How About More Wind???

This image is from the very start of our many hours on Mille Lacs yesterday, and although it is a sweet pic, the wind doesn't really look all that bad.  Well yet again it decided to blow like a hurricane for pretty much every second of daylight.  It forced us again to be restricted to only certain parts of the lake, and kept me away from great spots.  Steve, Adam and Myself nonetheless had a great time on the water.  We had chances almost immediately, and sporadically throughout the entire day.  We didn't land any muskies yesterday, but came about as close to winning the chess match as we could without actually doing it.  We also saw some real dandies over the 50 inch range that were interested, but lock jawed from the 35 degree cold front that we had blowing in our face.  The largest fish of our trip was Steve's 40 inch pike which blew up on the surface like a 2 ton whale.  We also caught some very large Smallies at random times throughout the day, including both Adam and Steves largest ever.  We were not able to catch any of the large walleyes that I like to target, due to the wind blowing on my honey holes, but that just means there will be more for next time.  We exchanged jokes from the second we were all together, and they never stopped throughout the entire trip.  There just might not be two better people to spend a cold front day on Mille Lacs with.  I think we quoted somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 movie lines, and dropped about a 100 different jokes before we were all said and done.  It was unfortunate that we had such intense wind and cold, but it was still a trip to be remembered.  The not so highlight of the day was the trolling motor snapping off the front of the boat and me catching it as it almost sank to the bottom.  Whew it was a close one, but I'm now in search of the most goofy part in the state.  I hope I find it before tomorrow's trip back to Mille Lacs.  Thanks again Guys for another great time on the water.  Until the next story comes, keep on livin the Dream!

And The Wind Will Blow...Blow...Blow

Can you say WINDY..... Holy Conolly, when you think about spending the day up on Mille Lacs, the one thing that sticks in the back of your mind leading up to the trip is that you just hope the wind isn't too bad.  Well, Monday that thought was a reality.  Theo, Matt and myself spent the entire day on the water battling about 3 hours of rain which was followed by non-stop blowing, gusting, hurricane force winds.  It was down right brutal, and after talking to both of them yesterday, it was apparent that we all had lasting effects.  We were on the water for nearly 15 hours on Monday, and Tuesday we all felt like we had a terrible hangover for the entire day.  I don't know the exact mph of the wind, but it was a howlin.  The weather center said it was from 20 -30 mph, but I think they were on crack.  It sure seemed like more than that!

Our mission for the day was to do battle with some muskies, and we gave it our all.  The conditions seemed great at times, and impossible at other times.  We did have our chances more than once, but were unable to capitalize on any of the giants that we saw.  Mille Lacs is a whole different lake this year due to the water being almost 2 feet below normal water levels.  This definitely changed a few tactics that I had planned on, but we still had our encounters of the trophy caliber.  We saw over a dozen muskies for our efforts, and had 3 different fish that I felt should have had a photo session for this website, but they won the chess match.  This was the first outing of the year that we focused strictly on muskies, but I wouldn't trade the outcome for anything.  Sometimes I think I take for granted all the days that I go out and just catch the darn things, and having a day of butt whooping like we had definitely humbles me a little bit.  As always I learned a lot about this fabulous fishery, and made note of the changing weed growth and water depths.  We made our changes throughout the day, and it did give us results.  Sure we didn't have any pictures of Muskies, but I will walk away from this day considering it a success.  Not only did I get to spend a day on the water with a great friend and soon to be a representative of our country's military system, but I also had my first full day on the water with a fellow muskie addict named Theo.  Any day you can laugh as much as I did is a great day.  Oh yeah, we did fish Smallies for a short period, and connected with a few nice fish as Matt is showing in his pic.  I will be back up there a few more times in the very near future, and am hoping for pictures of the big ones that we saw.  I cannot explain the absolute size of some of the giants in that lake.  They should make a different name for the muskies swimming in that lake, cuz they truly are a different breed of fish.  I think they should be called something like Whalesky's or Musmammoths!  Until Next time Y'all, Keep on Livin the Dream!

A Mille Lacs Quicky!

Well it wasn't until 11:15 last Thursday that I learned I would be heading to Mille Lacs, but by 3:00 we were on the water, and by 3:10 we had a walleye in the livewell.  I guess that's how it goes when you are busy trying to live the dream, so that's just what we did!  Jeff, Brian and Myself cleared our schedule and made the journey to catch ole marble eyes.  We spent roughly 4 hours catching walleyes and about an 1 1/2 hours after muskies.  We landed many walleyes in the short time period we were on the water, with almost all of the 30 or so that we boated falling in the 22 - 26 inch range.  We only had two under 20 inches that we were able to keep, but we weren't complaining.  In fact, I don't think we could have picked a better day to drop everything and head up there.  The wind wasn't blowing (FINALLY), and the temps were near perfect.  The one really dissappointing fact was the health of the fish that we were catching.  As you can see from the pictures, they were all very very skinny.  It's hard to say if they are all starving, but for whatever reason they don't look too healthy.  Hopefully they plump up shortly!  I could post many pictures, but they all seem to look the same, so I'll  just show a few, and you can kinda get the point.  It sure was fun though. 

Our limited time chasing Muskies didn't provide any monsters in the boat, but I hope to change that tomorrow when I head up there in search of a snaggle tooth. 

Nice call on this one Jeffrey!  Thanks for yet another fun day, and til next time, Keep on Livin the dream!

2007 Minnesota Fishing Opener

Another Minnesota fishing opener is in the books!

