Somewhere over the Rainbow....

We have had our share of moisture and the woods are beautifully green and lush. Paul and Eric Douglas from Texas just came off the water a few days ago and emailed this beautiful double rainbow. Despite the wetness, they had a good time. The first day of summer is June 20th and we hope that means sunshine and warmer temperatures. The forecast is looking good.

Deb

Nice Stringers in Mid June

Hello Everyone,

The fishing has really started to heat up in the last couple days. Good reports are starting to trickle in from all areas. The walleyes are starting to hit pretty aggressively around dusk. Most people have been using slip bobbers and leeches about 6 to 10 feet down. Most of the fish are between 15 and 19 inches. Some big walleyes have also made the mistake of munching on the wrong snack.

The Kircher boys caught this nice stringer of walleyes on Seagull while slip bobbering.

The smallmouth are on the verge of moving onto their spawning beds. Males are being caught more frequently, which means they are really close to make the beds. Some really fat females are still being caught. Jigs, crankbaits, slip bobbers, and topwater lures have been the weapons of choice for anglers going after the fun and feisty bronzebacks.

The northern pike are swimming right along with the smallmouth. Most people are using crankbaits and a few spinnerbaits to catch this toothy critter. Most of the bigger northerns have been caught in 5 to 8 feet of water with a few coming shallower.

Eric, from Texas, caught this northern casting towards shore.

The lake trout have started to move deeper with some still being caught in surpisingly skinny water. A couple lakers have been taken by casting from shore!! But, most are coming on a more traditional method, trolling crankbaits over 20-30 feet of water.

Please practice Catch and Release.

Thanks and Keep Your Line in the Water,
Van

Monthly Photo Contest

Seagull Outfitters has an ongoing photo contest, with a different theme every month. Since fishing has been pretty good lately out on Seagull Lake, we decided to make that the theme for the month! So send us your Boundary Waters fishing pictures- we want to see your pics of your great catch, or just pictures of you and your friends and family with your lines in the water. A prize is awarded every month, and at the end of the year we'll choose an overall winner for the grand prize.

At the outfitter the other day, we had a pretty great fish story ourselves. I was carrying canoes out to the dock when I spotted some fish fins near the surface of the water. I walked over to get a closer look and couldn't believe what I saw. A good-sized Northern was swimming right next to the dock...with a huge bass stuck in its mouth! Apparently the Northern bit off a little more than he could chew. I yelled for everyone and we all stood there a few minutes, watching the Northern. We were pretty sure he wasn't going to survive. I ran into the store to get the camera, and when I went back out, there was no Northern in the bay, but there was a bass near the shore. So I don't have photographic evidence of my wacky wildlife sighting...but I do have witnesses!

Summer Solstice is approaching, and it's the perfect time to be in the BWCA. Daylight seems to go on forever, so there's plenty of light for paddling and fishing late into the evening. It's great for those who are out camping, as they have some more light to set up camp and watch for those moose that everyone's so excited to see.

Hope to see you soon!

Crystal

Lake Trout on Seagull

The lake trout are hitting well on Seagull Lake with the cooler weather. The trout are still in 15-30 feet of water. The Schreier Family from the Twin Cities area just came off the water on Seagull this afternoon. As you see, they were full of enthusiasm at the dock and were planning to drive home and bake the lake trout catch from today. It was a family affair as their son goes off to the navy soon. What a great place to spend some family time in the Boundary Waters. Greg caught the trout on a rapala tail dancer with an orange belly in 20-30 feet of water today.

Big Fish for Late May

Hello Everyone,

Fishing is picking up as the water temperature rises. The walleyes are starting to turn back on after recovering from the spawn. Our cabin customers have been picking up a few walleyes on jig/minnow or leech combo. Most of the walleyes are being caught pitching jigs into 5 feet of water. Concentrate on areas of moving water or wind blown points and drop-offs. Most of the 'eyes have been ranging from 15" to 25" with a few bigger walleyes revealing themselves too!
Brock from the Twin Cities caught and released this 30 inch walleye off of his campsite with a slip bobber and minnow.


The smallmouth bass' activity has increased tremendously in the past week. They are even starting to attack topwater baits. Most customers have been catching the smallies in just a little shallower water than the walleyes. Anything from Mepps to X-Raps to Slip Bobbers have been producing 14" to 18" smallies with the biggest I have heard of being around 22" coming on a jig/minnow. Most of the topwater hits have come on floating Rapala and Heddon Torpedos, I even watched a group of smallies attack a bobber sitting on the surface.

Many bass and walleye anglers are also picking up some nice northern pike. The anglers looking for pike have been using Rapalas or Mepps in shallow bays with some really nice results. The biggest pike I heard of was right around 35" inches, caught on a X-Rap.

The lake trout are still sitting surprising shallow. Most are coming from between 8 to 20 feet down. Anglers have been trolling Shad Raps and Minnow Raps over 15 to 30 feet of water on wind blown shorelines. With the lake trout still shallow, the canoe country grand slam (walleye, smallmouth, northern, and laker) ususally rare, is for now, a regular achievement.

Good luck and keep your lines in the water

Van

Join the Seagull Chat Room!

The Seagull Discussion Forum which you can access from the home page of www.seagulloutfitters.com now has a chat room where you can "chat" with your friends. To access the chat room, follow these directions:
"on the Seagull forum page, go to the "Chat" option on the navigation page (right above the list of Forum options) looks like this: Welcome "User Name" - Control Panel Logout Search New Posts ChatClick "Chat" if you get a page you can't read, you will need to download the latest version of Java 1.5. You can do it at: http://www.java.com/en/ and click the "Free Java Download" button. After it is downloaded, try again and you will be able to get on the chat room and talk live with your fellow Seagull Forum buddies!"
This is a great way to stay connected to forum members and talk fishing, camping, portages and anything else!
Deb

First Paddler of 2008!

We have open water on Seagull as far as we can see! It is a great sign for the weekend. It rained most of the night last night and the sun is breaking out this morning. We have 41 degrees at 9am. Our first paddler of the season is going to Round Lake this morning with a destination of Tuscarora Lake. From what I hear, Round Lake is partially open and Missing Link is looking good as well. Sun is predicted tomorrow so that also helps. Seagull Lake water level is rising daily and water levels are at our October 2007 high. Stay tuned! Fishing opener is May 10th.