June is really fishing time on the Gunflint Trail. At Bearskin Lodge, Sue McCloughan saw a huge 6 lb. splake come in from Alder Lake. Crocodile and East Bearskin Lakes have also had good catches of walleyes. Dan Baumann at Golden Eagle Lodge had a 9-year old girl put all the other fishermen to shame. Using leeaches with a slip bobber off the dock she caught a 28" and a 24" walleye. Dan also says that the herring have just started to hit. Any kind of shiny spoon like a Little Cleo works well for them. Forrest Parsons doesn't want Hungry Jack Lodge to get left behind. He had one of this guests come in with a 27 1'2" walleye. Once again the lure was a leech on a slip bobber in about 8-16 feet of water. The bass have also been hitting good on Hungry Jack Lake.

Lin Sherfy at Rockwood Lodge had an unusual fishing story. A solo canoest was fishing dragging a stringer of caught fish behind his canoe. Suddenly the stringer started shaking. He began to pull it in. There was a huge northern feasting on one of his walleyes. The canoer didn't want that fish in his canoe so he shook it off but lost half a fish in the process.

Sue Ahrendt of Tuscarora Lodge noted that fishing for lake trout has been good in the Boundary Waters. The fish are in about 30-40' of water.

Curtis Blake from Seagull Creek Fishing Camp had a 16-year old out with his younger brother and father. The boy caught a 30" walleye weighing about 10 lbs. Jon Schei from Gunflint Lodge has been guiding Mary Jane Platt, one of his steady guests, this week. She caught a 31", 12 lb. walleye on a spinner and crawler. Jon has also been catching lake trout on ciscoes and crank baits in 40-80 feet of water.

Tom Caldwell from Loon Lake Lodge always has an interesting fish story. This week he had a novice fisherman in camp. The man announced that he was going out to catch walleye, which is not the most plentiful fish on Loon. The fisherman came in with an 18" walleye. Then he announced that he was going to catch a bigger one the next day. Sure enough the man came in with a 21" walleye. Maybe it was beginner's luck.

Paul Beattie at Cross River Lodge has seen good catches of trout, northern and walleye come in from Gunflint Lake. Last but not least, Debbie Mark from Seagull Outfitters says that even owners get to fish a bit. She was out last Sunday and caught a 27" walleye on a leech and slip bobber. They let it go and waited for the two smaller walleyes to bring in for dinner.

While all this fishing has been going on, the animal population has made several appearances. Nancy Seaton at Hungry Jack Outfitters takes the prize. She had two people walk into her outfitters at 7:10 this morning. They had just hiked the moose viewing trail below Swamper and seen moose at the pond. These people understood that you look for moose on moose time (early) rather than our time (afternoons). Dan Baumann says there is a cow and a calf moose hanging out on their drive but no bull yet. Sue Ahrendt says that canoeists are seeing lots of moose in the BWCAW.

I think that Sue Ahrendt and I are seeing the same wolf. We both saw a large but thin wolf near the Tucker Lake Road at different times. The animal stayed right on the edge of the road as a car approached. Then it went off the road just a few feet and looked at you. The wolf did not look malnourished but could have had a little more meat on its bones. We speculated that it might have been an old Alpha Male that was kicked out by a younger male.

Lin Sherfy gets the last word. She has a Saw-whet Owl that is driving her nuts at night. The call of this owl sounds like a truck's backup horn and it's right out her bedroom window.