Out For Trout

A couple limits of nice Rainbow Trout

So last Thursday was my day to spend with Bill Lundeen of Lundeen's Tackle Castle on the corner of highways 169 and 27 in Onamia, MN.  I seldom get a chance to fish with Bill and usually when we go it's not only a great time but more often than not, very successful. It's been a tough year for Bill with the current situation at Mille Lacs however he is a survivor and while others are leveraged to the max, Bill has persevered through this difficult time.  I have a friend that states when a guy dies he probably has less than 5 guys he can count on as his true friends and Bill is on my list.  So when he asked if I was interested in a trout fishing outing to one of the many old pit mines near the Crosby/Akin area it was an invitation hard to refuse.  Setting the date of Thursday, October 23rd, I opened my calendar and was ready to meet him at the crack of dawn.  Unfortunately an important customer asked at the last minute if he could stop by at 9:00 the same morning I had little choice to oblige.  Now what our planned start time of 7:00 in the morning was now 11:30, oh well Bill is an understanding guy.  After a successful 2 hour meeting I headed north and pulled into the bait shop in record time.  Bill was ready to go as we loaded his canoe carrier and canoe onto may truck we headed north.  The day was absolutely gorgeous and if the fish weren't biting it still was going to be a great day.  Arriving at the lake we unloaded our gear and carried the canoe down to the landing about 50 yards down the hill. These old mine pits are deep, clear, and usually are stock with trout as they do well in the deep water during the summer.  With the water temperature around 50 the trout would be found in the shallower water as we headed to the 20 foot range and started trolling with small nightcrawler rigs.  Its kind of interesting to fish out of a canoe, it takes a while to get your sea legs and the confidence to move around and feel comfortable maneuvering around.  Our strategy was to troll the 20 foot water, looking for fish that might be suspended.  I ended up putting a 2 hook crawler rig on 4 pound test

Reflections of a day trout fishing

that Bill tied up for me which had a gold hammered spinner then weighted with a 1/2 ounce sinker. We probably went 50 yards when a tap tap was felt, I dropped the rod tip back still feeling the fish, gave a jerk yet still missed the fish. It was another 20 minutes before I felt another fish and letting it take the bait a little longer the hook set yielded a very nice rainbow trout in the 14 inch range.  Although it was a smaller lake and we could circle it in a reasonable time we decided to get back where the fish were biting. That last fish I caught ended up breaking the line (it was only 4# test)in the net so I put on another rig Bill had tied up but I don't know, not much confidence in going from Gold hammered to Red and White spinner color.  After another 20 minutes I decided to tie my own rig using 6# test, the hooks from the broken rig and the gold spinner blade I was back in business.  Almost immediately I got another rainbow trout, then another and another.  Struggling to put a fish in the boat Bill finally landed one but in the end our limit of 10 trout was predicated on my ability to out fish him 3:1.  I was just one of those days.  Most of these trout are stocked and represent a stock and take fishery, these fish had been in the lake for over a year as they were all 13 - 15 inches and had a nice pink/orange flesh.  It was a super day watching the trout leap out of the water, catching our limits, and the most important aspect........spending the day with Bill, the most important.  Heading back to the bait shop and home we cleaned the fish, had some pizza, a few beers before heading home.  It truly was one of the best days fishing this year.  One of the more striking pictures was the one of the reflections of the trees off the water as we pulled into shore.  With no wind to disrupt the water, the scene was fabulous.

Loaded with fish

Sunday was slated for getting the Ranger out to run some SeaFoam through my system for its long winter sleep.  I asked my neighbor Tom Olson if he wanted to go and he affirmed so we headed out. The lake was Indian Lake north of Annandale, MN, not particularly deep but it has 3 distinct areas in the lake that drop to 25 feet.  I have an old crappie fishing book and they claim that in the fall crappies will congregate in these holes, stack up, and should be easy to fish.  Well the first small hole proved both windy and impossible to fish so we moved south on the calm side of the lake.  Maybe thinking the fish were shallower we worked the 7 - 10 foot depth around the south shore but nothing was biting. With a southeast wind and a 25 foot trough perfectly positioned for a drift we dropped the trolling motor and using a slip bobber and jig, floated right down the middle.  With the weed line at about 12 feet, anything we marked should be fish. Just at the point where the bottom started rising was about 4 marks close to the bottom and one of our bobbers went down.  After putting the trolling motor in anchor mode we hovered over the spot and the longer we stayed the more fish congregated below us.  We caught a few crappies with the first one being awfully small with a couple of keepers in the mix, I was surprised by the amount of fish showing up on the depth finder screen.  The fish were biting very light and maybe it was just our setup that used standard light jigs verses maybe a plain hook in the dorsal fin presentation.  We ended up with 5 and I'm sure that given time we could have sorted through a limit of fish but it was time to go.  Forgetting to take a picture of the screen showing all the fish I went online and found one that exactly duplicates what we were seeing, it was pretty incredible.  Either way the day accomplished my 2 main objectives, the first was to get the SeaFoam mixed into the gas and into the motor and second, to prove the schooling crappie theory.  It would have been nice to catch more but at least I know it is true!

