(Talon Lake, Unnamed Lake, South Agean Lake, Agean Lake) This morning was beautiful. The sky was blue with only a hint of rain and the water was smooth. We didn’t waste much time getting breakfast and breaking camp. We were on the water before very long. All our gear was dry and the crew was ready to cover some ground. Paddling north out of Talon Lake was promising. As soon as we were moving on the water our lines were dragging a variety of lures from spoons to shad raps trolling for whatever was lurking beneath. It wasn’t long before the first pike was caught and then a few more. The lake started to narrow and we slowed our pace and tried to be quiet. Each bend through the shallow, narrow part of the lake had promise of spotting wildlife. We did a little fishing and picked up a couple hammer handle pike but the majority of our time we spent looking and listening for wildlife.    As we paddled farther up the narrows we suddenly heard some heavy crashing ahead of us in the dense, new-growth forest. We strained to see what was making the noise and ever so quietly edged the canoes along the shore. The noise was still there but we were unable to see what was the source. Bryan got out of his canoe and slinked into the woods as we nervously watched. Unfortunately, whatever the source was, it had most likely seen our rag-tag crew and high-tailed it out of the area.    We portaged into another unnamed lake and began fishing again. This lake started out promising as the pike were hitting. Everybody quickly switched our rigs into pike fishing gear when the first one was landed. Before we left the first bay of this complex matrix of islands and bays, Chad had rigged up a “cast-master” spoon. To our amusement he then demonstrated its casting efficiency by launching the lure past the other canoes into holes that were currently being fishing by the others. With a splash, you would suddenly find that the structure you were fishing, fallen trees or submerged boulders, had been stolen by Chad, the cast-master, from twenty yards away.    Once we left the bay and entered the maze of islands, we were in awe by the sharp rock cliffs that stretched out of the tannin stained waters. The patterns of swirling rock layers from eons of time forming in random order were enough to have you drop your jaws and just get lost in the patterns. We crept along the cliff sides watching for unmapped pictographs as the collage of layers, stains, and lichen toyed with our eyes.

   Eventually we all managed to rendezvous on the west end of the lake in front of the portage to South Aegean Lake. The portage was difficult to land onto. The dark water was not helpful in determining were it was safe to step and where the boot sucking muck was awaiting our footsteps.

   The portage led us over a rock outcropping that left little in terms of a trail. With the sparse amount of dirt, the only thing we had to follow were rock cairns and inukshuks that marked the portage. Inukshuks, like a cairn, are a rock structure similar to the form of a man, to guide you along a journey. Following these trail markers was the only way we stay on the portage.

   We took a brief brake on the shore of South Aegean Lake before heading on. The crew scanned over the maps and determined the next destination was to be a pictograph we had seen on the outfitter’s map.    With canoes in the water and lines out for fish, we paddled slowly north. At first the fishing wasn’t so hot but I managed to get a whitefish up to the boat before loosing it. A pair of mergansers with young offered us a little wildlife viewing as they nervously steered their peeps into some cover along the shoreline.    Paddling through another set of twisty stretch of lake along sheer rock cliff provided sights of mystery and allure around every bend. Something was splashing around in the water ahead of the canoes but I never got a good look at it. We figured it was another otter, loon, or enormous fish. We eventually neared the pictograph location and slowly scanned the rock cliffs for any sign of native marking. The pictograph was located and we drifted by trying to interpret what it meant. It appeared to be a down pointed arrow followed by some sort of animal and followed by a cow moose. We may never know what it meant but it is always worth going out of the way to see these signs left from the past.

   After spending some time by the pictograph we decided to get out of the sun and make some lunch. On the opposite shore from the pictograph was a campsite and clearing that made for a fantastic place to rest and refuel. Today’s lunch consisted of dehydrated “creamy pasta”, a recipe I got from the book, Backpack gourmet. It was definitely a recipe I will prepare again as it certainly hit the spot. I guess the only downfall, if it is a downfall, is that it is loaded with goat cheese and every one of us could taste that pungent flavor for the rest of the day. I was just fine with that, as I love goat cheese.    After lunch the sun radiating down on us and we were getting scorched. At the same time the pike started to hit and we could not resist the urge to fling spoons into the shallows for a little action in spite of the heat. We probably spent over an hour catching the toothy critters before the urge to continue on, had taken hold of us. Traveling north through South Aegean Lake led us through another maze of island that were a bit confusing to navigate.    After portaging to Aegean Lake Chet and I rigged up our gear to start fishing for lake trout as the others finished getting into their canoes and got their fishing gear ready. While Chet and I circled around the bay coasting over smooth clear water, Greg in one of the other canoes hooked into something big. We continued to fish but remained near by to see what he was wresting with. The beast stayed deep and continued to dive even deeper while Greg just hung on to the rod. After the fish had begun to tire, Greg was able to haul it up from the fathoms below to finally get a look at it. “Pike!” he said. We knew this was no normal pike so we came in closer to watch the rest of the battle ensue. Getting a pike out of the water and removing you lure without incident is a little tricky especially from a canoe with no net.

