By: Henry, 13 years old, 2nd year camper
We started our trip at the Angleworm portage–Mitchell, Whit, Owen, Ben, our counselor Kevin, and me. The intimidating 640-rod (two miles!) portage to begin the trip was rough but satisfying once we had completed it. It dropped us right into the heart of the Boundary Waters. That night, we camped on Home Lake where Kevin caught a walleye.
The next night, we found a great campsite on Friday Bay, and I caught a 20.5-inch plaquer walleye! We paddled to Saturday Bay, where we set up a base camp and went on a day trip west to Curtain Falls. The falls were incredible—huge, with amazing scenery—and the river, about 50 feet across, separates the U.S. from Canada. But the fishing there? Unbelievable. In just two hours, I caught nine good-sized fish! Swimming below the falls was cold but refreshing, and even the five-mile paddle back to our camp was worth it. Some of us who were duffing were so tired, we fell asleep on the way back!
Back at Saturday Bay, the fishing continued to be fantastic. The next morning, we paddled to see the Old Buick, a relic from the logging days, left behind sometime in the mid-1900s. After that, we made our way up the Crooked (or maybe it’s Basswood) River and camped at Table Rock. Along the way, we even fixed a broken fire grate at Wednesday Bay. Unfortunately, the fishing was slow at Table Rock and I only managed to catch a small bass.
The following morning, we woke up at five to make a push to Lower Basswood Falls. The falls were beautiful, with several waterfalls feeding into a calm spot that was perfect for fishing. We caught plenty of fish there, and Mitchell even landed four smallmouth bass! After Basswood Falls, we had to paddle across a strong current with a crazy crosswind—it really felt like crossing the Rubicon!
On our last day, the portages were wide because they were designed for small motorboats. Pipestone Bay was really cool, but we pushed on through to Fall Lake and camped on Mile Island. That night, we had trail pizza for dinner and fell asleep immediately after, as soon as our heads hit our “pillows”—which, of course, were just rolled-up rain jackets.
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