The previous 3 days had been rainy and misty and our gear was starting to get soggy. We all hoped the last couple days would bring some sunshine. On the 4th morning, we awoke to thick fog and dew covering everything. The sun had to be up there somewhere!
We broke camp after breakfast and loaded the canoes up. We began paddling up Crooked Lake towards the falls. Once at the falls, we fished hard for a couple hours, hoping to find some walleye or large pike. We caught a few nice bass and small pike but no luck on the walleye.
After lunch, we began our paddle up the Horse River. The sun finally shone through the clouds, replacing the wet fog with uncomfortably hot and humid conditions. At least we were drying out! We took our time fishing all the spots we missed on the way in. The Horse River had plenty of nice smallmouth bass.
By late afternoon, we made it to Horse Lake. We fished hard at the river's mouth, hoping to tie into another monster pike like the one Camron had caught on the way in. But no such luck was had. A couple of bass and pike were all we could find before it was time to find a place to camp for the night. Already we could tell finding a camping spot could be challenging. Several other parties paddled about and 2 of the designated campsites were already occupied. We met in the middle of the lake and studied the map for locations of campsites. To save time and energy, we would have to split up and radio the other if we found an open campsite. My canoe paddled north to the end of the lake, finding all the campsites occupied. Desperate, we found an island that would have to work if the other canoe couldn't find a spot. Daylight was fading when the other canoe radioed, telling us they found a campsite; the last one on the lake! We paddled hard in their direction, making it to camp with a half hour of light left.
The following morning, we awoke to sunshine. We quickly broke camp and began fishing. We'd spend the entire day slowly fishing our way back to Mudro Lake, where Zach would meet us at 5 pm. Horse Lake produced a couple of dandy smallmouth bass, including another 20 incher.
Next we fished Tin Can Mike. More pike were caught and Tin Can produced our first largemouth bass of the trip.
Then we fished Sandpit. Several nice pike were caught here, as well as a couple more largemouth.
By the time we reached Mudro, the wind had picked up and paddling become a chore. We quickly realized how lucky we had been on the trip with the lack of wind. Still, we fished as best we could, catching a few more pike and bass. By 4:30pm, we were paddling up the winding creek that led to the take out. Zach was waiting for us with a big Minnesota smile.
We loaded all our gear into his van and slowly drove the sobering dirt road back to civilization. It had been a fantastic trip! That evening we ate a hot restaurant-cooked meal and talked about our plans for future boundary water canoe trips. A repeat was a must! If you haven't considered a BWCA trip, you're missing out. Give Ryan a call at Cliff Wolds and plan your trip today!
Photo's credit : Chase Christopher
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