Post by WoodsWalker on May 30, 2006 21:16:58 GMT -5
Thursday 5/25/06
Bill picked me up at my house at 4:00 am & we headed toward LaTourell’s in Ely. I had scheduled a 9:00 am tow to the Indian Portage into Birch Lake. We arrived in Ely a little early so we stopped at Zup’s for a few last minute items & then headed to LaTourell’s. Upon arrival, while we were paying our fees & picking up our permit, their tow driver took our canoe off the truck & loaded it on top of the boats rack. We dropped our packs on the dock & by the time we parked the truck he was ready to go. We arrived at The Indian Portage at 9:20am.
Our plan was to actually camp on Ensign, but wanted to do some fishing up on Sucker Lake. We loaded the canoe & got our fishing poles rigged up, and then hit the water. It was great to FINALLY be in a canoe again. Neither Bill nor I are great fisherman. I had spent a lot of time talking with Geofisher through e-mail & on the phone, he taught me some new techniques & I learned where I should be looking for fish. 80% of the fish are in 20% of the lake & the key is to find that 20%. I was catching smallies 15 minutes after we left the portage.
By 11:00 am we had stopped at a campsite to cook our 1st Boundary Waters shore lunch in 3 years.
We were at the 30rod portage into Splash at 2:30pm. The portage is a nice gradual slope from the Newfound Lake side. It has a steep ridge that runs up away from the rapids. The trail had red Columbine along the fringes.
As we approached the 5rod portage on the east side of Splash Lake, we saw a couple of Otters playing in the current. I was trying to get in position for a picture, but they spotted us & went up into the tall grass. The water levels were high so the portage was paddleable, during times of lower water levels this will most likely be a pull over.
Ensign Lake is mostly young growth pine & birch. Talked to some guy’s that were walleye fishing in the narrows. They were catching them in 29’ of water, using jigs & leeches.
We got to the 55rod portage into Ashgan at 4:20pm, the portage landing is fairly shallow & very gravely, the portage was all up hill from Ensign . There was a group of guy’s heading into Ensign also on the portage, so when I dropped our canoe, I picked up one of their big dry bags & carried it across for them. We were on our campsite by 5:00pm; we took the campsite that was located on the north shore, directly across from the 100rod into Gibson. I give this site a 5 out of 10, the landing was real rocky & everything was up hill. We named it the mountain goat site; even the latrine trail required a long uphill assent. It is a series of rocky levels until you reach the top. There was a really nice view from there though.
The fire grate & tent pad were located on the top, it is about the only flat area around. There is one pad about 9x9 & a couple other smaller ones. We thought with a steady southeast wind that the bugs wouldn’t be too bad. We were wrong! There was a big black fly hatch & they were terrible & relentless.
We went out fishing later that evening & caught a few smallies, but the flies & mosquitoes drove us into the tent early. We had a mild thunderstorm & light rain during the night. I slept like a baby, probably the best nights sleep I have had in months. I did wake up several times to the lonely cries of the loons. The worries & stresses were gone; it was great to be in canoe country again.
Friday 5/26/06
The morning gave way to light slowly, the sky was overcast & the temperature felt around 60 deg. But it looked like it was going to clear off. We tried fishing Ashigan for a while in the morning but had no luck. We could hear rushing water in the calm morning air.
We decided to do a day trip over to Jordan Lake & stop by Cattyman Falls for some photos on the way. The 100rod portage out of Ashigan starts out fairly steep, then gradually goes up hill before leveling off in the middle. About half way there is a nice boardwalk over some low area. The sides of the boardwalk were littered with little yellow flowers. After the boardwalk you continue your uphill walk, until you reach Gibson Lake.
From the end of the Gibson portage, you could really hear the crashing of Cattyman Falls & get a nice view of the entire lake.
Once we were in the canoe we decided to fish a little, we then seen where there was a nice rapids flowing out of Gibson also. I did some bushwhacking & climbed out on a big tree that was over the rapids & took a few pictures.
The only picture I had seen of Cattyman Falls was one that I had seen a few years ago in Voyagers North. It was a photo of Lynn & one of her grandkids sitting right below the falls. That picture must have been taken in late summer, because there was a ton of water flowing on this trip, you couldn’t get too close the falls at all. Cattyman was the best falls that I have seen in any of the BW/Q.
I spent a couple of hours at the falls portage, Bill even took a nap while I hiked around taking photos from different angles & others of the flowers that were in bloom.
After we finally got moving again we headed over to the Jordan lake portage out of Cattyman. This was a 55rod portage that starts out flat, and then is a gradual rise in elevation until you reach Jordan Lake.
We fished on Jordan’s northeast side for a few hours catching several nice smallies. Jordan was the prettiest lake that we paddled on this trip. From the lake you can see Disappointment Mountain rising up in the west.
