It was 33 degrees and sunny when we woke up Wednesday morning. Lesley had packed her own oatmeal mix in our breakfast bag. We had enough for every morning, and when I ate it, I understood why. It was very tasty and of course oatmeal is a great way to start the day. I did some more filtering, filling the kitchen water jug and topping off the drinking bottles. Once again we decided we didn't need a tarp yet, so we saved that for later. We got the canoe loaded for a fishing day trip into Paddle. Since we hadn't been on these lakes before, we weren't sure whether or not we would be able to paddle into Paddle, line our canoe, or portage. The map seemed to show promise of paddling, and we discovered that was indeed the case - just a little current running where the lakes come together. As we entered Paddle Lake we immediately started fishing the shorelines from the east end towards the west. George caught a small smallmouth that we released. Then he caught a beautiful 3.5 lb smallie that we put on the stringer. As we fished for the next 4 hours, and snacking on dried fruit, trail mix, and bacon jerky. George caught a small keeper and a 2.5 lber, and I caught a small keeper and a 2.5 lber. We had enough on the stringer now that we could let go the 3.5 lber, so we did. That smallie happily swam away. It was well past lunch time, and we were hungry, so we went back to our camp site, cleaned our 4 smallies, and feasted on smallies with a package on dried corn and peas. That combination really did it for us, and we sat awhile and shared stories, George talked of his tripping experiences, his days as a master sergeant in the air force, and his daily routine around Cook County. I talked about experiences tripping on the west side of the BWCA with students, and some memories of days playing college baseball and football, as well as my present day experiences coaching high school boys basketball. I also saw those two eagles again, swooping, soaring, and hunting on the other side of the lake. We went out on Canoe Lake again late in the afternoon, and fished another couple hours. I was converted into a topwater approach during the first 2 days. My good fishing in the BWCA has always been size 7 or 9 rapalas, and now I was using George's go-to lure. He very graciously traded me one of his favorites for one of my rapala tail dancers. I also gave him a glass rap that I've had good success with during the last 11 years. George finished the day catching a 28" northern. We were beginning to wonder whether or not Canoe Lake had northerns, and this fish gave us an answer to that doubt. We released him and went back to a campfire, with more story-telling until after 11:30 to end the night. We were ready for the third day which was going to be a day trip into Crystal Lake!  Canoe Lake, Paddle Lake