The Minnesota Arrowhead
US-61, The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
and the Gunflint Trail, Part 4
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Seagull Lake
Seagull Lake is a pretty large lake, with enough islands that it's possible to get lost if you're not paying attention.Like any lake, you can study the maps, read the shoreline and note structure on the depth finder, but there's so much area to the lake that it's hard to know where to start, so I found myself moving around a lot. I have caught walleye, smallmouth and northern on this lake,
Critters
Various sundry critters, some close to domesticated, but mostly not so much. I never had anything close to a telephoto with me, so it sorta limits you on wildlife photography...Warning! Fish story ahead!
The first three photos are interesting. We kept a few fish and had them in a bucket to keep them alive until I could get them to the fish house. I took some stuff inside the cabin and got the Nikon for some pictures of the soon to be dinner, only to catch a rodent with one of my fish in his mouth. It was dark, and when the flash went off the guys I was with said the thing jump 3 feet in the air. Never let go of the bass, though. Anyway, it goes and hides UP UNDER THE SEAT. See, the seats are just shaped sheet metal, and there's an open area on the bottom. The mink just jumps up into the seat. With my fish.
Well, dammit, I want my fish back. It's not like I can go to the store and buy another one. (The closest store that even sells fish is 30 miles away.) I start banging on the seat trying to scare the thing out while rocking the boat. Nope. The thief isn't budging. We try a different strategy, being quiet and still. After a couple minutes, the rat (I think it's actually is a mink) reappears (with my fish) and when it realizes it's not going to get clearance down the pier, jumps off the other side of the boat, into the water, and swims to shore and disappears into the brush. With my fish.
All in all, the little SOB got three of the four fish we had. It's obvious this guy had lots of practice and knew to search the boat and where to hide. That he (she?) had gotten two of the fish before we even realized it was there pretty much says it all...
That was in 1992. Never made that mistake again. And in hindsight, the pictures were probably worth a fish each...
Fish!
Some of the best fish pictures. I mean, these were fishing trips, right? From the first to the smallest to the largest. I was even charitable and threw other people's catches!Trolling Rappalas worked best for the walleye, but a small rattling crank bait would be enough for the smallmouth to get all worked up and strike it. I mean, you'd sometimes get smallmouth on that were only twice the size of the lure.
Sunrises and Sunsets
Due to the sometimes odd weather patterns off of Lake Superior and Canada, as well as the more oblique angle of the sun to the Northern latitude, you get some pretty spectacular sunsets.Sunrises, too, when the stillness of the morning dawn turns the lake into a mirror. At that time before local human activity starts (boats, other guests departing and arriving by car, etc.) is when you really hear the different. Or not hear it. No automobile noises, no distant trains, nothing but a distant bird and the sound of the water lapping up on the shore.
It's odd for someone from a major metropolitan area where there are distant mechanical sounds all the time, 24/7.
End Minnesota Arrowhead - Part 4.
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