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! 

Fish Tales.....

This story spans a time of 8 days on the water, so I hope you have time to read and enjoy!

Our trip up to the absolutely amazing waters of Lake Vermillion started out Wednesday morning with a bang.  We (myself and Mike) hit the waters at around 10 am after getting our campsite ready, yes that's right, we tented out due to the lack of availability in rooms in that region at the time.  However, I must say that it probably made the trip even more enjoyable, plus we had great camping weather the entire 4 days.  The weather on this day was pretty much prime muskie conditions, and we had every intention of getting out and catching a few giants before the tourney.  It didn't take long before we had struck gold with this bonus fish of a 40" Pike.  This turned out to be only the beginning of our crazy day.  At 2:00 we picked up long time friend of mine named Noah to get in on the action with us, and that is when the bite really turned on.  By 2:30 we had our first 2 muskies of the trip in the boat, both of them in the low 40" range, but absolute beauties nonetheless.  The next couple of hours before the prime evening bite we spent running all over the lake finding the right structure to hold fish for our tournament to come.  Before the day ended we managed to land a beautiful spruce tree (haha), and 2 more muskies.  When it was all said and done we boated a total of 4 muskies, 1 - 40" pike, and 1 - 45' spruce.  We had several other close calls throughout the day and saw in the range of 35 other ski's. 

Day 2 brought about the decision to somewhat stay away from what we had already going from day one, with the simple fact that  we didn't want to catch fish that we were hoping would be active for our tournament on Friday.  We studied several areas of the lake, finding many great areas to pursue during tournament hours.  We left the lake early to rest up because we both knew that the next two days on the water will be quite a test of stamina for the both of us. 

With the weather that we already knew was coming (Hot, Sunny and Calm) we prepared for the worse and headed out for the first day of the tournament.  After seeing only a couple of boats fishing similar structure during pre-fishing we were somewhat startled to see a boat on nearly every spot we wanted to go.  This  coupled with the weather conditions, made our approach of running and gunning from spot to spot very frustrating.  We saw nearly 40 fish during day one on the water, came close a couple of times, but managed a dissapointing 0 for the day.  We did however stumble accross a completely different pattern away from the crowds towards the end of the day that put new life back into us for day two. 

With this new attitude we decided to go fish waters that very evening that we knew fish were using and that we didn't plan on fishing during the tournament the following day.  We had very little daylight, but had every intention of fishing into the night.  This normally wouldn't be in the rules, however this tournament allowed for fishing after, before and between tournament hours.  We were on fish almost immediately, and with a lot more aggression than they had shown us during the heat of the day.  We had a couple of close calls, then had one monster of 50 1/2" completely explode on my topwater boatside.  If you've never experienced an explosion after dark, I must say that it will scare the begeezes out of You.

Day two of the tourney brought forth much of the same as day one.  Our new pattern fizzled on us for the simple fact that the fish had much more interest in staring at the hot sun and taking it all in, than they did at chasing our baits.  It was to the point that we would have to bounce a lure right into them before they would even move off of the rock they were sitting on.  Talk about FRUSTRATION!!

So as it ended up, we left lake Vermillion with many great stories, memories, pictures and big fish, but nothing in the boat during the tournament.  That's how it goes in the world of muskie fishing some times, and it is important to not let it get a person down.  This is truly an amazing fishery, and one that definitely needs to be on everyones list to try some day.  Not to mention that the scenery on this northern body of water can be simply spectacular.

This story is only half told, but I must leave right now so stay tuned, this  is to be continued......

Hittin the Dusty Trail

The next 8 days should be extremely exciting as I head up to lake Vermillion and Mille Lacs in northern Minnesota to tackle with some Ski's, Smallmouth, and Walleyes.  The first four days of my excursion will be spent on Vermillion for strictly Muskies.  We will spend a couple of days doing some pre tournament fishing on Wednesday and Thursday before my Tourney partner Muskie Mike and I go for the crown on the Friday -  Saturday tournament.  All recent signs are saying that it should be a great tournament with many fish in the boat, so my hopes are running really high at this point.  Once the tourney is finished on Saturday I will be heading down to Mille Lacs for 4 more days on the water.  I will be fishing with a couple of wonderful clients from out of state, and I can't wait for the fun filled hours on the big pond.  We will be doing battle with anything from the toothy critters to the jumpin footballs (smallies).  I'm excited gentlemen and I can't wait to see ya up there.  I will post the stories the second I get the chance, so check back to see the results. 

