End of Day 3.

“Now it might work out that you don't turn out anything like me, but I'll love whoever you turn out to be.”

Had a great nights sleep doubling up in the hammock. Honestly think going forward we could make this be just fine and not need two. Reid says I don’t need to buy another one for next year, he and Henry can share.

Pretty typical morning, oatmeal for me and banana bread and an apple for Reid. I let Reid snooze since we are on vacation. Went through a dozen leeches, and a box of crawlers from shore mainly all walleyes and one or two smallies and pike mixed in waiting for him to wake up.

We set out towards my favorite spots for smallmouth which was across the lake, but stopped along the way to pitch finishers and scope tgs with swim baits the Megabass Haze dongs being the best out on the main lake. Mapping the lake as we go, I gotta tell ya, there is something about finding something in the middle of the lake that no one else knows about, unless they do the same thing we do. Made it past the third island and saw the “wind” in clouds and decided it was best to head back to camp. We got back to camp and had about a half hour to make sure we were storm ready. Thanks to Reid’s ingenuity we got a nice rain fly set up and kept everything dry. Reid decided to get some “shut eye” as I unpacked and repacked everything up. It ended up raining and storming until 1830 tonight. We had a a dinner of “must gos” which consisted of pizzas, pasta, wasabi almonds and venison sticks.

Reid wanted to fish off the “rock” and so we did. Adding pretty much everything that swims to the list, walleyes, bluegills, smallmouth and pike. He even found out we didn’t even need to cast. Could just drop straight off the rock and get bit. We played war and go fish in between bites. I beat him in war and lost in go fish.

Camp is 90% packed up and ready to go. We have a half day paddle ahead of us, then I am taking a wenonah for a test drive, pit stop in Ely and lunch somewhere along the way home and back in time for dinner.

We are tucked in the hammock listening to the rumbles of thunder and wolves howling.

Couple of quick one liners from Reid:

When can we bring everyone else up here.

Why can’t we stay longer?

The waves crashing on the rocks is better than any of the sounds on the sound machine.

Also for the final fishing tally….Reid wins day one and day 3. (It helps when the trolling motor tells him where to cast)

So he will be the proud new of a Swiss Army knife he’ll never use until the next trip.

Sunday we paddled out.

Home.

Had nearly everything packed up last night and ready to go. I finished the odds and ends this morning. Got him up and into the canoe. He really didn’t help me much paddling on the way in. I thought there was something wrong. There was, he just didn’t want to leave.

He said we were going for 15 days next summer, I said 5 and we bring Henry. So into the planning we go.

In the car on the ride home I asked him what his best part of the trip was, he said just being with you. God the kid can know how to make it hurt.

43 days until I’m back up there again for a fins and feathers solo trip. I am not counting or anything.