Uh Oh's from '06

While I enjoyed every trip on the water this season, it doesn't mean that they all went as planned.  Looking back at it now all I can do is chuckle at the things that happened and try to learn from what took place.  Not that I didn't already know how to pick out backlashes on a muskie reel, but I would say that I am now a professional at doing it even though the one in this picture went home with me and required a little TLC from my mother (thanks Ma).  That was the best one i've ever seen Tim (heehee).  I also was shown again more than once that my heavy muskie rods with the large cork handles do actually float when thrown out of the boat on accident, whew! 

The weather here in Minnesota as i'm sure everyone knows is never very predictable.  The trip up north to Mille Lacs with Don and his fishin buddy proved that again as we were faced with what was dead calm conditions that turned into hurricane winds and rain.  On that big pond you can just imagine the waves.  Sorry bout that one fellas.  We even experienced it on Minnetonka when we needed to take safety under a bridge as the fastest moving front that I have ever seen came rolling in causing near white out conditions for Bob and his nephew.  Thank goodness the fish didn't mind so much huh guys!!!

I guess I found out that my Ranger boat doesn't exactly float in ankle deep water.  Who would have guessed it???  Funnier thing is, I beached it on that spot more than once.  You'd think I would have learned...Oh well.. no harm done.  And why is it that tree's are so much easier to catch than muskies?? I guess the world may never know the answer to that one.  I'm not even sure I should mention the battle that I did during a tournament with one of the millions of rocks in Lake Vermillion.  If you didn't know this already,  THERE ARE ROCKS IN VERMILLION!

I can't say looking back at things now that I may have done a few things differently, but sometimes you just never know.  Thought i'd show a few pictures that show the not so great side of our wonderful sport to prove that we all face many challenges on our travels and how important it is to have a good sense of humor and laugh at some of the things that we are faced with.  FISH ON!!!

Finally a New Update....Sorry!

Ok...Ok...Ok... so I know it has been forever since I have shown the world what I've been up to, but I have been away at school up in the beautiful northwoods of Bemidji.  Just a little side note to that is that THIS IS MY LAST SEMESTER!!!!  So while I have been up at school, it doesn't mean that I haven't been out in the woods or hitting the water. 

During the last month or so I've had some good hunts and bad hunts as well as a few good times on the water and a couple of cold rough times.  I will eventually try to get all of the pictures up of the latest and greatest adventures, but until then I'll post a few gems for all to drool over.

I've hunted for almost everything that this state has to offer as far as the seasons go, and have had some pretty darn good results.  I must say that the northern part of this state can pretty much offer the finest goose huntin known to man.  It doesn't hurt anything that my roomate has pretty much the best set up for the job (check out that butt-kickin trailer full of decoys, or as Joe calls it "The belly of the beast").  When you add to the hours of scouting and a few good callers in the field, it doesn't take long before our bag limit is full for the day.  I thought I had a passion for waterfowl hunting, but when I witness Joe on the Go I see a different enthusiasm and skill that  maybe nobody else has.  We've managed to sneak a few great hunts in before classes in the morning as well as on the weekends.  I know some of these pics aren't all fish related, but hey, they are trophy encounters nonetheless and I enjoy showing them. 

My hunts have been from the area's near Waconia all the way north to Blackduck, Fosston, and Bemidji.  I've shared a few good laughs with fellow schoolmates and hometown huntin buddies that make the trek up to join in on the fun of the fields and woods.  We've shot anything from grouse to wood ducks, white tails to mallards, geese to teal and a few other creatures along the way.  My travels have included: a few great clients on the water back home for muskies and walleyes, Matt, Vans, Whorel, Bails, Joe, Drew, Aaron, Dusty Bottoms, Stender, and Goofy.  All of these times have as you could imagine been great and action packed, not to mention all the laughs and goof ups that we experience along the way.  Especially hunting for fowl with a man on crutches,  I must say that it was quite a sight to see a full body goose decoy under each arm as he hobbled out to the pasture on his crutches.  Nice work Chadly.  Thanks for the fun hunts guys and many more to come. 

Oh yeah, and I'm giving a shout out to my buddies who harvested their first deer ever with the bow and arrow on a weekend hunt with me.  Nice goin Bails and Whorel.  And good luck in Dakota, Wish I was goin with you boys.... More to come soon...

Back to the books I suppose.....I have a pretty big test tomorrow....Darn tests....

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!!!

Oh Yes, There Is More

Sorry for the delay in finishing this story, but here is the rest of the trip.

After the tournament was over on Saturday, Mike and I wasted no time in heading south.  He headed for home, and I headed to Mille Lacs for 4 more days of fishing.  This time of the year can be brutal on the big pond for the simple fact that extreme sun and heat can cause for long and agonizing hours on the water.  The next four days proved to be just that.  During those days on the water clouds were an extreme rarity along with absolutely no wind.  The sun however, was always there and very very hot (brutal). 

