Day 1 of 7
Day 2 of 7
Monday, June 08, 2015 Day two we were not up as early as we should have been. The night before we had noticed a group turn the corner into Snow Bay. We didn't think anything of it until we took the shortcut portage going East and saw that same group a mile ahead of us. SH*%! In our minds their only destination could be Tachumich Lake and on that lake, as I read here, there is only 1 decent campsite. We turned on the paddling power, the race was on. We took the second shortcut portage looking ahead and seeing no one. LLC is beautiful in that area, you feel very alone (despite a group somewhere near). I would love to return to that area and spend more time. While looking for the portage into Tachumich we stopped some shoreline movement. That movement was that group's last canoe going over the portage. The race was lost. I angrily ran our stuff up and over only to see that group going to the other end of the lake! The site right near the portage, the good one as I read, was ours. We set up camp and got to fishing. What a healthy lake Tach seemed. The smallmouth all held deeper due to its clearness, a 20"ish lake trout was lost at the net and plenty of northern to keep us busy. All and all another great lake. I would have loved to have stayed longer. We hit the hay after some whiskey and jokes, next stop, Eugene.
Day 3 of 7
Tuesday, June 09, 2015 The trip to Eugene was uneventful. We paddled slowly, enjoying the scenery and solitude. We wouldn't see anyone for the next three days and we loved it. Gun Lake is a beautiful lake that I would love to visit again. We just passed through. We set up on the site on the narrows of Eugene. The one on the north end of the lake has a beautiful view but poor tent pads. The one in the narrows has a so-so view with great tent pads. Sleep won out in our minds, I think, no, I know we made the right decision. We fished that afternoon and caught a few smallmouth and northern. Nothing worth mentioning. The hits on topwater seemed defensive, just knocking the lure out of the area. I got fish to commit on the Zulu and swim jigs. Lost a few to toothy kritters as well. Another night of whiskey and star gazing.
Day 4 of 7
Wednesday, June 10, 2015 No one up early today, the plan was to hit Fat Lake for some Lake Trout trolling. The wind was blowing a bit, 10-15, nothing terrible. The portage to Fat Lake is easy and flat. What a beautiful little dead end lake. Super clear, nice rocky shoreline, a small loon family...wonderful. I had never caught a Lake Trout outside of Lake Michigan, so I was pumped. One other member of the group was excited as well. The others couldn't have cared less and gave up trolling quickly. Our two boats stayed at it and eventually my friend was rewarded. A nice 18" fish. It was great to see him catch it and the huge smile. We cooked it up at the only campsite on Fat Lake and enjoyed a post lunch nap with the waves lapping at the shore. If I were going to build a cabin somewhere, that campsite would be in the running. We returned to Eugene for some afternoon fishing and exploring. There are two beaver made waterfalls on the lake. Both fun to explore to their source.
Day 5 of 7
Day 6 of 7
Friday, June 12, 2015 Today we are taking the unmarked portage to Fat Lake. I have got to catch my BWCA lake trout. The unmarked portage was...a challenge. We were excited and happy to be doing it, but wow. Lots of blow downs, lots of 90 degree turns...by the end we weren't talking or laughing, just trudging on, waiting for it to end. Fat Lake was calm today and we got to trolling. About an hour in I got my first BWCA lake trout! A little smaller than the one a few days ago. I caught it on a silver and pink Kwikfish. I was surprised at the fight that fish had. Having a ton of line out helped him, but wow. I thought I was going to pull up a monster not a 17". O well, I was still happy. After I got my fish no one seemed interested in staying. We got to work on the unmarked portage back to camp. I would do it again but wow. It made me second guess dreams of bushwacking to secret BWCA spots. I'm sure this portage was nothing compared to that. It was a good day of fishing for me, I also caught my largest smallmouth to date. A 20" on a pop'n spook. It's a walk the dog surface lure with a concave front. It's actually a saltwater bait. Worked well here though. I returned to camp a happy man.
Day 7 of 7
Saturday, June 13, 2015 Time to pack it in. We had a 1pm pickup time at Little Indian Souix. We will all admit that we left ourselves a little too much work the last day. We were beat and there were a few members who seemed close to mutiny. Of course, there wasn't anything they could do but continue on. We reached the van 10 minutes early. We were hoping for cold beer, he had cold water, but we were grateful just the same. It was a great trip with a great group. I was sad my wife didn't feel up to coming along, our first kid, daughter, will be arriving in October. All the same, I was glad I was on this trip with a great group. Perfect weather, good fishing, physical challenges, great trip!