A Couple of First Time Trophy Encounters

This is actually not a very funny moment, but it is good that we are able to laugh about it and I am not hurt that bad.  It was my first time being hooked, and John Daniels first time hooking, so technically it is a first time Trophy Encounter for the both of us.  Let's just say that I was walking in the wrong part of the dock for JD's casting ability.  Fortunately for myself, I was wearing sunglasses and the hook buried itself in only skin and not my eyeball.  Just a reminder of how accidents can happen and nobody really plans on them.  Other than that catch, we didn't do any fishing when we were up at the cabin, so I don't have any other trophies to report on.  A couple of hours at the local Onamia Hospital, and we were back to the cabin to continue our relaxation for the weekend.  Trust Me!  I won't let JD forget about this any time soon!  I told him that the next time we go fishing together, it will be from seperate boats.....and on seperate lakes!!!

This is an impressive picture for me to post, because early last week I got a call from a friend that I haven't been fishing with in about 8 years.  We chatted a little about life and fishing, and he heard that I do a little musky fishing from time to time, and was looking for a little info.  I recommended a couple of baits and tactics, and before I knew it, my phone was ringing again with a very excited fisherman saying that it worked, and he landed his first musky ever on his first outing for them.  I am very happy for this great guy and wanted to show you a picture of his great catch out of White Bear lake.  I can only imagine that this won't be the last musky picture I will be seeing from Mr.  Tom Dobbins.  Well Done Dude!  Until next time Y'all.  Keep on livin the Dream!

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!

What a Fishery! What a Day!

Sometimes things just come together!  This past Friday Keane and myself hit up the big pond again for my second time of the week.  We had the same game plan in mind as I had a couple of days earlier, only this time we were able to follow through with our plan.  We hit the water by 4:45 and had every intention of landing some Muskies.  The only problem was that the 44 degree air temps that we arrived to just made the muskies jaws lock up.  As the sun rose higher, they came out from all depths and sat on the calm surface to soak up all the possible sun.  We only had 3 legitimate follows in our first 3 hours of casting, and we saw at least 15 others that were just laying logs on the surface.  When this happens on that lake, it truly means that it could be a long day.  Our mistake on this outing was the fact that we weren't casting our baits in the middle of the full moon light at night.  These fish were apparently eating so heavily throughout the middle of the night with the full moon, that they turned extremely mellow during daylight hours.  If given the opportunity, we would have done this night fishing, but it will have to wait for the next trip.  I will however give a "shout out" to my good buddy Muskie Mike who was able to capitalize on this Midnight bite over the last couple of nights of landing fish in the complete darkness. 

With the conditions turning sour on the Muskies, and the wind laying down low, we were able to turn our tactics to the other great fish in this lake and make it one of those days that will always be remembered in our minds.  One of the great things about Mille Lacs for me is that I have a couple of spots on this lake that when the conditions are crappy for Muskies, I can go and catch huge smallies and walleyes.  The best part about it, is that I sight fish the giants! Yes that's right, I have a couple of locations where I know they move shallow enough to see the large schools of white tips (walleyes) and the blacker than night jumbo football smallies.  It is probably the coolest fishing that I know of, and what makes it even better, is that all the fish in these spots are huge.  I am serious when I say that the average size of the walleyes that we catch there are over 25 inches.  The smallies aren't too shabby themselves, and 19 and 20 inchers are quite common.  On this particular day, we landed 4 walleyes over 28 inches, with our largest topping out very close to 29.  I'm not sure how many we landed in total, but it was absolutely non-stop action with the Smallies and Eyes.  The average size walleye for the day would have to be at 26 inches.  In fact, we only had 3 fish that we thought would be under 20 inches, and when we measured them, we had to chuckle because they would be 22 or 23 inches.  What a tough problem to deal with.  The smallies were slammin as well, and we topped 19 inches several times with numerous doubles.  We could have taken hundreds of photos, but I think you get the point from the few that I will show.  What a great day to be on the water.  Even though we didn't catch any muskies, when you land that many trophy caliber fish in one day, you have to just sit back and enjoy every single battle.  It truly is one of those amazing sites to be seen, and I am fortunate yet again to watch my years of searching on that lake to pay off as well as they did.  Thanks Keane!  Until next time fellas, Keep on Livin the Dream!

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!

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!