Frosty on Red, a Synopsis of the Season

Sunday Morning Outside Temperature!

This weekend marked the last trip to Red Lake and JR's for the year.  Mr. Applen decided to join myself as the end strategy was to pull my Salem home for the year.  Typically there is a group of us who pull up our wheel houses to Red Lake the minute one is allowed to travel on the ice with single axle wheel houses and half ton pickup trucks.  That has been as early as the Friday after Thanksgiving however generally occurs around the middle of December as was the case this year when we arrived on December 14th.  Both Mark and myself had issues that first weekend which forced us to pull our house back home and get repaired as normally we leave them right at JR's till the end.  Last weekend was JR's annual Redfest, an unusual fishing contest done inside his bar and it is quite slick.  $5.00 a ticket, it is put in a bucket then drawn later.  If your name is drawn that gives you the opportunity to draw out of another bucket which has all sorts o
f fishing scenario's and instant prizes.  Say you draw a ticket and it says 8#9 ounce walleye, you can decide to keep it and enter it into the contest or throw it back which allows your name to go back into the main bucket to possibly be drawn again.  Usually buying 4 tickets my name was drawn and it was for $20, essentially I got my money back.  It's always a good chance to meet people you haven't seen since the last Redfest and this year was no exception, especially seeing Brice and his dad John.  This year is was exceptionally cold as we arrived on Friday afternoon, it was -10F.  We asked JR to plow us a spot, he accommodated us and a few of his friends near the southern rock pile in 10 feet of water.  It is really nice to have a plowed spot and not have to cross country it through uncharted snowdrifts and ice chunks.  It is really easy to simply back in and set it up, as well tearing down is a lot easier as well.  No worries about getting stuck.  Although this might sound crazy both Mark and I determined ot have a JR's walleye lunch and brought some frozen walleye from home to assure a meal as the bite has been tough on Red this year.  By Saturday morning we had 3 nicer walleyes Mark decided to keep for a relative of his.  Saturday evening I got a nice one on a rattle reel but other than that it was a pretty slow bite.  Did I mention it was cold?  Sunday morning about 4:20 one of the rattle reels went off.  Mark was sound asleep so I got up to attend to that line.  I knew it was going to

Jack Nicholson at His Finest!

get cold however looking at the clock, it was -28.5F outside.  Uffda.  I did set the hook on a nice fish but just like that the hook broke off the line.  One of my goals was to change up the line on each of my Rattle Reels, hoping to go to a heavier line and of course newer as the old stuff was getting brittle.  I didn't make it that far on that specific rattle reel.  I did go outside to finish some business and dang, it was cold! It reminded me of the picture of Jack Nicholson in the movie, The Shining, where he ends up in the end.  Luckily the house is pretty warm and we had plenty of propane to sustain us through the weekend. It wouldn't take very long to look like the picture in this weather!  Because Mark and I have the exact same wheel house, a Salem 8X20RD Ice Cabin, we make a good team as each knows exactly what needs to be done to get it ready for the road.  2 hours later we were back at JR's where Mark cleaned our last fish and we filled up on Coffee and said good bye to JR and Adam.

Sunday Morning Sunrise at -26F

As stated Red Lake wasn't necessarily a bust this year however the fishing was difficult.  As stated in a previous post, the test nets set out to evaluate the walleye population was a twice as high as Lake of the Woods, an incredible amount of walleyes.  It is my opinion that these fish were very well fed and we are seeing the top of the cycle where there is abundant bait fish therefore the fish have plenty to eat.  This was obvious by the marks we saw on our flashers, through the last 4 trips we saw plenty of evidence on our depth finders that the fish were there, just not hungary,  Maybe next year this will change and so will the bite.  I still enjoy going up to JR's and truthfully we caught fish every time and had at least 1 meal each trip, as well brought fish home.  Never getting  up with the sun much, this weekend was an exception  as I did get an opportunity to get a nice sunrise picture looking to the Southeast from our camp on the ice.  The day progressed as we stopped at one of our favorite places to eat breakfast, The Woodsman Cafe in Remer, Minnesota.  They even have Gluten Free Bread for me!  They make an honest homemade corned beef hash that is to die for!

