August is here and families are bombarding the Trail for that last summer vacation before the kids are back in school. The fishing in August is not that great, but it is one of the busiest months of the summer up here for the resorts, so the guides have to get creative to keep the fish biting.
If someone asked me to take out three “full-grown” adults in June I would politely decline, but those are the types of trips you get in August. If they do not mind going 10 miles per hour I guess I do not either, but Sag is a big lake and it makes it much harder to produce a lot of fish when most of your day is spent “plowing” between spots.
If you were on Saganaga this week, I was the guy driving the fully-loaded boat that was throwing the three-foot roller of a wake at you. Sorry. I do slow down for canoes, but it takes me so long to get back up and moving that I usually do not slow down when passing by other motor boaters or Phil and Gene Sakry’s dock, which I heard was really well built and can withstand the abuse.
Speaking of canoes and wakes, I feel the need to remind some people that they are legally responsible for the wake they produce and any damage it may cause. I see a lot of boats cutting pretty close to the paddlers when they should be given a very wide berth.
I always feel sorry for those people camping in the narrows on Saganaga as 30 boats go flying by them in the morning. They probably picked out the campsite the evening before thinking it was a nice protected little spot to either start or finish their Boundary Waters trip. Their canoes are pulled halfway out of the water and each passing boat wake slams them around with a vengeance.
All of the paddlers reading this article who are saying, “Amen” need to hold that thought because I have not gotten to you yet. I truly go out of my way to show respect for the paddlers who sharing this wonderful lake, but sometimes they just do not get it.
If a channel that is 300 feet wide, such as the heavily traveled corridor on Saganaga, is being navigated by paddlers, why must they spread out and cover the entire channel? Then, as you approach the canoe from behind and slow down (so you won’t throw them a wake) why do they continue paddling? It is impossible for me to pass them going in the same direction and speed unless they simply stop paddling for one minute.
So that I’m not following them for the next two miles out of the narrow channel, I finally have to accelerate enough to pass. This causes me to throw them a wake and they in turn throw me a dirty look.
Maybe paddlers do not spend a lot of time in motorboats, so let me explain something. A motorboat throws its biggest wake when taking off and slowing down, so it is reasonable and true that sometimes slowing down for a canoe is worse.
When I am 200 feet away from a canoe and I choose not to come off of plane it is because they will not even feel my wave by the time it reaches them. If I slow down and come off of plane they will, so the canoeist that chooses to flip me off or wave violently to slow down obviously has no idea. If an aptitude test was required for overnight paddling permits there would be a lot fewer people in the B-dub.
If you absolutely hate the sight of motorized vessels, then why would you choose a lake that allows them? The park is enormous and has virtually unlimited non-motorized lakes to choose from—choosing a different lake makes sense to me. That is as nice as I can put it.
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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