Uh Oh's from '06

While I enjoyed every trip on the water this season, it doesn't mean that they all went as planned.  Looking back at it now all I can do is chuckle at the things that happened and try to learn from what took place.  Not that I didn't already know how to pick out backlashes on a muskie reel, but I would say that I am now a professional at doing it even though the one in this picture went home with me and required a little TLC from my mother (thanks Ma).  That was the best one i've ever seen Tim (heehee).  I also was shown again more than once that my heavy muskie rods with the large cork handles do actually float when thrown out of the boat on accident, whew! 

The weather here in Minnesota as i'm sure everyone knows is never very predictable.  The trip up north to Mille Lacs with Don and his fishin buddy proved that again as we were faced with what was dead calm conditions that turned into hurricane winds and rain.  On that big pond you can just imagine the waves.  Sorry bout that one fellas.  We even experienced it on Minnetonka when we needed to take safety under a bridge as the fastest moving front that I have ever seen came rolling in causing near white out conditions for Bob and his nephew.  Thank goodness the fish didn't mind so much huh guys!!!

I guess I found out that my Ranger boat doesn't exactly float in ankle deep water.  Who would have guessed it???  Funnier thing is, I beached it on that spot more than once.  You'd think I would have learned...Oh well.. no harm done.  And why is it that tree's are so much easier to catch than muskies?? I guess the world may never know the answer to that one.  I'm not even sure I should mention the battle that I did during a tournament with one of the millions of rocks in Lake Vermillion.  If you didn't know this already,  THERE ARE ROCKS IN VERMILLION!

I can't say looking back at things now that I may have done a few things differently, but sometimes you just never know.  Thought i'd show a few pictures that show the not so great side of our wonderful sport to prove that we all face many challenges on our travels and how important it is to have a good sense of humor and laugh at some of the things that we are faced with.  FISH ON!!!

Finally a New Update....Sorry!

Ok...Ok...Ok... so I know it has been forever since I have shown the world what I've been up to, but I have been away at school up in the beautiful northwoods of Bemidji.  Just a little side note to that is that THIS IS MY LAST SEMESTER!!!!  So while I have been up at school, it doesn't mean that I haven't been out in the woods or hitting the water. 

During the last month or so I've had some good hunts and bad hunts as well as a few good times on the water and a couple of cold rough times.  I will eventually try to get all of the pictures up of the latest and greatest adventures, but until then I'll post a few gems for all to drool over.

I've hunted for almost everything that this state has to offer as far as the seasons go, and have had some pretty darn good results.  I must say that the northern part of this state can pretty much offer the finest goose huntin known to man.  It doesn't hurt anything that my roomate has pretty much the best set up for the job (check out that butt-kickin trailer full of decoys, or as Joe calls it "The belly of the beast").  When you add to the hours of scouting and a few good callers in the field, it doesn't take long before our bag limit is full for the day.  I thought I had a passion for waterfowl hunting, but when I witness Joe on the Go I see a different enthusiasm and skill that  maybe nobody else has.  We've managed to sneak a few great hunts in before classes in the morning as well as on the weekends.  I know some of these pics aren't all fish related, but hey, they are trophy encounters nonetheless and I enjoy showing them. 

My hunts have been from the area's near Waconia all the way north to Blackduck, Fosston, and Bemidji.  I've shared a few good laughs with fellow schoolmates and hometown huntin buddies that make the trek up to join in on the fun of the fields and woods.  We've shot anything from grouse to wood ducks, white tails to mallards, geese to teal and a few other creatures along the way.  My travels have included: a few great clients on the water back home for muskies and walleyes, Matt, Vans, Whorel, Bails, Joe, Drew, Aaron, Dusty Bottoms, Stender, and Goofy.  All of these times have as you could imagine been great and action packed, not to mention all the laughs and goof ups that we experience along the way.  Especially hunting for fowl with a man on crutches,  I must say that it was quite a sight to see a full body goose decoy under each arm as he hobbled out to the pasture on his crutches.  Nice work Chadly.  Thanks for the fun hunts guys and many more to come. 

Oh yeah, and I'm giving a shout out to my buddies who harvested their first deer ever with the bow and arrow on a weekend hunt with me.  Nice goin Bails and Whorel.  And good luck in Dakota, Wish I was goin with you boys.... More to come soon...

Back to the books I suppose.....I have a pretty big test tomorrow....Darn tests....

Back at it

I got back into town tonight with enough time to get out on the water with a couple of hours of daylight.  We bought minnows this evening and had every intention of just going after walleyes.  It is during this time of the year that I start to get antsy for some fresh fish, and I almost took the muskie poles out of the boat.  We fished for about an hour before darkness fell and had nothing in the livewell to show for our efforts.  It wasn't that they weren't biting, but tonight they were a bit on the short side.  The entire time my fishing partner kept looking at me goofy asking me if we really weren't going to go for muskies.  I guess all it took was me seeing that moon rise over the trees and I couldn't stand the 12 inch walleyes any longer.  We went to the first spot on my list of many and started casting.  About 5 casts into the ordeal I was able to laugh at Tim for his missing one, since "he never misses them."  It wasn't 5 minutes later that we were taking pictures of my mid 40"er instead of his.  We made this our first spot and our last spot of the night.  I would have liked to stay out all night and chase em around, however 5am rolls around quite early. 

