june fishing & bears

[Guest]

Just wondering how the June fishing has been on Kab up to now. Also, that ole' fishin' rascal o' mine, still claims he's seen bears on Kab swim from island to island Can anyone share any truths to this??

[Big-Al]

I seen bears in open water two times on Kab over the years. I've also seen deer several times swim across a half mile or more of open water.

[Guest]

Shockdog,

Read this thread. It is about a problem bear from last year. Yes they do swim from island to island and, yes, they can be a huge nuisance.

http://fishingminnesota.com/ubb/Forum27/HTML/000079.html

------------------
Paul
[email protected]

[This message has been edited by Pwaldow123 (edited 06-09-2002).]

[Windfalljon]

We've been hitting Kabe at least once a year for more than a decade. Our first bear encounter was in '94 (with lots of video of the kids over-reacting and destroying our metal campware as they banged everything they could hit). Since then, August of '97 and June '00 were the only other years we have not fended off the bears. August simply was too late in the season I suspect and they had foraged and were seemingly content. June of '00 we were totally transient, utilizing jungle hammocks to sleep wherever we got tired and did all the cooking exclusively in our paramilitary (duck) boat with bear-proof lockers. As intended, they never found us. BUT.... we have seen them swim between islands MANY times; even in the roughest waters Kabe can stir up. One year we tried to "shoo" a bear away by standing on the shore as she approached, making all the racket we could muster -- even by driving the boat parallel to shore to encourage him/her to change his/her path, but to no avail. The bear just kept swimming further around the island until we could not keep up. We just sat at camp and waited. Sure enough, he/she sauntered into camp at dusk while we waited on the boat. Since we keep a clean camp, he/she soon became disinterested and headed back into the lake, headed for yet another island. The bear appeared for all the world to be "trolling" the islands for a snack.

We've learned to live with the bears and continue to follow the rules, but it would only be slightly bittersweet if we did not have to account for them each trip. But, the fishing, camping and R&R still outweigh the nuances of nature; i.e., rain, wind, cold, bears.....

[Guest]

Pwaldo123, Big-Al, & Windfalljon:

Thanks a million for that bear info - sure sounds like those critters do get around. - great info.. thanks again!!

[Guest]

Just returned from Kab yesterday. Never seen them myself but did hear word of a mother and cub on Sugarbush Island.