SEA GULL LAKE

WHY GO: Sea Gull is a beautiful lake partial- into the lake.” eye will be kept on these lakes.
ly inside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wil-
The lake has excellent spawning habitat­—rocky And anglers could pick worse places to fish for
derness. It’s an easy-to-access lake that offers a
reefs with the cracks and crevices that allow eggs walleye than Sea Gull, Persons said. But do your
variety of camping options and a good chance of
protection from predators. homework. Study those maps.
catching a Boundary Waters grand slam.
“Numbers have been steady for the last 20 “People that know the lake well tell me that
ACCESS: Well, you could get here the hard
years,” Persons said. “It’s a big lake and a lot of they can still do pretty well fishing for walleye,”
way, portaging from Alpine, Grandpa, Gull,
it is tough to fish because you have to fish out he said. “It’s a tough lake to go to if you are not
Paulsen, Meditation or Rog lakes, but there are
of a canoe. That is probably helping keep that familiar with it.”
two public accesses on the lake, including one
population up.”
from Trail’s End Campground at the end of the OTHER OPTIONS: The lake is known to har-
Gunflint Trail. It’s best to access that via canoe Persons said most of the lakers are in the 15- to bor some quality northern pike as well as small-
only because it’s in a protected bay that is shal- 20-inch range. mouth bass.
low and rocky at its mouth on the lake. The main
“I hear of an occasional trophy fish,” he said. The pike seem to have surged a bit lately, per-
access, where boats can launch, is also just off
“We don’t see them in our assessments because haps the by-product of recent strong wildfires,
the Gunflint Trail on the east end of the lake.
our nets aren’t geared towards catching the larg- that have leached more nutrients into the lake,
The lake sits mostly inside the Boundary Waters
est lake trout.” allowing some weed beds to do well and provide
Canoe Area Wilderness, but a portion of the lake
more of the cover that pike need.
is not inside the wilderness area, so motors are WALLEYE WORRIES: Sea Gull was one of
allowed here. And 10 hp outboard motors are al- three lakes (including Saganaga and Gull, as well “The potential is really good for trophy fish,”
lowed in the BWCAW portion generally east of as connected waters) that were given new special Persons said.
Threemile Island, but only with a permit. regulations. The minimum size limit is now 17
Ditto for smallmouth.
inches (with only one over 20 inches) and the
VITALS: This 3,957-acre gem is entirely inside
limit was dropped from six fish to three fish. “We don’t see them in our assessment gear
Cook County, though it isn’t a long paddle from
much because we use gill nets, but we hear there
here to the Lake County border. It has a maxi- “We are trying to protect those smaller, young-
are plenty of bass and some nice-sized fish,” he
mum depth of 145 feet and water clarity down er fish and get the most bang for the buck out of
added. All in all, Sea Gull can be a pretty good
to 12.3 feet, according to Minnesota DNR’s 2012 any year classes that the lake is able to naturally
destination for fishing.”
survey of the lake. produce,” Persons said.
GAME SPECIES PRESENT: Walleye, lake DNR isn’t sure why the last two surveys have
trout, northern pike, smallmouth bass. shown a decline in the walleye population, but it
could be a number of reasons, Persons said. The
DWARF CISCO: Because of the lake’s abun-
regs will be in place for 10 years, at which point
dant population of dwarf cisco, which provide

Gunflin
they will be reviewed. In the meantime, a closer USFS Campground
a constant source of food for the lake’s predator
and Boat Access
fish, these gamefish have been able to flourish in

t Trail
the vast lake.
Out

Portage to
Grandpa Lake 10
let

LAKERS HOLDING ON: Steve Persons, 10

DNR’s Grand Marais area fisheries supervisor,

said the lake’s main attraction is between wall- Sea Gull Creek
eye, which have been in decline, and its lake 10
30
10

trout. 30 10
30
90 Inlet
50
The lakers are doing just fine right now, he 70 70 50
10
said, in large part because of those dwarf cisco. 10
10 30

50 90 10
10 10
“Lake trout really thrive when they have that 30
30

available for forage,” he said. 10

30 30 10
50 30 10
But the lake’s deep, cold, clean 10
30 50
10
water, low in nutrients, in 50 70 90 50
addition to the cisco, give 30 10 30 30
30 30 10 70

lake trout the ingredients 10

30
10
50
110 90 50
30
50
30 70
they need to survive, 50 90
30 Portage to
Persons said. 90
10
30
50
10 Meditation Lake
10 10 30
“There’s some- 30
50
70
30
10 30
10
thing about that 50

Canadian Shield 30
130
50
70
50
10 30
30
bedrock,” he said. 30 10 110
50

“It doesn’t leach a 50 70

30
lot of nutrients 70 110 50
10

90 30 30
30
10 10
10 90
50
50 70 50 30 30
10 30 10
10 30 50 10
30
Portage to 70

Rog Lake
Portage to
50
30
70 50 Paulson Lake
10
10 30