The Green Hornet Strikes Again!

Forget the rod and reel combos, it's time to go old school!  If you've seen the show Grumpy Old Men, then you know what I'm talking about.  If not, go rent it.  The Green Hornet is the classic jiggle stick with a fish catching attitude.  While I don't officially own a Green Hornet, there is a hint of green on the jiggle stick that I recently purchased, and it has plenty of attitude!

Saturday morning I snuck over to Cabin Fever Sporting Goods just as the sun was starting to rise.  I grabbed a jiggle stick off the shelf, and store owner Jeff gave me a weird look.  "Goin Old School Trav?" he asked.  "Yep, and it's gonna catch me dinner today!" I joked.  As I approached the counter, I asked for a tin of colored Eurolarvae.  I soon was informed that I was not politically correct, and that they are now called "multi-cultural Eurolarvae."  It wouldn't be the same if I walked out of that place without a joke from that man.  Perfect way to start the day!

The panfish activity with this warm weather certainly brings back the old school feel.  Fishing outside was the norm, and hole hopping was the ticket.  With several holes cut out over an 8 foot weed flat, my makeshift Green Hornet and I set out on a mission for fresh panfish.  Joined by several fishing buddies, and my father, this day was nothing short of a spectacular.  The weather called for snow, but it never came.  Instead, we were blessed with a fish catching day in the warm sun. 

The crappies and sunnies were slammin to say the least.  For a metro bite, it is the best I've seen in over a decade.  Quality and quantity in the same 50 foot circle is rare, but on this day it was reality.  To add to the excitement came the over-abundant muskellunge lurking below.  These beasts were on the prowl, and if you didn't hustle to pull your sunfish or crappie in, they were going to get it.  I can't count how many times I saw a muskie under my hole, and several of our fish were stolen.  It was bizarre to see such a sght, but at times there were 2 or 3 muskies below our holes.  The true problem came when they wouldn't leave.  From the confines of our base camp fish house, muskie after muskie would swim past the underwater camera.  We lost a few jigs to them, and Mike battled one muskie on his jiggle stick after it ate his sunny.  Obviously he lost the battle on 3 lb test, but he gave it a pretty good attempt. 

It was neat to witness the underwater strikes, but after a while it just got old.  I have never seen such an attitude from a fish that is suppose to go dormant in the winter.  It was like Piranhas waiting under our holes for any scraps that we didn't want to keep.  The initial battle up the hole would get their attention, and if you released a fish, they were there to take it.  I'm not exxagerating when I say this happened all day long.

As our day came to a close, we laughed about the muskies and the ones that got away.  A few quotes from Grumpy old Men were passed around the circle, and yes Bails, we do know Damn well that you throw back what you aren't going to eat.  It's just too bad that nobody is ever there to see it!  We were happy to be standing on the ice in the beautiful weather, and this time we didn't have to end our day with the infamous quote, "it's just nice to be out here."  Yes, it was nice to be out there, but it's even better when you are catching fish.  We called it quits that day with a pale labeled "dinner for four."  Just the way you are suppose to catch em, the old school way!  until next time, keep on livin' the dream!

Speaking The Dream...

Tis the season to give a seminar!  Lately this seams to be the norm with all the sport shows and such.  With each season that I put myself in the midst of the fishing scene, I seem to find myself doing more and more.  To be completely honest, I still can't believe that somebody would actually care to hear what I have to say.  I mean honestly.  What has this world come to when a 25 yr old sits up in front of people and talks to them about how to catch a fish.  A fish for cryin out loud!  Haha, well, here's another bit of information about me.  I love to do it!  I am honored at each opportunity that comes along, and love to share all the information that I have learned.  It is a passion of mine, and it never gets old.  Passing it on is even sweeter!

Next Saturday I will again be speaking for a group of fisherman.  This time it will be in St. Paul at a Ranger Boats event.  They are having a Fishing Tackle Swap Meet.  Anybody and Everybody are welcome to join and bring lures to buy, sell and trade.  Apparently it's gonna be a big deal, cuz they have some of the biggest names in fishing attending.  I will be speaking with the likes of Tommy Skarlis and David Dudley.  Both anglers took 2008 angler of the year honors for bass and walleyes.  Needless to say, it is very rewarding for me to be speaking on a stage next to these dudes.  It would be really cool to see some of you guys there.  Click here to learn more!