It time to set up my deer stand although it's more like setting up my deer blind.  With my bad luck this year all I need to do is fall out of an eighteen foot high tree stand.  My friend Jack has secured a place to hunt this year as we really don't feel like trudging the swamp again for the wet summer has surely filled it up.  There's still work to be done winterizing the boat as the oil needs changing, the lower unit is do to be changed, and it has to be tucked away in the garage for it's long winter's sleep. Slowly the ice fishing stuff is coming out and I'm looking forward to drilling a few holes soon.

Back on the River

20" Smallie on a 6 inch sucker minnow

My good friend Pete has been doing really well on the Mississippi River, including some really nice walleyes.  He fishes the Monticello area and knows that river like the back of his hand and his report on Saturday was no different, 20 fish, 15 smallies and 5 walleyes.  Figuring out where the walleyes are on the stretch of the river behind the house has proven difficult at best.  Although there has been 4 walleyes caught in my river boat this year, nothing has been of any significance compared to the stories I have heard.  Some of those stories were heard on Sunday morning as I stopped by my friend Rick Shermer, returning his tractor with a 6 foot rototiller attached to the back. BTW, it a phenomenal machine which gave me the time to go fishing but that's another story.  Rick's friend John was picking his apples as I parked the tractor and walked up to them.  My neighbor Lory had offered to pick me up and was there to take in the conversation about fishing the river in Dayton.  John sounded like he had fished the area and was familiar with all the "walleye holes" from the bridge across Hwy 101 to behind the house and with time running away from us we decided to try this stretch one more time.  It's pretty easy as we simply hook the boat to the ATV, open a few gates and we are on the river in less than 10 minutes.  Planning on fishing the Mississippi on Sunday I had stopped at the hardware store to buy some smaller sucker minnows in that 4 - 6 inch range.  Arriving at home my aerator on my Engel Bait Cooler didn't work so it was off to Cabela's to get a new air pump.  They had a Marine Metals Hush Bubbler Air pump and I am pretty impressed as it is significantly quieter than the one that came with the Engel.  With the sucker minnows alive and ready to go we hit the river.  With the water clarity at over 4 feet and it's temperature in the low 50's we concentrated on a couple of deep eddies that usually hold fish. Looking for those elusive walleyes, it seems as though they should be congregating in these holes about now.  Lory decided to fish with a jig and plastic while I rigged up a simple slip sinker and a 18 inch leader with a plain hook and a sucker minnow.  We worked the first hole pretty good but didn't

Lory's 18 incher

have single hit.  Next stop was the next eddy behind Cloquet Island, it's 10 - 12 feet deep and "should" be loaded with fish.  Within a few minutes of dropping my sucker to the bottom of the current break I noticed the line moving in the opposite direction it had been going.  Taking up the slack it was obvious a fish had my minnow but with a circle hook one has to simply reel the line and yanked the bait out of it's mouth.  Verifying the sucker minnow was still good I put it right back in and as it hit the bottom it started moving away.  This time I gave it a minute to take the bait and when I reeled the hook drove home.  This fish was a dandy and once Lory got it in the net we measured the smallmouth at 20 inches.   Within a few minutes Lory had a nice fish on but we never saw it.  His determination to land a fish with plastic paid off with a nice 18 inch smallie.  Our next stop was were we caught a walleye in the main current near the old Steven's farm.  A couple of drifts produced nothing so we headed up river to the spot John has given us.  I knew where he was talking about and once we arrived it wasn't easy to fish his spot with a boat, in fact it was all but impossible with the amount of water flowing.  Nest time I see John we are going to have that discussion!

Check out the red eyes!

