On this Saturday Midday, Tom Perich, author of “Fishing Lake Superior” and “The North Shore," discusses the various things to do along Lake Superior. Perich also answers listener questions.
Read the Text Transcription of the Audio.
Today at midday. We're going to be talking about the North shore of Lake Superior in here in st. Paul with me all the way from a bit. North of Grand Marais is Sean perich author of the North Shore of four season guide and Fishing Lake Superior. Thanks for making the trip to the big city. Sean preciate you being here. Appreciate you having me all the way down from a God's country up there, huh? Well, it was foggy and rainy when I left, so it looks a little better today than it did on the shore yesterday. Yeah judging from today's forecast is probably not a bad day up there. Anyway today to looks like it's pretty good day across stuff to see and do along Highway 61 in Lake Superior North Shore, and you can join the conversation by calling 227-6000 if you're listening in the Twin Cities, that's 2 2 7 6 thousand in the metropolitan area outside of the Twin Cities. You can call toll-free with your questions about the North Shore for Sean perich the toll free numbers one 800-242-2828 toll-free. Once again one 802-422-8281 before the program start.Sing you drove down last night the obviously one of the big attractions for tourists up on the North Shore this time of the year is watching the Fall colors change what we get there that color update from you so to speak. Well, I can kind of give you a long-winded answer on that tool. I drove down our portion of the North Shore yesterday. And if you drive along the shore, there's not a lot of color yet. But Inland on the on the maple ridge's the Maple, they're probably approaching their Peak right now should have good color for another week or so in the maples and then you know as the maples past their peaks and The Birches in the Aspens will be entering there. So you'll see a lot of yellow house and what not going to be good color. Probably true about the first or second week in October, but I was also up on the Canadian Shoreline Marie a few days ago and there was hardly any color at all until you got over to Wawa, which is about 150 miles from Sioux Saint Marie and there you you enter into an area. That's mostly hardwood and the color was just spectacular for that.50 mile drive from Wawa to Sue Saint Marie. Lots of just Scarlett's and Golds and the whole works. So it's a good time right now to take the circle tour as well. I guess it's the long-winded answer there. If you don't get your plans are in place pretty soon you're going to miss the maples, but there are plenty of other trees to watch like the Birch in this earth right around here in a couple books about life along the North Shore and that you live way up North. Yeah. Yeah. I live about 20 miles Beyond Grandma ran a community called hoveland, which is about midway between grammar and Grand Portage and I've been living up on the North Shore for about seven years now did some time down here in the Twin Cities before that used to work for an outdoor magazine called fins and Feathers some readers may know and I eventually ended up up north and work for the Cook County News-Herald is editor of that for a few years and now I've been freelance for a few years and that's why I've gotten into the books and whatnot.Guess I was drawn up there for the good fishing was initially brought me there and I've just kind of settled in what goes on up on the North Shore during the winter. Obviously. It's in there skiing in this everything but it it would seem to me that they're probably not a great deal of activity up there in January or February specially up where you are past Grand Marais. Well, actually I think a lot of the locals would tell you they prefer winter to summer because there's there's lots to do in the winter time in January and February all about the dog mushers in Holden. There's quite a few of those they're all out on the race circuit through running their dogs the snowmobilers. That's the peak of their season. There are out. There is a cross country ski trails virtually everywhere on the North Shore. So there is a lot of winter activities snowshoeing people get out the enjoy the outdoors. What do people do for a livelihood up there what keeps keeps them keeps our bills paid so to speak when you're as far north As You AreSo the local movers and shakers call it a n economy. That's like a three-legged stool and one leg would be made up of Tourism. Another would-be government services in on the 3rd would be the logging industry us we have had about, you know, three bases to your economy there and they're probably all about equal. I would say the North Shore of four season guide and Fishing Lake Superior, and we're talking about things to do up along the North Shore on Highway 61, and we hope to hear from you this morning. There is some room on the phone lines right now as a matter of fact, if you're listening in the Twin Cities, you can ask you a questions about the North Shore of Sean Perfect by calling or perish I didn't Sean Sean perich not perfect by calling to to 7004 in the Twin Cities to 276 thousand in the Twin Cities outside of the Twin Cities. You can ask you a question about the North Shore bike calling toll-free at one 800-242-2828 JohnStraighten something out for the record here to that. I wanted to say we had a mistake somebody read at the wrong promo for today's. Midday and said Deb Brown would be in talking today about lawn and garden stuff Deb is going to be a next week ad app called me from home. Wondering what was going on. She'll be a next Saturday at mid-day talking about gardening and Lawn Care and some of the things you can do to your yard this fall here. So you have a nice spring and also Sean we did that refer to you on the are you even before I did as a Sean perfect. You mentioned you looked a little bit that that one perfect with an office either your name was always change to Perfection. Parrish though. I'm used to it. Let's go to the phone's Larry's in Minneapolis year on Minnesota Public Radio with Sean perich. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. You remember Larry Lindsey, I sure do Larry was just wondering how you're doing with your wolves up here cuz I remember to head them what they do. You think they're good bad or indifferent or how they're doing? Well,In the neighborhood where in the wintertime most of my neighbors are wolves and we would all seem to get along pretty well. Actually, we've got all three canines wild canines living around us. We have Timberwolves send we have coyotes and we also have red fox on I see the tracks of all three of my driveway. I guess one thing I mean when you live around walls, I also have a dog and you just keep a good eye on your dog in the winter time because if you don't you might lose it. Okay. Let's go back to the phones and he's in Minneapolis and has a question about fishing up on Lake Superior. Good morning. Good morning. I'd like to know what the best time of year to fish all the minor rivers that dumped into Superior along 61.Well, you'd have to Good Times of year. The first would be the spring when the when the steelhead are running on steelheader migratory rainbow trout and then on the fall back starting right now. We had a little rain this week which brought the river levels up. You'll find salmon running up the streams to spawn. Okay. What kind of fish do you find it in the in those streams year-round. Well, there'd be some brook trout in the streams year-round, especially in the upper reaches and then when you get down close to Lake Superior a lot of the fish that live there year-round are are baby steelhead and salmon, there's not a lot of adult trout in the streams close to Lake Superior. Are they these the streams? It looks like they would just be so full of fish in it. So I don't know while there is that the case or not? It can be the North Shore is kind of quirky. And anybody that fish is there in a hurry that you can have extremely good fishing one day and be skunked the next and sometimes there's no Rhyme or Reason to it, but it just seems to be the way the system works you write a whole book about fishing up along the North Shore. What's your favorite fish to chase after and where do you like to fish? Well, my favorite fish to chase after is steelhead and all I keep the favourite places. I like Do that to myself. Thank you, but you can't catch steelhead pretty much in in virtually every stream flowing into Lake Superior Lake Superior has some superb trout streams flowing into it some that come to mind in. Minnesota would be Rivers like like the baptism River Inn, tettegouche State Park. The Cascade river is another nice River the Brule River up near my home and Overland which is different than the rule in Wisconsin. What about the fishing the lake itself? What kind of things we wish we find in the lake and when's a good time to do them a good time to fish Lake Superior? Especially if you're just learning about Lake Superior is the is the summer time or upset even until the end of September hear it starts getting a little nasty out there after that and even September can be a little little cruel sometimes but probably the bread-and-butter fish on Lake Superior is the native lake trout and there's lake trout throughout the lake in and a massive International recovery effort has a lot of the lake trout 2 it to come back after the years of of Free depredation back during the 1950s and 60s. So they're still lamprey in the lake but due to stocking programs in a lot of natural reproduction. Now, there's there's good numbers lake trout out there to see what the number is but I think Minnesota actually procapita more people have boats in Minnesota than maybe any other state in the country for people who might want to go try Fishing Lake Superior. Can you take any type of boat and and and launch it into Lake Superior? Do you need more of a seaworthy crap? If you're going to take it out on the lake Big Lake? There's there's two answers to that question. I guess if you're going to be serious about it and doing it on and every weekend basis, you got your mind Juan Tabo that suited for Lake Superior and you're going to want to a little larger more seaworthy boat, but I think the average Minnesota walleye fisherman if he watches the weather may be plants to fish very early in the morning when the Lakes likely to be calm. You can fish the lake in just about any both. I've even gone out with my canoeing and electric motor, but there's only a handful of days each year when you can do that. I'd like to talk a little bit about the lake has a program continues, but I want to give the phone number out as well. You're listening to mid-day from the FM news station 17 minutes past 11 a March that act like in the Twin Cities. My guest today is the author in North Shore resident Shawn. She's the author of the North Shore of four season guide and Fishing Lake Superior. We're talkin about the North Shore place is due to see and stay along the North Shore. Just a kind of what's going on up there with the North Shore one of the states most popular tourism destinations. If you have a question or a comment would love to hear from you this morning to 276 thousand is a number in the Twin Cities Twin Cities never once again to 276 thousand anywhere else you listening to the broadcast. You can call a toll-free with you question. The toll free number is one 800-242-2828 Shawn. As far as the North Shore tint changes that have happened along the North Shore in the past decade you say you've been up there for maybe seven years. I've seen a lot of changed their it just in the past 5 years not to mention that the enormous tunnels and it just seems the popularity seems to have increased her. It seems to be increasing rather dramatically to the point where I was so hard to get around up there during some of the peak times. Yes. I think that's probably one of the main topics of coffee shop conversation and in places like Grandma ran what not now is the development is happening so fast, it's kind of kind of keep catching people off guard I guess and there has been a lot of change even in the past 5 years and even on a year-to-year basis for the past two years. If you haven't driven ashore sense say this time last year to drive up there. Now, you're going to notice a difference. It's going to look different. Your