If that wasn't cool enough, I am also going to be sharing the stage with Mr. Ron Schara at the upcoming Minneapolis Sport Show.  I mean seriously, how neat is that.  Thursday, March 12th at 5:00 and 7:00 pm we will be on stage talking about what else?  Muskies and metro lakes.  With a legendary speaker like Ron, who knows what we'll discuss by the time we're done.  All I do know is that I have been to some previous speaking engagements of his, and he is top shelf!  I just hope I don't mess up his perfectly spoken stories.  Would also love to see you guys at this event.  Come on by and say hello!  Until then, Keep on Livin the Dream!

How to Catch a Winter Smallmouth...

In the dead of winter it is hard to picture yourself standing in open water casting a full length fishing pole.  This was exactly the case last week when I strapped on a pair of waders and freshly spooled my favorite spinning reel.  Smallmouth Bass were the target, and the river was the location.  For some, this has been a secret for years.  For others, you may have never heard of such a thing.  Regardless, it is an adventure you must try.

There is no secret that Minnesota's rivers are plump full of battling bronzebacks, but when, where and how, have left many people scratching their heads.  Let me just sum it all up by saying that as long as there is a legal fishing season open, there are bass to be caught.  It's simply that easy!  The only catch to this easy equation?  You must be able to fish where the bass are.

This time of the year, much of the river can be frozen.  Find open water, and you've found a place to start.  We opted for the stretch of the Mississippi river near St. Cloud.  There is a warm water discharge that keeps things flowing year round.  This particular area is shallow, and waders will get you where you need to go.  A simple jig and minnow will do the trick, but you can mix it up and still have success.  Each day is different, and the fish can move locations in a hurry.  The beauty is, that you can move right with them. 

Like all river fish, you must play the current.  Holes in the river channel or bends are a good place to start.  If that doesn't work, just keep walking to the next one.  You can cover a lot of territory in a hurry, and once you find one, you have likely found a ton.  They school together thick this time of year, which is almost unfair to them.  My only other piece of advice, is to be respectful of the fish.  Once you find out how easy this can be, it is imperative that you practice good catch and release.  Oh you'll have fun, and you might just catch some bonus fish in the process.  Walleyes are fond of the same areas!  And did I mention the scenery is incredible. I snapped some photo's that give me goosebumps.  Let this idea spice up your winter months, but hurry, the season ends in a couple of days.  Until Next time, Keep on Livin' the Dream!

Walleyes With A Twist...

Just when we think the season is starting to fade and its time to call it quits, a new light is dawned.  Yes, that's right, the walleye fishing season isn't over just yet, and there are several big fish yet to be caught.  The cold temps of the last few weeks have kept me hunkered inside which has allowed me to tackle many of the projects I needed to get done.  But the resurgence of my pal Dusty, and a new fishing friend out of town got me back on the ice.

I will give Dusty all the credit for the local accomplishments, with the attitude and time that he has put in.  He has been spending more time in the house than I have been able to, and he has been consistently catching nice walleyes.  Not a ton, but consistently getting em to bite.  This time of the year, you can't expect the rattles to be dinging off the wall, but if you put in your time and effort you will be rewarded.  We have caught a few eaters this past week, but the highlight comes from what he has been able to do after I leave the house.  The best call I received was of the one that almost hit the 10 pound mark.  A true dandy!  Plus, he's had other excitement that makes me giggle each morning that we chat.  The secret is the same as in the past.  He's stayed mobile, fishing proven spots from last year, and even tried a few more.  Thanks for the fun Dusty!

