Winter fishing on the trail has not been very popular this year, and I understand why. Wet lakes are tough to navigate by foot or machine, and the fish have not been very active.
When the going gets tough, I typically resort to smaller lakes and keep the fishing trips as simple as possible, by electing to hike instead of snowmobile, and by minimizing the amount of gear to carry. Mother Nature does not always give us the best conditions to work with around these parts, so you learn to adapt.
Despite my initial notion to avoid big water, Saganaga Lake is fairly easy to access and fish most winters. Saganaga is intimidating to most people because of the size and numerous regulations, but it might be one of the safest and most productive lakes to fish this winter. Enough people navigate Saganaga’s corridor, which is the only legal area to snowmobile along the Minnesota side, maintaining a hard-packed trail that is easy to follow and navigate. While traveling north along the corridor there are a number of openings between islands to the west that are all potential lake trout spots.
There have been good fishing reports this week from the Minnesota side of Saganaga Lake, and the ice is still barely a foot deep, which makes using a hand auger a little less taxing than it would normally be in the middle of February. Lake trout are found in a variety of depths ranging anywhere from 8-80 feet of water, so almost anywhere could work. I like to find 50 feet, then look for an edge that falls to 65 plus and fish somewhere along it.
Many anglers choose to fish shallower and often do well, especially along island shorelines that are adjacent deep water. Lake trout on bigger lakes like Saganaga, Sea Gull, or Gunflint will not be found in 8 feet of water unless it is very close to much deeper water.
The smaller lakes that I enjoy fishing in the winter have also been giving up some fish, but not many people are fishing this year which makes it harder to walk the portages, and the slushy lakes are a bear to cross. It is certainly tougher with wet conditions, but it has not all been bad this season, and there are still plenty of places to catch fish without getting into too much trouble. It just takes a little more planning and a lot more patience.
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 or call 218- 388-0315. You can also visit Cory’s website at Gunflintfishingguide.com.
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