Canada

While Katherine hung out in Minneapolis (at Target and Babies R Us mostly), I headed up to Canada with my dad and brothers-in-law for a few days of fishing. My dad and a few friends own a small cabin on an island in a lake about 50 miles or so north of the Canadian border. Cabin is maybe a bit generous. 1 room shack with beds might be more like it, but it does have a nice new roof, so it's got that going for it. And, propane stove, lights and refrigerator make it almost luxurious. The 1 room is a bit of a problem, though, when I generally am last to go to bed in a room with 3 unbelievably loud snorers. Even earplugs didn't block out the chorus.

Anyway, this is the island from the plane. It's the small, roundish island in the upper part of the picture. The Canadian government stopped selling land around the lake quite a while ago (I think) so it is very undeveloped. Just a few cabins here and there and a fish camp or two.


Our transportation, courtesy of Rusty Myers Flying Service; a WW II era Twin Beech plane on floats. The pilot taxis right up to a steep rock face, we unload, then push him back off. When we were picked up 3 days later in a different plane, the pilot reported that this plane was currently disabled on a rock in the lake, having hit it trying to take off. Noone was hurt, but the floats cost about $100K each, so after running the plane up on a rock I'm sure the pilot wasn't feeling too hot.


Getting ready to go out for the day. We head about 12 miles up the lake to fish. Why do we go so far when there are fish everywhere? I don't know. But we always have, and likely always will.


Plus, the 12 mile journey allows us to eat lunch at a spot like this. Fresh lake trout cooked over an open fire. And oreo cookies. And beer.


The first day of fishing was spectacular. 70 some degrees, sunny, and lots of fish. I think we probably caught about 35 fish total, which is outstanding for lake trout. Sadly, I only caught 3 of those. I was kind of the loser of the trip in terms of fish production, but I drove the boat like a champ.

Our second day of fishing was pretty much ruined by very high winds. Naps ensued.