"Into the thick of it" - Boundary Waters Edition

After hearing many of my customers and the locals recommending going “up north”, I knew it was something I would have to do. My uncle had visited The Boundary Waters either in the very late 80’s or start of the 90’s, and he shared the name of the outfitter he used.. Thirty years later I booked a trip through the same group. 

My cousin, Nicholas, flew from Charlotte, NC to Minneapolis on a Thursday. Our goal was to drive four and a half hours north of the Twin Cities, past Duluth and just past Ely, MN. About fifteen minutes from arriving at La Tourelle Guiding Outfitter, we realized Nicholas had forgotten his fishing license at my house. I guess we were too excited loading up all of our gear. Luckily, Ely, MN is in some ways a fishing tourist town and we found a hole-in-the-wall tackle shop that was able to print Nick's license without even charging us. This was a real tackle shop that you can tell has been there for years and smelled like live bait. While there, we did end up buying a few stickers and fishing items we thought would help our chances. Side note, it only takes one run in with the DNR to remind you that taking a chance on not having the proper papers is just not worth it. 

We arrived at La Tourelle around noon, and I have to say it is a well-run organization. They have summer hires to help load and unload all of your gear. We sat down with the owner/ operator, Bob, and signed all our paperwork stating we wouldn't sue if a bear ate us. Bob spent time going over the map with us in pretty good detail, marking camping spots, as well as well known fishing holes. La Tourelle doesn't just offer camping trips, but has a handful of cabins for rent right on Moose Lake as well as 12-15 bass fishing boats for rent. We were only going up there for two nights, which is definitely the shortest time period one can go. On average folks go for an entire week during the summer months before the lakes freeze over. In fact, there was one man who has been out there since February. 

We had hired a boat to bring us to our first portage. Portaging is where you get out of your canoe and must carry all of your gear across land until you reach the next body of water. We had one aluminum canoe and four backpacks that were big enough to hold all of our gear. When I put these packs on my back, I felt like the kid from the movie UP! “The Wilderness Must Be Explored”. If you don't know what I am talking about, google it.  We got in the jon boat with the canoe on top and headed out. When asking how long the portage hike would be, we learned that people don't explain the distance in feet or any form of regular distance. They use the term “rod”, meaning the length of the average fishing rod, which really didn't help me understand how far the damn hike would be hauling this gear. Nick agreed to carry the canoe first, and I carried one bag on my back and one on my chest. I let Nick go first as I knew I would be slower. We walked for three or so minutes, and I saw Nick slow down around a corner. I thought to myself, why on earth is he waiting on me? I told him, “Go on, keep going, don't wait.” He replied, “ We are here”. In fact folks had built the portage up to be some long trek, when in fact, it was actually a fairly short walk. At least this one was. Some portages can be quarter miles and even half a mile. The further you go in, the less people you will see, and possibly more wildlife. 

It took us two trips to get all of our gear to the next body of water, and then we headed on our way. We were racing a group of Boy Scouts, who not only had three paddlers per canoe, but also lighter weight canoes. There are many types of canoes and no, not all of them are sold through REI or Bass Pro Shop. Most people in my opinion are used to the bright green or red plastic canoes, wooden canoes, or aluminum canoes. In MN specifically, if you want to have the best canoe, you get a Wenonah Canoe. Wenonah Canoes are made of fiberglass and are often thin enough to see through. The benefit is a much lighter canoe which provides less drag on the water and easier maneuvering through Portages. Regardless, the Boy Scouts won handily,  as we had two people and a metal canoe. Once we got away from what the Park Rangers call “Lake Lice'', aka Boy Scouts, we were pretty much alone. We canoe for two or more miles in the middle of the day before finding a campsite we thought would work. We named it “Rhyne Rock” and began to unload our gear. This took us quite a while as we had to set up two tents and get the kitchen ready. Once the base camp was set we went on our first fishing adventure. Morale was low, however, as we didn't catch one single fish our first afternoon. Not even a nibble. 

