‘Tis the season to get a jump start on spring projects. The bugs are still at bay and the daytime temperatures are nice enough to break a sweat. These might be the best outdoor working conditions of the year.
Some of the summer residents have been trickling back into the county this week and it is warming to see a little activity up here. I am not saying you were missed, but welcome back anyway.
It will be nice to start trolling the roadside for bungee cords and life vests. My most prized roadside present was when I picked up a snowshoe a few years back and told myself that I would never find the matching partner. A few miles down the road, the matching shoe was lying on the shoulder. Score. The refinished pair of laced wooden snowshoes is currently hanging on our living room wall as art.
Conditions on the Gunflint Trail are currently still very dry, even though the grass is beginning to turn green and the lake levels are rising. They are still low by springtime measures but the Seagull River has actually turned into a river again and the water temperature is 45-50 degrees which is ideal for walleyes to spawn.
I was hiking around the Seagull River today and counted eight eagles loitering by the river’s edge. Some were juveniles with spotty coloring and they appeared to be waiting for some vulnerable walleyes to snatch out of the shallow waters. It should be a little harder this year since the current is actually running hard and the walleyes are going to have to spawn in the pool below the rapids where it is a little deeper.
There was a lot of talk about an early 2012 fishing opener in Minnesota but that is not going to happen.
The state will also be raising the fees for fishing licenses this year since they have not been raised for the past 11 years. I have no qualm about paying extra for a license since I know that the money goes toward our fishing resources. In fact many anglers were present at the Capitol to show their support for raising the fees. How many sports or activities do the participants applaud being charged more? Minnesota anglers—for the most part— are conscientious people who understand the importance of preserving and improving this wonderful natural resource that our state has to offer.
If you have been hiking the woods as much as I have been lately, you already know that the wood ticks are out. Our dog picked up a few last week before we were able to put her medicine on and I find them on myself daily. It was not that many years ago we could boast of a tick-free environment up here, not anymore. The spread of ticks in Northern Minnesota has been on the rise each year for the past eight to 10 years. The research shows that we should be encountering deer tick populations eventually which are known to cause Lyme disease and powassan virus (POW) which is becoming very common.
North Central Minnesota has a large population of deer ticks and many believe that they will spread our direction eventually. As long as the wolves keep thinning the herd of deer around here, I would think we are pretty safe for awhile.
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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