experience is going to be different and I think we got it. We have to start thinking about that hand. And what effect is that going to have? What is probably Minnesota's you know top Recreation resource? I think we have to start taking some a real close. Look at that. What type of development do you see going up around there? Is it all different types or is it mainly a recreational kind of resorts in the creation related and it seems to be of larger and larger scale all the time being able to accommodate more and more people and you know, the area is 90% while in Cook County where I live which is the very tip of Minnesota area is 90% public land but we have to realize that not all of that public land is the prime Recreation places. And as we bring more people you're going to see more people on the hiking trails in the skiing trails and you know on the roads as well. You're going to have more company up there. You folks who live up there you around. Are you getting sick of all the tourists? I mean is that sort of the part of the the coffee shop talk that you were referring to the well, it's a love-hate thing because obviously we all make it at least part of our income off of tourists and I think that works both ways. I think that the chorus feel the same way about the local sometimes too. Okay? Well, let's continue on we'll go back to the phone's. Dr. Armstrong is in Edina morning radio FM news station. And the fact that I have about the North Shore returning from The Boundary Waters with a tremendous storm in the bridges were being washed out and logs were rolling in onto the highway and we got to Duluth and celebrated Oktoberfest, but I have lost my copy of the North Shore cookbook. That was put together by Miss is Louis Hale at STP. And I'm wondering if you might be aware whether this thing with its color illustrations photographically is still available off the top of my head. I'm not sure on that one, but I would say if you check around and some of the book stores and ask they should be able to tell you. Okay, OK 22 minutes now past 11 you listening to mid-day we have now I think possibly Andy in Minneapolis did I heard that the forest service may be putting together a set of canoe area campsites and they would run along the North Shore would allow people to go for I believe. It's Two Harbors to Grand Marais, and I'm interested in what information you have on that program and when the Destiny or when the impossible try not to be completed it and I'll take my answer. Okay. Oh well or qualify that first in that I know enough to be dangerous. I haven't written on the subject or anything like that recently, but far as I understand it, it's a DNR program and the program is to develop Lake Superior Water trail that will follow the North Shore in eventually. It'll it'll circumnavigate the whole lake right now. There's a pilot program started where there's a few campsites and and Jose 20 miles of Trail maybe a little more than that available near the Split Rock area the Gooseberry and Split Rock. Which is one of the more popular areas and there's also a lot of public Shoreline one of the big stumbling blocks to developing a water Trail along the whole length of the shoreline will be theirs areas where there's a lot of private land and it'll be hard to put in campsites and and layover areas. You mentioned Split Rock in Gooseberry Falls. I obviously to them probably the most popular attractions along the North Shore, what would you recommend for people who have been up to the North Shore many times or perhaps I'm just going for the first time but I want to go to a to be around the crowds. Where's a where's some good spots that maybe our our lesser-known spots? Where is the country of tettegouche State Park which is a little further north than it's just north of Silver Bay Split Rock would be just south of Silver Bay from frame of reference there any get into the back country at this time. It's about as mountainous of country is you'll find a Minnesota and it's got just spectacular series of of hiking trails with Vistas great fall colors really nice place to at wander around another place that comes to mind is made me state park near where I live in Hoagland and magni is a small out-of-the-way state park has a small campgrounds and a pretty good series of hiking trails. You can have a lot of fun there and just wander around the country up there to it's a lot less populated. I guess you could say that the further north you go the less crowded it will He or is that not necessarily true anymore? It's probably less true now than it was five years ago because I see people and places where I don't expect to see people all the time I get to living up where I do at the same time. I do a lot of hunting and fishing and quite often you can get back into the country and there won't be anybody for miles and in any direction so you can still get away from people. If you try, you know, pull out the map and just look for out of the way places. Okay, let's go back to the phone's Michael and Saint Paul you're on the FM news station in the morning might be an answer to that exact same question of us just asked every time I've been to Palisades head. I've been up there almost alone. And if I hadn't told me about it, I never would have found it. What is it? And yeah, it's a it's a huge Cliff. There's a tiny little Trail driving up there from the from Highway 61 and unless you're looking for it. You won't find it and it's it's one of the most beautiful view. I've ever seen how far off the shore. Is it a boy now, I'm stuck. I was looking in your book here. Trying to see if I just beyond Silver Bay my question. I wanted to know if you have any information that wore knowledge of retirement communities on the North Shore. Well, I think both the Silver Bay and and Grand Marais can be considered retirement communities both have a lot of seniors moving into them and it's comparison between the two real estate values would be a higher probably in Grand Marais Cook County lower in Lake County. Silver Bay Silver Bay has it, you know that the Old Town site there that from Reserve Mining and the operation there has been downsized. So there's there's some of it but you know, how is available