South Dakota Walleye

We continue our journal with the out-of-state theme.  Last week we were joined by that great group that reunited in our fish house.  They caught some incredibly large walleyes during their first walleye outing.  We shared many laughs and good times during our stretch, but that wasn't the only out-of state experience.  The evening that this fine crew departed, we were joined by a fellow outdoorsman from South Dakota.

On a business trip to our area, he just couldn't resist the chance to hoist an eye or two through the hole.  This guy named Derrick is quite a character, so we knew that we were in for some jokes, laughs and fun times.  He's a first timer to our laid back approach to the walleyes on Tonka, so he was forced to learn a few card and dice games.  Shortly into the stint, he managed to tangle his jig rod into the vexilar, and hook a walleye at the same time.  This is par for the course with him, so Dusty jumped up to untangle the line from the transducer, only to find that a fish was still pulling on the other end.  Hand over hand was the approach Derrick took to pull his first eye off the bottom.  Complete chaos, but hey, it worked.  A while later, during a card game, we tag teamed the next one.  He looked over to see a signal on his graph, holding his rod in a really messed up position, I took the liberty to jig his lure with my finger tips.  Upon feeling a strike, I let go of the line, and told him to set the hook.  Shortly after we were laughing about how both fish went down.  After a few games and some pizza's in the oven, I called it a night.  Apparently the action never increased once I left, but I sure had fun while it lasted.  It was fun having South Dakota in the house, but next time, I think he's got some learning to do!  Just kidding!  Thanks for the fun night Derrick, Dusty and Mike.  Until next time, Keep on Livin The Dream!

From Texas, Virginia and Iraq...

This past week Mike and I were joined by a wonderful group of visitors.  Unlike most trips, these visitors traveled quite some distance.  Steve flew in from Texas, Dustin from Virginia, Jeremy drove up from Chaska, but his wife Sarah landed in a plane straight out of Iraq.  Now this just isn't your normal fishing story.  With backgrounds like this all in one fish house, there was quite a lot to learn.

The events started Late Wednesday evening for Mike and I.  We moved a couple of houses to what we were calling "base camp."  Early Thursday morning, we were joined by Jeremy, Steve and Dustin, and Sarah joined us that afternoon once her plane landed.  Our mission over the next 3 days was simple, or so we thought.  We were hoping to put this crew on some big walleyes.  For Jeremy, this wasn't new to him.  He had landed a few before christmas on an outing we shared.  However, for the rest, this was to be a first time outing.  Steve has ice fished years ago in the Pacific Northwest, but not recently, and never in a fully functional ice shanty.  Dustin simply has never been on ice, and walleye don't swim where he has fished.  Fresh back into the U.S. Sarah was also new to the sport.  With all this considered, we were eager to teach and encourage this group into their first fish.

Mike spent the majority of the time helping them out, but we both explained the details on what to do and when to do it.  The first night provided a surplus of biters, but unfortunately the walleyes pulled their tricks on the new ice fisherman, and many of them found their way off the line.  Steve's fishing skills proved too good for two of his bites, and he was the only one smiling for his picture.  The first fish was a nice eater, but the second one was a true Minnetonka Fatty.  The rest of the evening was about the ones that got away.  Steve straightened a hook on one that got away, and Dustin battled his first ever walleye up to the hole, only to find out that it was too large to fit through the hole.  A 10 plus pounder that almost made it on the wall, and a great first time walleye catch.  Sarah and Jeremy had a few fish wake them up throughout the night as well, but only left them wondering what could have been.

Day two was spent chasing pike and panfish.  Well, the pike were non-existent, but the panfish did bite for some.  The only problem, was that the school of sunnies and crappies were stuck under one house, and wouldn't swim over to the other.  Sunset found the crew back at base camp and eager to land the ones that got away the night before.  This night was all about Jeremy and Sarah.  Jeremy landed his largest walleye ever, and Sarah landed her first.  Turns out they were both extremely large fish, and they both had bragging rights.  Jeremy's was a little larger, but don't worry Sarah, we won't tell anybody!  Two fish that anybody would drool over.  Congrats!

