Back Fishing!

Jake's nice 20 inch channel Catfish, no turtle pictures!

Making up for lost time the last week saw 3 fishing adventures, 2 on the Mississippi River and yesterday was a day on Mille Lacs before it closes to walleye fishing on July 1st for a month. Starting with last Wednesday night, originally I had a trip planned to Mille Lacs but with the 96 degree temperatures and 35 MPH winds, it was better to stay on shore.  Here is my Facebook post regarding the night's adventure: "So last night I spent a couple of hours drowning some nightcrawlers off of John Meyer's dock. Accompanying me was my little fishing friend, Jake Hanson, Limo's boy, and is always the gracious and enthusiastic guest. While I got set up with our circle hooks and sinkers I tied onto Jake's line a new prop frog bait, a great selection for smallies and virtually snagless. After casting out the crawler rigs, John has nothing to hold the rods, I weaved them into our lawn chairs and waited. Before long Jake's pole was heading towards the river taking the lawn chair with it. A desperate grab saved both the rod, the chair, and the fish was on. Yelling for Jake to get up here he grabbed the pole and soon about a 15# carp emerged. Forgetting to bring a net the fish eventually tangled around the dock and snapped the line. Within 5 minutes the other rod was headed towards the river, again Jake ran up to grab the pole and it was another huge carp. Plan B didn't work so good either as the hook came out. Deciding there was more action on the dock, Jake decided to stay and within 5 minutes again another ferocious hit. After setting the hook Jake stated this fish feels different, it was....we had hooked a huge soft shelled turtle and it wasn't very happy! Hoping to get a picture with Jake, using a pliers I unhooked it, it wasn't having any thoughts of cooperating and lunged at us. I didn't think a 65 year old guy could move as fast as a young teenager as I provided the evenings entertainment. As the sun set I assured Jake this was prime catfish time and before long we had a double, a nice 20 incher and a 16 incher. Teaching Jake how to hold a catfish without getting stung, he did pretty well, so we finally got our evenings picture. Jake's a pretty good fisherman and a lot of fun to be with. It reminds me when I was his age fishing catfish on the Buffalo river with my dad's friends. I told Jake, in 50 years you'll be telling the story of fishing with your dad's old friend when we caught this turtle! Thanks John for the use of the dock and helping to create some great memories for a young man that truly appreciates the experience regardless of the generation gap." Fishing with Jake is a lot of fun as it reminds me when I was young and fishing with Kevin, and that's a long time ago!  He is eager to learn and pays close attention to my advice, which is hard to find these days and is great for my ego....we both get a lot of enjoyment hanging with each other!!!

Dave's Personal best Smallmouth bass.

The second trip of the week was on Saturday with another young man, David Grant, the son of agood friend of mine, he just graduated from High school..  He loves fishing and has been with me a number of times.  Last week we went to the fishing garage sale together and bought some stuff that one always needs!  Determined to get the jon boat out of the shed and running, this became the excuse to get it done.  Dave showed up at about 5:00 in the afternoon, having a few things left we hooked the boat up to the Polaris Razor and headed for the neighbors boat landing.  knowing my luck we decided to start the motor while at the shed, just in case!  It started as though it was yesterday it last ran, rather than last September.  EFI and electric start, what a great combination!  After repairing my neighbors gate we got the boat in the river and headed upstream for about 4 miles.  It is surprising how low the water is for this time of year.  Hitting the bottom a couple of times it is nice that the motor has a rock guard on it, although it slows the speed by a mph or so, it absorbs all the damage.  Both Dave and I are partial to square bill crankbaits as they seem to not get as hung up on the bottom as other types, we both started casting our favorite colors as the long drift began.  Of course it is important to show the kid some leadership I caught the first smallie, a 15 inch fish.  Admittedly this was the earliest I have ever fished the river but with the water level down, maybe it would be great.  Soon we entered a stretch where there is a lot of rip rap along the shore line, meant to keep the erosion down but also it is prime habitat for smallmouth.  Giving Dave some tips on where to cast, a very nice fish hit his lure and we scrambled to get the boat away from the shore.  Finally netting it, a nice 19 inch bass, Dave's personal best smallie, we snapped a couple of pictures before releasing it.  We caught a few more fish including another smallmouth caught on a bottom rig using nightcrawlers, a total surprise.  It certainly wasn't our best trip fish wise however as with Jake, most of the fun is being with these bright young men and trying to teach them something.  Telling Dave he needs to try this again, this time maybe spend some more time trying to find some walleyes as they are in the river.  Notice Dave's hat, an American flag however the red strips are actually fish silhouettes, it's really interesting.  Well on Sunday a package arrived with that hat inside, thank's Dave, now we both can look swanky!

