I went on my final winter camping trip of 2010 this past weekend. It was touch and go if we would even made the trip up north, as record breaking warm temperatures were threatening the ice. The Lone Chihuahua and Tangerine Boy arrived at my house from the Twin Cities Wednesday night and got some repacking done, told some stories, and hit the hay.
Officer Friendly arrived at 6:00am the next day and we took off for the Gunflint Trail. After a couple stops we arrived at our destination lake. There was absolutely no snow in the woods. It was 50 degrees and windy. The ice had pulled away from the landing enough that we couldn't get on the ice pack. I wandered around and finally found a spot in the shadow of the shore that we could use to get in the lake. We made the decision to just camp in the parking lot instead of going onto the lake to find a campsite. I didn't want to walk 3 miles only to find out that we couldn't find a spot to access the shoreline to camp. We hit the ice to fish near the parking lot. The ice was still about 20 inches thick and fairly solid, but it was shrinking and it was water logged. We checked out some points and islands and managed to land four lake trout between us and Officer Friendly caught a bonus whitefish. We set up camp on a warm evening and enjoyed venison steaks and mushrooms.
On Friday morning we ate breakfast and were about to hit the lake when a busload of high school seniors arrived. 57 kids were planning on camping on the lake. The max group size is 9 in the BWCA, but that didn't seem to bother the leaders. They were head south, so we headed north. After about a two mile walk, we discovered that open water and bad ice in a couple narrows was preventing us from accessing desirable trout water. We were forced to fish in areas that weren't near really deep water (areas with access to deep water is generally better for lake trout). After a bit, Tangerine Boy and the Lone Chihuahua gave up and headed back to deeper water near the landing. Officer Friendly and I stuck it out in the shallow area, fighting off the cold, gray, windy day. It paid off. We each caught several trout, including 2 26 inch and 1 25 inch fish. We wandered back to the main lake and found that our associates had caught nothing. Just after we arrived, however, Tangerine Boy caught a nice trout on a tip-up. I jigged up another trout just before we called it a day. It was corned beef and cabbage for supper-a wonderful meal provided to us by a co-worker.
On Saturday, after a cold night, we all headed back to the hole that Officer Friendly and I had done so well in the day before. We set up Tangerine Boy and the Lone Chihuahua on our holes and Officer Friendly and I went to a new area to fish. I immediately hit a hot streak-jigging up four nice trout in the first 1/2 hour. As I was fighting the last fish, a nice 25 incher, my tip-up went off, and after landing the trout on the jig rod, I went and caught the one on the tip-up too. It was lucky streak. It slowed after that, so we entertained ourselves on the cold, sunny, and windy day by playing on the clear, slippery ice surface. Throwing a frisbee disc on the bare ice meant it would go forever before stopping. We also used our safety picks and ski poles to propel our sleds down the ice. The Lone Chihuahua also played a game where he let his chair blow away down the lake and he chased it for a long time before catching it. The rest of us declined to play that game. The Lone Chihuahua finally caught another trout that afternoon, but that was it. We went back to the main lake for the 5:00 bite and it again paid off, with the Lone Chihuahua and I each jigging up nice trout. Supper was the world famous Tangerine Boy's wife's secret family recipe chili. Delicious.
On Sunday, the Lone Chihuahua and Tangerine Boy packed up and headed home. Officer Friendly and I fished near the landing for a couple hours and she caught 2 more trout. We packed up at noon and hit the road, stopping for lunch at the Gunflint Tavern. It was a good trip to end the year, even though we we unable to reach our original destination.
Nature Moment: On the way north at the beginning of the trip we spotted a lone wolf along the highway. It was in the same area as we saw a wolf two weeks ago.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Trout on the Beach
It was another trip up north this past weekend. The Lieutenant met me at my house at 6am on Thursday. We hitched the snowmachine trailer up to my truck and headed up the North Shore. It is interesting to drive Highway 61 during this time of year. The North Shore is home to a very large population of wintering whitetail deer due to the south facing slope of the hills lining Lake Superior (the south slope gets more winter sun than other areas). As winter begins to fade into spring, melting snow begins to reveal all the deer carcasses along the roadway. There are hundreds of them. Often, when melting conditions are right, the snow under the carcass won't melt and the carcass will be perched up on a snow podium well above the ground. We call the perched carcasses "deersicles." Deersicles attract all kinds of critters, including ravens, coyotes, and bald eagles. On Thursday morning we even saw a timber wolf at a carcass.
We cruised up the Gunflint Trail to our destination lake. We unloaded the snow machines, hitched up the Otter Sleds with our gear in them, and took off down the lake. It was sunny and it was already getting warm as we made our way to our campsite. It was well above freezing as we set up the winter tent and wood stove, organized our gear, and headed out to a proven fishing spot. No fish house or heaters were needed-instead sunglasses and sunscreen were employed. The Lieutenant caught a few small lake trout and one decent one that afternoon and I caught one trout and lost a couple more. We were surprised to see several other anglers on the lake-we had always found the lake to be very quiet in the past. That night we ate wild rice and trout chowder and enjoyed "fire brick ginger cookies," a winter camping staple.
