Fish Keep Hitting On the Gunflint Trail

No matter how nice or how bad the weather is, the Gunflint Trail always had guests finding fish.  Terri Caldwell of Loon Lake Lodge tells of some guests who fished all over Loon Lake with no success.  They came back to the lodge and tried using some ciscoes off the dock.  Pretty soon there were three nice lake trout on their stringer.  Ted Young of Poplar Creek Bed and Breakfast had some guests fishing on Vista Lake which usually has small northerns.  One of the fishermen caught a 40" northern on a Lazy Ike.  Andy Arhendt from Tuscarora Lodge had a party of fishermen come in from the South Arm of Knife Lake.  They had good luck catching large northerns on Daredevils and Red Eyes.

Dave Seaton of Hungry Jack Outfitters took a four-day canoe trip with his sons, Ben and Will, into Rush Lake.  Dave could not believe how many singing birds he heard on the lake.  He said the sound was almost deafening at times.  Among the birds he heard were Cedar Wax Wings, Song Sparrows, and Swallows.  At night he even heard an unknown owl calling.  As part of the trip Dave travelled towards One Island Lake.  He had been there after the Blowdown of 1999 and noticed all the green islands.  On this trip he saw those same green islands untouched by the Ham Lake Fire of 2007.  Dave and his wife, Nancy, have an even longer memory of this area.  Both of them (at different times) took guide training trips through the area with Bruce Kerfoot.  Dave said the portages were muddy then and they still are today.

At Bearskin Lodge, Bob McCloughan reported a cow moose and her calf in camp.  What made it different is that the two animals remained around the main lodge for several hours.  Every one got good views of the animals and lots of pictures.

The prize for animal sighting goes to Rockwood Lodge.  Lin Sherfy said they had a lynx walk through camp in the middle of the afternoon this week.  One of their guests was from El Salvador and just thrilled to see the animal.  The cat must have napped near the lodge because it was later seen drinking from the lake.  The animal stayed around camp for two days.  Lin speculated that it was checking out the groceries since they have lots of fox and rabbits around.

If you are on the Gunflint Trail next week, don't forget the Gunflint Trail Canoe Races at Gunflint Lodge on Wednesday, July 15th.  They run from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m.  In addition to the races, there is food, a huge raffle, kids' games, and a silent auction.  All proceeds from the races go to the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department.

Barb Gecas from Heston's Lodge offered hope for the blueberry crop.  Some of their guests hiked the Magnetic Rock Trail this week.  The five-year-old boy in the party carefully carried back to Barb three ripe blueberries.  As always, blueberry crops are a combination of temperature, sun and rain.  It looks like there will be a good crop this year.