I returned to the Boundary Water in September of 2017. Some of the group were repeats from the first trip and some were new guys who wanted to experience the same magical fishing we had enjoyed that first time. You can probably guess how that worked out.
We had chosen a different route, a different part of the park really, from our first trip. We did this on the advice of a local fishing expert. Yes, you know where this is going.
We did not catch a single fish. At least not one we could eat. It was very disappointing, in fact my friend was so distraught that at one point he started trying to grill a log. It was about the same size as the Northern Pike he had caught on the last trip.
The weather was also not as accommodating as on our last trip. It rained part of every day and was chilly. We did swim a couple of times but it was nothing like the indian summer of our last trip. You can see one of our boats out fishing. Collectively we probably logged over 100 hours of fishing with nothing to show. There had been a huge rain storm just a few days earlier and one thought was that a lot of fish food had gotten washed into the lakes. We spent a lot of time pondering that thought.
This undoubtedly sounds like complaining, but in truth we knew the fishing the first time was something special. Just getting out on the water, in such a beautiful part of the world, was more than enough. We had no injuries, no mosquitoes, and other than a flat tire on the way home, no gear issues. Altogether a great week.
