Last week our longtime friend Anne Chindvall from Ely, MN came up for a visit. We had nonstop fun and activities as she always brings a spirit of life and excitement with her enthusiastic personality. We took her on some fishing expeditions which we all enjoyed very much and she quickly learned how to bait a hook and catch fish. I had heard from our fishermen in camp that the fish really seem to bite more aggressively on dark and rainy days. I'm usually a fair weather fishermen, but I decided to test that theory.
So, with just two days left of her visit and both days promising rain, Joanna, Anne and I donned our raincoats, loaded a boat on a trailer and headed to Barrel Lake just 6 miles from our camp. As John helped us load the boat with our gear, he kept asking me, "Are you sure you want to go out on this cold and rainy day?"
I have to admit I wasn't relishing the idea, but I had made up my mind we were going to do it at least this once. Just as we loaded up the boat at the landing of Barrel Lake and pushed out into the lake, we saw a large bank of dark clouds heading our way. I couldn't tell if it was just rain or lightning involved as well. I thought it would be best to go back to shore and sit in the car till the shower passed over. We just made it to the car when it started to pour. After about ten minutes, we decided we could withstand a light rain and headed back out. We motored down the river back toward Agimac River falls. Shortly the rain stopped and we got set up to start fishing.
We caught one small northern in the first spot which we usually have caught some nice walleye. But nothing else seemed to want our bait. So, we kept motoring further up the river to another spot where Joanna picked up a nice 18 inch walleye. We decide to keep trolling back and forth there to find some more. But everytime we passed that same spot, we only caught northern pike.
Joanna kept losing her spinner rig each time she caught a pike which was frustrating for her. She must have lost about five of them. By the end of the day, we figured out that she probably had her drag set too tight.
After catching about four more pike, we ladies felt the urge for a bathroom break. We found a spot to land the boat on shore. Joanna was the first one back in the boat and began to cast from the boat while waiting for Anne and I. It started to rain and instantly she caught another pike. She yelled for us to hurry, the fish were biting. I began to believe that it really IS better fishing on a rainy day.
We continued on up the river and came to a point that looked promising. I caught a nice 17 inch Walleye there so we kept making passes there as well. Again, Joanna lost a spinner rig to a pike. She said, "Mom, can we go past that area again? I want to try to catch that last pike and get my tackle back."
I didn't really think that would happen, but didn't mind going for another pass. Soon she snagged another pike and there was something bright dangling from its lip. At first Joanna thought she somehow got caught in Anne's line, but then she let out a whoop when she realized it was the same fish that had just taken her spinner. So, she DID get it back. Amazing!!
We weren't catching anymore Walleye at the point so we headed back down the river toward the boat landing since it was getting late, around 6 pm. All of a sudden we were catching Walleye, nice ones. We just wanted enough Walleye for a fish meal for five people. Once we got four nice size Walleye on our stinger, we decided not to keep anymore. I then caught a 21 incher and threw him back. Anne caught several 15- 19 inchers and Joanna caught a few too. I wish I had some pictures as evidence of our expedition, but I don't. I just got a shot of a nice Walleye Anne caught on Indian Lake.
We found out it wasn't all that difficult to fish in a light rain and the fishing did seem to be better. We all had a terrific time and would do it again.
Meanwhile, Grandma Baker, John's mother was back at the house enjoying a warm fire. We had to laugh when we saw Sabre walk over and sit beside her in front of the fire. I said, "Hey Joanna , come look at this. See where our seniors like to position themselves? Sabre is now almost 12 years old. So, he and Grandma soaked up some heat on the cold, rainy day.
