Getting caught up, part 1

Steve's First Nice Walleye

Well, you'd think one would have enough time to document everything however it seems that time just flies these days.  So I have 2 fishing trips under the belt and haven't reported on wither on  of them so better later than never!  On March 12th the plan was to have my brother Steve pick up my friend Bill from California, who was staying in a hotel near the airport then meet me at the p ole shed, transfer the stuff to my truck and head to Springsteel Island on Lake of the Woods for one last ice fishing trip with the wheelhouse before bringing it home.  Bill had never stayed on the ice while fishing so this was going to be a special trip, however on Thursday, March 11 Springsteel's Facebook page announced that due to the warm weather, they were no longer allowing wheel houses on the ice.  Well, I called Steve to figure out plan B, we would bring our portables with then stay in the wheelhouse that was parked in the driveway of my friend Dave Johnsons house on the resort.  Bill was OK with this so ahead we went.  Arriving at 2:30 we meet up with Mark Mayerich and his cousin Greg and brother-in-law Gary, the news about the ice made them reserve a room in Roseau.  In the meantime my friends from Eleva, Kevin, Ben, and Jared Aiona were out on the ice already so we paid the access fee and headed out.  Unlike a month ago there was no snow on the ice except for a few thin patches.  4 miles out there was a heave starting so we stayed on the west side of that.  Finding an area where it wouldn't be so slippery we drilled 6 holes and started fishing.  It was comfortable out, some wind but we sat behind the truck.  My brother Steve got the first nice fish, a 23 inch walleye, anything over 19.5 had to be let go so down the hole it went.  We got another few fish before sunset and overall it was a nice beginning to our trip.  Driving back that night to sleep in the wheel house, the ice didn't seem too bad yet the prediction was for temperatures to be in the mid 50's on Saturday and that could really cause issues on the ice.

Ben's Nice Northern

Saturday came and we decided to fish  the same area again, about as deep as we could find without going over the heave.  It was nice out so we decided to fish outside again.  Ben and Kevin had their Ranger so they were more mobile and tried a number of different spots closer in at around 18 feet.  Being a couple miles away it wasn't too easy to see them but we did get their coordinates.  Because they were closer to shore and shallower, this set up for the possibility to catch some nice northerns as there were many ice fisherman specifically targeting northern pike.  Ben hooked into this dandy jigging for walleyes.  In the mean time we stayed in that 24 feet of water and Bill caught a dandy perch, close to 14 inches.  As well my friend Bruce Wiley had planned on flying up Saturday morning.  Dave Johnson drove a truck up that he planned to leave at his cabin so Bruce volunteered to fly him back home on Sunday.  2 hours verses 6 1/2 hours driving.   Dave and Bruce found us on the ice to see what we had.  It was nothing to brag about so Dave decided to take some walleyes out of the freezer and we would have walleye at the bar later that night.  We had a couple, Ben and Kevin had a few but with 12 in our group it was good that he had some fish that he could contribute.  The resort does a great job of making a fish fry, deep fried walleye, cole slaw, beans, and fried potatoes, a regular shore lunch.  they were very accommodating for me using my gluten free fish coating, it was a lot of fun and a good experience for my friend Bill to see how we do it in Northern Minnesota. Sunday was colder and more wind so we set up out hub houses with a heater and fished inside.  It was nice and comfortable, not that it was bad outside, in the low 40's but the wind wasn't very nice.  In the meantime Mark, Gary, and Greg, who was right next to us made lunch including chili and marinated venison chops, exceptionally good.  At about 4 we packed up and headed to where Kevin and Ben were fishing in the shallower water.  Getting set up it took about an hour then the fish turned on.  bound and determined to catch a fish on a Slab Rap, my wish finally came true as I got 5 fish on that lure.  My goal is to become more proficient with it, hoping to try this type of bait on opener at Leech Lake this year.  By sundown the  bite died almost instantly so we packed up.  the plan in the morning was to hook up and head south.  Kevin and Ben decided to fish in the morning so we did not touch base before we left.  In hindsight I think they could have let houses out as the ice seemed pretty firm and even the high temperatures on Saturday had little effect on the ice.  Oh well we had fun.  with no DirecTV we watch a movie each night, Friday was The Big White, a Robin Williams movie, Saturday was The Founder, about Ray Kroch and McDonalds, a very good movie, then Sunday was The Man  Who Shot Liberty Valence, the first movie John Wayne called anyone Pilgrim (Jimmy Steward).  We enjoyed some great wine, some very nice scotch, Bill had an experience that he'll never forget and I got my wheel house home.  Lot's accomplished!  My next couple posts will be on my latest trip to Lake Erie, very interesting.  Also I installed 4 new Lithium batteries in my boat, that is another interesting story.