The New Year has come with a lot of snow, and with the snow came a lot of snowmobilers. Like surfers chasing waves, sled heads have gathered to enjoy the recent snowfall, which has now accumulated over 20 inches in the past week. The sound of buzzing motors filled the air near Skyport this weekend as snowmobilers raced around the lake while playing in the big drifts created by the high winds.
Fortunately, these windy conditions kept a lot of the action inside and we had a very busy weekend serving food and drink at the restaurant. It is difficult to predict holiday traffic, especially when it falls on a weekday like it has this year, but we managed to serve a full house without completely losing our minds. Understaffed and overworked is our mode of operation here it seems, but we were happy to have the business and are very excited for the 2019 season to finally begin.
Ice anglers willing to enter the BWCA can now fish for trout on lakes entirely within the BWCA. Daniels Lake is usually a popular destination for many local lake trout enthusiasts since it is relatively easy to access from the Border Route Trail on the Clearwater Road, and it usually produces fish.
Most of the lakes now have 12 inches of ice or more covering them, and about 8 inches of snow on top of that making foot travel a little harder this week than it has been.
There were some ambitious anglers fishing on Devil Track this weekend that reported catching a few “cigar-sized” walleyes through the ice right before the sun set. Walleyes are not easy to find around here during the hard water season, but you never know unless you go. I have been threatening to put my icehouse out on Devil Track, despite the gloomy reports, to see if I can find some eater-size walleyes to write about –wish me luck. Happy New Year.
Cory Christianson has worked as a fishing guide on the Gunflint Trail since 2000. If you have any fishing or wildlife reports or stories to share, send an email to: christiansoncory@hotmail.com. You can also visit Cory’s website at Gunflintfishingguide.com.
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