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!

2nd Annual "Take A Boatload Of Girls Fishing Day"

Sunday was the 2nd annual take a boatload of girls fishing day, so we did just that.    With high hopes from the great success last year, these girls couldn't wait to get their lines in the water and see what would bite on it.  I was joined by Becky, Phyliss, Gina, Jitla, Amanda and Heidi.  With the boat loaded to the max, we were somewhat limited to what we could fish for, which brought out the jigs and leeches.  The sunfish were eager to take a hold and gave us plenty of action.    Although the weather wasn't the best for Walleyes, we did try a great spot of mine, and Gina (the fishing pro) managed to land a nice one.  All in all, the weather was amazing, the fish were biting and it was yet another great time on the water.   Thanks for all the tangled lines and hectic running around.    Can't wait to do it again next year!!!

Bass'n on Waconia

Saturday morning brought us out onto Lake Waconia for a friendly bass tournament with a bunch of buddies.  It is the 2nd annual tournament for friends of ours, which decided that they didn't feel the need to show up for their own event.  This proved to be their own loss because the bite was going and many large bass were brought in by all the boats including these two beauties that Mike landed.  It was a great day on the water for Mike, Tara and Myself.    We didn't  win, but in this event it is all about the fun we have competing in the friendly outing.  The only downside for us on this day was Tara's inability to land the big one.     As you can see she definitely was giving it her all, but the fish just didn't want to cooperate.  Next time fishies!!!

Tiger Muskie

After hearing from several people that "There's no Tiger Muskies in Waconia," I thought that I would show proof that they are in fact swimming in the lake.  This fish came from trolling the weed edge along the well proclaimed beach/marina shoreline.  It hammered a crank running at about 3 mph.  This muskie was in the 39 - 40" range, but very healthy and very fat.  I didn't know that they existed in these waters myself, but i guess when you see it in your hands, you have to believe it.  Congrats on the nice fish Drew, and thanks for enlightening us!

Have you ever tried a Fluke??

I have been meaning for the longest time to get this story posted, and since i didn't get out on the water last night, i feel that this is the perfect time to share the trip that Tim, Brett and myself had.  It was a few days back when we hit the water with the intentions of catching walleyes early then switching to bass later in the day.  The fish pretty much cooperated as planned and we boated 7 or 8 walleyes quick, then switched to bass.  Both Tim and Brett have fished bass plenty in the past, but have always had trouble catching the big ones.  The bass were in the post spawn period but still hanging around the same areas.  We targeted them with pearl white Zoom Super Flukes.  These two gentlemen loved everything about their new favorite lure and enticed many bass into striking.  By the end of the trip, we boated close to 40 bass with some lunkers in the 20" range.  Thanks for the fun trip guys, it was a pleasure to take the both of you out.  Hope to see ya again when Muskie time rolls around!