Ron and Joe on Knife Lake, July 30 to August 5, 2012

On our first day we paddled and portaged about 12 miles.  We enjoyed sweet corn, steak, salad and potatoes for our inaugural meal.  After bacon, eggs and hash browns for breakfast the next morning we paddled another 4 miles to what I call "home" on the middle arm of Knife Lake.  We spent the afternoon at the Bass Hole nearby and caught enough for supper.  I diced and rolled them in Cajun fish coating.  I served them on tortillas with rice.   Ron especially like the spicy flavor of my fish tacos.   Our next day trip took us to a waterfall that was a portage and 4 miles away.  Ron caught a Walleye and Joe scored with several bass.  We spent lunchtime in the cool mist of the falls.  That evening we had a fish fry and it was super delicious.  The fourth morning found us paddling towards Thunder Point.  The view from the top was awesome.  The canoes and people below looked like toys moving around in a giant forest full of water.   On the way back to  camp we spent several hours trolling deep for Lake Trout, and after a few miles we had nothing.   We paddled into my "Last Hope Bay"    We made several passes that covered the whole bay.  On the last turn to initiate the last pass Joe snagged something.  He was sure he was stuck on a rock or tree branch.  He had to reel with great effort and was sure he was retrieving a large branch.   Finally, after several minutes of toil, we caught a glimpse of what it was.  It was a 4 pound Lake Trout.  We couldn't have been happier.   That evening we covered it in onions, wrapped it in tin foil and roasted it over a bed of coals.   It was delicious.   We now had caught a Walleye, a Smallie and a Lake Trout.  To complete our mission of catching  the "Big Four"  our last last layover day was spent trolling and casting for Northerns.  Our efforts were futile and our theory was that the water was so warm that the giants had all moved to deep water.   We rebounded by catching several Smallies and  eating them for supper.  Our next to last day found us heading down river and covering about 14 miles of portages, rivers and lakes to our last campsite on Birch Lake.   Ron and Joe continued to fish for Northerns from shore as it was too windy to fish from the canoe.  We had Calzones for supper and prepared for our last leg of the journey, which took us back to civilization in the morning.  Ron and Joe were wonderful  to travel with.  I wish them goodness in their lives and hope that I can travel with them in the future.