On Friday it was warm again, although a brisk wind cooled things a bit. It was a fast lake trout bite all day. Lieutenant caught several lake trout and I caught eleven. Most of them were on the small side, but I did get a 27 inch fish that was very heavy for its length. Later in the afternoon, I set the hook on a bigger fish. It immediately peeled off nearly all of the line on my reel and the battle was on. After a bit I started to finally gain some line, but soon felt the hook pop free. Aargh. But wait-I still had him...that was odd. I continued the fight, which didn't feel quite normal...the fish felt weird. I got the fish up to the hole and saw it was a dandy...30 to 32 inches, I am guessing. I also saw the cause of the mysterious fight. The lake trout was no longer hooked. The hook had popped free as I had thought, but somehow the hook and line worked together in a veritable lasso to rope the fish around the dorsal fin. I tried to get the fish up the hole tail first, but it slipped out of the "lasso" and swam away. Shucky darn, I said (or words to that effect). Still, it was a good day of fishing. Some of the fish came on my Windlass tip-up, which is always fun. The Windlass is a tip-up that uses a wind sail to jig the bait automatically. It doesn't get a ton of use because it has to be above freezing and windy, but not too windy, to use it. So using it is a treat. It was a warm evening outside as we enjoyed jalapeno brats and sauerkraut for supper.
On Saturday we went back to the hot spot, which broke my general rule of not fishing in the same spot two days in a row for lake trout. I should have listened to myself. It started out pretty well with a nice fish on a tip-up for me and the Lieutenant hooking, but eventually losing a big fish. It shut down after that. I didn't get any more fish and the Lieutenant only caught a few smaller ones. It was another sunny and warm day. Chicken and Dumplings for supper. Lots of people on the ice again today.
Sunday dawned very warm. Concern about deteriorating snow conditions encouraged us to leave right after packing up. Our concern proved to be true as we were forced to cross some bad ice near the open water of a creek mouth and then the bad snow was causing our snowmachines to not cool properly. We made it back to the truck safely however, and, after a Gunflint Tavern lunch, we got back to Duluth by mid-afternoon.
All-in-all, it was another good trip with good fishing part of the time, and slow fishing part of the time, which is fairly typical. Being able to use the snowmachines up north may be done for the year unless some new snow falls. I'll take one more trip in a couple weeks in which I hope to walk a bit into the BWCA. After that, I'll be looking forward to the canoeing season.
Nature Moment: Friday morning, as we were getting settled over a favorite spot, a chorus of howling wolves let their nearby presence known. They were quite close and quite loud.
We cruised up the Gunflint Trail to our destination lake. We unloaded the snow machines, hitched up the Otter Sleds with our gear in them, and took off down the lake. It was sunny and it was already getting warm as we made our way to our campsite. It was well above freezing as we set up the winter tent and wood stove, organized our gear, and headed out to a proven fishing spot. No fish house or heaters were needed-instead sunglasses and sunscreen were employed. The Lieutenant caught a few small lake trout and one decent one that afternoon and I caught one trout and lost a couple more. We were surprised to see several other anglers on the lake-we had always found the lake to be very quiet in the past. That night we ate wild rice and trout chowder and enjoyed "fire brick ginger cookies," a winter camping staple.
On Friday it was warm again, although a brisk wind cooled things a bit. It was a fast lake trout bite all day. Lieutenant caught several lake trout and I caught eleven. Most of them were on the small side, but I did get a 27 inch fish that was very heavy for its length. Later in the afternoon, I set the hook on a bigger fish. It immediately peeled off nearly all of the line on my reel and the battle was on. After a bit I started to finally gain some line, but soon felt the hook pop free. Aargh. But wait-I still had him...that was odd. I continued the fight, which didn't feel quite normal...the fish felt weird. I got the fish up to the hole and saw it was a dandy...30 to 32 inches, I am guessing. I also saw the cause of the mysterious fight. The lake trout was no longer hooked. The hook had popped free as I had thought, but somehow the hook and line worked together in a veritable lasso to rope the fish around the dorsal fin. I tried to get the fish up the hole tail first, but it slipped out of the "lasso" and swam away. Shucky darn, I said (or words to that effect). Still, it was a good day of fishing. Some of the fish came on my Windlass tip-up, which is always fun. The Windlass is a tip-up that uses a wind sail to jig the bait automatically. It doesn't get a ton of use because it has to be above freezing and windy, but not too windy, to use it. So using it is a treat. It was a warm evening outside as we enjoyed jalapeno brats and sauerkraut for supper.
On Saturday we went back to the hot spot, which broke my general rule of not fishing in the same spot two days in a row for lake trout. I should have listened to myself. It started out pretty well with a nice fish on a tip-up for me and the Lieutenant hooking, but eventually losing a big fish. It shut down after that. I didn't get any more fish and the Lieutenant only caught a few smaller ones. It was another sunny and warm day. Chicken and Dumplings for supper. Lots of people on the ice again today.
Sunday dawned very warm. Concern about deteriorating snow conditions encouraged us to leave right after packing up. Our concern proved to be true as we were forced to cross some bad ice near the open water of a creek mouth and then the bad snow was causing our snowmachines to not cool properly. We made it back to the truck safely however, and, after a Gunflint Tavern lunch, we got back to Duluth by mid-afternoon.
