September 5, Day 3
Ben woke Marc and Jenn up at 6am. because they wanted to go fishing. It was a beautiful foggy morning when they went.
Foggy Moosecamp Morning
Foggy Moosecamp Morning
Foggy Moosecamp Morning
We slept in until 6:30am and woke up to make breakfast. Ben and I ate breakfast and watched to fog burn off of the lake. When Marc and Jenn got back a couple of hours later, we found out that Jenn caught a small walleye and northern that morning which they let go.
Ben Eating Breakfast
Ben cooked up some pancakes for Marc and Jenn. While we were eating breakfast we heard a loud splash across the lake. The sun was directly in our faces so it was hard to see what it was. Ben said it was probably a loon, but we later found out from the other campers on the lake that it was a Bull Moose swimming across the lake. Jenn was disappointed that we had missed seeing the moose. After breakfast Marc and Jenn said they would clean up camp so Ben and I could go fish. Ben and I paddled around the whole lake without a single bite until we got a few yards from our campsite and Ben caught a Walleye while I reeled in a northern.
Moosecamp Walleye
Ben kept the walleye since it was dinner size. After we got back to camp we had lunch and started packing for our day trip to a mile long portage that led to Wagosh Lake. We were going to fish the other lakes while on the way to Gun Lake where the start of the mile long portage was. On the way we all caught lots of small northerns on Bullet Lake. At the start of the mile long portage we decided to leave one canoe and bring the other along with the fishing pack, one canteen, one life vest, swim suits and all our fishing polls. We saw wolf tracks on this portage well traveled portage. I decided to time ourselves and it took us 18 minutes to walk across.
Wolf Track
Wolf Track
Wagosh Portage
Wagosh Portage
Wagosh Portage
Once we arrived at Wagosh Lake Jenn and I got to ride in the canoe while Ben and Marc paddled to the one campsite on the small lake. Marc wanted to go swimming in this lake hoping it would be warmer than the larger lakes.
Wagosh Lake
The campsite on the McKenzie map was not marked right and we had to paddle further up shore to find it. When we got to the campsite Marc suggested a contest between the couples. Each couple would paddle out to the lake and jump out of the canoe and back in while being timed. We all changed into our suits in the woods. Ben and I decided to go first since Marc said we had the advantage. This was my first time jumping out of a canoe and getting in so Ben gave me some instructions. When we were on the water we jumped in at the same time while holding onto the canoe. After that we grabbed onto the bars near the seats at the same time and hoisted ourselves up into the canoe. It took us two seconds to do all that. Jenn and Marc were pretty impressed. I swam back to shore afterwards, jumping out of the canoe again. Jenn and Marc were hilarious to watch. They are a bit bigger than us so it took them a little more effort to get back in the canoe but they did it in 1 minute and 27 seconds. Marc had missed filming us, so I insisted that Ben and I do it again. It took us a little longer the second time, but not by much - probably less than 10 seconds. After our contest Marc and Jenn kept swimming while Ben and I changed and went and fished the lake. I caught a small northern. After we fished some of the lake we paddled back to the campsite and picked up Marc and Jenn. The guys then paddled us back to the mile long portage. After the portage we decided to keep fishing Gun Lake in hopes of catching another walleye for dinner. We paddled up this narrow channel; Ben and I took one side while Marc and Jenn took the other. While trolling near a fallen tree Ben caught a bass that snapped his line under a branch. I caught a bass shortly afterwards near the same spot Ben caught his. We decided to keep mine even though it was small. Marc had wanted to catch a bass all the trip since he had never caught one before. He was eager to see the one I caught when we met up with them. Jenn caught a northern while Marc caught a dinner size walleye. After fishing a little more we started back to base camp before it got too late. Once we got back to camp we started filleting the fish right away. Ben filleted the small bass, I filleted Ben’s walleye, and Marc filleted his walleye (this time the way Ben and I showed him). At dinner the Farmers tasted the walleye and bass along side each other on their plate. Marc preferred the bass since it tasted more fishy. Jenn, though, liked the walleye more. After dinner Marc and Jenn went out fishing again while Ben started to pack up camp for our traveling day tomorrow.
Evening Paddle
After Marc and Jenn got back we had a campfire and cooked smores. We put the food pack up in the dark and went to bed.
Evening Campfire
