Our plan for the day is to fish our way through Gabbro Lake, then take the rugged portage to Turtle Lake in pursuit of some big pike. We were up by 7:30, and after a quick breakfast of oatmeal and coffee/hot cocoa, we were off.

We spent some time fishing around the islands in Gabbro, but didn't have much luck. We finally started catching some fish as we approached the fast water just below the small set of rapids between Bald Eagle and Gabbro lakes. We anchored in the current and dropped leaches on hooks with a small splitshot attached 3-4 feet up the line from the hook.

We landed a couple really nice smallies in the 17-18 inch range, then caught a nice walleye, which we put on the stringer for dinner.

We weren't sure the best way to make it around the rapids. There was a visible trail on the right side of the small waterfall, but it looked treacherous to climb over, so instead, we went to the left and simply lifted the canoe up and over the rocky stretch and back into the water.

We paddled like mad to avoid getting sucked back down into the rapids, then began scraping bottom on the rocks that hid submerged just under the surface in the narrow stretch of water leading toward Bald Eagle. As we rounded the point and got our first look at Bald Eagle Lake, we were glad we didn't have to paddle across it as the wind was beginning to pick up and it didn't look like a fun day to spend on that big lake. Instead, we headed north and tackled the portage into Turtle.

This portage certainly wasn't easy, but it wasn't too bad, either. There were a few tricky spots, with a lot of rocks in the trail and a lot of climbing, but we didn't have our packs, just the canoe and our fishing gear, which made it easier to handle.

Turtle Lake is shallow and muddy and, in spots, choked with lilly pads. We made our way to the northeast corner of the lake, where we'd read (on these forums) that others had caught plenty of pike.

The wind picked up as we paddled, and by the time we reached the small islands that were our destination, our only choice was to slip in the leeward side of the islands to fish. The wind finally let up a bit, and I caught two nice pike in the 30-inch range on Mepps spinners.

We were eager to keep exploring the lake, and to catch some more pike, but the sky started to get dark (it was still early afternoon) and the wind was really whipping. It looked like a storm could be headed our way, and with a fair bit of paddling to get back to our campsite, we reluctantly stowed our fishing rods and headed for home.

Turtle Lake was really churned up on our way back toward the portage, and the portage wasn't nearly as much fun the second time. Bald Eagle Lake was also rolling pretty good, so we hurried back into Gabbro Lake. We settled back into the fast water where we had caught a few fish earlier in the day (this area was mostly protected by the wind) and again caught a few bass and walleyes.

As we headed back into the main body of Gabbro Lake, we noticed the first campsite, situated on an island at the far southeast end of Gabbro Lake, was open. We decided that the next morning, we'd get up early and come down and claim this campsite if it was still available. We made it back to our campsite and filleted the walleye we had caught earlier in the day, along with some Zatarain's dirty rice. We decided, after making the entire box, that we should have only made half, but we sucked it up and ate it all.

On a strange note, we noticed that somebody had moved some things around at our camp. We wondered if it was maybe an animal, but then we found this piece of broken glass that had been placed under some of our gear. Huh.

The wind settled down after howling for most of the day, and we enjoyed another peaceful evening around the fire.