All-in-all, it was another good trip with good fishing part of the time, and slow fishing part of the time, which is fairly typical. Being able to use the snowmachines up north may be done for the year unless some new snow falls. I'll take one more trip in a couple weeks in which I hope to walk a bit into the BWCA. After that, I'll be looking forward to the canoeing season.
Nature Moment: Friday morning, as we were getting settled over a favorite spot, a chorus of howling wolves let their nearby presence known. They were quite close and quite loud.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Ouch!
It was a beautiful weekend in every way this weekend, except one. Someone forgot to tell the lake trout to bite. Or maybe there weren't any trout in the lake we were fishing.
Officer Friendly showed up at my house at 5am on Friday. We got the truck loaded up, hitched the snow machine trailer, and took off for the Gunflint Trail. After encouraging a cow moose that was licking road salt to get out of way, we got to the lake landing at about 8:30am loaded up the otter sled and took off down the lake. After about 6.5 miles we arrived at a very nice winter camping spot on an island. What makes a good winter camping spot is a site that is low to the water with lots of brush blocking the wind. Pretty much exactly the opposite of what you want in a summer camping spot.
We set up camp and headed out to fish. It was beautiful warm and sunny day with hardly any wind. I dropped Officer Friendly off on a point extending from an island and then proceeded on to fish a point across the lake. Before I even got settled, I got a radio call that Officer Friendly had already caught a nice lake trout on a tip-up. A promising start. I missed one fish on the point and decided to move to a more prominent point. I heard from Officer Friendly that another fish had hit but it didn't make it up the hole. I caught nothing in my new spot and late in the afternoon I started to pack my gear when Officer Friendly called again-a big fish was hooked and a battle was underway. A short time later she called again and said the fish had spit the hook. She was very excited and said it was the biggest fish she had ever seen and that she had fought it "for 2 and a half, 3..." I couldn't believe it. She had fought a fish for 2 and a half hours?!!...she finished her sentence..."2 and a half, 3 minutes." Now, I am sure the fish was a very nice one, but I have witnessed people fight lake trout for 25, 30, 35 minutes before while ice fishing, so her assessment of the length of the battle was a humorous one. The big one that got away was the last bite of the day. We had a supper of jalapeno brats and sauerkraut.
On Saturday we headed out again, with Officer Friendly hitting the same point as the day before and I headed to a prominent point in the middle of the lake. I had a hit right away and missed the fish, and then didn't have any action for two hours. It was another sunny, warm, and calm day. I began trolling from spot to spot, drilling holes and looking for fish. I finally parked in front of a steep cliff and hooked a nice fish and, after a bit of a tussle, there was a funny pop at the end of the line and the fish was gone. I reeled up and discovered my snap swivel had broken. Aargh! Equipment failure haunts me. I re-rigged and soon caught a nice lake trout, but it definitely was smaller than the one I had lost. I met up with Officer Friendly late that afternoon and discovered she hadn't had a bite all day. Not good. We had tortilla soup for supper and listened to the trivia show on the radio.
We fished until 1pm on Sunday and only had 1 very small lake trout to show for it. It was another beautiful day. We packed up the gear and headed back to the landing that afternoon. It was an uneventful ride back to Duluth, other than one moment when the sun was in my eyes while driving and I said "if a deer jumped out in front of us right now, I'd never see it." And of course literally 1 second later a deer did jump out in front of us and I had to plant the brakes to avoid it.
It was a tough fishing trip. With the good weather I couldn't help but think if we had picked a better lake we would have caught more fish. I had been on the lake before without much luck, but others I had been with had good success. I must say I won't be going back to that lake for a while.
Nature Moment: On our way out fishing on Sunday morning, we noticed a large flock of ravens on the ice in front of us. Seconds later we saw two wolves running away from us towards shore. We stopped at the site and discovered a fresh deer kill. During the night the wolves had forced the doe onto the lake and brought her down on the ice. The snow at the kill site showed the evidence of a mighty struggle and the ultimate demise of the deer. The two wolves had already eaten much of the deer. We motored on to our fishing spot, but continued to watch the kill site. The highlight was when the wolves came back to the scene after we left. The ravens and an eagle had arrived back on the kill before the wolves, but when the wolves came back, they charged at all the birds and ran around, scaring them all off. A third wolf tried to come in for a bite at one point, but the two wolves ran it off rather than share. Quite soon thereafter the wolves split the deer into two pieces and drug them off into the woods, leaving only some hair behind. The whole experience was very interesting.
Officer Friendly showed up at my house at 5am on Friday. We got the truck loaded up, hitched the snow machine trailer, and took off for the Gunflint Trail. After encouraging a cow moose that was licking road salt to get out of way, we got to the lake landing at about 8:30am loaded up the otter sled and took off down the lake. After about 6.5 miles we arrived at a very nice winter camping spot on an island. What makes a good winter camping spot is a site that is low to the water with lots of brush blocking the wind. Pretty much exactly the opposite of what you want in a summer camping spot.
