A long cold winter and an early Memorial Day gave us a chance to fish right after ice out! Fantastic fishing for big Northerns in shallow water! Seven Northerns 40″ and larger! 21 Northerns 35″ and bigger. Wow!
A great crew! Mark, Ron, Jim, Zack and John Cunningham, Steve and Tim Pelton, Kendall and Cade Strawmatt and Mark Wanous. Missed having Fred and the younger kids on this trip.
Thursday May 21, 2026
Without picking up Fred in Eagle River, I drove alone to Two Harbors MN along to meet the guys shortly before 1:00. Cool along Lake Superior. After lunch, John jumped in with me and drove to Rydens for gas and ice. Stayed the night at the Grand Portage Casino. Nice, reasonably priced prime rib dinner was tasty.
Friday May 22, 2026
Breakfast was again reasonably priced. Bought beer at the Duty Free store. Made it across the border without incident. Stopped at the Silver Minnow Bait Shop for leaches, minnows and to wrap Mark and Jim’s trucks in crash wrap. Met some logging trucks, but easy driving north. The main logging road was in good shape, dusty, but pretty smooth. After all the heavy snow they got over the winter and recent rains, the washouts were a bit deeper than normal. Talked to a strange guy on an ATV, he was seining minnows.
It snowed on Tuesday and we could still see snow in the shaded areas of the woods.
Zack found a moose antler shed on the side of the road.
Our Canadian friends had cleared the worst parts of the logging trail, so we made good time until Tim missed a turn and drove down the wrong road to their camp. After a brief visit to their camp and a slight delay, we made it to our camp in plenty of time to setup the tents and get the 5 boats in the water.
Saw a few Grouse, but they blend into the brown grass so well, they are hard to see.
Brats and beans for dinner and a nice campfire before the rain started at 10:30.
Saturday, May 26, 2026
Daughter’s tent leaked badly in the rain. First dripping into our faces, before we moved to just get the sleeping bags soaked.
Somehow forgot the coffee pot, but Jim and Ken made tasty egg coffee in a pan. Pancakes, eggs and bacon were tasty on a cool morning. Water temperature was 46.
We had trouble getting Mark Wanous’s Evinrude motor going, so we got John’s spare from the truck. Mark Cunningham’s motor died close to camp and had to town him back to camp. We swapped gas tanks to get that working.
We finally got all the boats going.
Four boats took off through the channel while Ken and Cade decided to fish the home bay first. Mark W and Zack got to the channel before their motor quit. Ken towed them back to camp to use my spare 15 hp Mercury. An inauspicious start!
Saw a loon with two chicks on her back! Saw two white swans and lots of ducks, but not many eagles, but Cade got a good picture of one soaring overhead.
Tim had some luck with his bottom bouncer with a spinner and a minnow near slip bobber point.
Jim caught a big 41″ Northern.
Zack caught this fat 41.5” fish and also 4 other Northerns over 35”!
Mark caught this 39″Northern with a couple bites on his skin and his brother Ron landed it to pose for the photo.
Cade landed the biggest Walleye of the trip, 22”! Ken caught a 19”. Those were the only big post spawn females caught during the trip.
Tim and I met Jim and John at the fish cleaning island.
As I pulled up to shore, my motor quit. I had a tough time getting it started and when it did start, it would not idle at slow speed. I finally was able to start the motor and hit the gas to get us back to camp. It quit again as we slowed down to land the boat, Tim paddled us into shore. Very frustrating!
Used Mark’s space heater to dry my sleeping bag.
John fired up the Fire Disc. Used Mark’s famous batter recipe to fry cheese curds, onion rings, hush puppies and fish. Very tasty, but almost too much fried food.
Cade made a nice campfire. Clear skies, bright stars and cooler temperatures.
Sunday May 24, 2026
More rain overnight. Another wet tent. The storm brought warmer temperatures. No biscuits, but toast was a suitable substitute with pork sausage and gravy.
We tried to remove and clean the fuel filter on my motor, but no luck. Tim and I volunteered to hike up to fish Lost Lake from the canoe so the other guys could fish the main lake. John’s motor is running on just one cylinder, tried changing spark plugs, but no luck. We brought 7 motors and 4 were not working!
It was comfortable temperatures for Tim and I to hike up to Lost Lake. Lots of down trees, some fresh from recent storms. We found one of the canoes tilted up. Must have been some strong winds!
The lake was calm near the mouth of the creek when we launched the canoe. Our casts towards shore were visible in the crystal clear water. Tim caught a nice Northern right away.
I had a Northern follow my spoon close to the canoe. I juggled it and he bit it!
A bit more wind on the wider part of the lake, so we mostly paddled close to the creek. Overall, we caught 10 Northerns and landed 6. Barbless hooks makes unhooking the fish easier. A beautiful day on the lake!
We put the canoe back in the woods. It was warmer on our hike back. A cold beer at the end of our hike tasted great!