Our next stop was checking out what was upriver from where the Crow empties into the Mississippi. After navigating the rapids below this point we found a very nice eddy that looked promising yet after 20 minutes we didn't even have a hit.  Deciding to try the area just below the 101 Bridge again, another great looking spot but not one fish.  I suspect that maybe we simply needed to spend more time but with the day running out we headed to the bridge to fish the pillars.  We were greeted by a Cajun Bass boat with 2 guys casting the area with plastic.  I sensed they had been there before as we watched them orchestrate a number of precise casts into the pillars.  Not wanting to horn in too bad we waited for them to move off then dropped our lines.  Within a minute a nice fish hit my sucker minnow and the fight was on and soon a nice 18 inch smallie was in the net.  In the meantime the guys in the Cajun noticed the fish and gave us a nice compliment as they had been only getting smaller fish.  Big fish like big minnows, that's all I could say.  Lory did get a couple smaller smallies before we headed back down river to fish the Cloquet Island area before dark.   It's nice to have the GPS trails to help you back yet one never knows if your choice of routes is the ideal one as we still hit a number of rocks on the way downstream.  Luckily the Rock Hopper really does a great job of keeping the propeller intact and we didn't miss a beat.  Arriving back where I caught the first fish another 18.5 inch fish hit my minnow and we landed that.  Lory decided to try the sucker minnows and immediately had a nice bite but unlike plastic, it's good to give the fish some time which is hard to do if you are used to setting the hook right away.  Those 6 inch sucker minnows take time to get turned in the fishes mouth and patience is certainly needed.   The last spot was the first one we tried and although it's been a good producer it never did anything for us this trip.  We ended up with 8 smallies with 6 of them in the 18 - 20 inch range.  The walleyes continue to elude us but I'm not giving up as they have to be somewhere, I've heard stories you know!

I am heading to see my friend Bill Lundeen on Thursday to try a little trout fishing.  It's been a while since I have fished with Bill for trout so I'm pretty excited and hopefully we'll be successful.  I had helped my friend Mark Taylor pull his big boat out of Lake Minnetonka and besides the usual reward of E & J, he brought some smoked salmon from Costco.  I have to admit it was pretty good, enough to buy it myself.  The Salem Ice Cabin is about ready for ice fishing as I have finished up the last of the improvements, now we are just waiting for the lakes to freeze over.  The Packers won convincingly last Sunday, the fish are biting, Indian Summer continues, I'm not sure there's much to complain about other than the speed in which time flies these days.

Indian Summer

The Maples are on Fire

Indian Summer is defined as the period of nice weather that occurs after we've experienced a killing frost.  Here in Minnesota or Wisconsin our first killing frost is usually at the end of September and Indian Summer happens in the subsequent weeks in October.  Well, it is definitely Indian Summer in Dayton as the weather is just beautiful, 65 during the day and frost on grass overnight.  Our above normal precipitation this June has set up the trees for a spectacular show of color.  The leaves are just peaking in the metro area as this time of the year is one of my favorites.  Unfortunately the days are getting shorter which allows little time for all the things that need to get done.  The garden is pretty well done with the exception of a few carrots still in the ground and my potatoes.  I am sort of hoping my good friend Ricky Shermer may drive over any day now with his Kubota tractor with his 3 point, 6 foot rear mounted tiller.  What would take me 4 hours would take him about 15 minutes. If not I guess it's good exercise!   With October already half gone I'm needing to get in high gear if I want to have everything done by deer hunting, which starts November 8th.   My friend Carl Le Jambre stated it very well the other day....As we get older, life seems to keep accelerating.  No truer words have been spoken as I feel exactly the same way.  The clock isn't running fast as much as life is.  Oh well, I guess there's not a lot we can do other than enjoy those moments.   Carl lives in San Jose, California and is one of my respected peers.  He is also a big football fan with the Philadelphia Eagles as his home team.  I have known Carl for 23 years now and in that time the Packers and Eagles have played 17 times over that period with the record of 10 wins for the Eagles, 7 for the Pack. Although our distance has prevented any recent friendly bets lately, last Sunday night's game where the Eagles just blew out the New York Giants just prompted me to kindle our old bet for the November 16th game between the Eagles and the Packers.  The Eagles look pretty tough at 5-1 but with the game in Lambeau, I might have a chance!  Either way it will be good to see Carl and pay or collect, I'm fine with it.

18 inch Huge smallie.

