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.