there? Sex in addition to being an avid fisherman in a writer about things to do to see and places to stay along the North Shore you work for some of the newspapers up there what's been going on with the real estate on the North Shore in the past? Five six years here. It's not really a hot property. I guess you could say one thing I noticed or not so much this past summer, but the summer before virtually every tourist that I ran into when I was out and about ask me as soon as I found out. I was a local they started asking me about what properties were available to buy. It was really interesting seem like everybody you talk to is out looking for property. And obviously that's that's raised the real estate values that you know, there's only 10% of the land is privately owned in Cook County. So so there's going to be, you know, a great demand for that limited amount of land prices are going up Racine more people coming in. The North Shore from a worldwide perspective perspective rather than a Statewide or Midwest perspective, you know, it's becoming a better than one destination and all that's going to add up to, you know, a little more Elite North Shore than we're used to I believe read stories about up in the Brainerd area where that's at. Obviously very very developed vacation spot now that because the property is becoming so expensive and what we're cabins are now hundreds and thousands of dollars worth of homes for season homes in the center thing that might even be only use this sort of a cabin by somebody leaves from Twin Cities that that's out pricing some of the people who have a long-lived on some of the Lakes up there. Is that a concern on the North Shore as well or not or you that's definitely a concern and it's getting to the point in the North Shore where People that live and work in some of the North Shore communities are having trouble finding housing and being able to live in the community where they work. I'm in that that's something that I don't think anybody's really found a solution to yet. Certainly another one of those topics of coffee shop conversation more that love hate stuff. Go back to the phone is Dina's in Wayzata. Good morning, girly FM news station planning to do some salmon fishing and would like a suggestion as to which river or rivers to try as well as some grouse hunting around Lake Greenwood and Furious on the populations for that area on the girls. First part of the question about the salmon that's going to depend on how much it rains between now and the time you go to Rivers came up a bit. I noticed as I was driving down yesterday, but we had a real dry summer a lot of the rain we receive seem to go directly into the ground and didn't bring water levels at much rivers to try certainly try baptism and Kaskade. They're both stock. They both get go. Brands of fish I would concentrate on those River salmon fishing swim pretty slow the past few years. So the rivers that are stocked are probably going to be better than the other ones. But if you have a lot of water say we get a you know, how good hard rain storm here. Then you might find salmon and just about any stream on the Shore by the reason for that all flashy which means they are the water levels come up real fast and they drop real fast or basically gutters. They don't really have any kind of water retention in their watersheds. So in terms of fishing for fish that running from Lake Superior the fish run in when the water is high so in the spring that's triggered by smell mouth Waters come up and the steelhead run in and in the fall in the salmon run. You have to wait for a rain to bring that water level up. So these big fish can swim up small streams pretty much what he gets down to is that sort of a one-time event then why after I let you know at a certain point in the fall in mid-september that big rain comes in that is the run of the Season or not. Yes and know if you get a rainy fall, you'll have good fishing all the way up until freeze-up. If you get a dry fall and make it down to that one good rainstorm you get that's when everything is going to happen because simply that's when water is there. Okay, and then that the question I think the second question was about grouse hunting. Yeah. I've got a year old yellow Lab that I've been working with and I've had him out quite a bit and what I've seen is there is there's more girls around the world last year, but that's not saying much because there were no girls around last year seems like the Bruins that I've run across while I've been working my dog have been smaller for five Birds, but I am seeing Birds pretty much every time I go out now, so I thought I'd say you'll have decent grouse hunting but not great grouse hunting. Where's a good spot for a grouse hunting up there and Rumple Partridge Hunter tours at the same bird. No, I'm not. Actually in any place you can find young Aspen for us and a good regenerating growth. Good second growth of gross or you'll find Grouse. Okay. Well, it's about 11:31 and you're listening to mid-day on the FM news station marks and act like you're alone with Sean perich author of the North Shore of four season guide and Fishing Lake Superior. If you have a question about the North Shore a comment something to say, we'd like to hear from this morning to 276 thousand is a number in the Twin Cities to 276 thousand in the metropolitan area outside of the Twin Cities. You can join our conversation toll-free by calling one 800-242-2828 toll free number once again is one 800-242-2828. We have gym in Sauk Centre the morning around the FM news station. Thank you for having me on thank you for being on thanks for calling salmon stocking have been discontinued in and I I didn't know that they're still talking at the rivers that turn mentioned discontinued Atlantic salmon and continued Chinook salmon. What's your sense about his the return of the Native lake trout just devastated the steelhead fishing or a combination of the of the Chinook's in Lake Charles. That's it. That's kind of a tough question. I don't know if anybody really has the answer to that one and lots of people have opinions on it and bring everybody else here kind of up to speed steelhead populations won the North Shore have