Fishing Fan

My folks were big fishermen and my grandparents often fished for food. My husband wasn't raised fishing and I don't particularly like eating fish, so we just never go fishing. But now I know why my folks loved it so much. While on the Grace Anne II, I got to try two different kinds of fishing. (Our fishing boats arrived in formation!)

I got up with the sun both mornings to fish for muskie. These magnificent fish can grow up to almost five feet long and are prized for their fight. The rod and reel used are sturdy and the lures are the size of a nice pan-sized fish. The technique involves casting and reeling in, giving a final figure eight with the lure before pulling it out and casting again. By the second morning I was feeling pretty proud of myself. I didn't snarl the line on the reel once. I didn't catch any fish -- but I saw one. As I did my figure eight, I saw a silver streak in the water. He didn't bite. I asked Paul, our guide, if he had been holding the rod and using his own special ju-ju, would he have caught that fish. "Nah," he said, "he was too passive, not really interested." I think Paul was just making me feel good but when he estimated the fish to have weighed over 40 pounds, I was glad I hadn't caught it -- I'm not sure I could have pulled it in!

I did better with walleye, catching a number of small ones and a couple of keepers. To fish for walleye, you use a minnow for bait and drop the line to the bottom of the lake, then jiggle the rod to keep it moving. Chris, another of our guides, caught a couple of impressive northern pike but I was happy with my walleye.

Almost everything was catch and release; we kept some of the larger walleyes for our lunch which the guides prepared on the shore. The fish were beautifully filleted, breaded (with a secret mixture) and fried -- and it was great!

So I fished in the early morning for muskie, after breakfast for walleye, had shore lunch, got a great massage (we were on an island where the Grace Anne people have a lodge, sauna, hot tub and gazebo) then reboarded the Grace Anne for a lovely shower. It was only four when I finished and I knew we wouldn't eat until much later (and I could skip the great, afternoon hors 'oeuvres) so I asked if I could go fishing again! More fun -- more walleye! I'd say I'm addicted, but I think I'm really addicted to fishing Grace Anne style -- everything prepared for me, no putting minnows on my own hook, no touching the fish, just dropping the line and reeling them in!

POSH

There's a story, don't know if it's true, that the word "posh" came from the most desirable stateroom location on transAtlantic cruises -- port out, starboard home. It's come to mean "smart, fashionable, exclusive." I have just lived posh for the last three days and I could easily get used to it. I was a guest on the Grace Anne II, a beautiful, historic yacht which cruises the Canadian waters of Lake of the Woods.

Not only was the yacht the epitome of posh, the service and food were superb. Stewards Scott and Cameron anticipated my every desire and every request was met with swift action. It was hard to get used to not helping myself -- I felt like a naughty kid when I walked away from a table on the fly deck, leaving a half-finished drink for someone else to pick up -- not only wasteful, but thoughtless! I'll bet if I'd asked one of the stewards to blow my nose, they would have done it gracefully!

Chef Nicky presided over the kitchen and created elaborate presentations in that compact space. No tempermental diva he, he accepted our invasions with cameras and questions with unfailing good humor and a captivating Gallic grin.

Activities? I've discovered I'm hooked on fishing -- pun intended. More about that in the next post. Also available -- skeet shooting, canoeing, kayaking, massage and even a floating driving range! And wildlife watching in the remote areas of the lake where we cruised was excellent -- deer, beaver, bald eagles, pelicans, loons. We didn't spot a bear, but Chris, one of our fishing guides, said he'd seen two this season.

Huge Lake of the Woods is dotted with thousands of pine and poplar-covered islands so we were never out of sight of land, but we were so far away from roads that we saw no houses and few boats. Each night we moored to a buoy in a secluded bay, the only sounds the calls of the loons.

This trip was surely the height of luxury -- one I'll never be able to afford. But if you have more money than you know what to do with, take my advice and book a cruise on the Grace Anne II.