Adventures... West of Quetico
by Bryan Whitehead
Day Two June 5, 1995
My boys and I awoke to the roar of a float plane taking off - it sounded like it was about 30 feet from my tent perched way out on the point. I peeked out the tent door, the plane was indeed close taking off from the lake just behind our tent - it left the water and banked hard to port, its wingtips just a few feet off the sparkling water.
The morning was sunny, I heard pans clattering and smelled bacon in the pan. I wandered over to the busy kitchen, all burners were alight and the walleyes caught the evening before were filleted and ready to join us for breakfast. More and more campers woke up and rubbing the sleep from their eyes, were served a breakfast of thick pancakes, butter, syrup, extra rations of bacon, walleye pieces and mugs of steaming cocoa.
Cleanup was efficient and brisk as the teams paired off. The morning was bright and cool, the sunlight danced off the waves as boats were refueled and lures and bait were made ready. I took my assigned boat with my youngest son, planning on observing my buddy's spring fishing techniques. He didn't disappoint, tracking his canoe parallel to shore about 50 feet from the rocky lake edge. Running the canoe motor at a fairly brisk pace he proceeded to punish the shoreline casting and recasting his black and gold Rappala into the shallows and across the waiting Smallmouths hovering over their nests. Fishing was hot as following his lead as best we could we caught Bass after Bass. In the course of the next two hours we must have covered six miles of shoreline.
Back to camp for lunch, Bass were quickly cleaned and filleted, and quart bottles of soda were gleefully consumed by the boys as the fish were prepared on the large griddle. Sandwiches of sausage (and a few Peanut Butter and Jelly for the picky eaters) were also prepared. Stories about the ones that got away and favored lure colors were exchanged. My sons, who had never caught much under my inexpert tutelage, were excited and energized by the experience.
