BOUNDARY WATERS – Ice fishing for trout will begin on certain lakes across northeastern Minnesota this week. The trout season doesn’t start for more than two weeks on other lakes, even though many are adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

This continues to confuse and agitate some anglers who would prefer a uniform start to the winter trout fishing season near the Boundary Waters.

“It makes more sense to have the ice fishing season for trout all start on the same day up here,” said Darin Fagerman, a Cook County resident and avid ice angler.

Ice fishing on Saganaga Lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail. Photo by Darin Fagerman

And while it won’t happen this year, the dual opener – where lakes located entirely within the BWCA Wilderness open for fishing Jan. 1 and all other trout lakes in the region start approximately two weeks later – could become consolidated to one starting date, according to staff from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources who spoke with Paddle and Portage Dec. 29 about this topic.

“We’re having ongoing discussions about this,” said EJ Isaac, the Grand Marais area fisheries supervisor for the DNR.

A team of about a dozen DNR fisheries staff – comprised of fisheries biologists and area fisheries supervisors from Grand Marais, Tower, Finland, Grand Rapids and other locations around the region – have been discussing possible changes to lake trout management in Minnesota lakes for more than a year, Isaac said. These changes could include having all lakes across northeastern Minnesota open for trout fishing on the same day, rather than two separate seasons set apart by the line distinguishing the BWCA Wilderness from the rest of Superior National Forest.

The trout opener for lakes located entirely within the BWCA Wilderness is Thursday, Jan. 1. This includes lakes such Daniels, Rose, and Tuscarora near the Gunflint Trail, among many others. On the Ely side, lakes that open on New Year’s Day include Basswood, Trout, and Knife, in addition to many others that are located entirely within the BWCA Wilderness.

Lakes that do not open for trout fishing in Minnesota this week include Loon Lake, Greenwood Lake, the U.S. side of Saganaga Lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail, and nearby Seagull Lake. Trout fishing on these lakes begins Saturday, Jan. 17.

BWCA Wilderness line toward lake trout lakes. P&P file photo

Other topics being discussed by fisheries managers near the Boundary Waters include how many lake trout anglers should allow to catch and keep, something known as a “bag limit.” The current bag limit for lake trout is two in Minnesota waters. Isaac said the leadership team locally has discussed lowering the lake trout limit to one fish across inland (non-Lake Superior) lakes in Minnesota. Another option could be to set specific limits for various lakes that contain lake trout, Isaac said. For example, a trout lake in the mid-Gunflint Trail area might have a bag limit of one fish, where another lake located at the end of the Gunflint Trail might continue to have a bag limit of two lake trout. Factors such as creel surveys, forage availability, and the status of the lake trout populations in varying lakes could determine how many lake trout anglers could be allowed to keep.

Isaac emphasized that all of these discussions, from a uniform start date to bag limits for lake trout, are in a preliminary phase. The simple fact it is being discussed does not mean any changes are forthcoming, he told Paddle and Portage this week.

Meanwhile, the weather forecast for the trout opener could make for rough conditions for anglers willing to travel to the BWCA Wilderness Jan. 1. Temperatures are expected to be somewhere between -15 and -20 with 30-mph winds on the morning of the trout opener this year.

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