A few things to mention, we made this trek up North during a drought, where the water was a solid foot or more lower than standard. We also went during a fire ban, which takes away from the camping atmosphere, but we were not short on smoke. The fires in Canada left the whole sky in a haze. Nick and I both had terrible headaches and could not get relieved of them while we were up there. Upon arrival,  before we had dinner, we decided to swim across from our camp to an island on which we had seen an eagle. We found that the waters we were in had an abundance of crawfish to which we agreed we would eat if we could not catch fish. We overestimated how close the island was, but it was nice to cool off and explore. 

Sleeping in the middle of nowhere was much different than camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We were .2 miles from Canada and had zero and I mean ZERO cell service. We had to tie our food up in a tree and pray a bear didn't come into camp. Falling asleep was actually a breeze. The sound of Loons in the distance, the state bird of Minnesota, and all of nature's sounds helped me fall asleep very quickly. If you have never heard a Loon, go on youtube and you will be able to understand how strange they sound. The sun didn't go down until 9:40, and even then it was still light enough to walk around camp. 

Saturday Morning came pretty quickly. We both woke up around 6:30 and began cooking our oatmeal. By 8am we were loaded up and ready to go fish our hearts out. Overnight we left a line with a bobber out on the water and were lucky to find a small fish had been caught. A new day, and morale was high as we set out to a specific area on the map known for Walleye. We didn't have an anchor, so we found a boulder and tied it to our rope. It worked pretty well as we fished for an hour, but we didn't catch a damn thing. We decided to head over to an Island and try fishing from shore where we could stretch our legs. 

We named this island “Beaver Island'',  as we had limbs all over it that beavers had chewed down. We also found a solid amount of dead fish on the bank that either an eagle or some other animal had eaten. We started casting and saw one Walleye and one Pike following our rooster tails, but did not bite. I had a headache that impared me pretty badly so I went to a rock and sat down to continue casting. It took about an hour, but finally I was able to scream the words we were waiting to hear. “Fish on! ''. I caught the first fish of the trip, which happened to be the first Northern Pike I have ever caught. It wasn't a wall-hanger by any means, but it was awesome. Next thing I know I have caught another Pike, and then another. The third  was a respectable sized fish. Going on say, well over 24” inches. Likely closer to 32”. Right before we decided to canoe home for lunch, Nick caught a dandy Bass, as well. 

We headed back to camp for lunch, which was a mile trip. I set up a hammock and tried to close my eyes while Nick was down by the water fishing. I heard a noise off to my left and knew it was a squirrel. It made a bit louder noise, and I slowly looked up as it sounded a bit bigger. I looked and finally saw movement and was shocked to see a hen grouse 10 feet away from me. I have never seen a grouse and was surprised at how massive they are. She was the size of a chicken, but with such strong camouflage. I whistled to get Nick to come, and as I did, a male grouse came out of nowhere and was in full strut like a turkey. Nicholas and I watched the two interact with one another for a solid fifteen or more minutes. Neither of us had ever seen that species of bird, and for quite a while the birds didn't know we were there. They interacted with one another just like Turkeys. 

The afternoon fishing went better as we both caught a few Bass, but no Walleye. We went back to Beaver Island, but as we were there, the wind picked up terribly. Nicholas and I had to work hard to get home before dark. The canoe was constantly blowing into the bank, and we were worn out once we got back. We cooked our Bass for dinner... which tasted pretty damn good. The smoke in the air made for a beautiful sunset, and we sat and watched it before going to bed. The next morning we packed up and started our trek back to our pick-up zone. I was able to get one bar on my cell phone by standing way off in a specific location,  and I called in our boat. All in all, we had a blast. 

This trip was quick and fun, but we learned a few things we can do to make it easier the next time we go...yes, the next time! “ Less is more”  is definitely the motto of a trip like this. Here are a few items that save time and weight or are worth the weight:  Camping table, Coleman double gas stove, pop up tent -vs- heavy older tent, cheap Walmart water shoes with covered toes, and actual folding chairs. The practicality of simply having a table would have made the trip so much easier. Clean service, don't have to bend over, and so much more. One pot and one pan. No need for extra bowls, plates, and multiples of things, just bring bowls and serve everything from that. I would recommend everyone try this trip at least once. Also, as usual, I have another trip on the horizon.

VIDEO CREATED BY NICK

Click Here