BWCA Best fishing memories from camp Boundary Waters Fishing Forum
Chat Rooms (0 Chatting)  |  Search  |   Login/Join
* For the benefit of the community, commercial posting is not allowed.
Boundary Waters Quetico Forum
   Fishing Forum
      Best fishing memories from camp     
 Forum Sponsor

Author

Text

DRob1992
distinguished member (222)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/08/2021 09:02AM  
Not sure if this has been a subject of discussion in the past...

My favorite fishing memory from camp happened to be on my only trip to the Quetico. My dad and I were staying on an island site - I forget which lake. Anyway, the day was approaching dusk and I was throwing a shallow-diving purple Rapala from our 'front-porch'. My dad was casting a chartreuse spinner from our 'back-porch'.

After several casts, I hooked into something. The fish was fighting differently and I was really hoping that I had hooked into my first-ever laker. After a good battle, I was able to land the fish - a healthy lake trout! The only issue was that, at the last moment, the fish became entangled in the line and managed to cause chaos. The Rapala, along with the fish, became deeply embedded in my shoe. Obviously, we were using exclusively barbless hooks and lures on this trip; so I thought it wouldn't be too much of a hassle to unsnag myself. I was wrong. It was a pretty big challenge.

While all of this was happening, my dad had hooked into a sizeable pike and was calling for my assistance to land his fish. I never even heard his quiet calls for help. He finally landed the pike, walked back to camp, and immediately says, "What the hell?!" I simply pointed to my foot and shrugged. We both laughed and ended the evening with a delicious fish n taters dinner.
 
      Print Top Bottom Previous Next
cyclones30
distinguished member(4163)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
09/08/2021 09:06PM  
Took some first timers a few years back. They stayed back at camp one evening to relax and fish. Upon us returning to camp, they had big smiles and said they'd caught and released a 30" walleye. Of course I was happy but a little "you're joking right?" and they're like no here...showed me their phones and yep. Giant old walleye right from camp w/ a slip bobber.
 
DRob1992
distinguished member (222)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/09/2021 08:24AM  
cyclones30: "Took some first timers a few years back. They stayed back at camp one evening to relax and fish. Upon us returning to camp, they had big smiles and said they'd caught and released a 30" walleye. Of course I was happy but a little "you're joking right?" and they're like no here...showed me their phones and yep. Giant old walleye right from camp w/ a slip bobber. "


This is similar to a walleye story I've got from about 10 years ago. We had a group of six guys and we had friendly, daily fishing bets. I had gone out with another guy and had caught my personal best walleye (24"). As we were paddling and approaching camp, I felt confident that I'd be getting $1 from each guy for the biggest walleye of the day. Turns out, as we were out fishing, another guy from our group had landed a 27 1/2" walleye from our camp. I spent the rest of the evening trying to best his catch, to no avail. Very mixed emotions resulted - proud of my friend for his catch; sad about having to pay $1 rather than winning $5.
 
salukiguy
distinguished member(597)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/11/2021 05:13PM  
Caught my personal best walleye from camp casting a #4 Mepps spinner into a heavy wind in the middle of the afternoon. This was on Bald Eagle Lake. Caught my personal best Northern Pike from camp on Gull Lake using a Rapala.
 
DRob1992
distinguished member (222)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/11/2021 06:28PM  
salukiguy: "Caught my personal best walleye from camp casting a #4 Mepps spinner into a heavy wind in the middle of the afternoon. This was on Bald Eagle Lake. Caught my personal best Northern Pike from camp on Gull Lake using a Rapala."


Thanks for sharing. I've had many experiences of catching fish when and where I had no business catching them (according to the fishing "norms" that we often hear about). Sorta like your PB Walleye in the middle of the afternoon ... I caught my 2nd best Walleye on a sunny, 90 degree day and it was on a mistake cast. I was throwing a spinner bait and the lure actually landed on shore. I reeled a tiny bit to get the lure into water and, the moment it hit the water, FISH ON! Surprised me so much that I jerked way harder than I should have. Luckily, I landed the fish ... a 23" Walleye. That was easily the most mysterious fish I've ever caught.
 
