Snowy Sojourn

It was my last shot at open water fishing this past weekend. Early Friday morning I left town with three friends and headed up the north shore in a steady rain. We turned inland and stopped at designated trout lake near the road. Designated trout lakes are interesting spots. A designated trout lake is a lake (usually a very small one) that the Minnesota DNR has deemed as not having a viable fishery (either no sport fish or just small northern pike and/or perch). The DNR poisons out the existing fish and then stocks the lake with brook trout, rainbow trout, or splake (a cross between a brook trout and lake trout). Splake are the most prevalent fish, with brook trout and rainbow also being in several lakes.

We fished in the rain at the first lake and quickly caught 3 keeper splake. We then cruised on to another designated trout lake and set up camp. As we cooked up some splake bacon cheeseburgers for lunch, the rain turned to snow. After lunch we hiked around the lake on a nice trail and shore fished several spots. Despite constant snow and wind, we caught several decent rainbow trout and splake. During the final few hours of the afternoon it really snowed hard and began sticking to the ground. That evening we relaxed in my canvas tent around the wood stove and ate pesto pasta for dinner. The local radio station was playing old time music, which seemed to fit the setting.

After a chilly night, we dallied a bit over our breakfast burritos and the wood stove. We then hiked around the lake on a sunny but cold morning. One of my friends caught a really nice splake right away, but oddly, that was the only fish of the day. A couple additional fiends joined us after driving up from Duluth and we enjoyed the sun all afternoon. We made Quetico Supremes for lunch (grilled swiss cheese, salami, and mustard sandwiches) and spoke to a few hikers as they passed.

That evening we all drove to a nearby bar and grill and had burgers as we watched the Iowa Hawkeyes pull out an amazing victory with 2 seconds left in the 4th quarter. The smoked fish guy was ecstatic over his Hawks. After some more laughs in the tent after the game we turned in on a slightly warmer night.

Sunday morning was pretty dreary...cold, wind, and rain. It made for a mess to pack up camp. We drove to another nearby lake and the rain turned to heavy snow as we fished on a very brisk day (in fact, there was a couple small, shallow lakes near the road that were 1/2 frozen over). At the new lake, the splake were really biting, but only a couple of them were big enough to keep. We soon hit the road again and got back to Duluth around 4pm. In Duluth, being next to Lake Superior, it was rain, not snow, again. Baked splake was might tasty for dinner. Now it is time to get organized and switch out all the gear to ice fishing and winter camping mode.

Nature Moment: On Saturday afternoon we were watching our bobbers when a big splash was heard to our west. Soon a whitetail deer with an impressive rack of antlers was spotted swimming across the lake. We didn't spot any wolves, but something made that deer want to swim across a very cold lake.

Getting Ready for Winter Camping

The recent cold, rainy, and even snowy weather has inspired the Arrowhead Angler (me) to start getting ready for the Winter Camping season. Winter Camping season is my favorite of all the seasons in the north woods. The north woods seasons are Winter Camping (Ice), Waiting for Open Water, Open water, and Waiting for Ice. Some outdoorsy folks also talk about the short season in the middle of Open Water called Going to Weddings of People You've Barely Met.

I have done a few things in preparation for Winter Camping. Last weekend I got the wood stove out, set it up in the yard, and lit a fire in it for the purposes of burning off the preserving oil. It is a sheet metal stove and, to protect it from rust, I had sprayed it down when I put it away for the summer. Last year, I hadn't burned off the oil and so when I went camping the for the first time, the tent filled with an acrid smoke when I got the fire going. It took a good hour for the oil to burn off and the smoke to clear. So it was good to get that task done.

Also, last night, I rolled up my sleeves and made a bunch of burritos. I wrap them individually in foil and freeze them. Then, when I go ice fishing and winter camping, I set the burritos on the wood stove or ice house heater until they are grilled a golden brown and have a nice hot lunch (or breakfast). In total I made 36 burritos (they are small). I decided to make them now because on Monday my lovely bride had cooked a giant turkey for dinner (I could go into a long dissertation on why we made a 24lb turkey for 2.5 people in October, but for everyone's benefit, I won't). I used all the leftover turkey for the basis of the burritos. So I made the following kinds of burritos:

Turkey Fajita Burritos (turkey, cheese, fajita seasoning)
Chipotle Turkey Burritos (turkey, cheese, chipotle seasoning)
Turkey Pizza Burritos (turkey, mozzerella cheese, pepperoni, pizza sauce)
Turkey & Gravy Burritos (turkey, cheese, gravy)
Breakfast Burritos (scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon)

I admit, by the time I got all done, I was a bit nauseous and didn't want to see turkey for a while. But I am now all set for winter lunches in the woods.

This weekend I am headed up north one last time to try and get some rainbow trout and splake in designated trout lakes. The DNR has stocked these trout in a bunch of small lakes in the National Forest that did not otherwise have viable fisheries. The trout bite great in the fall and taste really good. Judging by the weather report, I'll be bringing the winter tent and wood stove, not the summer gear. I'll let you know how it goes.