So what did I do for my Labor Day weekend?
Friday afternoon I snuck out of work early with Juice to head up about 200 miles north of Duluth. I'll keep the location a relative secret, but some of you might just know where we were. I'll say this much, after crossing the Canadian border, we go another hour on paved roads before taking a gravel road even another 45 minutes further. That brought us to the boat landing (at about 9:30pm) where after about another 15 minutes by boat we pulled up to the cabin.
The crowd for the weekend was larger than usual. In addition to Juice and I were three Bob's, three mom's and and three son's. Ages ranged from 11 months to about 80 times that. It was a good crowd with some old friends and also some new faces.
Saturday morning brought the first of three big breakfasts for the weekend....pancakes, sausage, juice, tea, etc. Then fishing. The plan was to split the group up and Juice and I decided to take the portage/canoeing option. For those of you who need lessons in how to gracefully turn around in a canoe seat, do not ask us....to make the story short, we had to use our backup shoes, socks, pants and shirts while we let the others dry out. At least it happened in only a foot or two of water next to shore. (I'm sure later on we were in over 50 feet of water with plenty of gear with us). The fishing you ask? Excellent. An 18" smallmouth along with a few others in the 16"+ range. Probably a total of 3 dozen or more in about 3 hours. Then a paddle back to the cabin for a late lunch/dinner. The other crew caught some lake trout for dinner.....so the cooking began.
A great way to prep trout....it sounds odd, but it is excellent....is to boil bite sized pieces of it in 7up. Add some seasoning salt and it is like candy.
The remaining trout was grilled with lemon and onions and along with some simple salad and a lasagna, dinner was served.
After dinner at a cabin with no electricity, the sun dictates when the day is over. Coleman lanterns were lit, the loon calls were heard for a little while and all were asleep by about 10:00. It was a good day.
To be continued....