Adventure=taking your 1 year old and pregnant wife into the BWCA
by mikesstapp
Trip Type:
Paddling Canoe
Entry Date:
08/16/2015
Entry & Exit Point:
Saganaga Lake Only (EP 55A)
Number of Days:
2
Group Size:
3
Discuss Trip:
View Discussion Thread (7 messages)
Day 2 of 2
Monday, August 17, 2015
After getting up early for the morning I decided to take a couple of solo fishing trips around the area. I paddled to the bay about 100 yards south and as soon as my daredevil hit the water I got a strike from a 2 pound largemouth. It hit so fast that I thought it got snagged so I ripped the line back to untangle only to receive a nice fight. The next cast landed a 22" Northern and within 5 more casts landed another Northern, a small snake but a fun fight. I then went further south west into a bay and had 0 luck with a mepps and a couple of spoons. I went back into camp for lunch and to see the ladies.
After lunch I made my way back out as they were still reluctant to get back into a canoe with me or in Sag for the time being. As I made my way south to the chain of small islands I saw some beaver activity towards a more southern and western bay. I followed them in and checked them out a bit, while I was in there I had a nice view of a bald eagle. As I was paddling through the bay I spotted something crossing the channel between the 2 most northern islands, just south of our campsite island. I paddled quickly to get a view but as I got within 100 or so yards it made it to land and ran up the game trial. I am confident it was a bear, what I wasn't confident about was if it was a sow and a cub(s) as it looked to be more than 1 bear butt running up the trial and of different sizes. I decided to fish around those islands as they had a nice combo of rocks and vegetation. I decided to try a weedless frog and it seemed to be a good call. I landed 2 larger 30 and 33" Northerns over the next hour. I then went back into camp to spend a few hours with my wife and daughter. After a while of coaxing, they got into the canoe with me and we went for a little trip south around the small islands I fished earlier. I was hoping at this point to show them some of the wildlife I saw a bit earlier and we had 0 luck of seeing/hearing anything more than a tone deaf youth group paddling and signing as they made their way around the islands. As I was out fishing this go around with them in tow I brought what looked to be a 40+" monster to the boat with a mepps. As I was going to grab my net he ripped the mepps off the leader and off he went. We (my daughter's fussing) decided to call it a day on the water and made our way back to camp for some more family time and dinner.
We had originally planned on going home on Wednesday afternoon but we caught the weather report via our radio and realized that Wednesday was going to be hellish with temps hovering around 50 for the high and a strong possibility of consistent rain. We decided to call a short trip shorter and traveled back a day early. That trip back greeted us with waves and wind from a different direction than our trip in but with the same fate: headwind. It wasn't as bad as our trip in but it was no walk in the park. It took us about 2 hours to get back as we decided to paddle North East of our site and catch a tail wind back. As much as I was really bummed to leave I was excited for my wife and daughter to be going home. My wife was a champ throughout it all and served my daughter relentlessly. She allowed me to go solo and get my fishing fix in with a smile on her face. My daughter, God bless her was a real trooper. She loved being at the campsite but HATED her initial canoe trip in. Our relationships all got better through this and we got some time to unwind. Next time we'll do so without a kid in tow.
Woke up what I presume was a 1910 25 hp motor that was modified to make as much noise as possible at around...ah... 5:45... FIVE FORTY FIVE IN THE MORNING...
After getting up early for the morning I decided to take a couple of solo fishing trips around the area. I paddled to the bay about 100 yards south and as soon as my daredevil hit the water I got a strike from a 2 pound largemouth. It hit so fast that I thought it got snagged so I ripped the line back to untangle only to receive a nice fight. The next cast landed a 22" Northern and within 5 more casts landed another Northern, a small snake but a fun fight. I then went further south west into a bay and had 0 luck with a mepps and a couple of spoons. I went back into camp for lunch and to see the ladies.
After lunch I made my way back out as they were still reluctant to get back into a canoe with me or in Sag for the time being. As I made my way south to the chain of small islands I saw some beaver activity towards a more southern and western bay. I followed them in and checked them out a bit, while I was in there I had a nice view of a bald eagle. As I was paddling through the bay I spotted something crossing the channel between the 2 most northern islands, just south of our campsite island. I paddled quickly to get a view but as I got within 100 or so yards it made it to land and ran up the game trial. I am confident it was a bear, what I wasn't confident about was if it was a sow and a cub(s) as it looked to be more than 1 bear butt running up the trial and of different sizes. I decided to fish around those islands as they had a nice combo of rocks and vegetation. I decided to try a weedless frog and it seemed to be a good call. I landed 2 larger 30 and 33" Northerns over the next hour. I then went back into camp to spend a few hours with my wife and daughter. After a while of coaxing, they got into the canoe with me and we went for a little trip south around the small islands I fished earlier. I was hoping at this point to show them some of the wildlife I saw a bit earlier and we had 0 luck of seeing/hearing anything more than a tone deaf youth group paddling and signing as they made their way around the islands. As I was out fishing this go around with them in tow I brought what looked to be a 40+" monster to the boat with a mepps. As I was going to grab my net he ripped the mepps off the leader and off he went. We (my daughter's fussing) decided to call it a day on the water and made our way back to camp for some more family time and dinner.
After dinner I decided to use our binoculars and literally the 1st view across the channel from us I see what looked to be a groundhog laying on a rock. As I watched longer it looked remarkably like a badger but I couldnt get a good enough view of its face other than a profile so I can't confirm but it had a greyish/brownish coat and a white and black face as seen by its profile (it also lacked a tail or had a rather small one). After my wife put our little one to sleep, she and I went up the hill from our site to a really beautiful viewpoint and watched the sunset. It was a great end of the day.
We had originally planned on going home on Wednesday afternoon but we caught the weather report via our radio and realized that Wednesday was going to be hellish with temps hovering around 50 for the high and a strong possibility of consistent rain. We decided to call a short trip shorter and traveled back a day early. That trip back greeted us with waves and wind from a different direction than our trip in but with the same fate: headwind. It wasn't as bad as our trip in but it was no walk in the park. It took us about 2 hours to get back as we decided to paddle North East of our site and catch a tail wind back. As much as I was really bummed to leave I was excited for my wife and daughter to be going home. My wife was a champ throughout it all and served my daughter relentlessly. She allowed me to go solo and get my fishing fix in with a smile on her face. My daughter, God bless her was a real trooper. She loved being at the campsite but HATED her initial canoe trip in. Our relationships all got better through this and we got some time to unwind. Next time we'll do so without a kid in tow.
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