The action after the two monsters slowed down considerably for our fishing crew.  We spent many hours in the cozy shacks watching movies and sharing stories.  The best part about these trips can be meeting new people.  While they caught some spectacular fish in the couple days on the water, I think I'll remember it most for the stories that we shared.  All 4 of our guests have different backgrounds, living all over the world, but in one way or another have served our country.  They came together for a first time ice fishing outing, and Mike and I were lucky enough to have them in our house.  Sarah goes back to Iraq in a few days, and it was great to see the smile she had from that big fish.  Steve is back to chasing the exotic ocean fish down south and I hope to see more pics from his escapades.  Dustin will be getting married soon, so I hope all is well with your journey, and Jeremy hopefully took a few more tactics home with him on how to catch our metro walleyes.  To the crew from across the country.  Thanks for sharing your trip with us.  Until next time, keep on livin the dream!

Ice Fishing Photography

So I'm not sure if anybody has noticed, but if you haven't, then here's news for you. I like to take pictures! Yep, I love it. There is just something about capturing that perfect moment with a camera. With this obsession of mine, it only seemed fitting that I should upgrade with the times. I recently received a new camera from santa which will hopefully give us some spectacular images to look at. I'm far from knowing what I'm doing, but I'm learning. Each time out, I tend to take random pictures at different angles, settings and lightings. I guess I'm hoping to some day have those pictures that people go "oooh and Aaaah" over.  With each picture I'm starting to see things differently, and I'll be honest.  Its exciting! 

It seems that taking the same picture of a man holding a fish is only cool for so long.  Yep, there he is holding another walleye, and he's got a nice smile this time.  BORRING!  So recently I've been trying a few different things.  I think my goal behind this whole photography obsession is to really capture what is happening while we are out there.  The colors of the sky, the fading sunlight, the windy conditions, and all the elements.  Not to mention the different angles that can be viewed of the catch, and the act of catching the fish.  Last night I got a shot of Bails grabbing his fish from out of the hole.  While he was battling it, I ran over to him and got shots of the action really happening.  The other day, I landed a nice fish, and we used the sun's bright morning light to magnify the catch.  Those are just a couple of the many examples I have tried lately. Sometimes I almost think that the photography is just as much fun as catching and out-smarting the creatures I pursue. While I am no expert, I look for the photo quality to really increase over the 2009 season. I hope you follow along to find out. Until Next time, Keep on Livin' the Dream!

Ice Fishing Tips

Success is what you make it out to be.  Last night, Mike and I again headed out to his shanty on good ol' Lake Minnetonka.  Our quest was obviously the state fish.  Our approach was similar to other outings, but with a slight twist.  We didn't have time to move the fish house to a fresh spot, so we decided to hope for the best.  Lately, we have been scoring some nice walleyes before the sun hits the trees, so I opted for a little bit of a mobile approach.  Using the fish house as a base camp, I decided to spend the hour before sunset fishing a new area in hopes of finding a new spot for the house.

If you know me at all, then you know that I have many areas that are dialed in on my GPS.  The best thing about large lakes like Minnetonka, is that there are always new areas to fish.  With this in mind, I took advantage of a definite feeding window, and simply parked my butt on a spot I have never fished before.  My goal with this was to find out exactly if this spot held walleyes.  Knowing that the fish were going to move through at a specific time, I could determine if this spot was any good.  After my research, I could decide to put it into my GPS and return later with the big house, or scratch it from my list.  I didn't need to catch a lot of fish to know if the spot held walleyes or not.  Actually, I just needed to see them come through the graph to determine if I will come back.  Well, the verdict came in as a success!  My GPS has a new spot in it, and you'll almost certainly be seeing pictures from there very soon.   A good approach that I recommend trying.  Many of us use this tactic when we go on a weekend destination trip, but forget about it when we are in our own back yards.  We get comfortable in our cozy shacks, and forget how to be mobile.  As Mr. Dave Genz has preached for years, "Mobility is the best way to ice fishing success."

