Wilderness Journey’s BWCA Clinic had a great turnout.  If you had questions about how to prepare, what to bring and what not to bring to your upcoming Boundary Waters trip, you should have the answer now!  The weather cleared up just in time for us to get together this past Saturday for the 2010 Wilderness Journey BWCA Clinic at Island Lake.  Ramsey’s presentation featured mandatory equipment and gear, other things that he recommends and a pile of stuff that won’t make the cut on a boundary waters trip.  While the group had lunch, maps were provided, routes were reviewed and questions were answered.   Many groups who booked a trip for this coming season were represented.  Some past clients came to talk about their trip and can’t wait to go back! There were a few people who came to see what all the fuss was about and since booked a trip.  We thank everyone who made the day a success. Click here for more pictures.  

The Clinic is done and the season has officially started.  We’re checking over all the existing equipment, buying some new stuff and going grocery shopping.  We’ll in Ely Minnesota by May 15th.

By the end of this month, I’ll be taking out our first group of the year, the Assenmacher group.  We will be doing the Crooked Lake Route. I’ll do a solo prior to this trip to get my blood really flowing and we can all expect a great season. We just received news that the Ely area just had one of the earliest thaws in recent memory. So I think the fishing will be great and the bugs should be less trouble than usual.  

Upcoming newsletters will feature this coming summer’s trip reports. We suggest everyone, especially all of this year’s clients and anyone interested in a trip read these reports. The newsletters will give you a good idea on what kind of wildlife we have been seeing and what type of fishing techniques and what lures are producing. Plus, all the great stories that go along with a trip of this magnitude.

Permits!

Boundary Water Permits are first come- first serve.... and only a limited number of people are allowed in each entry point. So if you are considering a trip, contact us ASAP so that we can discuss trip options.

The week of May 17th - May 26th is open… as well as the first 3 weeks of September.  For any of you who are interested in a trip, September can be incredible!  The fishing is great, the weather can be awesome and this is when there are less people in the park.   There were trips that I’ve taken into the Boundary Waters in September where I didn’t see another person the entire trip.  So if you really want to take that trip that will give you and your friends or family a lifetime of memories, then this is your chance. Come on…now’s the time- Call us to see what kind of trip we can arrange for you.

One of those days!!!

This was one of those days that you just will not ever forget. A great Client with great fishing skills, fantastic fishing and stories that we will never forget.  Don Schilling is a recently retired, very accomplished man.  Don had always wanted to go on a trip into the BWCA and as soon as he retired he went for it! He liked it so much he booked another trip this June and I’m sure that his trip report will be in the newsletter.

This is an excerpt from our trip report last June, if you want to read the trip report in its entirety, click here. 

I was waiting for the 4th day of this trip. You see, even though we were catching some great Smallies, Don had his heart set on a large Northern and luckily, I knew the spot. First I wanted to hit a little set of rapids, and when we arrived I caught 2 Northerns in the first 2 casts then we caught a couple of 3 pound Walleyes. We let them go since it was still early. We decided to move around and pitch the shoreline. As we caught fish the sky darkened and the rain fell hard. We made our way to camp and took a nap hoping the rain would disappear before we woke. Sure enough, we woke to no rain but the sky was still ominous. We decided to fish the same area we hit the day before but the fishing was slow. The sky was clearing up so we went to the area where I thought we could get Don a large Northern. As we paddled over we saw an Eagle go down and try to grab what was a very large fish but she missed. We were disappointed to see another canoe in the hole so we headed above the current. My first cast I caught a 5 + pound Smallie. This was a thrill! We were in a heavy current and I had an ultralite w/4# test and a trophy fish on. We laughed and got back to work. A few casts later Don said he had a snag so I maneuvered the canoe in the heavy current. We moved above the snag when it peeled off line and headed for the rapids. I started back peddling the canoe when all of a sudden the fish jumps clear out of the water. Dons says, “It’s a really big Northern!” and I make our way to shore when I jumped out of the canoe in waist high water to grab the Northern. We both started to congratulate each other as Don told me that this catch made his trip. He had never seen a Northern jump like that. He said it was like a Salmon.

Around the corner I put a Pop’r on in hopes of catching some Smallies. I threw it near the shore where I could see a Northern attack it like a crazed alligator from 5 feet away. It was another big one but with a pop’r and no leader it cut my line…still very exciting. We made our way around catching fish after fish we had to work for them but they were all really good size. We headed to camp and after a satisfying day of fishing we fell asleep with a pack of wolves howling off in the distance.

Wildlife....Pine Martin

The American (or pine) marten is a predator (meat eater) species that belongs to the weasel family. Before the late 1800s, the marten was common in northern Minnesota. Because of logging, most of its wooded habitat was lost. By 1920 pine martens had almost disappeared from Minnesota. The full recovery of the population by 1990 is a DNR management success story.

Identification

General description: A small predator with golden brown fur and a yellow chest. Its long body and small rounded ears make the marten one of the "cutest" predators in Minnesota.
Length: 30 to 24 inches, including the tail.
Weight: Adults are about 2 pounds. The males are slightly larger than the females.
Color: Brown, tinted with gold or yellow.

Reproduction
Martens are pregnant for about nine months, but the fetus only develops during the last two months. The litter of two or three babies, called kits, is usually born in a hollow log or under bushes.

Food
Martens eat mice, chipmunks, red squirrels, and insects. During summer, they also eat berries and nuts. During winter when there is deep snow, martens hunt under the snow in tunnels.

Predators
Fishers, bobcats, and a wide variety of hawks and owls will all kill martens. Some people trap them for their fur.

Habitat and range
Martens were once thought to live only in old conifer (evergreen) forests. But now biologists have learned that martens now live in all of northern Minnesota in both deciduous (leafy) and conifer forests that are young and old. Adult martens live in an area of about two to four square miles.

Population and management
As late as the 1950s, the marten was thought to be extinct in Minnesota. But then a growing number began showing up and by 1985 the population was large enough that Minnesota could have a limited trapping season. By 2001, the population had grown to more than 10,000 martens, and the animal continues to spread south and west.

Fun facts
During cold weather, martens have a hard time keeping warm, so they tunnel deep under the snow into tangles of tree roots for warmth. Martens often visit bird feeders during winter to hunt the birds that visit the feeders.

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Ramsey Dowgiallo