Sep 1, 2015 – Day 6 of 9. We slept in until 8:00 this morning and took the time to cook up a nice hot breakfast of eggs with bacon bits and coffee. During this trip so far, I think Elizabeth has caught the fishing bug and wants to constantly go fish some more. We decided to explore the south and western shore of Iron Lake and follow back up to the bottle lake portage.

The fishing was spectacular this day and while trolling along the southern bank of Iron Lake, I hooked into a whopper. I fought it for 10 minutes or so and as it came alongside the boat, I could see it was a nice sized pike, probably 3 ½’ to 4’ long. I really did not want to pull this big guy out of the water since I had no intention of keeping him, so as I tried to retrieve my Rapala, off he went with my lure. Here in lies the technicality of our wager, as this we most certainly the largest fish, but Elizabeth wasn’t going to concede driving through Wisconsin for a fish I didn’t fully land.

We continued having great success fishing and debating the technicality as we headed north along the western shore. When we got to the inlet from Bottle Lake we met a group of women paddling along and had no gear. This really puzzled Elizabeth and when she ask, they said they were camped on Lake Agnes and were day tripping up to Iron Lake for some fishing. As they paddled off, they earned the Seinfeld title of Wonder Women.

We headed back to camp late in the afternoon to get started on supper and found a group of otters playing on a nearby island. We watched them for a while and got some nice pictures. It was enjoyable watching them have so much fun.

As the evening approached, we cooked up supper and had a little red squirrel that had become bold enough to join us around the fire. We finished eating, and retired to the tent for cards and a bit of small talk about the perfect weather we have been blessed with. It was saddening that the end of the trip was drawing near.

Elizabeth catching another one, increasing the lead.

Elizabeth's favorite lure, the baby bass jig.

Another guest for supper.