Canadian Beach Party

The mild winter in the North Country continued this weekend. On Friday morning I met Captain Karkov at the crack of dawn and we loaded up my truck and hitched up the snow machines. We headed north, meeting up with the Lieutenant in Two Harbors. We caravaned up to the Gunflint Trail, unloaded the snow machines, and cruised up the lake into Canada and to the rustic resort we would be staying at. The owners showed us the 3 bedroom, wood heated, no plumbing cabin we would call home. It was perfect. We stowed some gear and headed out to fish. It was gray, but fairly warm. Captain had a good afternoon catching several lake trout, while the Lt. and I struggled. I made a very tasty jambalaya for supper and we had a few laughs. The cabin stayed a comfortable temp all night.

On Saturday, we headed to a familar spot and I hooked and lost 3 fish right away, before finally catching one on a tip up. Meanwhile, Captain continued his hot streak, catching several trout. After lunch, things turned around for me...I caught 6 lake trout between 12:30pm and 2pm, including a nice 26" fish. I caught another trout before packing up, giving me 8 for the day...a good day by any standards. I took some time to take a walk that afternoon to check out some campsites in the area. We had some chicken curry rice for supper and I defeated the Lt. in cribbage. The northern lights were out a bit that night.

Sunday dawned cold and sunny. I checked out some new spots to fish and found substantial evidence of other people already fishing those spots. So I tried a more subtle area and did well, getting 4 trout in short order. The day heated up significantly...into the 30's with little wind, an absolutely gorgeous day. I caught another 2 or 3 trout that afternoon, but nothing of any size. The Lt. and Captain also caught several fish, but nothing big came up their holes either. It was beautiful sunset as we cruised off the lake. It was pasta with red sauce and sausage for supper. I again defeated the Lt. at cribbage.

Monday morning came early and we headed out for one last shot at the lake trout. I caught only one fish, but it was a solid 27 or 28 inch fish, my biggest of the weekend. We packed up and headed home at about noon on another nice, sunny day. It was a good trip.

Nature Moment: After I filleted a nice trout I had caught on Saturday, I set the carcass on the ice outside the cabin. On Sunday evening, as we came in to camp from fishing, four bald eagles were flying near the cabin. One of them had the trout carcass firmly in its grasp. It is unusual for eagles to be this far north in February, but the little snow cover we have this year allows them to feed in this area. I also spotted two wolves on the ice on Monday morning.

Slow...

I got away to the Ely area after seeing the forecast was for stellar weather. I couldn't find anyone to join me, but I didn't mind, I am my own best friend. I was able to drive right onto the lake and up to my island campsite. There isn't a lot of snow and the ice was just thick enough to be comfortable driving on it. I set up camp and then drove to the BWCA boundary line (lake is 1/2 inside the BWCA). I walked my gear to a favorite spot and had action right away, even before the shelter went up. It was an okay lake trout on the tip-up. I hooked two other trout that day and lost them both before they got up the hole. I also caught an eelpout. It was gray, windy, and warm. I had some Northern Waters Smokehaus Italian sausage and baked beans for dinner (I was the only person in the tent, after all).

The next day dawned gray, but the sun burned off the clouds before mid-day. I walked a pretty good distance into the BWCA, looking for a fishing looking trench shown on the map. I searched and searched, never finding it. The maps was wildly inaccurate. I ended up fishing a shelf area I didn't have a ton of confidence in, but I caught a little lake trout right away, so I stuck it out. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm, and I did a lot of "trolling" on the shelf hopping from hole to hole. I did get one pretty nice laker but that was my only bite! Very slow. It was a beautiful sunset as I walked off the lake.

On Saturday, I wanted to go to a particular spot, but someone beat me to it. In fact, despite my early rising, nearly every trouty spot on the lake had people on it! I ended up back at the spot I had fished the first day. Right after I was set up, a big marked appeared on the graph, but it wouldn't hit my bait. I kept reeling my jig up slowly and the mark followed it up, but still wouldn't hit. I finally had my jig right underneath my feet...I looked down the hole to see a nice lake trout staring at the bait but still not hitting it. Then came something I had never seen before...the trout moved over and hit the transducer for my graph which was hanging near the jig! I lifted it up and it let go, but then came around and did it again! I played with it for a bit, but the fish soon disappeared. I may put hooks on my transducer in the future. After that it was slow again...two tiny trout all day. It was warm and sunny again, but the wind was more brisk. After I packed up and headed back to the truck, I stopped at a hole that someone else had cut earlier to do some last minute jigging. I immediately had a vicious strike. After a battle, I spotted the big fish below the hole-a big, ugly northern pike. As I got it's head started up the hole, it gave one last shake and cut the line. Shucks. As I watched him disappear, I noticed that somehow in all of the action, the tip of my rod had been broken. Double shucks. I walked back to the truck and noted that the Fishing Doctor's truck was parked near mine. I waited for him and his buddy to walk off the lake. They of course reported they each caught several trout. Aargh. Oh well, you can't win them all.

On Sunday I just fished an area near camp and caught one little trout. I then packed up camp and headed home on another sunny, warm day. Made it home in plenty of time for the super bowl. It was a fun trip, but the lack of fish and the broken rod were a bummer.

Next trip will be up the Gunflint Trail with Captain Karkov and the Lieutenant.


Nature Moment: On the first night as I cooked supper, a pack of wolves howled from the next island over. They are a bit spooky to listen to that close up.