Hammertime
distinguished member (275)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/13/2021 09:59PM  
I can’t think of any that stand out. We’ve never got a trophy from camp, just a bunch of eaters.

I mostly just think of fun. Bobbers going down while playing cribbage, people scrambling to get the net, people casting right where somebody just got a bite, taking trash to your buddies, catching fish from camp is awesome.
 
DRob1992
distinguished member (222)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/14/2021 05:29PM  
Hammertime: "I can’t think of any that stand out. We’ve never got a trophy from camp, just a bunch of eaters.


I mostly just think of fun. Bobbers going down while playing cribbage, people scrambling to get the net, people casting right where somebody just got a bite, taking trash to your buddies, catching fish from camp is awesome."


Gotta be my favorite method of fishing. And somehow, despite putting in minimal effort, it seems to be my most productive method, too. Speaking of talking trash to friends ... One of my best friends went on a trip with us one year. We were fishing near each other when he claimed to have hooked into a "lunker". This lunker broke him off and I immediately tell him he snagged a log. Kid you not, less than two minutes later we are walking back to our tent when we spot a nice-sized Pike with an orange floating Rapala sticking out of its mouth. Guess it wasn't a log that he snagged after all.
 
09/14/2021 11:22PM  
Okay your first story is awesome…thanks for sharing!

Back when live bait was legal in the Q, the wind was terrible, so my Dad threw out a leech and bobber from camp. This was walleye opener and very cold…as I am telling him that there is no way a walleye will be in this area the bobber goes down and he pulls in a 24 inch walleye. We never caught another one form that spot…but I wa s proven wrong…not the first time :)

On disappointment lake I was bored, mid day and jigged a pink and white twister tail and hooked a 24 inch walleye from camp around Labor Day.

On Basswood hooked a 28 incher from camp mid day early August with the same jig. Shouldn’t have been there either. But if ya don’t fish you have a 0% chance.

T
 
DRob1992
distinguished member (222)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/15/2021 06:56AM  
timatkn: "Okay your first story is awesome…thanks for sharing!


Back when live bait was legal in the Q, the wind was terrible, so my Dad threw out a leech and bobber from camp. This was walleye opener and very cold…as I am telling him that there is no way a walleye will be in this area the bobber goes down and he pulls in a 24 inch walleye. We never caught another one form that spot…but I wa s proven wrong…not the first time :)


On disappointment lake I was bored, mid day and jigged a pink and white twister tail and hooked a 24 inch walleye from camp around Labor Day.


On Basswood hooked a 28 incher from camp mid day early August with the same jig. Shouldn’t have been there either. But if ya don’t fish you have a 0% chance.


T"


That last part - if ya don't fish you have a 0% chance - is so true and relates to nature in general. I often share nature stories with friends (who, unfortunately, haven't spent much time outdoors in their lives) and they are amazed at the things I've seen. In reality, anyone has the ability to see crazy nature events unfold. All it takes is getting outdoors and keeping your eyes open and your senses alert.
 
lundojam
distinguished member(2726)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/15/2021 07:13AM  
Years ago here on the forum somebody asked "what is your favorite way to catch walleyes?" or something of that nature and I answered "half-drunk from shore." Carefully but hurriedly setting down your red-boxed-wine-in-a-coffeecup and running to your bobber rod is a ton of fun. I quit drinking by the way.

I also have a fond memory of cooking fish while one guy was cleaning and two others were still catching. That's fresh fish right there.
 
