The Gunflint Trail is no place for the weak at heart. It has a tendency to weed out the softer people who require comforts that simply are not available up here. Don’t get me wrong; I spent many years migrating like the loon. I sometimes still consider following them south again.
TheTrail demands respect on many different levels. Nothing happens as fast as it does everywhere else nor is it as easy. We live 40 miles from Grand Marais and deal with many inconveniences such as frequent power outages, telephone service interruptions, colder average temperatures, forest fires, blow down storms, and recently some overdue road construction, just to name a few. I’m not complaining because the pros certainly outweigh the cons.
The Trail locals hardly “hang out” at all in the summer months. We get to play a lot more during the winter. My friends always told me how much more they enjoyed the winter months and it makes sense. There is just a different attitude and pace about the season that helps even out your year.
Photo courtesy of the family After 11 years of applying for a once-in-a-lifetime Minnesota moose license, Darren Peck of Tofte was lucky enough to get a permit this year. He shot the moose on October 7. Its antlers are 45 inches wide. The Peck family is pictured with the bull moose—Darren, Anna, Jack and Katie.
November is usually a month of gray skies and miserably wet days but soon there will be a beautiful white blanket hiding the mess in our front yards. I say this while looking at a pretty fair amount of snow collecting right now, but it will not be here long. These early scares are what we need to remind us that it is time to get ready for the season ahead. Split the wood, winterize the boat, clean up the yard, and start going through the ice fishing gear. I plan to wait until the very last minute to actually winterize the boat, but it is on the list.
Fishing has actually been very good up here lately although
have only been out a couple of times in the past week. My friend Emily Forseth and I managed a couple of 28½ inch walleyes and a few eaters as well last weekend. Emily has a strange luck—she always seems to catch big fish. We used to call her Eelpout Emily because of her unique ability to find these prehistoric snakes through the ice, but she certainly redeemed herself this summer in my boat. I believe she out-fished me every time we fished together.
Photo by Michael Ficken, Sr. This massive moose with a 49-inch antler spread was taken by Michael Ficken Jr. from Savage, MN, on Wednesday evening, October 7, with a .300 Winchester Magnum. Ficken was hunting by Pendant Lake, near Devil Track Lake in Grand Marais. He called the moose in and shot him at a distance of 20 yards.
One difficult thing about fishing this late in the year is returning a fishafterpulling it out of fifty feet of water. One of the “hawgs” we caught was gut hooked and just could not be revived. I took it home and filleted it, but the meat looked like sawdust. I see this happen a couple of times a year, and I have no idea what it is. The old timers always called it the sawdust disease, but I am guessing there is probably a more scientific definition.
Another problem fishing so deep for walleyes is that you will accidentally come across some lake trout. The season is currently closed and they too can be hard to release. One thing that will help is to fight the fish slowly, avoiding bringing them up too fast. Give them a chance to adjust and it will help ensure a safe release. Setting the hook on a pig in fifty feet of water is pretty cool. I watch the people in my boat and I can tell them immediately, “hawg on, take your time and enjoy the ride!”
Photo by Joe Carlson Evan and Matt Jones, of Maple Grove, of Maple Grove had a great day of fishing despite the cold weather. They were lucky to have a little sun—the next day, October 10, brought Cook County’s first snowfall! Evan is pictured with his first northern, a nice one at 26.5-inches. They caught other fish, including a 17-inch walleye using a jig and minnow in 12 to 17 feet of water.
Cory Christianson, a 2000
Graduate of the University of
Iowa, has worked as a fishing
guide on the Gunflint Trail for
nine years. If you have any fishing
reports or stories to share, send
an email to: christiansoncory@
hotmail.com or call 218-388-0315
Leave a Reply