Boundary Waters Bass

Date: August 3^rd

Weather: 85 degrees

Water: Beautiful

Beer: Fresh filtered water

            I need to get up to the Boundary Waters at least once a year to heal my bones. If I don’t, I have an emptiness inside of me that doesn’t have an outlet and keeps me waiting another year. It’s a place I hold dear with lots a great memories. This summer has been hotter than average and the BWCA is no exception, especially in the Ham Lake burn area since there are no sizable trees to produce shade.

            The weather was hot and the fishing was slower than I ever remember for early August. I hit some narrows hard with crank baits with minimal luck. Leeches worked best off of the rocky ledges next to shore. The bass were eager to slurp them up. Northerns were down around 20-25 feet. Walleyes were nowhere to be found but I can’t say I had the motivation to sit in a canoe vertical jigging. The weather was too nice and the water too beautiful to not swim. I caught quite a few nice bass in the 16-18 inch range. They fought great and tasted better.

            Better than the bass were the blueberries. They were everywhere behind our campsite. I picked my fill throughout the whole trip. We had blueberries pancakes and as an extra side for every meal. One of my favorite things to do is get down on my stomach and crawl through a blueberry patch like a snake, plucking the berries off the bush with my lips, snakeman style.