What A Run....

I have so many pictures from the past few nights of fishing that I'm not sure where to start.  I suppose I will start with my favorite pic of the many, which is this super fatty that gave me one surprise reaction!  The action and size has been pretty much incredible for this late in the season.  We had two different cameras and a few different angles on the fish.  I won't put all the pics up, but I will put a few of the Jumbos that we have landed lately.  Unfortunately a few of the larger ones came up the hole when I wasn't in the house with Dusty, which is why he has pics of them laying on the ruler.  It really gives a good view of how large they are on that 30 inch ruler, and how fat them bellies are on those fish.  While I have shared many of the catches with him, Dusty has really put a smack down on some very healthy fish the past couple of nights.  I think he boated 5 of them over 5 pounds with the largest being about 7.5.  For February and fishing in the metro area, it just doesn't get a whole lot better than this.  We have really been spoiled lately with these fish, and while we have released everything over the 20 inch mark, we have also caught several that have been of great eating size.  We have had doubles at times, and many chaotic hours of no sleep during the middle of the night.  We have been cooking up spectacular meals, playing cards, dice and just loving every single time that rattle reel dings.  The best part about these fish, is that we have also caught many of our fish by jigging, which is a tactic that usually doesn't work this late in the season.  Our action has been really consistent, and our tactics still remain the same.  Even with catching many fish and large ones, we have still been moving the house each night out, and it has obviously been paying very large dividends in our success.  The main reason that we have been doing so well, is that we have been able to put in a lot of time during the darkness.  By being able to spend the night on the ice, we are on the spot whenever the fish decide to bite, and the flurries have been great.  Some nights we catch them all before midnight, and some nights we don't get a bite until midnight.  It has really fluctuated a lot, but every morning we have smiles on our face from the hogs that we have been hoisting through the holes.  With all the numbers that we have been catching, it is awesome to see the size of these guys.  In the last couple of nights out, we have landed many fish in the low 20's and upper teens, but we have also boated fish in these size ranges: 24, 24, 24.5, 25, 25.5, 26, 26.5.  When you add that length with the ginormous bellies, all of these fish are in the 5 to 7.5 pound category.  Luckily for everybody fishing out there, we have released them all to be caught another night.  I don't know how long this run of big fish will last, but I am excited to find out.  It feels as if we should be on a trip in Canada to be catching so many large fish, but I am super fortunate to have this in my back yard.  These are a just some of the pics from the last couple of nights, but I love being able to share them.  If you want in on this awesome action, feel free to call at any time.   

I have also captured several more images that make being in the great outdoors so very special.  The sunset the other evening was yet again breath taking, so I hope you enjoy these shots.  Now that is what I call "Livin The Dream!"

Way To Go Dawn!!! Welcome Back SD Boys!

I have to start this story by complimenting Pauly on yet another fine photo.  Not to take anything away from Dawn and her catch, but Pauly, that face is priceless!  Last night we put the house back out on the ice to get rid of the cabin fever that this cold front has put on us lately.  We had two goals in mind once we hit the ice.  Goal #1: Get Dawn a Walleye.  Goal #2: Get Pauly to catch a walley bigger than 10 inches.  Well, as luck would have it, we somehow accomplished both of our tasks, and managed to have a couple of chuckles at the same time.  Last night was kinda weird for us in the house.  Instead of only marking a few fish on the vexilar and catching them, we marked walleyes non-stop.  The only problem was that we couldn't quite entice the buggers into eating.  They were acting goofy and eating the bait really weird which resulted in Dawn swinging and missing on her first two takers of the night.  After cooking up some grub and shaking some dice, it was time for Dawn to take off for home.  As she was walking out the door I happened to look over at the screen only to see a giant red signal all over the bait.  I yelled for Dawn to come back in, and almost instantly the rattle started dinging.  Well I guess the 3rd time is the charm, and thank goodness she waited 10 more seconds, cuz now she is the proud fisherwoman holding this beauty!  Without that fish, we would not have had another classic Pauly Picture that seems to be showing up with more frequency lately!  Oh yeah, Pauly and I woke this morning to 2 rattles dinging away.  It would have been a double if I didn't miss my fish, but never the less, Pauly got his first eye of the season over 10 inches.  Another great night!  Thanks guys for the fun and Pauly, next time you sleep on a Cott, try not to smash it to pieces!  hahaha!

The South Dakota boys are back for their annual trip to lake Waconia.  Last year we got these boys in the local paper, and I did a story about them on this website.  Just to refresh your memory.  These guys bring this Ginormous tent out on the ice and live in it for a few days while enjoying all the locals that stop in to take a gander at their set-up.  They are a great group of guys that spend the weekend every year on the ice and come all the way to our town just for the Wild Game Dinner that the Lion's Club puts on at the Ballroom.  We spend a bit of time with these boys while they are up, and have grown to be great friends with them.  This morning we had a feast of a breakfast, and there are many more festivities planned for the next few days.  Trust me, you cannot miss these guys if you are on that lake this weekend.  The Flag fly's high all day, and has a spot light on it at night.  Stop by if you wish and say hello!  These guys definitely know how to Live The Dream!