Savage Voyageur
distinguished member(14414)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished membermaster membermaster member
  
09/15/2021 07:30AM  
Too many memories to tell only one. Something about watching a lighted slip bobber go down while sitting next to a fire or by the lake. It just doesn’t get much better than that.
 
missmolly
distinguished member(7681)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
09/15/2021 08:18AM  
I've got three, all from the same island in northwestern Ontario where I've spent months in aggregate:

1. Each morning, I'd bustle out of the tent to to cast to a spur between our island and the next. My fishing partner was slow, so I'd provide some incentive to rise and shine. I was only a few feet from the tent, so he could hear the smallmouth leaping and I'd count out the fish: "Got one!" "Got another one!" "That's three!" Most mornings, I'd catch between five and seven before he emerged and we took to the canoe.

2. One day, when the Sun was high and penetrating deep into the water, I was sitting on a rock and saw two smallmouth pass. Five minutes later, they passed again as they were circling the island. Then again and again. Seeing them was even more fun than catching them.

3. My brother and I had just returned from a morning of fishing when I saw a smallmouth rise just off our island. I cast to it and hooked it and because he was on the shore and had his camera, my brother shot a series of photos of the fish jumping and being landed. 19 inches!

 
Bobaaa
member (40)member
  
09/15/2021 09:33AM  
I was up with the sunrise one calm June morning... just made my coffee and walked down the shoreline to make a few casts with a surface lure. After a few casts a 40 inch Northern hit and the fight was on. I tried yelling for my son to wake up and grab the camera but I was unsuccessful.

I landed the Northern and got him measured and safely released with no witnesses, and no official record other than a fond memory of another great morning in the BWCA.
 
missmolly
distinguished member(7681)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
09/15/2021 10:13AM  
lundojam: "Years ago here on the forum somebody asked "what is your favorite way to catch walleyes?" or something of that nature and I answered "half-drunk from shore." Carefully but hurriedly setting down your red-boxed-wine-in-a-coffeecup and running to your bobber rod is a ton of fun. I quit drinking by the way.


I also have a fond memory of cooking fish while one guy was cleaning and two others were still catching. That's fresh fish right there."


I'm with you. I like to catch my meal right beside my stove, so it's from the hook to the frying pan in mere minutes.

#nodamnstringer!
 
DRob1992
distinguished member (222)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/15/2021 02:30PM  
missmolly: "
lundojam: "Years ago here on the forum somebody asked "what is your favorite way to catch walleyes?" or something of that nature and I answered "half-drunk from shore." Carefully but hurriedly setting down your red-boxed-wine-in-a-coffeecup and running to your bobber rod is a ton of fun. I quit drinking by the way.



I also have a fond memory of cooking fish while one guy was cleaning and two others were still catching. That's fresh fish right there."



I'm with you. I like to catch my meal right beside my stove, so it's from the hook to the frying pan in mere minutes.


#nodamnstringer!"


Nothing fresher and tastier than that! Makes me hungry!!
 
09/17/2021 06:47AM  
Savage Voyageur: "Too many memories to tell only one. Something about watching a lighted slip bobber go down while sitting next to a fire or by the lake. It just doesn’t get much better than that. "
yes many memories indeed ! 1 that comes to mind . i was up early everyone else was sleeping , i hooked into a nice 9lb laker and it kept taking drag, many turns making my reel sing , everyone was within ear shot and was wondering what the heck is going on , 1 person finally crawled out of the tent.
i just love camp fishing, slip bobber--deadbait on bottom--is always a blast but nothing like getting slammed on your retrieve ;)
and being 61 now , i'm fine with fishing from shore in the BWCA.
 
preacherdave
distinguished member (377)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/17/2021 10:58AM  
Not even close for me. Few years back we were in Quetico. My buddy had slipped and fallen hard on a rock. Spent two days in a hammock recovering. I was hanging out on a rock at camp and spied a northern swimming by. Grabbed my rod that had a Ribbett tied on and cast it out. Made for a fun few minutes.
 
papalambeau
distinguished member (296)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/17/2021 12:49PM  
The best fishing from camp memories have to be watching the grandkids catching big smallmouth with slip bobbers and leeches. Great to watch live and then watch the videos as time marches on. One of the best had to be this past June when my 8 year old grandson landed a 19" smallie from camp while a storm was coming in and an eagle was flying overhead. Looked like a fire drill but it's all on video.
 
