Troutdude

Our group came off the river at Cedar Grove late afternoon on Saturday, changed and quickly made a dash up to Baptist to pick up our vehicles. Unfortunately, one of us left a large red NRS boundary pack and a military issue camo green Gore Tex shell in one of the latrines above the campground on river left, while we shuttled the vehicles. When we returned they were both gone. I'm hoping that some good citizen picked them up and is holding on to them until they are claimed. Here's hoping............ Thank you

Nortrad posted he lost one back in August. Scroll down about a dozen posts and you will see it.

Wow, what a monster!!! Good job!!!

I caught one there in 2008. Call me a liar but, I know my fish and what it was. Consequently, this past weekend I was on the Point and one of the people in our group claims to have caught one. I was down river atr the time and can't substantiate this. However, I have a sneaky suspicion that somehow they are getting into the Point be it from a covert stocking effort, screwed up hatchery stocking or whatever, I know for a fact what I caught and it was a brown. Flame on, I can take it.

Going make a stop next weekend and check it out. Just for the sake of curiosity, I wonder what the USFS punch list entails???

I'm headed up on 9/12 to the same area, entry point 16, getting back to KC on 9/23. I can't wait!!! What was your favorite section of that trip to fish?

All good stuff, LOL! I remember a scenario related to me by one of my fishing/floating buds. As the story goes, he was fishing at Bennet when 3 Asian gentlemen rolled up with their surf casting rigs and proceeded to cast directly into the trees. Now that is entertainment!

Just wondering if anyone else noticed the Symbicort commercial showing people headed out for a day of fishing? I'm pretty sure the whiz bang advertising execs who dreamed up that commercial have no clue about fishing. Every person in the commercial is outfitted with a spinning rod and a fly reel, fly line outfit. LOL!!!

Gentlemen, As per my attorney, Dr. Gonzo, no glass! Might I offer any of the Tallgrass Brewing companies tasty libations? All available in cans for your recycling pleasure. Heck, I even drink them off the river.

Friday 12/9/2011: Drove down to Bennet on Friday and got the line in the water around 2 pm. Had moderate success with about 8 to hand in the park. Siren sounded and I headed back to Sand Springs where we were staying and hit their access point for about 45 min. Holy cow!!!! Caught a 16" smallie and a 12" on back to back casts. Sweet!!! Everything caught on an olive wooly bugger, no need to change, as I missed around a dozen takes. I know, I need to sharpen my skills. Saturday 12/10/2011: Loaded up my Wenonah Spirit II and got on the river at Sand Springs about 9:45. Started slaying the rainbows from the get go and it didn't stop. Half mile down from the last MDC access brought another 16" smallie to hand. I'm on fire, I'm thinking. Rainbows continue to hit consistently, all day. I honestly lost track. Awesome!!!! Found a nice hole with a couple of browns that came to hand a few miles down from the last MDC access. One 14" one 16" . Slightly up-river from NRO I landed two large mouth back to back. Everything today was taken evenly between an olive wooly bugger and with my spinning rod casting a spinner with either a ginger, cream or brown maribou jig. Again, I have no idea how many rainbows came to hand, lost track. EPIC!!! Saw my first hellbender in the wild, must have been between 18" and 20", crazy prehistoric looking creature! Also saw tons of eagles, a pileated wood-pecker, (it was enormous) and a couple of otters. One carrying a large mouth along the bank that was so big it kept on tripping over the thing, very funny! Had the river to ourselves, not another boat to be seen all day. A great day, to say the least! All fish were released to fight another day.

Sorry I didn't meet up with you. I left KC at 9:30 am Thursday stayed at Greer that night and float camped down to Riverton until we got off the river at 2:30 Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, I didn't have an opportunity to check my messages until we hit Alton around 3:15. If your trip was half as good as mine, you had a great one and I hope you did. Let me know about your BWCAW trip and I will try to steer you in a good direction.

Hey Mark, I gave you some general advice on BWCAW fishing in one of your threads earlier. I will be on the Eleven Point this weekend as well. If you see a guy and a distressed lady in a blue Wenonah Spirit II canoe and would like to chew my ear for a bit about the BWCAW feel free to stop and say hello. I'm more than happy to share what I can so you can have a successful trip next year.

Headed down to my favorite river tomorrow at 9 am from KC. Small group of five this year with a newbie to float camping, my GF of nearly three years. I really hope to put her on a few trout with the spinning rod (Not going to spring the whole fly fishing deal on her yet), it sure would make the trip a heck of a lot easier on me. LOL! I recently purchased new waders and boots and am anxious to try them out. Wanted to get them in advance of the felt sole ban but, I am hesitant as to my sure-footedness with nothing more than a Vibram sole. I won't be using the interchangeable studded soles as I don't want to scratch up the inside of my canoe hull. If anyone would like to say hello, I will be in the blue Wenonah Spirit II canoe.

Mark, Siusaluki hit it right on the head for pike, they do get huge up there! I was up in that neck of the woods in early September. Weed beds are great, cast to the edge and try mixing it up with the speed of your retrieve. Another great spot if you can find one (consult map) is where a river or creek channel drains into the lake. Most times these areas are fairly weedy just to the edges of the channel. Baitfish hang out to feed on what the river is spilling into the lake. As for pike lures...yellow 5 of diamonds spoon 3" or 4", red and white spoons, Mepps #5 agila any color spinner combo, Shad Raps size 7 silver, perch, perch flash, blue chrome. Rapala deep tail dancers work well for trolling. In the evening, when the water is calm try some poppers or floating Rapalas. Above all, when fishing for these monsters use a 6" wire leader. I prefer the eagle claw laser leaders, they are dark in color and blend in well due to the tannins in the water. Good Luck!!!!

You may want to look into Saganaga Lake or Sea Gull Lake, both of which are off the Gunflint Trail. Each of these lakes offer limited motor access (25h.p. or under on Saganaga)(10h.p. or under on Sea Gull) in certain areas. You would need to consult a current Fisher or Mckenzie map for those specifics. Saganaga has considerably more area available to motor access. Additionally, if you would like to rent a canoe from an outfitter you could access several more lakes by short portage. There are also plenty of lodges on the Gunflint Trail near and or on these lakes. Unless you just have absolutely cruddy weather or you don't know what you are doing, you will catch fish.