McQuade Harbor

It was a cool and windy day in Duluth today.  The sun was out and we decided to pack up the family and go for a little drive.  Our dog, Roscoe, was barking and whining worse than usual, so McQuade Harbor was as far as we made it.  I was hoping to at least make it to Russ Kendall's in Knife River so we could pick up some smoked fish, but no such luck.  There were some fishermen out at McQuade today...

A fisherman at McQuade with a pack basket and two fishing rods crossed in an X.   I didn't see anything caught in the short time that I was here today, but it was another good reminder that I need to get into this style of fishing.  How many people are lucky enough to live within walking distance to one of our Great Lakes?  Why haven't I tried this?  One of these days...

It's hard to tell, but Roscoe, our basset hound, was whining in his very loud and unique manner when this photo was taken.  This is his usual position on our road trips.  How can you get mad at a face like that?  What a good buddy!

A Rainy Day In The BWCA

It's Monday tomorrow, and I remember that I took this photo on a rainy Monday last May, while sitting under the tarp. Last year it was the wind that foiled my lake trout fishing plans. I'd gladly trade a paper plate cribbage board under a tarp on a rainy BWCA day for any Monday at work. I never did count how many holes I punched in this plate, and I'm not sure about how many I should have punched, put it passed the time, which was fine by me.

I've been thinking about my first BW trip of the season, which is coming up in May.  There's a good possibility of wet weather that comes with a spring season trip in northern Minnesota, but there's also a good chance that lake trout will be shallow.  With this years early ice-out and corresponding rise in water temps, who knows if "normal" fishing patterns will hold true?  All I know is that I'll be there to find out and that I'll be happy to there, either way.  Finding fish during a transitional period, or when fish aren't "where they're supposed to be" makes any success that much more gratifying.

Boundary Waters Human History

What do a wooden boat, a glass syrup bottle, and rusted 55-gallon barrel have in common?  They are all among the items that I've found in the BWCA.  If you will recall the dreaded video that must be watched each year prior to being issued your first permit of the season, it is actually illegal to remove these items, as they are considered part of the human history of the area.  Of course we remove modern-day garbage from the wilderness, but items of a certain vintage- somewhere around 1960 or earlier if I remember correctly, are to be left in place.  This may seem like a strange rule, but after encountering some of these items over the years, I guess that I agree with it. 

This boat had some markings that were barely legible, the only thing I remember for sure was part of the word "resort".  There were no metal tags with occupancy ratings or hull identification numbers on old boats like this.

 This was a can of "Up Town Malt Liquor".  It's interesting to see how long these items survive and they serve as a good reminder as to why we should all follow the "leave no trace" wilderness ethic.

This piece of metal was located in a camp site on Fourtown Lake and looked like a rail, but maybe it was used for some other purpose.  I assume that it had to do with logging, but maybe it was for something different entirely. 

The print on this vintage Seven-up bottle was in amazing condition.  No high-fructose corn syrup in this bottle!  Several other cans and bottles can be seen in the background.  Based on the amount of garbage here, it was pretty a pretty safe bet that the fishing must be good in the area- and it was.

The Accidental Shed Hunter

Here is my brother Tom (T1) with half of a 10-pointer and a set of lower jaws.  Last weekend, T1, my cousin Tom (T2), and his daughter Katrina were out in the deer woods doing some scouting for next season.  The group was walking through the woods when T1 said that the area looked like a good spot to find a shed.  After a few steps off of the trail, T1 found this dandy shed, leaving T2 and Katrina to wonder if he was either lucky, a skilled shed hunter, clairvoyant, or if he had made a "plant" before their trip.  Well, I can assure you, based on experience, that T1 is not clairvoyant/psychic, or anything of that nature.  He has found two sheds without really looking for them, while I have only found one (moose) shed after spending at least 50 hours shed hunting. 

The shed, as it was found, which shows that you cannot assume that a shed will be found only where a snag will pull it off, or where it will be jarred off by a deer jumping over an obstruction, or any other place where you are supposed to find a deer shed.

Here is the site of a wolf kill, located just about 30 yards behind where my Dad sits during rifle season.  The jaws from the first photo were found here.