This first week of the season has had mixed fishing along with unsettled weather. Starting with the walleye-- Opening weekend was tough fishing, but by Monday the guides found them and some nice ones have been caught during the week. Most of them are running in the 3 to 5# range. The lake trout have been hot right from opening day on. It has been fairly easy to limit out on them so far. The water level has returned to normal this spring and we can again get up the rapids into North Lake.
Frank Bova and son of Yardley, Pa - Frank lost the big one TWICE, but his son Chris
came to the rescue and landed the 34" northern when he got a hold of it.
Thomas Streepey party of Chesterton, In fishing on Saganaga with guide, Bob Baker,
caught and released a 29" walleye and still brought in a beautiful string of walleye
and lake trout to take home.
A few nice hot sunny days and a few damp ones--typical May weather, but the fish have been biting. The guides have been busy on both Saganaga and North lakes this week, with 5 trophies caught and released yesterday alone. Several nice catches of lake trout have come in with sizes running up to 8#. The first smallmouth bass action of the spring is also starting. It appears that the water is warming a bit faster than usual and the bass may be up on the beds in the next week.
Gerry Schoewen of Ellicott City, MD caught and released a 30 1/2" walleye
Bob Baker of Grand Marais, MN caught and released a 28" and a 28 1/2" walleye
Joe O'Halloran of Chicago, IL caught and released a 31" walleye
Denniss Thielke of Duluth, MN caught and released a 28 1/2" walleye
Bob Baker of Grand Marais, MN caught and released a 31" walleye
Eric Warner of Bloomington, MN caught and released a 28 1/2" walleye
The Charles McNeil party of Woodland, MN caught and released a 28" walleye
This is turning into one of our best ever Springs for fishing. The lake trout, walleye and smallmouth bass have all be biting. At this point the lake trout are in about 25' of water and we are taking them by trolling with a spinner and a minnow. The walleye seem to be in some of the rocky bays that are warming up a bit faster than the main lake, and they are biting on leeches. The smallmouth bass have been on their beds so surface casting is working very well. We prefer to release the majority of them until they are finished spawning.
Sharon Baker of Cloquet, Mn caught and released a 29 1/2" walleye
Dalf Owens of Kansas City, Mo caught and released a 30" walleye
Deb Harmon of Minneapolis, Mn caught and released a 28" walleye
Shan Suenpladsen of Eden Prairie, Mn caught and released a 30 1/2" walleye
Bob Baker of Grand Marais, Mn caught and released a 28" and a 28 1/2" walleye
Charles Drexler of Duluth, Mn caught and released a 29 1/2" walleye
Angus Maris of St. Paul, Mn caught and released a 29" walleye
Marge Maris of St. Paul, Mn caught and released a 30 1/2" walleye
David and Donny Harvey of Munster, In caught their limit of nice lake trout as you can see from this picture. After 25+ years of fishing with us, David had a relapse and left most of the fishing to his wife.
The fish have continued to bite and the trophies keep coming in. The guides are working Saganaga, Gunflint, Little Gunflint, Little North, North and South lakes.
Dennit Todd of Rockville, Mo caught and released a 30" walleye
Jerry Bestler of Star Prairie, Ws caught and released a 29" walleye and his week was going just fine until his wife Shirley Bester caught and released a 29 1/2" walleye.
Mary Jane Platt of Edina, Mn caught and released several big walleye and a 20+ pound lake trout
Eric Little of New Knoxville, Oh really got into it with 3 trophy catch and releases- a 27", a 27 1/2" and a 30"
Bret Baker of Cloquet, Mn caught and released a 29" walleye
Tiffany Dickerhoof of North Canton, Oh caught and released two huge walleye - a 28 1/2" and a 29"
Bob Baker of Grand Marais, MN caught and released a 29" and a 31" walleye
Charlie Frisel of Finlayson, Mn caught and released a 28 1/2" walleye, just beating out his wife, Peggy, who caught and released a 28" one
Dennis Todd of Rockville, Mo caught and released a 29 1/2" walleye
The weather is nice, the fishing is good, there are fewer bugs, and cell phones still do not work here. How much better can it get.
Nice weather and the fish continue to bite. Of all things, the lake trout are biting in 25 feet of water right in front of the lodge. The walleye have moved to the rocky reefs and slip bobbers with leeches seem to work best.
Edward Ryan caught a 31" walleye that weighted in at 10#
Danny Yurkowski of Cincinnati, Oh caught and released a 28" Lake Trout
Emma Skiersch of Chicago, Il caught and released a 30" walleye
Phil Smith of Minneapolis, Mn really hit the jackpot. All in one day he landed and released 3 trophy walleye-- a 29", a 30" and a 31 1/2". I wonder if his buddies back home will really believe this.
Greg O'Keefe of Washington, D.C. caught and released a 29" walleye
Best wishes for a happy 4th of July weekend.
Wow, did we have a 4th of July event -- something we will not forget. It may have been the storm of the century for us with 80 to 100 mph winds. We had to close for several days to get things cleaned up again. But it is amazing how fast trees can be removed and roofs repaired when you get a small army working, plus a good dose of logging equipment operated by expert loggers. It took us about a week to get everything back together and for the power to come back on, and now most people don't even know what happened.
As we fished during this mess many guests still caught their trophy walleye or lake trout.
David Pasterick of Bethesda, MD caught and released a 29 1/2" walleye
Todd Schuster of Atlanta, GA caught and released a 29" and a 30" walleye
Dennis Todd of Rockville, MO caught and released two 28" walleyes
Bill Harris of Lake Forest, IL caught and released a 29" walleye
Barbara Kobe of Los Gattos, CA caught and released a 29" walleye
Vince Knoss of Millbrae, CA caught and released a 28" walleye
Aaron Stave of St. Paul, MN caught and released a 28" and a 29" walleye
Lary Yoder of Savannah, GA caught and released a 30" walleye
The rains have been generous and the lake levels are high so we will be able to get up into North Lake for the entire season. The blueberries are ripe and the raspberries are coming close. The weather is beautiful and the lake is just right for summer swimming.
Things have settled into the groove -- lazy summer days mixed with a few rain showers, swimming, hiking, riding and relaxing -- and best of all, the fish continue to bite. The guides have had all kinds of success stories on Saganaga, Gunflint, North and Northern Light lakes. Some of the best are:
Ryan Anderson of Chicago caught and released a 21" smallmouth bass from Hungry Jack lake
Bret Baker of Cloquet got carried away with himself with 4 trophies -- all caught and released.
A 28" walleye, a 29 3/4" walleye, a 30 1/2" walleye and a 32" walleye. Three were caught on Gunflint and one on Saganaga
Ken Knipp of Ft. Collins, Colorado caught and released a 28" walleye from Saganaga
Matt Knipp of Ft. Collins, Colorado caught and released a 31" walleye from Saganaga
Jeanine Post of Bloomington, Minnesota caught and released a 30 1/2" and a 31 1/2"
walleye from Saganaga
Terry Feenstra of Soux City, Iowa caught and released a 29+" walleye from Northern Light
Hans Zaugg of Zurich, Switzerland caught and released a 30" walleye from Saganaga
Dennis Todd of Rockville, Missouri caught and released a 28" and a 31" walleye from Northern Light
Arthur Gresser of Zurich, Switzerland caught and released a 30" walleye from Saganaga |
