Gunflint Lake did not make ice until December 28 and it melted away by March 25. Three short months of ice on Gunflint seems like it would be some kind of a record. The sight of open water is bittersweet for most residents up here, since the spring runoff was short-lived and the lake levels are starting out at record lows. The warm weather feels nice, but it has been a reminder of how quickly things can dry out.
I am a little sick of writing and worrying about fire danger, as I am sure you are too. I miss the years that it started raining in May and did not let up until August. The rivers were raging and the fish were biting as good as the black flies and mosquitoes. A real Northern Minnesota summer. We will have to replace “the summer that never happened” with “the winter that never happened.”
Michael Valentini and I visited the Seagull River by campsite No. 19 on March 20 to find that the raging river was reduced to a trickle. It even disappears momentarily into the rocks, in the exact spot where I have watched big female walleyes do their annual slow dance for many seasons. If the river does not rise soon, they will be forced to do their spawning down river this year.
Tails of the Trail columnist Cory Christenson and Michael Valentini recently checked out Seagull River by campsite No. 19, normally a good spot to watch walleye spawning. Unfortunately on March 20, when this photo was taken, the normally raging river was a slow trickle. Walleyes will be forced to spawn further down river this year.
The early open water has created some interesting opportunities for fishing. It even got me reviewing the rulebook to see where I can legally fish from my boat.
So far, Gunflint Lake has had some boats fishing near the Cross River, and currently the walleyes and lake trout are still fair game since Gunflint is a border lake. I have not heard any good reports, but it should be happening soon with the smelt migrating toward the current.
Caution should be taken while fishing these areas since it is very possible to catch a spawning walleye, and they should be immediately released with as little handling as possible. Especially the hawgs (28 inches or better). This is a vulnerable period for them and it is important to fully revive these fish before letting them swim away. They represent the backbone of our fishery and need to be protected.
Walleyes will be open until April 15 on certain border lakes in our region. Right now, Saganaga still has a fair amount of ice, but I have to believe it will be open soon. There are spots on Saganaga that have never seen an angler at this time of the year. It will be educational to say the least. I would love to know how many walleyes are still out on the main lake this time of the year. Are they staging in front of spawning areas, or still cruising the basins for minnows? They could also be warming up in the bays with all of that oxygenated runoff spilling in every day, who knows?
If fish are triggered to spawn at certain temperatures, it would be safe to assume that it will happen early this year. The water has to be warming up fast with the rapidly changing season, so it is possible that we will be fishing summertime spots in the spring.
I am so excited to get out in the boat and investigate for the next few weeks before the “winter” season closes. Living up here, I get to see the lake at times that most people do not, especially in the late fall. It is one of the perks to residing on the Trail that we love to take full advantage of.
Even though the daytime highs have been enough to melt the ice away, the nights have been dipping down into the teens. I have seen newly frozen shorelines every morning that melt away by lunchtime. It is still a little early to test sprinkler systems, but soon. The overnight freeze could be damaging to the pumps, and we are not into a “fire scare” quite yet. This has been a strange year indeed. 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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