~ It stayed milder overnight only dipping to the low 50s. It was sunny to start the day and then it became overcast. The wind stayed milder today in the 5-10 mph range. The temperature stayed much milder as well only getting into the upper 60s today and it was even a little chilly for part of the day as a front rolled through midday once we had gotten to our new site.

We were up fairly early and stroking on down LLC by 8 am. It was a glass calm day and was perfect for traveling on the big water. I could not resist throwing my whopper plopper some in some fishy looking areas and wished that we would have taken more time fishing our way down this trophy lake. However, we were worried about getting a site, so I limited myself to the waiting times while we waited for some of our slow poke canoes to catch up to the group. I was able to catch some decent pike and some Smallies in limited fishing. It only took us a couple of hours to move down LLC, but the weather rapidly deteriorated with the sun disappearing and the wind picking up, but it was at out backs.

We settled in to one of the best campsites I have stayed at in 20 trips. We stayed at camp 177, and it sure is a beauty. (Supposedly, the island across the way is even nicer (camp 173) but my brother said he stopped there the day we left as it was empty then and he liked the one we stayed at more.)

I think it was around 11 am or a little before as we pulled into this gorgeous campsite. This site has it all, great canoe landings (multiple options), mature trees, tons of space, rocky points to fish from, sand beach on one side to swim from, great tend pads, lots of shade, breezy but protected areas if needed. Like I said amazing site. If I had to nit pick my only qualms would be you don’t have much of a view of the lake from the fire pit and the brown throne is very close to camp. We even caught some nice walleye and bass from camp during our stay.

After arriving at camp, we got out tents set up and camp organized some and the front rolled through. It was quite cool during the middle of the day and most of us donned our warmer layers. We explored our island some and most of us relaxed. We all set up hammocks and put our camp chairs out on the point to the North or on the West side of the site. Lots of great options. We cooked up a hearty soup for lunch and had some Bannock to go with it which was a great addition to our food arsenal that was new this year and will be returning. Most of us napped in our tents or hammocks during the midday wind and cool temperatures. We headed out mid-afternoon to explore the area with our fishing poles. Everyone fanned out in various directions with mixed results. Most people found bass and pike and a few of our crew were able to catch some walleye as well but it was rather slow going with the wind. We did find good-looking structure and locations to fish that we wanted to try once the weather was calmer in the evening. Zack landed a mid-30s pike without hooking it with his bare hands. The Northern Pike had t-boned a walleye he caught, and it would not let go. They got a cool video of it that I will try to link into the trip report if possible.

We all congregated back at camp in the late afternoon and had an early supper of teriyaki chicken stir fry. I dehydrated all the vegetables, and I thought it turned out really well. I think it will be returning on future trips. It is always nice to get quality veggies into your diet out in the bush.

Everyone but Jud headed out for the evening fishing exploits so that meant I headed out solo. The wind was a little bit of a pain to get out to my spot but not too bad. I anchored up on some good structure and had a quality slip bobber fishing evening catching 15 walleye, 13 Smallmouth, and a couple pike. I did cast a swim bait as well. The wind slacked off and it was a nice calm evening to fish and paddle pack to camp. The other canoes had done okay all catching bass and walleye, but I had done the best out of us for this evening. We had hot drink around the fire and told some hunting and fishing stories by firelight.

~Upper 30s overnight which was chilly once again. Friday dawned perfectly calm and sunny. It was a beautiful morning, and we wished that we were out fishing the calm conditions, but we elected to move today closer to our entry point and stay on Agnes for an easier last day. Very little wind today other than a few gusts throughout the day but was very pleasant. Temperatures got up into the low to mid 70s again which made it a little warm on us but not too bad.

We made quick work of the portages and picked out a camp to our liking and that would fit our group size and needs. I made ramen and veggies for lunch as others set up camp, filtered water, and relaxed some. Pretty lazy day around camp overall as the trip began to wind down. Jud and I took a canoe out into the middle of the lake to jump off for fun and swim around. Some nice neighbors jumped in their canoe and paddled out quickly to “help us” as they thought we had fallen out and were in trouble. We thanked them for their kindness but assured them that we were fine and just swimming.

Jud and I went out fishing in the early evening but were not having much luck so decided to go back to camp and regroup some. A couple people in our group caught some nice panfish right from camp so Jud and I decided we would elect to fish from shore for our final evening (I would come to regret this choice).

4 of our group elected to fish from camp for our last evening while the other 2 canoes ventured out in the lake. The 4 of us that fished from camp caught a decent amount of Walleye, Crappie, and Bluegill. All were nice sized fish, and it was a fun last evening slip bobber fishing from camp. We probably caught around 20 walleye that were 16-24” in length, 20-25 crappies from 11-15”, and a few really nice bluegill and a couple pike. We were very excited about our fishing success and relaxing night fishing from camp.

Little did we know the success that the two canoes had out fishing on the lake. Brad and Zac were trolling Rapalas along the North side of the lake and were catching both slab crappie and walleye at will. They did not keep track of their numbers but shared that it was non-stop action for a couple hours. They came back to camp around 8 as they had caught their fill and a week in the canoe was putting a toll on all of our bodies. That was why the 4 of us had chose to remain back at camp.

Tyler and Matt did not come back to well after dark. They did even better and said that they did not want to come In and were still hammering fish when they decided they should come in, so we did not worry about them. They said they lost track at 60 walleyes with a bunch of nice crappies as well. They said the fish were slamming everything they threw at them. They were fishing a weed line and were on the deep-water side of it and they threw crankbaits, rippin raps, swimbaits mainly for lures and caught crappies, Walleye, and pike on everything they threw. They both said it was some of the best walleye fishing they had ever experienced. Unfortunately, we had to leave the following day and did not have another night to fish this lake and I regretted being lazy and fishing from camp, but hindsight is 20/20.

For dinner I made spaghetti and cheesy garlic Bannock. We ended up having an extra meal leftover, so we ended up having this meal in the evening on our last night and it was a good final meal. The Bannock worked pretty well but I can make less next time and need to make the patties thinner, so they cook all the way through. The guys said they did not mind at all but some of the insides were a tad undercooked for my liking. The bugs were tolerable at this site during the day out on the breezy point but come evening were downright miserable. Even with multiple thermacells going in a small area hardly seemed to make a difference. (but it did when you left that area) Safe to say no fire at this campsite and everyone dove for their tents after stuffing their faces with food and doing dishes.

Another great experience in the Wilderness. I think it helped the boys end their summer/covid break on a high note before school resumed. I truly hope this wilderness is left pristine for future generations. I gain a new appreciation for the information I recieve from this site every year. Keep planning that next trip. Dreams make life tolerable.