27" walleye, largest of the day!

The third trip of this week was with a couple of friends, Jack Taylor and Pete.  Pete had gotten some red-tail minnows as the reports were the walleyes were hungry on Mille Lacs.  We had cancelled 2 earlier trips because of the weather and Tuesday looked good so we decided to take the Ranger out.  Stopping at Prince's bait we picked up leeches and crawlers, along with the red-tails we were set.  Launching on the west side of the lake, it was a bit rougher than we expected.  The temperature was very nice and our first stop was the mid lake gravel bars, about 5 miles or so out.  We hit the first bar which had another boat on it so we decided to stop at the next one a half mile north.  Jack put a leech on, Pete did a red-tail and I rigged a crawler harness.  Not more than 5 minutes of dragging and a nice walleye hit my crawler.  We continued to have a steady bite alternating between my crawler, Jack's leech's and Pete's minnow.  After about 10 walleyes we decided to hit the first gravel bar that we stopped at as the boat that was originally there had left.  With a fairly string north wind we drifted at the perfect speed of about 1 mph.  It was perfect drifting weather and we caught another 16 for a total of 26 walleyes for the day.  Having never used a red-tail for walleyes I changed my rig and hooked on a big one.   Letting the line down to the bottom, after about 3 minutes the rod told me there was something going on below.  Lifting to see if I could feel the bite there was nothing.  Again there was a tap tap then nothing.  After a few minutes of this I began to reel in the line, it was obvious that the line was not behind where it should have been and ahead of it's normal position.  As the reel cranked the line in all of a sudden there was a very heavy fish on the line.  Apparently the fish had grabbed the minnow and swam towards the boat which negated any traditional feel of a bite.  Netting the walleye it was the largest of the day, 27 inches.  Many of our fish were long but skinny, this fish was fat and healthy.  Back in the water it went as we saw a storm approaching from the north.  Deciding we had enough we barely made it to the landing when the sky unloaded on us.  Luckily we had time to get the boat on the trailer and the cover on before the bulk of the rain came.  It was another successful trip, plenty of walleyes were caught however one cannot keep any walleyes from Mille Lacs this year and to add insult to injury, the month of July walleye fishing is not allowed.....period!  Based on the great fishing in June it would not surprise anyone that it will shut down for the year.  As always I'll keep my political comments to myself!

Next trip will be on the river or maybe sneak back up to Mille Lacs before July 1st.  Monday is the funeral of our good friend Tim who passed away from cancer on April 3rd.  Even though there should have been 2 trips to Lac Seul this year, the current situation has us thinking about flying somewhere with Bruce to try a new fishing experience.  More on that later!

Positive Changes are Happening!

Another Mole!

What a difference a week can make.  Thursday Frankie's called and said the boat is ready!!  I am not sure if the boat likes being at Frankie's more than at home as in the last 12 months it has spent at least 5 of them in the shop.  The fiberglass guy does a good job and it looks like new.  As long as they had the lower unit off it was prudent to change the water pump.  It still looked pretty good but I agree with that philosophy as it seemed like a great idea.  I wasn't too impressed by the repair job on the front of the skeg, I guess my idea of a repair falls more in line with the fiberglass guy, it should look like new.  You have to look close at the skeg repair and because the "trim Tab" is built into the skeg design, it probably is a hard one to duplicate however...........and I'll just leave it at that! My friend Bruce understands the dilemma, you know it isn't right, bugs the crap out of you, but what's a reasonable answer for the repair, another month of no use?  Sometimes common sense has to dictate until there is a convenient time to address the issue that unfortunately only bugs you!  Upon getting her home and checking things out, the live well still had water in it and the valve control was on empty.  I thought...........I'll bet they forgot to remove the whiskey bottle cork that I inserted in the live well input at the rear of the boat, to stop water from leaking in (and would stop water from draining out).  Sure enough, after pulling the screen it was still in there.  Although it took a channel lock to pull it out we are back to normal.  She's washed and waxed, windshield cleaned, and the electronic's software has been updated.  The grab pole for the Ezee Steps, the system for us old guys to get into the boat easier, was rusting on the mount.  Being held by 4 1 inch 1/4" bolts, after removing and wire brushing the rusted areas it was repainted with truck bed liner spray (matches the Armor Coat on the trailer) then remounted with new stainless steel bolts.  It looks pretty good, at least better than seeing rust as one enters the boat.  Last week was posted a picture of a mole that I got on the first try.  Since then these seemingly dumb creatures have done their best to outwit me.  My friend Paul Wenaas responded to my post with a fool

