Last week my cousin Ken was here for a little Mid-Winter ice fishing.  It had been awhile since his last visit and he expressed an interest in hitting a few lakes while putting some miles on the snowmobiles at the same time.

We headed out at 8 O’clock on Tuesday morning and by 9am we were fishing on Portage Lake.  We later moved on to Birch Lake then to Moss.  I had completed what I would call the “Grand Slam” of Trout fishing.  I had caught Splake, Rainbow, Brook and Lake Trout all is the same day.  I can not remember ever doing this before and oh yes; what a feast we had that evening.

In my last fishing report, I left off with a “to be continued . . . and how quickly things can change.”  My brother Dale was here with some friends and one of their sons, a 12 year old named Mitchel.   I had promised to take him under my wing as he had never caught a Lake Trout.  On Saturday on our day trip to Sag (with a little help) he managed to catch 5 Trout followed by 2 more on North Lake on Sunday.  In between the fishing was feeding deer by hand in my yard and driving the snowmobile on North Lake.

Mitchel had just told me about the great weekend he was having and how lucky I was to be able to live here when he heade3d out for one last snowmobile ride.  That is when things changed so quickly.  As he passed between the islands over near the South Lake Portage the skis on the snowmobile caught on an ice ridge causing the machine to flip end over end several times.  When we got over to him, we found him to be shaken but ok.  The snowmobile had suffered significant damage.  The windshield and mirrors were broken off, the handle bars busted, the hood cracked and the list goes on.  With time we reassured ourselves that Mitchel had not been injured other than his pride as he was riding his grandpa’s borrowed machine.  The good news is that his dad works as an auto body repairman and has the skills to make things right – with grandpa.

Fishing on Sag continues to be hot as the average catch has been 14 fish.  Most running 2-3 lbs although I did release a 33.5 inch fish last week.  Gunflint Lake fishing continues to be steady with a respectable 6-7 lb average for Lake Trout.  Yesterday afternoon I surprised myself with a eelpout weighing in at about 8 lbs.  Otherwise known as fresh water cod it made a great tasting meal.

Bob Sr.