So, this last school year I successfully completed my senior year of high school! Because we are homeschooled, we are free to do kinda whatever we want for our senior trip. The tradition started with my older brother when he graduated to have a father son weekend outing for our senior trips. Justin, being the oldest of us three brothers, decided to go backpacking in the Smoky Mountains. So for my trip I decided to go fishing in Minnesota.

Minnesota is known as the land of a thousand lakes. With plenty of lakes to choose from there are obviously many places to go fishing all across the state. The lakes often hold healthy numbers of bass, blue gill, perch, walleye, and—one of my personal favorites—northern pike. Typically, the further north you go the better the fishing is. Many people even go up into Canada, but we decided on an area near the west end of Lake Superior.

After packing all of our supplies, my dad and I made the ten hour trip to Duluth, Minnesota. Now some words for the wise. Fishing is most productive in certain seasons. It is usually best during the spring and fall. During the summer months, when it is hot, the fishing can get a little… well let’s just say, slow. We made our trip in the middle of July, so yeah… we spent a whole lot of time fishing, but not a whole lot of time catching fish.

Sometimes, however, you just have to make the best of your situation. If something isn’t working, then you experiment and find something that does. Despite our efforts to catch bass and northern pike—or anything for that matter—every cast only seemed more and more futile. The seeming indifference of what must have been every fish in the lake made us wonder if they were on to us or simply just didn’t care. Although, as we experimented, we eventually found some success fishing for walleye.

What made the difference? Worms. Don’t ever underestimate the power of a good old-fashioned worm. I guess it kind of goes to show that sometimes the old-fashioned way can still be the best way. With so many new thoughts and ideas—like all those new and improved, scientifically-proven baits at the Bass Pro Shop that seem like they should work so much better—it’s easy to forget that a simple worm can do the trick just as well, if not better. Using different techniques, we were able to catch quite a few panfish and pull in some decent walleyes. With some work, we did well for the season, although, it was still pretty slow.

Probably my favorite part of the trip was being able to camp out on an island in the middle of Rice Lake. It was only accessible by boat, obviously, and we were all alone. No other people. It was great! Once we had settled in, my dad and I built a fire and had a fish fry from the fish we had caught. We listened to the waves of the lake and the soft of crunches of random frogs jumping around. They were everywhere. Also, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard the call of the common loon as the sun sets on the lake, but it was super neat as well. It was a good night!

As I mentioned in my last blog I have been messing around with my photography skills so here are a couple pictures from the trip that I was able to take.

Thanks for reading 🙂

Camden