I apologize ahead of time as I may be hard to get a hold of the next few days.  Your best chance to reach me during this time period will be by phone and leaving a message.  I will return any calls as soon as i get the chance. Thank you. 

Gettin back on the water!

With this intense heat, and an extremely busy schedule as of late, I have been unable to hit the water as often as I would like to.  That is why there have been no updates to view as of late, and I apologize.  However, it won't be long now and the pictures will be flying up faster than you can read them, so check back often to see what comes in the boat next.  I managed to get out on the water at 3:00 last night for a couple of hours of moonlight fishing before daylight rose.  Let me say that if you thought it was a rush watching a muskie take a topwater bait in daylight hours, you may not be able to handle the nighttime explosions.  I boated two muskies during my outing and raised 7 others, I would range them at about 42" and 46".  Since I was fishing by my lonesome on this venture I simply unhooked the fish without taking them out of the water and gave them a fast and safe release.  I wish there was another person in the boat because the moonlight pictures would have been awesome.  Having the whole lake literally to myself  made this trip something to write about and to put in the memory bank for future full moons. 

Something to note is that full moon muskie fishing can not only be great during daylight hours but amazing after dark as well.  This can be some of the best action imaginable if you prepare yourself properly and take extra precaution.  This moon is nearly done until next month, but definitely keep it in mind come august and september and feel free to get a hold of me for an awesome night on the water if you wish.    

Wedding Bells & Muskies

With my buddy Jason Wagener's wedding fast approaching, we decided to get him away from the house for a couple of days of fishing on a lake he's always wanted to try.  We launched out of Waconia at about 6pm on Saturday night to fish the last hour or so of  daylight on the red hot Lake Mille Lacs.  With my recent results and the stable weather this past week, I felt very confident that we could get Jason his first muskie on a lake that he's always wanted to tackle. 

It didn't take long before we had our first encounter, and let me say it was quite an encounter.  It was roughly a 51-52" fish and I thought Jason was going to pee his pants.  The reaction to this monster was awesome and something that never gets old when the true giants come out to play.  Shortly after that, while explaining how to run the topwater bait that we were using at the time, Jason was not paying attention when Mike in the back of the boat yelled "Wags you got one." The fish came out of the water, missing his lure completely the first time, and then coming back and smacking it 10 feet from the boat.  It was not a giant, at about 36-37 inches, but the battle and explosiveness at boatside left Jason shaking.

With the water turning to glass the last 1/2 hour, all that was running through my head was thoughts of the big one coming up with a giant wake behind my topwater, then exploding on it half way to the boat.  So as you could imagine, this was pretty much all I kept on talking about to Jason and Mike, and needless to say,  our intensity was at an all time high.  With Darkness approaching and yet to have that massive wake, I decided to work back over a few of the fish we had seen  earlier.  We'll just say it paid off.  In the last seconds of daylight, Mike and I both watched as what appeared to be a submarine, rose up behind Jason's topwater, following closer and closer for what seemed like a mile and a half, when it finally unleashed its fury on Jason's bait.  It may go down as one of the top 10 battles that i've witnessed.  This fat 44" just wouldn't give up, and Jayson was loving every second of it.  What a great way to end an intense hour of Muskie fishing.  Jason's first two muskies (while fishing for them), and he only spent an hour trying (some people are so lucky sometimes).

With the fish going, and the weather staying the same, it was a no brainer that we would stay and fish the morning bite.  4:30 comes around pretty quick when you don't go to bed until 2, but that didn't make a difference to us.  Our confidence was so high that we didn't wonder IF we would get bit, but WHEN we would get a bite, and WHO would get it.  Well, we would have boated one within the first 5 minutes if I didn't make the biggest "rookie" mistake ever, and pull it away from a hungry, wide open mouth (sorry guys).  I guess I made up for it a little later by watching a 47" come out of the water and completely miss the bait right in front of my eyes, only to keep the same retrieve and watch the fish whip a 360 and smash it.  We ended the morning by seeing in the range of 10 -12 fish, and having a quite a few close calls, but only the 47" in the boat.  Still a good morning of muskie fishing, and I cannot wait to get back up on this great bite.

Mike, sorry buddy, but like you said, if you keep trying eventually you'll be catching instead of always watching, but hey you are a great net man, and your picture taking skills are awesome :)