Dreadful weather moved in last night. I could feel the temperature drop while sleeping in my van. Then the drizzle started followed by gale wind. By the time college pals Howie, Mike, Mark and I were ready to head for Lake Superior for our second day we got word there was a small craft warning in effect. Not good. We changed plans and headed for Lake Namekagon where at least there are narrow bays and islands to hide amongst. Even so, our day wasn’t going to be a cushy beer drinking day like yesterday!
We launched Mikes boat at 9 AM. Namekagon has musky along with pike, bass and walleye. We went with big flies on 8- and 9-weights rigged with wire leader and hoped for the best. We have a good idea of where to find muskies so off we went dressed in every piece of warm clothing we had.
It was so cold no one wanted to sit back and watch. Drinking a cold beer didn’t sound good at all. Instead we carefully had three of us fishing at a time. It was pretty fun. We hooked ourselves a few times. I whacked myself in the back with a Clouser. And there was one tangle. But overall, for three people casting musky flies in a boat – not bad!
The weather remained crappy most of the day. We lucked out and avoided rain but the wind and cold challenged us. I’m happy to say there was good action. While it wasn’t the muskies we were hoping for, we managed a heap of small pike and a couple hefty bluegill. We caught far more fish than yesterday.
At 5 PM the fog and clouds lifted. We got a dash of sunshine which unfortunately increased the wind speeds. But we were able to tuck into more bays. The evening was actually fairly nice to end our weekend. We reeled it in around 8:45 PM. We no doubt got our money’s worth – bad weather or not!
It’s been a great weekend with old friends. Yeah, our fishing was tough but I wouldn’t trade the time with these guys for anything. Now its time to go back to Howie’s for a feast. Howie’s wife Sue never stops making delicious meals for us and Mark has some fresh Iowa baby back ribs. We’ll get em next time!
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