March is a busy month on the Gunflint Trail with some fun events, and two of them happen this weekend. The Mush for a Cure fundraiser will be held this weekend at both Windigo Lodge and Trail Center. The non-competitive race will be held on Saturday morning with the starting point at the Gunflint Pines. The “sleeping bag” start is very entertaining to watch, as the teams take off. The event can then be followed to Poplar Lake with a few vantage points along the way for spectators. The boat landing at Little Iron is a good place to see them pass by, as well as the back deck of Windigo Lodge.
Sunday, March 11 will be the Cook County Ridge Riders’ annual Trout Derby on West Bearskin Lake. I love this event, for obvious reasons, and it is fun to see so many anglers out on the ice. The derby raises money for the local snowmobile club, so come on up and try your luck at catching the winning trout this year. Everyone usually wins a raffle prize and the club serves lunch right out on the ice for participating members. If you are not a member already, you can join or renew your membership at the event for $30 or send a check to the Cook County Ridge Riders @ P.O. Box 665 Grand Marais, MN 55604.
Gunflint Lake can be a tough safe to crack when it comes to catching fish, so it will be fun to try a new lake this year. I have completely avoided guiding on Gunflint Lake this year since I had my bottom handed to me so many times on it last year. It is a hard pill to swallow when someone is paying you for less-than-average results. The guiding has been much more successful on the other lakes this winter, even though I have been getting some very good reports from Gunflint Lake this year. It can’t be tough fishing every year, can it?
Some of the cabin owners on West Bearskin had registered their complaints/concerns about the event being held on “their” lake in the past. I doubt that the handful of trout being harvested during this four-hour event, that are stocked and paid for by trout stamps purchased by the anglers, had devastated the fish populations beyond repair. Oh well, it is a safer lake to be on this year and it is a great event. The bad ice on Gunflint Lake was the original concern for moving the derby back to West Bearskin this year, even though Gunflint’s ice seems to be thicker now.
Everyone is excited about the recent snowfall on the Trail and with any luck the warm weather that has been predicted will not melt it all away.
We did not plow the driveway once the entire month of February. Naturally, Rachelle and I leave town for a week, and the snow starts falling. I am not complaining since the snowfall is desperately needed, and not just for tourism. We are currently in a drought and this will certainly be reflected this spring if we do not get some more precipitation soon. Fire danger could be very high once the snow melts, and it also has a negative effect on the walleye’s spawning efforts. They need river current to spawn successfully and that requires melting snow in the spring. Mother Nature is always full of surprises, and it would be nice to see a high-water spring for a change. Fingers crossed.
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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