Tearin' It Up...

Sometimes Livin' the dream doesn't always have to revolve around landing a 30 pound muskie or 10 pound walleye.  There are so many resources and activities that are at our fingertips daily that we sometimes forget to take advantage of them.  Yesterday evening Dusty and I took advantage of a "hot tip" that we received, and this time it wasn't a fishing related honey hole.  We loaded up the 4-wheelers for one of the most intense and exciting rides of our lives.  I never would have thought about such an activity if it weren't for a few local guys that do this with regularity.  We trailered our wheelers to a bridge, and drove out onto the river.  Yep, that's right, the river.  Now normally I would say this is ridiculous, but the river that we drove on is almost like a creek.  It is very shallow, very narrow, and doesn't have a lot of current, therefore it pretty much freezes to the bottom with no worries about falling through.  The winding corners and the fallen timber makes this one of the sweetest obstacle courses you could ever imagine on 4 wheels.  We probably put on 40 miles cruising every which direction with the stream, and every corner gave us a new obstacle.  If you haven't done something like this with your rides, I strongly recommend it.  What a blast!  And to think, this has been in my backyard for years without me ever taking advantage of it.  Just another activity to add to the list that just keeps on growing.  What a ride!  And that's how I like to "Live the Dream!"

A Bid Farewell To Ol' Marble Eye's...

As they say... All good things must come to an end.  Yesterday was the official close to our walleye season across the state, and while I felt like sheding a tear or two as we pulled some houses home, I was able to look back and reminisce to myself with a smile.  We really had another epic year on the ice, and I mean that in many ways.  The laugh meter kept itself at a very high level all season which makes every night a blast.  This season we had times of both quality and quantity with the eyes that we were catching, with the highlight being the 9, 11, & 12 pounders three nights in a row.  We had many first timers in the houses this year, and many nights of filling the jar with eaters.  As always, I was able to report about the "ones that got away," and the laughs associated with the tangles and messes.  We put many hours in those houses and even more hours learning the lake and its structure.  We shared many games of dice and cards, and for living on the ice, the food was pretty spectacular too.  I want to take this time to thank everbody personally for all the memories, however the list is too darn long.  You all know who you are, and I thank you all for memories and the Trophy Encounters!

While this season just came to a close, there are still so many opportunities for us as outdoors people.  This time of year still offers us walleye fishing at its finest, however we just have to travel a little further.  I know it sounds hard to believe, but I plan to be fishing open water very soon as the rivers start flowing.  Boy am I excited to be back in a boat again!  If you have never experienced the fantastic river fishing we have, I highly recommend that you make it a priority this season.  If you would like to learn more about it I would love to have you with on a trip. 

Not only do we have the rivers, but the panfish bite kicks into full stride as the ice fades off the lakes.  This can be the most exciting bite of the year for those big "bull" gills, "Slab" crappies, and Big Bellied Jumbo Perch.  So while the stories from the walleyes in the shanties have come to an end, the Trophy Encounters updates will continue at their normal pace.  If you would still like to hit the ice, we have plenty of it and it can be very exciting for you and a group of people.  Thanks again Everybody, and stay tuned for what is next on the list for us guys that like to Live The Dream!!!

Fishing For Life...

When we think about the great outdoor sports that we all pursue, it is easy to forget how we were brought up in them and how we learned about them.  There are many children that do not have those positive influences that we were so fortunate to have, and many of them have never known the thrill of setting the hook into a fish.  This organization called Fishing For life is doing their best to give those kids a chance at the outdoors.  I have helped them out only minimal in the past, but plan on doing more to help in the future.  By clicking on link above or the picture on the left side of my site, it will send you to their website which will have a better description about who they are and what they are doing.  While I understand that many of you have kids of your own to introduce to our sport, there are many kids that do not have those figures in their lives.  If you would like to help this organization, I know they have a fund raising banquet coming up in the near future, and many very cool donations will be auctioned off.  I plan on being there as well, and would love to see as many of y'all as possible.  Until next time, Keep on Livin The Dream!

BRRRRRR.....Enough Of The Cold Already!

