Wednesday, August 03, 2016 Got up at 5 am to get going - last shave for awhile and got my gear out near the dock - my tow was at 7 am. My young man doing the towing was Austin, and he was super. When we got over to the Splash portage, he took my picture as I began portaging my canoe and then carried some of my packs across the portage - what a nice surprise! I had a 17' tandem canoe, so plenty of room and needing to trim my canoe mostly in the front. Turning the canoe around and sitting in the front seat, using it as the back, makes things work very nicely. I paddled across Splash and into Ensign - nothing had changed much in 5 years except the area was a little more grown over, still recovering from the 1999 blowdown. As I began my paddle north across Ensign, I saw a very large bird perched on a rock, and I'm pretty sure it was an eagle. I turned through a narrows and headed for the island campsite in the northwest bay. Taken! So my next choice was the northwest corner where I had my bear encounter 7 years ago - I was ready to revisit and stretch my limits there, where I had been bluff-charged. I was at the site by 10:00 and ready to set up camp. First the tarp, then the tent, then the clothesline; everything in its place. I was ready for lunch, which was Mountain House lasagna. I love the simple routine with the Mountain House meals, with virtually no clean up needed. Tasted good, and I was ready for my first fishing day trip. Using a #11 rapala with orange belly, a crawdad 3/4 oz rattletrap, and a green and yellow glass-rap rapala, I tried the bay near the islands for about 3 hours, and had some success quickly with a couple small northerns. A couple hours into my trip I had a good hit and reeled in a 2.5 lb smallie, which I decided to clean out on an island. With my fillets in small sandwich bags, I decided to cast a few times as I headed back to my campsite for a fish dinner. Using my green glass rap, I got another big hit, and in comes a 3 lb walleye. Beached my canoe on a point, and cleaned it for a first night fish feast. Got back to my campsite and fried up a pan full of breaded fillets. Yummy! I had just enough time to make a small campfire and read 2 chapters of "Firewall." I am loving that book with 3 major plots around a fictitious category 5 hurricane. Slept very well that night being serenaded by 2 loons that I saw while fishing.