4th of July Weekend at Devil Track Resort

Matt, Jenn, and I have made a tradition of celebrating the 4th of July weekend at Devil Track Resort. This is our fourth year coming here. Such a relaxing great place to vacation. I feel quite rested from a four day weekend.

Friday we made the roughly five hour drive up to Grand Marais including gas and a nice lunch at the Black Woods in Duluth. Perfect weather up there. Driving along Lake Superior it was really foggy all day and rather brisk, jacket weather. Yet when we drove up the hill from Grand Marais (enough to make your ears pop), the weather was a balmy 20 degrees warmer than below. Upon our arrival Matt and I jumped off the dock and had a quick dip before dinner. Friday night at Devil Track Resort I had the prime rib special with hash browns, fourth year in a row. The garlic crusted edge is insanely good, a really tender prime cut. After dinner to beat the heat and humidity we cruised back down the hill to Grand Marais for some rock skipping in the foggy harbor and then a quick game of mini-golf.



Saturday was all about fishing. I got up at 4:30 am to go fish some local trout ponds. Turns out they were red hot. I had a trout on on average every third or fourth cast. Very aggressive rainbows, I believe many recently stocked because most were catachable size and a few in the 14"+ range. Very acrobatic. Worms and a bobber set at four feet, life could not get any easier. This time around I came prepared with my telescopic rod holder as well as strong bug spray. All the lakes held several loons which were a treat to see swimming along and doing their long takeoff. Back at the cabin and a hearty breakfast later, we went into town to get a few items (including aqua socks) and then back at the resort to goof off for a bit before our 2:30 boat rental. The water in Devil Track Lake is clean and clear and bathtub warm. Aqua socks really helped with the jagged rocks though. Similarly, walking along the rocks of the shore of Lake Superior at the mouth it sounds like one is walking on clinking glass, rather loud. Windy and warm, we launched our boat head on into the waves to make the 20 minute journey to the southwest end of the lake to fish off the points of a series of islands. Each year these southwest bays always seem protected by the wind, so smooth like glass in comparison to the main choppy part of this wind swept lake. We really nailed the smallmouth bass off the rocky points. Like the rainbows, a bobber set at four feet with a worm did the trick. Honestly Matt had the best success just hanging over the side of the boat with his SpongeBob SquarePants fishing pole jammed into a rod holder nice and tight. His little fishing pole would just arch hard all of a sudden, pick it up and hand it to Matt to reel in! The kid was actually getting kind of cocky, his success going right to his head...



Sunday I did a big of fishing again at a local pond and also tried upper Cascade River. I forgot to mention Friday night a strong storm rolled in and rumbled and down poured all night long. I would be willing to bet over 2" of rain dumped. Saturday morning I scouted the river and it was too high and swift. Sunday was not much better however I did find ond nice run that seemed soft enough on the sides to hold some fish. Surprisingly the water was clear, just high and swift. Treacherous for wading so after one decent brookie I went back to the trout pond. After breakfast and getting cleaned up we went to Lutsen for a gondola and alpine slide ride. A wait for both, popular weekend for sure but it was well worth it. Not cheap, but the views were breathtaking and this was Matt's first alpine slide that he did with Jenn. Back at the resort there was music from 5-8 pm and lots of kids to play with. Mattt and I also went for a swim although I admit this weekend he was more about throwing rocks off the dock and making them splash. Matt fell in love with the owner's new cat which he proceeded to carry around as much as possible for the rest of the afternoon. A late dinner, we went into town for great food and conversation at the Gunflint Tavern which is clearly the top watering hole in town. I highly recommend the place if you have never been.



Today I finally got to catch some more of those wild and beautiful brook trout. I don't know how they survive honestly because the water is like a bath tub, just as warm as the lake. I measured the Cascade one year and read 72 degrees. Chubs and brook trout. For the record I decided not to keep any brook trout unless mortally injured and that ended up being two. These are fragile creatures in really low numbers that should be shared by as many as possible. I want to catch them again for years to come. If I was to guess I'd say trout numbers are in the hundreds per mile, contrary to thousands per mile in the fertile limestone spring creeks of the Driftless Area. However the creeks here in Cook County are in a class of their own. They are a little slice of Montana. I saw big mayfly hatches. In fact it was a war zone with our windshield on the way home. Big giant sized ones, the size of a Hex. This morning I caught a good dozen quality sized brookies in the 7-11" range on worms and spinners. The water was swift but less than than Saturday and Sunday mornings. Double splits were required to get a good drift. Lots of snags and re-ties but that is part of the game in rocky freestoner streams.



Happy 4th of July. As I type right now I hear the fireworks going on. Little boy has been bed for a while now, all tuckered out from a long weekend. Likewise, this dog needs to say goodnight...