been in Lake Superior since all over a hundred years now and they're wild naturally reproducing fish and populations have declined over the past say fifteen years or so and everyone everyone seems to have an idea as to why but no one really seems to have the answer. Some people say it's because the lake trout have come back some people say it's because salmon were added to the late probably about 20 years ago now and that they may have upset the balance in the lake others feel. It may have been over Harvest by fishermen. There's a there's a lot of different reasons about their political response to the DNR and end up on the shore. I would just like to ask you how many rivers produce naturally reproduce. Thanks for calling. OK. I think the DNR has has made a start. They went through several years of I guess what you'd have to call the Nile where they said there isn't a problem as many steelhead. Is there ever were while and Grace were saying don't know there isn't and they've got me on that. They've they've developed a steelhead plan in the approach. They're taking is to try to bring back the wild fish and instead of stocking a domesticated screen out of a hatchery. They're letting the rivers take care of themselves and they reduce the the the angler Harvest by limiting your catch21 steelhead / 28 in in length, which is a darn big fishing in anybody's book. Basically one Trophy and that's the approach they're taking us to see if Stream can bounce back on their own one thing I've noticed is I am catching more baby steelhead when I'm fishing, so it's so they must be reproducing and I think we just have to give it a couple years here in and see if the numbers start to come back is that in virtually every stream and River up there are just certain ones going to have naturally occurring steal it. Well, that's that's it. That's a question. Anglers are asking because they're looking at some of the streams and saying maybe these dreams would be better off being stalked. Maybe they're they don't have the spawning water or whatever. They can't produce, you know enough Fish Tales support official run. So I think all that remains to be worked out right now all the streams are being managed for wild fish. Okay. Let's go back to the phone's John's in Lake Elmo. You're on the FM news station. Good morning too far from where you live on just beyond a food-grade River and I'm trying to get some information on. What types of fishing if any and what types of what time of year you can fish the flu greed and secondly the Brule River how far up do you have to go to get into brook trout up button the park at Trail or are there are there brook trout up above their well, I guess we'd have some skill head in it in the spring and doesn't have much of a fishery in the fall and in terms of finding brook trout in the Brule. I keep hearing stories about people fishing all say happy the upper portion of magni Park which would be several miles Upstream from Lake Superior and I hear they do. Okay. I've fished it just above the Devil's Kettle which is maybe a mile or so up from Lake Superior and haven't done that. Well myself. I think that that's histamine. You have to put some time into it and do a little exploring here. You're not going to find a lot of information out there about that one. I didn't have much luck. But I was wondering if it was futile to Iguana further it. Have you ever heard of people catching fish a couple miles up above there. Is that what you're saying? Okay, let's go back to the phones with another question for Sean perich. We have Robert in Minneapolis. Good morning my wife for going up and celebrating AR-15 28th wedding anniversary next weekend, and we're going to be staying up along the Gunflint Trail doing some camping, but we were planning on going into town for dinner on Saturday evening plenty to eat up in Grand Marais. OK as I can remember. Okay. Thank you. I don't like to recommend over another because I may have to go into the one I don't recommend to meet next week, but I think you'll find several good restaurants in Grand Marais. Just ask around a little bit and you'll also find several good restaurants on the Gunflint Trail. You've got a lot of options for a good dinner. There's a political answer to that question. Well, good luck. You'll just have to ask people on their way out of the door or something like that. Let's go back to the phone's Craig's in Burnsville. Good morning. Good morning to you Sean. There's so many interesting little towns along Highway 61, but one I'd like to get some information on if you haven't any is little one called Castle danger, you know anything about that town. I'll get its name. No, I don't and it's kind of funny because you know, I did a book that goes the whole length of the North Shore and that is one place that is prominent me prominently missing out of my book. Yes. Yes. I found my weak spot there. Do you know anything about castle danger in particular crater? And I wish I did he wish you did. Well, maybe the next book now and now I don't have something to do with in January can write another book about Castleton. Let's go back to the phone's Anthony's in Minneapolis. Springwood spawn sacs volume down there. And I wonder if that population generally holds out there year-round know it seems to be pretty much of a spring thing. I think you might also find some lake trout around there at this time of year. You might want to try the Cascade. I've seen people do really well off of their end of September or early October so many questions about the bro. Where is a river and looking at a map right? Now how far North are we were talking about? The Brule River Weir Wayne worth. We're about 15 miles north or east of Grand Marais at that point Lodge is located right on the mouth of the river if maybe that rings a bell for some folks judge. CR magney state park is on the river. I interrupted I think the color to you still on the line. I am still here, but that was my basic question the end of that moves you as a fabulous Lodge for anybody that wants a nice weekend. Thanks for calling suzann's in Hibbing. You're on the FM news station with Sean Parrish. Suzanne yep years ago. We discovered it delightful cold and Cook County