Minnkota and Sherpa Badwater 2012
by walllee
We decided to go to the other end of the lake today. A quick breakfast and we’re off. We planned to make a day of it so we also packed our lunch. We stopped at a small bay to do a little casting for northern since the walleyes seem to be eluding us. My second cast with a musky killer netted me a good fish. It was not fighting like a Northern; I recognized that familiar head shake. Up came a nice walleye. We made some more casts...more walleye. We fished that area for an hour or so and moved on. I picked another similar looking area, what do you know--more walleye. They hit mepps, rattle trips, spoons. Just about anything you threw. When we were tired of casting we could jig with a ½ oz. jig and twister with the same results. There were also Northerns in the mix to keep things interesting. The amazing thing is they were good size fish-- 20-25 inches! Badwater is a long, narrow lake lined with a thick mix of pine, spruce, and aspen. Very old growth trees here. There is also massive amount of rock--massive granite palisades that reach high in the air. We made it to the southeast end of the lake at 1:00p.m. We found a nice sand and pebble clearing along shore to stop for lunch. A tasty shore lunch of walleye, with a side of corn curbed our appetites. As we slowly fished our way back to camp, I saw a reef coming into view on the depth finder. We gradually went from 30 feet, up to 25 feet. Soon we hit the magic 14 foot mark. Wham… we both had walleyes on. I quickly threw out the orange marker and we spent the next hour or so drifting this area. The orange jig and twister combination served us well. We decided to head back to camp and get an early dinner. As we neared camp, we decided to check out the area of the lake that feeds Omeme Lake. We’re thinking of going there later in the week. This is a beautiful area. The river-like route is lined with a wide array of colorful lilies, assorted wildflowers, and home to many beavers. Also, I think every black fly in Canada decided to vacation here as well. Again, thank God for Deet! We went as far as we could, took a few pictures, and headed back to camp. A great dinner of lasagna, corn, and blueberry crisp. Does it get any better? After dinner we decided to mix us up a nightcap--a little Kool-aid and Vodka for me and Jody decided on rum and Mio. I had not seen this Mio stuff before, but found out it is great stuff. Great concentrate that packs well and tastes great. We chatted by the fire to hash out tomorrows plans and solve a few world problems. I am getting #@^%*& old, I can’t even stay up till dark, or maybe it’s the millions of mosquitoes that drove me into the tent. Woke up at 12:30 a.m. had to pee badly. Decided to try to pee out the tent door without going outside. I looked like a Chinese acrobat, but I got the job done. Off to sleep I went.