In the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murry was destined to live the same day over and over and over. Last week seemed like my own Groundhog Day week, living the week as I did the week before, fishing Pelican then watching the Packers. Stopping at my neighbor Lory's, I asked him if he was interested in hitting Pelican Lake for a few hours on Saturday. Never one to miss an opportunity to wet a line, I picked him up and we headed to Pelican. Now last weeks spot was fabulous and I had turned the GPS on to get a fix on our position yet I made one mistake, I never marked the spot. Taking an educated guess, away from the crowds, we drilled a hole and verified we were in the zone, 11 feet. Drilling 2 more holes for the house and 3 outside we cleaned them out, set up the shack, and lowered my camera. Well at about 6 feet the camera hit the bottom..............impossible! A sanity check with the Vexilar confirmed that whatever I read 10 minutes ago wasn't what I was seeing now. Looking at Lory, I informed him that we would have to move. I think he assumed I was crazy yet somehow knew that if he didn't agree, he was going to have to fish them holes by himself. Driving around, trying to get my bearings, we stopped, drilled and CAREFULLY measured 11 feet. I suspect that I had ice on the bottom of the transducer, skewing my first assumptions. Resetting everything, the crappies started immediately. Starting at 3:00 and finishing around 6:30, we logged about 30 total sorting out 9 for a meal later. It was fun, lot's of little ones with not a single sunfish caught. I felt we had a good spot but maybe too close to the crowds.
One of the things worth mentioning was the temperature Friday morning, January 21st. My thermometer had 25 below zero when I woke up and had climbed to about -22 by the time I took a picture of the bearer of bad news. Later conversations confirmed that the neighbors had a minimum temperature of -28 earlier that morning. Although these temperatures are great for making ice, as I get older it is easier to understand why people head south for a few months. I sent this picture to my friends in China as they seldom see temperatures lower than 40 degrees. When asked how cold it really is I tell them that if you went outside and yelled your name, it wouldn't be till March until you heard it! This is traditionally the coldest week of the winter and temperatures in Northern Minnesota lived up to it's reputation, -46 in International Falls. It certainly builds character!
If you have sound on your computer, you can't help but love the selection for my opening song, I love The Green Bay Packers. In a repeat of last week, the Packers defeated the Chicago Bears to win the National Football Conference Championship and are headed for the Super Bowl on February 6th. Trust me, being a Cheesehead in Minnesota, especially in my neighborhood can be rough. Viewing the game at my neighbor Tim's place is a pure pleasure despite being outnumbered by Viking fans 10:1. No matter, I am basking in the glory as everyone knows where my allegiance is, win or lose. The entire state of Wisconsin is giddy for the next 2 weeks and we are excited about Aaron Rodgers having the opportunity to finally put the last nail in the Brett Favre era. Tim has an annual Super Bowl Party and I am sure all of the neighbors are just waiting for me to show up as I always make a big deal about my Packers every year. Hopefully it will end exactly how every Cheesehead dreams of. Next week I am traveling with my sales representative Bernard Guzzi from the Chicago area. Our plan is for me to fly to Milwaukee, drive to LaCrosse, drive to Appleton, then back to Milwaukee. When he originally asked me to make the rounds I responded, under one condition...........we stop at the Packer Pro Shop in Green Bay. He agreed however I found out today Bernard was at the game on Sunday. It should make for an interesting 9 hours in the car together! So until the Super Bowl is history, you will have to endure a couple more weeks of Eddy J. LEmberger. GO PACK!!!
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