DRob1992
distinguished member (222)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/17/2021 12:52PM  
preacherdave: "Not even close for me. Few years back we were in Quetico. My buddy had slipped and fallen hard on a rock. Spent two days in a hammock recovering. I was hanging out on a rock at camp and spied a northern swimming by. Grabbed my rod that had a Ribbett tied on and cast it out. Made for a fun few minutes. "


What a dream sight hunting and catching that hog Pike must have been! Very cool
 
BWfishingfanatic12
distinguished member (359)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/18/2021 12:03PM  
Like many others I also love fishing from camp. Have lots of good memories from this so I will share my best two.

Both were from the same campsite on Knife lake, actually on the same trip.

One afternoon we had just gotten back from day tripping. my brother went to go take a nap and I sat in the shade reading my Bible. For good measure I decided to cast out a slip bobber. Much to my surprise it started going down within seconds of casting it out. Over the next hour I cast it out along shore in about 15 FOW and I don't think it ever sat for more than 5 minutes without going under. In several hours I must have caught 25 smallmouth and around 20 walleyes as well with a few pike thrown in as well.

The other campsite memory was one evening finishing up our campfire we saw a mouse scurry away from our kitchen area. We had the brought idea to try to catch him with a pot propped up on a y stick tied to fishing line. We caught him and threw him out into the water and a big fish came up and smoked it. We ran and grabbed some topwater lures and in the pitch black cast them out and in about a half hour had caught several really nice Smallies with a couple of them being over 20".
 
09/23/2021 06:59AM  
AWESOME ! ^^^^ knife Lake is definitely a place for good camp fishing stories ;)
 
bloody stump
distinguished member (108)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/30/2021 07:39AM  
Like others have said, there is nothing better than fishing from shore when the fishing is good.....Jockeying with your buddies to cast to 'the spot', giving your buddy crap for stabbing at the 28"+ walleye with the net and subsequently losing the fish (and not caring all that much because the fishing is that good)...... the list goes on an on

In recent years we seem to be doing more and more shore fishing (from camp or other spots) and my 'best memories from camp' keep getting updated ......Slip bobber with a leech and wait for the "hey where's your bobber" or casting spoons/jigs and let the fun begin...
 
DRob1992
distinguished member (222)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/30/2021 09:54AM  
bloody stump: "Like others have said, there is nothing better than fishing from shore when the fishing is good.....Jockeying with your buddies to cast to 'the spot', giving your buddy crap for stabbing at the 28"+ walleye with the net and subsequently losing the fish (and not caring all that much because the fishing is that good)...... the list goes on an on


In recent years we seem to be doing more and more shore fishing (from camp or other spots) and my 'best memories from camp' keep getting updated ......Slip bobber with a leech and wait for the "hey where's your bobber" or casting spoons/jigs and let the fun begin... "


That Walleye and Laker are lunkers!!
 
10/04/2021 08:25AM  
2016, I think, my then 10 year old son caught this 26" walleye from shore on Red Rock Lake, at 2:00 PM on a sunny August day, in about 4 feet of water. What the heck that fish was doing there, at that time of day, I'll never know.

It was to much for just the two of us to eat, so it lives to see another day.

 
10/04/2021 07:17PM  
Back in 2015 my then 19 year old wanted to do a solo. But my husband and I also wanted to go, and spend time with him. So we all left from the Clearwater entry, husband & I went thru Caribou, and ended up at Pine. My son went solo through Clearwater, then looped around and joined us at Pine. On our last full day we decided to move closer to the entry. Sites were full, and we were worried we'd have to exit. But luckily the last site on Caribou was open. On our last morning there was mist over the water as the sun rose. There is a nice flat rock slab at waters edge. Both my husband and son were fishing from shore. I was sitting behind them, enjoying the sun warming my face, and the two of them quietly fish. I don't even remember if they caught any fish. But it is one of my best memories. I sometimes use it when I want to lower my blood pressure!
 