Getting the house parked at home, there is a lot to do to make the necessary repairs, to restock the cupboards, and give it a general cleaning.  As I write this, the cold weather has followed us down as it was -29 this morning in the truck as I drove to work.  The warmth is predicted to return on Saturday with a forecasted high of around 40, that will be nice to thaw everything out before it starts to cool off again.  There are lots of things going on in the next month, I'd like to make it up to Mille Lacs once before the Perch Extravaganza, Bruce asked me to fly back with him in his airplane from South Padre Island in Texas, so I might just meet him in Dallas, visit Joe and Matt before flying back.  I'd like to go find some nice crappies soon.  This winter is certainly moving fast!

Something different

Bill's First Introduction.

With the wheel house still parked at JR's and some family stuff to do last weekend it was pretty quiet around the fishing front lately.  That will change as Mark Applen and I are heading up to Red Lake for our last fishing trip of the year to Red, which will result in pulling it home then spending some time on Mille Lacs Lake in February.  One of the things that I have come to learn to enjoy is a nice whiskey.  Traditionally beer was the beverage of choice when I was young, Walter's Beer happened to be my favorite.  Brewed in Eau Claire Wisconsin it was a popular local beer, especially with some of the guys I worked for when I was young and helping Bud Tollefson and Ronnie Petersen to whitewash barns on the weekends.  Walters was a full bodied beer but met its demise when the light beer craze pretty much wiped out most of the traditional style German beers.  From there I followed my mentor in life, Vic Wenaas as he always drank brandy, and it became my choice of refreshments for many years.  Today I really don't drink very much beer, actually liking a good glass of dry red wine, and have started to enjoy the taste of various whiskeys these days.  My fiend Mark Applen started this business with his choice of beverage, Maker's Mark Bourbon.  It's not bad and Mark has gained his own notoriety as Maker's Mark himself!  I do not like a lot of that burn offered by the standard types that are better mixed with something to tame them down with.  Yet over the years and with the help of some good friends like Bill Dull, of California fame, or Matt Davis, from Texas I have learned that there are a lot of good stuff out there, deserving of a simple glass of Ice mixed with a dash of time.  Bill and I had spent some time in Savannah a few months ago and he introduced me to a California based whiskey, a smooth blend of Bourbon, Rye, and American Whiskey called St. George Breaking and Entering.  It is quite nice however difficult at best to find in Minnesota. After getting back from Savannah I found it on line and picked up a bottle for myself and my friend JR at JR's Corner Access.  He absolutely loved it and I suspect that he would be really hard pressed to find this around St. Cloud, MN.  Bill Dull and I have a common thread via our Taiwanese business Partner, Axis, whom we have been doing business with since 1998 and as well, Axis bought the company he was working for, Triad, is Perris, California.  Bill has always been a friend as we typically meet a couple times a year, once at the Medical Device

Angel's Envy is as it says!

and Manufacturing  (MD & M) in Anaheim.  It appears as though I will not be attending that event this year as seeing all my industry friends had been a staple for the last 10 years.  Bill and I usually catch dinner one of those nights and this is where he tends to surprise me with his new discoveries.  I would say that we both have the same tastes and it's always an adventure being with him.  A couple of weeks ago he sent me this belated Christmas present, a bottle of Angel's Envy, Caribbean Rum barrel finished Rye Whiskey.  I have to admit it is pretty incredible stuff, as I opened it an took a whiff, it smelled as though someone inserted a caramel apple in the bottle.  It is incredibly smooth and with that heavy base of caramel mixed with spices ( Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves) and a nutty base, it is very hard to describe.  All of these flavors are not added rather the result of the proper distillation and knowledgeable use of the proper wood barrels to age the liquor.  It's truly hard to believe but I guess one has to try it to realize how well made this stuff is.  Checking on line as it is a very limited release product, the dang stuff is $80.00 a bottle.  Well, this is typical of my friend Bill as a few years ago we had dinner and insisted on buying me a bottle of a nice red wine he liked, Quintessa Cabernet Sauvignon.  It was absolutely amazing but also about $150 a bottle in the stores.  I guess you get what you pay for and hanging with Bill is a lot of fun but it can also be very expensive!!! Never the less it's a great learning experience and hopefully I will get to see him again soon as I really don't mind being spoiled by him!

