Hopefully the Gunflint Trail residents are ready for winter because it is here. The high temperatures are going to be in the upper 30s this week and the brief appearances of sunshine have not been enough to melt it away. I hope we see some warmer temperatures soon, but it might not happen.
This is a busy time for everyone in the North Country who is trying to squeeze in some more projects before it is too late. I was able to get the metal roof installed on our new garage, but I had to wait for the special order ridge cap to arrive so that I can completely seal the peak. All I need is a dry roof to walk on and I am hoping to see that happen sometime this week.
Winter is the preferred season of many of the residents in Cook County and it took me a couple of years to realize why. I still prefer open water to frozen but many of my friends would trade a snowmobile for a boat any day of the week.
Snowmobiles and Nordic skiing allow access to many remote areas that otherwise would require a lot of effort to see. The woods become much smaller when you can simply throttle your way through the portages and zip down a lake— which is why it is more common to be checked by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in the winter than it is in the summer. The same is true for the Canadians, especially on Saganaga Lake which would otherwise require the authorities to drive through Minnesota and launch a boat in order to patrol the lake.
It would have been nice to see a couple more weeks of sunshine before Old Man Winter snuck in and covered us with snow. The ground has not begun to freeze yet and the lake temperatures are hovering around 50 degrees.
Walleyes were still biting last weekend on Saganaga Lake but it usually takes a turn for the worse as soon as the water temperatures dip below the 50-degree mark. All of my boats have been winterized except for one and I think this would be the week to complete that project as well and start focusing on whitetail deer.
There has not been a lot of time for scouting yet but it seems like I have not seen a deer on the Gunflint Trail, besides the pets at Gunflint Lodge, for quite some time.
My family ate the remaining venison from last season and I hope to fill the freezer once again with some fresh venison. My budget has still not allowed for a new deer rifle so I will be doing it “Iowa style” once again with my 12-gauge shotgun. The rifled slugs are pretty accurate to 80 yards and that is about as far as a person needs in the thick woods up here.
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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