I should have some more pics and stories soon, since I am back in town for a couple of days.  Until then, FishOn!

Threesome!!

We set out this past Saturday morning with obvious intentions of throwing more muskies in the boat.  My partners in crime on this event were Jack and his friend Bob.  Jack has been out several outings with me in the past couple of years, and has had some great success.  On this particular day, we would continue our great times on the water. 

Jack has always managed to give me a hard time if we fish 2 to 3 spots and don't catch anything.  On this outing, we started at 6am, and he told me that he was going to give me until 7am to produce a fish or he was going to start heckling the guide.  I have grown quite a good relationship with this wonderful story telling gentlemen in the past couple of seasons on the water, so I just chuckled at his comments and told him to just keep casting and not to worry about the fish.  Fortunately for the both of us he had his fish in the boat shortly after our conversation when I pointed to a weed point that held a fish the day before and he hit the mark with his topwater.  Lloyd I'm not sure if you can tell from this picture, but this is NOT a SKINNY fish, in fact it was a very healthy mid 40"er, so I don't think you can give Jack a tough time on this one (haha).

Well I always say the first one is the hardest to catch and then the rest come easier after that, and this day was no different.  We fished a few more spots seeing a couple before I boated the next one which was the dink of the day in the upper 30" range, but a high flyer nonetheless and always exciting when they jump their way to the boat.  After my fish and having Bob explain to us that we were near to his uncles old place on the lake where they use to fish for sunnies many years ago, we decided to make our last spot of the day a few casts away from one of his old honey holes.  This paid off because Bob landed his first ever and a real beauty at that.  It was a very healthy 46" and our biggest of the day.  Don't ask any of us how this fish actually got in the boat, cuz it was probably the most humorous and nail biting battle of the season.  We'll just say that there were several times that this muskie was swimming around with no tension on the line, and at times swimming freely on the other side of the boat than Bob thought he was battling him on.  Nonetheless, this was an exciting morning on the water.  It's not every time out that everybody in the boat lands one, usually someone always seems to steal the thunder, but not on that day.

 Some of the battles from this day will hopefully be on the website soon, as Jack managed to film 2 out of the 3 we caught.  Oh, and what an absolutely amazing sunrise.  Makes a guy appreciate waking up before the birds do.  Thanks again guys and congrats.  Fishon!

Look Out Muskies, There's New Kids On The Block

My Friday morning this week was the same, but yet also very different than the past few.  I was still on the water chasing muskies with clients, however the clients are what was the very different part for me.  On this particular morning I would be guiding two great fishing buddies as normal, but at a much, much younger age than I typically get to take out.  At ages 15 and 14, Mike and Ryan saved for weeks to get out on the water after what everybody seemed to be holding in the pictures on my website (muskies).  This would be their first adventure after the toothy critters which got me excited, yet nervous at the same time.  While I love having people experience their first muskie, it always worries me when dealing with younger fisherman whether or not they have the drive to cast for possibly hours without much action.  Believe me when I say, I wanted these boys to land a fish possibly more than anybody I've taken out this year for the simple fact that I want them to have a memorable experience with the sport that so many of us love to do. 

Our morning started out by teaching them the normal stuff about what we were going to be doing for the day, while we were still on shore.  After realizing that these boys probably could outcast me with a baitcaster, we were quickly on our way.  When we got to our first spot, The boys instantly threw out their baits, and while I was still explaining a few more things I managed to have one come after my bait (on the first cast!).  I instantly told the boys to cast at the fish and while Ryan said "wow I don't think I want that to bite after seeing that explosion" it as you could imagine grabbed on to Mike's line and the battle was on.  After some great fish fighting by Mike, we had our first muskie of the morning,  ON MIKE'S 3RD CAST!!!  I couldn't have asked for a better start to the day, and by the way the boys were talking, they couldn't either.  While luck seemed to be on our side, the fish did a pretty darn good job of avoiding these two new muskie fisherman for the rest of our adventure.  We saw a few more fish, but nothing in the boat and one that tail danced a circle around the boat before spitting the hook out. 

 I believe that a few years from now these two will probably be out throwing muskies in the boat left and right, and possibly teaching me a thing or two about catching the big ones.  They picked up on all the techniques and tricks at such a quick pace, not to mention that I can probably only count the backlashes on one hand for our entire morning.  Nice work boys and congratulations Mike on your first muskie.  Don't worry Ryan, Mike will run out of trophies to catch in front of you eventually and it will then be your turn.  Fishon!