Tuesday - Birch Island
I woke up around 7am. I spent most of the night tossing and turning and only got about 2 or 3 hours of sleep. The inflatable mattress I was using had a slow leak in it and I was uncomfortable all night. Paul was still sleeping outside next to the dock and his sleeping bag was wet from the dew and from his body heat. He said he sleep like a baby all night.
Once we were all awake and alert we headed out of Brady Cove for some more pike action. We fished for 2 hours, catching and releasing around a dozen pike. Nothing too big. After fishing we headed back to Birch Island where I prepared a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon. Ray & Paul cleaned up.
After breakfast we loaded up some snacks and hopped in the boat and headed down to McCargoe Cove. We trolled the entire way there with Rapalas and dardevl spoons but nothing was biting. A sail boat came into the harbor and was ahead of us. They pulled off into to a small bay before the McCargoe Cove dock and anchored there. I had just reeled up my line and tossed out my lure when somehow I dropped the rod and reel into the water. I watched it dissapear into the abyss We were sitiing in about 30 feet of water. After a second I realized that I had casted the floating rapala a good distance so there was pleanty of line out. since the lure was a floating one, we looked for it around the area i casted. I spotted the lure floating and we idled over to it and I reached in a pulled the line in and wound up saving my rod! Once we got to the area in front of McCargoe Cove, we casted a bit for pike. One of us made a cast and ended up hooking Paul's hat. Thankfully it only hooked his hat and not his noggin! A couple years ago we were fishing in Brady cove and Paul managed to get a large treble hook embedded into his heal.
After twenty minutes of casting and just one small pike to show for it, we tied up to the dock at Mccargoe Cove at 2:30pm. As far as we could tell there wasn't anybody at McCargoe Cove except for a guy from Ypsilanti named Trevor. His wife was in a shelter napping and we chatted a bit near the fire pit. They were staying at ISNP for 17 days and were going to be heading back to Houghton with us on the Ranger on Saturday. I offered up a cold refreshment and he gladly accepted. Ray hung around the area taking photos of the abundant flowers around the area. After about 20 minutes of chatiing with Trevor, a couple groups of hiker's came walking up the trail from Chickenbone Lake and proceeded to claim shelters. One of the hiker's was a guy from Charlevoix named Kirk. He came over near the fire pit where we were all sitting. I offered him up a cold refreshment as well and his eyes lit up! He thanked us and headed back to his group. 
Then a few of the hiker's came down to the dock for a swim. At about the same time Ranger Carl tied up to the dock and chatted with some of the hiker's before making his rounds.
We then loaded up on snacks and water and headed to the mines. After a short hike we arrived there. We found the deep hole with the horizontal shaft and it had rail tracks running through it. Ray snapped a few photos. We all ate our snack that we had brought and then hung out near the mines for about an hour. We then walked back to the boat and headed back to Birch Island.
Entrance to the horizontal shaft at Minong Mine.
We arrived at Birch Island and a canoe pulled up at the same time. We immediately recognized the guy in the canoe. He worked at the fuel dock in rock Harbor. His name was Ryan. He was enjoying a few days off by doing a little canoeing and fishing. He had just got done trying his luck at fishing in Brady Cove with no takers. He admitted he wasn't a very experienced fisherman and was having a hard time with it. He was using a giant pole he borrowed from another worker on the island. He had a big Believer muskie lure tied on and was only using 10lb test line. I offered to take him out later in the evening and show him how to catch these Isle Royale northerns. 
I cooked up the remaining lake trout fillets and hamburgers for dinner. I offered some lake trout to Ryan and he gladly accepted. After Ray and Dad cleaned up, we all got in the boat to do some more fishing for pike with Ryan . I was determined to help him land his first IR pike. I idled back towards the reeds on the north side of the cove and tied on a pink fluke for Ryan. I showed him how to toss it right into the reeds and jerk it out like a wounded fish. He had a few bites but didn't hook one. The rest of us managed to catch 5 or 6 pike with Paul catching the biggest one, a 34 incher. Our total fish caught for the trip so far was 42! 
We worked the reedy shoreline all the way to the small creek in the very back of Brady cove. Ryan had quite a few hits and follows but just couldn't get one hooked and in the boat. He was excited just to get some kinda action and wasn't the least bit dissapointed that he didn't land one. He now has the knowledge to come back another time and catch one of those water wolfs. I gave him a couple of pink flukes and a rapala to use and he happily accepted. I also showed him how to tie a proper knot. He thanked us for the lures and the tips.
We headed back to the dock around sunset. We chatted around the picnic table while drinking some beer and a few sips of Crown Royale. Bats were flying above us so Paul grabbed a sock and put a handful of rocks inside, made a knot, and then proceeded to toss the sock straight up into the air. It was amusing to watch as the bats would detect the motion and swoop down at the sock. He tossed his hat up a few times as well with the same results. After the evenings entertainment, we called it a night around 11:30pm. The full moon had justed popped over the ridge and into sight. It was so bright it casted shadows as if there was a streetlight on Birch Island. I dozed off around midnight.
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