Later that evening after returning to camp we went out fishing again. I caught the biggest small mouth bass of my life it was 21” long. I also caught a Northern. Bill has yet to land a fish, he has been getting them on but either loosing them or breaking his line.
We kept a couple of fish for dinner & had a great meal with some Macaroni & cheese.
Bill summed up today by saying,” If God made any days nicer than this one, then he must have kept it for himself.”
Saturday 6/27/06
The morning is windy & cool; I had to put on a long underwear shirt to keep warm. I made some pancakes & bacon for breakfast. We were planning on heading down through Jitterbug & do some fishing on Disappointment Lake, but Bills shoulder was bothering him so we decided to rest. We mostly lounged around camp reading & taking naps. I took pictures of the groups of canoes that were paddling past. This was a busy weekend & we have seen a lot of people.
FINALLY !!!
Bill caught & actually landed a fish. It was an 11” smallie. The drought was over. It had warmed up nice to around 75 deg. & the wind was steady out of the southeast. I later caught a 30” Northern along with another 18” smallie. This has been a great fishing trip; we again ate fish for dinner.
Sunday 5/28/06
We awoke to the day already warming up. We still have a pretty constant wind out of the southeast. The loons on this trip have been really vocal & we have seen quite a few.
About 9:00am we could hear a thunderstorm way off in the distance. By 10:00am we could tell that it was coming our way, so we put up the tarp & dug out our rain gear. This storm had a lot of lightning. It was a constant rumble. It finally hit us at 10:40am 1st the rain came down in sheets, the wind was blowing but not dangerously hard. We could feel the temperature dropping & then the hail came. Dime size hail bounced off our tarp for about 10 minutes, then it slowed to just a steady rain. We decided to go in the tent and read while the remainder of the storm blew over. We came out of the tent after the rain stopped, it was 1:00pm.
The day cleared off & got really nice, so we went fishing. Caught 8 more smallies & kept 3 for dinner. Bill lost another nice northern. By the time we were back in camp you couldn’t even tell that the storm had went through, most everything was dry again. Turned out to be a pretty nice day.
Monday 5/29/06
We woke up early had breakfast & broke camp. By 6:30am we were on the water fishing our way back to the portage to Ensign. The water was like glass & the fishing was great, we caught several more bass before we reached the portage.
Once on Ensign we had 4-1/2 hours to get to the Splash Lake portage where LaTourell’s towboat would pick us up. So we fished & drifted our way effortlessly riding the eastern wind all the way to the west end of the lake. I caught 4 more bass along the way. We stopped at the last campsite before Splash Lake to eat lunch & kill some time. After eating I fished some off shore & caught another 18” smallie.
It was HOT !!! We decided to take a swim. The water was pretty cold initially, but once you were in, it was actually pretty nice & refreshing. We stayed in the water for about 20 minutes. Before we needed to get moving again.
That is when disaster struck. The small rapids going into Splash Lake that we paddled up on the way into Ensign was moving faster from the rain that we got. As we were entering the topside we hit a strainer & it threw Bill & my camera bag out of the canoe, I went in after my camera as it bobbed its way down the swift water. I managed to get a hold of it & threw it back into the canoe on top of the other bags that were floating. Everything was wet, my NikonD70 included. I quickly popped out the battery & set it in the sun. That’s when I remembered my son’s digital point & shoot that was in my vest pocket. It was soaked, I pulled the batteries out of it also, and water was running out of it. I was worried that I had just wrecked both cameras, when I remembered that I had taken my cell phone out of my bag so I could call my wife when we got back to the outfitters. I reached into my pocket & pulled it out….. soaking wet, both screens were full of moisture. This trip was ending on a bad note.
Our tow driver was waiting for us when we reached the Splash portage. We had a good laugh telling how we had just flipped our canoe for the 1st time ever. Man did it happen fast. He grabbed our food barrel & our canoe & we single portaged across to the waiting boat. LaTourell’s runs a 1st class service. At least our capsize happened 10 minutes before our trip was over.
At the truck I laid the cameras & the cell phone on the dash for the entire ride home. I was hoping that the sun would help dry them out. When I got home around 5:00pm, I pulled out my food dehydrator & placed everything that was wet inside. I set it for the lowest setting & said a prayer.
Tuesday 5/30/06
1st thing I did when I got up was to say another prayer & check on my cameras & phone. They were all dried out & once the batteries went back in….they all work… Thank God!!
Overall this was my best fishing trip in the Boundary Waters ever. Thanks again to advice from Geofisher. We ate fish for one meal everyday of our trip. Cattyman Falls was spectacular, the best falls that I have seen so far up there. The weather was great temperature wise, comfortable sleeping & warm days. The black flies were the worst I have encountered, but I am already forgetting about that. Can’t wait to go back.