We set up camp and headed out to fish. It was beautiful warm and sunny day with hardly any wind. I dropped Officer Friendly off on a point extending from an island and then proceeded on to fish a point across the lake. Before I even got settled, I got a radio call that Officer Friendly had already caught a nice lake trout on a tip-up. A promising start. I missed one fish on the point and decided to move to a more prominent point. I heard from Officer Friendly that another fish had hit but it didn't make it up the hole. I caught nothing in my new spot and late in the afternoon I started to pack my gear when Officer Friendly called again-a big fish was hooked and a battle was underway. A short time later she called again and said the fish had spit the hook. She was very excited and said it was the biggest fish she had ever seen and that she had fought it "for 2 and a half, 3..." I couldn't believe it. She had fought a fish for 2 and a half hours?!!...she finished her sentence..."2 and a half, 3 minutes." Now, I am sure the fish was a very nice one, but I have witnessed people fight lake trout for 25, 30, 35 minutes before while ice fishing, so her assessment of the length of the battle was a humorous one. The big one that got away was the last bite of the day. We had a supper of jalapeno brats and sauerkraut.
On Saturday we headed out again, with Officer Friendly hitting the same point as the day before and I headed to a prominent point in the middle of the lake. I had a hit right away and missed the fish, and then didn't have any action for two hours. It was another sunny, warm, and calm day. I began trolling from spot to spot, drilling holes and looking for fish. I finally parked in front of a steep cliff and hooked a nice fish and, after a bit of a tussle, there was a funny pop at the end of the line and the fish was gone. I reeled up and discovered my snap swivel had broken. Aargh! Equipment failure haunts me. I re-rigged and soon caught a nice lake trout, but it definitely was smaller than the one I had lost. I met up with Officer Friendly late that afternoon and discovered she hadn't had a bite all day. Not good. We had tortilla soup for supper and listened to the trivia show on the radio.
We fished until 1pm on Sunday and only had 1 very small lake trout to show for it. It was another beautiful day. We packed up the gear and headed back to the landing that afternoon. It was an uneventful ride back to Duluth, other than one moment when the sun was in my eyes while driving and I said "if a deer jumped out in front of us right now, I'd never see it." And of course literally 1 second later a deer did jump out in front of us and I had to plant the brakes to avoid it.
It was a tough fishing trip. With the good weather I couldn't help but think if we had picked a better lake we would have caught more fish. I had been on the lake before without much luck, but others I had been with had good success. I must say I won't be going back to that lake for a while.
Nature Moment: On our way out fishing on Sunday morning, we noticed a large flock of ravens on the ice in front of us. Seconds later we saw two wolves running away from us towards shore. We stopped at the site and discovered a fresh deer kill. During the night the wolves had forced the doe onto the lake and brought her down on the ice. The snow at the kill site showed the evidence of a mighty struggle and the ultimate demise of the deer. The two wolves had already eaten much of the deer. We motored on to our fishing spot, but continued to watch the kill site. The highlight was when the wolves came back to the scene after we left. The ravens and an eagle had arrived back on the kill before the wolves, but when the wolves came back, they charged at all the birds and ran around, scaring them all off. A third wolf tried to come in for a bite at one point, but the two wolves ran it off rather than share. Quite soon thereafter the wolves split the deer into two pieces and drug them off into the woods, leaving only some hair behind. The whole experience was very interesting.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Another Trout Trip
It was time for another lake trout fishing/winter camping adventure this weekend. Being a government lackey, I had Monday off, so the Smoked Fish Guy and I left early Saturday morning and headed north. We settled in at the same campsite as two weeks ago, so setting up camp was a snap and we headed on to the lake and were fishing by 11:00 a.m. It was a mostly sunny day with very little wind, so we checked out a few fishing spots and fished outside the portable ice house some. I ended up getting three nice lake trout that afternoon. The Smoked Fish Guy was denied any fish, although he did have one on for a bit. We cruised back to camp that evening and the Smoke Fish Guy made an incredible supper of smoked pork ribs. Very good. We listened to the local station's Saturday night trivia show and turned in.
On Sunday we were forced to go to the north side of the lake in order to escape the predicted 20mph north winds. When we got set up the wind was still out of the west, however, and we connected with lake trout right away. I caught four and the Smoked Fish Guy caught two. Late in the morning the wind suddenly shifted to the north and it began snowing in earnest. The fish shut down. We never had a bite after the weather changed. Why do lake trout 30 feet down under 24 inches of ice care what the weather is? The snow and wind obliterated our sled trail in, so it was more of a slog getting back to camp that evening. It was Italian Sausages with roasted peppers, fried onions, and pepperchini's for supper that night.
On Monday the wind was still very strong out of the north and it was snowing off and on. We fished until noon and never had a bite. After getting camp packed up we headed down the road to Duluth.
Notes: I am not one to to this very often, but people should be aware that they should never buy any ice fishing gear from Clam. Wow. They might as well call it the "Clam Disposable Fishhouse." One time use only. Half the stitches pulled out, the zipper broke, the materials was wearing to the point of needing duct tape in spots, the top hub bent, and finally the material tore from one of the side, rendering it useless. I had bought the Clam Expedition on Dec. 15th and used it a total of 9 days. I'll be on the phone with them today.
