Birthday Fun

It's that time of year again when I turn another year older.  Even though I'm now 64, I still think of myself as being somewhere in the early 30's range in my mind for some strange reason.  However, my body lets me know my age after a hard day's work at camp. 

What a wonderful, relaxing, refreshing birthday I had this year.  It happened to fall on a Sunday which was a good thing because we try to abstain from doing much work on the Lord's day.  It started out being dark and cloudy, but by early afternoon the sun came out and it was downright warm in the low 80's.  

John suggested the three of us go out on the pontoon boat for a little fun.  Joanna brought Scarlette along too for the ride.  After putting up the river to the lake, we headed for the islands and landed at beautiful beach for a potty break. 

Heading out again, I climbed up on a cozy, comfortable seat, laying on my back and gazing at the interesting cloud formations, nearly falling asleep with the warmth of the sun soaking into my body and listening to the soft drone of the motor. 

For supper we barbecued some mouth watering steaks and topped the meal off with pumpkin cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream with chocolate sauce on top.  Decadent,  I know.  But soooo tasty.

Tomorrow, I'm heading to Thunder Bay with a friend from Ignace to fly to Israel for a two week prayer conference.  We're both very excited looking forward to this great adventure.  You'll see some pictures from the trip upon my return.

What a Great Time of Year

Frankly, I'm amazed that more people don't come here to fish in August.  It's a wonderful time of year especially for fishing Indian Lake.  In the spring when most folks come, you have to get up very early in the morning before the sun comes up to have the best Walleye fishing since this is a clearer lake than most of the others.  You also have better fishing on Indian in the evening just as the sun is setting over the horizon.  In the spring, that is pretty late. 

However, in August the days are shorter.  You can get your work done all day and then about 6 pm launch the boat and head for your favorite fishing spot, which is just what I did yesterday.

It was a gorgeous evening.  I was the only one on the lake.  There was a bit of chop, but very little wind.  I anchored in my spot which feels like the middle of the lake.  Seagulls are screeching nearby and floating with a large group of migrating loons.  The sun is a bright red ball sinking over the horizon.  Such peace and quiet.  There's nothing like it.  I put on a jighead with a leech and dropped it over the side of the boat and sat and sat and sat.  Not even a bite.  A smallmouth bass leaped out of the water about 20 feet from me.  So I thought maybe I'd try a new lure that my brother from Georgia just sent me.  When he was here a few weeks ago, he had caught about five nice size Smallmouth Bass in this very spot with that particular lure.  I made about ten casts with no luck, so switched back to Walleye fishing with the jighead. 

This happens every time like clockwork.  Just as the sun is setting over the far hills, the Walleye start to bite.  Instantly, I felt a light tug, tug, tug.  I thought, "Wow, these guys are just pecking at it.  I'd better give them a few more seconds to really get hold of it."
Then giving a hard jerk to set the hook, I feel that wonderful weight at the end of my bent over rod and I reel up a nice 17 inch Walleye.  No sooner had I fastened him to the stringer, rebaited my hook and let it down before there was another nibble, nibble, nibble.  Jerk the rod... pull up another nice Walleye.  Another 17 incher.  This is really fun.

My next catch was a 21 inch Walleye that actually bent my little hook.  I threw him back to make some more babies since they are the best producers.  I lost another one that size and had many more bites.  I ended up taking home three good eating size Walleyes.  Not bad for about an hour of fishing!!

The pictures are of Brian and Laura Allick who camp here for about 11 days every August.  Laura's was 26 inches and Brian's 27 inches.  Brian has fished here since he was a kid, so he knows the lake real well.  Soon as they got here they landed these beautiful fish which was pretty exciting to them. 

So come on up and get in on some fun fall fishing. 

A Visit From Little Bro

My brother Rick from near Atlanta, GA came up for a visit recently and did we ever have a grand time!!   He has been here at least three times before and seems to really enjoy coming.  Of course we thoroughly enjoy our time with him because he is so much fun to be with and brings such levity to our household. 

My cousin Mary Lou and her husband Tim from Wildwood, FL accompanied him on this trip as well.  Though I grew up in central Florida, only about an hour away from Mary Lou's family, we didn't see them that often as children and after I married and left home, it was an even more rare occasion to see her.  It wasn't until my Dad's 90th birthday celebration in NC that I felt like I really connected with Mary Lou.  It gave me a desire to be with her and Tim more, so I invited them to come stay with us at camp.

