If you have been wondering— or worrying—about the ice on Sag, I can make a pretty good prediction of what to expect on the fishing opener. As of Monday, the 9th, there was still some iced over areas of Saganaga Lake. You could successfully reach Camper’s Island from the corridor, but it was difficult to make a direct route up to Red Pine Island. I have heard that some people have successfully gotten back and forth to the landing from Red Pine Island, but it was a bit of a maze.
This week is expected to be fairly warm with some more rain showers, so by the time you read this we should have open water all over the lake.
I was told that Scandia Bay still has a fair amount of ice in it, but we are hoping it will have all melted by Saturday.
As for Sea Gull and Gunflint lakes, the water looks open to me. You might be able to find some patches of ice, but the motorized section of Sea Gull is wide open and Gunflint appears to be open completely as well.
I have been checking the progress of the lakes via e-mail from Gunflint homeowners. Right now I am still in Duluth vacationing with my family.
The annual Upper Lakes Food Show is today and my wife Rachelle is going to have a very long and busy day with her clients at the show.
I am taking care of baby Sophia in our hotel room next to the DECC where the show is taking place. Judging by the lengthy instructions left with me, I am thinking my wife is a little bit nervous about me being with our daughter alone. Sophia comes with a lengthy owner’s manual that would rival most automobiles.
In our travels, we were able to see Elton John this past weekend at the Ams Oil Arena and it was great. Sophia’s grandma babysat for us so it worked out nicely.
I was surprised at how simple and small a concert it was. The stage was very black and plain. There were no fireworks or big graphics, just a man with his piano and some backup singers. The rest of the band was very simple as well. I guess when you play great music you do not have to try and impress people with big theatrics and bombs, just simple fun music and we had a great time.
The gentleman who sat next to me had Down syndrome, and he was a huge Elton John fan. Although I had never met this man before, he would occasionally reach over and pat me on the knee with excitement. Rachelle and I thought it was cute and began feeding off of his energy. We stood up next to him and began dancing to Benny and the Jets when I accidentally bumped into our new friend.
It was a very innocent bump but it really upset him. I looked over as he hunched back down into his seat with his arms crossed staring at the ground. No more arm waving and singing along with Elton, this guy was mad. His mother began rubbing his arm and comforting him but we decided it would be best to give up our great seats and stand up above for the rest of the show. I would occasionally look over the railing at our friend who quickly got back into his groove as soon as I was out of sight. I guess he just did not like me bumping into him and I was glad to see that he was able to forget about me and enjoy the remainder of the show.
It was really neat to see Elton John play at such a small venue. There really is not a bad seat in the house, because you are never very far from the stage. The sound was really good in the new arena and hopefully Elton will have started a new trend of “big bands” wanting to play in small towns.
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. Gunflintfishingguide.com
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