Sue and the crew got us loaded up and trailered us to the public landing on Gunflint where we put off. 

The paddle on Gunflint and Magnetic was great, with very little wind we relaxed and took our time. Even circled the island with the Swiss Chalet on it.  

As we made our way down the Pine river, the scenery was gorgeous, the portages were rocky and the blueberries looked promising! We had a lunch of gorp, granola bars and jerky overlooking the falls.

When we arrived on Clove, the northern campsite with the sandy beach was taken, but the western campsite was available so we took it. It's a solid site, getting in and out is a little tricky but otherwise fine. We did some fishing from shore and had some luck with a few northerns and bass. Rowan caught the big fish of the night with a three pound smallie, when you're 42 lbs yourself, that's a big fish! 

Early to rise we had a great sunrise to greet us. Mike and I paddled over the the Pine River rapids on the eastern side of Clove -- the forums, are outfitter and other canoers promised great fishing. We fished with leeches on jigs, slip bobbers, floating jig heads and tubes for about three hours -- nothing. It was pretty defeating. We headed back to camp for a big breakfast of sausage and potato's. 

The day was spent swimming, fishing and snacking from the 12 lbs of gorp we brought.

My brother Mike has been 'taking' me fishing ever since he was 7 and I was 3. As long as I remember, I've always needed to bait his pole and take the fish off -- and this year was no exception. 

Supper consisted of three northerns made up into fish tacos -- delicious. We breaded the northerns with shore lunch and a 1/4 packet of taco seasoning. Had a cream sauce ala allrecipes, hauled in a head of cabbage and plenty of lime. I'm getting better with filleting northerns, but they sure do make Lake Erie Perch look easy!

That recipes is here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fish-Tacos/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=fish%20tacos&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

We did find a honey hole for bass that was working like a charm. I assumed that most of clove was just northerns except for the Pine River scour hole, but we lucked into a nice little spot. 

While taking Rowan to the 'potty', I followed a lightly used trail and came to the top of our 'hill'. While I had heard of great blueberry picking this time of year, I had thus far been disappointed, well disappointed no more. Endless blueberries were to be found just 30 yards from the throne! The crew could not have been happier. 

Took a trip up the Granite a few portages and explored the area, wish we would have fished a little more but it's tough with the little ones. 

After our Bear Creek Soup supper, we got out for a little more fishing and Rowan caught the fish of the trip! His Kool-Aid mustache and face painted forehead say it all.  

We tripped into Larch -- seemed nice enough, the island campsite looked great. Half heartedly tried for some crappie, didn't get a single bite. 

Spaghetti for supper was the call of the day -- accompanied with the 'pizza dough' bannock with sprinkles of garlic and parmesan, delicious!

The weather was so great that we took our sweet time breaking camp, probably didn't leave our site until after noon.  Nice little paddle out. The wind had really kicked up on Magnetic and Gunflint on our way out, fortunately it was on our back. The 'surfing' was a little nerve racking at times but we made it through just fine. 

I'm a bit of a lurker on the site, if you're a regular you've probably helped us out and didn't even know it. Thanks everyone!