Bill picked me up at my house at 4:00 am & we headed toward LaTourell’s in Ely. I had scheduled a 9:00 am tow to the Indian Portage into Birch Lake. We arrived in Ely a little early so we stopped at Zup’s for a few last minute items & then headed to LaTourell’s. Upon arrival, while we were paying our fees & picking up our permit, their tow driver took our canoe off the truck & loaded it on top of the boats rack. We dropped our packs on the dock & by the time we parked the truck he was ready to go. We arrived at The Indian Portage at 9:20am.
Our plan was to actually camp on Ensign, but wanted to do some fishing up on Sucker Lake. We loaded the canoe & got our fishing poles rigged up, and then hit the water. It was great to FINALLY be in a canoe again. Neither Bill nor I are great fisherman. I had spent a lot of time talking with Geofisher through e-mail & on the phone, he taught me some new techniques & I learned where I should be looking for fish. 80% of the fish are in 20% of the lake & the key is to find that 20%. I was catching smallies 15 minutes after we left the portage.
By 11:00 am we had stopped at a campsite to cook our 1st Boundary Waters shore lunch in 3 years.
We were at the 30rod portage into Splash at 2:30pm. The portage is a nice gradual slope from the Newfound Lake side. It has a steep ridge that runs up away from the rapids. The trail had red Columbine along the fringes.
As we approached the 5rod portage on the east side of Splash Lake, we saw a couple of Otters playing in the current. I was trying to get in position for a picture, but they spotted us & went up into the tall grass. The water levels were high so the portage was paddleable, during times of lower water levels this will most likely be a pull over.
Ensign Lake is mostly young growth pine & birch. Talked to some guy’s that were walleye fishing in the narrows. They were catching them in 29’ of water, using jigs & leeches.
We got to the 55rod portage into Ashgan at 4:20pm, the portage landing is fairly shallow & very gravely, the portage was all up hill from Ensign . There was a group of guy’s heading into Ensign also on the portage, so when I dropped our canoe, I picked up one of their big dry bags & carried it across for them. We were on our campsite by 5:00pm; we took the campsite that was located on the north shore, directly across from the 100rod into Gibson. I give this site a 5 out of 10, the landing was real rocky & everything was up hill. We named it the mountain goat site; even the latrine trail required a long uphill assent. It is a series of rocky levels until you reach the top. There was a really nice view from there though.
The fire grate & tent pad were located on the top, it is about the only flat area around. There is one pad about 9x9 & a couple other smaller ones. We thought with a steady southeast wind that the bugs wouldn’t be too bad. We were wrong! There was a big black fly hatch & they were terrible & relentless.
We went out fishing later that evening & caught a few smallies, but the flies & mosquitoes drove us into the tent early. We had a mild thunderstorm & light rain during the night. I slept like a baby, probably the best nights sleep I have had in months. I did wake up several times to the lonely cries of the loons. The worries & stresses were gone; it was great to be in canoe country again.
Friday 5/26/06
The morning gave way to light slowly, the sky was overcast & the temperature felt around 60 deg. But it looked like it was going to clear off. We tried fishing Ashigan for a while in the morning but had no luck. We could hear rushing water in the calm morning air.
We decided to do a day trip over to Jordan Lake & stop by Cattyman Falls for some photos on the way. The 100rod portage out of Ashigan starts out fairly steep, then gradually goes up hill before leveling off in the middle. About half way there is a nice boardwalk over some low area. The sides of the boardwalk were littered with little yellow flowers. After the boardwalk you continue your uphill walk, until you reach Gibson Lake.
From the end of the Gibson portage, you could really hear the crashing of Cattyman Falls & get a nice view of the entire lake.
Once we were in the canoe we decided to fish a little, we then seen where there was a nice rapids flowing out of Gibson also. I did some bushwhacking & climbed out on a big tree that was over the rapids & took a few pictures.
The only picture I had seen of Cattyman Falls was one that I had seen a few years ago in Voyagers North. It was a photo of Lynn & one of her grandkids sitting right below the falls. That picture must have been taken in late summer, because there was a ton of water flowing on this trip, you couldn’t get too close the falls at all. Cattyman was the best falls that I have seen in any of the BW/Q.
I spent a couple of hours at the falls portage, Bill even took a nap while I hiked around taking photos from different angles & others of the flowers that were in bloom.
After we finally got moving again we headed over to the Jordan lake portage out of Cattyman. This was a 55rod portage that starts out flat, and then is a gradual rise in elevation until you reach Jordan Lake.
We fished on Jordan’s northeast side for a few hours catching several nice smallies. Jordan was the prettiest lake that we paddled on this trip. From the lake you can see Disappointment Mountain rising up in the west.