How did the boys in the house fair?  Well, they did as good as we could expect in a house that hasn't moved in a few days.  They battled some nice fish, and lost one.  I returned to the house later and caught a couple for myself.  A successful outing that will surely turn into another successful outing.  Just because I got off my butt and tried something new.

Tonight I will be hosting the WCCO Radio show live from the studio.  I plan to discuss this topic further with Mr. Dave Genz himself, and local fishing guide Matt Peters.  Tune in tonight from 9 to 10 if you would like to hear first hand what these guys and myself are up to.  Until then, Keep on Livin' the Dream!

Christmas Break Brings Walleyes!

Well hello again!I sure hope that you had a very merry Christmas vacation. Actually, I'm sure many of you are still enjoying your break from the office or school. If that's the case, then I suggest you make it a point to get out on the water and catch a few walleyes.Here's a tip, theyare biting! This update spans a stretch of several days, so bear with me as I highlight the latest and greatest on the ice.

Last Tuesday evening I was joined by a newcomer to the sport of ice fishing. Jeremy hopped on the back of the wheeler, and we were off to the shack. Jeremy is fairly new to ice fishing, and had only caught one walleye through the ice in his entire life. Ironically, that came only a few days prior to our trip, but he said it was very small. I was hoping to increase his totals drastically, and teach him a few things to help in the future. It was a fairly relaxed tutorial as we set up in preparation for the afternoon bite. I call it the "afternoon bite" instead of an "evening bite,"because the day before, we had 3 walleyes in the jar before the sun even thought about setting. Anyway, we were ready to fish by 3:30, and played the waiting game. Similar to the previous day, we had action before darkness set in. Jeremy learned how to catch a walleye on everything but his jigging rod, and even found out what it was like to lose a nice fish in hand-to-hand "rattle reel" combat. He went 2 for 3 on the rattle reels, and 1 for 2 on the tip-ups. Throw in a few dozen perch, and I would call this a successful excursion. By the time we wrapped it up that evening, Jeremy had tripled his lifelong totals for walleyes, and hopefully will be well prepared for the big trip in a few days. Jeremy will be back for 4 days on the water. Joining him on this will be his wife who has been stationed in Iraq, and 3 buddies from Texas. Stay tuned for these reports late next week!

Jump forward a few days to Saturday. The time between Tuesday and Saturday were filled with Holiday gatherings and family time. Ok, so we pulled out Mike's house and geared up for the first over-night stay of the year. Obviously this is my favorite way to ice fish, so I was pretty jazzed to get the house on the spot. Katie and her pup Woody joined me, and she was first to land a walleye. Not a giant, but a nice lead-in to what Mike was about to catch. After I dropped Katie off on shore, I returned to the house to nestle in the sleeping bag.I didn't even get zipped in, and Mike was out of the bunk. Ding, Ding, Ding! The beautiful sound of the rattle reel turning. After an intense and well fought out battle by Mike, we were high-fiving and all smiles as we hoisted the first 10 pounder of the year. Talk about a good way to start the over night season. The fish was 29 inches long, and had an 18 inch belly. A true Minnetonka Fatty that is still out there for the next guy. Before the sun rose, we were greeted by a few more ding's from the rattle reels, and we put two more eaters in the jar. A great night on the ice, and a congrats to Mike on the trophy!

Last night Katie and I returned for an afternoon bite. Before the sun could set, we battle two nice eaters onto the ice. It was pretty hectic as the perch and walleyes were mixed, and the rattles were dinging like crazy. The funny part is you never know what to expect when its such chaos. One time it's a small perch, and the next you set the hook on what feels like a rock. Good stuff, and made for a great sunset picture. We left for evening church shortly after that, and I returned with Mike to spend the night. The wind picked up in the middle of the night, and the fish locked their jaws. Oh well, there's always next time.  I will also add that I don't know if I have ever been in a fish house during that kind of wind.  It felt like we were going to blow right over.  I think it slid my truck a few feet across the glare ice as well.  Crazy Wind!  Well, now that the ice is in good enough shape to move the houses, I anticipate many photos and stories from Mike and I. Stay tuned, and remeber, Keep on Livin' the Dream!