   After the monster had tired it began to roll, Greg nervously reached his hand in the water to get a grip on the pikes head. That typically doesn’t happen on the first grab and it didn’t. Upon realizing a hand was in the water coming for it’s head, the fish blasted away with reel screaming power as Greg jerked his hand back out of the water at lightning speed. Again Greg hauled the fish back to the canoe and even more cautiously attempted to get a hold of the fish. Now, the heckling began, and made Greg’s task even more challenging. After about the third try, Greg realized his grasp was not wide enough to fit around the fishes head. I’m not sure how it happened, but Chad was then elected to land the fish. Mike and Chad maneuvered the canoe next to Greg’s and then Chad attempted to land the fish. He reached into the water and, after a struggle, managed to get a good grasp on the toothy beast. He then lifted it out of the water as we watched to see just how big it was.

   Chad managed to haul the fish into the canoe and across his lap. This was the biggest pike any of our crew had ever caught on a trip. Chad managed to get the fish unhooked and posed for a picture before putting the fish back in the water. We had to laugh at the fact that Chad was the one who got his picture with the fish. For the rest of the trip and even now we joke with Greg about the “monster pike Chad caught”.

   The day had started to grow late and the time spent fishing the last couple lakes had put us a little behind schedule. Aegean Lake is known to contain Lakers, Pike, and Muskie. We had to make a decision to paddle on, or make this lake our home for the night. Again, the coin was flipped and our fate was decided. We would stay and fish.

   To our north was a long stretch of lake that looked promising for potential campsites and we had seen the word “Cave” written on the outfitters map which we were curious about. We decided to fish our way up to the “Cave” and check out any campsites that looked promising.

   On the paddle north the thought of filling our bellies with lake trout was overbearing. We slowly spread out and fished the calm waters zigging and zagging up the lake. Chet was the first one in our canoe to have any success and caught a small silver/blue colored muskie that was released. We could see the other guys were hooking into fish or snags. The rods would bend back, their paddling would stop, and both of their heads would be turned looking back.

   At the first potential campsite we came to Chet and I briefly checked it out but it did not look roomy enough for squeezing in three tents. We waited for the others to catch up and find out how their fishing had been. When they arrived Greg and Brian had at least one lake trout in the boat. It was a start for dinner. From here we could easily see the cave at the base of a cliff about a half mile to the north. The blackness of the cave stood in contrast to the gray rock cliff. When we arrived at the mouth we could see that a beaver had been using it to store branches that were submerged in the cave. Chad and Mike were the brave souls to venture in with their canoe. It only had enough room for one canoe with barely any headroom.

   To the north of the cave at the end of the lake there was a steep hill that was clear of trees. Sitting at the top of the hill was a giant round boulder that looked as if it was ready to roll right down the clearing and into the lake. As we sat in front of the cave and took a break, I silently contemplated whether there was a small stick holding the boulder up in place. It truly looked like something from “spy vs. spy”, tempting me to go remove the stick. Alas, we were running out of daylight and wanted to find a campsite so I never got to find out if there was a stick.

   We backtracked south across the lake towards a campsite that we had marked on the maps. It was a little out of the way but it was the next closest campsite. On the way back we attempted to get a couple more fish for dinner. It was turning out that the blue shad-rap was the lure to have. I was out of luck with that but I continue to go through my various lures to find something that might work. Chet and I caught a few pike but neither of us picked up a laker. Greg and Brian had headed off to check out and secure the campsite and Chad and Mike were back fishing some holes that they must have been having luck over.

   As Chet and I neared the area where the campsite was marked on the map, we could here Greg and Brian ahead of us on shore to the north on a narrow stretch of lake. Soon we could see Greg walking to a rocky point in front of us holding two moose antlers over his head. Greg told us they were set up against a tree right in the middle of the campsite. We rounded a bend and tucked our canoe with theirs at the campsite.

   Chad and Mike were still nowhere to be seen so Greg and I decided to play a little prank on them when they arrived. We grabbed the antlers and waited behind a boulder along the shore, for them to come down through the narrow. As we watched them approach and get close enough, we held the front of the antlers out from behind the boulder and thrashed them in the brush. We kept this up for a little while but were not sure if they had even noticed. When we looked around the boulder they had both of their cameras out and were getting ready to take some pictures of the “moose”. I’m not sure if they had taken any yet but I’m sure I will find out some day.

   This campsite was in a thicket of pines surrounded by swamp and boulders. There were some suitable tent pads and besides difficulty finding firewood, it was a nice site, that is, until the mosquitoes came out. After dinner we tried to fish from camp for a little while but it was shallow and not productive for us. We stood around the fire for a little while feeding the mosquitoes and then called it a night.