While on the river we saw lots of deer- a pattern that would continue for the rest of the trip. We bumped into our first and only rangers after paddling all the way up the oyster river. The lady checked our permit and told us of the oncoming storm and pointed out the one site that was ocupied- the one we wanted. It was right next to the deepest part of the lake and throwing smelt off the campsite for lakers. We found a site with a sandy beach and camped there. As soon as camp was set up it started to rain. I threw out a line with a smelt on it and got one bite. I made a dinner of rice and beans, Maybe I should say TRIED to make a dinner of rice and beans. It came out burnt and under done. We went to bed early and waited out a big thunderstorm

Since we had our lunch fish and the wind was kicking up on the main lake we went to do some pike fishing. I quickly proceeded to catch a pike around 38 inches on a fire tiger chatter frog. We also caught a few smaller ones as well.

After we went back to camp and cooked up our laker lunch- panfried in my moms secret recipe- it started to rain. We threw out some smelt from camp with no luck. At around dusk my friend gut hooked a smallmouth and we ate him for dinner with pasta on the side. Lake trout is much better in my opinion.

It was very windy today. We packed up camp and headed to Agnes for some walleye fishing. On Agnes we dealt with some big white caps.We had to grab a camp that I liked with the exception of one problem. There was a strong fishy odor in the camp. I walked down the trail to the latrine, and literaly less than 60 feet away from both the campsite and the latrine were over a dozen big rotting smallmouth carcases right in the middle of the trail. I cleaned these up only to come across another 6 or so later the trail, this time even closer to the tents. What a bunch of lazy slobs these last campers were. After making camp we fished around camp and caught some small fish. Once dusk came around we ventured out and my friend caught a very nice walleye which we caught and released. We also caught 3 other small eyes. I finished my BWCA grand slam today- walleye, trout, pike and smallie- I also caught a few bonus fish including the crappies, a perch and rock bass. We thought that this lake might not be a bust after all. Boy was I wrong. I think we ate Mac and Cheese this night.

With better expectations after last night, we were once again disappointed with Agnes. Big white caps kept us stuck in the far Back Bay the whole day. We caught one eater walleye around 14 inches and a very big crappie which I released. We also caught lots of pike, none over 20 inches. Once it calmed down we headed for camp, grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed back out. I caught one big crappie which we added to the stringer, and one the way back to camp picked up another small eater walleye- enough for dinner. The rest of the day was uneventful The strong fishy odor persisted, I assume I must have missed a few carcases.

Today we left Agnes for hopes of better fishing on LLC. Here we found much better fishing. We caught numerous decent pike and a few walleyes. We also got into a school of crappies. We ate a meal of 2 walleye and one small gut hooked pike today. we made a fire tonite and roasted marshmallows. we had a very nice campsite on boulder bay. I picked up a good amount of tin and cans from the fire pit though and brought them home. Also, the previous campers decided it would be a good Idea to cut down some green pine trees to try and burn instead of just walking back and getting dead wood. the trees couldnt have been cut down more than 4 days ago.

Last night some animal was walking around our campsite, a deer most likely. The dog didnt seem to mind it. We also had a firefly in our tent which was prety neat. We fished all day today with no where near the luck we had the first day on LLC. We ended up eating a pike for dinner with a side of fried potatoes and onions. We bumpd into catfish keith for the last time today, and talked fishing for a little while. HE said he say a cute chick stringer a 5lb smallie. Sad.

We were up at 6 AM and feeling a good stiff breeze from a NE direction. Both Matthew and I had been apprehensive about Brule Lake. We wanted to get this lake behind us, and today was the day. Are we doing the right thing? We will not know, until we see Brule.

We were on the water at 8:15 for the short, but windy, paddle to the portage. The 55 rods from Vernon to Brule were steep, and our blood was pretty well circulated by the time we assembled our gear on Brule Bay. We shoved off into Brule at exactly 9:15. We could not get a good feel for the wind direction until we entered the main lake near Brule Island. Away from the little bays, we found a brisk and steady NE wind and that would be at our backs. All we needed to do was to hug the north shore.

It is about 8 miles from the NE end of Brule Bay to the west end of Brule. We cleared those miles in 2.5 hours including a snack break along the way. When we hit the larger bays like North and Cone, we paddled north into the bay until the waves looked friendly, and then shot across to the other side. Several times we paused in the lee and watched the south side of Brule. We could actually see white spray thrown into the air as waves crashed against the rocky shore. Brule Lake is a most impressive Lake. The lake is big, and the topography is candy for the eye. The day was not sparkling bright, rather it was misty and rainy, and this added a touch of mystique to our Brule experience.[paragraph break]Pictures show 1) Brule Lake east of Brule Island and 2) Brule Lake near Cone bay [paragraph break] For the distance traveled, this paddle was one of the easiest days we have done. Camp was made on the west side of the island at section 17. With these first two days now under our belt, we could slow the pace. We expected a few trials in the days ahead, but in our minds the worrisome portion of our loop was done.

Section 17 camp was not something to write home about, but it was comfortable. The bays and little islands west of us were very picturesque. But with the wind, we did not explore them. Easy firewood was very scarce, but enough was scrounged up for the night. Towards evening the scattered showers went away, and it was supper time, fire time, and Cognac time (in about that order, give or take a few sips). A big full moon rose behind the trees, night became day, and Brule sparkled like a lady in diamonds.[paragraph break]Pictures show 1)Full moon at section 17 camp Brule Lake and 2) the evening fire watch at camp [paragraph break] Today we saw a number of parties camped on the east end of Brule and encountered about 7 canoes going in the direction opposite of our westerly course.