Catching Bass While Fishing For Walleye on Trout Lake

“There is nothing absolutely nothing half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”

That sums up my dad’s philosophy, which is why he framed the line from “The Wind in the Willows” and hung it in his bathroom. Dad’s love for boats goes way back: He bought his first sailboat from an old college chaplain with a bottle of scotch.

The reason Dad loves boats is that they make fishing more fun. So last Sunday, we portaged the canoe into Trout, a pristine BWCA lake, to fish for walleye, which makes the perfect sandwich.

My mom and I paddled while Dad trolled for walleye. In less than five minutes he was reeling in a bass—which he eventually caught and released because he can’t stand their wormy filets. Another five minutes later, he reeled in another bass. Then another. It went this way until lunchtime, at which point we landed the canoe at a campsite, sat on a slab of granite sloping into the water, and ate turkey sandwiches. After lunch we paddled the opposite shoreline while my mom and I scanned the Norway Pines for bald eagles and my dad laughed like a kid and reeled in bass.