Buddy and I decided to beat the heat and head north. We succeeded in beating the heat for 6 of the 8 days. Temps started out in the 30's at night and by the end of the trip they were in the mid-80's. We stayed out at an outpost cabin in the middle of a lake. Loaded our gear in a 14' Jon boat with a 20 hp outboard and motored out to the cabin.
On the drive up we saw a big moose crossing the road. This was his territory so we left him alone and kept driving.
The cabin is rustic. No electricity. Very little wifi, but we did find one spot on the north end of the island that was spotty and we got one bar. Fortunately, they installed a prepper system a few years back that ran a small pump and water heater off of a large 12v battery so we had running water and hot showers. They also had a propane stove, lights and frig. We had a wood stove but never fired it up. When it was cold, we turned on the propane lanterns. They heated up the cabin enough. When it got hot, it was HOT! Where we were, A/C is not a thing. Neither was electricity so no running fans.
Food was epic. Made MD blue crab cakes, stuffed MD crab mushrooms, rib eyes, pork chops, brats, and even had a nice farmers breakfast one night for dinner with all the left overs. Breakfast was coffee and granola bars then off to the water. Lunch was ham sandwiches and one day even had campfire toast, ham, cheese and a couple eggs over top. The place has a lodge that we could motor to and have a French cooked gourmet dinner, but we tried that once and are not into the cream of whatever soup with duck confit. Also the price was astronomical, so we stayed and the cabin and "roughed it" for dinner.
We also brought the fixings for fish, but never kept any. We both don't eat smallies, but they do have some nice walleye in the lake. Never caught one so didn't have to fillet fish after fishing all day.
We started fishing around noon and even though it was cold, we caught a fair share of fish but they were work. Light bites required us to be on our A-game. Most fish on the first day were between 17" to 18" and were fat and still full of eggs. As the day went on, it got cold. We believed the fish weren't even in pre-spawn mode and saw no beds on the lake.
The weather report called for the days heating up as time went on. We were encouraged.
As the week progressed, we saw mink, bald eagles, mergansers, geese, black flies, mosquitos, horse flys and some huge spiders. One momma merganser had a flock of chicks that wouldn't let her out of their sight. I was waiting for a big smallie, pike or walleye to eat some but that never happened. The ducks were lucky. We are still healing from our bites. Luckily the mosquitos were light but on the first couple days the black flies were murderous. We both got some nice welts. When the horse flies came, my hands would swell up. I was prepared but bug pain relief sticks, benedrill and other medical relief products.
The next day the was not warmer but we fish all day, still working for our catch. The size and weight of the fish increased. The fish were brutes and after lipping the big one, he was flipping in my hand and his (or her?) teeth just sawed a large cut across the top of my hand. Again, being prepared, out came the medical tape and the finger was rapped. By day four we started using a lip gripper because our thumbs were raw.
Then it started to rain. Up there things happen fast so we called it and headed back to the cabin. By the time we got to the cabin, the skies started looking real threatening and we were breaking through white camps on a very bumpy ride. We both were glad we were at the safety of our cabin when we looked up and saw the skies.
The next day we discovered a tornado touched down and did some significant damage about 20 kilometers away from us. We were lucky.
As the week progressed, it got warmer and we were rewarded with a couple days of good fishing with some pretty decent numbers. Fish went right into pre-spawn and got aggressive. We noted that fish that came up from the depth recently were very dark in color and others were light. We assumed these light fish came up from the depths of the lake earlier.
We really slowed down on picture taking because how many 18" fish pix did we need of ourselves?
The next day it was on. Fish blowing up on senkos, flukes, sweet beavers, but not so much on swim baits. We did catch a few on swim baits but they were not the bait of chose. Never were hard baits or spinner baits. I poured all jigs.
I rarely count numbers, but this day I caught over 20 fish.
Then it got hot, and the water temps went up 10dF. This confused the fish and catching was sparse. Fish didn't know what to do. We'd pick one up here and there but it was A-game time and frustrating going hours with no fish.
But when we did catch one, they were fat and brutes. We did not bring a scale. There was a fish mount in the lodge of a smallie that we were told was 6#. The smallie mount was a dink compared to some of the fish we caught and I hesitate to guess how much they weighed. They fought real could and had some weight when lifted in the net.
Fish were beautiful too.
This was our view from the cabin each evening. Pretty awesome - especially without the annoying mosquitos.
We carry thermacells with plenty of extra butane and repellant packages. They actually work very good on most bugs. We'd sit on the patio with one near us and the bugs would pretty much leave us alone.
Also, this trip was different because every day we had wind and running a 14' Jon in the wind was spine jolting.
