Technical Difficulties

One of the things I like about technology is the amazing amount of it out there for everyone to use.  For me, I really like digital camera's and try to keep one available where ever I go.  My go to point and shoot camera is a Canon S95, a very feature loaded device that is very fast for a camera that fits in the palm of your hand.  Fast is a term used to describe how wide the aperture can get to let as much light in as possible.  For the S95 that reference is f2.0.  What this really means is that it will shoot excellent pictures in low light conditions, most represented on my blog by the beautiful sunset pictures I have posted.   After being frustrated by "forgetting my camera", I bought a cheap Nikon refurbished point and shoot digital to simple always keep in the boat or car.  Well, that camera is not very good, probably worth what I paid.  It has served me OK in a pinch but had a tendency to overexpose light areas and over saturate the colors.  At first ice I told the story of laying down on the ice to take a picture only to see the camera didn't work.  Well, I sent it in under warranty and they will fix it but it's now been over a month.  In the meantime I am more frustrated with my Nikon than ever as you see last weeks picture of Mark makes him look like he has a neon shirt on!  I decided to order a new Canon 300 ELPH300HS to replace the Nikon, received it last week and took it fishing with me last Saturday.   Meeting Mark on the ice, we fished an inshore structure called Roland's Flat.  Unfortunately there was open water on the far side of the flat so we were confined to the west end.  Still, there is a nice drop.  Having my new camera ready for it's inaugural debut I took a couple of pictures of the nearby open water (January 7, open water on Mille Lacs yet?!?!?) which looked interesting.  I noticed 3 beeps after each picture, checked it out and the message on the screen said "no card".  Just my luck, new digital camera and no memory card.  Oh well.  Towards evening Mark asked me to hit the hole he was in as there was a fish down there and wasn't biting on his lure.  I dropped my neon perch colored #5 jigging rap and within seconds a nice walleye had fully inhaled it.  Pulling the transducer first I landed the fish, a respectable 24 inch fish beautiful in color, fat and sassy.  Again without a camera I turned to Mark to take one with his phone...too dark.  I fumbled for my phone however my ice armor has way too many pockets and couldn't hold the fish and dig so I simply let the fish go without an ounce of proof.  Really, it was a nice fish.  This was the only fish I caught but it was still nice to get out and check out my new XTR ice grippers.  Pretty nice.  So, my first picture is of Keith Holtan and his fish from his Lake of the Woods last week.  Instead of writing my blog last night both Lory and I went to the St. Paul Sportsman Show to meet Keith and his wife Jane, along with their friend and my cousin Greg's friend Al.  We ended the night at The Liffy, across the street from the Excel Center were we enjoyed a few Guinness's together.  I got some interesting stuff at the show, a new motor trailering support for my 115 Suzuki, a couple of interesting jigs, and a BoomB(())X, a device that can be powered off of a standard USB port and audio output jack found on a laptop.  It literally turns any box, Styrofoam minnow bucket, cup, into a speaker.  It's pretty cool!

So my next picture is of my cousin Greg's son-in-law, Joe Thomas.  Joe plays for the Cleveland Browns and is the top Offensive Left Tackle in the business today.  Personally I think he would look a lot better in a Green Bay Packer uniform, but I suppose it would not leave him much time to ice fish this time of the year.  I am sure he'd rather be practicing but that's a different story.  If the speculation is true Aaron Rodgers back up, Matt Flynn is a free agent this year and with his spectacular performance 2 weeks ago, might look good in a Cleveland uniform.  It would be nice to see him get a Super Bowl ring.  Joe caught this  nice musky last weekend at Greg's lake, east of Chetek, Wisconsin.  I haven't received the details of the fish but everything points to at least a 45 inch length and I suppose around 25 pounds, maybe Greg will comment.  Having just hoisted a 51 inch sturgeon through the ice, I understand the excitement a fish like this brings.  Funny, I never seem to catch anything like this when I fish Greg's lake!  Either way that fish makes Joe look small, something I know he isn't.

The middle picture is the latest from the satellite on January 10th.  As you see there is still a lot of open water around Mille Lacs yet.  With the below zero temperatures of the last couple of nights, here's hoping it will get somewhat back to normal soon.  It might be hard to get out this weekend as I have a room in the house tore apart and am painting.  It wouldn't be so bad however we haven't had much luck matching colors.  Maybe a run to Pelican Lake will be in order, and of course the Packers play on Sunday afternoon, that will be a must watch!!!