The weekend weather on the Gunflint Trail was beautiful. It made up for some cold, windy and rainy weather last week. Mike Berg from Seagull Creek Fishing Camp reports that lake trout fishing has been doing well with jigs and ciscoes. Jon Schei guiding out of Gunflint Lodge agrees. He was out yesterday (7/20) with his parents on Saganaga Lake. They started out the day with a 27" walleye in 32' of water. Then they switched to lake trout and 30 minutes later there were six lake trout in the boat. The fish were in 40-60 feet of water and caught with crankbaits.

Meanwhile Guide Dennis Todd from Gunflint Lodge spent the week on Saganaga and Northern Lights Lakes with the Sherrick party. Using Lindy rigs and jigs with leeches and nightcrawlers they caught 9 walleyes over 28" They also limited out with eater-size walleyes. The fish were in 16-20 feet of water. The bonus for their fishing was catching two northerns over 40" on jigs.

Debbie Mark from Seagull Outfitters had a family come in from a canoe trip. They were fishing at the west end of Saganaga Lake (in the 1st Bay, 2nd Bay, 3rd Bay area) with a slip bobber and leeches. Suddenly they hooked what appeared to be a large bass. With a little help from the wind, the fish towed them all over. Finally after 20-30 minutes they beached the canoe. Their line was wrapped around a tree in the water. As they struggled to untangle the line and keep the fish on, they noticed a brown thing in the water where the line was. They had hooked a beaver! No wonder the "fish" had fought so hard. At that moment of realization, the line snapped. Debbie has lived on the Gunflint Trail for most of her life and never heard a story like this.

Meanwhile down at Nor'Wester Lodge, Luana Brandt had a bird story for me. A baby bird fell out of its nest. It was hard to tell if the baby was a hawk or an eaglet. After much looking (but no touching). Luana decided it was a baby hawk. It had lots of feathers and was still molting on the shoulders. They cordoned off the area. The baby disappeared. A phone call to the DNR assured them that the mother will continue to care for the baby until it could fly.

Only one moose story today. Andy McDonnell at Bearskin Lodge said that last week's momma moose and calf have taken up permanent residency around the lodge. There is a very dense bunch of trees and shrubs that they are comfortable in. Andy does say that the mother gets a little testy if anyone comes too close to the baby. The guests are loving it.

With the rain last week and the sunshine over the weekend, everything is growing. The wildflowers along the roads are in a blooming frenzy. On the south-facing rocky outcroppings, the blueberries are ripe. Shari Baker from Gunflint Pines was out picking and had good luck in those areas. No sign of the raspberries yet but they can't be far behind.