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!

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!!

Another Fun Night on the Water

Tonight's mission was simple: get Jenna her first walleye to bring home.  Needless to say that was not a tough task.  It wasn't long before the fish were flipping in the boat.  I realized once on the water that I had forgot my net, so the fish were literally being flipped into the boat.  To our surprised we lost zero fish to our lack of having a net.  The bite was consistent from the time on the water until we ran out of bait.  The fish cooperated with everybody and we all had our turn trying to land the flopping fish at the boatside.  The only problem that we ran into was that we didn't purchase enough bait to last the entire evening.  Apparently 2 scoops of fatheads aren't enough to last 4 fisherman and a mouthful of hungry walleyes.  This wasn't a large issue due to the fun that we had shared and the fact that we had a perfect amount of walleyes for our fish fry.  It is great to get out every once in a while and catch a nice meal to bring home.  Getting out on the water with friends as great as these 3 people are is what makes a good evening GREAT!

I will be out of town the next few days on a trip up to lake Mille Lacs where we will be targeting the great muskellunge as well as smallmouth bass, and even some walleyes if we get time.  Check back soon to see the results of our trip.  Until then Good Fishin Everyone!!

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!

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.