It is hard to fully appreciate the changing of seasons in northern Minnesota without witnessing the daily and sometimes subtle transformations. The earth begins to harden with frost while the lakes become covered in ice. Many of the birds migrate south while a few other birds migrate here for the winter—and the sun does not shine every day. Houses creak and crack as the temperature drops each night and the smell of wood smoke fills the air.
It is a peaceful time to be up here.
With the end of Daylight Saving Time forcing us to change the clock back an hour, it is now getting dark around 5 p.m. The mornings are too frosty to get motivated and pretty soon it will be cold enough for me to quit working outside altogether, unless of course you consider hiking through the woods to sit in a deer stand at 6 a.m. to be work. I am slowly losing my ambition to swing a hammer while wearing two layers of gloves, or having to scrape ice off the lumber before cutting it. Construction is hard enough work without adding any more variables.
Other than the Mastec crews working on the fiber optic lines, the Gunflint Trail has been quiet and I would expect that they are going to be done up here very soon. I was told they are breaking through six inches of frost with the excavators before hitting softer ground—if there is such a thing in this county. This is pretty tough country for digging and the frost cannot be making things any easier. The crew up here is not as large as it was a few weeks ago and the flaggers are no longer being used, so give them a brake while passing by. They have to work really close to the road with swinging machinery and cannot always see you coming.
The days have been a little brighter this week but that does not mean that it is warm outside. Last week the smaller lakes froze over but some high winds this week broke them back open again. There are some protected bays that are still covered with ice and it feels like we should start seeing some more frozen water soon. The snow can stay away for a little while longer, so that I can finish cleaning up my yard, but it would be nice to see some lakes freezing over soon.
There are some smaller lakes that I would like to fish this season that would be much easier to access before the snow flies and the Nordic ski trails are being groomed, otherwise these lakes are hard to access. For me, half the adventure of ice fishing is the adventure of finding how to get to a new lake that is off the beaten path. There are so many fishing possibilities up here that a person could spend a lifetime exploring and never see it all.
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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