The Cat Earning it's Keep!

proof mole trap that I needed to get, Fleet Farm had them for only $22.00, but after three unsuccessful tries I set only 1 trap again then headed to Fleet Farm to act on his suggestion.  Upon returning to set my new trap, damn if there wasn't a mole caught in my 4th set of this tunnel.  With the dry weather upon us, the moles will head to my irrigated lawn so all is not lost.  He says this trap works pretty good, I hope so as now my collection includes a 5th style.  Oh well, if they were pocket gophers it would be a different story.  It would be really nice if somehow our cat could figure out how to catch those dang moles.  He's actually pretty good at the above ground rodents and is quite successful in keeping the mouse, vole, and stripped gopher populations in check around the house.  It is quite amazing how quick our cat, Rocky can be however  I've seen those ground squirrels out run him but he's pretty savoy when it comes to mice.  Here he is pictured with a field mouse he got in the perennial garden earlier.  It's also amazing to watch as he seldom plays with them once caught, rather simply sit's down and within a minute has devoured everything but it's guts.  As stated earlier, if we could teach him to get moles!

Shimano Stradic CI4, 2500 Series

Thursday was the annual Fishing Garage Sale which usually has taken place down the road in Champlin.  At a previous sale, I signed the registration book with my e-mail and this year it was held east of Buffalo, MN, about 15 miles away.  Calling my friend David Grant we headed out there by 9:00 and it was pretty good.  As any good fisherman knows, one never has enough fishing rods and there was a nice selection of 13 Fishing and Fenwick rods, all at about 50 - 60% off of standard retail.  I ended up with a couple of 13 Fishing, 1 Muse which is a very nice 6'10" medium light/fast action spinning rod which is extremely light and 1 lime green Fate, another 6'10" medium light/fast action rod, not as light as the Muse but the color is pretty cool!  On the way home we stopped at Cabela's as in their Father's Day flyer was Shimano Stratic CI4's for $80 off, normally $229.00 for only $149.00.  These reels are premium reels which are incredibly light and come in at 6.7 ounces.  They are extremely smooth and a pleasure to fish with, especially paired with a nice lighter rod like the Muse,  one can fish all day jigging without any fatigue, which is important at my age.  My Canada buddies laugh at me, what if it goes in..........my Ugly Stick or Snoopy Rod is just fine and I am only out $30!  Well I try to be a little more careful although admittedly I wish that were the same for my boat!  The problem was that on Thursday Cabela's only had 1 series 4000 left, too big for walleye fishing, although this is what's on my Alaskan Salmon rods.  The guys says come back tomorrow, we will have more but get here early.  Like a good sheep I was in line Friday morning by 8:45 and the doors opened at 9:00.  At the reel counter there were 15 guys listening to the man behind the counter stating that there were no reels.  After a few choice words were exchanged, the guys said he didn't know when more would be in but they could come any day.  Repeating the routine on Saturday morning they had gotten in the 2500 series only.  Although I wanted the 3000 series the only reel difference is the 3000 has a slightly larger spool however the body and weight are the same as the 2500.  They say a bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush........I took a couple.  It looks good on the Muse and ready to go for our trip to Mille Lacs on Wednesday.

Still In The Shop

First mole of the year!

