2022 Bear Hunt Day 9 - Fish, Beagles and Northern Lights

I woke up to my final full Manitoba morning.  Fantasy camp must come to an end, but not yet.  There is a bear in the freezer and fish to catch.  

We all met in the lodge for breakfast while the Utah crew had already gone out for a morning bear hunt.  Just before breakfast was on the table, Dave came in and said that Austin had shot a bear.  We all quickly finished our food and went out to look at Austin's bear - which was a really nice black bear.

But with fish to catch, Carter took Gene and I out for an all-day fishing adventure.

We spent the day fishing in various bays and inlets.  Some were more productive than others.  Gene did hook into a really nice pike.  It had one of the biggest lampreys I have ever seen.

I could not buy any fish larger than about 24 inches with or without a lamprey.

Just before lunch, we stopped by Kendall Point to see one of the newer lodges they are building.  It was really pretty, but not nearly as pretty as the view from Kendall Point itself.

The bay near Kendall has historically been a good one for smallmouth bass and it did not disappoint.  I hooked into a handful, with two really nice fish included.

Lunch was Carter's excellent fish tacos with exceedingly fresh pike.  Then we fished for the rest of the day.  Gene again hooked in to a nice pike.  This has not been my year for big pike (or bears).

Once Carter forced me to stop fishing, we headed back to camp.  I started to pack up for the trip home and turned my phone back on, setting it on the table in my cabin.  A text message from SO told me the canine issues we've been dealing with for 141 days are over.  Our new rescue dog who escaped and had eluded every possible attempt at capture was back at home.  She had gone into the neighbor's dog house to get out of the rain and SO had noticed her asleep in there.  The dog finally made a mistake.  The resolution of this frankly made much of the rest of the day a blur.

As it got dark, boats started to come in with the remaining hunters.  Erik had gotten a nice bear on the same size scale as my bear.  Doug got a huge sow.  Matt was unable to connect on his last night.

I booked again for next year - hopefully bears, weather and fish are all slightly more cooperative.  Regardless, I know it will be a great time.

The day ended with a showing of the northern lights, which was an incredible way to end the week.