Weather could have disrupted our trip with a tornado hitting Iowa and damaging John Cunningham’s home and strong winds knocking down a tree on our house in Wisconsin.
Fortunately, we had a crew scheduled to replace the roof on our storage building, they had the equipment and manpower to remove the tree and repair the roof quickly.
Thursday, May 23, 2024
12 guys – Big crew! Mark, Ron, Johnny, John and Jim Cunningham, Kendall, Cade and Carter Strawmatt, Steve and Tim Pelton, Fred Bouwman and Mark Wanous.
I picked up Fred at Eagle River Hospital and met the big group in Two Harbors. 62 with bright sunshine along Lake Superior. Bought beer at the duty-free store at Ryden’s. No line at the border. Checked into the Airlane Hotel in Thunder Bay. The attached Mexican restaurant was open, so a few guys ate there, and the rest had pizza delivered to the room.
Friday, May 24, 2024
Breakfast buffet was good at the hotel. Cool morning – 39 degrees. Got leaches at the Silver Minnow bait shop. Little traffic on Hwy 527. Hwy 811 was freshly graded. Water levels were high after recent rains, spilling over the old logging road in many places.
Hit a deep hole in the washed out road. See videos:
Washout
The rest of the road was in pretty good shape, only a few trees needed to be cut and moved out of the way. Tim, Ken, Cade and Carter made quick work of the downed trees.
With dark clouds forming, we setup camp quickly. We got the important stuff in the supply tent before the rain.
We got the boats in the water just as the rain started. Rain continued off and on, so we cooked brats on the Blackstone grill. Tim, Ken and I cut firewood. Tough to get a fire going.
Saturday, May 25, 2024
Cool, overcast morning. Biscuits and gravy tasted great and warmed us up.
Fred and I fished our traditional spot, Slip Bobber and I quickly caught a nice 17.5″ Walleye.
I had a big Northern follow the small walleye I had hooked. Took a bite and made a big splash near the boat but spit it out. A short time later, Fred landed this fat 39″ Northern!
Fred and I caught our limit – nice stringer of Walleyes.
After cleaning the fish and putting the fillets on ice, we experimented fishing in some areas that I had not tried for a few years. Using a Rapala to save leaches, I caught a big 26″ Walleye!
Tim, Mark W and the Strawmatts fished the Far Back Jack Lakes. Cade and Ken both caught 19″ Walleyes as their first fish. They then tried Clear Jack Lake, Carter caught 37″ and 36″ Northerns!
Mark W caught a 21″ Walleye. Mark C landed a 20″ Walleye and lots of 18″ fish. Jim caught a 35″ Northern.
When we returned to camp, we were surprised to find a boat turned over at our landing. We speculated who dropped off the mystery boat and left. No license on the boat. Nothing was disturbed at camp, but questions remained. Later in the trip, some of our guys talked with the two guys from Thunder Bay who were camping north of us and using the landing – mystery solved.
Heard grouse drumming around camp. Several ducks. Fred and I had two loons swimming next to our boat. Saw lots of bald eagles and a huge golden eagle around Lost Lake Bay.
Enjoyed Mark C’s special recipe for a wonderful fish fry. Johnny, Ken and Tim found some tall, dry, standing dead trees. They cut the trees and used a chain to drag the logs back to camp with the 6-wheeler. Cade and I cut up the logs. Carter split the wood and stacked it nicely.
Clear night, the stars were so brilliant! A full moon came up later in the night.
Sunday, May 26, 2024
Beautiful morning with clear blue skies. A hardy breakfast of pancakes and bacon. Mark C had trouble with his motor, but it was just a loose hose connection.
With the closing of the old Owatonna High School, Cade bought an old school desk. Tim and Mark W brought it to Weber Point. Tim nearly tumbled over in his first attempt in sitting in the chair. I guess we were much lighter in High School!
Nice breeze, good Walleye chop. Fred caught a 17.5″ Walleye on the first pass.
Fishing was slow. Noticed mayflies on the surface of the water, never good for fishing. Tried several spots near our old camp without much luck, but we filled out the stringer by fishing the weeds in the old home bay. Went back to Weber Point to clean fish on the desk.
Watched Jim land a fat 40″ Northern at the mouth of the channel going back to Lost Lake Bay.
Jim had a great day fishing, he also got a 22″ Walleye.
