Friday, August 20
I am up at 5:30am and meet Don and Ira at Charley’s house at 6:30am. We pick up Dennis and drive through some fog to the Cracker Barrel at Flint to meet the others (plus Ted to send us off, giving each of us a souvenir drink mug). After breakfast, the fog clears and it is a great day for driving up north on I-75. There are several "traditional" stops that are mandated: Exit 202 (Alger) for beef jerky, Exit 392 (Sault Ste. Marie MI) for gas and the Wal-Mart store, the Duty-Free Store for margarita fixings, the Canada Welcome Center (Sault Ste. Marie ONT) to exchange money, and Gino’s Restaurant for dinner (our waitress is Natasha). The two-hour drive from the Sault to Wawa includes many portions along Lake Superior or within Lake Superior Provincial Park. There is excellent early evening lighting to show off the scenery and rock formations. We arrive at the Algoma Motel in Wawa about 8pm. At the motel, I get a message that Mom and Dad G. are staying across the street at the Sportsman Motel. They arrived from Thunder Bay as part of their trip around Lake Superior. I join them for dinner at the Embassy Restaurant. They will continue traveling through Michigan, stopping to see Nancy, Dale, and Amy on their way back to Florida. Back at the motel, Don has distributed commemorative "Walleye Warrior" caps for everyone.
Saturday, August 21
We get up 5:30am and get a bite to eat at the nearby donut shop before driving to Lake Wawa, at the edge of town for the seaplane at Watson's Flight Service. We unpack vans and load the plane just as it gets light. There is a mist hanging over the lake, but not enough to hinder a take-off. Departure is right on time at 7am. Eight of us ride with Captain Phil. We have a long taxi and a long take-off, finally lifting above the lake and above the treetops. It is at that moment that our universe transformed.
The transformation was abrupt. Gone were the vans and the roads, the motels and the donut shops. The traffic, work schedules, household chores, nightly TV news, and cacophony of daily life were also gone. The view from above the treetops showed the vast, seemingly endless Canadian Shield, stretching from horizon to horizon. Only the rocky, heavily treed granite hills were visible at first, the lakes and bogs still slumbered beneath blankets of fog which appeared like rolls of cotton batting between the hills. The waters gradually awoke and uncovered as we continued the 45-minute flight. The hand of man barely scars the land beneath us. An occasional logging road twists a random trail through the interior. Beneath the eastern sun there is the golden glimmer of a singular straight line, the telltale signature of a chemin de fer, a road of iron.
A lake larger than the rest rose beneath us, its waters were the brightest blue from the morning sun and clear blue sky. The veterans in the plane point out Kabinakagami landmarks of past fishing glories. After landing at Pine Portage Lodge, there is a quick check-in and greetings for Bob at the dock, Betty and Mary Jane in the office, and Jenny in the dining room. The luggage is abruptly placed in our rooms as we hunt for fishing gear and hurridly depart for the 16-foot aluminum boats that we will pilot about the lake. I fish the first day with Charley. He instructs on the fishing basics. We use a nightcrawler harness, a 2-foot leader below the snapswivel and sinker. Above the hook are a few colored beards and a colored spinner blade. The single hook has a half nightcrawler, which trails naturally as we drift or troll, bouncing the sinker along the lake bottom. Trolling is usually along shorelines, at a distance of 50 feet to 50 yards. A soft strike on the lure usually means a walleye while a hard strike is a pike, and likely a broken line as well, as the pike can bite the harness or break the light line. Fishing was a little slow the first morning, but among the 5 boats, 18 walleye were kept for the first shorelunch.
The shorelunch is another pleasurable ritual practiced by this fishing group. The five fishing boats can be spread over the whole lake, but agree to meet at a designated lunch spot (today is Elmer's Island). The Lodge packs a lunchkit, complete with all utensils and side dishes, we supply the walleye. The fish are filleted, with the remainders tossed to squabbling seagulls, who are as acquainted with the meaning of a shorelunch as are the fishermen. The fillets are breaded and fried in oil in a cast iron frypan over a wood fire. The principal side dish is fried potatoes, with bread, cheese, ham, creamed corn, and baked beans also available. Rob Sr. is a master chef, the wizard of walleye, the Faustian fakir of frying.
After lunch, Charley finds a fishing hotspot, although many of the walleye are small, 9-12", but a few up to 16". All fish are quickly returned to the water. In late afternoon, we head to the Lodge for supper. Tonight (Saturday) is prime rib night, with salad bar, potatoes, corn, Yorkshire pudding, and pineapple upside down cake. (The menus repeat each seven days during the season.) After supper, there is time for 1-1/2 hours of fishing before the 9pm boat curfew. Evening fishing is among the most enjoyable, with peaceful water and good sunsets. My first day's catch was 13 walleye - not bad for a rookie, but I had a good instructor.
Sunday, August 22
It is another nice day, a little cool in the morning, but hot and sunny by late morning. Breakfast is the same as it is every morning, a choice of eggs (any style), pancakes, frenchtoast, or hot cereal. I fish in Don's boat today. (While all the boats have "identical" 15-hp motors, there are noticeable speed differences. Boat 22 is one of the slowest, although that is helpful when trolling slowly.) Dick's Point, one of Don's favorite spots and a normally reliable spot wasn't producing. We move by Elmer's Island and catch a few, keeping four for lunch. The boats all have a tape-measure decal inside to measure fish lengths. The decal requests that fish in the 14-17 inch range be returned, since these are the best reproducers. The fish we keep for lunch are accordingly just under this, about 13 inches. The smaller fish are acknowledged better eating anyway. The shorelunch today is at Banana Club. In addition to the usual flock of seagull hosts, there is a red squirrel that is used to picnickers. The afternoon gets very hot and the fishing really slows down. My only fish of the afternoon is a pike. I finally land one (24-1/2") after losing tackle on the first 3 or 4. Pike are slimy, hard to unhook, flop around the boat, and get tangled in everything, in addition to breaking lines when hooked, so they are not the favorite of the walleye fisher. Supper was chicken in mushroom sauce. Evening fishing was also slow, but two loons entertained close to the boat.
