I went through my old photographs that have been thrown into boxes over the years. Much like these old photos, the years blend together in my memory. George and I scanned a few old photos from our trips. The quality is not great. Click on the photo to enlarge to see more details.
As I went through this photos, couple of things stand out. The big stringers of fish are gone with the two fish per day limit, we have had lots of different boats, motors and trucks. Also note how the trees have grown up around the old camp.
Many of us have grown a little heavier and a little grayer, but the rugged beauty of the lake, great fishing and the fun with good friends has never changed.
These two photos are from 1983. The path was drier and you could see the lake from camp. It should not be so amazing to see how the trees have grown.
In the 80’s we often shared camps with other groups, later we separated the cooking from the sleeping areas. George’s old truck and Tim Pelton’s tent help determine the dates to be late 80’s or early 90’s. Not exactly picture from the Cabela’s catalog!
The road kept getting worse in the 1990’s. Beaver dam over the road! Long stretches of water. We just drove right through it! It was bad idea to haul 2 canoes and the motor on the back in 1993.
Left is early 80’s. Mark Cunningham, Mark Wanous, Warren & Craig Hanson, Steve and Bruce Nelson (Fargo) . Middle is 1985 Craig, Mark W, Ron Cunningham, one time Tom , Steve, Bruce, Ron Hurlbutt and Mark C. Right is Mark C, Ron C, Tim Fischer, Mark W in 1988.
Our very first trip here was me, Mark Cunningham, Duane Miller and Paul Klinkner.
Mark Cunningham has caught a lot of fish on this lake. That old fiberglass Bauer’s Resort book must be from the late 1980’s. Mark’s big 39″ Northern, back when we brought back trophy fish.
Mark Wanous has fished from a number of different boats over the years and has always caught fish! Love the little 2hp, obviously the 9.9hp did not troll down slow enough.
George’s beard was darker. Notice the locator from Bruce Nelson’s boat used on George’s first trip in 1987. See the two tiller handles in the left picture, in 1991 we used both my 8hp and George’s 6hp to try to keep up with the boats with 15hp motors.
Tim Pelton always has fun catching fish in the boat or the canoe, but the first fish, regardless of size is special!
Craig Hansen has enjoyed catching fish in any kind of weather.
Tim Fischer and Warren had some action. Tim showed off a nice stringer!
Tim Fischer and I had a couple great trips, canoeing and fishing on Lost Lake. Good sized Northerns are expected, but a 25″ Walleye was a welcomed surprise!
Bruce Nelson from Fargo joined us on trips from 1983-86. Don’t see stringers like this anymore! When a big Northern tried to swallow a Walleye and Bruce landed them both! Bruce could catch a lot of Walleyes, even with Warren Hanson.
1987 was cold with snow and sleet on the way to Canada. We wisely spent the first night in a hotel and woke up to a heavy frost and snow. The Graham Road was badly rutted. the last 4 miles to camp was covered in snow. It was George’s first trip – why did he come back?
All the trips that Kendall Strawmatt has been on and most of the photos I have is when he is fixing stuff, like here with Tim Fischer, changing a flat tire on my “new” trailer in 2000.
Northern with the Walleye tail in the mouth and some nice stingers are some of my best memories from the old days.
Steve Pelton 