And Harrier, is the ice out? I saw a pic from the end of the gunflint trail from last weekend-- still completely frozen. And congrats, Grandpa!
Holy crap! I better look, ice has been off the N. Wi. lakes for about 3 weeks now. Thanks for the heads up. I have had several ice issues places I usually go a lot further north but never Quetico.
I think being called Grandpa has a nice ring to it.
Adding--just got up to my shack a little bit ago, took a walkabout and already some black flies are out. OMG!
I think being called Grandpa has a nice ring to it. Adding--just got up to my shack a little bit ago, took a walkabout and already some black flies are out. OMG!
Just think of all the fun you can have spoiling the little tyke !!!!!!!!!!!!
If I remember correctly the black flies that you all have up there are pretty big and nasty. Bite almost like a horsefly.
Daydreamer--what you may be thinking of are the flies that frequent the Lake Superior shore area-I've heard them called heel flies, stable flies, and a few other choice words. Those are about house fly sized with a vicious bite as soon as they land, impervious to deet, and extremely fast to try to kill. Nasty. What we refer to as black flies in the north country are small gnat like bastards that hunt you in packs/swarms. They will silently bludgeon you and often you won't feel the bite but are bloody. Mainly found in the lake and river areas of the north. We don't have them in Southern Wi and people around Madison who never go north have no idea what we're talking about. Usually a late May hatch and they last a few weeks though they can be around thru June and beyond. I have had some horrific times with them on late May fishing and canoe trips in Ontario and Manitoba and I won't do a wilderness trip to the far north during June despite how good the fishing can be. It can be real fun camped out in the wilds for ten days with no relief, trying to eat your supper thru a mosquito net then hiding in the tent. I'm sure runtrail has some vivid memories from northern Minnesota.
We go from winter to black flies and mosquitoes then a couple nice weeks in the fall and then it starts snowing.
Daydreamer--what you may be thinking of are the flies that frequent the Lake Superior shore area-I've heard them called heel flies, stable flies, and a few other choice words. Those are about house fly sized with a vicious bite as soon as they land, impervious to deet, and extremely fast to try to kill. Nasty. What we refer to as black flies in the north country are small gnat like bastards that hunt you in packs/swarms. They will silently bludgeon you and often you won't feel the bite but are bloody. Mainly found in the lake and river areas of the north. We don't have them in Southern Wi and people around Madison who never go north have no idea what we're talking about. Usually a late May hatch and they last a few weeks though they can be around thru June and beyond. I have had some horrific times with them on late May fishing and canoe trips in Ontario and Manitoba and I won't do a wilderness trip to the far north during June despite how good the fishing can be. It can be real fun camped out in the wilds for ten days with no relief, trying to eat your supper thru a mosquito net then hiding in the tent. I'm sure runtrail has some vivid memories from northern Minnesota. We go from winter to black flies and mosquitoes then a couple nice weeks in the fall and then it starts snowing.
The description that I had gotten of black flies in the north was from a trail guide up in Alberta way back in '03. It sounds like yours are cousins ours down here. About the same size but they just swarm you and are annoying. Never bite at least not me. Really nice to run through a swarm of them. Get a lot of protein from inhaling a bunch . Now our deer flies are a different story.