Monday was a hot one.
We got up early and caught enough fish for the day, came back to the cabin and crashed.
Waking up about 10 a.m., we had a late breakfast, enjoyed our coffee and wasted away part of the morning.
By the time we headed outside, it was a warm one. Temperatures were supposed to hit about 85 degrees, and although we didn't have Internet, we figured that was about spot on. I did something I'd never do back home, I went fishing in just leggings and a sports bra.
"Who's going to see you?" Nate said, convincing me to go for it rather than keep sweating.
It was a rather calm, relaxing day soaking up the sun with our line in the water. Since the day was warm, we also had enough sun to warm up our hanging shower bag so we could actually get clean!
For dinner, we had fried fish --- and this Long John Silver's copycat recipe is my absolute go-to.
Long John Silver's copycat batter
6 walleye filets
3/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
salt, to taste
3/4 cup water
Mix the dry ingredients and then stir in water until batter forms.
Heat oil in a cast iron skillet. Dip filets in batter and fry.
I handed Nate the malt vinegar I packed, because that's what he likes to dip his fried fish in.
"You brought me malt vinegar. That's what I love about you."
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For the past two days, we had gotten up early only to then take a nap. Plus, we weren't having any trouble catching walleye later in the day, so when the alarm went off on Tuesday morning I looked over to see Nate turn it off, roll back over and close his eyes.
I did that too, and so we slept until about 9 a.m.
After a leisurely breakfast and devotion, we finally decided to head out onto the water.
We continued to catch walleye in the little cove we found, and at one point, Nate looked at my leadhead, which was missing both its painted-on eyes and had teeth marks from the northern and the walleye indented on it, and laughed.
"I think your leadhead has seen better days."
We headed in for a lunch of walleye citrus salad --- by far our favorite menu item the entire trip --- and then went out to read on the dock while we awaited the arrival of the outfitter which was coming to make sure we were alive.
The float plane arrived at about 3 p.m., and two gentlemen, one with a thick French accent, got out to make sure everything was OK at camp. They first handed us a bright yellow box that held the satellite phone we had paid to rent that week.
"You guys rented a satellite phone?" One man asked as he handed it to us.
"Yes, we forgot it," Nate said.
"We were trying to figure out how you told us you forgot it since you didn't have a satellite phone to tell us."
"We realized it on the flight in that we did, but it was too late then," I said.
That had been another anxious part of the flight in for me. About halfway there, I turned sharply around to Nate in the back seat.
"We forgot the satellite phone," I said.
He raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess it's too late now."
But we had the assurance of the phone for the rest of the week at least.
The guys asked us about our experience so far and regaled us with some of their own experiences hunting moose, and we told them we had enough walleye to eat which was what we needed since we didn't bring anything else.
"You didn't bring other food?" One man asked.
"No. We figured we're on a fishing trip, we'll eat fish."
"You didn't bring steaks to grill?" He pressed.
"Nope."
Nate and I smiled at each other. Apparently, we are survivalists and didn't even know it.
One of the things I had really wanted to do in Canada was see the stars, but each night clouds rolled in as the sun set, and it also didn't get dark until far past the time we were tired.
But Tuesday night promised to be clear, and we decided it would be the perfect night to try some long exposures.
We played cribbage and Kings in the Corner for several hours waiting for the sun to finally give way to night, and we put on layers, not to fight the cold but the mosquitoes.
Nate, clad in his rain gear and a netted hat, followed me out to the boulder where we stared at the night sky, still partially light from the moon. The galaxy of stars was a bright band above us, and the moon was full and lit up the evening. It wasn't even minutes before I saw two shooting stars and Nate saw yet another that I missed.
I worked on focus and long exposure for night shots and was pretty pleased with how they came out.
Then I decided to try one with the moon to see if it had enough light to make more definition in the photos.
My camera clicked as the shutter opened and 30 seconds later closed. I looked at the screen and my eyes opened.
"Holy cow. It looks like daytime!"
I showed the photo to Nate.
"The moon looks like the sun! But look, you can still see the stars in the sky."
Walleye with citrus salad
4 walleye filets
2 Tbsp. butter
Grapefruit, segmented and chopped
Orange, segmented and chopped
1/3 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 red onion, chopped
1/2 roma tomato, chopped
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
Chopped lettuce
Cilantro, chopped
Melt butter in a cast iron skillet and cook walleye through, on both sides.
Combine grapefruit, orange, bell pepper, red onion, tomato and lemon juice in bowl and stir to combine. Let rest of 5-10 minutes for flavors to meld.
Place chopped lettuce on plate and lay filets on top. Top with citrus salsa and cilantro, if desired.
(Read the next post)
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