There are not a lot of things that serious anglers agree on, but most of us believe that walleye fishing the month of June on the Gunflint Trail is hard to beat. We have never been famous for the fishing opener due to the late ice and cold temperatures, but once the water starts to warm up and the baitfish are cruising the shorelines it is time to be fishing big waters for big fish.
Northern Light Lake has been producing numbers of big walleyes this week and it will only get better throughout the month of June. The windswept shorelines and bays with the warmest water are sure to hold schools of walleyes, and they are biting on jigheads tipped with dead minnows as well as leeches. You can buy leeches at Sagonto Resort on the Canadian side of Saganaga for legal use on Canadian waters, otherwise it is a good idea to carry some preserved minnows or artificial baits to use on the Canadian side.
Saganaga Lake has been giving up some little walleyes as well, but not as fast and consistent as Northern Light. Lake trout have become part of many guided days on Saganaga Lake for me the past few years since they are fairly easy to find on the electronics and they like to bite.
Normally I would have caught some lakers on the surface while trolling spinners weighted with a couple of split-shot sinkers, but I could not buy a surface bite this spring. Every trout I have caught so far this year has been at least 55 feet deep.
The lakes are still high and many of the swamps are flooded along the roadside. There has been a healthy looking cow moose grazing in the swamp near Birch Lake. The moose look rough this time of year because they are molting their winter hair—in a few weeks they will be wearing a nice summer coat in time for the roadside photo shoots.
There has been at least one bear sighting up at the end of the Trail this week, but I don’t think it has been causing any problems yet. It should be happy that it’s not wondering around Shakopee or it might get shot. I heard there was a small black bear seen near an elementary school in Shakopee last week and the police were given the order to shoot it. Sounds excessive, but sometimes bears get shot up here for simply being a nuisance as well.
On a different subject, there is going to be a memorial for Dennis Todd at the Gunflint Lodge Conference Center on June 7 at 10 a.m. He drowned tragically last fall while fishing on Northern Light Lake. Dennis guided out of Gunflint Lodge for over 20 years and taught me much of what I know about Northern Light Lake today. He will always be remembered.
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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