Wait...That's not a muskie!

Where are all the muskies???  Trust me, your questions and emails are not going unnoticed.  I apologize for the lack of toothy critter reports, but don't worry, the time is fast approaching for the big girls to come out, and then there will be no lack of reports coming in.  Thus far I have made it out a couple of times in the last few weeks for an hour here and an hour there.  I've seen some real dandies come flying up, just nothing in the boat on my short outings.  I look for that to change soon.  In the meantime, everything else has been biting really well, and we have been taking advantage of some awesome walleye action and bass action on Waconia and on Tonka.  It has been one of the better years for walleyes for me, and it seems easy to go out and catch 10 walleyes.  When can a guy remember saying that???  Hmmm...I think I'm going to go catch a dozen walleyes quick!   Well, that has been par for the course this season, which is why I haven't been too stressed from the lack of muskies in the boat. 

In the next few days I am going to introduce to you a new fisherman to the Trophy Encounters world.  His name is Young Ben.  Well, actually it is just Ben, but I call him Young Ben, and he is as wacky over fishing as I am.  Look for his grand introduction very soon!  Until next time Y'all, Keep on Livin That Dream!

A Trip With "The Man About The Woods"

Tuesday night I found myself on an adventure that was very new to me.  Certainly I was on the water fishing, but this time I did it in a way that I am not accustomed to.  I tagged along with our "Man About The Woods" Bill Sherck as we used his drift boat to fish Smallmouth Bass on the Mississippi River.  I have heard so much about this stretch of water over the years, and jumped at the chance to hop on board.  We had a few different weapons in the boat, and the plan was to catch a few conventional style, then switch to the fly gear.  It was a whole new experience for me, and I can honestly say that it was the first time that I actually felt like I was being guided.  It was great!  He had the same half hour's worth of chatter that I give to all my guests as they come on the boat.  Not that I haven't caught numerous smallies in the past, but it was a whole new feel, and the drift boat seemed to set it all in place.  How we would work the spots, and most of all, the use of a fly-rod is very new to me.  The fish weren't jumping in the boat on this afternoon, however it didn't take too long for me to land a couple of dandies.  My first fish went about 19 inches and the next two followed very similarly.  When you add the current into the equation, you are really in for a treat.  After my third fish, I decided it was time to find out what this fly fishing stuff is all about.  After a quick tutorial from Bill, I was slinging back and forth trying to get dialed in.  With the strong winds, it made things interesting, but I got it figured out and it was go time!  I pictured myself stripping a huge popper on the surface as if I was Tarpon fishing in the keys, and waited for the explosions.  Well, they came, and I missed all 4 explosions on my popper.  Oh well, Can't catch em all the time, but it sure would have been nice to say I conquered that Smallie on the Fly.  We had a great time on the water, and although the fish weren't flying in the boat, we had some great laughs, and a few of what I call "kids Messes."  For those of you who don't know Bill aka: Man about the Woods, he is a regular guest on our shows, and the host of Due North Outdoors, which if you aren't too busy after reading this, you can check out the new site that I just created for that show.  Looks strikingly similar to this site, except it's Bill Sherck and Laura Schara.

Father Son Trip To Remember...

Well it is clearly time that I get something new up here.  My apologiies yet again for the lack of reports.  I guess that first rain day will have to be spent pouring the pics and stories out.  Ah heck...who am I kidding, I love fishing in the rain!  I guess I am too busy livin the dream to sit down and write about it, which is good and bad.  Right now I have a few hundred photos and about 25 stories that I want to share.  I will keep pushing along and try to get as many of the stories up very soon.  In the event that I have slacked lately, I have a cool story that came from a gentlemen and his son last week.  His name is Mitch..He's a stud...and so is his boy Theo!  I hope you enjoy the read as I have.  Thanks Y'all!

As Travis is busy "Living the Dream" and clearly struggling to find time to blog, I thought I'd share the experience my son Theo (9) and I had with Travis last Thursday evening on Lake Waconia.

