Kyle Berg (left) and Alex Holmstrom, both 13 and both of Duluth, show off their catch of lake trout Sunday afternoon on Clearwater Lake along the Gunflint Trail. (Sam Cook photo)
I spent part of Sunday on Clearwater Lake, about halfway up the 60-mile Gunflint Trail north of Grand Marais. This past weekend was the winter trout opener on lakes outside or partly outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and several anglers were getting a start on the trout season.
I visited many of the anglers who were out, including the two boys in the photo above, Kyle Berg and Alex Holmstrom of Duluth. They were fishing with their dads, Mark Berg and Tim Holmstrom of Duluth. The boys were jigging in about 45 feet of water. They had caught four fish, all about 2 pounds. But there had been more action.
“We lost a big one,” Kyle said. “He was right there.”
Kyle was pointing to one of the fishing holes in the two-person shelter where he was fishing with Alex.
Most anglers reported an ice thickness of about 12 inches on Clearwater. Ice had formed on the lake a few days before Christmas. A few anglers had ventured out onto the lake in vehicles, but the rest used snowmobiles or four-wheelers.
I asked Vic Pederson, one of the anglers who had driven out to put up his fishing shack, how he knew how thick the ice was.
“I didn’t,” he said.
About 4 or 5 inches of snow lay atop the ice on Clearwater. The going was good.
I’ll write a story about the lake trout fishing on Clearwater for the News Tribune’s outdoors section on Sunday, Jan. 22. Look for it in the paper or online at www.duluthnewstribune.com.
The snow along the Gunflint Trail is beautiful, and we saw several snowmobilers out and about. Reports from lodges along the trail say the snow is 15 inches deep in the woods, and I’d say that’s accurate. It’s beautiful up there.
I grabbed one more photo on my way home, of this row of snow-clad mailboxes along the Gunflint Trail:
Mailboxes along the Gunflint Trail at the Clearwater Road are covered in snow. There’s plenty of snow along te Gunflint Trail, and the woods look nice. (Sam Cook photo)
