Well, now I know what my tent can handle. Last night as we lay in the tent just before dark, a nasty thunderstorm rolled in. We could hear the thunder crashes getting closer and Luna practically laid on top of me. She started panting and that signals anxiety.

Strong wind gusts bent in the walls of the tent to the extent that I had to brace the left side with my body as I was afraid the stakes were going to pull out of the ground. The rain and frequency of the lightning was intense but luckily it was over in about 15 minutes. The tent did just fine and the stakes held in the ground. When it was done thundering Luna relaxed and we both had a good night sleep.

We awoke to a very dark gray day. I made coffee and prepared a Hawk Vittles “Breakfast casserole after setting Luna’s food out for her.

Luna didn’t eat at all yesterday and initially didn’t want her food this morning. I helped her out by mixing in some of my food with hers and that did the trick. The Hawk Vittles was very bland and I don’t like how you can’t seal the pouch after you fill with boiling water. Later in the trip I solved this by using wooden clothespins to clamp the bag shut so the hot water wouldn’t leak out.

Today I will finally break out the fishing gear and hope to have a fish dinner tonight. Light rain and mist come and go and the wind is up a little. With a packed lunch and the fishing gear we shove off around 9:00. My plan is to fish while circling the islands and see if I can locate a couple more campsites along the way. I tie on an X-Rap crank bait and troll as I paddle. I’m using my single blade canoe paddle as it’s much easier when fishing. Real quick I get a nice hit and land a chunky 16 inch smallmouth bass. I’m near a flat spit of rock on shore so I pull over and filet the fish.

“Off trolling again and while bumping the bottom I feel a weight. I wasn’t snagged and could reel in but there was something on the line. Suddenly I felt some movement and knew I had a fish on. Not much fight at all until it was near the boat. Whoa, then it really came to life and dove strong to the bottom. My drag was singing and I kept the rod tip high and let it run. After 10 minutes or so of this back and forth I finally got a look. Sure enough it was a large northern pike."

I didn’t bring a net so relied on a pair of “fish grips” to secure the lower jaw. On the first try to lift it in the boat all the thrashing made me set it back in the water. This is one strong fish, and hefty too. I gathered myself and in a swift motion hauled it up and into the boat. Quickly I removed the treble hooks with my pliers and I’m so glad Quetico requires barbless hooks. Next I got out my tape measure and from the end of the lower jaw to the tip of the tail it was 40 inches on the button. The girth on this fish was impressive and it’s obviously very healthy.

During this whole time Luna is calm and just watching me from the bow. I never like to eat trophy fish and this would be way too much food anyway so I clamp the jaw and lift it over the side. Working it back and forth to force water into it’s gills I try to revive it. It’s not rolling over which is a good sign but it doesn’t want to swim. I keep working it for a good 10 minutes before having to let it go as a rain squall moves in. It swam along the surface and hopefully survived.

Now it’s really coming down and I blast over to the near shore where we hide out under some trees as the squall passes. A half our later we’re back on the water and it wasn’t long before I caught the twin smallmouth to the first. I was near an exposed rock peninsula so pulled over to clean the fish and eat the lunch I brought with.

We then launched to follow the islands around the other side. Squalls of low foggy clouds with mist came and went. We trolled and picked up two more smallies which were released before pulling back onto our beach.

Now I needed to gather dry wood for a fire so me and Luna went down the trails on a mission. It was really tough as everything was soaked from all the rain. After much trying and using fire starters I brought with (dryer lint and commercial fire sticks) I finally had a smoky pile going. I waited to get some nice coals before putting two foil packets with the filets in oil and seasonings right on top.

I mixed some chunks into Luna’s food and we both got full. A delicious bass dinner. Name the movie reference for bonus points.

After cleanup I tried to get Luna to fetch the Frisbee in the shallow water with the goal to get her to swim for it. Well, she wasn’t falling for it and refused. So I found an open area and basically rolled the Frisbee for her and she had a ball chasing it all over our campsite. She’s just not into water as much as our first border collie who loved to swim.

“I’ve been hearing both a mature and a juvenile eagle from over on the north shore of the mainland but have yet to spot them. It’s in the back of my mind that a big eagle might want to go after Luna. Their talons would easily kill her before I could help. I’m always looking into our trees and also keeping her close. I like that she hides out in bushes when laying down.”

The forecast calls for the high 30’s tonight. I spread a sleeping pad and a fleece blanket next to me so Luna won’t have to sleep on the cold tent floor. After fishing off a point we hit the tent at dusk and I read for a while using my headlamp. The computer man on the weather radio promises us sunny weather for awhile. That cheers me up.