Annual Grand Marais Report (6/7 - 6/17)

[JBMasterAngler]

Just got back from our 30th annual june Grand Marais trip, where my family was represented by 4 generations this year As always, had lot's of fun! My daughter and son both got to see the same mommy moose and baby on 2 different occasions, and we seen several other moose as well...last year was the 1st time ever we didn't see a single moose. We also saw 2 bear, alot of fox, and all kinds of other fun animals. I was followed by the same beaver that "attacked" me last year on devil track lake. Introduced my son to dam building on the same creek I spent hundreds of hours on as a kid. This was supposed to be the trip my daughter was going to catch her 1st fish on, but that didn't pan out She has gotten really good at casting though, and she only lost 1 lure (which didn't have hooks in it)!

DAY 1: Kimball Lake. This lake has just been absolutely overtaken by tiny anorexic perch and silver dollar size rock bass. We caught about 30 or so. No trout, just a couple follows. My son had a plast taking our fish into his minnow net and playing with them.

DAY 2: Loon Lake. Speaking of rock bass, this lake is usually automatic for those. Didn't get a single bite! No smallies either! So I don't know what the deal is there I lost what I believe to be a decent northern. And my dad caught 2 small lake trout while casting and counting down big twister tails. Trout had a very pretty color to them.

DAY 3: Northern Light Lake. Weather couldn't have been any worse. Was cloudy, rainy, cold, and SUPER windy! But the pike fishing was on fire! We caught about 30 pike, and probably lost about the same number. Caught every single one of them on a flat rap. Also got a bonus smallie and 4 nice perch. My daughter got to see her 1st moose up close. He was swimming from a marshy island to the shoreline.

DAY 4: McFarland Lake. Ended up being a waste of a day. We didn't even see a single fish until the very end of the day, ended up catching all 4 smallies in the last 15 minutes of the day near the outlet to little john lake (where we should've fished to begin with). One of the bass was 18 inches.

DAY 5: Two Island Lake. I woke up at the crack of dawn and got on the water at 6:30. Was gonna put in several hours of fishing, then leave my boat and trailer at the launch, come back to town and go swimming with the wife and kids. Then bring them all back and fish for the rest of the day. Got on the water...motor doesn't start Goofed around with it for over an hour and finally just loaded up and went back to the motel. My dad looked at it and had it fixed in 38 seconds Ended up going back and catching a few northerns and bass, one of which was 18 inches.

DAY 6: Lake Saganaga. Went straight out to the american point area and trolled for lake trout, caught a 25.5 incher, which is the biggest I've caught in the open water Trolled for several more hours and didn't catch anything. Worked shorelines and islands for bass, and no action there. Once we get back the sea gull river, we start seeing fish! Caught some really nice smallies, including a 17.75 and 18.5 incher. Had a few pike mixed in as well. But because it was late in the day, we didn't get to hit as much of the river as we would have liked. Sag must be a good night fishing lake? We hardly seen any boats go by all day, then at about 6:30 a parade of boats heads out to the lake. For the next hour we must have seen 30 or so boats head out to the lake.

DAY 7: Devil Track Lake. Things were slow here. I put in some time for walleyes and didn't catch anything. This has always been a guarantee lake for bass, but I wasn't finding much in my go to spots. Only caught 10 fish.

DAY 8: Hungry Jack Lake. This was the only day where my wife got into some serious fishing, and she took great joy in catching more fish than me. My son also took joy in "netting" all our fish. We caught 20 total, including a sunfish. But the bass were the smallest I've ever seen in this lake. We didn't fish alot of our spots though, we kept the day pretty short.

DAY 9: Greenwood Lake. No matter what conditions we've experienced over the years, this lake has always produced fish! This year was no exception. It was never uncommon for us to catch 200 bass in a single day, and a lake trout or 2 mixed in. We only caught 80 this year, but the average size for the 3rd or 4th year in a row has gotten bigger (still small though). The big surprise was all the lake trout we caught while casting for bass! I trolled for 4 hours in the morning with various baits, speeds, and depths and didn't catch a single trout! the first 5 minutes of casting I catch 2! We ended up with 9 total lake trout. They were all small though (14 inches give or take), we only kept 1, and that was because he was bleeding pretty bad. My nephew and his friend, who were in another boat also caught a small laker, and a nice brook trout.

DAY 10: Crescent Lake. Bass fishing was very slow. And it was super windy1 With all the bays and islands in this lake, I just could not seem to find a calm place. Only caught a few small bass. Had alot of muskie sightings. And on the very last cast of the day, ended up catching a feisty little muskie.

So there it is. Another great trip in the books! Also, I highly recommend the "granny burger" at my sister's place. BBQ bacon cheeseburger with apple slices. There is no reason in the world that should taste good, but it does!

[JBMasterAngler]

Also, does anyone know what happened to the old ed toftey cabin on greenwood lake? The boat house is still there, but the cabin is completely gone. The only thing there is what looks to be the beginning of a cement foundation to a new cabin. Did someone buy that spot? I thought it was a historic site?

[protrapper]

It was for sale. Must be sold now. Have to check on that.

[monstermoose78]

JB i hear ya on Kimball lake it is sad that those perch took over and rock bass same thing happened to mink lake. Pine Lake aka treslepine lake has sunfish taken over if they get big it could be a fun lake. Glad you saw some moose. My cousins have been having slow fishing for walleyes and really bad trout fishing for streamer trout in the lakes.

[AnglerJake]

Hey, Protrapper. Check your pm's if you get a chance. Jake

[JBMasterAngler]

I was able to catch a couple small rainbows casting from shore at trout lake. I also caught a couple skinny perch there too though...I know there have always been perch in that lake, but it has always been a really low population, so I was a little concerned catching them, and having a few more follows as well. I think if I would've put the boat in there instead of kimball I could've done well on rainbows.

[protrapper]

Been some nice lake trout taken at trout lake last couple weeks. Including a ten pounder

[JBMasterAngler]

I seen a picture of that 10 pounder in the paper. I have tried and tried to catch lakers out of there over the years and I still haven't caught a single one! You'd think I'd stumble upon one accidentally while fishing for rainbows at least.