gunflint lake advice needed

[Roulo]

Hi,

Was planning for a trip and came up with gunflint as a possibility this weekend. Can anyone offer any advice on the lake for productive spots this time a year. I know the lake is 200ft deep and there is not a lot of reefs out there from the dnr maps. I saw the DNR was stocking walleyes I wonder if a guy could hook into some of them. Any advice or ideas greatly appreciated. You can send me a message if you don't want to post on the board. Happy fishing! Roulo

[Borch]

Everyone that I've talked to talks about how walleyes are very hard to locate on Gunflint in the winter months. We did well on steep shoreline breaks, points and humps for lake trout. Caught trout in 20-150 fow on spoons, Lindy slick jigs with gulp minnows and jigging raps.

Beautiful area to fish for sure!

[Surface Tension]

Roulo, I've never targeted eyes in the winter on Gunflint, lake trout yes. Maybe someone will chime in but I don't think it really gets hit for eyes.

They are in there no doubt. I'd probably head East toward off the islands before Little Gunflint.

[Roulo]

Just got back from the trip, HOLY was that gunflint trail like one long slick of black ice - never seen anything like that before. Glad I don't live up there.

Ended up getting a few lakers, some nice size, few eel pout, etc. What worked was the tiniest glow jigs and tiny minnows - opened the fish up to find 2-3 inch rainbow smelt. Was planning on airplane jigs tipped with some bait but was that ever a complete waste of time.

Also got the sled stuck in 5" of slush because of the sled I was pulling - oh did that ever suck. But I managed to get it out and tried to fish at the spot without a bite - sometimes fishin aint all glamor! Roulo

[Surface Tension]

They don't waste sand or salt on the trail thats for sure.

Good that you got into a some lake trout.

I take it you didn't try for walleyes.

[Twins Guy]

roulo

was there any part of the gunflint you encountered that would have been impassible for a 2WD hatchback? i was thinking about heading up to near hungry jack-weather permitting for a little camping and fishing but if the trail is sketchy i may head toward ely instead in hopes that the roads that way are a little smoother sailing. thanks for your thoughts! glad you found some fish!

tg

[Roulo]

cant belive the roads could be any worse up to ely, but I've not been that way so I cant comment. I know there is way more traffic up there though 53/169 so I assume the roads are better. I think you can make it for sure but you'll agree the ice on the trail is like something you aint seen before. Don't know about H. Jack Lake but there is a good road ploughed out from the Gunflint Landing where you could catch some lakers. I'd say make sure your tires aint bald! Good Luck - Roulo

[Steve Foss]

Roads are good to Ely. They are state/U.S. highways, whereas the Gunflint is a county highway. The Gunflint is plowed but not much other upkeep is done on it. Hwys. 53/1/169 are sanded and salted and kept as good as highways can be in winter. The stretch between Tower and Ely is a POS for a day or two after it snows, tho.

[Twins Guy]

Thanks for the advice guys. I know where I can find a laker or three problem may be getting to them!

[Gunflint Guy]

Roulo-Did you find slush on multiple spots on the lake or was it isolated?

[Roulo]

We only went from the landing to the 30' reef directly north from the landing (the one that's 7/8th in Canada and 1/8 in US). I'm thrilled to say that I created the slush I got stuck in. The day before we must not have cleared enough snow from the ice holes and it ended up leaching I guess. Next time I'll be sure to put at least 2-3 feet of circumference from the hole so the ice can freeze and hopefully not leech into the snow. So there is a huge spot next to that reef, then there is also a spot 1/2 way to the landing, then i also hit one about 1/4 the way from the landing. i would expect to be prepared for it anywhere there is not a solid snowmobile trail. I'd definately take a run with just the sled and not a gear sled to make a trail first then come back over and check for slush before dragging the slush bucket behind the sled. If I did'nt have that gear sled behind me I don't think I would have got stuck.

Anyone have input on how plowing the lake affects the light going into the water through the ice and the possiblity that it attracs bait fish and thus their predators? Dont know if I mentioned it but we caught a lake trout about 2 hours after darkness, which seemed strange to me but we were talking that it's probably dark down there all the time with the snow cover on the lake so the light might not be that much different between night and day down there, making lakers more prone to hunt at night. Now that I remember I did hear once about lakers biting at night on reefs in the summer time.

Next trip up there I might try to rent a cabin at Hestons if it's not too pricey for me then just sled out to the 100' drop off on the east end shore. Heard some stories fishing might be better but you know how that goes.

Roulo