Canoe Trip or Fishing Trip?
Memorial Weekend 2010
written by MMG
With a Kevlar canoe rented from Midwest Mountaineering, and the fishing gear loaded, only time would tell who would come out victorious – Mike who was calling this a fishing trip, or Melissa who was calling it a canoe trip.
Saturday, May 29th
After a full day of work yesterday and a stop of The Cove in Beaver Bay, we got to Kimball Lake campground (about 10 miles outside of Grand Marais on the Gunflint) around midnight. It, of course, was full and we didn’t have a reservation. So we found a boat access down the road, pretended not the see the “No Camping” sign, and got a few hours of sleep in the truck. At 5 a.m. there was an emergency run to the Holiday gas station in Grand Marais to buy life jackets (our comfy whitewater PFDs we forgotten in the basement). By 6:00 Mike and Piton were in the canoe doing a test run on Kimball Lake. This was Piton’s first time in a canoe and given how he performs in a pontoon, especially with fishing lures flying around, there was great cause for concern about how this trip would go.
Memorial Weekend 2010
written by MMG
With a Kevlar canoe rented from Midwest Mountaineering, and the fishing gear loaded, only time would tell who would come out victorious – Mike who was calling this a fishing trip, or Melissa who was calling it a canoe trip.
Saturday, May 29th
After a full day of work yesterday and a stop of The Cove in Beaver Bay, we got to Kimball Lake campground (about 10 miles outside of Grand Marais on the Gunflint) around midnight. It, of course, was full and we didn’t have a reservation. So we found a boat access down the road, pretended not the see the “No Camping” sign, and got a few hours of sleep in the truck. At 5 a.m. there was an emergency run to the Holiday gas station in Grand Marais to buy life jackets (our comfy whitewater PFDs we forgotten in the basement). By 6:00 Mike and Piton were in the canoe doing a test run on Kimball Lake. This was Piton’s first time in a canoe and given how he performs in a pontoon, especially with fishing lures flying around, there was great cause for concern about how this trip would go.
The plan was to fish Kimball this morning and then later start our 4 lake loop. Since Piton didn’t quite prove himself on his test run, we left him in the truck and set out to catch 3 rainbow trout and 1 perch on Kimball. From there we headed to Pine Lake, loaded the canoe to the brim and set sail.
Mike was brave enough to try fishing with both Piton and all of our gear in the canoe. Thankfully he didn’t catch any, and Piton didn’t tip us over. Once across Pine, we portaged to Kemo Lake. Mike fished for lake trout on Kemo with no luck. So far, Mike’s fishing trip and my canoe trip were both proving to be true (I happily paddled as Mike happily fished). At the campsite on Kemo I set up camp and Mike portaged over to Talus Lake to fish for rainbows (no luck). Pita pizzas, Monopoly Deal, another try at the rainbows on Talus (two successes: I caught a nice 15 incher and Piton didn’t freak out) and a campfire rounded out the night. Fish count: 5. Number of times Piton capsized us: 0.
Sunday, May 30th
Mike and Piton were up at dawn to go after the rainbows on Talus. After breakfast, we packed up and headed on. Talus was the first lake of the day (no fish), followed by East Twin (no fish), and finally Pine to finish up the loop. We got our portages down to one trip per portage after doubling back on our first portage yesterday, but later questioned this (or the amount of gear we brought) after the mile portage between Twin and Pine. Back at Pine, we loaded up the truck and drove to Two Island Lake. There we set off against gale force winds in search of a campsite (there are no established sites on this lake). About half way across the lake we found a great spot on one of the many islands (the name is deceiving) on the lake.
I quickly set up camp in anticipation of the rain while Mike was out to try to catch dinner. He came back soaked (and skunked) while Pitonand I napped in the tent. With no fish to eat for dinner, we were stuck with shells and cheese. Fish count: 5. Number of times Piton capsized us: 0.
Monday, May 31st
This morning I was up early and with a few casts from shore was able to pull in a small mouth bass. Poor Mike had to get out of bed to dig out the swallowed hook, but was optimistic that our luck had changed. So we packed up but left our camping gear on the island since we’d be coming back past it on our way out. We headed to the end of Two Island and had a short portage to Dick Lake. Finally, some action! The small mouth bass started hitting followed by the northern pike. The highlight was pulling in two 17 inch bass. My dad’s prediction that I would pull in the biggest fish proved to be true.
Somehow Mike became the paddler and Melissa the fisher today. (Mike would like some credit for his guide service inserted here. I will also add that I had the lucky lure and some helpful hints from Mike.) Could it be that I actually enjoy spending the day fishing? With a couple northern for lunch we headed back to our site on Two Island and fried them up. A good way to end a FISHING trip. Fish count: 25! Number of times Piton capsized us: 0!
Digging a snow pit
