Day 3: Horse Lake Layover.
Woke up at 5 for a bathroom break and the sun was just coming up through the trees behind the campsite. I seriously contemplate jumping in the canoe and doing some early fishing, but it was coooold and the warm sleeping bag was too inviting. I think around 10am everyone started stirring. Breakfast was bacon and eggs. Kid and I planned on day tripping to Jackfish Bay to hunt for some big pike with big reputations. Webb, Rob J, and Papa got ready to fish Horse Lake while Kid and I set off. It felt great to canoe in tandem. I can handle a solo just fine, but it was good to have some power in the bow. Kid and I flew across the water in the lightly packed canoe with renewed energy and a heightened sense of adventure. The day was promising at a sunny 75 degrees with a light breeze. We crossed the 160 again only to have to turn an immediate left at Sandpit to enter another 160 rod, only this time there was supposed to be a trail to the Agnes River on our left somewhere, but we couldn’t find it! We portaged the entire thing, only to turn around at the end and go all the way back, of course we blew right past the side trail. Agnes River was really fun to paddle through. We had a couple muddy detours through unmarked portages, encountered some friendly (or protective) eagles, and fought some serious waves on Jackfish Bay. No pike though. The southern end of Jackfish claimed 2 of my lures in 15 minutes and I lost the crank handle to my reel over the edge trying to free a snag. Fortunately I always bring an extra rod and reel. So Kid and I head back home fishless. No worries though, the adventure is what counts anyway. We return to find the camp quiet as everyone is passed out. I check the dough I began rising the night before and make a quick dinner of crooked doughnuts (fried bread topped with maple syrup) and some breakfast sausages. After dinner we had back out for more walleye hunting with no success. The pike however were ravenous, and Kid and Papa D managed to snag a couple 35” gators. Now it’s a long standing tradition that whoever catches the biggest fish on a trip gets their meal and first beer bought for them at our dinner in Ely on the exit day. Well I brought with me a Rapala electric scale, but it was stuck on kilograms and we couldn’t get it changed. Papa and Kid’s pike are almost twins. The first weigh in comes up with Kid’s fish at 2.13kg and Papa’s at 2.11kg. Well that’s a little too close for comfort so a re-weigh is called. After initial weigh in, Papa’s pike got set on the ground and covered with bark, pine needles and dirt, so I took it down to the lake and washed it off, (we were planning on eating both of these). Well that didn’t sit well with Kid, because the next weigh in had Papa’s pike at 2.14kg, and Kid’s at 2.12kg, and he claimed there was new “water weight.” Kid is furious at this point and demands to go clean off his fish too. So, chuckling to ourselves we say “Go right ahead.” He goes to the lake and “cleans” his pike. As he’s walking back with the fish held vertically, mouth up, someone says, “Hey Kid, flip the pike upside down.” Kid then turns the pike upside down and fountain of pike water comes pouring out of the fish’s mouth. At this point we’re all laughing so hard we’re almost in tears, but Kid didn’t think it was so funny. He says “F*** you guys,” and promptly hurls the big pike at Papa and me. We had to think fast and duck or be chomped by a flying pike’s gaping maw. This was of course all in good fun, and Kid arguably ended up winning the big fish and had a free meal and beer at the end of the trip. Rob J fillets up the fish and with our belly’s full for the second night in a row, we head to bed early for a 6am start up the Horse River.