Monday, June 28, 2010 Since this is a restful trip… no alarm! And since I can’t handle the 18.5 solo in wind there is no getting up at daybreak to fish. So I am awakened at 6:00 by the call of a loon flying overhead and realize it is cold! Not Cool, COLD! I dress in long pants and long sleeve shirt and get out of the tent. I start coffee water and then turn on my depth finder to see what the temperature is… 43 degrees at 6:30 am. Had to be colder when I woke up earlier, I figured it to have gotten to 40 or maybe even high 30’s! Darn cold when you are coming from highs around 100 and lows in the 70’s and 80’s.

I have my first cup of coffee and start fishing from shore, with a clip cork and leech. I catch a smallie, imagine that! And another, and another. Finally they learn and slow and I quit fishing and go fix me a grilled cinnamon raisin bagel for breakfast… actually it was two! Catching fish makes me hungry! Kim awakens to the cool morning now, I have her a cup of coffee ready for her as she too grabs a bagel. She tells me she did not sleep well, she kept hearing sounds outside! I should have brought her some earplugs! Me being hard of hearing has some benefits!

We lounge around camp awhile before we go fishing again. Tonight’s menu has walleye on it so we need a couple of participants to join us. First cast with a slip cork and leech by Kim produces a 15 inch walleye. I throw him back, because I know we will catch more! And we don’t for a long while, just smallies and northerns. The wind is blowing so we pull against shore and I hold us there while Kim throws out and we let the leech drift with the wind down the shore until we move. Kim does manage to catch a smallie in the 5 lb range and another 15 inch walleye. Then the fish stop biting! It is lunch time so we head in to eat, taking our walleye with us. Once back in camp I add a few rocks to an enclosure that was already there to protect our dinner guest from Mr. Loggerhead. We then finish another roll of summer sausage, Ritz crackers, and string cheese, and hit the hammocks for our afternoon rest!

As we recline in the hammocks I have a realization come to me, and I ask Kim a question! Do you know the one thing we forgot to buy before coming in? She replies, No? Sorry this has been edited to protect the innocent or rather the guilty. You will just have to use your imagination! ;-)

About 3:30 I am able to get Kim out of the hammock by telling her that if we want to have fish tonight we need one more little walleye. So we head out again doing basically the same thing except this time I rig up a lindy rig with a small float above the hook to keep the leech off of bottom and start dragging it behind the canoe as we let the wind drift us. Wham, I get a bite! A nice walleye about 16 inches, we have dinner. We paddle back to camp and start dinner.

After our dinner of pan seared walleye and roasted garlic couscous the wind comes up again so we just relax and do nothing which is easy to do when your stomach is full of rich food! We sit in our Crazy Creek canoe seats on some rocks in front of camp looking out across the lake watching the sun go down, and listening to the loons call to each other. Life is good! The everyday worries we have and face in the real world are starting to loosen their hold on us and we are truly beginning to relax. An early bedtime again tonight since tomorrow’s weather will determine whether we move to Snow Bay or just stay here. Again, once in the tent, I reflect on the great things that happened this day. Kim catching a smallmouth bigger than any I have ever caught and the joy on her face. Just the sense of peace that is becoming more evident each passing moment. And the taste of fresh caught and cooked walleye in the wilderness. Thank you Lord again for these and all the blessings you give me.