Wednesday, June 12, 2013 I woke up early (it gets light very early here) and went into full tripping mode. My camp was pre-packed, so I made coffee¸ grabbed a breakfast bare, got everything packed, loaded and was on my way north by 6:00. Portages were tough this day. I was avoiding the unnamed lake north of Side to Kashahpiwi swamp portage, and a smaller one from Side to the unnamed lake, but gaining a tough 88 rod portage from Side to Sarah. In addition, the 65 rod (I think longer) portage into Side Lake from the SE was brutal¸ as was the one between the two unnamed lakes north of Isabella. A near fall on the portage into Side Lake was avoided, and made me curse the mukluks again. To think, I left my New Balance Abyss II boots in the truck. I was in Side Lake by 9:30. I should have tried the fishing there, as another solo tripper I ran into later told me the lake trout fishing there was exceptional.
After the portage into Sarah, I was questioning the amount of gear and food I was carrying. It seems like every trip, I swear to trim down the weight of the packs, and they always end up too heavy. The guys I met coming from Kawnipi told me about a great campsite on Sarah about 1.5 miles up the east shore. That’s where I headed. A site marked on my map that is across the channel from the NE end of the big island seemed to be about right, so that’s where I steered, trolling my trusty #7 Jointed Shad Rap along the way.

As entered the channel between the island and the east shore, my rod bent and I had my first walleye of the trip. I released him and continued to the campsite, which was precisely located on the McKenzie map, arriving at about 11:30.

The site had a beautiful fireplace and a nice landing, and two very level tent pads.
I figured this must be the spot I was told about, but later found an occupied one up the shoreline a little farther that may have been the better spot. Either one, however, is a good place to stop. The channel spot offered some protection from the wind coming from the north, and protected waters to fish from the boat. The wind was picking up pretty good by the time I pitched camp. I knew I would spend the next day there resting and fishing.
I pitched my new lightweight CCS tarp for the first time using the top loops to hang the tarp from a ridge line, prusiks on the ends. The ridge line loops look like the weak point – we'll see how the wind affects the tarp.
Went fishing and caught a bass and a nice laker, both on a green tube bounced along the bottom of the channel. Released the fish and made pasta for dinner. For some reason, my urine appears to be dark. Will see what it looks like in the morning. I went to bed dead tired, got up to a howling wind about 2:00 am and went out to tie down the canoe. The stars were amazing.