Opening Weekend...Cold But Successful!

Opening weekend never seems to be one of great weather.  Does that stop any of us hardy fisherman??? Absolutely NOT!  How did everybody fare?  Well, the jury is still out on that one, but I have been hearing mixed results. 

I will consider my opener a great success.  Taking it from the top.  To continue the tradition, of midnight start times, we did it in style this year.  As I reported in the last update, we had fish within minutes.  I boated a nice 21 incher about 7 minutes into the season, followed by a surprise in a 28 incher.  Sweet, and I figured that would be top dawg of the night.  Boy was I wrong!  Dusty followed that up with a very long and unfortunately rather slim 31 incher.  A great fish for sure, but just a little too slim for him to consider for the wall.  A great opening run, that we continued hours later.

After about an hour nap, we were up again by 4:00am and heading for Tonka.  This was in the plans, and we were pretty jazzed from our large catches already.  Once on the lake, my gut took over, and I went to a most unlikely spot.  The results???  We made the right choice, and thank you to my gut for that call.  We all threw a nice 18 incher in the boat almost instantly.  These fish came from less than a foot of water.  Wow were they shallow, but par for the course with this cold water temperature.  After fishing for a few hours longer and trying some new spots, we picked up a couple more before we headed in for our fish fry.  We brought back a perfect meal of 6 eyes for breakfast.  A perfect start to the season, but would it continue?

After our opening day walleye feast, we napped and headed back out for the afternoon and evening bite.  To sum it up, it stunk.  Our hot hand was cooled by the blowing wind and pounding rain.  The lakes water temp dropped from a chilly 56 degrees, down to 49 by the evening.  That never makes for good conditions.  I boated a healthy 22 incher, and we caught a few bass, but all in all, it was pretty darn tough.

Sunday morning was a morning that could have made someone question their sanity.  I met a couple of hardy fisherman by the names of Chuck and Mike.  This brother fishing combo resides in Chicago and Plymouth, MN, and they were destined for success right out of the gate.  We laughed when the 39 degree wind almost knocked us over at the access at 5:00am, but they said that they still wanted to give it a go.  Surprisingly, we made a great decision.  Judging the conditions, I figured that it would have been tough to coax even a perch into biting, but that was not the case.  We used the wind to our advantage, and even though we couldn't feel our fingertips, we trudged forward.  The sun came up and the walleye mouths opened up.  For some reason, only the big fish felt the need to bite, and these boys landed some trophy caliber Walleyes and Bass.  Before our morning was through, we landed a couple of 24+ inchers, a 26 incher, and Chuck's largest ever at 27.5.  Throw some 19 and 20 inch bass on that, and you have good fishing!

Looking back at the opening day and following morning, I am not sure if I would consider it normal by any means.  We didn't land a ton of fish, in fact I think we only had 15 total, but the size was great.  We had many over 20 inches, including a couple of 21's, a 22, 2 over 24, a 26, 27.5, 28, and a 31.  We had enough under 20 to have a big walleye feast on saturday morning, and I found out that my new rain suit works pretty well.  My fingers still aren't back to normal, but the camera is full of new pictures.  I am going to consider this another very successful opener.  Thanks to all who made it so great including Mike, Sean, Dusty, Chard, Dougy, Anna, Mike and Chuck. Stay tuned, the dream continues the next few evenings as we try to continue with success...

Opening Hours of 08

It is now a few minutes after 3:00 AM on opening morning.  Myself and the boys just returned home for a quick nap before we head out again in another hour or so.  So far the 2008 season has been another one for the books.  7 minutes into season I landed eye number one for the boat.  Nothing huge, but too big to eat at 21 inches.  A few minutes later number 2 grabbed hold.  A very nice 28 incher that I just figured would be big fish of the night.  Well as quickly as I was getting jacked up about that fish, number 3 came in the boat, and Dusty stole my thunder with this very long and recently spawned out 31 incher.  So in a matter of a few minutes, we landed some really huge walleyes out on Waconia.  The events continue here in about an hour as daylight is fast approaching.  I will obviously give the full report soon.  Good luck if you are hitting the water soon!  Maybe see ya out there, Livin the Dream!

IT'S OPENER BABY!!!! GOOD LUCK EVERYBODY!