Mark Wanous caught a 37″ Northern that made 4 runs before Tim got him in the net. Cade and Carter caught +30″ Northerns. Tim was the king of the 14″ Walleyes!
The Strawmatt family saw a big moose walking along the shore. Cade captured a very cool video, click here to watch.
Blackened Walleye Fish Tacos were a big hit! After I seasoned the fish, Ron cooked them on the Blackstone instead of the charcoal grill and the fish stay moist and tasty. All the taco fixings!
Cade kept a nice fire while Carter melted down aluminum cans in the smelter (aka the baked bean can). The men were happy to provide plenty of empty beer cans.
Monday, May 27, 2024 – Memorial Day
Beautiful blue sky day! French Toast and Sausage was a great breakfast. A perfect day to hike up to Lost Lake. Ron, Johnny, Tim and I took slightly different routes, but we found the canoes without too much trouble.
Johnny caught a nice Northern while casting from a big rock before we got into the canoes.
Tim caught several Northerns on the first shoreline.
I had several Northerns follow my Doctor Spoon right up to the canoe. I landed two after having my spoon do the figure eight.
It felt good to paddle again. We had to paddle hard to make headway against the wind. We found an old boat along shore. With a big tree laying on top, it doesn’t look like the boat has been used in quite a while.
A fun day with good friends!
As we walked back, we noticed several eagles along the creek. Lots of minnows in the creek below the beaver dam. A cold beer at the end of our hike tasted great!
We tried fishing the Lost Lake Bay with little success, but as we trolled our way back to the main lake, Ron caught a nice 40″ Northern.
Tim landed a fat 35″ Northern on a Hamm’s.
Mark Cunningham caught a 27″ Walleye – his biggest ever on the lake he has fished for nearly 50 years!
Cade caught and lost a nice Northern when it slipped off the stringer and back in the lake.
Mark Wanous caught a nice 22″ Walleye.
Carter caught a nice Walleye.
Johnny caught three big Walleyes 20-20-21″ in the same area! Tim and I saw a mink swimming toward shore and getting up on a log.
Cleaned fish on the island.
Tim drove the boat while I took some pictures of the prettiest part of the lake.
Another great fish fry with onion rings and baked beans. Nice fire.
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
Cloudy morning. A hardy breakfast of diced potatoes, bacon eggs and cheese. Light rain. Tim and I fished Clear Jack Lake. The big beaver dam was leaking water.
Tim caught a 34″ Northern on a Yuengling and I joined him.
Had to work for our last two Walleyes, but we caught lots of keeper Northerns. Johnny caught another 20″ Walleye. Carter kept catching big Northerns – 8 over 30″ for the week!
John caught a fat 36″ Northern.
Jim caught a nice 22″ Walleye.
Mark C. had a tough day, he caught a lot of 14″ Walleyes before slicing his finger open while cleaning fish. Fortunately, Fred used to work at a hospital (in IT) and he patched him up.
We cleaned fish on the island with the Strawmatt family. Ken agreed to clean all the Northerns, while the sea gull patiently waited on the rock.
Last day on the water. We hauled the boats out of the water and brought everything back up the hill to camp. Started packing up our gear. Enjoyed pork steaks and potatoes for dinner before we relaxed around the campfire. Grease from the fish fry was dumped on the fire to make another “fire visible from space!”
Cold clear night! From the frost overnight, it must have gotten down below freezing.
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
Up early to break camp and pack the trucks. Fred made ham, egg and cheese sandwiches. Took a great team photo! Good group!
Water levels were down on the way out, but we stopped to throw big stones into the worst spot in the washout. Much easier to get out.
Saw a beaver running fast along the road. Kept up with the truck until running across the road into the creek.
We made it out in near record time. Got to the hotel in Thunder Bay to share photos and eat pizza. Mark noticed that Cade looks like Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Ronnie Van Zant. You decide.
Great trip! No equipment breakdowns. Decent weather. We ate like Kings! Good fishing, some big fish. 27 and 26″ Walleyes. Two 40″ Northerns and a 39″. Lots of Walleyes over 20″ and Northerns over 30″. Saw a big moose, a beaver, a mink, a golden eagle, bald eagles, ducks and loons. Great group of guys!
Please note that more pictures will be added after Carter has his 35MM film developed. Stay tuned!
Steve Pelton 