Sunday was gourgeous as it presented an opportunity to get out fishing in the afternoon. On short notice I stopped by Tom Olson's place to see if he'd be interested in going out on the river for a few hours.  Basically if he showed up at 4:00, we'd head off and like clockwork he arrived.  It's a quick process to move a few things out of the way and we were off to Blair's landing.  Our main focus was to troll the deeper holes with crankbaits intending on catching a few walleyes.  With the water temperature in the low 50's, it should be a trigger for the fish to start congregating.  The first area was just up river as we fished a large current break cause by an eddy.  With a #7 firetiger shad rap and the water depth of 10 feet we pulled the lures up river to take advantage of the current.  Almost immediately something was tugging on the end of my line, about a 1 pound smallmouth.  Not a walleye but it was encouraging that the fish seemed active. After another small bass we headed up to fish the hole just downstream from Cloquet Island.  This has been one of my favorite spots and have gotten a couple of smaller walleyes earlier this year yet all we could muster was another nicer bass.  One big problem was the amount of leaves in the water, as we were constantly losing the action on the baits because they would hang up on them.  It was quite frustrating however we continued trolling as we were getting fish.  The next spot was the hole above the Steven's farm.  This area is simply a deeper hole in the river with no current breaks.  Tom has switched to a Bomber crankbait and was rewarded with our first walleye, a 12 inch fish.  Not large enough to keep it went back into the water hoping there were larger fish to be caught.  No such luck as we headed back to the first spot as the sun was getting low and the temperature was dropping.  As we trolled the edge of the eddy we started coming up to the front of the hole in 6 feet of water when I saw a big fish come up and slam my shad rap.  The water is incredibly clear as you can see 4 feet down and this fish was visible for the entire fight.  It certainly isn't the longest bass I have caught on the river but it certainly was one of the thickest and deepest fish for it's size.   Letting her go we drifted back down river where I caught a couple more small bass before we headed back to the landing.  I'm thinking another trip would be nice, this time trying jigs and minnows as I think we might be more successful.  I know the walleyes are in there, it's just going to take a little more time to find them.

1971 Ski Doo Olympique

I was in Phoenix last week and it nice.  Expecting 90 degree weather it actually rained both days.  I'm not exactly sure of the fishing around the area but I did get to spend a few hours with my friend Jim Tollefson.  Jim grew up on a farm northwest of Eleva and from the time I was 15 to when he graduated from high school we hung around together almost every day.  Whether it was me riding my bike the 3.5 miles to his house to help with feeding the cattle, haying, cleaning the barn, we always found time to enjoy ourselves.  In 1970 I had enough money saved to buy a brand new Ski Doo snowmobile, at 15 years old I was on the top of my game.  We didn't have trail groomers back then however there was enough snow to keep the trail open from the back of my house to Jim's.  Passing through what we called Indian Valley, up and across Old Baldy, the landmark hill north of town, through the woods, we really put on the miles.  I'm not sure how anyone could have as much fun as Jim and I did back then.  I guess we didn't have television (just 2 channels then), video games, computers, cell phones, and all the distractions that kids have today.  At 15 and 16 our parents didn't worry about what we were doing or if they did, they never said.  Like the statement at the end of the movie, Stand By Me...I'll never have friends like I did when I was 12, well, make that from 12 to 18.

Lambeau Magic

Greatness!

After attending the annual Coil Winding Show in Chicago last week (OK, I know it sounds boring), on Thursday my wife Lyn and I headed to Lambeau Field in Green Bay for the Thursday night game between the beloved Packers and the hated Vikings, ok I guess that's a matter of opinion.  My tickets were courtesy of my good friend Phil Gordon, a trusted confidant from Fort Wayne, Indiana who has season tickets but could not make the game.  Phil is like most guys form Sconnie, a passionate Packer fan and he was happy to share them with the same.  Anyway with the leaves in their peak fall colors the 5 hour drive did not disappoint.  From the time we hit Hudson on the Wisconsin border to Green Bay, the trees were on fire with the bright reds and yellows and orange colors.  Although the game didn't start till 7:30, I knew that getting there a little early would afford us time to take in the sights and sounds of a home game at Lambeau, and sites and sounds there were.  Lambeau Field is the oldest venue in the NFL today.  Celebrating it's 58th year of hosting the Green Bay Packers, it has a interesting history which you can see by clicking on this link:Lambeau Field.  Because the Packers are the only publicly held football team in the NFL, they decided to sell stock to raise money for additional renovations that including adding another 7000 seats.  And why not, the waiting list for season tickets has surpassed the 90,000 mark.  Taking advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity, I bought a share for $250 and am now an official owner with voting rights.  Yes, some people say the stock is worthless yet I ask what is your Adrian Peterson jersey worth these days?  As well, Lambeau is still Lambeau and not some lame name like Sports Authority Stadium at Mile High.  There has been talk about naming rights yet I'm pretty sure that would not be met with a whole bunch of fan and shareholders support.  Anyway, deciding to park about 6 blocks from the stadium would give us an easier way out as previous games we parked very close and it was over an hour to get out.  Lambeau and Green Bay are set up for tailgating.  All along the way to the field were parking lots full of fans, their RV's parked from the night before, tents, charcoal grills and of course beer!  Even the Shell gas station had closed to make way for the fans and at $20 a care probably made more than selling gas for that time period.  There were quite a few Vikings fans mixed in with the crowd as the border battle tends to be quite friendly but intense.  With a forecast of an inch of rain predicted over game time, we crossed the road with our rain gear in a clear plastic bag (as required) and entered the stadium.  The first thing you see is the big poster of Clay Matthews gracing the fact Green Bay holds the most NFL World Champion Titles of any team in the NFL dating all the way back to 1929, and includes 4 Superbowl wins.  Pretty amazing for a city of 100,000. 