Next camping trip is already coming up this weekend, as my lovely wife and child are visiting friends out of town.
Nature Moment: Heading back down the Gunflint Trail on Monday afternoon, a bull moose crossed in front of the truck and then hung out for a while just off the road, pausing conveniently for photos. Moose populations are decreasing in NE MN, but this one looked healthy.
On Sunday we were forced to go to the north side of the lake in order to escape the predicted 20mph north winds. When we got set up the wind was still out of the west, however, and we connected with lake trout right away. I caught four and the Smoked Fish Guy caught two. Late in the morning the wind suddenly shifted to the north and it began snowing in earnest. The fish shut down. We never had a bite after the weather changed. Why do lake trout 30 feet down under 24 inches of ice care what the weather is? The snow and wind obliterated our sled trail in, so it was more of a slog getting back to camp that evening. It was Italian Sausages with roasted peppers, fried onions, and pepperchini's for supper that night.
On Monday the wind was still very strong out of the north and it was snowing off and on. We fished until noon and never had a bite. After getting camp packed up we headed down the road to Duluth.
Notes: I am not one to to this very often, but people should be aware that they should never buy any ice fishing gear from Clam. Wow. They might as well call it the "Clam Disposable Fishhouse." One time use only. Half the stitches pulled out, the zipper broke, the materials was wearing to the point of needing duct tape in spots, the top hub bent, and finally the material tore from one of the side, rendering it useless. I had bought the Clam Expedition on Dec. 15th and used it a total of 9 days. I'll be on the phone with them today.
Next camping trip is already coming up this weekend, as my lovely wife and child are visiting friends out of town.
Nature Moment: Heading back down the Gunflint Trail on Monday afternoon, a bull moose crossed in front of the truck and then hung out for a while just off the road, pausing conveniently for photos. Moose populations are decreasing in NE MN, but this one looked healthy.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Trout Below Zero
My first winter camping adventure of 2010 was held this weekend. Of course when I could finally make it up north, the temperatures went south. The sun was out and the winds were calm most of the weekend, though, so it was actually pretty comfortable.
Lows were well below zero in Duluth on Friday morning when my friend Officer Friendly arrived at my house in Duluth. We packed the truck and hit the road at about 6:30am. We headed northeast via the North Shore Drive and then headed inland on the Gunflint Trail. We pulled into our destination lake's public access at about 10:30am. We set up the canvas tent and wood stove in a clearing well off of the parking lot and headed out to fish on a cold but clear and calm day. We could see anglers already set up on the spot we had picked out on the map and we could see a lone angler well down the lake, but they were only other people on the lake that day. We walked a little ways to an island with a steep drop off, got the portable tent set up and started fishing about 1pm. Officer Friendly had never ice fished for lake trout before, so I provided some basic instruction and we fished side for the afternoon. The fish were fairly cooperative...I had three bites on my tube jig and landed two nice lake trout, including one that was unusually dark colored. Officer Friendly didn't have a bite. We were checked by the Conservation Officer, who reported others were having slow fishing. We walked back to the tent under a beautiful sunset to the west and a beautiful moon rise to the east. We fired up the wood stove and enjoyed Italian sausages with fried onions and roasted red peppers for supper.
It was another chilly morning on Saturday, but we both reported sleeping well overnight. We hit the trail and headed back to the same fishing spot. It was another bright sunny day that was a bit breezy, but still comfortable. How was the fishing? We got skunked. But, I wouldn't say the fishing was bad. Between the two of us we had eight fish hooked and headed up to the hole, but not one of those fish hit the top of the ice. 0 for 8. Ouch. Lake trout squirm off the hook better than other fish, but Saturday was humbling. We enjoyed chicken and rice hotdish and the local radio station's trivia show that night.
Sunday was again sunny, but a cold wind was cruising out of the northwest. We drilled some holes off a point near the landing, but discovered our depth map was way off and what was shown as 40 feet deep was 12 feet. We switched to a flat off of a rocky reef I had spotted in the summer. We had immediate action as I got a nice trout all the way to the hole only to have it wrap up on depthfinder transducer and escape. Not a good start. Soon after that I watched a fish on the depthfinder that chased my jig all over the place but refused to hit it hard enough to hook up. In a last ditch effort I put down a minnow on a plain hook and put a bobber on. The fish refused to hit that as well. After a bit, I reeled up the minnow as fast as I could so I could switch back to the jig. As the speeding minnow neared the bottom of the ice, I watched a trout swim up to the minnow with unbelievable speed and hit it. This time it hooked up and after a run back to the bottom, I finally landed the nice laker, breaking the bad luck streak. Now the mission was to get Officer Friendly a first winter lake trout. When a mark showed up on the depth finder and my friend dropped a spoon down to it, the fish swam up and nailed it. After a decent fight I looked down the hole with much anticipation to land the fish and discovered it was a northern pike. Unbelievable. We stuck with it, though, and just after noon a fish hit my bait and stole my minnow. My friend reeled up to the spot and fish hit the spoon and hooked up. After a bit of a tussle, I looked down the hole to see a nice laker (I of course immediately said "Oh no, it's another northern," which Officer Friendly did not find humorous). We were about to the land the fish when it made another run. Suddenly my friend said, "Oh no" and I looked up to discover the line had become hopelessly tangled on the reel. Again, unbelievable. Thankfully, the fish wasn't strong enough to break the line, and we were able to pull the laker in by hand. It was another nice one. With that accomplished, we filleted the two trout and packed up. We broke camp and uneventfully headed back to Duluth. Another fun trip.
