We woke up at 6:30 a.m. to another beautiful morning. I was the first to rise, so I fired up the whisper light stove to make some coffee and of course hot tea for Jody. We decided to have oatmeal for breakfast. Since this was our last day of fishing we decided to fish the two reefs close to camp and do as little paddling as possible today. I slowly approached the reef with my eyes glued to the depth finder-- it was very important to find “the spot on the spot”. Almost all of our fish this week have been in that magical 12 to 14 foot range. During mid day, we caught a few on drop offs next to the reefs. These fish seemed to be hovering in the 20 to 25 foot depths. We decided to do some slow trolling to start the day. I set a new record for getting snagged in less than 5 seconds! These rocks are unforgiving. I had never tied on more jigs in a week in my life. This lake is a mass of rock the like nothing I had seen before. Our two friends paddled up to say farewell on their way to the famous Badwater portage. Their spirits were high and they told us they intended to camp on Quetico Lake tonight. Jody was casting a spoon in the direction of their canoe. He hooked a 4 pound walleye next to their canoe! Boy did our chests heave! Not only did we look like fishermen, sometimes we can back it up! They had little success fishing; they spent their time on Bee Lake. They stated that the lake was very low. Our Canadian friends said goodbye and paddled away to tackle the mile portage. We caught a lot of fish on this trip, but had never hooked anything of trophy caliber but this was about to change! Jody casted his 4 inch green spoon across the top of the reef where it was met with a massive strike. I knew this was a big fish, and it was going to be a tough task to get him up to the canoe. The fish made several runs before we had a chance to see it. It slowly swam by the canoe a few inches below the waterline. The Northern was a good 25 pounds and was at least 48 inches long with a massive girth. The fish saw us and made a violent run to the bottom of the reef, taking Jody’s lure and leader with it. Unfortunately, it was not attached to his rod and reel anymore. I heard Jody holler a word that can’t be printed in this report! He set his pole down, had his head in his hands and did not say another word for minute or so. Like the trooper he is, he then picked up the rod tied on another lure and was back at it in no time. We felt fortunate to just be able to see the fish, and decided that is why they call it fishing, and not catching. We caught and released a few more fish before our stomachs said it was time for lunch. We dined on shepherd’s pie and spent an hour or so just relaxing. We then returned to our favorite fishing grounds. The place was good to us again, and although the fishing was slower in the hot 85 degree afternoon, we still managed a dozen nice fish, and 156 snags. My jig supply was getting pretty low. As we were playing around we decided to have a casting competition. Jody would pick out a spot high up on the palisades, and I would try to hit it with my daredevil. Came close several times, and did not even get snagged. After a great afternoon we trekked back to camp for our last dinner of the trip. We decided to make a massive dinner to fuel up for that treacherous portage tomorrow. We prepared turkey and dressing, corn, and a raspberry crumble desert. It is amazing that this freeze dried food can taste so good! After dinner we decide to hit the lake for one last fishing adventure, again heading out to our reef. This was a spectacular night to be on the water. The sky was a mix of blue and red hues with massive cotton candy-like clouds in the mix. The water was like glass with reflections of the forest painted along the edge of the lake. This is one of the most pretty, scary, demanding, and unforgiving places I have ever been. But, there is an attraction that makes me want to come back and I hope to do that someday. We didn’t have much fishing success tonight and neither one of us cared. We spent most of the time just looking around at all the beauty--this place is crazy pretty. Just after sunset I slowly paddled back toward our camp. Jody was in front and just looking around. Not a word was spoken the entire half hour. The woods were silent. The lake was like glass. The only sounds were my lone paddle entering the lake and the water rippling off the canoe. It was a very surreal half hour that I am sure we will both remember for a long time. We got back to camp and started a fire, made coffee and shot the breeze. It was a pretty somber mood tonight. I don’t know if it’s because it was our last night here , or we are dreading that bug infested, mud hole, rocky up and down both way portage that we will face in the morning. We had our coffee, made a small fire, and sat and relaxed. Another picture perfect night.