Thursday, July 17, 2025. I am still sleepy after two long days, and it seems exceptionally early in the morning as I drag myself down to the lobby. There, I see that a group of guys are already plotting and sharing fishing secrets. I always find it interesting when guys who are all really hoping to catch a bigger fish than the other guys, share information about where they fished, what work, and where.
The chef and staff outdo themselves again this morning, with waffles and croissants in addition to my favorite–breakfast potatoes. There are two types of meat for the meat eaters in the crowd. Having fresh fruit is wonderful.
The morning started out with some pretty rough water. This video shows our bouncy ride.
Sadly, we woke with a lot of hope today–hope that we would finally catch a big fish. But it would come to pass that an entire morning would go by once again without us having any big fish to show. In fact, we caught only a couple of fish all morning.
It is almost 2 p.m. before we stop for a potty break, and this time, the shoreline is a rocky, ankle-bending mess of muskeg and the most beautiful lichen I’ve ever seen. It is reindeer lichen.
From a distance, reindeer lichen looks like mats of white fuzzy coral. As I get closer, it looks more and more delicate.
I feel guilty walking around to find a spot to take a leak. Every step makes a crunching sound that makes me feel like I am damaging the arctic.
For the first time on this trip, I don’t walk upland far enough to find a game trail. Instead, I walk ginelrgly back to shore.
This is bog Labrador tea, which I wish I had taken a better photo of. The mosquitos, however, made it such that I did not want to loiter.
The shoreline at our “pee spot” was really rocky. The rocks were rather dull, yet pretty. I thought for a moment that snorkeling might have been fun. But then I remember how darn cold the water is…and got back in the boat to return to fishing.
Fishing did not improve in spite of trying several different lures at several different locations. Dinner, however, was amazing. I never expected to see an entire tray of beets. That and the stuffing? Amazing. I am told the pork was, too. The donuts? I only had a bite of one–it was amazing. Who would expect fresh donuts in the arctic? Yum!