Thursday, July 07, 2005
We are staying another night on Little Gratton. We had steak (left over from dinner) ham, eggs, coffee, and tea for breakfast. After doing the dishes we went through the food packs and fishing gear, so we would know where everything was located, put them in the canoe and headed out.

We looked for the push-thru to Gratton Lake. We found the stream coming out of Gratton, but it looked pretty muddy and rough. No trail visible! So we headed to Wicksteed instead and fished down the north side of the lake.

We all caught fish…about 4 or 5 each! Northern Pike and Smallmouth Bass. I cast my crawdad imitation about 20 feet up in a Norway pine and lost it…Thomas laughed.

We stopped for lunch about 12 noon and had summer sausage, rye crisp, fruit punch and a nice rest in the shade. It was hot!

After our rest we returned down Wicksteed and caught more fish. Then back across the 35-rod portage to Little Gratton and home.
We took a nice nap and then fixed dinner: Beef enchiladas, corn and chocolate pudding. Yummy!
After cleaning up, doing the dishes and hanging the food pack, Thomas and I went fishing. We caught about 25 fish! Mostly Largemouth Bass with a few Northerns. The Largemouth were hitting well on Thomas’ Rapala and my Smithwick. We switched to a rubber frog and a popper and the fish went nuts! Lots of fast action till it was getting dark and Elizabeth called from across the lake and we headed home.