Busy week

Leech Lake Opener with Jon

Well, we got my brother taken care of last weekend however it came with some family drama as often these things do.  It still did not take away from the celebration of his life and the fun we had together the last few years taking him to our annual Team Walleye Leech Lake Minnesota Fishing Opener.  At the funeral there were a lot of pictures of Jon holding up walleyes that he had caught on Leech including this one with his beloved mentor and guide!  Jon loved going up with the guys where he was simply accepted as one of the guys, which meant a lot to him. Jon was never much of a fisherman however I do remember taking him down to Alma on the Mississippi River backwaters and after a day of basically catching nothing we hit a weed bed that was loaded with northern pike and just hammered them.  Jon was looking forward to this year's trip but I sense some doubts that he was going to make it as his condition had turned terminal a couple of years back.  We all know what that mean but we never anticipate the end date.  Oh well, at least we have some great memories of him at Leech and it is very satisfying to know that he appreciated us taking him with.  Unfortunately this leaves a hole in our group for the 2017 opener but my friend Kevin will probably come with us, that would be a great replacement!  Either way I will miss my brother coming up, we are all getting too old and one has to really cherish the time spent together, one never knows when that that will be the last time.

Keith's perch checking him out!

Because of the funeral and the Green Bay Packer game on Sunday, it put a damper on ice fishing, probably for the next week or so.  My wheel house is parked at JR's yet and I do plan on getting up there soon as I can as all reports point to the fishing has been picking up.  I know that the fishing on Mille Lacs has been on fire with reports of 30 to 40 walleye days however the limit is tight, you can only keep one between 19 and 21 inches.   This is not the main reason I haven't fished Mille Lacs this year as I do enjoy fishing Red Lake in my wheel house and if you get a couple of fish under 17, JR will cook them up for you, something I really enjoy.  My friend Mark Applen is usually who I go with however he has been traveling lately and is in Nashville this weekend for work.  My friend Keith Holtan has been doing a lot of fishing on his lake in Brainerd, and the water is pretty clear.  He sent me this underwater camera shot of a perch looking straight into the lens, as he caught a number of nice ones over 12 inches.  Boy, it's been a long time since I've caught a nice perch and maybe I can get together with Keith sometime and hoist a few!