Start of the game and of the rain.

Our seats were centered just behind the north end goal posts, 53 rows up.  As predicted, the rain had started and by the time we got to our seats it was coming down pretty hard.  Kudos to my wife Lyn for bundling up as we stayed nice and dry with my fishing gear.  Luckily it was 68 degrees out as it made sitting there quite a bit more pleasant.  With the huge screens setup on each end, it was the best of 2 worlds, you could see the plays then watch it again as the did the replay.  Being in the Packer end zone during the first and third quarter we were able to see the first score, a beautiful pass from Aaron Rodgers to Jordy Nelson who was wide open deep and walked right in.  It was awesome.  Of course those who watched the game also know that the score quickly escalated to 42-0, in favor of the Packers, and if wasn't great, after the first quarter the rain stopped completely.  What a night.  Pulling Aaron Rodgers in the 4th quarter didn't sit too well with the 78,000+ fans attending the game but hey, no reason to risk an injury with that margin.  With a touchdown and field goal in the 4th by the Vikes the score ended up 42 - 10 as most left the stadium with 5 minutes to go.  I did manage to stop at the Packer Pro Shop to pick up some new hats, a nice pair of lounge pants for the ice house, and some decals for the same. If you have never been to Lambeau Field, even if your not a Packer fan, it's truly an experience.  The fans, the true tailgating, the food, the history, its definitely worth a trip to Green Bay.  I even hear that next July they are going to retire Brett Favre's number.  I guess it shows just how nice us Wisconsin guys are!

Tailgating at it's finest!

With ZERO hotels available in Green Bay, we were forced to drive an hour and a half west to Wausau, Wisconsin for the night.  Even at midnight Hwy 29 was like rush hour.  After a good nights sleep we headed back north to see my aunt Pat Schmidt in Antigo.  My mom's only living sibling, she has lived in the area most of her life.  Uncle Harold worked for the US Forest Department but unfortunately died way too young.  As a bonus my cousin Don Schmidt, was working on remodeling the house next door so I got to visit with him for a while.  My brother Steve and I were invited back to his Club Ten Grouse Tournament next weekend but timing isn't good this year.  Deciding to take in the rest of the weekend's fall colors we continued north to Hwy 8, which takes you back to Minnesota, the scenic route.  Unfortunately it rained all the way back limiting our view of the fall colors.  Managing to stop at Louie's Meats in Cumberland, WI we picked up some of their famous Packer bratwurst, brats mixed with cheddar cheese and sauerkraut.  As well they had Viking brats, brats mixed with purple cabbage and Monterey Jack cheese.  I got enough to host the neighbors at the next Packer/Viking game on November 23. 

The rain and cold has put a damper on getting stuff done around the house and time is running out to finishing up my projects on my Salem Ice Cabin.  I got the cable rewire project finished but still have to caulk the floor, replace the curtain rods and rehang the curtains, then put everything back in it's place.  It's sort of a labor of love but it still takes time.  I have a
small whitetail buck that's been really taking his hormones out on my small apple trees, I guess I should know better not to protect them more.  With a hard frost the raspberries are entering the final stages yet they are very plentiful and great tasting this year, it must have been the rain.  No fishing last week but I'm sure there's one more trip somewhere.  Sunday I drove to Mille Lacs to spend some time with Bill and deal with my Lowrance equipment.  While on Lac Seul it was impossible for me to control my trails, storing specific routs and the day's fishing history.  We finally got that figured out, too much to remember. 