I don't know exactly where I would rate this years opener for team Trophy Encounters.  We had an interesting weekend, and a definite lack of serious fishing.  The only hours that we really logged this weekend were from Midnight to about 11:00 on Saturday.  We ran up to Mille Lacs at the last minute on Friday, and figured we would just go wherever the wind blew us for the weekend. 

Our annual midnight trip remains in tact, and we hit the south end of Mille Lacs for the early start.  We put a few in the box, and Mike threw back a dandy.  We trolled crankbaits over the 4 - 6 ft gravel areas that had produced in the past, and found our fish.  Our battery died on us and cut the outing short, which took us back into town.  We drove to the north end to meet up with some buddies for the daybreak bite.  This is where our weekend gets a little bit more interesting.  THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE THAT FISH THE NORTH END OF MILLE LACS ON OPENER IS RIDICULOUS!!!!  The lines at the accesses run for miles at times, and waiting for multiple hours to launch your boat is not out of the question.  Not exactly what gets me excited, but that's how it goes.  We fished the typical north end sand, and yes the fish were biting, but it just doesn't have quite the same spark or excitement when you land the walleyes.  There is something about working and finding out a pattern, and then pulling in the walleyes and feeling like you accomplished something cool that gets me going.  I may sound weird for saying this, but I found little enjoyment drifting aimlessly across a sand break with little bottom feature, catching walleyes at random with the other 2,000 boats that were doing the same thing.  It just isn't very rewarding.  Yes it is awesome for the folks that only get out once in a while, but if you are looking for a fun and rewarding challenge, this is not it.  Sure some areas may have been better, but for the most part everything that everyone was doing was working, and if you drifted between 12 - 25 feet of water for more than 30 minutes, you would have a fish in the boat.  I don't care if you have never fished walleyes before.  The next person who rants and raves about their kick butt excursion on Mille lacs north end sand on opener, you can just nod your head and say congrats, cuz it wasn't tough. 

We stayed until about 11:00 until we got bored and decided to try elsewhere.  We didn't stay until we had our 12 keepers, but left with 8 in the jar and a few picture takers.  We had a nice fish fry in the afternoon, and headed further north to catch up with some buddies and fish a smaller lake for the first time.  This was more to enjoy the evening and have a few laughs.  We definitely had that, cuz while we were putting our boat in the water, Mikey and Jeremy pulled up in their boat, both excited to give us a hand and neither of them thought to tie up their boat.  Good thing Jeremy had his waders to get the floating boat back.

We cruised the lake looking for areas that we will be trying on our annual Memorial Weekend trip.  I do believe that this lake may have some lunker Smallies for our Flukes.  The Gesinger's had 8 walleyes in 2 days of fishing, and didn't start hauling them in until they put the bobbers out and the other gear away.  Nice work guys, and thanks for the laughs.  We came back to the cities and passed on another day on Mille Lacs.  I'll be heading back up there soon to get back on a serious man's walleye bite, and away from all the traffic, SHeeSh, I forgot what that big lake can be like on opener, and I don't think I'll be going back next year.  No offense, but It just isn't my cup of tea!  Heading out to the local lakes this week, and I'll be giving some pics and stories soon, Let me know if you want to hit the water. Fish On!

It's Not Always Easy

Mike and I busted free early on Friday to head up to Mille Lacs yet again in hopes of landing more eye's.  We hit the ice around 2 in the afternoon for an evening bite, and again the following morning for a half day before returning to the cities.  Our two half days gave us some very interesting time on the water.  As I'm sure most of you know, the ice has been pretty sketchy in some areas, but here is a report from somebody who has actually been up there and fished pretty much the entire lake this winter.  There is a crack that runs around the majority of the lake.  It shifts around from time to time as the ice keeps growing, but there are places that it most definitely can be crossed.  This pressure ridge most likely will not close up this winter, so the only solution is to use the available bridges, or to bring your own.  This crack is roughly 1/4 mile out from shore and wraps around the entire lake from what I have seen.  There is solid ice right up to the crack on both sides, and is fine if you can get planks on both sides.  It is only open because the two sheets of ice keep pushing against each other as the ice thickens on the rest of the lake.  Once you get across this bad boy the ice is 12" or better.  We honestly found nothing under 14" in the several spots we fished this weekend.  I just thought I would tell exactly what I have found, because everybody I talk to seems to think that this big lake has open water and cracks running all over it.  I repeat....Once I crossed this crack, I found nothing but one big skating rink that stretches as far as the eye can see.  

As far as the fishing went, we didn't have the greatest of luck.  We fished two spots on Friday afternoon, and found some hungry fellas on our second honey hole.  We didn't slay them by any means, but Mike and I had a great time running from hole to hole to catch the 6 that we landed.  Saturday morning we were joined by Art who met us on the water to bring us the bad luck he usually carries with him on our fishing outings (heehee).  This man always seems to pick the days when the fishing is the toughest, and therefore I just tell him that he's obviously bad luck.  We drove out to the spot from the night before only to find two portables set up in our holes.  We immediately started fishing new spots with no luck until we boated 3 Walleyes and a BBJP around 10 in the morning.  We called it a day earlier than expected, and spent the next hour trying to cross the ever changing ice heave by shore.  This made for a few laughs and blunders during an otherwise cold, windy, and uneventful morning on the water.  Every time on the ice is an adventure, and as always I enjoyed this one to the fullest.  You can't always catch a ton, but it's still fun trying.  Fish On!!