Now for a most interesting walleye twist!  For the last several days, I have been receiving emails from a certain fishing friend.  Nearly every morning I get an email from his picture phone with another huge walleye he has stuffed through the hole.  When I say huge, that's almost an understatement.  He had 3 of them in one morning that all went close to, or over the 10 pound mark.  True fatties to boot!  So, being the good friend that I am, I decided to give him a hand pulling them through the hole.  Dusty, Pauly and Timmy joined me on the excursion, and we were headed south.  Yep, not north like we usually do, but south.  Turns out, he was fishing waters that I have been itching to tackle for many years.  The flowing waters of the rivers in our state are plump full of walleyes, and they hardly even know what an ice fishing lure looks like.  The only problem I have had was finding good areas that were frozen solid and navigatable by foot.  It's always scared me to trust that flowing water, which is why I jumped at the chance to try this out.

Our guide for the day was busy, but gave us very clear directions, and a key to his house.  To our surprise, we had a lot of ice in the main river channel.  We were fishing shallow water, but unable to read our jigs on the vexilar.  The current just pulls everything out of the hole.  Speaking of the hole.  They were angled downstream to help stuff the fatties up when you battle them in current.  It was truly bizarre, and totally awesome!  Understanding that we were still walleye fishing, we knew we couldn't expect constant action, but were eager for a giant.  Pauly pulled through as always, and got us on the board with a fish that was nothing short of spectacular.  He could barely fit the huge fish into the hole with the rushing current and its fat belly, but that big fish looked like it was ready to burst.  A couple quick photo's and we were back to fishing.  Our energy was at an all time high, but that proved to be our only walleye for the day. 

With unbelievable weather, we went searching and learning.  This experience was pretty new to all of us, and we spent the rest of our time studying river current, bends, breaks and fish holding areas, trying to figure things out.  Our guide, Mike (aka: Lum, or Phillip as I like to call him), joined us for the evening in hopes of finding more fish, but the fish proved to be smarter than the fisherman yet again.  We caught a couple of catfish on accident, and shared many laughs as we always do.  This experience will rank up there pretty high due to everything about it.  I might be going out on a whim here, but I do believe that we only scratched the surface, and things are only going to get better for the last couple weeks of the season.  I hope you stick around to see what I mean.  Until then, Keep on Livin the Dream!

It's a Party...On Ice!

The other day I was told from a friend that his son had one request for his birthday. He wanted to go fishing with Travis. Well, I felt honored to say the least and was excited to get little William in the house. For a 5 year old, this is a neat adventure. The typical birthday party when you are that age is Chucky Cheese or something similar. To top it off, I was also being joined by 3 of his birthday party friends. Now most people might think thatit is a tough task to get that many young fisherman in one house, and they are probably right. For me however, I look forward to these days on the water as another chance to grow our sport. I remember when I was that young and would do anything to be out fishing. I just like to return the favor when at all possible, and I like to see the enthusiasm that kids have when they get to catch a fish. You just can't beat that smile!

To make our day a little easier and different than most, I decided to set the house up on a sunny hole. This was an obvious decision for any young child fishing experience, because action is key to their fun. When you are 5, your attention span isn't that long, and boredom comes easily. I also had a special treat for the kids. I put the underwater camera down the hole, then ran a cord to the big screen television. Now, on a 30 inch television screen, the kids were able to watch all the fish underneath them, and watch the fish eat their bait. This turned out to be even better than I hoped. I seriously was addicted to this television screen, and so were the kids. Bringing the underwater world to life on that television screen was better than any program I have ever watched. We watched a minimum of 10 fish at all times on the screen, and the kids were catching and missing fish like crazy. It was a hoot!

What would a birthday party be without presents and a cake? Well, Kristin being the wonderful mother that she is, brought out cupcakes for the whole crew. The friends exchanged their gifts between bites from the fish, and their turn with the underwater camera.A very neat way to have a birthday party that I won't soon forget. I have to thank Tim for his gear and allowing me to set it up for the kids. I also want to give a great big birthday shout out to little William for turning 5 years old. The birthday crew consisted of Dalton Timko, Ashton Muller, Sage Parrish, and Birthday Boy William Petrie. Their parents came for the fun times as well, so thanks to Erik Timko, Karina Muller and Kristin Petrie for allowing me to share in your birthday memories. Catch you all on the water next time, until then, keep on livin the dream!