Favorit e Memories Of The Arrowhead

[reinhard1]

I have spent a few years in the Arrowhead region of Minnesota. lots of good memories and experiences. camping, fishing, boating, boundary waters, forests roads and wildlife and more.

what are some of your favorite times or perhaps experiences you have had that were funny and not so funny. doesn't matter how minor or major the experience was. just pretend you are sitting around the campfire with some friends and share some stories. thanks. i'll jump in with some from time to time. some old and new pics would be nice also. good luck.

[reinhard1]

when i was a kid, i started my journey into the arrowhead real young. this is a pic from the early 60's when 3 or 4 family's would go camping every weekend in the summer. this was the Fall Lake campground near Ely. we would get sites next or near each other. the biggest site was used for everyone to eat together. the dad's would take a couple of the picnic tables from a couple of the sites they were in and put them with the table in the largest site. one long table for all the families. everyone would kick in with helping making the meals. used to be the gals back then. now i seem to do most of the cooking. great memories. good luck.

[DTro]

A few of mine included camping on Pfeiffer Lake every Memorial weekend. (It was a tradition for over 10 years). Spending the entire summer on Pike Bay on Lake Vermilion at my grandparents cabin, and also riding my bike a couple of miles to the nearest river (Rice) to catch whatever was biting.

[harvey lee]

That photo brought back many memories of whem our family and 2 others would go to Vermillion or the Brainard area for a week's vacation back in the early and middle sixties.

[reinhard1]

Pheiffer Lake left some momories for me as well. here are a couple of old pics from there of me as a kid catching what was plentifull there, bass and panfish.

[Leaky]

Those are great pics!!! I have so many memories of the Northland I'm not sure where to start. I need to chew on this for a bit.

[reinhard1]

i'll never forget this day. fishing the upper Lester River was something my brother and i did often. most of the time we came home with a few that would be fried up in a cast iron pan with real butter.

it was a cloudy day with a little fog in the forest near the stream. no wind, and i mean dead calm. was using a russian hook [that's what we called them and i think the correct name of the little tear drop looking single hook spoon]. not realy having much luck and then this brown took the spoon and i ended up bringing in over the rocks on the bank.

put it on the stringer and worked myself back down stream to were my brother was fishing. all of the sudden i heard this s "snap". it was loud and clear with no other sound around except the sounds of the stream. i looked into the direction of the snap and there it was, a big black bear comming right at me down the slightly worn path of anglers who have used it.

what do i do now? first thing i did was put the stringer and the brown in the water to hide the scent and put a rock on the stringer. then i picked up a rock feeling like David and Goliath for a second. i went under a undercut bank in the river that the water carved out during high water times. so there i was, my heart pounding loud and fear through my body with a rock the size of a softball for protection.

the bear came near me and stood on top of the bank and made some sounds and soon went away. i waited for what seemed to be forever looked around and saw no more bear and went accross the stream and climed a tree to get a good look. on my way up i split my pants in half in the crotch area. well i looked around and no bear. so with fear still whithin me i walked down stream in the water at all times until i saw my older brother.

told him what happened but was more interested in the brown than my story. good luck.

[Rick G]

Thats one of those things you will remember your whole life. Great story, thanks for sharing it.

[reinhard1]

one of the things we always looked forward to was going up the Gunflint Trail and to Clearwater Lake for lake trout. nothing fancy back then. no depth finders or fancy ice rods. basicly fished dead smelt off the bottom along with some shinners also.

we fished in about 60 to 80 feet of water and on the bottom. sometimes the temps were favorable but created slush. so we made the best of it. when we caught lakers we put them in these pools we "designed" on the ice. kept the lakers alive the whole day. not that the snow couldn't do that, but it sure was fun watching the trout swim while waiting for a bite. good luck.

[reinhard1]

had some relatives from Germany visit us years back. took them to one our favorite camping spots [among a few], Caddott Lake. it's a clear lake so early morning and late in the day where the best for walleys but during the day we got some dandy perch up to 12 inches.

back in those days the only jigs we knew was the canadian minnow jigs. still got some in their original packs. didn't even tip them with a leech or minnow. heck we thought they were supposed to be used just as they where. they worked anyway. trolled with lazy ike's and flatfish and of course the crawler harness's. no fancy colored blades. silver or gold, take your pick.

had a nice campground too. we loved the beach as kids and then my kids enjoyed the same beach. hopefully take the grandkids there next year. it's been awhile. good luck.

[Leaky]

Good Stuff RH. My favorite memories of the Northland also revolve around trips out to the lake. They would start by dumping in on Moose Lake outside of Ely and traveling up to Prairie Portage, where Jeep Latourell or one of his kids would be waiting to pull you into Basswood.

About 20 miles up the lake, one of our favorite spots is where the old Basswood Lodge sat, before the aera was designated as wilderness and "untrammeled by man".

We would set up camp and hang out and fish for the next 5 days

Waking up in the morning was always an adventure. You never knew if you would see this

Or this

Of course after spending the morning on the water, you would need to unwind at camp. We would either create some structure off of the site

Or be entertained watching the Eagle & the Otter on the Outdoor Channel

There are always fish to be caught

And bellys to feed

And when it's all said and done, a bug free environment to let it all go

I love the Northland! It's a way of life.