Opner is just hours away!  What has seemed like years to get her is now just minutes away.  As I write this article I figure the majority of you are feeling just as antsy as I am to hit the water.  Many have skipped out of work and are hitting the roads heading northbound.  The rest of you, I feel your pain, cuz its gonna be a few hours before I get to start my yearly ritual of events.  A few last minute pieces of advice.  Fish shallow this year if you are heading north, or just fishing locally.  The water temps will be cool, and any shallow lake or warmer bay should produce better.  Also, focus on areas with running water.  These are places the fish congregate around to spawn, and they won't be far from it at this point.  Fish slow, and when you find one fish, odds are you'll catch several.  With the ice still covering many of our lakes, its going to be a different bite than most years.  With that said, we may be surprised to hear some great stories and hot bites in lakes that aren't typically hot on opener, and also a  few that probably stunk it up.  That's fishing, and that's what keeps us coming back.  For me, I will be staying local and fishing my home waters of Tonka and Waconia.  I anticipate a great bite, and I look forward to the camaraderie that always takes place with the opener.  I wish everyone the best of luck in the next few days, and as always, I will report back with my results.  Good luck, and remember, we are livin the dream out there this weekend.  Let's go enjoy it!

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!

Holiday Ventures...Happy New Years To All!

The holiday season is a time that we usually get together with our families and do all the "stuff" that the holiday season entails.  While I was busy doing all of that "stuff" for most of the past week and a half, I also found a little time to get outside and share some fishing with a bunch of great people.  This update will show a few of the outings that I shared with several individuals the past few days.  It is definitely a mixed bag of catches, misses, and laughs that I hope you enjoy.

On Friday the 28th I was fortunate enough to spend the evening on the ice with what I will call the "Engelman Clan."  This group of gentlemen ranging as far as Oklahoma get together for the Holiday "stuff" every year, and then find themselves on the ice after anything willing to bite for an evening.  This year I was fortunate enough to be the host of their ice fishing excursion, and it was a hoot.  We mostly enjoyed laughs during our hours on the ice, however the night was weighted heavier on the side of the ones that got away, instead of the ones that we caught.  We set up on pile of boulders out on Minnetonka for the walleye bite, and while we had many chances, the only walleye king for the evening was Erik who landed his first ever walleye and followed it up with his second.  The fish were a bit on the short side, but gave us some excitement to go with the tales that are always shared when a group of fishermen sit in the shanty.  I want to personally thank Paul, lil Scott, big Scott, Tony, Erik, and Patrick for all the fun.  I would love to do it again any time!

Saturday we picked up camp and set the house on a new spot to find a different school of fish to harrass.  While we didn't catch many numbers on that rock pile that night, we made up for it in size.  I have to say thanks to Dingy for taking a cat nap on the top bunk at 6:30 (what a bum), because it meant that I had the rattle reel when that whopper decided to grab on.  Sorry for the quality of the picture on this catch, but it wasn't quite thawed out when this fish came up the hole.  The best part about it is that if you look closely, you can even see Dingy staring at what he could have had, from his sleeping bag on the top bunk (heehee).  Also during our evening we shared a laugh when Pauly went outside for a smoke only to return to find his bobber down with a skimmer attached.  Yep, that's what makes these trips enjoyable.  The fish are the bonus.  To see the expression on a grown man's face when he thinks he has a giant fish and you know that it's a chunk of metal.  Priceless!

I also would like to give a shout out to a buddy of mine who landed his largest walleye to date that night in another house.  Almost hitting the 10 pound mark, Luke almost put it on the wall but decided to release it for another fight.  The best part was the excitement in the phone call that I received that told the whole story.  By the way Bails, did you by any chance consume a beer or two in that ice house before you called me??? Geez was that a funny call at 1 AM.  Classic!

New Years Eve day Pauly and I joined up with a bunch of buddies on a panfish excursion on a somewhat metro area lake.  Wow is all that I have to say at what I was watching come through my hole.  It is not very often that you can catch "Bulls" in the metro, but that is just what we did.  Typically a lake anywhere within 150 miles of the cities doesn't have true "Bulls" swimming in it, but this one does.  We didn't hit the pound mark, but 3/4 is huge for a bluegill, and we did bring them through the hole.  Judging from the ones we caught, I do believe that there are pounders swimming out there, and I will be finding out soon!  On this trip I have to say thanks to Pauly, Whorl, Bails, Hennen, Hernnamen, Sally, and D to the E for all the fun.  Before it was all said and done, we battled everything from bass, pike, crappies and sunnies and brought home in the neighborhood of 65 fishies for the fish fry.  Definitely some happy bellies after that New Years Day feast. 

 

Well that sums up the majority of my excursions since I have sat at the computer last.  Happy New Years to all of you, and I wish nothing but the best to each and every one of you.  Here's to a great 2008!  Until Next TIme, I think we will still try to keep on Livin The Dream this year!