No thanks to the Department of Homeland Security North Mexico, who decided to harass both the bus I was on from North Shore and the bus from Temple Bay instead of working on the southern border. More on that in a bit.
Even though we had about a day and a half of sunshine up on Eagle Lake, and Oly and I didn’t get a fish over the slots (18-23″ for walleye and 27 1/2-35 1/2″ for northern), it was a very productive trip. We each limited out with 4 quality walleye and 4 quality northerns apiece, and shore lunch every day except Sunday (the first day, where we got to the lodge late). Much of that was because the water was somewhere between 2-3 feet lower than usual, making most of the usual hot spots, which are depth-sensitive, much less productive than usual. We did find a few more spots, including one we gave the bus chaperone, who promptly picked up a 30″ walleye.
That low lake level made it a bit challenging for the backup boat man (me), as our usual boat man was in Brazil doing some prep work for the US futsal team’s appearance in the 2007 Pan American Games. We bumped a few rocks, but the prop and lower unit came through pretty close to unscathed. We even plowed our way through some pretty ugly fog on the way to a freshly-opened fish sanctuary yesterday with massive help from GPS.
The lack-of-fun began when we pulled up to the border. The DHSNM, as I alluded to above, decided that because the weather was actually nice, they wanted to go through most of the bags in the bottom of the bus with but 2 agents for about 40 people and heaps and heaps of bags to go through. That burned an hour, during which mosquitoes decided the inside of the bus would be a great place to hang out. The kicker was when they decided to do the same stunt on the Temple Bay bus (which is labeled “Temple Bay Lodge Canadian Fishing Express”, no less) and the 2 agents got done with us, they joined the 2 that were harassing them.
Yeah, I now know that the feds earlier today busted up a plot to blow up fuel lines at JFK Airport in New York and that earlier in the week the “chatter” was increasing. However, the less-than-complete search (my main bag has 6 compartments, 4 of which had items in it, 2 of which were “opened”) isn’t exactly reassuring.
But wait, there’s more. We stopped for diesel in International Falls, and when the bus driver tried to start the bus, it wouldn’t start. Between getting a tow truck out and charging the massive battery enough to turn over the massive diesel, that killed another hour, during which even more mosquitoes decided to join the party.
In any case, I’m back. I see Junior McGee-Jackson is in the local jail for threatening
