn’t see any moose, they are often seen along the rivers that feed into the lake.

The Eagle is a pretty majestic bird. It is also the totem of my tribal clan. It was amazing to watch one of these winged ones dive into the water with its talons outstretched to acquire a fish, and to see another carrying away some other small object (probably a squirrel) to it’s lofty nest.

There is something really special about the Eagle. It was definitely a treat to see eagle’s every day I was on the water. Lot’s of times people call every big bird in the sky an eagle, but Eagle’s are unmistakeable.

I remember hearing this quote once. “The eagle never lost so much time as when he stooped to learn from the crow.” It’s weird, as I meditate on that quote, I can’t help but think that there is much to learn from both for us. But that probably isn’t what the quote means at all.

Canadian Stone Wilderness

Canadian Stone Wilderness, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

This is an image of the cove where our boat (Liz’s Grampa’s) was docked. This stand of evergreens is a remnant from the last timbering of the lake. The entire lake is stone. And yet, these trees grow thickly on top of the stone. I can only imagine what this place must have looked like before the lumber mills came in and turned these woods into paper.

Bearly Photographed

Bearly Photographed, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

There was a bear wandering around our camp. We caught it on film as we traveled down the highway. I really had to resist the temptation to get out to try to get a better photo. My mom would be so proud of me for not walking up to the bear as I might have felt compelled to do at other points in my life. I’m either getting smarter or more fearful (probably of what my mom would do to me—after the bear was done she would have her turn at knocking some sense into me haha).

Sandy River

Sandy River, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

This was the place I was introduced to fishing for Northern Pike. I didn’t fair so well in this little river, but the next day I caught Northern on what seemed like every third cast. They fight hard, and they have several rows of vicious teeth.

They aren’t supposed to be as delicious as the Walleye, so we focused on catching our limit of meal sized Walleye’s 13’’—15. Actually we had two great meals catching these Walleye’s. Liz’s brother, Luke Smith, should open a guide service. Nobody was catching fish, but he told us where we should go before we left for the lake. Everywhere he told us to go—we caught fish. Lot’s of fish.

This river is fed by a set of rapids that I tried to photograph. The land was impassable when I attempted to get a good shot of the rapids. The river was pleasant, none-the-less.

Moonlight Falls

Moonlight Falls, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

These beautiful falls trickle down a rock face into Minnitaki Lake. I am not sure about the directions, but I want to say that this point is Southwest of the place where we stayed. The Falls were beautiful, but the fishing at this little nook left a little to be desired on this day.

Even though the weather was horrible as we traveled into Canada, we had beautiful sunny weather for our fishing excursions. Canada was very different than I expected. Very stony, and the timber industry had really cleared off most of the old growth forests. In fact, any time I tried to hike on the land, I was met with thick growth that made the woods impassable without aid.

The view from the water was beautiful though. These falls were refreshing to hear and to see.

Pickerel Arm

Pickerel Arm, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

So I spent three days near Sioux Lookout, Canada (not a large town) fishing with Liz and Steve. We stayed in a small camper at Donnelly’s Minnitaki Lodge and this was the view as we left our boat docks to enter into the Pickerel Arm of Minnitaki Lake. It rained for several hours as we drove deep into the Canadian wilderness for this fishing excursion. The whole trip brought back beautiful memories of fishing with my dad, uncle, and cousins along the Ohio River and Mountwood Lake. We caught tons of Walleye and Northern Pike during our three day excursion. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any fish pictures, so you will have to take my word for it. Liz and Steve did manage to get my picture with one of the smallest Walleye’s of our excursion—I’m sure it will make an appearance somewhere in the future, but probably not here.