I have been writing about the heavy snow weighing down tree branches throughout the county over the past few weeks and its effect on many of our roads and driveways. This being said, it should not have been such a surprise to me that the Border Route Trail off of the Clearwater Road was nearly impassible due to the web of snow-covered branches blocking its path.
It took four people and two snowmobiles an hour to break trail to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) sign from the Clearwater Road, which really wasn’t that bad (coming from the guy who sat on the snowmobile) just unexpected.
If only the trout had cooperated a little, the day might not have seemed so difficult, but they did not. We caught one little lake trout and missed a few others after finally reaching the lake. Our good deed of clearing the trail for others was not rewarded with good, or even fair, fishing.
I was happy to see that Daniels Lake had eight inches of solid ice and very little slush to navigate. Gunflint Lake was also reported to have eight inches, near the shore and Seagull Lake was the same. I have not heard any new reports from Saganaga Lake but Seagull usually mimics Saganaga when it comes to ice thickness.
There were a few trout caught this weekend, but most of the fishing reports included anglers seeing fish on the depthfinder that were unwilling to bite, or even respond to the bait. This happens frequently during the winter months. Fish are inherently curious, but they do not have to feed, especially in the winter months when their metabolism is much lower.
Many bites have nothing to do with feeding at all, instead they could be reacting to your bait with aggression, or fear that the bait is threatening their territory. Fish do not have fists, so they tend to solve problems with their mouths instead.
Moose warning signs were placed along the Gunflint Trail, near Swamper Lake and the Greenwood Road which are notorious moose areas. There has also been a number of them herding in the exact same area as they have in the past, near County Road 92. They will likely loiter in these areas for the next few weeks so please drive slow. They are surprisingly difficult to see, despite their size, and prefer the low light periods to lick the salt off of the roads. The bulls and calves tend to run into the woods when cars approach, but some of the cows are slow to move out of the way, and usually return to the road immediately after the cars pass by. They must really like that salt.
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.
Leave a Reply