Day two started off warm, sunny, and calm. The black flies were out in full force and they made sure we knew it while we tried to enjoy our breakfast. The breaking of camp was done in a semi hurry to escape their hordes.

Once on the water we headed to the west to check out a pictograph site that was indicated in the book “Magic On the Rocks”. The site was not too far out of our way and we typically make an effort to visit them when we know we are close. Finding the site only took a matter of minutes once we trolled our way to their approximate location. The site is a single panel of four horizontally staggered red dots and possibly another faint symbol to the left of them. They are not the most impressive set of pictographs we have seen but if you ever find yourself in the area they are worth passing by.

During our time on Cirrus Lake we had plenty of fishing action. A few lake trout were picked up on the way to the pictographs but most of the fish we picked up were right along the cliff wall the pictographs were located on. Most everyone was picking up lake trout. I had caught a total of four. PennPaddler was proving to be the walleye fisherman for the day. He was the only one among us to land not one but two walleye in the short time we spent fishing that morning.

The portage to Kasakokwog Lake eluded us for a few minutes. We had spotted a trail along the south shore of Cirrus Lake but it was before we were expecting it, according to the map. ReelHappy and PennPaddler stopped to check it out while pghportager and I went further to the east to investigate a bay that the map indicated the portage was on. We found a small trail as well but it sort of petered out into a swamp and soon didn’t look like a trail at all. pghportager and I returned to where we had left PennPaddler and ReelHappy, who were just returning to the lake. Their trail didn’t appear much more promising. Eventually the trail they had stopped at turned out to be the portage but it didn’t always seem to be a clear path.

pghportager and I arrived at Kasakokwog Lake first. As I started to approach the shore I realized I was standing on a floating mass of grass and mud. I cautioned pghportager to be careful as I cautiously made my way to a spot we could load the canoe from. Both of us were balancing on rotten logs over the bottomless mud as we hurried to get our gear off our backs and into the canoe. Once the canoe was loaded we were able to push it to the water and climb in.

Not wanting to miss any potential hilarity, we waited for ReelHappy and PennPaddler to see how they would manage this landing. They were no fools.  They realized something was up when they saw the grins on our faces and cameras in hand waiting for the perfect shot. PennPaddler took one step onto the floating matte and stopped. It was here he coined the phase “terra firmish”, referring to such terrain. He stepped off to the side and followed the shore a ways to the east where there was more solid ground. They managed to get into their canoe without incident.

The wind was just starting to pick up as we headed west on the lake. The plan on Kasakokwog Lake was to meet up near the west end of the lake for lunch. pghportager and I started to fish right away as we skirted the north shore of the lake. ReelHappy and PennPaddler were not far behind us. By the time we reached the lunch site I had put two lake trout in our canoe. When ReelHappy and PennPaddler met up with us at the sight we unloaded some of our cooking gear and got ready for lunch. They had not caught any fish but did manage to see an otter earlier.

After a lunch of lake trout we packed our gear, pumped some water, and paddled the final stretch of the lake before the portage into Quetico Lake. The portage follows a valley along a small river. It was fairly short but there was a few steep spots that made the walk semi difficult. There were also a few trees down across the portage that had to be maneuvered around. Otherwise it was very scenic when the trail passed by several deep pools and waterfalls along the river.

The portage finally dumped us out onto some wider stream that we could navigate. The stream was choked with floating trees that often needed to be pushed out of the way to get around. Eventually we reached Quetico Lake where the paddling was less technical.

The wind had died down and the sky was clear so we took our time and enjoyed the surround area as we passed by. There were several sets of pictographs we intended to check out before making camp. Realizing I had been very lucky with my Husky-Jerk lure catching most of the fish and not losing it yet I decided to put it away till our tournament and try some other lures. I tried shad raps, spoons, spinners, and Hot-N-Tots as we fished our way through Quetico Lake but I wasn’t catching anything. It didn’t appear that anybody else was doing any better. pghportager was going through his tackle inventory without any success either. We didn’t hear any of the tell tale sounds of the other guys hooking into. It was just plain old slow fishing.

pghportager was the first one to have any action. Shortly before arriving at the first set of pictographs he hooked into and landed a 26 inch lake trout. Again, in vain, I changed up my fishing rig to resemble something similar to what he was using. Memory escapes me now as to what lure he had on at the time.

The first set of pictographs we arrived at was one of the most interesting sites we have seen. The variety of images still visible contains a few canoes, several human like figures, a cow moose, a caribou head, and several other abstracts that we could not place. The images are all very close together on the panel. 

pghportager and I waited for ReelHappy and PennPaddler arrive, visited with them long enough to find out that they had not caught anything, and then proceeded to paddle to the next pictograph site about 2 miles further to the west. It was another long fishless paddle.

The second set of pictographs is composed of two images. The first image Michael Furtman, author of Magic On the Rocks, interprets to be an otter. I guess I could see an otter but I’ll just call it an abstract image very clear and right at water level. The second image is a horizontal zig-zag similar to the one on Charley Brown’s t-shirt. ReelHappy and PennPaddler arrive shortly after we did and so we continue on our way to the third set of pictographs.

The third set of pictographs are more sparse and spread out. They are also less clear as to what the image represents. There is a series of circles in a vertical row with lines on either side that is still fairly clear. A small single cross is located a little ways off to the side of the circles, and another image that I cannot begin to explain only that it is some faint intersecting lines.

At the third stop on our pictograph tour pghportager started fishing while we waited for ReelHappy and PennPaddler. I had pretty much given up but decided to try jigging as we floated there. I wasn’t having much luck but pghportager managed to hook into another lake trout and put it in the canoe. This time the fish measured 27 inches. I jigged for a little while longer before deciding to switch lures yet again. This time I but on a Storm-Bomber lure and started casting around.

After ReelHappy and PennPaddler checked out the pictographs we decided to head off and make camp. The sun was starting to drop over the horizon and the temperature went with it. I cast my lure out to troll and we started heading west again. pghportager and I had just passed by a loon when my rod bent over. At first I though I had snagged the bottom but then I felt some wiggle. The canoe was halted by the tension on my rod and before long it turned the canoe around and pulled us off in the other direction. ReelHappy and PennPaddler laughed as they witnessed this. Then somebody suggested I had hooked into the loon.

What in the world do I do if I pull up a loon? Loons are pretty big. If it is a loon, I don’t think it’ll be too happy with me when I pull it up. How long can a loon hold it’s breath? It can’t be that long. Do I just cut the line if it is a loon? I really like that lure. No way can this be a loon, it’s been down there for so long struggling against me. These are all thoughts that raced through my head as I battled with the unknown creature below me.

I was making some progress in the fight and eventually saw a flash in the water. It was certainly a fish. The hesitation slipped away and I really started to try and muscle the fish to the surface. It made several more runs for the bottom before I was able to get it up close enough to tell it was a lake trout. A bigger one than I was used to seeing. When I was finally able to get a grip on the fish I was barely able to lift it out of the water. My arms were like noodles after the day of paddling and this fishes struggle to stay alive. I managed to get the fish in the canoe and unhook it. It measured 30 inches and ReelHappy estimated the fish at 10 pounds. We took a couple pictures of me and my catch before I released it back into the water. pghportager’s two lake trout was enough to feed us for the night.

It was nearing dark when we arrived at our campsite. Clouds started to roll in and it was getting cold. We managed to get our camp set up and a fire going before long. pghportager’s lake trout were almost too much to eat but we managed to keep it creative enough with different spice mixtures to eat all of it. The weather was starting to turn and we could sense that rain was coming.