Paddler's Guide to Happy Camping

Kopka Part 3 - Walleye for Dinner (again)

• Posted on April 13, 2008 at 8:37 AM
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We eat again!

Kopka Part 3 – Walleye for Dinner (again)

High water continued to make our trip interesting the next day, starting soon after we had left camp that morning. Our map indicated that the river took a dramatic turn to the right, at the end of an elongated eastern inlet. It did just that. But there was no way we were going to chance taking the two portages (a 250 meter to the right of the first drop and a 150 meter to the left of a second). The water was way over the banks here and all of us were quite anxious about how strong the current would be between the two portages. So, we opted for an alternative way around the entire stretch of whitewater – a 400 meter portage located out of the way, on the left and in the far eastern bay. It was a safe choice but it was very obvious the trail saw little use. Again, our saws had to be unpacked to cut our way through. It was the worst portage yet.
What followed was a little more simpler; a small falls with an obvious and quick 25 meter portage marked to the left, with the take-out immediately after a small swift. Then a 280 meter portage, also found on the left bank, which avoided a double cascade. It wasn’t long before we had to get out of the canoes again to carry around another medium-sized falls, with a 60 meter portage on the right. And then another cascade, with another 60 meter carry again on the left, which separated two unnamed lakes. What awaited us next may not have been easily runnable but at this point we were all somewhat desperate to paddle through some whitewater rather then carry around it. So we picked our way down the set of rapids found at the end of the second unnamed lake, what we rated as a class II tech. (an 80 meter portage was found on the left). What awaited us directly after that, however, was definitely not navigable. It was a major drop which ended in a boulder garden and granite shelf. Thankfully, the 440 meter portage (marked on the left) had less blow-downs along it then the previous trails we crawled over that morning. We even relaxed a bit once we reached the end to fish at the base of the rapids. Bill was the first to try his luck, with no success. Then Andy and I gave it a try, and still nothing took our bait. It all seemed more then a little odd. The place we cast our lines seemed like a perfect spot to hold a walleye or pike. But after a good twenty minutes of trying, none of us had even a single strike. I took one last cast just before we moved on downstream, plunking a yellow-tailed jig in the upper section of the rapids, where it bounced off what I thought was a bunch of half-submerged rocks. What the jig hit, however, were the backs of over twenty walleye resting in a small eddy-line. Five casts gave Andy and I five fish, with the last one even being grabbed by a large pike. We had enough for dinner and moved on, teasing poor Bill for his lack of fishing ability for a solid hour after that. Our camp that night was had on the west shoreline of Kenakskaniss Lake. But before that we enjoyed paddling through a long series of swifts and class I rapids between where the river turns directly south to where it flushes into the north end of Kenakskaniss Lake. What a joy that last part of the day was, moving though fast water rather then carrying around it, and then feasting on walleye fillets, battered, fried and served with a bed of red cabbage salad and a splash of white wine.

…to be continued.