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Ian loading the canoe
on our launch at the Sawbill Lake campground on
Friday afternoon.
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Colin loading up
the fishing rods at the launch.
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Colin in the bow
of my canoe just after launching.
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Ian and Jim getting
rigged up.
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Ian and Jim balancing
the canoe at launch.
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Ian and Jim passing
a US Forestry Service float plane before it took
off.
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Colin, in between
hard paddle sessions.
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We paddled 4 miles
to the very end of Sawbill Lake and all of the campsites
were taken.
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We paddled back,
checking out the portage where we planned to fish
on Saturday.
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Ian and Jim near
sunset after 3-1/2 hours of paddling in search of
a campsite.
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At the portage
to Smoke Lake. It was a
100-rod portage to Smoke Lake.
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Colin, Ian and
Jim hiked the portage to see what it looked like
for tomorrow. I stayed back and took photos.
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Colin at sunset
on Sawbill Lake.
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We thought we would
have to go all the wack to the Sawbill Campground
when it was getting dark, but we found a campsite
at the end of the south bay of Sawbill Lake. Very
lucky!
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Ian and Colin
behind the fire that they started for our campsite.
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Moonrise at around
10pm looking south.
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Moonrise in combination
with the remnants of sunset light at around 10pm
looking south.
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Jim firing up my
Coleman Peak1 backpacker stove for a late dinner
and coffee.
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Mid-moonrise looking
south over Sawbill Lake, no wind and nice light.
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Colin entering
a 60-second time-exposure for 10-seconds and turning
on his headlamp.
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Sunrise on Saturday
morning from our campsite.
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I was up early
after a squirrel dashed over my sleeping bag. I
slept outside (Mr. Snorer...)
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Jim prepping rods
and reels for our fishing trip to Smoke Lake.
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Ian went with me
in the rental canoe on the paddle to the Smoke Lake
Portage.
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A dragonfly on
the portage dock on Smoke Lake. Jim noticed that
they only land in the sunlight, and never in the
shade.
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Jim at the end
of his second trip across the Smoke Lake Portage.
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Ian at the end
of his "trip" across the Smoke Lake Portage.
He took a digger of a fall on the way over with
his gear, but he was cool about it.
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A loon off our
bow on Smoke Lake in a cove outside of the wind.
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Ian rigging up
his fishing line, with a look of
complete concentration...
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Colin being cool
at the east end of Smoke Lake while we waited for
Jim and Ian.
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Yeah, we were working
hard the entire time, with no relaxation at all...
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Jim pulled in the
first nice walleye!
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Jim showing Colin
how he fillets a walleye to get pure flesh without
bones.
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Shore lunch on
Saturday on Burnt Lake with one medium and one small
walleye.
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Jim cranking away
at lunch. He melted his Lexan™ fork, which
couldn't handle the heat.
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While we were all
slacking off after lunch (I was napping), Colin
reeled in the first northern pike!
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Ian playing in
a nice northern pike just after lunch. Nice fish
dance! We ate this one later.
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Back at base camp.
We were pretty beat after the last two days of paddling.
I figured we paddled nearly 14 miles in two days.
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My Gransförs
Bruk axe, which helped us split a fine 6-foot bolt
of seasoned spruce for our fire after we all pitched
in with a too-small Sven Saw to cut it into 20"
split logs.
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Jim filleting Ian's
northern pike.
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Colin helped advise,
as Jim had never filleted a northern pike before,
and Colin just watched his neighbor Scott do one
recently.
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Jim did a great
job, but we ended up with two nice sections that
still had the "Y" bones inside, so we
missed one crucial step.
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We brought along
Ian's twin (Nai) that nobody in the family ever
talks about. They both sat on the log together for
25 seconds before they self-combusted back into
just one, and Ian was left with us again...we never
found out what happened to Nai, but there was a
small spot of grease where he was sitting...
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The USFS float
plane coming in for a landing on south Sawbill Lake,
trying to avoid the canoe traffic. That's Jim and
Ian right under the plane!
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It looks like a
DeHaviland Beaver with an extra fuel tank riding
underneath.
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Nice trip had by all! We will do this trip every
year around the same time as long as we are all
able to!
--Tony
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