 As stated earlier, my good friend from Garland Texas has graced my palate with a nice smooth Whiskey from Fort Worth Texas called TX.  It is quite nice and a lot more reasonably priced than the stuff Bill gets me tied up with!  Nevertheless he definitely keeps my cabinet well stocked as it is only available  in Texas, Louisiana and it's starting to make it's way up north.  It been awarded the best American Whiskey with a double gold award, and well deserved.  One interesting aspect it the cork cap that they use on the bottle.  It's best described by their story on their website:   First, we select the leather. In the beginning, most of our leathers were re-purposed from boots donated by some of our friends in the community and by visitors to the distillery. Now we primarily use leather pieces from the best boot and saddle makers. We acquire exotic skins and different colors of leather from those extra pieces that the boot and saddle makers can no longer use. Next, we use unique tools to punch out a circle of leather. We then measure the thickness of the leather to determine which cork size to use. Then we hammer a custom-made wood ring over the leather to secure it to the cork. Finally, we add very small pins for reinforcement. Every resulting bottle cap is a unique example of fine Western craftsmanship – just like our whiskey. Stop by the distillery and swap stories with us – maybe even bring your own boots for topping off a bottle of F&R spirits; we’d love to make you a part of our history. It is actually quite interesting as each cap is unique in its own way and definitely represents the state where it derives from, Texas as this is where many of the great and classic cowboy boot manufacturers are located. 

Auchentoshan Three Woods.

Finally not forgetting an experience in Savannah with the new owners of my business, especially David Ashton, an industry consultant who is from Scotland.  During an event in Savannah we stopped at a Scottish Pub called Molly MacPherson's.  Being of Scottish descent, David decided to treat us to a single malt scotch of his liking.  It was Auchentoshan Three Woods Single Malt Lowland style scotch, one that did not exhibit that traditional smokiness associated with Scotch Whiskey's.  The Three Woods title comes from the fact that it is cured in 3 different wood barrels, first in used American oak bourbon barrels, then it is transferred to a used Spanish Sherry wine barrel before finished in a different sherry wine barrel.  Again incredibly smooth, flavorful and with no burn, it's a perfect after dinner treat.  Of course I had never heard of this and definitely found it in the Minneapolis area.  It is a little on the expensive side however their American Oak brand is almost as good, 100% cured in used American Oak barrels it is more reasonably priced and one can overlook that extra Sherry barrelled cure for $30 less!  Admittedly it's been and interesting year learning about different types of Whiskey's especially breaking the old assumptions of what was called whiskey, Jack Daniels, Windsor, Canadian Club, and Seagrams..........all needed Coca Cola or Seven Up to make them palatable!  Here's hoping the fish are biting on Red as many of the ice houses have left the lake which means less traffic and maybe a better bite.  A friend Chris Worms called me earlier this week stating he was going to JR's this weekend and it would be nice to see him again as the last time was at Lac Seul Outposts, on the 2018 Ontario Fishing Opener.

Fishing with Marcus

The Ice Cabin with Russ's shack in the back.

