“Would you be interested in a trip to the Boundary Waters?” That’s the question Rob, my friend from work, asked me on a Saturday morning in early February. I couldn’t get “YES” out of my mouth fast enough. I have been on several fishing trips in my life but the Boundary Waters was always on my list of places to fish. Over the last 4-5 years I had especially fell in love with fishing in Northern Minnesota. Where I live in Michigan I am close to some great walleye fisheries but I have become very jealous of the great walleye fishing Minnesota has to offer. My wife and I have made a few trips the last couple of winters to Lake of the Woods ice fishing out of Arnesens Rocky Point Resort. We weren’t able to go this year as she was busy going to college and we couldn’t make any dates work for a trip. So, when the opportunity presented itself I was excited to say the least. So now the planning begins. Luckily for me Rob had been coming to the BWCA for over fifteen years. He and his group usually made it to the Ely area every two years and between them most had 6-8 trips under their belt. Even more lucky for me is they had canoe camping down to a science so all I had to do was tag along and enjoy myself. That definitely didn’t slow me down as I researched everything I could about the area, the fishing, the lakes we would be visiting, and canoe camping in general. Like any newbie I am sure I went completely overboard on packing fishing gear that I didn’t need. But hey I was going to primarily fish so I wanted to be prepared for anything. Rob told me all I needed was a few slip bobbers, hooks, sinkers, a couple different lures, and as many leeches as I could carry. I should have believed him but of course I didn’t. Throughout the trip leeches far and away out produced every other method we tried. My future trips will result in less fishing tackle for sure. Anticipation and excitement leading up to the trip was almost too much to handle. Finally the day came and we were ready to leave. We left home in Michigan around 4:30 heading north where we would cross “Big Mac” at the straits between Lake Michigan and Huron before heading across Michigan’s own version of wilderness the Upper Penninsula. We made good time and hit Munising just a little before dark where we were lucky to catch a great sunset reflecting over Pictured Rocks on the south shore of Superior. Traveling thru the night wasn’t too bad but we were all tired when we rolled into Ely around 4:30 in the morning. We grabbed a spot in the parking lot across the street from Britton’s Café. We were waiting for three other members of the group who were meeting us from the Chicago area. Our plan was to have a nice breakfast, stock up on some things in town, then head up to Williams & Hall Outfitters on Moose Lake. I learned it gets daylight early in Northern Minnesota and we were at the door when they opened at 6am. We were easily entertained by a few young locals who obviously had a pretty late night. I don’t think they had been to bed yet and were hoping to soak up some alcohol from the night before. Two minutes after setting down Rob’s phone rang. The other members were 10 miles south of town and had just hit a deer that ultimately ended up totaling a Nissan Pathfinder. Our plans for the morning were about to change since Rob’s vehicle wasn’t large enough for 6 guys and all the gear. The tow truck drive dropped them off at Mike’s Automotive in town where we met them and headed back to Briton’s for breakfast plus to hash out a plan. We were hoping to be on the water by 10am paddling across Snowbank towards Disappointment beating the wind before it kicked up and to get a good campsite but that was definitely out of the question now. Several ideas were kicked around from car rentals to Uhauls to multiple trip’s up to Williams & Hall in Rob’s car. I suggested stopping at an outfitter in town and seeing if they wouldn’t mind helping out a group in need by transporting the guys in the wrecked vehicle and their gear to Moose. This is where a huge “Thank You” goes out to Spirit of the Wilderness who came to the rescue. Hopefully you are reading this Steve! They were quick to help us out for a mere $30 fee. The decision on where to buy bait, a few extra trip necessities, and some hats and t-shirts just got easier.