It's On - I Hope

     There will be another Boundary Waters trip for this seventy-year-old man. My son-in-law set a date and I made a reservation. June 15, Pine Lake. This won't be a travel trip and there's a reason for that. It's name is Jakob. Gave a lot of thought to where and when, heavy on the where. The when, balanced on fishing and bugs. Ryan had said earlier the choice was between a spring or late summer trip. Late summer probably meant less chance of a mosquito hatch and zero chance of black flies. A good combination. Also meant the fish would probably be deep and maybe in the doldrums of lethargy. Figuring good fishing might be more to Jakob's taste, August was put on the back burner.
     In my mind, June's when the fishing's hot. Maybe. Should you be an angler, you know fish have mind's of their own. Be they bass or walleye, fickle is their nature. Weather, ice-out, spawning, wrong equipment, wrong man holding the rod, or just plain cantankerousness, all can throw a monkey wrench into the gears. Then mix in having to reserve an entry five months in advance and it's surely a crap shoot at best. So, you take what you know for sure, little as that might be, and go from there. So June it is.
     Then there are the insects of the air that can make a misery of the best fishing. What I know for sure is they'll either be there or they won't and June ups the odds they will. Such is life.
     Narrowed our choices down to three entries based on experience. First choice would have been a repeat of my first trip back in '66 to East Pike Lake. A tough portage in and no guarantee of a campsite as there are only three on the lake. Iffy at best. Third was last year's trip to Crocodile Lake. Wonderful walleye and perch fishing for sure but a hellacious landing at the portage and only one quality campsite. Our's last year was one of desperation. Would've moved had we a choice.
     Finally there was the happy medium, Pine Lake. No portage to access, many campsites, decent walleye and bass fishing, two trout lakes requiring nasty portages and a side trip to a waterfall. All good unless the wind's up. Seven miles of hill-hugged shoreline can turn seven-mile-long Pine into a wind tunnel. Oh well, can't have everything and like I said, the only thing I know for sure is the fishing tends to be good in June.