at h44. It's you seems to be changing at now has a gate across it and we were wondering what is happening to it on a building. It says save our code for from the marina or something of that nature. Can you repeat she's talking about what she's talking about is a site called Sugarloaf called and it is just west or or south of taconite Harbor and was originally a log Landing site that used to Raft wives Inn in and haul him across the lake from there and it was acquired by the state. I don't know for 5 years ago now and there were plans at 1.2 to build a large Marina their opposition form to that the plans have changed. I don't know if they're going to build interpretive Center there in an hour or exactly what's going to happen. I dunno State land and it says you can't go on it which is kind of rotten. I think but at this point, I'm I'm not really sure what what eventually will will happen there, but I don't think you're going to see a Mirena. Okay. Thank you very much anything to say to Sean just about Lake Superior. You live next to the lake year-round. You've been there for seven years. It seems like such a I don't know that they're just something about that late that they had some mystery to it or something or here since a danger to it. Yeah both of those and it's cold to talk about it a little bit. I mean it's a relationships. It seems to the people have with that like people who live around there. Yeah. I think it's a it's a sort of thing. You people that don't live around it had that same relationship if they get to know the lake, it's almost in some ways. It's almost like a living entity. Even when you go out when it's flat calm. It's it's still got a little role to it. It's never perfectly calm at the end. It's so large. You know the weather changes really fast it it never lasts winter the Lake froze over in front of our house and I spent quite a bit of time out on the ice my dog and what not and cross-country skiing along the shoreline and that ice was talking to you every evening when you'd be out there. It's always creaking moving just never never stand still and I can also blow in and out to Canton. I mean you could find yourself on a piece of ice there and it could break away from the shores then why did the march to the lake and I was water line froze up because there's 20 inches of ice on the lake. I was talking to him on the phone and I said why you're going to have to do something about that because that ice isn't going anywhere for 6 weeks and 2 hours later all the ice 20 inch of ice blue out in 5 minutes. So, how can given that situation? I just don't understand how people can go out and ice fishing on the lake and go out and Dogs in a ligament that can come up. I mean, how can you do that safely? You just learn you don't take chances on Lake Superior. I guess you don't you don't do foolish things and you watch the weather has been out with a commercial fisherman. I've never seen anybody that's is a tune to to just subtle changes in the weather is a commercial fisherman, you know people screw up sometimes to get every year. You'll hear about somebody floating off from Duluth on a nice chunk some fishermen that I went out to later, you know, but I've I've driven a truck on Thunder Bay in the wintertime, which is an experience that you really have to do to appreciate if you just hear about it and I'd be fine for a lot of people probably not a good idea maybe for the weekend vacation or to go ice fishing on Lake Superior. Probably enough said on that the French river near Duluth are they do they do a lot of fishing in 3/4 feet of water along the shore? Okay. I'm going to get the phone number out again. We have about 15 minutes left to go here with John. Author of the North Shore of Four Seasons. Fishing Lake Superior to 276 thousand is a number to call if you have a question and you're in the Twin Cities to 276 thousand outside of the metropolitan area. You can get on the horn here with Sean prepare a chat one 800-242-2828 toll-free one again. Once again is one 800-242-2828. We had a caller on the line now who hung up and apparently wanted us to ask a question or something. I want to know what kind of clothes people should be bringing after the North Shore this time of year in the forecast today says it's going to be in the seventies around Minnesota beautiful day. Probably a little cooler right next to the shore though Well, yeah if we see it all the time. Let my friend Vicki Works in a clothing store in Grand Marais in and she sells an awful lot of long underwear people come up to the North Shore in that they leave the Twin Cities and they think it's it's going to be you know, 80° when I get to the shore and then all of a sudden it's only 40°, I guess this time here, especially you should carry warm clothing. I've seen snow at this time of year on a number of occasions. I've seen snow September seventeenth and eighteenth somewhere around there. You'll also you just have cold days. You'll have rainy days. I'd have good rain gear because you can get outside and enjoy stuff. If your dry bring a good pair of footgear, maybe two pairs of footgear something that's waterproof something that his ankle support people and do any hiking around just have plenty of warm clothes up there cuz it can change pretty quickly the weather changes fast, especially at this time of year. Okay. Let's go back to the phone lines Peggy in Eagan. You're on the FM news station with Sean perich We were there at this summer and we're amazed at how many waterfalls are our up and down. I made my family go all the way to the Canadian border and across the sea some Falls there. But if you could talk a little bit about the waterfalls in the natural environment around them to come to mine too. Whenever I think of the North Shore, I think all those tiny little larger rivers and streams in all just the beautiful water cascading down toward the light pretty much everywhere along the North Shore of those streams drop several hundred feet in elevation in the last mile or two as soon as they reach Lake Superior and as they drop their cascading over Rocky waterfalls North Shore is basically a big rock that's got water running across it and I guess there's every stream has has