Loon on the Seagull River!

     The first loon of the season has finally arrived. Voyageur Crew member Chad took these photos of a loon on the Seagull River on Monday, May 6th.  The river finally opened up enough for the loon to find a place to land.  Once again we’ll be able to listen to the singing of the loons as we drift off to sleep.

     Sixty degree temperatures and sunshine are taking their toll on the ice. The Seagull River always goes out in advance of Saganaga Lake so it will be quite awhile before the main lake opens up. We received a report of 17 inches of ice on Seagull Lake last Saturday.  Moose pond is still in tact but looking very grey.  Once the ice turns dark the sun can really do damage as it heats up faster because of the darker color.

     My guess is the ice on Saganaga will not be gone for the fishing opener next weekend. Some of the lakes with fast moving water going into them will have open water where the water dumps in but a big sheet of ice will most likely exist. Some smaller, shallower lakes might be out by opener but then again they might not.   When will the ice be out? That’s the question of the minute.

     My guess for Saganaga to be completely ice free is the 16th of May. Folks will probably be able to get around most of the lake by the 14th if the nice weather continues and we get some wind. This is just using the S.W.A.G. theory, Scientific, Wild, _______, Guess.

     We know it will be ice free by the 4th of July. We’ll keep you posted on the ice conditions on our blog and facebook pages.  So keep an eye out for our ice out posts and think warm thoughts.