Start Your Engine's.....

I know I haven't been posting too many sweet pics lately, but to be completely honest, I haven't been taking too darn many of them.  Typically, July is my month to hide from the heat, and prep myself for the big run that is about to hopefully take place.  I say hopefully, because I have many eager clients who hope to be seeing their faces on this site with big fish in their hands.  With that being said, I am geared up and ready to start posting pics on here like a wild man.  Not only that, but here's a hint, there is a little something in the sky right now that tends to make the night a crazy time to be on the water.  Tonight I had the pleasure of fishing with Bails, and as you can see, his first time casting a muskie bait for the year turned out to be kinda productive.  We started out fishing bass, walleyes and pike to prep for my guiding tournament tomorrow, and on our way back to the launch, we just couldn't resist a couple of my old haunts.  I have to admit, it is always funny watching Bails battle the big ones.  He is so intense and just never says a word during the battle.  If it were daylight, you can see a look on his face like he has his foot in a trap and he is trying for dear life to get it out, all while having a whole bag of sour patch kids in his mouth.  Although tonight it was darkness, I just pictured it during all his grunts and splashes from his nice 47 incher, and kinda chuckled as I watched the fish jump airborn into my net.  Always a pleasure to have ya in da boat Bails.  Nice work!  Oh yeah, we caught several bass and pike to boot.  I don't quite know how that whole walleye gig is going to pan out tomorrow in 95 degree heat from 12-4 in the afternoon, but we're going to give it a shot.  As always, Keep on Livin the Dream!

Solo Trip With a Twist

So last night I went out to prep myself for an upcoming multi species trip on Tonka.  It started out great by catching several really nice bass and a couple of pike.  At the last few minutes of daylight, it was obvious that I would be casting for my pet Ski's and I did just that.  I started working this really steep and deep edge and turned around to see the sun setting, so I turned around let my bait fall to the bottom and took this picture not knowing the chaos that was about to take place.  With my bait resting on the bottom and knowing it is a deep spot that holds many muskies, I decided to crawl my lure in the entire way and then bring it straight up vertically (this works very well for those that have the patients, there is no such thing as too slow).  Well, this was one of those times that I had one come vertical with my bait, and when I flopped the bait on its side at the boat, the muskie rolled sideways and smashed my lure and then went airborn.  All 47-48 inches of it was out of control and going ballistic (it was sweet).  I got it away from the boat and resumed the battle when it came by the boat the next time the line simply broke, that's right, IT BROKE!  Nothing Grinds my gears more than when my equipment falters, and this is my first time ever breaking 80 pound test on a ski.  I just spooled the line on the real on Saturday and this was my first outing with it only to be dissapointed.  So needless to say, he swam away with about $40 dollars in his mouth and left me simply shaking my head.  To make it worse ( and I feel bad for the fish here) the darn muskie came up to the boat about 5 minutes later and jumped out of the water with my lure clanking in its mouth as it was trying to shake it off.  I almost could have netted the darn fish.  I had to leave after that.  I had one more attack after that fish a few casts later and then called it a night.  Many bass, pike and made my 20 minutes worth of muskie fishing memorable.  Oh well, I got to see another great sunset! Keep on livin the dream Y'all!

Breakin it in the Right Way

My great friend and longtime fishing partner purchased a new boat about a week ago, and when I got the phone call to test it out with him I just had to jump all over the opportunity.  Needless to say, the opportunity to not have to drive the boat for the first time in years was just too tempting, so I grabbed my equipment and loaded up his boat for my own personal guide trip.  Sure we were using my baits and tactics, but the chance to just enjoy the sunrise and cast the bait was sure a great time for me.  The first spot of the morning and probably 10 casts into our outing Dusty reared back and did the ol "Got One" grunt, and the battle was on.  Not only did we break the new Ranger boat in the right way, but I also purchased the new bait yesterday and I am proud to say that it is no longer a virgin.  While the action happened quick, we didn't fish too hard or long, and only had one other follow in the next couple of spots, but we did what we came to do, and still made it to the office before half of the population.  As we would say when we leave the lake on most occasions, "We came, We saw, We kicked its ....well i'll let you fill in the rest."  Thanks for the guide trip Dusty.  You can call again any time!  Oh yeah, the muskie was roughly 46 - 47, (we forgot a tape).

Since we used Dusty's boat, and I didn't have my camera, we used Dusty's.  As I was searching through some of the other pictures on his camera, I just about fell out of the boat seat when I scrolled through and found this classic of Whorl during a late night outing in the fish house after he had a tangle (kids mess).  I'm sure he'll give me some heat for posting this one, but I just gotta.  Another classic pic that he always seems to be a part of.  Nice legs Whorl, HaHaHa! Until next time Y'all, Keep on Livin the Dream!

Lord all Mighty, He finally caught one!