10/08/2021 05:32PM  
I was on the South Kawishiwi River with my three kids and was setting up camp. The fisherman of my three little ones, my 8 year old son at the time, wanted to fish. I had taken a site with great shore fishing options for this reason so I told him to start casting. He said can I use this popper? I was like poppers suck dude, I would use that... but he insisted. I showed him how to use it on his ultralight panfish rod and he started casting. Before I knew it he was screaming like his hair was on fire and I looked up to see him battling a HOG. He had to play that fish for about 15 minutes until we finally got it in. It was a beautiful 20 inch smallmouth and his grin was priceless.

Absolute favorite fishing memory of all canoe trips.
 
AirPrex
senior member (92)senior membersenior member
  
01/30/2022 10:45PM  
This was a fun thread so I’ll revive this with a story that was maybe more camp adjacent than at camp.

Coming back from an afternoon of fishing with a couple eaters on the stringer for dinner but we were wanting 1 more fish to complete our meal. We stopped about 20 yards from camp which was in a shallow bay and were casting near some weeds on the shoreline where we had caught a couple fish earlier in the trip from shore that we figured we could pull a pike from quickly. As I set the hook on a good eating sized pike with a buzzbait as we hoped would happen, something smacked our canoe making it rock quite a bit. We looked at each other confused when another big smack and some commotion and splashing happen next to the canoe where the stringer was tied. A big pike had our dinner in its mouth and refused to let go. I landed my fish as my buddy pulled the big pike in the canoe half by the stringer and half by a net, our smaller fish still in its mouth. We quick pulled into camp to take a few pictures and get our dinner back before releasing it. To this day is the biggest fish we’ve ever “caught” up there. Measured it at 35” and with a lot more girth than a 33.5” we had caught earlier on the trip.
 
Savage Voyageur
distinguished member(14414)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished membermaster membermaster member
  
01/31/2022 10:06AM  
I’ll post one of my favorite memories. There is a lake up there that holds nothing but eater sized walleye. Nothing big and nothing small. All fall between 16”-21”. You can fish all day on this lake and catch fish one after another. The same lake has a big bay and most trips the prevailing winds blow into this bay. This bay always holds fish so it’s a favorite or our group at night. Not too far to travel back to camp on a moon lit night. But the beauty of this spot is you really don’t need to even go into a boat at night to catch walleye. There is a underwater rock wall that they hang out on. You just cast a lighted slip bobber from shore and catch walleye right in camp. And to make it even better there is a perfect rock to sit on with a rock backrest and a rock footrest in the exact position. It took us a while to find this gem of a lake and many here know the area well. The night bite on this lake is about at 7:00 PM until 10:00 PM. By that time we are tired and hit the rack.
 
DRob1992
distinguished member (222)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
01/31/2022 12:30PM  
AirPrex: "This was a fun thread so I’ll revive this with a story that was maybe more camp adjacent than at camp.


Coming back from an afternoon of fishing with a couple eaters on the stringer for dinner but we were wanting 1 more fish to complete our meal. We stopped about 20 yards from camp which was in a shallow bay and were casting near some weeds on the shoreline where we had caught a couple fish earlier in the trip from shore that we figured we could pull a pike from quickly. As I set the hook on a good eating sized pike with a buzzbait as we hoped would happen, something smacked our canoe making it rock quite a bit. We looked at each other confused when another big smack and some commotion and splashing happen next to the canoe where the stringer was tied. A big pike had our dinner in its mouth and refused to let go. I landed my fish as my buddy pulled the big pike in the canoe half by the stringer and half by a net, our smaller fish still in its mouth. We quick pulled into camp to take a few pictures and get our dinner back before releasing it. To this day is the biggest fish we’ve ever “caught” up there. Measured it at 35” and with a lot more girth than a 33.5” we had caught earlier on the trip. "


That's wild! We've had some big loons attack our stringers in the past, but never a pike. Great story there!
 
