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| October in the Northland |
This time of year I try to fish designated stream trout lakes. These are typically small bodies of water that do not have naturally viable fisheries. The DNR poisons out the native fish (usually just tiny perch or suckers) and stocks them with hatchery raised rainbow, brook, and brown trout as well as splake (a cross between a lake trout and a a brook trout). Often, because these lakes are small, trails have been created around them by shore anglers. The fish are usually tight to shore in October, so no canoe or boat is necessary. Just a note - the season for lake trout and stream trout in streams closes on September 30. Only stream trout in designated lakes are open in October.
The second to last weekend in October my sister and her family came up for a visit. Her 10 year old son has really gotten into fishing and he had asked me to take him. At least I think he is 10. I should really start to pay attention when people are talking to me. Either way, when they arrived on Friday night, the forecast for Saturday was not good - snow, rain, cold, and wind. My nephew and his dad discussed it and we decided to try anyway. So on Saturday morning at daybreak the three of us were headed north looking for trout. We took a few back roads and found some snow on the ground in spots, but when we arrived at our destination lake, the sun was hinting at coming out and there was no wind, so the cold didn't feel too bad. We grabbed our gear and our secret trout baits and hit the trail to the first shore fishing spot. It didn't take long for me to lose a nice fish after it leaped to shake the hook - that was a good sign. Soon we were all getting bites steadily. We caught a bunch of rainbows and splake and several of them were keepers (around 13" or larger).
We decided to move on to the next shore fishing spot after a bit. It was a decent hike through the brushy forest. The fishing was slow at first and we began to wonder if we should have moved. No sooner had the thought crossed our minds when the bobbers started going down and the fish started fighting. The young nephew did most of the damage and he caught several more keepers, including a couple over 16". It was a steady mix of splake and rainbows. After a while, the weather finally turned. The wind picked up, the clouds thickened and it start to spit a little snow and rain. We took the cue and packed our gear for the hike back with our catch.
On the drive home, we ran into sun, rain, snow, and wind-all mixed up - kind of a goofy day. Back in Duluth we filleted the fish (I had gutted and gilled them at the lake) and like conquering heroes, before long we had a fish feast cooked up for the whole gang. It was a fun day.
On the next weekend in October, I had a meeting up north on Friday. So I packed the camping and fishing gear and headed to my favorite stream trout lakes after the meeting. I set up my winter camping tent and wood stove in a pull off away from any lakes because the wind was blowing quite strong. It was good to get the canvas tent up and some wood stacked near the stove. I had just a sliver of daylight left after setting up camp and the winds had calmed a bit so I cruised over to a nearby designated trout lake. I immediately caught a couple splake, but they were on the small side. Right when it was getting too dark to see my bobber it went down again - and this fish was not on the small side. After a good battle on my ultra-light rod and reel, I landed a dandy 20" splake. A great way to end the day. The tent warmed quickly with the wood heat and I relaxed after a supper of sausage and rice. I listened to a book on the ipod and hit the hay fairly late. It started raining a freezing rain as I was falling asleep.
I woke to a strong breeze and a light dusting of snow. I took my time eating breakfast and packing my gear. I headed to a nearby lake and started making my way through the woods to its far shore. I picked a spot on a mid-lake point to fish and had missed a few bites when my buddy the Captain showed up behind me. He had left Duluth that morning (we had planned to meet at this spot). Of course, he stepped in and quickly caught a nice rainbow trout, but only one. After a while we went further down the shore to another spot. The move paid off as I caught two nice eater rainbows. We gave it a good while, but that spot slowed down as well, so we made our way back to the shore near the road, where we caught some small splake and one more keeper rainbow. We finally headed back to the tent and wood stove after dark. The fire quickly allowed us to shed our heavier clothes and we enjoyed sausage and mashed potatoes. We caught up after supper as we hadn't fished together for a while. It was another nice evening.
On Sunday the Captain quickly took down his tent and hit the road to another lake. I took a little longer to get the big tent and wood stove loaded in my truck, but I was at the same lake before too long. He had gone around to a far point, but I chose to fish near the road. I immediately caught a keeper splake and then tied into a larger one. It was 20" and was decked out in fall spawning colors - it thought it was a brook trout, not a splake. Slightly hooked lower jaw, orange belly, white tipped fins. The prettiest fish I have caught in a while. The fish kept biting and I quickly finished out my limit. I caught a few more rainbows for fun and then joined the Captain at another spot near a trail. He had also done well shorefishing - three really nice rainbows, including a 20" fish that put up a huge battle. We fished together for a while but the wind had switched and our nice morning was turning into a damp, cool afternoon and the fishing slowed, so I hit the road to Duluth. It was a very good little trip.
So, the last two weekends of the open water season actually turned out to be the best fishing of the entire year for me. Persistence pays off.
Nature Moment: Fall weather can be unpredictable. I remember a lot of October days when it would switch from sun to rain to snow to sun to clouds and all over again in one hour cycles. On the way home with my brother-in-law and nephew, we saw one of the weirdest weather events I have ever seen. As we cruised down the highway before Two Harbors, we spotted a snowplow. There was no snow to speak of, so that was odd. Just then we came around a curve to find a little bit of snow on the road, and then it quickly became quite a bit of snow - around four inches of heavy wet stuff. Just as quickly, we drove out of the fallen snow and were soon on a dry highway. I bet the band of heavy snow was only 1 to 2 miles wide. The entire rest of the trip was dry, just that one tiny band of deeper snow was it. I found it quite odd.
Hubs' Flub: Man, did I lose a lot of fish on these last two trips. Some of it was because I wasn't paying attention to my bobber when I was assisting others, but most it was because- well, I just wasn't paying attention to my bobber. Multiple times I heard a splashing out on the lake and looked up to discover my bobber down and a trout trying to drag my rod and reel into the lake. Usually by the time I got a hold of the rod, the fish had already spit the hook. Oh well, I still caught plenty of fish.
Quote of the Trip: My sister told me that when my nephew went to bed on the day we fished she asked if he had a good day, and he replied, "No, it was an awesome day."
You're damn right it was, pal.