My next trip won't be until mid-February...watch for another trip report after that.
Lows were well below zero in Duluth on Friday morning when my friend Officer Friendly arrived at my house in Duluth. We packed the truck and hit the road at about 6:30am. We headed northeast via the North Shore Drive and then headed inland on the Gunflint Trail. We pulled into our destination lake's public access at about 10:30am. We set up the canvas tent and wood stove in a clearing well off of the parking lot and headed out to fish on a cold but clear and calm day. We could see anglers already set up on the spot we had picked out on the map and we could see a lone angler well down the lake, but they were only other people on the lake that day. We walked a little ways to an island with a steep drop off, got the portable tent set up and started fishing about 1pm. Officer Friendly had never ice fished for lake trout before, so I provided some basic instruction and we fished side for the afternoon. The fish were fairly cooperative...I had three bites on my tube jig and landed two nice lake trout, including one that was unusually dark colored. Officer Friendly didn't have a bite. We were checked by the Conservation Officer, who reported others were having slow fishing. We walked back to the tent under a beautiful sunset to the west and a beautiful moon rise to the east. We fired up the wood stove and enjoyed Italian sausages with fried onions and roasted red peppers for supper.
It was another chilly morning on Saturday, but we both reported sleeping well overnight. We hit the trail and headed back to the same fishing spot. It was another bright sunny day that was a bit breezy, but still comfortable. How was the fishing? We got skunked. But, I wouldn't say the fishing was bad. Between the two of us we had eight fish hooked and headed up to the hole, but not one of those fish hit the top of the ice. 0 for 8. Ouch. Lake trout squirm off the hook better than other fish, but Saturday was humbling. We enjoyed chicken and rice hotdish and the local radio station's trivia show that night.
Sunday was again sunny, but a cold wind was cruising out of the northwest. We drilled some holes off a point near the landing, but discovered our depth map was way off and what was shown as 40 feet deep was 12 feet. We switched to a flat off of a rocky reef I had spotted in the summer. We had immediate action as I got a nice trout all the way to the hole only to have it wrap up on depthfinder transducer and escape. Not a good start. Soon after that I watched a fish on the depthfinder that chased my jig all over the place but refused to hit it hard enough to hook up. In a last ditch effort I put down a minnow on a plain hook and put a bobber on. The fish refused to hit that as well. After a bit, I reeled up the minnow as fast as I could so I could switch back to the jig. As the speeding minnow neared the bottom of the ice, I watched a trout swim up to the minnow with unbelievable speed and hit it. This time it hooked up and after a run back to the bottom, I finally landed the nice laker, breaking the bad luck streak. Now the mission was to get Officer Friendly a first winter lake trout. When a mark showed up on the depth finder and my friend dropped a spoon down to it, the fish swam up and nailed it. After a decent fight I looked down the hole with much anticipation to land the fish and discovered it was a northern pike. Unbelievable. We stuck with it, though, and just after noon a fish hit my bait and stole my minnow. My friend reeled up to the spot and fish hit the spoon and hooked up. After a bit of a tussle, I looked down the hole to see a nice laker (I of course immediately said "Oh no, it's another northern," which Officer Friendly did not find humorous). We were about to the land the fish when it made another run. Suddenly my friend said, "Oh no" and I looked up to discover the line had become hopelessly tangled on the reel. Again, unbelievable. Thankfully, the fish wasn't strong enough to break the line, and we were able to pull the laker in by hand. It was another nice one. With that accomplished, we filleted the two trout and packed up. We broke camp and uneventfully headed back to Duluth. Another fun trip.
My next trip won't be until mid-February...watch for another trip report after that.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Canadian Sunsets
The Arrowhead Angler kicked off the lake trout ice fishing season with a trip north of the border. Saturday morning the Lieutenant, Chief MLB, and I loaded up my truck, hitched up the snowmachine trailer, and headed north through International Falls to the border station in Fort Frances, Ontario. We were lucky enough to undergo a major search of the truck and its contents courtesy of the Canadian authorities. After a discussion about how much beer a "growler" contains and how we should have been more specific about exactly how much beer and booze we had along (even the little bottle someone didn't want to mention because it was a birthday gift for someone), we were sent on our way. We wound our way for about another hour through Ontario
On Sunday it was still quite warm out as we headed east on the lake too a new spot. The temperature was dropping and the wind was picking up, so I set my portable house on a steep sloping shoreline. As I sat down and started jigging, I heard a noise outside the house and looked up to see my tip-up flag was up. The noise I heard was the whirring of the reel on the tip-up as the fish peeled off line at a high rate of speed. By the time I reeled up my jig and got out to the tip-up, all the line was off the reel and just the knot held the line to the tip-up. I assumed the fish had broke the line, but he was still on as I began hand-lining the fish up to the hole. After a pretty good fight, another 28" lake trout was on the ice. Soon after I jigged up a nice 25" lake trout, but that was it for me the rest of the day. The other guys also had tougher days, with the Lieutenant getting just one small fish and Chief MLB getting skunked. Blame it on the changing weather-the temps were dropping all day. It was nachos and chili-cheese dogs for supper.