Saturday night Mike Ernst came up to fish the evening and morning on Sunday, so as the sun was fading we ventured out onto the water to try our luck at the dusk bite as well as into the darkness.  Our thoughts were proven to be correct.  The fish that we were seeing were lazily sitting around with no thoughts of chasing a bait.  We planned on having things turn around after dark, but once the daylight slipped away, all hell broke loose on the bug factor and fishing was not even close to possible.  They were not mayflies, but they were similar and they came by the billions, literally.  It was the biggest bug hatch that I have ever witnessed in my life, which quickly ruled out any night fishing for the rest of my trip, which was a huge blow during this heat.  

Sunday morning we hit the water at first light.  We saw close to 20 muskies early, with two fish being hooked, and several other close calls.  We managed to loose both hooked fish which was unfortunate, but the action was there.  We switched gears by 8:00 AM and targeted the smallies for a while, then switched to my infamous shallow water walleye bite for some sight fishing for the big ones.  This worked, but as the sun got higher, we couldn't take the heat and called it a day.

After a fairly good morning on Sunday my hopes were still pretty high for my guests Don Murray and Ed Benecke who traveled many miles to battle the big ones.   Monday morning was our first time on the water.  The conditions were terrible to say the least, but we saw many fish early on with some close calls, but no muskies in the boat.  One of the best parts about fishing muskies on Mille Lacs is the bonus large northern pike that swim this water.  Don managed about a 37" which was the highlight of the morning.  To escape the heat, Don and Ed decided to hide indoors during the heat of the day, and return for the evening bite that we hoped would take place.  This turned out to be a mistake on this particular day, because a brief gust of wind and clouds came through and the fish turned on for myself .  I boated a 45" muskie which doesn't really have the same appeal when fishing by my lonesome.  By the time these boys could get back out on the water, the clouds were gone and the lake turned into glass again.  At the end of day one we managed to see nearly 40 different fish, catching one and having 3 others find their way off the line.  

Day 2 was more of the same for us.  It was very frustrating to have so many large fish swimming around the areas we were fishing only to have them watch the lures go by as if they weren't even there.  With night fishing not even being an option, we were forced to fish the heat and hope for the best.  We didn't land any muskies on Tuesday, which was a total bummer, and we even got to see the nasty side of Mille Lacs.  Our evening got cut short due to a very large and intense storm that came in a couple of hours before dark.  With hopes high from a big front moving in, we tried to fish till the bitter end in hopes of landing a quick one before the rain and wind hit, but it just made our drive back to the landing a lot more interesting.  The lake went from complete glass to 4 footers in a matter of 30 seconds as 50 mph gusts came tearing in.  The only positive to this front was that we were able to witness the most intense and amazing rainbow any of us had ever seen.  With all of the unfortunate turn of events that took place we all decided that we would skip our morning excursion and cut our losses.  With the weather being so unbearable, it made for very tough fishing on all of us.  Not all trips end with a ton of fish, but that didn't take anything away from the fun that Don, Ed and myself had on our days on the water.  These gentlemen were truly class act individuals, which made for many great stories and laughs.  Thanks for the fun time guys and I cannot wait to do it again! 

Mille Lacs Baby!!

Hey Dingy are you sure you aren't a Muskie fisherman???

The reports heading up there didn't sound too promising, however with my first free day to head up and throw for some giants, I wasn't about to pass on the chance.   We hit the water very early on Saturday morning to absolutely beautiful conditions.  As you can see, for Mille Lacs it was quite calm, but the storms were closing the distance.  With these factors to our advantage I pretty much told Dingy (Tim Dingwall) that we were going to get some action.  About 5 minutes into the morning we saw our first fish, and 10 minutes after that we landed the first, and largest of the day.  It was Dingy's first out of Mille Lacs and a true beauty measuring 47.5''.  We worked the same stretch of water that we were on for the next 45 minutes raising 4 more fish with Dingy landing another beauty at 45".  I guess it was his day to shine, even though he mainly wanted to be on the water for the elusive Walleyes. 

Our next mission to accomplish after already puttin the whoopin to the ski's was to get in on the hot Smallmouth Bass bite that was taking place.  Well, I'm not sure if I would say it was hot action, but we did have action, and we landed some dandies.  After holding out for about 3 hours on the water, I finally sensed that Dingy just had to get out on those mud flats and drag a worm for his best friends (the Walleyes), so that is exactly what we did.  We spent the rest of the day jumping from mud flats to rocks, deep to shallow and pretty much finding fish in all of the locations.  The shallow rock bite that I had anticipated was fouled up by others.  Apparently throwing a 20lb anchor over the boat in 3 feet of water will scare fish away, who knew???  We caught most of our fish on the mud flats in depths ranging from 20 feet during midday, and up on top in 17 feet during the lowlight/storm periods. 

After it was all said and done, we did exactly what we came to do.  We caught some true Mille Lacs giants in Muskie, Walleye and Smallmouth.  This lake never gets old, nor does it ever seem to run out of possibilities or spots, and the best part, if one specie isn't biting, there is another biting somewhere on the water.  We didn't quite put in a full day on the water due to storms that chased us off in the afternoon, however we caught several trophy caliber fish from every category.  Another great day on Mille Lacs. Thanks Dingy!!