[reinhard1]

Thanks Leaky!!! that's a wonderfull series of photo's of experiences that words cant describe. good luck.

[DTro]

Love it

[reinhard1]

trout fishing can be good at times even under very cold and windy conditions. this was Mayhew Lake up on the Gunflint. the day prior to this was in the mid 40's and we woke up to the teens the next day with snow and wind. i [the guy with the orange hat] was out in the main lake and the other guys were in kind of a bay.

while in my portable the fabric was shaking pretty well. was in my old 4 by 8. just me and the heater. all of the sudden something took my shelter and i felt like i was airborn and sailing away. didn't last long and i stopped sailing and stopped, yet still windy.

the guy's told me that one of three large "snow witches" got me and sailed me along. that's what we called them. kind of like one of those snow swirls you may see like a mini tornado but on a larger scale. well everyone had a good laugh about it. we got fish that day, so the day ended well. got some lake trout and some brook trout from Topper Lake earlier in the day. good luck.

[reinhard1]

Topper Lake was a little hike up from Mayhew Lake. snow was a little deep and snowmobiles were not allowed. well i was a little younger then and the walk kept me warm in the cold temps. fished in about 3 feet of water with close to 2 feet of ice to hand drill through. a little green ice ant with a waxie on it did the trick for the brookies. just under the ice with a little bobber to see a hit. we had blue skies with no wind this day. about 5 or so below but that sun had a warming effect.

we statyed at the Windigo Lodge on Poplar Lake for 3 days this trip. owned by a large man who was very good natured. drank with us at night while we played pool. he was big on wine. on the way upstairs to our room we had to step over him while he was passed out laying on the turn of the stairs.

sad to say shortly after that trip that Lodge burned down, killing him while the others made it out. sent his wife condolences afterwards. he was a good guy. good luck.

[reinhard1]

even in the beginning of the Arrowhead [the Duluth area] there can be beauty to be found and a feeling that you are deep in the wilderness. this is from our campsite on the Otter part of Boulder Lake. probably have fished this lake more times than any other lake. i dont know how many times i have seen a bald eagle on top of that big pine on the island accross from us. good luck.

[reinhard1]

time for thought and planning the day ahead. now as i get older side rails would be good. that toilet seat has seen a lot of wilderness areas. good luck.

[reinhard1]

the old roads where not well kept in the old days. kind of took a risk at times. old forest roads with some heavy rain took a different appearance on the way back. rough enough on the way in but inch by inch at times on the way out. good luck.

[Leaky]

Love these Pictures!! My Leaky handle started on Boulder Lake. Small world! I'd tell the story, but it's much better live. The toilet seat rocks!! Dig a hole, a couple of logs and your are set to sit back and understand why there is nothing better than the Northland!

[reinhard1]

i'll take a guess. you hit a boulder on the lake . good luck.

[reinhard1]

Hungry Jack Lake has some nice smallies in there. fished it a few times years ago as this smallie grabbed a leech i was using for walleye's. last time i fished it there was that big fire on the Gunflint. the smoke from that fire blocked out the sun at times.

they have some nice walley's as well. good luck

[reinhard1]

years ago one of our favorite ways to get lake trout was dead smelt off the bottom, both on hard water and soft. found a good area off a point and we would have one guy stay on shore with the rod and another guy would take the bait with a slip sinker out to about 40 feet early in the year and then drop the smelt off the side of the boat.

then the person on shore would wait till the bait hits bottom and put his rod on a forked stick with the bail open. we would put a piece of toilet paper near the tip of the rod on the line and put the loose line in the sand with a small rock to hold it in place. the laker would take the bait, take a run and then the toilet paper would act like a tip up telling us a laker has taken the smelt as the line gets striped off the pool. here is the result of one of those times. good luck.

[reinhard1]

My grandfather visited us from Germany years ago. took him to the Finland/Isabella area to fish for trout. had my dad and brother along also. Grandpa loved fat. he would take a stick of butter and eat it like ice cream. so i made him a fresh picnic roast up there. he loved the outside skin while we ate the meat. the next day when the liquid in the roasting pan cooled down with the evenings cooler weather it turned into a white fatty spread.

well nothing like that on top of some good bread for grandpa. he lived to be in his early 90's. well as you can see by the pic, the trout were active that day on Hogback Lake. caught some in Cliff Lake also off shore with inflated crawlers. there is a short portage on the other side of Hogback to get to Cliff. good times.

[reinhard1]

early in the year when the waters are cold up north lake trout can be taken in shallower waters before the heat of the summer. trolling with spoons in the old days worked pretty well.

that's my brother on the right with me holding up our catch we got trolling with some my dad got off shore with smelt. good luck.

[reinhard1]

there are a few lakes around 300 acres that have great fishing in the Arrowhead that hardly get touched. it's not unusualy to get a walley like this from a lake such as this. this lake doesn't get stocked so catch and realease is practiced most of the time, but i have taken some small one's home at times. this is a 180 mile one way trip for me and i usualy only fish this lake in the fall. nice crappies also. the lake actualy has a small gravel back in access off a gravel road. good luck.