DRob1992
distinguished member (222)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
01/31/2022 12:32PM  
Savage Voyageur: "I’ll post one of my favorite memories. There is a lake up there that holds nothing but eater sized walleye. Nothing big and nothing small. All fall between 16”-21”. You can fish all day on this lake and catch fish one after another. The same lake has a big bay and most trips the prevailing winds blow into this bay. This bay always holds fish so it’s a favorite or our group at night. Not too far to travel back to camp on a moon lit night. But the beauty of this spot is you really don’t need to even go into a boat at night to catch walleye. There is a underwater rock wall that they hang out on. You just cast a lighted slip bobber from shore and catch walleye right in camp. And to make it even better there is a perfect rock to sit on with a rock backrest and a rock footrest in the exact position. It took us a while to find this gem of a lake and many here know the area well. The night bite on this lake is about at 7:00 PM until 10:00 PM. By that time we are tired and hit the rack. "


That's heaven man. Oddly enough, I've only had minimal success while night fishing for walleye. Sounds like you've got the ideal spot and setup there.
 
02/01/2022 08:31AM  
5 fish on 6 casts.

I had gone blueberry picking on our island. We were camped on LLC. I returned to find my three other tripmates, having already eaten lunch and shore casting. I took my time getting lunch ready, after lunch smoked a cigar and then grabbed rod and wandered down to shore...the group had been at it for about an hour and caught nothing. I tied on a vibrax inline spinner, and remembered as we paddled in, there was this shelf out there...maybe 6 to 10 feet deep and it dropped off from there much faster. First cast right along the edge of that shelf - fish on, 2-3 lb smallie. Second cast, missed the edge and was way on top of the shelf, nothing. Third cast, nailed it, another 2-3 lb smallie, 4th cast - ohh this ones got some weight, 6 lb northern. 5th cast - 4 lbs northern. At this point the group is in various states of WTF'ness and disbelief. The one fella walks over giggling, "How is this possible, I've been fishing for like an hour". I'm like cast over there, he does.."No you gotta let it sink" next try, not kind of Jig/pulse it as it's coming back. "Here let me show you - I cast out, one pulse - fish on - smaller smallmouth. I hand it back to him and went back up to the fire. The rest of the group fished that shelf for another 20-30 minutes and no one caught a thing, lol.
 
02/01/2022 10:45PM  
My wife and I hiked the Kek Trail to Tuscarora in May of 2020 to pickup a used canoe we bought from them over the winter. Because of Covid, the BWCA was closed the day we were supposed to start our hike, but opened up the next day. Because of time constraints we had to hike the 44 mile trail in two days instead of three and then we planned to canoe back. We were absolutely beat by the time we got to Tuscarora, but we started our canoe trip the next day with a Brant permit. We made it to Little Sag, got setup, ate dinner and we were bushed and ready for bed. I was brushing my teeth and saw some ripples out on the water and decided to throw something towards it. First cast and bam, something hits and I set the hook, but it gets off right away. Thinking I missed my chance, I give it another go and bam, it hits again. This time I reel in a nice eater sized lake trout. It wasn’t huge, but something about this moment has stuck with me and stands out to me more than any other shore fishing success (and I’ve had plenty of shore fishing fun). Perhaps it was who I was with, or the pretty sunset happening as I reeled it in or maybe it was because it felt like the universe was rewarding us for making such a special trip, but it stands out to me for some reason.

Tony
 
02/02/2022 06:52PM  
Staying in a campsite that has fishable waters right from camp is always a bonus in my opinion. Actually a pretty important criteria for me. There are a few times over the years that stick out in my mind:

First time to Vista Lake back in the 70s. We got to camp and my buddy puts on a Rapala and pulls in a 20 inch walleye on the first cast. We proceeded to catch several over the next couple days.