I am beginning to believe that my boat loves my dealer Frankie more than it loves me.  Of course there is a probable good reason for this, in my possession it takes it's own fate in my hands yet at Frankie's, it gets the tender loving care it really needs!  If I look at the total time it has been in the shop between May 20, 2019 to May 20, 2020, it was over 6 months!  Of course there is no one to blame except me so that leaves me tip toeing around my fishing adventures.  Of course add the current Covid situation in there and I should be on Lac Seul right now on my second trip of the year.  In the meantime I simply sit around and try to get things done.  So rather than sitting around and feeling bad about the boat not being in my possession therefore not being able to fish Devils Lake this weekend with Kevin and Ben, there were a couple of interesting moments to share.  The first is last Thursday Bruce Wiley called me to ask if I wanted to have lunch.  About 50% of the time lunch means more than just meeting him at a restaurant rather meeting him at his hanger and we fly somewhere for lunch.  The first option was Hanger 54 in the Eau Claire Airport, a quick call stated they were still closed.  Plan B was fly to Voyager Village, southwest of Danbury, Wisconsin, a large development with a golf course, clubhouse, runway, that is secluded in the middle of the woods/lake area.  A quick 35 minute flight in Bruce's Cessna 182 RG (Retractable Gear), as we approached Siren Wisconsin I saw a runway and asked about it, "nope, you need to be right on top of this one to see it" and of course he was right.  We landed basically on the golf course, hoping the guys teeing off to our right wouldn't slice one as we touched down.  Luckily we were good as we taxied our way to the plane parking area, threw $20 in the runway donation box and walked to the clubhouse and had a magnificent lunch, quite an operation.  Sat next to some retired business guys from the St. Paul area and had a good discussion of the current situations.  As we took off I was looking for my phone to take some pictures, no phone!!!  Damn, did it fall out of my pocket, did I leave it on the table....I seem to be getting worse at just set it it down and forgetting.  Well, not remembering that it was used, the last time was at the hanger, it must be there.  We landed back at Crystal Airport and made our way back to the hanger, Bruce exclaimed, "Is that your phone on the Taxi way?  Uffda it was, apparently falling out of my pocket when I entered the plane 3 hours earlier.......it was still there!  Undamaged somehow there has to be a better way of my hanging onto my phone!  So no pictures of the trip but I have been working hard on trapping a mole that is making tunnels in the yard.  These creatures are difficult to trap and finally getting one, I figured I solved that problem yet the tunnel was remade the following day.  Hopefully success will find me again, but it is a challenge for sure!

Jared's 28 inch Walleye in the Trees

At this time I am expecting a call to pick up the boat either today or tomorrow.  The river is down so I have been trying to get the jon boat ready for the river.  The contingency plan is to fish off the dock of my friend John Meyer, down the street.  He has been great to allow some of us to simply drive down and fish off his dock for catfish, carp, suckers, walleye, and whatever feels like biting.  In the meantime Ben Aiona has been texting me pictures of their success on Devils Lake, North Dakota.  His son Jared is quite a fisherman and does not hesitate to get right in the action.  Apparently they arrived last Tuesday afternoon, went out and caught over 116 stripped bass in a few hours.  That is a lot of fun.  Here is a picture of Jared's 28 inch walleye caught on a leech and bobber in the trees, you can see them sticking out of the water. Ben was having some difficulties with his HDS 12 Gen 3 however it was resolved and he didn't need mine.  With 2 trips to Lac Seul cancelled, Bruce was talking about going somewhere, Ben suggested Devil's Lake as he would be happy to guide us!  that might be a great idea and we are kicking it around.  In the meantime my garden is coming along well.  Today it will be in the 90's and everything will be growing like crazy, including the weeds!  The asparagus is doing well, and we decided to try and freeze some rhubarb this year and it went pretty well.  After picking and washing, it was cut up into cubes and put in a shallow aluminum pan, then put in the freezer for 30 minutes or so.  Frozen solid, then we vacuum packed it, 4 cups to the pouch and voila, we'll have to see how it turns out in a few months.  It looks pretty good though. 

My goal for this week is pretty simple, get my Ranger back, clean out the jon boat, the annual fishing garage sale that is held in Champlin every year has been moved to Buffalo, MN this year so on Thursday morning I hope to be there as they have some pretty sweet deals.  Hopefully it all ends with a trip to Mille Lacs to fish the flats for walleye before it closes on July 1st, which is a whole new story in itself.