Saganaga-Mack-Kawnipi-Falls Chain and Deep Thoughts
by pcallies
Trip Type:
Paddling Canoe
Entry Date:
06/20/2023
Entry & Exit Point:
Quetico
Number of Days:
8
Group Size:
2
Discuss Trip:
View Discussion Thread (12 messages)
Day 4 of 8
Friday, June 23, 2023
* Didn’t get up until 8:30. The extra rest was needed after three taxing days of travel. It was very smoky this morning. I was almost concerned enough to send a satellite message to friends to get fire information. It is really, really dry up here. Digging a decent poop hole doesn’t even get down to moist soil. There are many blueberry plants with berries, but they need rain soon to mature and get sweet. The leaves of blueberry plants have brown edges.
* Enjoyed a leisurely morning and went out fishing around 11:30 after pancakes and sausage.
* We paddled south toward the main body of the lake, skirting the shoreline of the largest island before moving to the western shore. We were fishing our way to the pictographs marked on our McKenzie map. My wife caught three 20+” walleyes that we threw back. We knew we needed dinner, but it was still early. Eventually after passing the area of the pictographs without seeing them, my wife hooked another fish. I made the statement that we should probably keep the next walleye we catch regardless of size because it was after 1:00. She promptly pulled up an 18” walleye that will be our dinner. We caught many smallies and half a dozen more walleyes in addition to 7-8 Northerns. All of the Northerns would have been big enough to eat. Not bad for just dragging Wally divers while we see the shoreline.
* We finally saw a beaver today. We’d heard splashes behind us as we paddled, assuming a beaver had launched himself from the shore into the water, but today is the first time we actually saw a beaver.
* By the way, today would have been a wonderful travel day from Mack. The forecasted rain never happened and there was a lovely light breeze from the north that would have helped us down Kawa Bay. And we definitely could have used the rest day on Mack as we were both short-tempered.
* Didn’t get up until 8:30. The extra rest was needed after three taxing days of travel. It was very smoky this morning. I was almost concerned enough to send a satellite message to friends to get fire information. It is really, really dry up here. Digging a decent poop hole doesn’t even get down to moist soil. There are many blueberry plants with berries, but they need rain soon to mature and get sweet. The leaves of blueberry plants have brown edges.
* Enjoyed a leisurely morning and went out fishing around 11:30 after pancakes and sausage.
* We paddled south toward the main body of the lake, skirting the shoreline of the largest island before moving to the western shore. We were fishing our way to the pictographs marked on our McKenzie map. My wife caught three 20+” walleyes that we threw back. We knew we needed dinner, but it was still early. Eventually after passing the area of the pictographs without seeing them, my wife hooked another fish. I made the statement that we should probably keep the next walleye we catch regardless of size because it was after 1:00. She promptly pulled up an 18” walleye that will be our dinner. We caught many smallies and half a dozen more walleyes in addition to 7-8 Northerns. All of the Northerns would have been big enough to eat. Not bad for just dragging Wally divers while we see the shoreline.
* We finally saw a beaver today. We’d heard splashes behind us as we paddled, assuming a beaver had launched himself from the shore into the water, but today is the first time we actually saw a beaver.
* By the way, today would have been a wonderful travel day from Mack. The forecasted rain never happened and there was a lovely light breeze from the north that would have helped us down Kawa Bay. And we definitely could have used the rest day on Mack as we were both short-tempered.
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