The trek was three parts...first following an old logging road which someone, perhaps a nearby cabin owner, was "maintaining". I didn't know when I set  out whether it would be thick with brush, but  it turned out it was a godsend really. 

When that petered out (the maintained part seemed to turn west and I was going north) I was able to bushwhack up to a large ridge with many open bedrock sections.  A bushwhackers dream.  This area had burned in the Indian Sioux fire way back in 1972, and even though that was 53 years ago, it's still quite noticeable.

  The last mile or so before the lake was old forest with scattered old growth pines, thick brush, and deep moss which made footing very treacherous.  This was some rugged going.

The lake is quite nice.  Lots of ledge rock, relatively clear water.  I bushwhacked to a point which was quite open.  Never got to the place where I had found the uninstalled fire grate.

As to the fishing the good news is that Dogfish Lake is packed with hungry pike.  The bad news is that they were all hammer handles.  I must have had about 10 either landed or up to the shore in just an hour or so.  I caught one which was a marginal keeper.  

When I got home, I was telling my wife about my trip when I remembered the poor guy, Jordan Krider, who was going to spend the winter out there and mysteriously died and was scavenged by wolves (so it seems).  I was even a little spooked when I realized I went right by his campsite and even took a photo of the beaver pond he was camped on.  

So that trip is off of the old bucket list.  I don't have too many more years of stumbling in the brush left in me!