Chatted with a middle aged woman on the portage from Fourtown to Boot lake and she directed us to a campsite - she said go to the back side of that site and fish and you will do well. Caught my personal best 27 inch walleye from shore there that very same night.

First time to Homer Lake, stayed on the site on the north side of the lake. Fished the Vern River and did quite well. One early evening back at camp fishing from shore I caught a nice walleye 18ish, a decent pike around 26 and a good sized smallie all within about 45 minutes.

Last summer on Homer we stayed at the site on the southern shore. Didn't fish a lot from the canoe or shore but over a few days time I caught 7 - 19" walleyes from the rocks at the front of the site. My buddy was getting frustrated, he only caught smallies.

Caught a dandy walleye around 25 from the backside of our island site on Perent too. We don't fish a lot on our daytrips and come to think of it I have probably had better luck from the campsite than from the canoe:)







 
treehorn
distinguished member(715)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
02/03/2022 09:50AM  
My brother was not an accomplished fisherman, but liked to wet a line in the BW.

One afternoon he tangled his entire line...huge bird's nest, unrecoverable. He must have spent 2+ hours sitting in camp pulling it out, cutting it, then putting new line on his reel. As mentioned, he wasn't an accomplished fisherman.

He finally got it rigged and put a lure on and confidently walked down to shore for a cast. The rest of the group were chilling in camp, watching and I guess hoping he'd get a fish, or fall in, or do something entertaining.

His first cast, his lure goes flying off his line into the lake, followed shortly by his entire reel. Somehow he loosened it to the point it was no longer secured to the rod. And clearly didn't tie a decent knot to the lure.

We laughed so hard it still hurts. And we tell the story every single year and laugh almost as hard.

He did recover that reel, but no sign of the lure.
 
deancal20
distinguished member (105)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
02/10/2022 11:44AM  
Oh man, I laughed to tears! THANKS FOR SHARING!
 
yupski
  
02/10/2022 02:55PM  
Best camp fishing memory was when I lost the same fish three times. May 2021 my family was camping in Seagull and decided on a day trip to Grandpa. We made it to the campsite across the bay from the portage to relax and have lunch and I decided to cast for some pike. Five minutes later I hooked a good one (no measurement but probably 28-30 inches). As I fought it from the rocks, I realized that I forgot my net at the portage trail. No problem, I thought, I will tire him out and ease him into a slot between two rocks that had some shallow gravel. I could reach him there from dry ground and land him properly.

It was going pretty well. I had him cornered in the narrow slot, but then a jump, splash, and away he swam. Fish 1, me 0. I looked down at my rod and saw that the line had broke at the reel which was pressing up against a sharp rock. That meant that there was still ~15 feet of line attached to the pike, and as I looked back to the water, I could see some of the line sticking to the surface. I did the only reasonable thing and jumped in after it.

I managed to grab the line and the fight was back on, Old-Man-and-the-Sea style. I got a couple of wraps around my hand and was backing the fish in toward shore again. He jumped a few times by stayed on. I was already wet, so no need to corner him in between rocks, just get him to shallow water. When he was just out of reach, he jumped one last time and broke the line near the hook. Fish 2, me 0.

However, the fish was pretty tired out at this point. He only swam a yard or two before resting on some gravel. I had one more chance. I slowly sidled up to him, got my hands underneath his belly without him moving, and managed to pull him just barely out of the water before he lunged and slipped away for good. Fish 3, me 0.

A more confident/competent fisherman probably could have landed him that last time by going for the gill cover, but I wanted to stay far from those teeth. The silver lining is that I may have saved his life by going in after the line and leaving him with only the hardware, but not the 15' leash.
 
Blackhawk
member (15)member
  
03/24/2022 10:04AM  
While fishing from my favorite campsite in the BWCA ,where I’ve caught a few walleyes before, I thought I’d use a chartreuse F9 Rapala which resulted in 39 inch northern pike.