Our trip was planned on short notice; I didn't tell Theo until we were in the car on the way to the lake around 5:00 PM. Needless to say when I told him we were going out with Travis to chase big walleyes and bass, he was pretty excited. Theo sat in Travis' boat several weeks ago while it was trailered at Cabin Fever so he knew that we were about to be treated to a first-class experience! We eventually made it to the marina and Travis was ready to roll. He gave Theo a Ranger hat which Theo proudly wore and then it was off to our first walleye hot-spot.

If you've ever fished with Travis you know it didn't take long for us to boat our first fish. In fact, Travis had a nice walleye hooked on the first cast but was a little cocky trying to swing it into the boat and it came off.

A few casts later travis set the hook and handed the rod to Theo. We were all pretty excited when Theo fought the fish and boated a nice 17" largemouth bass. It was the biggest bass of Theo's life by about 6"! A few casts later we caught another 15" bass followed by a couple monster sheephead. As nasty as the sheephead are, Theo had a blast reeling them in.

We set off for a new fishing spot that Travis new would generate more action for us....he was right! Theo caught the second 17" bucket mouth of the night and then hooked the largest Northern of his life (6#)!

While the walleye never really turned on, Travis still managed to put Theo on his first ever walleye!

While Theo was clearly the star of the show, I had a minor milestone as well landing a 15" crappie....the largest of my career!

As the sun set on our perfect evening of fishing it was clear that Travis had provided a fishing experience that neither father nor son would soon forget. Thanks Travis for sharing your passion for fishing and life.

Untold Stories of Recent Memory...

Well hello again!

Much apologies on my part for my lack of story telling lately.  Sheesh you would think that I have dissapeared lately.  But I must say that I have still been hammering away.   Much of my time has been spent lately on my new obsession and career which many of you are aware of at Ron Schara Enterprises.  I have taken on a roll that will basically allow me to keep on livin my dream.  I couldn't be more thrilled about the opportunity to further my passions with this great company.  I am doing and learning many things including how to be a tv dude, what it takes to be a tv dude, web work, sales, and helping out with a charity fishing tournament that we have coming up.  Nothing but fun, however I have to apologize for it taking away from some of my Trophy Encounters time. 

With that being said, there hasn't been a lack of fishing coming in, just a lack of posting my results.  I have been having yet again a fabulous spring chasing the old Marble Eyes around.  Waconia has been a Godsend yet again, but the surprise to me and those joining me, is the amount of large fish that we have caught the past few weeks.  In the first two weeks of season, my boat saw 10 fish over 24.5 inches.  Normally we catch many nice eaters under 20 inches and a few just over 20, but this year we have been blessed with the biggens.  The season started out by catching them in the extreme shallows, and everyone who joined me got to see what shallow walleyes are all about.  We pretty much stayed in 5 feet of water or less everywhere we went.  The #1 approach for our success was the "T-Rig" which I quoted a few years back.  If you don't know what it is, feel free to ask and I'll enlighten you further.  It's been killer.  The standard jig and minnow hoisted several nice ones also, and we started hitting some real big eyes on cranks after dark.  Just a great stretch of trips on the water with some great people.  The list is very long, and I have so many pictures that I won't be able to fit them all in this update, but thanks goes out to all of you who joined me.  To see more of the fish that we have been catching lately, you can go to the photo albums and I will have them in there respective categories.

We also made a trip during Memorial Weekend up to the Brainerd area.  We snuck out on Mille Lacs for a quick pit-stop on our way through and caught the last 3 hours of the evening before the 10:00 closure.  We managed about a dozen fish which were pretty much all 24-28 inches.  Nothing even close to keeper status, but fun nonetheless.  We switched gears and chased the smallies around for Bass opener, but found cold water temps and blowing winds.  Our success varied from lake to lake, but we had a great time and caught about 75 total.  Our best results came from the gant Mille Lacs smallies.  Which by the way I will be enjoying with a couple of great guests in a few days. 