Monday, August 23
There is low cloud cover early, no seaplanes come in until late in the morning, when it becomes sunny by noon. I fish again with Don. There are lots of fish today. Don ends with 38 walleye, 5 pike, and I get 22 walleye (also my largest, at 18") and 2 pike. I succumb to the fisherman's superstition that the color of the spinner blade is important in attracting fish. Generally, I went with cool colors (like green) on cloudy mornings, bright colors or reflective metallics when the sun was bright and high overhead, and warm colors (like orange or red) near sunset when the sun was low. Huge birds are flying everywhere on the lake. Today the flight traffic has eagles, ravens, and an osprey. A great shorelunch today, at Elmer's Island again. In mid-afternoon, fishing is still so good we need to radio Dennis and Ira to share their nightcrawlers in exchange for showing them our "hotspot". For evening fishing, the water calms to glass, the sun reddens and sinks to the water to end the day.
Tuesday, August 24
Again the day is overcast to start, but becomes sunny in the afternoon. I ride in Ira's boat. Lunch is at "RSM" (The Lodge is uncertain of the origin of this name. They believe it is the initials of a friend of Dick Watson, the Lodge's founder.) At lunch, the walleye seem to taste better each day. In the afternoon, Ira and I do more sightseeing than fishing. We also try some still fishing, drifting, and casting weedless lures. We motor past rocky cliffs and past high sand cliffs. The water is low this year, so care is needed to avoid numerous rocks just at the waterline in portions of the lake. The Oba River visit was a highpoint for the day (except for losing 3 harnesses to pikes there). The river winds about, with grasses on both sides of the channel. Above an A-frame cabin, it opens for a time into a small lake. Ira does very well back there, catching an 11-1/2" perch and a 17-1/2" walleye, pulling him to within 1/2" of the contest lead. We barely make it back for supper at 6:30pm. On the return trip, we can hear conversations on the FRS radios between other boats and someone at the cabin. The cabin (which is on top of a hill) can be heard at Dick's Point, 3-1/2 miles away over water. In the evening, we again have a still lake and a red ball of sun sinking below clouds. After making attempts at lunker walleye, we spy 2 beaver moving across the water. Approaching them, one beaver slaps at us 3 times, then resigns himself to heading to its lodge until we motor away. Back at the Lodge, most of us gather in the central living area of the 5-room Hospitality Suite. (The other 4 rooms are bedrooms, I share with Charley and Dennis.) Tonight was devoted to nightvision demos of Rob Jr.'s digital camcorder and retelling old Saturday Night Live episodes (I guess you'd have to have been there).
Wednesday, August 25
The morning started hazy but warm. Dennis and I went together in the morning. The fishing started slow; we went to four locations and got only three fish. Finally on the fifth spot there were a few more hits. We caught 6 walleye, with 4 in the eating range (about 13"). The shorelunch was again at RSM. As usual, the fare was 14 walleye, fried potatoes, creamed corn, cheese, spam, and cookies. A fish census count said we needed 29 more fish to take home our limit (52). Lots of "keepers" had been tossed back in the morning, figuring no problem at the current catch rates. The afternoon fishing proved bad. Sunny, air temperature of 90F, surface water temp of 80F, and the walleye stop biting. I'm with Don. We eke out 4 keepers, 12-14", with much effort. Others do just as poorly or strike out. We give ours away and Don gets two more. After supper, we need 6 more, which is not a problem. The heat is much reduced. Until that evening, I went the whole day on one crawler harness, a record for me, finally broken by a humungous unseen pike and by someone's sunken anchor rope. On our return to the Lodge, we see flocks of cormorants returning from feeding, a glowing red sky, and a full moon glistening on the water. Back at the Lodge, we pack up and total the fish. Rich is the Big Fish winner with 55-5/8" for walleye + pike + perch. Ira is second and Dennis third. (It helps to have actually caught an elusive perch.)
Thursday, August 26, and Friday, August 27
Getting up around 6am, the setting full moon over the lake was impressive. It turned reddish orange as it sank below the glistening water straight down into the lake. We put luggage on the porch and had the usual breakfast and took a few group photos before the planes landed. We departed at 8am for the 45-minute return flight. Over Kaby Lake, I could recognize some of the fishing spots we'd visited. The flight over the Shield is again impressive with its blotches of lakes and bogs spreading across the rocky treed hills. With Wawa in sight, the feeling of stepping back into the real world is noticeable. After landing in Wawa, we efficiently load the vans and are on the road by 9:30am. The traditional stops are Young's Country Store, the Canadian Carver, the Bushplane Heritage Museum in the Canadian Sault, and the Duty-Free Store. In Sault Michigan, we stay at the Super 8 Motel. For supper, we visited Antlers' Bar to see all the animal mounts and hear the loud whistles. Supper was at Abner's Buffet, followed by a shuttle bus visit to the Kewadin Casino by some. Don and I return early, about 9pm. Rob Jr. also returns early, about 4am. Friday morning was mostly nonstop driving, except for a late breakfast stop in Gaylord. We return home in mid-afternoon.
Wildlife spotted, in order of appearance:
muskrat
bald eagle
raven
red squirrel
loon
merganser (sawbill)
gull (flying rat)
black duck
garter snake
cormorant
chipmunk
black-capped tern
beaver
leopard leech
porcupine
osprey