Last weekend was the third of four trips planned to go to Red Lake this year and it was the ideal opportunity to spend it with my 2 good friends from the Eau Claire area, Greg and his 18 year old son Marcus Kimblom.  Greg is one of those guys that you meet once years ago and have stayed friend ever since.  Looking back on the archives you will see that we fished Mille Lacs last July and did OK, this was their first adventure ice fishing where one stays on the ice in a heated shack, my Salem Ice Cabin.  Arriving at 8:00 AM on Friday, we headed north via our usual route, Hwy's 169 to 18 to 6 to Hwy 2 then up through Deer River where we secured bait, then onto Hwy 46 then finally the home stretch on Hwy 1 to 72 then to JR's.  My age is really starting to show as half way up I remembered that I forgot our fillet knives.  a quick stop at Kelliher and they had some cheap but adequate knives for $4.99 so we got one of those, at the worst case I can leave it in the house.  Better yet it is a lesson in not forgetting! Arriving at JR's Corner Access around 1:30 we hooked up the house to the truck and had one of the 30 pound propane tanks refilled.  I am always amazed at how little propane we go through yet maybe it's just that I don't fully understand how much is really needed, nevertheless we were ready for the weekend.  Russ Praught had been out in his house on Red since Thursday night and the plan was to hook up with him and fish in the same area.  We called Russ and got the lowdown, drive 6.5 miles west on JR's road where it comes to an end then turn right and go north about 2 miles, I'm on the right at the end of the road.  Because we drive slow on the ice, it takes about 30 minutes to get there, looking for Russ, I see his house off the road a bit, but his truck wasn't there.  Finally we see a truck, his white half ton Ford stuck in a drift.  Apparently he saw us and decided to help establish a track in the snow to make it easier to pull the shack closer to his.  Also, Russ had been tip up fishing to see if he could find us a good place to park, which he did.  It takes about an hour to get everything set up and by 3:00 we had the DirecTV hooked up, stuff put away, the house heated up nicely, and we were fishing.  Russ had his limit of walleyes and between the nice perch and the 3 of us, we managed to get enough fish to go back to JR's for a fish fry, which we did.  JR's does and excellent job as his cooks will use the special Zatarain's Gluten Free Fish Coating for my portion and of course fresh walleye, it doesn't get any better!!

Marcus With a Nice 21 Inch Walleye on a Rattle Reel

Getting back around 8:30, we still had time to get set up for the night and by 9:30 we were quite exhausted and decided to call it a night.  The fishing wasn't fast and furious but it was somewhat steady and between the four of us we had enough to go back in to JR's for a fish fry on Saturday night.  The satellite TV is nice as we got to watch the football games that were on, and as a bonus, the fishing shows in the morning.  Marcus was pretty happy, sitting in a nice comfortable RV with holes in the floor, fishing and catching a few walleyes, 7 hours from home with his dad, myself, and all the comforts one could want.   Greg and I put him on the knife sofa for sleeping arrangements figuring he is the youngest guy, he can chase those rattle reels at midnight when they go off.  Friday night was pretty quite but Saturday night presented a few opportunities.  In the end Marcus pulled in a couple of nice 20+ inch walleyes on the rattle reels, his first ever.  Apparently one of the lines broke just as he lifted it to the surface but was able to rescue both the fish and the hook.  I heard all of the commotion however decided that these guys could handle the job, which they did perfectly.  Missing another rattle reel things calmed down for the remainder of the night, however we did end up with 6 walleyes and a nice perch to clean in the morning.  We were surprised to see Russ took off quite early as he was gone when we finally got up.  As it is when we set up the house, it takes about an hour to get it back on the truck and ready to go.  It goes pretty good when you have a couple of guys you can boss around!  We finally got back to JR's around 10:30, parked the house on his lot, filleted the fish, and headed south.  My intent was to take them home via a different route, through Walker and Brainerd, stopping at Reeds so Marcus could take a look.  Getting home about 5:30 we loaded up his car and said good bye.  It was a great weekend and the highlight was having Marcus with.  This is a good experience, being with the boys, driving 9 miles out on the lake, having fresh walleye dinner every night while staying in a comfortable house right on the ice.  It's also good to meet other people like Russ and JR, two characters for sure.  It's great to give something back to the new generation, I can just hear it now, I'll be dead and gone and Marcus will be talking to his 80 year old dad saying, "Dad, do you remember the time we ice fished on Red Lake with your crazy friend Dave?"  I guess memories are a great thing to leave your friends!

