I somehow survived until daylight, when I was able to reel in two more northern pike from the docks. They were small, but the day was already improving.
After breakfast, Dave took Pat and I out for fishing. The rain had moved out of the area and the conditions were generally improving - it was becoming a pretty nice morning. We stayed in the area not too far from camp and cast for pike. I brought in a couple small pike and, somewhat oddly, a few small bass in areas where normally I haven't previously caught bass. But I'll take it!
I had started off using a chatterbait, but at some point switched to my favorite ... a spinnerbait. Shortly after the switch, I hooked into one fairly nice pike. It hit hard and took off, pulling drag line with it (my drag is set a little light). It took a few minutes to bring it towards the boat. SNAP! The line broke. I swore. Then - very oddly - the line started pulling again. I unswore and brought in a 34" pike.
What was very odd was that the lure had actually broken, not my line. And since the hook part of the lure was no longer attached, I'm very confused about how I was able to bring in the fish. Maybe he just really wanted to break the monotony of watery life for a few minutes.
After a tolerable, but a bit slow fishing morning and lunch and a nap, it was time for bears.
Weather was nice, but a bit breezy. Forecast was for warm, but all the projections were for no rain. Dave took Pat and I out on road baits; I was set up on Bear Creek.
The wind dramatically picked up after getting dropped off. And it was generally toward the bait. This was an uneasy situation. And as often happens, I was having a difficult time settling in on the first night on the bear stand.
I won't say the wind made me uncomfortable being in a treestand, but it was close to that at times. The afternoon passed rather slowly. With less than optimal conditions, no bears showed up. That is a long, long time to sit in a treestand in the lonely bear woods.
As darkness approached, it started to spit rain a bit. This increased sporatically over the final hour or so in the stand until, when Dave finally came and got me in the darkness, it was full on raining. My mood was sour.
Back in camp, only Kelly and Carla had seen any bears. Carla had one which just stared and wouldn't come in. Kelly (on the Meanest Sow in the Woods stand), saw three smaller ones and a decent one which also wouldn't come in.
No doubt the wind affected all of us.
I was ready to turn in after a far-too-late salmon dinner.
