The rain moved out as it got light. Temperatures were still nice, but the forecast was for the front that came through to cool things down from the previous day's high near
I fished around camp with some jerk tubes Ken at work had given me to try. I didn't land any pike in the early morning, but I definitely did piss off a bunch with it. I had several hits down by the boat ramp and one fish almost came out of the water onto the dock twice near the lodge. Most of the pike in the bay near camp are small - I'll give the jerk tubes another shot.
After breakfast, I went fishing with Bob. We started out near Wally Bay, drifting around rocky points and through weedy areas. We hit a few pretty good pockets of pike and probably brought in somewhere around 15 pike total and one oddly green small mouth bass. The largest pike was a 28-incher.
Most of the other boats out did similarly well. One of the Arizona guys caught a really nice 41-inch pike. Fishing was decent; I've definitely seen it better here. And this rain and forecasted cool weather will probably affect the fishing. Of course it could make it worse...
After lunch I joined Carter and the younger Arizona guy to go up river. We were headed up to feed bear stands and do some fishing nearer the fly-in areas. Weather was cooling down slowly, but in the boat for 25+ miles it did get cold - especially on the way back.
The scenery along the way is quite amazing. Mile after mile of uninhabited water and trees. We saw almost no other boats and the few we did see were connected to bear camp. The river is extremely low this year, so rocks and outcroppings that normally need to be avoided are now out of the water. Areas that were not dangerous now have prop-damaging reefs.
And while it didn't take in the picture very well going past at speed and some distance, we saw several eagles as well (there are about three flying in the picture below).
The relationship between Canada and the UK is a little more complicated than it needs to be. It isn't part of the UK and is probably culturally closer to the heathens to the south in the United States. So hopefully this weather-worn flag plunked down on on a rocky point implies some sort of imperialistic anger? Or maybe the low water gave the British the 16th century notion that new land belongs to them. I'm sure there is a story there...
Seeing all the bear baits was fun as well. I walked into the Gas Can stand where I shot my first bear almost a decade ago. The water was very high then; between that and the growth and other changes over the time, it was almost unrecognizable. It did mentally take me back to that very cold May. That hunt seems like it could be forever ago. The of time can be relentless. But I know I'm exceedingly fortunate to be here for a fourth time along with so many other adventures through the years.
The Honey Hole stand was anything but. The low water meant beaching the boat in some of the stickiest, gooiest, muck I have ever seen. I was wearing some of Vance's boots which didn't fit terribly well and the muck held on like grim death.
Fishing along the way was quite good as well. I don't know how many fish we brought in, but it was probably over 30 with a number of really good hits in addition to the landed fish. The largest two were 29 inches and 33 inches. We had several good followers as well which is almost as exciting as bringing the fish in the boat. The 33-inch pike followed my lure in, hit it a couple times at the boat, hit Arizona's lure, then Carter finally got it on hook. The fishing hopping lures happened a few other times as well.
It was a bit interesting hanging out with two guys significantly younger than me - younger collectively than me. It is a lot like working with interns at work - fun, but a good reminder that I don't want to go back to that age. And atavistic attempts would be suicide anyway.
Back at camp the hunters started to roll in. Amanda from Iowa shot a really nice chocolate-phase bear with some blonde streaks. She was really happy and color phase bears aren't too common here. Other Iowa guy shot a bear around the same size as mine with a bright white "V" on his chest. He was thrilled as well.
Down river, the older South Dakota guy shot an absolute monster of a sow - a solid 400 pound bear and built like a tank. Waiting for the right bear usually pays off.
As we finally ate dinner, I saw Stephen Colbert come on. No doubt about it that bear camp screws up the body's schedule - especially for a morning person like me.
But I guess that is just part of the fun.
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