Feed My Starving Children

Ok, so I know this has absolutely nothing to do with fishing.  However my journal entries don't always revolve around my guide services, and sometimes I think it is important to share other great stories that I get to experience.  Last night my sister and I organized a group of 20 friends to join us to help volunteer for a local organization called "Feed My Starving Children."  I cannot say enough about how great of an experience this is for everybody that attends.  To sum it up, you volunteer about an hour and a half of your time and you package up bags of rice, powders and minerals to feed starving families across the entire world.  They have such a sweet system set up for the volunteers that come in, and you get to enjoy laughs and good times with friends while supporting a great cause.  In our short time of helping, it is amazing to think that we packaged up enough food to make over 12,000 meals for starving families.  We had a great time last night, and now 36 children will have a meal for the next full year because of what we did to help.  This is not the first time we have volunteered for this organization and it certainly will not be the last.  If you would like to learn more about this opportunity to help, you can go to their website which is www.fmsc.org and you will learn much more than I can tell.  Or, you can ask me more about this neat activity and I will fill you in.  Not exactly fish pictures, but sometimes this is a better way to Live The Dream!  I highly recommend taking a night off the water to make a huge difference in the lives of many.

Oh yeah, after our great night, Whorl and I topped it off by heading out to the ice shack to see if we could get a nibble or two in our sleep.  As you can see from Whorls picture, it was the right decision.  Thanks again everybody!  That was a great night, and that is what I call "Livin The Dream!"

Lets Try This Again...

About a week and a half ago Kevin and his buddy Mike came out to the house in hopes of getting in on the walleye action that we have been succeeding at lately.  While they did boat a few, the larger ones didn't take the baits until just after they left.  After having a great time and seeing the results just after they left the house, they decided to try their luck again last night.  While we spent nearly the entire evening playing games and cooking up nearly everything that the grocery store has to offer, we just couldn't get the darn fish to cooperate.  The boys stayed until 11:00 with no fish, and just as they were walking out the door a rattle dinged.  Dusty and I thought that Mike had bumped it on his way out of the house, but sure enough, the bobber was down.  After a quick best  2 out of 3 on Rock, Paper, Scissors, Mike was the victor and jumped in to do battle with this fat willie.  Finally!  The curse that Kevin always brings with him was broken!  Talk about waiting til the last minute.  What a way to end the night guys!

It is about time this cold snap comes to an end.  With the temps dropping well below zero for nearly a week now, the little bit of fishing that I have done has been pretty tough.  The high barometer and the ungodly noise from all the ice cracking had given the fish lock-jaw.  I think this warmer weather that is approaching will hopefully get the fish back into eat mode.  Although it has been tougher with the recent conditions, the fish that we have been catching are still very nice, and it has been rare to catch anything under 2 pounds.  The second picture shows just how healthy the fish have been that have been coming in da boat lately.  Even for an 18 incher, it still looks like he has a football in his belly.  I snapped this picture this morning of one that woke me from my sleep.  There is no better alarm clock than a 2 pound walleye ringing a bell.  That's what I call "Livin The Dream."

Brrrrrrr!!!!

Holy Connolly is it cold out there!  Brrrr!  Anyway's, last night we kept it rolling yet again, however it was more of a night of missed opportunities than a night of taking photos.  The spot that we are currently working doesn't seem to have tons of fish on it, however when you catch em, they all seem to be rather large.  We should have had a quite a few last night, but had just one of those nights that they seemed to always get off.  The largest one last night woke me up at about 3:00 am, and I have to chuckle at my sleepy look every time I post pictures of the middle of the night fish that I catch.   This picture is of a roughly 4.5 to 5 pounder that had Whorl running circles around the house as it kept stealing the minnows off of the rattle reels.  He even battled it for about 5 feet and then lost it.  I know this, because after all of his shinanigans,  I finally got off of my bunk for the next rattle, and caught this guy with a mouth full of his minnows.  Haha, thanks for missin em buddy!

 

This morning left me with the impression that I am going to be waiting a couple of days before I venture out again.  After moving 3 more fish houses onto new spots today in that ungodly cold wind, I feel that I am going to take a break for the weekend and fish next week once it starts warming a bit.  Hopefully the boys in those houses catch a few this weekend, and they get me some pictures of their results.  I will keep you posted.  We also had our third morning in a row of having deer running by our fish house.  I got some photos of these 4 as they came prancing by us.  What the heck are they running across the ice for anyway???  There isn't even any woods in the area!  Weird, but cool.  I guess I will consider that "Livin The Dream!"