The last day it was on fire. That's great because the day before it was so slow it suxed. We both lathered ourselves with sunscreen, but still being out there in the sun all day was wicked.
Despite the hardship, bugs, wind, and looooooong drive, we'll be back
On the drive up we saw a big moose crossing the road. This was his territory so we left him alone and kept driving.
The cabin is rustic. No electricity. Very little wifi, but we did find one spot on the north end of the island that was spotty and we got one bar. Fortunately, they installed a prepper system a few years back that ran a small pump and water heater off of a large 12v battery so we had running water and hot showers. They also had a propane stove, lights and frig. We had a wood stove but never fired it up. When it was cold, we turned on the propane lanterns. They heated up the cabin enough. When it got hot, it was HOT! Where we were, A/C is not a thing. Neither was electricity so no running fans.
Food was epic. Made MD blue crab cakes, stuffed MD crab mushrooms, rib eyes, pork chops, brats, and even had a nice farmers breakfast one night for dinner with all the left overs. Breakfast was coffee and granola bars then off to the water. Lunch was ham sandwiches and one day even had campfire toast, ham, cheese and a couple eggs over top. The place has a lodge that we could motor to and have a French cooked gourmet dinner, but we tried that once and are not into the cream of whatever soup with duck confit. Also the price was astronomical, so we stayed and the cabin and "roughed it" for dinner.
We also brought the fixings for fish, but never kept any. We both don't eat smallies, but they do have some nice walleye in the lake. Never caught one so didn't have to fillet fish after fishing all day.
We started fishing around noon and even though it was cold, we caught a fair share of fish but they were work. Light bites required us to be on our A-game. Most fish on the first day were between 17" to 18" and were fat and still full of eggs. As the day went on, it got cold. We believed the fish weren't even in pre-spawn mode and saw no beds on the lake.
The weather report called for the days heating up as time went on. We were encouraged.
As the week progressed, we saw mink, bald eagles, mergansers, geese, black flies, mosquitos, horse flys and some huge spiders. One momma merganser had a flock of chicks that wouldn't let her out of their sight. I was waiting for a big smallie, pike or walleye to eat some but that never happened. The ducks were lucky. We are still healing from our bites. Luckily the mosquitos were light but on the first couple days the black flies were murderous. We both got some nice welts. When the horse flies came, my hands would swell up. I was prepared but bug pain relief sticks, benedrill and other medical relief products.
The next day the was not warmer but we fish all day, still working for our catch. The size and weight of the fish increased. The fish were brutes and after lipping the big one, he was flipping in my hand and his (or her?) teeth just sawed a large cut across the top of my hand. Again, being prepared, out came the medical tape and the finger was rapped. By day four we started using a lip gripper because our thumbs were raw.
Then it started to rain. Up there things happen fast so we called it and headed back to the cabin. By the time we got to the cabin, the skies started looking real threatening and we were breaking through white camps on a very bumpy ride. We both were glad we were at the safety of our cabin when we looked up and saw the skies.
The next day we discovered a tornado touched down and did some significant damage about 20 kilometers away from us. We were lucky.
As the week progressed, it got warmer and we were rewarded with a couple days of good fishing with some pretty decent numbers. Fish went right into pre-spawn and got aggressive. We noted that fish that came up from the depth recently were very dark in color and others were light. We assumed these light fish came up from the depths of the lake earlier.
We really slowed down on picture taking because how many 18" fish pix did we need of ourselves?
The next day it was on. Fish blowing up on senkos, flukes, sweet beavers, but not so much on swim baits. We did catch a few on swim baits but they were not the bait of chose. Never were hard baits or spinner baits. I poured all jigs.
I rarely count numbers, but this day I caught over 20 fish.
Then it got hot, and the water temps went up 10dF. This confused the fish and catching was sparse. Fish didn't know what to do. We'd pick one up here and there but it was A-game time and frustrating going hours with no fish.
But when we did catch one, they were fat and brutes. We did not bring a scale. There was a fish mount in the lodge of a smallie that we were told was 6#. The smallie mount was a dink compared to some of the fish we caught and I hesitate to guess how much they weighed. They fought real could and had some weight when lifted in the net.
Fish were beautiful too.
This was our view from the cabin each evening. Pretty awesome - especially without the annoying mosquitos.
We carry thermacells with plenty of extra butane and repellant packages. They actually work very good on most bugs. We'd sit on the patio with one near us and the bugs would pretty much leave us alone.
Also, this trip was different because every day we had wind and running a 14' Jon in the wind was spine jolting.
The last day it was on fire. That's great because the day before it was so slow it suxed. We both lathered ourselves with sunscreen, but still being out there in the sun all day was wicked.
Despite the hardship, bugs, wind, and looooooong drive, we'll be back