I am not sure if the rest of you will agree with me here, but Dang is it cold out there.  It is almost March and yet last night we hit somewhere in the mid teens below zero.  Normally a guy wouldn't venture far in conditions like that, but at this point we are almost getting use to it, and don't even think twice about it.  Yes, you could call us stupid or crazy, but there is one thing that I do know for sure.  I have never caught a single walleye sitting on my couch at home.  With that being said, and my understanding of how ridiculous I have become this winter, I decided to move the house yet again.  The biggest factor for my decision is that giant glowing ball in the sky at night that generally likes to make big fish bite.  On top of that, there are only a few more days left of season, and I want to locate a good bite for some upcoming guests this weekend.  Although the conditions were sub par to say the least, we stuck it out until this morning, and were rewarded with yet another alarm clock rattle reel sounding off.  As you can see from the picture, the sun was already up when this 4.5 pounder woke us up.  For whatever reason, 7:00 to 7:30 AM has been dynomite this season.  I anticipate the fish cooperating quite a bit better by this weekend once the conditions stabilize and the weather warms a little bit.  However, it was good to know that even that many degrees below zero that we can still hoist a nice fish through the hole.

I also have another photo to share of a catch from last weekends shinanigans on the ice.  This will be Dougy's first visit to the Trophy Encounters site, so my hat is off to him and his catch.  Speaking of hats, it is funny that Dusty told me the story behind the fish, and yet at 2:00 in da morning, Dougy wouldn't take a picture of this fish unless Dusty could find his hat.  Well, he found the hat, and now Dougy is famous and will probably be moving to Hollywood soon!  He will be trying out for parts in movies where they need a super serious guy that shows no sign of excitement!  haha!  Just messin with ya Dougy! Great fish! That's a wrap Y'all, and that's how I still like Livin' The Dream! 

Weekend Warriors!

With the recent success that we have been having out on Tonka, it is no doubt that many people wanted in on the action.  This past weekend I found myself moving houses here and there in hopes of getting in on the action.  In total we had 5 houses full of eager fisherman on both Friday and Saturday evening.  How did we fare???  The jury is still out on that one, but I am pretty confident that we all had a good time.  Friday night I was not in on the action, however dropped by the houses for a quick hello and to check the results.  For the gentlemen, the drinks were a little bit more active than the fish.  In fact, the weather really must have put a damper on things, because only one of the houses managed to call me in the morning wondering how to get their picture on the computer.  Jeremy, thank you for sending this picture, but next time, you and your ol man have to thaw the camera out before you take the picture! haha!  Though the fish didn't cooperate extremely well for everybody on Friday night, the stories I heard were all spectacular, and well, we'll just say that a few of them weren't quite feeling the best on Saturday morning.  Nice work Jeremy for your biggest Willie of the season!

With the lack of productivity and warmer weather coming in on Saturday, the fish house moving company was in full effect again on Saturday and we repositioned 3 houses for the night bite.  Turned out to be a good move for all 3 of the houses, because some biters were definitely located.  Dusty and I nestled in shortly after drilling the holes and banking the house, and I started the battling for the night with a good "eater."  Soon after the phone was ringing, and Mikey was in on the catching.  With a few more guys joining us on the lake, Dusty and I left the house, picked them up and placed them accordingly.  When that many great guys hit the water together, it doesn't take long before they are all packed in one place and telling jokes.  We found ourselves doing this most of the night in Theo's fish house palace, which is the location of the largest catch of the night.  During our rants and raves over the fish, one of the rattles went off, but since there was such a large crowd, nobody wanted to take the line for fear of embarrassment in loosing the fish.  Todd was the only brave soldier step up, and he was rewarded with a nice 26.5 incher.  Adda Boy Todd!  Our night continued and so did the laughs.  As we all parted our ways and hit the sack, it wasn't long before our house was dinging again.  Fish #3 for our house turned out to be the last one, and the largest one for us.  Doug pulled up his second Eye of the night at about 4 pounds.  

The other houses had mixed results.  Mikey's house had one eye, Theo's managed 3, Whorl's had 4 biters with 0 coming up the hole, Dingy had 0 bites with 0 coming up the hole, and we had 3 in our house.  What the weather has been doing to these fish makes it hard to find consistency, but the only consistency to report for this weekend is the fun times had by all.  I want to thank everyone that made this such a fun weekend including Mikey, Jeremy, Keith, Doug, Theo, Todd, Dusty, Mike, Sean, Matt, Luke, Paul, Tim, Jill, Daniel and Jason.  I will show more pictures as I have them sent to me, so stay tuned.  What a weekend it was, and that is how we all like to "Live The Dream!"