They diligently studied our website to completely understand our environment and what kind of adventure they might experience.    The first day after their arrival we went to Heathwalt Lake and were met with strong winds and high waves.  There were five of us in the boat including Joanna and the 18 foot Jon boat was barely chugging along with a 9.9 hp Mercury.  It was a bit of a trepidatious  trip to the other end of the lake and into Goddin where we were able to find some calm waters out of the wind.  Immediately Rick hooked an aggressive Smallmouth Bass and was hollering to beat the band.  He especially likes to catch Smallmouth and Pike because they put up such a good fight.  In fact, by the end of his stay he had caught so many Smallmouth that his upper torso was aching.  Mary Lou suggested that he might need to lift weights in preparation for his next trip to camp. 

After we had all caught some Pike, Perch and Smallmouth in the calm waters, I wanted to venture over to the other side of the lake where Joanna and I had caught some nice Walleye before.  However, the wind was still howling and it was very difficult to try to control the boat, so eventually we headed back to Heathwalt.  A rain storm was approaching so we hurried to an island and crouched under some large pine trees to evade the worst of the rain.  After the clouds passed through, Rick did a little casting in the nearby weeds and caught a small pike.  In the process of removing the lure, the pike did a little twist and Rick winced in pain as the two treble hooks punctured his hand. 

I had recently purchased a small pair of pliers that were stainless steel and had a good wire cutting blade.  Rick was getting ready to try to jerk the hooks backwards out of his hand, but I quickly stopped him and instructed him to push the hooks through so we could cut off the barbs and easily pull them out.  That worked well and the issue was quickly resolved.  Needless to say, he became much more cautious when removing lures from fish.  It is not fun to get hooked.  Makes you feel kinda sorry for the fish.  We had a good amount of fish on the stringer, so decided to call it a day.

The following morning we headed to Barrel Lake.  It was ladies day as Joanna caught the most fish and Mary Lou caught the smallest and biggest fish.  Of course there was lots of fun and laughter.   Joanna had caught a small fish that when she released it actually ended up dying.  It was floating nearby when an eagle circled above us, then swooped down to pick up the fish.  I've seen that on youtube before, but never in person right in front of us.  At least the fish was not wasted.  We also got to watch a martin swim across the river close to us.  And did you know that squirrels can swim well too?  Tim actually captured a picture of one swimming across the river.  They had hoped to see a moose on their trip, but that did not happen.  Maybe next time.

I believe their most enjoyable fishing was on Indian lake where we mark the point that comes way out into the lake.  The walleye fishing is so good there in the evenings and Rick and Tim had a blast catching Smallmouth with their top water lures.   Mary Lou went ballistic when she landed a 26 inch Walleye.  Plus, the scenery can't be beat.  You're sitting in the middle of the lake with the sun setting in brilliant hues of orange to the west and the moon appearing above you in the east.  The seagulls and loons are singing their songs and the quietness pervades your soul with peace. 

I guess we didn't scare Tim and Mary Lou too much with our high wind adventures because they indicated they'd like to come back again sometime.   That makes us happy because we really had a good time with all of them. 

Catch of the Day

Jeff Bauer was out fishing with his wife Laurie on Indian Lake and caught this honking big 40 inch, 18 pound Pike.  In fact there have been a lot of large Pike caught this year on Indian.  Most bigger fish are released, but sometimes  they swallow the bait so deeply that they are mortally wounded and have to be kept.  Nice catch, Jeff.

Weeny Roast

Recently John's mother, Nona Baker, came to stay with us for awhile.  It's always a joy to have her here and she loves to be a part of all the activities happening at the camp.  She loves sitting around a fire and roasting hot dogs, so John built us a cozy fire and we spent a few hours relaxing, visiting and eating while taking in the calm beauty of the riverfront.  I'm so glad he made that fire ring right next to the water. 

Darling Ducks

We have at least two, maybe three duck families hanging out near camp this summer.  Sometimes we see the mother perched with her five little ducklings on one of the large rocks in the middle of the rapids taking a sunbath.  After awhile the mother will jump back into the water and one by one the ducklings plop in after her, being carried to and for by the current, their little feet paddling up a storm to stay close by their mama. 

Another brood will be huddled together, sleeping at the boat landing until someone walks by, then they swim out a bit and float along shore.  I wonder if someone has been feeding them because they don't seem afraid and appear to be waiting for someone to toss them a morsel or two.  It would be nice if they could make it to adulthood.

Scenic Scenarios

It was such a beautiful, sunny day...clear blue sky...birds chirping in the trees...rhythmic sound of water rushing down the rapids...calm, quiet waters of the river bay... I just had to take a few pictures to capture it all.  Wish you were here too so you could enjoy it with us.  :)