waterfalls on it. I'm just trying to think of some out-of-the-way ones here that are worth checking out one that comes to mind is the falls on the Caribou river which would be lets see North of Silver Bay and south of of Schroeder. There's a little Wayside there and you can walk about a half mile upstream and there's a really pretty Falls there are there's a new skatepark. I don't know if it's open yet read on the Canadian border High Falls State Park. I believe it'll be called a pigeon River State Park, but the High Falls on the pigeon is the largest waterfalls in Minnesota. And that's when that quite a few long time visitors to the North Shore probably haven't seen definitely check that one out next summer. The park should be open for sure then it may be open now. I'm not I'm not certain this might be kind of obvious question, but I'll ask anyway hiking don't you mentioned you can hike up this River half mile up the river to see the falls on this one particular River you referring to people going up there hiking on the rocks in this everything maybe sometimes getting in the water and Crossing it. Does that get to be kind of a dangerous undertaking it all or not? Is it mostly pretty harmless know? I think it's it's a first responder in a volunteer firefighter in Hoagland. And I think people quite often there their they're out. It's a nice day like today they're having fun and then all of a sudden they just something goes wrong, you know, somebody falls down or or they get lost or the weather changes going to get cold things can happen to you very quickly along the shore and you just you should never bite off more than you can chew, you know, don't try climbing rock faces. If you're not a rock climber, don't try balancing acts on logs going across dreams unless you've got the the balance to do it. You may hit a slippery spot or something of you know, it's real easy to get hurt and it looks like a big playground probably to a lot of City people head up there. Yeah. I think it does and friend friend of mine that's on her. Our fire department thinks it's the end of the or where you leave the pavement on the arrowhead Trail outside of hold on there. Should be a sign that a warning you're going into an area with with no medical services and you are at least an hour away from the hospital. I think that would kind of temper people's enthusiasm a little bit if they just thought that through sometimes you're talking a minute ago about some of the gear people might want to have with him if they're up there cuz of weather does change what about winter camping is that they're becoming more popular up in the North Shore area is that just too cold? I think there's quite a bit of winter camping going on. There's dogs letters that are running winter Expeditions into the Boundary Waters now as well both in the North Shore and older Neely. And I think there's you know, if you're prepared winter camping can be very comfortable. But you have to have the right gear. You should go with experience people is not something you just leave out and try so still a lot of debate about the Boundary Waters and limiting access and the sort of thing. Yeah, I think that debate has been centered more annually than it has been on the North Shore but I noticed a few times I was in The Boundary Waters this summer. I definitely saw less people and Eastern end of The Boundary Waters where I live permits were reduced considerably more than they were in some of the other portions of the Boundary Waters. If you if you look up like 50% on some locations in people up there. Is becoming quite a big issue and and managing growth and managing the tremendous popularity. The Region's enjoying right now. Yeah. Yeah that extends Beyond The Boundary Waters that extends to that that whole portion of the state or there's just more people going there. There's more ways to seek Recreation than there was 10 years ago with mountain bikes. Now, we have ATVs we can have those sorts of things 10 years ago, and we don't know what 10 years from now will bring and the people issues will continue to be big issues and I think another issue that People aren't really aware of and they should be as keep a real close eye on on public lands and make sure that that public lands day is public because as a demand for private land becomes greater in an area with that much public land. There's always going to be people looking for ways to pull out of that public ownership and getting into the private markets and I think that's something that the conservationists should be really keeping a close eye on okay. We have a gentleman on the line with a question about scuba diving in Lake Superior Brian in Spring Lake Park on the FM news station. I think there's a lot of room for growth and I was just wondering some years ago. I heard they're going to think the wreck up. There may be as a park and I was wondering if you knew anything else about diving in the future possibilities, and I'm going to hang up and listen. Well, I don't claim to be any sort of diving expert. I've never done it at all. I remember hearing that plan 2 to sync a wreck and I don't think it ever got Beyond talk. As far as I know. I know there are several dive sites popular dive sites, and I'm sure you would know them better than I do on the NorthShore several rex that are fairly easily accessible and I see a fair amount of diving activity see a lot of people diving around the river Mollison picking up fishing lures. Apparently, that's pretty good cottage industry fur some divers scuba diving Lake Superior about where the wrecks are. I think there's one in Beaver Bay or something. That's one reason that correct in their big wreck off of there. That might be wrong. I'm not sure of any guys. I'm not familiar. I know there's a dive shop in Duluth, and certainly they would know if anybody does. Alright. Well probably didn't help that guy as much as we could have hoped, but that's okay. Let's go to the phones again Molly's in Minneapolis you on the FM news station. Hello. I took some hiking of a superior hiking trail this summer. I was so impressed with the beauty of the trail in the quality of it in the signage. It looks like a labor of love of some people to me. What is