Pete's 42 and a Sweet Mandarin Duck!

In hopes of preparing themselves for the hours of casting they have ahead of themselves, Pete and Mark decided to come out and give their arms a workout before the big trip.  They leave in a few days for some famed Wisconsin waters, but wanted to put one of the elusive 50 inchers in the boat that we have been so fortunate to catch lately.  Well, it's tough to plan on catching one over 50 each time out, but we did our best, saw a few nice sized fish, and Pete landed this nice 42 incher.  Most of the action came from Pete's bait, but Mark had an explosion on his topwater after the sun set that we will never know about.  I do however think that it was larger than a perch, and the last fish out of those weeds measured in at 50.5, so who knows.  It was a great evening on the water, who would have guessed it would have been 82 degrees at sunset on October 7th.  Thanks for the fun boys, and good luck in Wisconsin.

Look at the duck that Mike shot yesterday morning.  I'm no duck expert, but after doing some research on it, it is called a Mandarin Duck.  Native only to Asia, China, Japan and some surrounding European Countries.  There are very few of this specie in those countries, and are known to be numbered in only a few thousand worldwide.  How did it get to Carver County Minnesota????  Who the heck knows.  But it is sweet, and will look good on the log above the fireplace.  I plan on doing a bit more research on this bird, and if anybody knows anything else about this duck, please let me know and I will put it on this site fore everyone to view.  I think the MN DNR would also be interested in this rare specimen. This duck was definitely wild too, it was flying with all the other wood ducks and mallards that Mike kept on missing.  For 16 or 17 shots that you missed on that morning, you sure picked the right duck to fold up.  Well done.....Add one more to your wall of fame!

50 Inch Mike, Front & Center!

Sweeeeeet Baby Jesus!  Another 50!  Congratulations Mike for making it front and center just like you said you were going to do.  This was such a sweet fish for Derek and I to watch as it came at Mike's bait.  We both saw it crash at the bait on the first strike and miss, and the funny part about it was that we said "Mike, you got one," and he did the ol "Huh, what, where, who me" thing that I love hearing every time.  Within about a half of a second, it came back for round two and just punished his bait.  After seeing a mid 50 incher in that spot last night, we had our hopes very very high while casting.  A few casts before this fish came up, a mid 40 incher followed to the boat, and then jaws latched on.  The rest is history, and the pics are once again being thrown up on the brag board.  Man I love those big beasts.  Myself and my guests are truly getting spoiled at times with the amount of huge fish that keep coming in the boat.  They say it isn't suppose to be that easy.  I love it, Love it, LOVE IT!  I am thinking that I am going to have to create a 50 inch club for some of these bruisers.  What a day, and way to capitalize on the chance of a lifetime Mike!  I enjoyed every second of it yet again!  Thanks to Derek and Mike for another great morning on the water.  Until Next Time Y'all, Keep on Livin the Dream!

The Bod!

Hahaha....  Was it a double or just posing for the camera???  We may never know.We closed the evening out with an action packed half hour around sunset.  It was highlighted by this nice mid 40 inch fish.  Almost too many laughs to handle on this trip, but it was fun.  The last few minutes of daylight was our breaking point for the evening, and we had chances at a few real dandies.  If only they all ate the bait.......Thanks Bod and Stacia, I suppose I am up for yet another trip with the shinnanigans!!!

Good to see the little fellers!

Although we have been seeing and landing almost all giants lately, it's still good to see that there are some future fish growing in the lake.  As you can see from the picture, Scott enjoyed the battle that a low 30 incher can put up.  We had a few close calls by some brutes this morning, but for John and Scott, they will have to wait until next time.  I'm not sure what happened to the biters this morning, but goll darnit, they didn't come in the boat.  The weather looked good, but sometimes you just cannot make them eat.  I'll be on the water again in a few hours, so we'll see if they snap.  Darn fish...If they only knew that John was going to put them on Kare 11 news...Maybe they would have decided to grab his bait instead of miss it.  Still a great trip on the water, and considerably milder than the past couple of weeks.  Thanks for the fun guys.  Until next time, Keep on Livin the Dream!

They Always Bite When You're Not Ready....Hang On Tight!

The title of this entry was the motto for our morning on the water.  Adam, (aka: Mr. 54 incher) and his buddy Rick hopped in my floating device this morning just as daylight was approaching off to the East.  It didn't take us long to get on the board, and we were photographing another beauty.  This girl measured in the mid 40's and gave us a starting point for the morning.  It's always a good feeling to get that first one on the boards.  We soon followed with another fish giving us a mild heart attack and almost coming in the boat.  We had action off and on throughout our quest and laughed along the way.  Thanks to a couple of comedians we know, we had a couple of great laughs as we kept on fishing.  The funny part of the day came when we were talking about how they always seem to bite when you're not ready, and how you have to hang on tight.  Well, that's when Rick almost lossed his rod as one grabbed his bait about 5 ft below the surface in the sunlit waters.  Adam and I could see it coming perfectly, but Rick chuckled afterwards because that is just when he wasn't looking and had it smash his lure.  Needless to say, it was cool!  After that fish, we saw a couple more and were on our way back to the landing.  A good morning to be on the water sun tanning, but not the best muskie conditions.  Still fun, and a great way to spend a Friday.  Thanks Adam and Rick, I'm already looking forward to next time!

Last night was nicknamed Theo Thursday in a very quick time on the water.  Waconia....What, Not Tonka???  That's right, we gave the beasts the night off on that lake and decided to test out a couple of haunts I have landed fish on in the past on good ol' Waconia.  It took all of 10 minutes to decide that we had made a good decision, and Theo has now upped his personal best by a 1/2 inch.  It was sweet...The bite was sweet...the fight was sweet...It was just sweet.  That fish came within feet of where I wanted to see one and I had to grin at what I have seen from this lake the last couple of times out.  After the release, and 2 casts later, Theo had the largest muskie I have seen on that lake coming for his bait.  It swung and missed 3 times on the way to the boat, only to grab it on the figure 8.  AWESOME doesn't even describe what we witnessed.  The fish was hooked, but panic set in quickly because of how the fish grabbed the bait and the poor spot that it was hooked.  During the battle, all we could say was, "Oh My God It's Huge....Oh My God It's Barely Hooked....Oh My God It's Huge."  Needless to say, the battle was intense and it just couldn't be put in the net so quickly, within seconds we were both shaking and the fish was free as a bird.  Oh my god was it close and big.  It would have been the second 50+ incher of the day, but instead it will only be stuck in Theo's memory.  Sorry Karen (Theo's wife), but I don't think you will be seeing your hubby too often the next few evenings.  If that man wasn't addicted before, that fish just did it to him.  We wrapped it up a few minutes later as darkness fell, and I'm sure Theo spent a few hours staring at the ceiling wondering what might have been.  I think I speak for us both when I say that it was a good time on the water.  Thanks Buddy!  Until Next time Y'all, Keep on Livin the Muskie Dream!