On the way up to the put in we met another group that was coming out .. they had made the run .. well kind of ... one had wrapped his canoe around a rock.
Anxious to get on the water the trip up seemed like it was taking forever ... we got on the water later in the afternoon and fished/paddled our way to a spot to make first camp.
We fished that evening and got 2 small ones and another 3 that we lost but felt like decent fish. So the next AM I was up at the crack of dawn ... here's is a pic of the island campsite we had ... rapids on both sides ... the park has really nice campsites.
There were lots of fish around the rapids ... in the eddies and also in the larger pools just beyond the rapids. Caught lots of small ones and a couple for brekkie ...
Here's some pics around the rapids near our camp ...
We are both white water virgins for the most part and since the river was at its highest level except for the early spring, we decided this was not the time to "run the river". So we portaged a lot. Because of this we didn't have as much time to fish as we liked ... my buddy had to catch a plane the next day so we had to make pretty good time. but when we did throw a line it was productive ... as long as you were still in the park we caught a fair amount of fish like the following ... outside the park near lots of cabins and the fish dried up.
Johnsons silver minnow worked well in the rapids and pools and the hula popper worked well in the quiet bays. When we stopped for camp or lunch we always had a line in the water with worm and floating jig ... we caught some small walleye and fallfish. Nothing of any decent size to report ... but lots of numbers.
We made second camp near this set of falls ...
Great site ... thank god it had lots of firewood because we were pretty tired from portaging.
A bit of background before the next pic ...
At this site I saw this large thing bobbing its head up and down out of the water .. i said to my buddy "come and see this .. i think it's a turtle !!" .. he looked and said "its just a log bobbing in and out of the water with the current" ... I felt like and butt ... so the next day whenever he saw a dead head he'd say "hey look another one of those turtles" ... grrrrrrr ... then yesterday he sends me this pic with the caption "look in the lower left hand corner .. there's something there .. but can't make it out" ...
This is the last pic I took as we headed past the last set of falls and to the take out.
I sure wish we had one more day to counter the portage time and give us more time to fish. If any of you are considering this section of the river I would certainly recommend it ... well maintained sites, lots of fish, scenic and not too much traffic this time of year. I would recommend that unless you have whitewater experience you take a course, be prepared to portage a lot or perhaps do it in the summer when the water is low. For us trying to manuver a boat with almost 1000 lbs of people and gear in a powerful current was not the time to learn white water. If you do go and want a referral for canoe rental please PM me.
I'll leave this post with a few more pics ... enjoy .. we did.