Monday dawned a bit colder and we did some exploratory hole-drilling before spreading out to fish in a deep northern bay of the lake. I missed a fish as soon as I dropped my jig down the hole, and then I didn't have any action until later in the afternoon when the sun came out and jigged outside in a deeper hole. That resulted in a small lake trout, my only catch of the day until an eelpout hit just before packing up. Lieutenant and Chief MLB fared better...the Lieutenant caught a couple real nice trout and lost a big one as well. Chief MLB had good action, getting several smaller trout. Venison stew was waiting for us in the crockpot when we got back to the lodge.
Tuesday we went back to the spot we had tried on Saturday afternoon, and Chief MLB continued to have good luck, getting a couple nice trout and losing a bigger one at the hole. I caught a small trout, and it was the Lieutenant's turn to get skunked. We quit fishing at noon, packed up the truck, made it through US Customs without incident and I rolled into the garage at about 7pm.
I enjoyed the trip thoroughly...the lodging wasn't fancy but was close to good fishing and the price was right. The lake had quite a few other anglers on it, but was so big and full of good trout structure that people could really spread out. The fishing wasn't spectacular, but was certainly adequate and we each had our shots at big fish.
Next trip will be this weekend to a more local lake that the DNR stocked lake trout in a few years ago. We'll see if they survived. Unless another snowstorm hits and I have to stay home and shovel.
Nature Moment: Near an exposed rock near the lake shore adjacent to my fishing spot was an unusual hole in the ice. The snow was packed down around it. I decided it was likely an access hole for otters. Later I saw an otter running in that area, which seemed to confirm my hypothesis. I wonder how often the otters have to use the hole in order to keep it open all winter?
On Sunday it was still quite warm out as we headed east on the lake too a new spot. The temperature was dropping and the wind was picking up, so I set my portable house on a steep sloping shoreline. As I sat down and started jigging, I heard a noise outside the house and looked up to see my tip-up flag was up. The noise I heard was the whirring of the reel on the tip-up as the fish peeled off line at a high rate of speed. By the time I reeled up my jig and got out to the tip-up, all the line was off the reel and just the knot held the line to the tip-up. I assumed the fish had broke the line, but he was still on as I began hand-lining the fish up to the hole. After a pretty good fight, another 28" lake trout was on the ice. Soon after I jigged up a nice 25" lake trout, but that was it for me the rest of the day. The other guys also had tougher days, with the Lieutenant getting just one small fish and Chief MLB getting skunked. Blame it on the changing weather-the temps were dropping all day. It was nachos and chili-cheese dogs for supper.
Monday dawned a bit colder and we did some exploratory hole-drilling before spreading out to fish in a deep northern bay of the lake. I missed a fish as soon as I dropped my jig down the hole, and then I didn't have any action until later in the afternoon when the sun came out and jigged outside in a deeper hole. That resulted in a small lake trout, my only catch of the day until an eelpout hit just before packing up. Lieutenant and Chief MLB fared better...the Lieutenant caught a couple real nice trout and lost a big one as well. Chief MLB had good action, getting several smaller trout. Venison stew was waiting for us in the crockpot when we got back to the lodge.
Tuesday we went back to the spot we had tried on Saturday afternoon, and Chief MLB continued to have good luck, getting a couple nice trout and losing a bigger one at the hole. I caught a small trout, and it was the Lieutenant's turn to get skunked. We quit fishing at noon, packed up the truck, made it through US Customs without incident and I rolled into the garage at about 7pm.
I enjoyed the trip thoroughly...the lodging wasn't fancy but was close to good fishing and the price was right. The lake had quite a few other anglers on it, but was so big and full of good trout structure that people could really spread out. The fishing wasn't spectacular, but was certainly adequate and we each had our shots at big fish.
Next trip will be this weekend to a more local lake that the DNR stocked lake trout in a few years ago. We'll see if they survived. Unless another snowstorm hits and I have to stay home and shovel.
Nature Moment: Near an exposed rock near the lake shore adjacent to my fishing spot was an unusual hole in the ice. The snow was packed down around it. I decided it was likely an access hole for otters. Later I saw an otter running in that area, which seemed to confirm my hypothesis. I wonder how often the otters have to use the hole in order to keep it open all winter?
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Lake of the Woods Walleyes
After what was a slow holiday season as far as fishing has been concerned, a friend and I headed west to Lake of the Woods, Minnesota. We left on Sunday morning and drove four hours to Zippel Bay on the massive lake's south side. Lake of the Woods and the surrounding area is very interesting geologically...it sits at the cross roads of the flat, boggy prairie and the rocky Canadian Shield. The south portion of the lake, most of which is in Minnesota, is an open, relatively shallow sand flat. The northern portion is deep, rocky, and full of islands. Zippel Bay is a narrow river-like bay, and the Zippel Bay Resort is located well back from the main portion of Lake of the Woods.
