Day 3: The World’s Most Disappointed Man
Monday, June 15th, 2026
I awake to a bright and beautiful morning without an alarm at 6 A.M. Somehow, even when I stay up late and wear my eye mask to bed, my body knows when it’s time to get up and start the day so we can get out fishing soon. After yesterday’s marathon paddle and late night, I let Andrew sleep as long as he wants, which turns out to be until 7:45. Before he wakes, I busy myself with splitting firewood, organizing, and getting the canoe and rods ready for fishing. After breakfast, we tie on our lures and head out determined to find that incredible fish of the northwoods, the Lake Trout. We troll much of the shoreline of the lake, catching nothing more than an occasional snag. But after an hour, Andrew has a fish on the line on his tail dancer! Here comes supper! He starts reeling it in, then it gets off! Oh no! No wait! It’s still on! He’s got him! He looks down into the water to catch his first glimpse of the fish and sees…”It’s a Smallie.” His tone says it all. He is completely deflated, which is surprising, considering it’s our first fish of the trip caught inside the park.

Nothing can dampen my spirits though. I’m truly happy that we caught something after so much trolling, though I share in the disappointment Andrew feels. Soon enough though I’m openly laughing at how he sounded so dejected, especially after catching a fish! I guess Andrew’s fishing abilities and standards are just higher than mine. We try for 30 more minutes with nary a bite. It’s been a fine morning on the water but both of us are about to burst. After about three minutes of discussion, we decide to abandon our plan of fishing Rabbit all day and make a run for Ashdick. Initially we had said we absolutely would NOT do this due to the time and energy required to portage, but we just can’t resist the chance to try to find some fish we can actually catch.

It takes us 35 minutes to paddle back to camp, gather our clothing and lunches into a day pack, and launch again. We push hard across the portage to Ester, then paddle straight across the deserted lake to the Ashdick portage. I haven’t been on this portage since my first trip, and it’s certainly more overgrown and rocky than I remembered. But nothing can stop us now. We have our lines in the water at 11:23, 45 minutes from the time we left our camp on Rabbit. Not too bad!

Right away I have a huge bite on my #3 Perch Vibrax spinner, but lose the fish. On the more mucky south end of the lake, we catch a smallmouth, a largemouth, and a pike, and even double up once. All are nice healthy fish, with the largemouth noted as a particularly fat one. Somehow along the way as we troll I manage to drop my paddle in the water, then it drifts just out of arm’s reach, leaving me powerless to get it. Andrew paddles a bit from the bow, but can’t get much steering authority up there. He passes the paddle back to me, and I also can’t get the boat turned the way it needs to go in the modest but increasing wind. Finally I give up and unstrap the spare paddle from the middle of the canoe, and we are able to retrieve the paddle. It’s surprising how important it is to have TWO GOOD PADDLES in the water if you want to have any semblance of control! I’ve always brought a spare paddle, but this incident really drove home to me the importance of bringing it!

Andrew catches a nice 14” Smallie on his swimbait, and we decide to keep it. We plan to filet it at one of the two vacant sites on the lake to take back with us to Rabbit. As I’m putting it on the stringer, I lose grip and it plops into the water and swims away! Now it’s my turn to feel the depths of despair that only a pesky Smallmouth can cause! Eager for some fried fish tonight, I can only silently hang my head in response. But I’m snapped out of my moping when Andrew catches another fish on the very next cast before I even realize he had casted out again! And this one is even better, a solid 15” fish! I don’t flub the stringer job this time and we head to site #333 for lunch and fish cleaning. After cleaning the fish and eating a thermos lunch, we explore the site. We rate it at 3 stars. It’s elevated, but the climb up to camp from the landing is an awkward one. The fire grate has a nice view but is a “sidesaddle” fire pit right next to a steep incline which makes for an oddly cramped kitchen area. The tent pads are decent overall, and we know if we get here with 2-3 hammocks we can make it work.

Thunder rumbles to the north, but I dismiss it, thinking I am hearing things. But Andrew hears it, and when we look up, there are dark clouds gathering. I tell him it looks like it will move north of us, and even take a little time to tie on a different colored swim bait to see if I can catch a nice Smallmouth in here like Andrew already has. However, by the time we have the canoe fully ready to leave the landing, the skies are looking ominous and the thunder is increasing. With our water bottles completely empty, we take a minute to pump two full bottles, then decide to make a hard push directly for the portage to Ester, abandoning fishing for the rest of the day. While it wouldn’t be the worst thing, neither of us wants to get waylaid by the storm away from camp! The gusts kick up about halfway across the lake, occasionally whipping the surface of the water into miniature waterspouts. We make great progress through the chaotic scene though, and reach the landing quickly. From the portage onward, the weather is much improved, and by the time we reach camp, the sun is shining and the winds are calm. It’s all for the best I suppose. Even though I hate to cut fishing short, there’s plenty of work to accomplish around camp in order to be ready for our early departure tomorrow morning to the South Arm of Knife.

Tonight’s meal is a new one, rehydrated taco meat in the skillet with various vegetables and peppers, supplemented by the Smallmouth filets from Ashdick. This new meal also scores high marks from both of us. We listen to the weather report while taking in the stunning view on our private lake, and review the map to discuss which campsites we will shoot for on the South Arm of Knife. Our target is the central part of the lake, which will position us well for the areas of the lake we are most intrigued by. With a goal of leaving the landing at 6 A.M., we turn in early and sleep well.

Stats—> Portages: 4 | Portage rods: 122 | Paddle distance: 5 miles | Travel time: 2 hours | Fishing time: 2:45 | Fish caught: 10 (7 SB, 1 LB, 1 NP) | Top lures: Z-Man 3” swim bait (The Deal), Vibrax 3 Perch/Gold | Lakes: Rabbit, Ester, Ashdick