Tried drifting across Lost Lake Bay for Northerns, but no luck. The rest of the guys did great on big Northerns!
Zack caught a bunch of big Northerns (41.5″, 38″, 37″, 35″), this was his 41.5” fish. Wow!
Jim caught this big 41″ Northern along with several other big fish (39″, 38″, 37″).
Ron caught this 39.5″Northern along with three more (38″. 37″, 35″) in just 15 minutes!
Our friends Mark and Davy were at the top of the hill. They had been clearing the trail, but their brush cutter broke down. To be social, I drove the 6-wheeler up and grabbed a couple of beers out of the cooler to share with them when two Ministry of Natural Resources officers drove up on two 4-wheelers (they call them Quads), one was pulling a boat.
Tim saw the people at the top of the hill and grabbed 4 beers to welcome them. He was surprised to see the two MNR Conservation Officers. They walked into our camp and checked our coolers without finding anything. Since Tim and I were canoeing, we had no fish. Cade and Ken were busted for having beer in the boat and taking the skin off the fish.
They busted Mark W, Jim and John for taking the skin off the fish. Same for Mark C, Ron and Zack. They used a satellite phone to verify Zack’s license. Fortunately we all had the required safety equipment (PFDs and Whistles). Mark argued about the practicality of cleaing fish away from camp to avoid bear problems, to no avail. They checked our camping permits, but quickly tired of reading 20 pages. Made some comments on needing to wear a helmet while driving the 6-wheeler and cutting down live trees, but no tickets.
They were nice enough guys, they even posed for a team picture along with Davy and Mark.
After the CO’s left, we had a few beers with Davy and Mark. While it was late, the Blackened Walleye Fish Tacos with dirty rice was a big hit! Clear skies, bright stars and cool tempetures around the campfire.
Monday May 25, 2026 – Memorial Day
Breakfast of French Toast, eggs and bacon was very tasty!
With only 3 boats for 10 guys, we decided to fish in shifts. 6 went out early in 3 boats. Rainy with periods of sun.
I caught a nice Walleye while trolling at the mouth of the channel to Lost Lake Bay. I caught two more nice Walleyes around the rocky island, all with Big Doctor Spoons.
I caught a big 41” Northern in 3’ of water. Tim did a nice job landing the big fish in the net, but after he scooped up the fish, the fish jumped up and almost out of the net! Just hanging on by the hook, Tim dropped the fish into the boat. It was a fat fish with a wide head that I could not grip with my hand.
Mark Wanous got a 38″ Northern on a Rapala.
Cade caught a nice 37.5″ Northern that he thought was a snag.
After the first shift got back, Ken, Jim and I cut down a lot of good dry dead trees. Tim stacked the wood carefully.
While the early shift experienced a mix of rain and sun, we came back to let the other 4 guys go out and fish in the afternoon. A huge thunderstorm blew through with heavy rain and strong winds.
Mark lost his hat and couldn’t zip up his raincoat as the storm hit. He was soaked!
After the rain, Cade split wood barefooted and got a fire going.
A Cajun style fish boil with potatoes and onions were a big hit! The skies cleared with a bright, nearly full moon over camp.
Tuesday May 26, 2026
Clear crisp morning. Breakfast of pancakes and bacon was great. The late shift hauled up all the broken motors while the early shift fished on a sunny bluebird day.
Tim caught the biggest fish of his life, a 39” Northern that followed his spoon up to the boat.
Both Tim and I had good luck fishing for Walleyes, but Tim’s spinner and minnow rig was red hot. We had a double of keeper Walleyes.
Mark Wanous caught a big 41″ Northern and a 35″ earlier.
Later, Tim caught his first 40” Northern!
Jim caught the biggest fish of the trip, a 42” Northern!
The early shift came back to haul the boats up to camp and start packing.
A beautiful night on the river!
We remembered our friend Marty Kottke who was a great addition to our camp last year and passed away in early May. Tim read the prayer card from his funeral. Life is short, enjoy every day! In honor of Marty’s birthday, many enjoyed a cigar in his honor.
Our last supper was a tasty pork steak.
As is our tradition, we warmed up the old grease and poured it on the campfire which created a fire visible from space!
Wednesday May 27, 2026
Egg, sausage and cheese breakfast sandwiches along with grilled potatoes and whatever Jim could find leftover from the trip. We packed everything up and we were on the road at 11:30. We made good time until a tire blew out on the trailer Jim was pulling.
We hit rush hour in Thunder Bay, but the traffic was not so bad. Across the border without incident. Gassed up at Ryden’s and made it to the Grand Portage Casino in time for needed showers and a nice buffet with pizza and other things.
Thursday May 28, 2026
John, Jim, Zack and Ron left at 6:00 am. I left at 8:15. The Owatonna guys stopped for lunch at Sammy’s pizza In Cloquet. A beautiful drive along the North Shore of Lake Superior. A fitting ending to a tremendous fishing trip!
Steve Pelton 