Walleye kisses and other Canadian happenings

We are back from Canada. What a fun trip. Nels was even surprised that I enjoyed spending a week in the Canadian wilderness.

We spent the week at Camp Lake St. Joseph, a small resort located on Lake St. Joseph in which you have to be boated to the resort. No roads, just a massive waterway, lead to this resort. This lake is comparable to Lake Mille Lacs and Leech Lake but there are only two small resorts on it and a couple of fly-in places far to the west, I think. We rarely saw other anglers on the lake.

I had only caught one walleye before in my short fishing career and that was a month before while Nels and I were night fishing on North Long Lake. While in Canada, fishing was our full-time job and surprisingly it was very fun. We fished probably 8-11 hours a day, except the day before we left because the wind was blowing so hard. We fished about 4-5 hours that day. We figure we averaged about 25 walleye each day and brought home 8 walleyes (our limit), cleaned, frozen and packaged, for my grandparents to enjoy and Nels' mom, who also loves fish.

I caught the largest walleye, a 23-incher, beating Nels, whose largest walleye was 21 inches. Nels was a little disappointed we didn't catch massive northern pikes on this trip. Maybe next time.

I realized when Nels and I were sitting around our cabin one night that this was the first time probably ever that I've been so disconnected from the rest of the world. No TV, radio, newspapers, cell phones. Nothing. I worried about what Erika was doing while I was away (she was having the time of her life being roommates with her great-grandma!) but other than that, it was wonderful.

I think it was the first time I've truly been on a vacation. No distractions. No long lines filled with annoying people to listen to at DisneyWorld or Universal Studios. No worrying about what was going on at work, at home, etc.

So we'd like to go back. Maybe to a different lake, something a little closer to the Canadian border. It was about an 11-hour trip one way and we passed a lot of great fishing lakes along the way, Nels said.


This is what I learned in Canada:

• When you're around Canadians you start to unconsciously begin imitating their accents. Nels and I had fun with this.

• Magazines are a great feature in an outhouse. They keep your mind off the spiders, bugs and other animals that may be lurking around, as well as the moose and bears you imagine waiting outside for you when you make the dash to your cabin. We enjoyed the Ontario Out Of Doors magazine previous anglers left for us so much that we brought it home.

• Walleyes may taste good to eat but you don't want to kiss one. I finally learned how to properly hold a walleye after the largest one I caught slipped out of my hands and planted a big slimey smooch on my lips and cheek. It was so nasty. And it got goo all over my J.Lo-inspired black sweatsuit I got on clearance at Wal-Mart before we left. Nels hates this outfit but it kept me warm up north.

• And lastly, I learned I'm a much happier and contented person in the wilderness. I think it was the simple lifestyle I enjoyed. This could mean someday I'll end up like the unabomber, living in a small cabin in the woods, or as the neighborhood cat lady. I tried to talk Nels into buying a Canadian fishing lodge with me that we could run each summer but he had to go and keep reminding me we have no money.

Oh well. The cat lady thing may work out.