Just like that…an early taste of fall with cold, 20-mph winds this week. Monday was windy, but it was a hot wind from the south. Tuesday, it turned from the northwest and got pretty cold. The fish were scattered and hard to find. We caught walleyes in eight feet of water and we caught walleyes in 32 feet of water. A pattern like that makes it pretty hard to find fish, but persistence pays.
When fish get deep they are a lot less likely to eat leeches. The water is so cold that the leeches tend to curl up in a ball. Leeches work better in shallower water. Fish will bite on night crawlers as well, especially over on Northern Light Lake, but they really want minnows.
The leaves are starting to show some color, but it is due to the hot conditions we had last week. I know the maples on the hill are usually the first to show fall colors.
I love fall, because fish bite and the bugs are gone. It is a great time to go camping and there are fewer people around than in August. If we get nice weather in late September and early October, it can be the nicest time of the year. The morning temperatures are so cold that we usually do not hit the water until 9 a.m. and return to the boat landing by 4 p.m. A short day, but well worth it.
Gunflint Trail fishing guide Curtis Blake and his partner won the MWC Devils Lake Walleye Tournament in North Dakota this past weekend. They took first place with five walleyes weighing in over 19 pounds. Curtis told me that they caught most of the fish in the last hour of the day and took an early lead in the first day of the two-day tournament. The next day was so windy that the tournament was cancelled and the first day leaders became the winners. They won about $11,000 and some Cabela’s money as well. Not too shabby for a day’s fishing. Congratulations buddy! We tried talking him into playing poker with us, but he just laughed while walking away.
Cory Christianson, a 2000
graduate of the University of
Iowa, has worked as a fishing
guide on the Gunflint Trail
for nine years. If you have
any fishing reports or stories
to share, send an email to:
christiansoncory@hotmail.
com or call 218-388-0315
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