Hey Mr. Ernst, I Guess They Do Bite Without A Twister Tail

2 Ernsts, and a Dawn Juan, and you have the recipe for a great night on the water.  It seems like i've been telling the same story over and over the last few trips out, but the bite continues to be great.  We hit the water a little later this evening assuming the bite would start towards sunset, but to our amazement the fish were going crazy as soon as we pulled up.  I don't like admitting to it but for the first time that I can remember the Ernsts, (yes Mike and Doug) actually put the whoopin to me.  It isn't something i'm proud of, however I will get over it and I will fish another day.  There was definitely a curse for the front of the boat, because out of the 11 walleyes boated, only 2 were caught by Dawn and myself.  Great job Ernsts, and thanks to all 3 of you for the fun night on the water.  I can't wait to do it again.

Happy Fathers Day!!!

When the walleyes are biting there is no better way to spend an evening than going fishing with the family.  My dad, bro, sis and myself all spent the evening chasing the marble eyes around on lake waconia.  For us it is a great way to spend fathers day together, and we came home with a meal of fish as well.  The weather was unbelievable with the wind laying down towards dusk and the temperatures at the perfect level to fish comfortably.  My sis was the first to strike and by the way she started, it seemed as though she wasn't going to let us catch anything.  After watching her catch the first four fish, I decided to get in on the action and soon my dad followed.  With all the fish flying in the boat, it was amazing to me that my brother Adam managed to go his second night in a row without a single walleye (ha ha) which definitely didn't go unnoticed by the rest of us.  By the time we wrapped things up for the night, we put 7 walleyes in the box and let a few others swim away for somebody else to catch.  It was a great evening on the water and a memorable fathers day as well.  Thanks Dad, Becky and Adam for the fun night and Happy Fathers Day!!

We landed all of our fish tonight on a simple jig and minnow combo.  This tactic has worked all year for me, and will more than likely continue through the summer months.  I prefer using a minnow on my jig vs. the leech or crawler because it keeps the pesky panfish from constantly stealing my bait.  The beauty of using the minnow and the jig is that you never really know what you are going to catch.  So far this year it has boated many walleyes as well as bass, northern, crappies, sunfish, sheephead, and oh yes we have even landed a few muskies on it too.  The secret to my success with this bait has been staying as close to the millfoil as possible.  I will literally pitch my jig within a foot or two of the weedline and slowly jig it back to the boat.  It makes for a lot of casts and many weeds, however the results have definitely been worth it.  It is hard to say how long this great bite will last, but there doesn't seem to be any slowing down in sight.  I believe this summer will possibly go down as one of the best summer's of walleye fishing on Lake Waconia ever.

2006 Metro Muskie Tournament

With the 2006 muskie season under way, my tourney partner (Muskie Mike) and myself decided to hit the waters of lake Waconia for some early season competition.  With little time to pre-fish during the week, we set out to hit some areas away from crowds where I had located a few fish while bass/walleye fishing.  This turned out to be the right decision for us.  After 10 minutes of casting and raising 3 seperate ski's, it was obvious to the both of us that we had chosen the right pattern.  With this in mind, we decided to stick with our pattern and try to find more active fish on similar spots.  At 6:45 I landed a 40 1/2"  ski which unfortunately for us was the only fish brought in the boat. 

We officially lost our trolling motor batteries at 7:15 forcing us to play the wind, and use the outboard for the rest of the 8 hours of fishing.   With one in the boat, we felt that catching just one more would seal the deal.  When it comes to catching muskies as most people know, IT ISN'T EASY ALL THE TIME!!  We spent the next 8 hours chasing about 15-20 different muskies around.  They did everything but jump in the boat for us.  It was almost as simple as basically throwing on a different lure each cast and seeing how horribly the fish would miss it.  By the end of the day we figured we had raised those fish 40 or more times.  It would almost have been less frustrating to not have seen any fish at all, but the excitement was unbelievably high and the day passed in seemingly minutes.  It was a great day on the water and after letting a full week of the new muskie season slip by without throwing a bait, I can honestly say that it felt great to break the ice.  Thanks for all the fun Mike!!

The top anglers from around the metro that day managed to land 2 ski's a piece from Forest Lake, Lake Independence, White Bear Lake, and one 52" giant from right here on Waconia.  Out of over 600 anglers fishing the 15 lake tourney, there were 44 fish caught in total, so needless to say my 40 1/2" didn't take the top prize.  However, the money raised from this event goes to help keep the sport of muskie fishing alive throughout our state.