| Our 7th annual
trip came and went so fast, I can't believe it's gone.
We had summer like weather, we all got sunburns. We did
go a week or two earlier than normal this year because
of schedule conflicts. We tried our best to get there
early to make sure we could secure "our" island. Well,
we didn't make it in time, when we arrived another group
was just beginning to unload their boat and there was
one small boat already there. The morning commute from
Lower to Middle Lake was so foggy that we actually got
lost trying to find the river. Well, I wouldn't say we
were lost but we certainly couldn't find the river. This
may have contributed to us not getting the island. |
 |
| When we realized
we weren't going to get our island, we reluctantly went
across the lake to "Hurricane Island" (actually it's
named Halfway Island, but if you read my report on our
2003 trip you'll know why we named it Hurricane Island).
The Island is conducive to anchoring the boat however
and we were able to do so rather easily compared to the
other island. We set up camp and waited for my
Father-in-Law to show up with his brother. He has been
trying to join us for a few years now but schedules
never quite enabled it. They showed up at about 1:30 PM.
We had already cooked and ate lunch, couldn't wait since
we skipped breakfast. |
 |
| So, it was
finally time to go fishing. We started at our "hot
spot". A drop off near a creek mouth. I landed a small
Pike pretty quickly there but that was it. We moved to
another favorite spot and again I got a Pike, about the
same as the first. The action seemed a bit slow. The day
was warm and clear so I attributed the slow fishing to
the weather conditions, but I wasn't complaining believe
me. The lake and surrounding waterways were as pristine
as ever. |
 
 |
| That night we
enjoyed some venison stew and a great nights sleep in
the outdoors. The Loons kept us entertained with their
songs and I dreamed of a bear coming into camp. Must've
been a swimming bear! We awoke early (well, not really)
and I cooked us some eggs, sausage, and corned beef
hash. Man that was good! We packed the boat with lunch,
snacks and refreshments and headed out to pursue the
mighty Northern Pike and whatever else would bite. All
the while listening to the likes of Johnny Cash, Charlie
Daniels, Jimmy Buffet and others. Oh yeah, Johnny Cash!
We hit a few favorite spots and the boys managed to get
on the board with a few Panfish and Bass. |
Roger kept his title intact
as the Perch King |
Jon caught this Pumpkinseed on and OLD standby. It's
never failed him yet |
| The weather
continued to be awesome and we spent the entire day on
the boat. That probably had something to do with the
sunburn! I even burned the tops of my feet as I spent
most of the day barefoot. Again, not complaining! The
pike fishing was a bit slow for sure, but I did manage
to land one more nice one at the hot spot that
afternoon. |
This guy hit real hard, came
in like a log and then went crazy at the boat when he
realized he was hooked. |
| We spent some
time in the creek where we fish some every year and
managed a few Smallmouths. A Bald Eagle spent some time
watching us there from a high pine branch. At one point
he flew over and had his landing gear down but pulled up
at the last minute. I love watching them grab fish off
the water. I think we saw an eagle every day on this
trip. It's great to see them at home in the Adirondacks
again. |
Love the way them Smallies jump |
| Back at camp we
had another great dinner, this time home made Wild
Turkey soup - yummy! We had another great night for
sleeping, just cool enough to make you stay in your
sleeping bag. The next day greeted us with sunshine and
warm weather again, but it was time to pack up. |
| Another year is
in the books. We had awesome weather but the fishing was
a bit slow. We are going to try to get back to our
schedule of coming up later in the month. I think the
cooler water makes the fishing a little better. We did
get to enjoy watching a canoe/kayak race on the lake the
day we were leaving. It must've been some sort of
marathon because there were literally hundreds of boats.
Single man, 2 man, 6 man canoes and many kayaks. They
ended up in the village of Saranac Lake so that must've
been some long race. As usual, the mountain scenes
around us were breathtaking. |
Hey, isn't that .............?...... never mind |
See ya next year
Back to
Saranac Home
(part 1)
jump ahead to part 2 |