Along with the walleyes locally and the trip up north, my dad and I also had the opportunity to take the boys that we mentor for out on Waconia for some fine crappie and sunny action.  They also managed a few bass, and it reminded me of my days growing up with my grandpa when I wanted to keep everything that I caught.  We were a week before bass season, and every bass they caught they wanted to put in the livewell with the crappies and sunnies.  It is sure great to be able to pass this sport on to everyone. Thanks dad and grandpa for bringing me up with this sport to share with everybody.  I strongly encourage you to get those kids out fishing if you can!

As a quick update on what is happening with the local walleyes right now, well, they are biting.  The last few times I have been out, I have fished Waconia with some pretty good success.  If you have fished the lake the last two years you have seen a very distinct decrease in the milfoil, well we are having similar weed growth this year and it is causing for interesting behavior in the fish.  I have found some descent weeds, and that is where all the fish are coming from.  Literally...IN THE WEEDS!  from 5 - 12 feet is where the fish are, and I'm not pulling your leg here.  Go get em!

Again I apologize for the lack of updates, but thanks for reading as always, and until next time....Keep on Livin the Dream!

A Look Back At The 2007 Season. Thank You Everybody!

Once again we find ourselves itching like crazy to hit that frozen ice that is starting to take form across much of the state.  While I am excited along with the rest of you, I want to take a little time out to look back at the great months that I shared with so many of you throughout the open water season.  There were so many huge fish caught, and great laughs shared that I don't really know where to start.  I have taken hundreds of pictures yet again this season, and as I look through them, I remember each and every one of them like it was yesterday.  For me, it is always great to be in the outdoor world, however as I look at all of those pictures, I kinda chuckle at the friends I have made and the memories that won't ever be taken from me.  After all, isn't that what it's about. 

The early season started with numerous trips to area lakes and rivers and some days it seemed that we could fill bath tubs full of walleyes.  Other days were not as spectacular, but they always gave us some laughs and taught me a few more details about what I was doing wrong.  As the season progressed, I found a new style of fishing which left me sitting on a river in the middle of the night chasing prehistoric Flathead Catfish.  That was sweet too!  I had some trips up to the big pond that always seemed to coincide with a hurricane, and still we landed a few dandies. 

As the summer progressed I shared an uncountable number of days on the water with great people from all over the country.  For the most part, we landed that trophy of a lifetime nearly every time on the water.  Some days the muskies seemed to come into the boat like it was their job.  The largest number in my boat for one day this season was 8 fish, and streaks of boating fish each time were carried through more than one week at times.  Each time on the water I continued to learn a new thing or two to help keep the fish coming in the boat, and the results were great.  I had this "musky mojo" thing at an all time high, and the rewards were sweet.  People of every age landed fish with me this season, and each one of them were great in their own way.  The greatest reward for me being a guide is that I get to see that smile on a persons face when they land that fish of a lifetime, and it keeps me coming back day after day. 

As the season progressed into late fall, I found myself fishing much further into the year than I had ever done before. I can't even explain how great those rewards were, as I found myself in newspaper articles and chatter throughout the state for catching some "freak of nature" giant fish on the big pond.  I learned a lot in spring, summer and fall that will surely keep me progressing as a fisherman and your fishing guide.  I would like to thank each and every one of you that helped to make it such a great year, but I don't think I have enough space on this website to do so.  You know who you are, and I thank you.

It's a sad day that I will be putting the boat and the gear away, however it would be weird to see a guy jigging over the side of his boat through an ice hole, so I have no choice.  The stories are in no way going to slow down, and Trophy Encounters will continue to be a place to ask questions and hear some of the latest and greatest from not only myself, but by all the others that are telling me their stories to share.  I hope to have something new on this site every day to check out, so make sure you look at this page, and the page called "Its Their Story" to keep on finding new information.

It has been a great run yet again, and I look forward to seeing all of you again on the water in the very near future.  Now its time to get the other equipment ready.  Who wants to go Ice Feeeeshin???  Thanks again everybody, and as always, Keep On Livin That Dream!