It's a Wrap

Watch a video of this event at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1OJN6pu25I&feature=player_embedded

It seems like it just started, but my lake trout ice fishing and winter camping season ended on Sunday. Tangerine Boy and the Lone C arrived late Wednesday night and we packed the truck. On Thursday morning we headed north from Duluth and hit the Gunflint Trail. It was unseasonably cold, but sunny when arrived to the parking lot. The path to our destination lake was packed down and fast. The lake surface was mostly snow covered in a hard crust that made pulling the heavy sleds very easy. We arrived at our chosen campsite, put out tip ups and set up camp. The tip ups stayed stationary all afternoon and we only caught a couple small trout jigging as we sat in the sun. A breeze made it a bit chilly and we blamed the cold front on the slow fishing. We had the lake to ourselves all day. It was a tasty trout jambalaya for supper. A trivia contest was held after we ate.

After a chilly night, we woke to more sun and a cold breeze. The second day after the cold front made for better fishing. We caught several trout right in front of camp, including some nice fish that resulted in good fillets. It is really fun to fish right near camp as we can conveniently heat up a hot lunch, cut firewood, and do other camp chores. We enjoyed watching eagles and ravens swooping over the lake that afternoon. We saw only a couple other parties on the lake. Trout chowder was on the menu that evening.

Saturday morning was again quite chilly-around zero degrees. The day was less windy, however, and we comfortably fished and caught several nice lake trout. We each wandered off at some point during the day and explored other fishing spots and portages. There were 3 or 4 other fishing parties on the lake that we could see. One member of another party wandered our way and we learned that their group included a couple guys from town that I know. We enjoyed a beef and trout stew that night and turned in a bit earlier than usual in order to try and get an early start the next day.

On Sunday we out out tip ups and caught one more decent trout as we packed up camp. It was again cold, calm, and sunny as we hoofed back to the truck. I stopped and talked with my two acquaintances for a bit when we left. Loading the truck was quickly done and we headed back down the Gunflint Trail. We had lunch in Grand Marais and we were back in Duluth by mid-afternoon. The fellows unloaded their gear and headed back to the Cities.

It was a very fun trip despite the unseasonable cold. Fishing was a bit slow at times and many of the fish were too small to keep, but the guys went home with their limit of nice fillets, so it couldn't have been too bad. It didn't seem possible that it was the last trip of the season-it seemed like it just started. The trips I took were all great fun, though. Now it is time to unpack and start thinking about the start of canoe season.

Nature Moment: On Friday afternoon, we heard the hoot of an owl several times from across the lake. It actually isn't a sound that we hear very often that far north. I first thought it was a great horned owl, but later research suggests it was likely a barred owl. It called several times that night as well.