A week of true summertime heat was enough to stress out the young birch trees and create some of the driest conditions we have seen this season. Smokey Bear says the fire danger is “High” and I think we could be seeing some campfire bans soon.
The stressed leaves of the young birch on Saganaga Lake are bright gold, as if it were autumn, especially in the burn areas that host younger trees of the leafy kind. It is sort of depressing to feel like an already short summer is nearing the end, even though it is not over yet. I enjoy watching the woods change over to fall in September, but not in August. Maybe the heavy rains and strong winds predicted will blow away the yellow leaves and with some luck we can get enough precipitation to lower Smokey’s arm a few levels.
Saganaga and Northern Light Lake have both dropped 12 inches in the past two weeks exposing some rock piles that normally spend most of summer below the water line. There has been enough rainfall, so far, to keep the woods green and lake levels higher than we have seen in a while. Betsy’s Rock in the Northeast Arm, named for its proximity to Betsy Powell’s old lodge, was barely breaching the surface last week and now looks like an immature humpback whale.
Luckily the lake levels and heat waves have not had an impact on the walleyes’ willingness to bite. I am finding walleyes CelebrexTM schooled-up in 20$ to 30 feet of water and a few of them have had minnows in their stomachs. Oddly enough, two of the walleyes that we caught on the same rock pile in Northern Light Lake had different types of minnows in them. One had a four-inch herring in it while the other had a belly full of tiny little minnows. Productive spots are showing a lot of baitfish on the sonar and it shows in their stomachs.
Northern Pike have also been appearing on many of the mid-lake rock piles harassing the bass and walleyes. I will carry one heavy action rod baited with a big diving Rapala on a wire leader this time of year. There are very good odds of seeing monster pike and it is worth a few casts before leaving a walleye spot or when you first arrive. Sometimes the walleyes are timid about biting when there is a 48-inch silhouette hovering above them. Catch the pike and watch the walleyes begin to bite.
Hawg Report
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