We checked in at the Resort's office and learned they had put us in Sleeper House #224. The attendant pointed out where the house was located on a large map that showed an actual grid system of plowed roads on the ice of the main lake. After we settled up ($114 per person for 2 nights), we drove down the landing to ice road on the bay. We wound our way up down Zippel Bay, crossed a sand bar and went onto Lake of Woods. It was an impressive scene...thousands of ice fishing shacks of every make, model, and quality stretched to both the east and west horizons. The northern horizon was a frozen, snow covered lake as far as the eye could see.
We followed the street signs on the road system to "Bobber Street" and took a left, eventually finding the Sleeper Fishhouse labled #224. It was a solidly built house that was about 7' x 12'. It had two beds that folded down from the walls, six already opened fishing holes, a stove top, a heater, a table, and a propane light. Outside there was an outhouse-like structure with a bucket and some garbage bags. Thankfully, a toilet seat was kept inside the fishing house to keep it warm. The house was a respectable distance away from other houses.
We got our lines set up in 24 feet of water and settled in. It took a little while to get going, but we eventually caught several walleye and sauger (a slightly smaller, but just as tasty walleye cousin). Some of the fish were quite small, but we caught some nice eaters up to 16". After dark, I caught a good sized eelpout (burbot), which my friend had never seen before. He wasn't impressed. Overall the fishing was little slower than expected. After a fish supper we turned in, leaving one line down on a rattle reel.
Monday was a sunny, warm day and the fishing was pretty fast for an hour or so right away in the morning, but they were mostly small. We took a drive out and about that afternoon, checking out all the different kind of fishhouse set ups and noting the big spray foam igloo that the Resort keeps on the lake. It has a bar and grill inside. That evening the fishing picked up again. After supper, well after dark, I was jigging on the bottom and noticed a wide mark on my depthfinder, well off the bottom. I reeled up to the spot and got bit right away. After a short tussle and a battle to free the 4lb test from the depthfinder transducer, I pulled up a large walleye. It measured out at 26.5". Probably 6 or 7 pounds. One of the nicer walleyes I've ever caught. A few minutes later another mark came in 10 feet off the bottom and struck my lure. My line snapped immediately. The other fish must have nicked the line somehow. Aargh. That was the last bite of the night.
On Tuesday, we had another pretty good bite in the morning, and my buddy caught a 17.5" walleye, which was a good addition to the pile of fish we were taking home. The trip home was uneventful. I got the fish cleaned and in the freezer (just for you, mom).
It was a fun and interesting trip. Now this weekend I am headed north of the border with two friends to get started on the lake trout season in Canada.
We checked in at the Resort's office and learned they had put us in Sleeper House #224. The attendant pointed out where the house was located on a large map that showed an actual grid system of plowed roads on the ice of the main lake. After we settled up ($114 per person for 2 nights), we drove down the landing to ice road on the bay. We wound our way up down Zippel Bay, crossed a sand bar and went onto Lake of Woods. It was an impressive scene...thousands of ice fishing shacks of every make, model, and quality stretched to both the east and west horizons. The northern horizon was a frozen, snow covered lake as far as the eye could see.
We followed the street signs on the road system to "Bobber Street" and took a left, eventually finding the Sleeper Fishhouse labled #224. It was a solidly built house that was about 7' x 12'. It had two beds that folded down from the walls, six already opened fishing holes, a stove top, a heater, a table, and a propane light. Outside there was an outhouse-like structure with a bucket and some garbage bags. Thankfully, a toilet seat was kept inside the fishing house to keep it warm. The house was a respectable distance away from other houses.
We got our lines set up in 24 feet of water and settled in. It took a little while to get going, but we eventually caught several walleye and sauger (a slightly smaller, but just as tasty walleye cousin). Some of the fish were quite small, but we caught some nice eaters up to 16". After dark, I caught a good sized eelpout (burbot), which my friend had never seen before. He wasn't impressed. Overall the fishing was little slower than expected. After a fish supper we turned in, leaving one line down on a rattle reel.
Monday was a sunny, warm day and the fishing was pretty fast for an hour or so right away in the morning, but they were mostly small. We took a drive out and about that afternoon, checking out all the different kind of fishhouse set ups and noting the big spray foam igloo that the Resort keeps on the lake. It has a bar and grill inside. That evening the fishing picked up again. After supper, well after dark, I was jigging on the bottom and noticed a wide mark on my depthfinder, well off the bottom. I reeled up to the spot and got bit right away. After a short tussle and a battle to free the 4lb test from the depthfinder transducer, I pulled up a large walleye. It measured out at 26.5". Probably 6 or 7 pounds. One of the nicer walleyes I've ever caught. A few minutes later another mark came in 10 feet off the bottom and struck my lure. My line snapped immediately. The other fish must have nicked the line somehow. Aargh. That was the last bite of the night.
On Tuesday, we had another pretty good bite in the morning, and my buddy caught a 17.5" walleye, which was a good addition to the pile of fish we were taking home. The trip home was uneventful. I got the fish cleaned and in the freezer (just for you, mom).
It was a fun and interesting trip. Now this weekend I am headed north of the border with two friends to get started on the lake trout season in Canada.
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