Not Much to Report

Shimano Butteryfly Jigs

As stated last week, I spent most of my time in California.  One of the cool things I came back with was some fishing gear given to me by my good friend Joseph who works for a supplier of mine, Micrometals. A fishing hat, Tee Shirt from the shop, and a really cool Shimano Butterfly Jig (pictured) jigging spoon from Longfin's Sports Shop in Anaheim, California.  I love saltwater fishing and I have always wanted to fish tuna off the coast of California with Joseph and Jim Cox however it tends to be a spur of the moment situation.  The tuna can come in anytime so they watch the reports and when they are on fish, you go.  These trips are usually 1 1/2 day trips where you leave in the evening and steam towards the fishing grounds arriving in the morning.  One fishes all day before heading back that night arriving the next morning at port.  They really get a lot of fish sometimes up to a few hundred pounds per guy, that's a lot of yellow fin tuna steaks for sure. The best time is usually in August and one of these days I'll definitely be on that boat with them. The Butterfly jigs work really well as they have 2 ultra sharp hooks that are attached to the bottom of the main lure body and are deadly on fish.  I don't think it will work very good on Mille Lacs but who knows, may it would be a great norther pike bait.

2015 Perch Extravaganza 

This weekend was spent at the neighbors and to be honest with you it didn't go very well.  I am not sure if was the fact that I was exhausted from only 3 hours of sleep the night before or what but put it this way, I wasn't very proud of myself and I'll leave it at that.  This week is the annual Johnson's Portside Perch Extravaganza, one of the largest fishing tournaments at Hunter's Point Resort on Mille Lacs Lake. Joining me will be my brother Steve and his son Kevin.  Last year my brother Steve, neighbor Pete, and I took my new Salem Ice Cabin arrived at Hunter' Point however they had virtually no spots plowed for the contest members.  Promising that trucks would be working all night, it was snowing and by morning nothing happened.  Along with my friend Russ and Mark, we were stuck a few miles out just off the road with some very heavy snow cover.  The fishing was terrible and with the snow it eventually flooded our spots bad enough that by 6:00 in the morning we were packed up and gone.  This year there is little snow on the ice and with my chains, we should be able to get out to the flats for some serious perch fishing and a chance to turn in a winner! Besides some nice prizes for the largest perch caught they have a ton of door prizes that they give away which is always a lot of fun.  I am looking forward to finally fishing with my nephew as he was supposed to go with us to Red Lake a couple of times but at the last minute had issues that kept him home.  He's a great fisherman and often reminds me of myself when I was his age.  Unfortunately he's a big northern pike guy while I like to chase walleyes so we are bound to have a few discussions.  Our plan is to get set up by 9:00 Friday night as the Tournament starts at 8:00 Saturday morning.  The weather is looking okay until Saturday night when the bottom drops out and the forecast is for -16F over night.  Hopefully that will be the last really cold spell of the year but we'll see.

Inland walleye fishing season ends on Sunday, February 22nd so after that either one needs to go down to the Mississippi River or Lake of the Woods.  I am not ruling out either however it hasn't been to bad of a season with my 4 trips to Red Lake, one can't complain.  Wish us luck and I'll report in next week.