The sights and sounds of spring are beginning to happen with each passing day of sunshine and warm temperatures. Ice-covered lakes have begun showing open shorelines, while the peeper frogs are singing in the marshes – it won’t be long now.
Nothing says spring to me more than the chirping orchestra of frogs who take to the marshes as soon as they melt, which is how they earned the name “spring peepers.” Shortly after the seemingly lifeless frozen swamps have thawed, they are teeming with hundreds of chirping frogs eager to mate, reminding us that warmer days are ahead.
Streams that only run in the spring are babbling their way to join forces with merging rivers and lakes as the snow melts. Spring showers help thaw the ice and snow while injecting life into the sleeping woods, which will soon turn from brown to green.
Snowy white lakes are turning gray as the sunshine dissolves their hard surfaces. It has been a slow transition this season, but with a little luck and some much-needed rain we might be fishing from boats on the fishing opener after all.
The larger Gunflint Trail lakes might not be open in time, but it is looking good for Devil Track Lake, as well as many of the smaller lakes that are scattered throughout Cook County. I do not think it will be difficult to find open water to wet a line in next Saturday, but it might not be on the lake you were hoping to fish.
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. You can also visit Cory’s website at Gunflintfishingguide.com.
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