Spring break is now a pleasant memory of warm Florida sunshine as I gaze out the living room window at a lot of snow. The view has not changed since we last saw Devil Track Lake nearly two weeks ago, and the puddles in our parking lot are hard enough to walk on without breaking each morning – spring appears to be on hold up north.
Ice fishing on the spring opener is rare, but not new to Cook County, and it is beginning to look like this could be one of those years that takes a little longer to thaw. It is hard to say what the ice is doing because the lakes are covered in a hard-packed layer of snow that has shown no signs of melting, despite the powerful sunshine. I see that Lake Superior has some offshore ice showing each morning, and the harbor is full of crushed ice, as it has been for most of the winter indicating the lake has not begun to warm yet.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about our last snowmobile ride of the season assuming the snow would be mostly melted before we returned from vacation, but we took another last ride this week from Devil Track to Loon Lake to store our sleds for summer. The trails were surprisingly good near Devil Track and progressively got worse near the mid-Trail area. We had enough snow to keep the sleds cool and took in the scenery one last time before the snow melts.
The lodge will reopen on May 4; until then our days are filled with preparations for summer, as we get ready for another season on Devil Track Lake. See you then.
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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