Click here for the Day 1 story
Day 2: It’s amazing how much can change in 12 hours! Joel and I are back on the water at 6:30 am to catch the early morning bite on the two ledges we discovered yesterday in Heron Lake (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 56 A1). This “lake” is the thoroughfare between Churchill Lake and Churchill Dam. We only catch three smallish (12-14″) brookies after 3 hours of hard fishing. The trout have gone missing! It’s clear that the smelts, and their fishy predators, have moved elsewhere.
We return to camp for a quick bite to eat. As we walk back to the canoe, we discover to our horror that the boat is bobbing 100 ft offshore!! The wind has blown it into the lake! Joel does not hesitate for a moment: he removes all his clothes except for his underwear, walks into the freezing-cold 49F water cursing to high heaven, swims towards the boat and hauls it back to shore. He’s nearing hypothermia but saves the day.
We motor up to Eagle Lake to try our luck trolling for lake trout. This lake covers 9,500 acres (with a maximum depth of 124 ft) and is part of the Allagash River on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in northwestern Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 55 C5). The entire shoreline, which is owned by the State of Maine, is wooded, wild, and entirely undeveloped. We haven’t gotten one bite after 2 hours. Instead, we decide to troll for brookies in Round Pond (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 55 C5), which is the shallow (< 12 ft) thoroughfare connecting Eagle Lake and Churchill Lake. Our luck improves: we catch three trout, one of which is a 17″ feisty beauty which fights hard and strong.
We look up and notice menacing rain clouds. So, we hurry back across Churchill Lake but the wind catches up with us and generates 2.5 ft angry white caps. It also starts raining. We troll our trusted ledges in Heron Lake under the rain for another hour, but catch nothing. I give up at 5 pm to go read a book in my tent, whereas Joel bites the bullet and continues fishing under the rain for another 2 hours. He’s rewarded with two small brookies for his efforts. We caught fish today, but it took a lot of work and perseverance to do it. Days like yesterday have to be made up with days like today!
Click here for the Day 3 story
The results: I caught 3 brook trout in 5.5 hours of fishing
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