the background of the trail who developed it was developed by the state through DNR and I believe maintenance of the trail is is up to volunteer organizations. And I think the way that it works and I'm not involved with the trail Lite by occasionally run my dog on it, but from what the way I understand it is is groups will adopt a portion of the trail, you know, so many miles is the trail and it's up to them to to keep the windfall is cleared and keep the garbage down and make sure the signs are open and all that sort of stuff. The trail seems to be getting quite a bit of You Salon its whole length What trails would you recommend to people for maybe not too interested in going on a 15 mile hike with you. Maybe a nice 3 4 5 mile walk or something like that. Like I said you more than a walk when it for your for 5 miles of your hike probably but any recommendations on good trails, well, I think you can safely say any stretch of the superior hiking trail one that that that's very nice. Is that the old Bergen Olive Ole Mountain area, which is near Lutsen. That's a real popular fall color walk. There's some nice Trails up the Gunflint Trail into magnetic rock. That's up on the Gunflint Trail lot of people like that trail you get down further down the shore of the trail. So in Gooseberry a real nice of hike some of those as I said earlier the trails and tettegouche. Tell you the truth. I haven't hiked a bad Trail on the shore. Okay, let's go to I think what could be called the south shore of Lake Superior Julie's in Superior, Wisconsin. Hello. Hi. I have a question along the rivers. A lot of the property is privately owned, but is it correct that there is like a public access on the river banks? I am not at you'd have to call DNR to get the the exact wording of that law. But you don't have Public Access along the riverbank. I know that much and there are there are some rivers on the NorthShore that you don't have access to and I think it has to be navigable water in order for you to be able to say walk down the stream. Like I say, I would call DNR fisheries and have them explain the trespass lie to you in and how that applies to fisherman. Okay, and let's go to Terry in Waseca. About coming up there this fall just to spend the weekend and I was wondering when is the best time to experience the Fall Foliage in that the changing of the Season anytime between now and I'd say the second week of October probably the peak will be around the end of September get reservations that's really important in the fall fall is really busy season on the North Shore. So if you're planning to go up there yet this fall I'd get on the phone today even start looking around for reservations. But as far as is as fall colors, you know, if you go in the next day a week and a half or so, you'll probably see lots of Maple and there won't be as much color Inland and then say about a week week and a half from now, you'll start seeing more color Inland and that'll last until the second week in October and what types of things are there to do up there for a family made with kids going up for a weekend. Certainly, you can visit the state parks. You can easily spend an afternoon wandering around in Grand Marais going to the shop. Museums there's there's a lot to do right in town there. The Lutz area has a number of different activities for kids, you know, you can find horseback riding. You can find the Alpine Slide to take a right on the gandola other. There's just an endless actually things to do various Chambers of Commerce up there and realized the importance of Tourism and there's a great deal of information readily available. Once you get up there too. If you do have a reservation to place to stay looking for stuff to do there plenty of little foods and stuff. Certainly, they're very good that they'll help you, you know, you can ask questions and you will get answers and you know, they're well trained in and helping people find things to do. Okay, let's see if we can get one more question and Dan you're on Minnesota Public Radio. Good morning. Portage in to all my fish and pretty hard with my fly rod, but I haven't had any luck. I wonder if you got some tips on what time of year would be best and what flies to use to get some of those rainbows. Can you tell me what time you were fishing there? I fished them in the spring like early June and also the middle of May. Okay been my experience in the lakes that are stocked rainbow trout that that is a pretty slow time of year. Usually sometimes I do okay at that time of year, but mostly it's slow fishing the rainbows the best fishing seems to be the end of June in the month of July and then again around this time of year. You'll start getting quite a few rainbows and they're real active. They're they're fairly easy to catch I use a lot of sunken fly patterns such as wooly buggers various nymphs. I just was talking some fly fisherman the other night that like the casual dress nymph and we use pretty large flies were using size 10 flies and Even if the like a size 6 or size for occasionally. Well, what's up? What's up for you? Next Sean? What are you going to be doing on get another book that you're writing this winter this fall or yeah, actually I better get in here and get the my other book done. I'm sure my Publishers are kind of tape on their fingers right now, but I'm working on a book called on North Country fly fishing and I'm just looking at at all the fly fishing opportunities available in northern, Minnesota, Northern Wisconsin and Ontario. So that's going to keep me more than busy for the next few weeks here and Fishing Lake Superior and soon to be a finish 250 gets it done at the name of the book is going to be a fly fishing North Country fly fishing. That'll do it for this edition of midday. Thanks to all of you who listened today and to those who called him with your question. Sorry that we didn't get to everybody on the phone light the technical directors for the program have been Clifford Bentley in Steve Griffith Kitty Isley is a producer. I'm marks a deck like midday on Saturday is supported by the oriental rug company specializing in the sales and service of handmade oriental rugs and located in Minneapolis at 50th and Bryant.