Our first day at camp we had to go out in the canoe to get some firewood since it was all scavenged out from previous campers all summer. We also wanted to try some fishing. Since walleyes were supposed to be plentiful in Lake Saganaga we looked for places they like to hang out. Our camp was right around the corner from Long Island so we went on the back (North) side of that island where it was deep water, rocky shore and shady. Walleyes don't like sunshine and it hurts their eyeballs so they hang out in deep rocky shady areas, possibly in weeds too. They also like leeches which we had replenished and toted around with us for the day.
So I hope you took a minute to watch the video above which captured the fisherman catching his walleye. Its not the biggest fish in the pond, but it was enough for dinner since we had fresh beans, corn and steaks to complement some fish. So it was surf and turf, or lake n bake, or whatever else you want to call it. So we tied up Wally and let him swim around while we fished some more.
We got this cool grill basket for cooking fish whole and we were going to get to use it. At least it made it worth carrying around all week. We gutted Wally alive which was sad but had to be done, then we squished him in between the basket and grilled him on the fire. It worked really well, the skin kept everything in place and didn't stick to the basket. We had brought a meat thermometer (of course) so we would know when it was 135F, but you could tell it was done when the meat flaked and the backbone lifted cleanly out.
There were a few rib bones that stayed in the meat, but overall it was a great way to prepare fish if you don't like bones. We made some tarter sauce with mayo and relish packets and then used the grill basket to cook our bacon wrapped sirloin steaks too. We had also brought a small fry pan and used it to sauté the beans and corn. It was a big meal for some big appetites.
After dinner we enjoyed some Captain Morgan and Coke and watched the sunset and talked about all our adventures of the day, til the stars came out and we hit the hay.
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