Every Other Week

Ben and a nice 27 inch LOTW's walleye

The schedule is working out such that my fishing outings at Red Lake turn out to be every other weekend starting December 14, 28, January 11, and the 25th will probably be my last trip.  So last weekend with the nice weather, there was an attempt to get some things done.  The rainy weather we had after Christmas really messed things up and the 45 degree temperatures of last weekend helped to loosen things up a bit and get the sidewalks and driveways cleared of ice.  Whilst I was busy chipping away my friend Ben Aiona headed up to LOTW (Lake of the Woods) with his wheel house and to my surprise fished out of Morris Point Resort, on the south side of the lake.  Lake of the wood has been a lot like Mille Lacs, very slow to embrace the technology of portable wheel houses as their business model has been more directed towards semi guided trips where the resorts would charge you so much a day for lodging, a ride to and from what we would call a skid type ice house, fish until sunset then a ride back into the resort for lodging.  Most if not all of the transportation would be via a vehicle called a Bombardier which is basically a van with skis in the front and tracks in the back to push it along.  The advantage is that they could charge by the person, usually around $80 - $100 a day for the combination of everything and unless you had a snowmobile, it was usually difficult to travel via your own vehicle to get anywhere on the lake.  Today things have changed from 20 years ago, most serious ice fisherman have their own wheel houses (Like myself) and they are getting more family focused whereas they have dual use as an ice house in the winter and a camper/RV in the summer.  Wheel houses were the curse for the traditional resort operator as now their customers had their own accomodations.  Red Lake was probably the first lake to really popularize the welcoming of wheel houses, for no other fact than they did not have an established resort business that counted on the combination fishing model.  It is amazing to see Red lake, often times there are thousands of wheel houses parked across the lake.  Many of these guys were ardent Mille Lacs, Leech Lake, Lake Winnibigoshish, and Lake of the Woods fisherman.  Honestly a few resorts on these lakes worked with wheel houses however many of them viewed them as the enemy to their livelihood.  Unfortunately this form of ice fishing is here to stay as more and more resorts are seeing this as a sign to help develop a better business model using individual houses.  Traditional means of ice fishing requires a lot of work and maintenance yet with wheel houses one only needs to offer a decent road system and take advantage of the needs of these guys, stuff like propane, fish cleaning, a place to sit and eat.  I definitely can't say which is a better model however it is becoming more obvious that things are changing and those who adapt are the survivors.  Based on Ben's report I would like to get up there and fish, maybe in March as Morris Point was one of our places I used to fish with my friend Mark Mayerich, where we would use our portable ice houses and stay in their facilities.  Ben did very well, a lot better than we have been doing on Red.  Although he caught a lot of fish, many of them were small but mixed in was enough to take some home as well a couple of dandy's including this 27 incher.

Upper Red Lake (BLue) is Fishable Area

Friday I am heading back to JR's for the weekend with my bone collector friend Greg Kimblom and his son Marcus.  My friend Mark Applen went up last weekend and really did not do very well.  I question his going up alone, with the snow on the lake, it's sort of dangerous, as he told the story of getting really stuck in the snow and what we call "Shale" ice, flat thin sheets of ice chunks that blew together then froze, hard for the truck to get any traction and he claims that the rear end got hung up.  This is why I carry a set of easy to install chains with me, just for these situations.  Luckily I have never had to use them except once, and I guarantee that they are nice to have when one needs them.  He has some commitments this weekend however our friend Russ is heading up on Thursday and hopefully he will have a better report as his strategy is to fish south of where we have been since December 14th, near the rockpile in shallower water.  Our theory is the vehicle traffic to Center Bar just keeps pushing the fish west into the Reservation side of the lake, so maybe a little further south might just be the ticket.  It hard to say and it isn't too bad to move yet it does take an hour to set up and an hour to pack up so the older we get the lazier we are! I think if I had the energy it would be more successful heading to Lake of the Woods, yet that's another hour's drive north and a new experience to learn.  Maybe in March, like the good old times!  Here's hoping for a good report for next week.