Cheese and Rice! I told Matt that I was going to take a picture with him holding nothing and put it on this website just so that I could explain to all of you that He had nothing to show for his efforts.  We made it out on the water 3 times last week, and every time he had at least one muskie hooked that found its way off.  Well it was more of the same on Friday afternoon when we hit tonka for my first time of the season.  As you can see from the sky in the background, it was one of those musky looking days when I just about go crazy if I'm not on the water.  We had action the entire time on the water, but it wasn't until close to the end that we finally put one in the boat.  We saw about 18 different fish on our outing, but after we had 3 or 4 fish spit the hooks, Matt finally capitalized with his first of the year at 42 - 43 inches.  It was a very fat little bugger, and definitely put on a show during the battle, not to mention the look on Matt's face when it came screaming at the boat and Matt couldn't keep up with it.  Nothin but musky fun. 

This picture makes me sick to my stomach!  I was about 50 yards away when I saw this floating white log, and I instantly knew what it was.  At a closer look, it appeared to be about a 52 incher that will never do battle again.  How it died could have come from many different things, but it is just a reminder to how fragile these fish can really be and stresses how important a quick and clean release can be.  If your hooks are too deep, cut them.  If you want a picture, make it quick, and hold the fish firmly with two hands.  Make sure you revive them before you let them swim away, and always be careful.  I don't want to sound like a nag here, but it is important when dealing with such large fish.  I enjoy catching them as much as the next person, and it is very sad to see a sight like this.  Oh yeah, if you are a bass fisherman that hates muskies on your bass spots, deal with it and find a new spot like everybody else.  It's part of the game, and it aint cool to kill them when you catch them.  It makes me sick to hear stories of angry bass fisherman who kill every muskie they catch on one of their "Bass Spots."  A true fisherman adapts to the changing patterns and finds new structure.  Sorry I flared here, but I just don't like to see this site on our lakes and I know this is happening elsewhere too.  Until next time fellas, keep on livin the Dream!

What's Shakin in the Metro

This winter has been one of those winters that just make a man wonder about about what the heck is going on with this ice.  I snapped these photos yesterday evening while on lake Waconia.  For January 15th it sure seems strange to be looking at open water.  This massive stretch of open water has been steadily gaining in size and is now at approximately 30 acres.  The really odd part about it is that it has been in the single digits to below zero for the last 5 days, yet it still is growing rapidly in size.  You can see in the pics that there are houses and vehicles just beyond the open water...that's right VEHICLES nearly 200 yards from the waves.  Normally I would be the risky person out there, but the current generated from the waves has caused severe ice loss in spots, and while drilling holes in the area yesterday, we found as little as 6" in spots.  The thing that makes me wonder the most is that as soon as one truck touched the ice 3 days ago, everybody and their brother thought the lake was safe to drive on.  There are people driving all around this water and they don't realize how much ice they are actually on.  At one point last night there was a truck and a van parked next to each other, and they weren't even 20 yards from the area that we found the 6" inches of ice.  The current caused by this open water has been eating the ice away right underneath people and they don't even know it.  In the past few days the open water has grown a couple of hundred yards, and people that once had their house on their favorite honey hole have moved it away only to see waves where they had been fishing.  Craziness for this late in the year with the temps being as cold as they are. 

I strongly encourage precaution on all lakes south of Brainerd at this point.  My buddy that flies up north regularly in his small plane said he could see open water on the majority of the lakes south of Brainerd.  This is scary when you think about driving out on the ice on a lake you haven't been on this year.  If it freezes over and gets a layer of snow on top of it, then everything looks the same and the stranger to the lake will have no idea.  I usually cannot be scared by the ice this late in the season, but my ventures that I will soon be taking in the next few weeks to my smaller lakes all over the state have really got me wondering just how risky I am going to be.  Not that I won't be out there, but I will just be using my 4 years of college to make a better decision.

Now back to the fishing report.   I have been out a couple of times on the lakes close to home doing some lazy man fishing and catching whatever wants to swim under the cozy shack.  My outings have taken place on Waconia, Parley and Minnetonka.  The object of my affection lately has been what is suppose to be the "easy to catch" panfish.  Each time out has had different results for us and it seems very difficult to find any consistency in the action.  We have tried several "go-to" spots on Waconia for crappies and the fish have been winning some of the battles.  We have managed some tasty meals a couple of times out, as well as a few bonus fish that we weren't targeting.  One of the best parts about fishing for panfish in the weeds is that you always seem to have a few unexpected fish grab the wigglers (worms) and jigs.  Not that I feel like keeping the slimy northerns or bass,  but they sure can be a great battle at times.  Once this goofy winter weather settles down some, I think the action will stabilize a little more.  

You'll never catch every fish in the lake, but it sure is fun trying.  Fish On!