Later that evening after returning to camp we went out fishing again. I caught the biggest small mouth bass of my life it was 21” long. I also caught a Northern. Bill has yet to land a fish, he has been getting them on but either loosing them or breaking his line.
We kept a couple of fish for dinner & had a great meal with some Macaroni & cheese.
Bill summed up today by saying,” If God made any days nicer than this one, then he must have kept it for himself.”
Saturday 6/27/06
The morning is windy & cool; I had to put on a long underwear shirt to keep warm. I made some pancakes & bacon for breakfast. We were planning on heading down through Jitterbug & do some fishing on Disappointment Lake, but Bills shoulder was bothering him so we decided to rest. We mostly lounged around camp reading & taking naps. I took pictures of the groups of canoes that were paddling past. This was a busy weekend & we have seen a lot of people.
FINALLY !!!
Bill caught & actually landed a fish. It was an 11” smallie. The drought was over. It had warmed up nice to around 75 deg. & the wind was steady out of the southeast. I later caught a 30” Northern along with another 18” smallie. This has been a great fishing trip; we again ate fish for dinner.
Sunday 5/28/06
We awoke to the day already warming up. We still have a pretty constant wind out of the southeast. The loons on this trip have been really vocal & we have seen quite a few.
About 9:00am we could hear a thunderstorm way off in the distance. By 10:00am we could tell that it was coming our way, so we put up the tarp & dug out our rain gear. This storm had a lot of lightning. It was a constant rumble. It finally hit us at 10:40am 1st the rain came down in sheets, the wind was blowing but not dangerously hard. We could feel the temperature dropping & then the hail came. Dime size hail bounced off our tarp for about 10 minutes, then it slowed to just a steady rain. We decided to go in the tent and read while the remainder of the storm blew over. We came out of the tent after the rain stopped, it was 1:00pm.
The day cleared off & got really nice, so we went fishing. Caught 8 more smallies & kept 3 for dinner. Bill lost another nice northern. By the time we were back in camp you couldn’t even tell that the storm had went through, most everything was dry again. Turned out to be a pretty nice day.
Monday 5/29/06
We woke up early had breakfast & broke camp. By 6:30am we were on the water fishing our way back to the portage to Ensign. The water was like glass & the fishing was great, we caught several more bass before we reached the portage.
Once on Ensign we had 4-1/2 hours to get to the Splash Lake portage where LaTourell’s towboat would pick us up. So we fished & drifted our way effortlessly riding the eastern wind all the way to the west end of the lake. I caught 4 more bass along the way. We stopped at the last campsite before Splash Lake to eat lunch & kill some time. After eating I fished some off shore & caught another 18” smallie.
It was HOT !!! We decided to take a swim. The water was pretty cold initially, but once you were in, it was actually pretty nice & refreshing. We stayed in the water for about 20 minutes. Before we needed to get moving again.
That is when disaster struck. The small rapids going into Splash Lake that we paddled up on the way into Ensign was moving faster from the rain that we got. As we were entering the topside we hit a strainer & it threw Bill & my camera bag out of the canoe, I went in after my camera as it bobbed its way down the swift water. I managed to get a hold of it & threw it back into the canoe on top of the other bags that were floating. Everything was wet, my NikonD70 included. I quickly popped out the battery & set it in the sun. That’s when I remembered my son’s digital point & shoot that was in my vest pocket. It was soaked, I pulled the batteries out of it also, and water was running out of it. I was worried that I had just wrecked both cameras, when I remembered that I had taken my cell phone out of my bag so I could call my wife when we got back to the outfitters. I reached into my pocket & pulled it out….. soaking wet, both screens were full of moisture. This trip was ending on a bad note.
Our tow driver was waiting for us when we reached the Splash portage. We had a good laugh telling how we had just flipped our canoe for the 1st time ever. Man did it happen fast. He grabbed our food barrel & our canoe & we single portaged across to the waiting boat. LaTourell’s runs a 1st class service. At least our capsize happened 10 minutes before our trip was over.
At the truck I laid the cameras & the cell phone on the dash for the entire ride home. I was hoping that the sun would help dry them out. When I got home around 5:00pm, I pulled out my food dehydrator & placed everything that was wet inside. I set it for the lowest setting & said a prayer.
Tuesday 5/30/06
1st thing I did when I got up was to say another prayer & check on my cameras & phone. They were all dried out & once the batteries went back in….they all work… Thank God!!
Overall this was my best fishing trip in the Boundary Waters ever. Thanks again to advice from Geofisher. We ate fish for one meal everyday of our trip. Cattyman Falls was spectacular, the best falls that I have seen so far up there. The weather was great temperature wise, comfortable sleeping & warm days. The black flies were the worst I have encountered, but I am already forgetting about that. Can’t wait to go back.
When you go through deep waters, I will be with you... Isaiah 43:2[/color]