The next year on the same campsite I decided that since there are some nice pike in the area I’d throw a red and white Storm Shallow Thunder (lure not made anymore) which resulted in a 19 inch smallmouth bass.

The following year, same campsite, I thought with smallmouths around I’d throw a perch colored Storm Rattlin Thinfin which got me a 26 inch walleye.

The next year I decided to give getting a walleye a chance again so I decided for some reason to cast a gold and orange 3/8 ounce Fiord spoon that I picked up at The Beaver House which as you can guess got me a 38 inch northern pike.

I haven’t been to this campsite in a couple of years but when I go back
I’m going to continue my tradition of catching a fish I was not targeting by using a 10 inch Suick so I can get that 21 inch smallmouth I haven’t caught yet.
 
pastorjsackett
distinguished member(1204)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/26/2022 05:52AM  
Summer 2021 my nephew hooked a big northern from camp on Crooked. I ran for the net, and came up next to him.

Stab at fish.

Fish get off.

My feet are now on the algae-covered, 45 degree angled rock under the water.

I go down like a ton of bricks, covered with water, no fish. BWCA trifecta!

My brother in law captured it all on his phone including an epic eye-roll from my son as he turned to walk away in disgust.

Made a great sermon though. Show the phone video on the big screen.
 
MichiganMan
distinguished member (228)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/26/2022 05:07PM  
pastorjsackett: "Summer 2021 my nephew hooked a big northern from camp on Crooked. I ran for the net, and came up next to him.


Stab at fish.


Fish get off.


My feet are now on the algae-covered, 45 degree angled rock under the water.


I go down like a ton of bricks, covered with water, no fish. BWCA trifecta!


My brother in law captured it all on his phone including an epic eye-roll from my son as he turned to walk away in disgust.


Made a great sermon though. Show the phone video on the big screen. "


I think you should share that video here too, lol.
 
YardstickAngler
senior member (84)senior membersenior member
  
03/27/2022 07:06PM  
pastorjsackett: "Summer 2021 my nephew hooked a big northern from camp on Crooked. I ran for the net, and came up next to him.


Stab at fish.


Fish get off.


My feet are now on the algae-covered, 45 degree angled rock under the water.


I go down like a ton of bricks, covered with water, no fish. BWCA trifecta!


My brother in law captured it all on his phone including an epic eye-roll from my son as he turned to walk away in disgust.


Made a great sermon though. Show the phone video on the big screen. "


Now THAT is a sermon I’d love to hear!!!
 
papalambeau
distinguished member (296)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/28/2022 09:20AM  
pastorjsackett: "Summer 2021 my nephew hooked a big northern from camp on Crooked. I ran for the net, and came up next to him.


Stab at fish.


Fish get off.


My feet are now on the algae-covered, 45 degree angled rock under the water.


I go down like a ton of bricks, covered with water, no fish. BWCA trifecta!


My brother in law captured it all on his phone including an epic eye-roll from my son as he turned to walk away in disgust.

Would love to hear the title of that sermon! Care to share?
Made a great sermon though. Show the phone video on the big screen. "
 
papalambeau
distinguished member (296)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/28/2022 12:48PM  
Would love to hear the title of that message pastorjsackett?

Would also like to hear the story that goes with those two nice bucks on your profile page!

Blessings
 
pastorjsackett
distinguished member(1204)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/29/2022 08:36AM  
I have the video on my hard drive now, but can't figure out how to load it here. I'll look for the sermon as well...that is very kind of you to ask about it.

My son is quite the hunter. It started when he was quite young. In 2012 we took two great bucks on the same opening day of MN firearms season. Since then he has taken so many big deer (and guided me to a few as well) that those deer have a back seat in the trophy room now. He's all grown up and left home for a nursing career. The line of work affords him lots of time for outdoor pursuits as well.
 
      Print Top Bottom Previous Next