I looked at the clock as we sped towards Tobies in Hinckley. 5:58, 5:59, BOOM exactly 6 am. Exactly when we were supposed to arrive. Faw-kinn-ae! Of course the Hunterdown party was already there. So was Derrick and his Dad, Curt and Dexter. Within minutes the other 3 parties were all at Tobies. Wow that’s amazing, I do recall one year, one of the guys slept through his alarm and woke up at exactly 6 am. That’s bad. We were all back on the road again within about 45 minutes.
The trip continued uneventfully on to the turn at Ash River Trail. Well uneventfully unless you’re Jim who blew a tire and tore the fender off his trailer - luckily it was a quick fix. Or Hunterdown who had a bolt break on his trailer - that too was a relatively easy repair. Something kind of crazy happened though when we turned of Highway 53 to gas up at the Spur station, within minutes every boat, trailer, camper, and truck in the county turned up there with the same idea. Yes it was a bit of a clusterf*ck for about 20 minutes until things settled down.
Nett Lake Gets in the Way
I called Wyofish to see where he was. He said he was minutes from Littlefork, so I figured he had about another half-hour to go before he could meet us at the gas station. Not a problem. I didn’t realize he was that much further away coming from North Dakota. A half an hour passed and the phone rang, it was Collin. “Dad, I don’t know where I am. Where is the Nett Lake Reservation?” What?! How in the hell did you get there. You’re south of Orr! And everything had been going so smoothly. Oh well, an hour later he showed up. In the meantime everyone else had gone to the landing on Kabetogama.
We eventually caught up, moved into the big house, had a few beers and hit the lake as did everyone else.
Day Two (things get fuzzy from here on)
As is turns out, days 2 and 3 kind of run together for me. Now this is not unusual but I will try to identify some of the highlights. The first significant fish caught that I recall was Rob’s 16” crappie. Unfortunately I did not get to see it until it was a skeleton. Most groups immediately started banging walleyes from 12” - 24” and good numbers. The “Garster Method” worked well, as always, but so did jigging and lindy rigs. Pierce caught a 38” pike. That was the first of many big pike that were caught on this trip. In fact I believe there were about a half dozen pike 38” and bigger that were caught.
Mike and Bill arrived around noon on Sunday, the last to arrive after taking care of some family obligations.
Return of the Beach Party
The Tuesday afternoon beach party and fish fry has been a tradition since we started going to Stokes Bay. But for some reason we had skipped it the last 2 years. Well Dan was having none of that and kicked our sorry asses out of the camp and out to the beach. And what a great feast and party it was. Onion rings, fried fish, french fries and plenty of beer. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves.
Rumble in the Jungle... er Forest
There seems to be some confusion as to how this unsanctioned UFC match got started. All I know is Collin Benson, aka Wyofish, managed to man-handle his two opponents, the Headlock Brothers. The best news was no one got hurt. Rumor has it there is video footage of the event but I have yet to see any of it.
Wednesday Morning Departure
Approximately half the camp headed out on Wednesday morning. The remaining group prepared themselves for one of two more days of fishing and general Stokes Bay style relaxation. The weather continued to get better throughout the week. Cool temperatures remained, the wind slowed and fishing went from good to even better. Fawkinnae!
Colton’s Giant Pike
Colton received “Big Fish” honors this year. A 45” monster with a 20” girth. The fish was released and Colton plans on making a replica of his trophy. The poor kid now can look forward to a lifetime of trying to catch a bigger pike.
A Visit from the Sheriff
And of course our trip would not have been complete without a visit from Canadian law enforcement. Grant made the comment that it was a particularly nice day with little wind and thus ideal for a visit. Two guys pulled up to us as we pulled out of the bay on Thursday late afternoon. They looked at our licenses and RABC permits, checked our live well, and looked in our cooler. Asked where we got our leeches and if we had a receipt for them (we didn’t but Grant did). Then asked very specific questions about how many were in camp and what the configuration of the refrigerators in camp were and if there was any common areas where fish were stored. After leaving us they went into camp, first stopping at the gut pile on he rock, next going into the fish cleaning shack and digging through the heads and guts. Next checking all the refrigerators in camp. They spent about an hour in the camp but fortunately everything was in order. I think that was my third time dealing with a conservation officer in a span of about 10 years.
Ricky Bobby wins Stokes Bay MVP Award
This years MVP was Ricky Bobby. Even though he did not bother to show up this year his presence was felt such that Chief Judge Curt and his crew felt he was deserving of this years award. A scholarship fund was even discussed to make sure he is in attendance next year and is able to receive the coveted MVP trophy (some would say the equivalent of the Stanley Cup).
Ricky Bobby - Profile of an MVP
• Has received hundreds of stitches throughout his body from numerous incidents including falling off a school yard merry-go-round and flipping off the handle bars of a bike while caring a half-gallon glass jug of pop.
• Won the 6th grade wrestling tournament in his weight class.
• Played organized hockey through 9th grade and occasionally scored.
• Currently living in Florida and is selling lawn furniture.
• Always fashionable at Stokes Bay with a unique array of stylish men’s shirts and a can of Special Export in hand.
Fathers and Sons
This trip started out as a fathers and sons outing and this year there were, geez let me think, I count 7 father and son pairs (or more). Pretty good, pretty damn good. One of the sons, Rob, came all the way from Virginia. And another, Sean, came all the way from Oregon.
End of the Trail
It’s always bittersweet when this trip comes to an end. Occasionally I manage to get up twice in a year but usually it’s just once and the week goes by so fast. Thanks Dan, Grant, and all for another exceptional trip.
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Topic: Stokes Bay 2013 (Read 3004 times)
