We arrived at Kawishiwi lake at 7:30am and headed out on a beautiful sunny morning. Our ultimate destination is Malberg. The wind was at our back making it easy to get across the lake. The water levels in the creek on the way to Square were manageable for my SR17. The OT Discovery 174 struggled in the creek. Although we had an extra pack and gear in the SR 17, we pulled away from the heavier OT. The small portages were longer then normal, but not a big deal. This is the 4th time we have gone back to at least Polly and decided we would cut back and only do 1 trip at each portage instead of the usual two. We like to have our comforts (camp chairs) and some of us like to be prepared for any and all situations (too many clothes & too much food). After borrowing some Duluth packs, we realized that we could make it in 1 trip and cut an hour off of our normal trip time. I don't think we cut back on gear, just the # of packs. These beasts (packs) were very heavy and quickly took their toll on my 2 brothers who had to portage them. I think my SR 17 and smaller Duluth Pack were lighter than the 2 packs they had to carry. I'm not so sure about the OT canoe as it weighs a ton. We made it to Polly in a little over 3 hours, a record time for us.

As we headed across Polly, we decided that if one of the two island campsites were open, we would stay on Polly and day trip back to Malberg. This would end our portaging and get us fishing that much sooner. This is one of the only weekends all 4 of us get to go fishing and we all want to maximize that time. Both island campsites were open so we made camp on the western island. We had been eyeing this campsite for several years because of the good smallie fishing from its shore. It was too good to pass up, so we used this as an excuse to stay on Polly.

By 1:00pm we were enjoying a beautiful day of fishing on Polly. The walleye's and smallies were biting and we enjoyed a nice walleye dinner. The evening was spent relaxing around the campfire planning the next days fishing trip to Malberg. It was an excellent way to start the trip.