August is knocking at the door and it is starting to feel like I might be able to go without the window unit air conditioner this summer. The cool rainstorms are keeping the heat down this week, and the occasional lightning storms have not been a fire threat since we are currently so green.
Most of the Gunflint Trail lakes have begun receding even though the ground is still saturated in many of the lowlands. Horsetail Falls (on the Northeast arm of Saganaga Lake) is still running hard enough to be noticed from a distance and usually it would have dried up by now. The hittable rock located south of Betsy Powell’s old resort is still hiding under a few inches of water and I expect it to start breaching the surface any day now. If I didn’t know the date I would be fooled by the lake levels, air temperature, and mosquito populations into believing it was June 1st.
The fish know it is no longer June 1st and mid-summer walleye fishing is harder when they migrate to the deeper water rock piles. If you know some of these deep spots it can be the easiest fishing of the year, but they are usually well kept secrets. Anyone can find fish along shorelines in the spring and early summer but the midlake humps are more difficult to find, especially since some spots are no larger than a two-car garage. This might sound like a large spot until considering that many of the deep spots on Saganaga Lake are surrounded by miles of water.
I took Rachelle, our son Bo, and Aunt Debbie to one of these secret midlake hot spots last week while staying at her family’s cabin on Saganaga Lake. Bo has not been able to go fishing many times since our summer has been so busy, and I really wanted him to see what his daddy does every day at work.
It was a beautiful evening so we took a short ride south near Saganaga Falls and caught and released a handful of bass and walleyes in fairly short time. Bo had a blast reeling in the fish but ultimately he wanted to go for a boat ride. Ten minutes of fishing and he is over it, so we ride at his request to go “superfast” and found ourselves back in time for Uncle Tom’s famous ribs.
I love having either Bo or Sophia in the boat fishing, but they are still both very young and restless. Short fishing trips with more riding than fishing are the key to keeping them interested. I love fishing but it doesn’t mean that they will.
Sophia would have joined us that evening but she was sound asleep from a long day of playing at the cabin. Her schedule gets a little disturbed with all of the fun things to do and we avoid waking the dragon unless absolutely necessary. She will get to go soon I’m sure.
Hawg Report
(released)
July 27
. Cory Christianson
29-inch walleye
Northern Light Lake
July 28
. Halie Craig
30 ½-inch walleye
Saganaga Lake
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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