Fishing on thin ice was the hot topic this trout opener on the Gunflint Trail. Many anglers hit the hard water this weekend with trout on their brains and dangerous ice under foot. Lakes were ranging from 24 inches of good clear ice down to 3 inches, and everything in-between.
Gunflint has only been frozen over for a few weeks, so it is quite reasonable that it would only be sporting a few inches in the center. One angler reported seeing open water above a well known reef in front of Gunflint Lodge. I saw the same thing on Mayhew near the southern shoreline. Gunflint has always had some “honeycomb” type ice above the shallower reefs, but open water in mid-January is pretty rare.
Loon Lake anglers were drilling through four inches of ice in the middle, which came as a surprise to me. Loon has been frozen for quite some time now. I think the warm weather has been melting ice.
Three to four inches of ice are safe to walk on, but the bigger lakes worry me since they are so inconsistent. Many of our lakes have spring holes that cause thin ice in areas so you always have to be cautious. Mayhew Lake had 12 inches where we were fishing, and I was told that Greenwood had 24 inches to stand on.
The warm weather and high winds have also created some wicked pressure ridges on Gunflint and Saganaga Lakes this winter. The conservation officers that we visited with on Sunday told us that Saganaga was getting better and that travels were fairly safe.
The weather is supposed to be very cold this week, which will only improve the ice conditions, but safety should always be first. It takes a long time to get help in our neighborhood, and time is working against you the second you get into trouble.
The trout fishing was great on Saturday and tapered off on Sunday. I suppose the fish were turned off by the approaching cold front. The lake trout we caught on Sunday were moving around in small schools in over 25 feet of water. The bites came in waves and the fish were averaging a couple of pounds. “Dead sticking” live minnows is lethal this time of year, but we also caught a few on jig and minnow combinations. I prefer the jigs, but a bite is a bite and the fresh fish tasted great.
I am slowly becoming a big fan of the smaller lakes up here. They have safer ice right now, and the faster action far out-weighs the smaller sized fish we caught. I still like big lakes and big fish, but it is a lot of fun to see the action on ice for a change. The forage base on these smaller lakes is much different than the cisco-type feeders on the big water lakes. Small lake fish learn to live off of a multitude of species in order to survive. Insects become just as important as a minnow which means a variety of baits can work.
As always, experimenting is the key to success and sometimes the least likely lures will shine. Good luck and I hope to see you on the water.
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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