Red Lake, Chapter 2

My Friend Kevin

After Christmas and before New Years Day we decided to head up to JR's to fish the weekend.  It wasn't ideal conditions as a band of 12 inch snow lay between Minneapolis and Red Lake.  Raining the day after Christmas, we received almost and inch of rain while further north it fell in it's frozen state.  What a mess!  Even the new snowblower had a heck of a time clearing out all the heavy slush that was everywhere.  .Of course the temperature was dropping as it was in the mid 20's when my brother Steve and good friend Kevin left for JR's, by the time we got there it was almost 0 out.  The roads were not too bad but caution was the word of the day and our drive time was about an hour longer than normal.  We still managed to arrive before dark and after paying Adam we headed out about 6 miles were we found Mark on the southside of the road, just before Center Bar.  This is in the same area we fished 2 weeks ago and did well and by dark we were all settled in.  The new electric jacks worked well as they never even hesitated in doing a great job.  Admittedly they are somewhat slow yet you could sure tell they were rated at 5000 pounds instead of the factory 3500 pounds as there was no sign of stress when lifting the house up.  After getting settled in it was obvious that no one had enough fish to go back in for walleye dinner so we made pizza's and bacon wrapped scallops for supper.  The bite was slow, as had been reported by a few people.  We did get a few but going from a snow storm to clear skies and -10 below, the weather change definitely had an effect.  Oh well, we got the DirecTV going and enjoyed a relaxing night of fishing in our own little environment, a few nice glasses of whiskey, and good company was all we needed.  Finally getting to bed we did set up the rattle wheels and managed to get a few more nice walleyes, enough to have a mid afternoon dinner at JR's.  By Saturday night the snow had started again and to be honest the bite wasn't that good.  We marked a lot of fish on our Vexilar's but they were not to eager to hit the lures.  Every once in a while one would come and slam it but there were definitely more lookers than hitters!

Last walleye of the trip.

Saturday night was pretty slow as we did get a couple but blaming the weather change sounded like a
great idea.  Sunday basically continued the change in weather and the slow bite, yet we managed to get 7 in the pail between the time we got back to the shacks on Saturday to Sunday night.  Although not very well, it was comforting to know that by most standards we did pretty well.  Mark had been there since Thursday so his plan was to pack up and leave Sunday morning, which he did.  On the other had we were not much in a hurry and stayed till Monday morning before we left.  On thing that was nice is we were able to watch all of the final week's football games with the Packers and Vikings losing.  No more BS at work I guess!  Fishing was slow as we didn't get anything through the night.  Getting up pretty early we decided to just pack up and get going.  Kevin is 7 hours from home and Steve is 8 hours so by 8:30 we had the house packed up and parked at JR's as the plan was to leave it there for the month of January.  We got our fish cleaned, said good bye to JR and headed south.  The plan is to go up on the 11th with my friend Greg Kimblom and his son Marcus, let's hope that the catching will be better!  Never the less it's fun and relaxing to be up there fishing.  I thought it was interesting, for the generator we use to power the house, there is a 6 gallon auxiliary gas tank that hooks to the Honda for extended running service.  On Sunday I added an additional 2 gallons to the tank and still by Monday morning, there was only about 1/2 a gallon of fuel left.  That seemed like a lot of gas to burn but it is what it is!  In addition the power cord for my Winegard Satellite DirecTV antenna was shorted.  I was able to get it to work by inserting a cocktail pick between the wires, which held for the weekend but Just in case, I ordered a new one.  The things I go through to ice fish!!!