| This year was
the 10th anniversary of our trip, that in itself is
unbelievable to me. We decided we would celebrate by
adding an extra day, it always seems like it goes way
too fast. We headed up on a Thursday fully expecting to
be able to get our pick of the islands. What we didn't
expect was the fact that we had to sign in and pay for
each nights stay. I guess we were lucky that our island
was available because many of them were reserved
throughout the Saranac Islands Campground jurisdiction.
The State has decided to manage the islands through
Columbus day now, so October might be back on the
schedule for next year. We'll see. Anyway, we got our
island and the weather started out real nice. We were
expecting some rain during our stay so we set up a tarp
shelter as usual to be prepared. |
Nice set up, eh?
 |
| After setting up
our "home away from home" for the next 4 days, we headed
out onto the lake to see if the fish wanted to cooperate
this year. The bass were fairly active in the creek
mouth and all of us scored on that first afternoon. The
northern pike were less cooperative, I think I had one
follow but turn at the last second on the first day. |
This largemouth bass
hit a top water bait in the creek. We caught a few
smallmouth's as well. |
| That evening we
enjoyed some wild turkey soup under a bright waxing moon
and warmer than expected temps for Saranac Lake. We
brought some firewood but there was a dead birch tree
with a hollowed out center available so we decided to
make our own homemade chimney fire. |
Looks cool but doesn't throw off that much heat.
 |
| The next day we
woke up to clouds and the threat of rain, although it
remained warm. We decided to hang out and weather the
storm rather than go out on the lake initially. We did a
little fishing from our island point, old school style.
That's right, a chair, a bobber, a beer, and a worm. We
weren't very productive in the fishing department but we
managed to relax which is really what this trip has
always been about. Later that day, the weather
brightened a bit and it looked as if the rain was going
to end so we decided to give the lake another crack and
see if we could entice a pike to hit. Once again, the
bass were more cooperative, we actually scored on a few
nice small mouths while the only pike that hit for me
jumped in the air and spit my spoon back out. |
Jon with his best fish of the trip. |
| The following
day we had really nice weather, unseasonably warm. We
spent a lot of time on the lake, fishing or just
drifting and listening to music and relaxing. We even
managed to get back into Weller pond this year for the
first time in a while. The water level was higher then
we are used to because of the wet summer. We were in a
favorite cove on Weller when Jon decided that the water
just looked too inviting and over the side he went.
Apparently it wasn't bad at all. No pics of Jon in the
lake but I did get it on video. |
Here's Roger doing his best
to get something to bite in Weller Pond. |
| The final
morning we awoke to fog and some drizzles. Not wanting
to pack in the rain, we started cleaning up right after
breakfast. It didn't seem like we'd been there for 4
days already, it really flies by! |
From the point on our island on
the last morning, a frame by frame panorama of the lake.
Back to
Saranac Home
(part 1)
jump ahead to part 2
|
