Another blessed layover day to recuperate. We spent the day fishing & paddling Stuart, & hiked the portage to the Dahlgren River to admire the pines, a gorgeous hike that I wouldn’t miss if I were in the area again. On the paddle over I lost my favorite spoon paddling to a monstrous hit – the alligator northern I’d been looking for was in deep water, & after a few good thrashes & a short run snapped my 20 lb. Fireline. I might have cursed, maybe even loudly.

A thunderstorm chased us off the lake, literally, around noon & slapped the tents good about one minute after we pulled ashore & pelted for cover. After the storm we lounged, reading, hiking the point, & generally being lazy as we watched the sky slowly clear.

Nightfall brought another surprise. With a Nalgene mostly full of leeches – we’d not needed them – I grabbed my book & went down to the water to “fish” with a leech & bobber. Well, I read about two paragraphs as hungry walleyes grabbed every leech I threw out, eventually emptying the Nalgene. They were all in one small box, big as a boxing ring, & if you could hit it with the bobber, you’d catch a fish. What a fun hour. We caught & released more than a dozen walleyes in the hour before sunset