Mille Lacs Report

Tom's 17.5 incher

The last week in July was the last time I had been on Mille Lacs Lake, and that was only the 3rd trip of the year.  Thinking the late September bite may have improved, my neighbor Tom Olson and I decided to head up on Saturday night to fish the sunset time, from 5:00 - 8:30.  After getting caught up on a few chores around home we hooked up the boat and pointed the truck north to fish Anderson's Reef on the southwest end of the lake.  Unfortunately this reef has been a hit or miss area, nothing like it was 20 years ago when you could easily pick off  6 to 12 walleyes trolling Shad Raps or Rattlin' Rouges.  The advantage is it has some nice structure and minimizes our time on the road.  There is 2 special areas off the main reef that can be good and one has to troll through the 10 - 12 foot water before you hit the spots.  This can be good if the fish are hanging a little bit deeper than the 5 - 7 feet that I usually like to fish.  Stopping at Bill's to drop off some raspberries we headed to the landing.  I was surprised how high the water was for this time of year, as well there appeared to be a lot of musky fisherman working Cove Bay.  Getting the Ranger in the water, we headed straight for Anderson's through the marked channel out of Cove.  Interesting as the "new" channel doglegged to the right as you entered the main lake, where as the last 10 years it was marked pretty much straight thru.  It seemed somewhat deeper and I guess I should have changed my waypoints but decided maybe later.  There was only one other guy working the 10 foot perimeter of the reef and another boat anchored in one of those "special" spots.  Working the south edge we headed towards the anchored boat, a 621 Ranger and it
was the same guy we talked to at Bill's as he picked up a couple dozen leeches. Reports of substantial catches of 10 inch walleyes have been coming from the launches and as we trolled by we saw them pull in 2 that size.  Looking for better fish we were trolling 4 inch Rouges when Tom nailed a 17 inch small mouth bass.  Before long he had another fish, actually a nice 17.5 inch walleye. With the keeper slot at 18 -20 inches, the fish went back.  Although a 17.5 inch walleye is not really worth taking a picture of, we snapped one anyway to prove if nothing else, we did catch something. Twenty minutes later I felt like a weed had tangled my lure only to find a 10.5 inch walleye hanging on the back of that 4 inch rouge...go figure.  Hitting both special spots with nothing more to show, we headed out.  The surface temperature was still 65 degrees so maybe the full moon next week along with a major cool down will change the bite.

Sunset at 5,000 feet

With snow predicted in Minnesota for this week I have been working feverishly to put the finishing touches on my Salem Ice Cabin before winter.  As stated earlier I had the underside spray foamed and expect a noticeable difference.  Finished installing the compartment door underneath the unused space by the couch, it turned out pretty nice.  With the help of my neighbor Tim's Rotozip and air stapler, it went in like it was designed to be there.  It's a perfect place for my cord storage, up front and handy.  The next thing was to install an outside cable jack to connect a satellite antenna to. Because the wiring is all pre-done I decided to replace the current inside antenna output/12 volt power jack with a dual antenna/cable outlet.  Figuring the framing would allow me to snake a wire near the floor by cutting an access hole at the back of the cabinet, in line with the jack,  I was successful in running a wire between the openings.  Using a hole saw and my other neighbor Todd, we drilled some holes, pull the coax cable through, connecting the external jack before bolting it together.  It turned out like it was supposed to be there!  Reattaching the internal cable jack, I think it turned out very well.  The last thing is to caulk around the floor with clear silicon RTV before it gets too cold to cure.

As you know I like sunset pictures and had 2 to pick from.  The first was from Saturday night on Mille Lacs and the one I chose was taken from my airline seat coming home from Chicago on Wednesday night.  The low clouds hung all the way from Milwaukee to when we landed.  Being on the right side of the plane I didn't have a nice view until we turned south for the final approach.  It was still very nice.  Off to Lambeau as we are going to the Packer Vikings game tonight.  The weather guys are calling for heavy rains so it should be interesting.  Either way the Pack should win tonight and give me bragging rights back at the office on Monday!  Once a Cheesehead, always a Cheesehead.  The high this weekend is supposed to be in the upper 40's so I'll be scrambling to keep moving on all of the outside chores.  I can finally drive on my new concrete driveway thanks to the bungled job the city contractors did with the asphalt overlay on the street in front of the house.  The good news is we have more room.  Go Pack!!