When it's hot your not

Bernie Konter's Fall Feast Pickles

Wow, this hot weather seems never ending.  This is the time I am fishing the Mississippi River behind the house however the place where I usually launch the jon boat is just too shallow.  I'd love to launch at the Champlin landing and head upstream but I need to fix the lights on the trailer.....another thing on my list! The dry weather hasn't done my garden very well however the cucumbers have been coming in like crazy.  Actually it seems like they are almost done already, even though they are watered frequently, the plants look quite yellow.  Either way it's been a scramble to get something done with the cucumbers that are ready to go.  Every year I make 10 - 20 gallons of Bernie Konter's Fall Feast Pickles.  They are a refrigerator pickle made famous by a dear and deceased friend by the name of Bernie Konter.  He used to make these for the St. Peter and Paul Fall Festival which is coming up this weekend, with buckets of pickles all over the place.  His original recipe called out adding sugar, however I'm not a great fan of that so I just use the same recipe without the sugar.  Slice medium sized cucumbers in a 1 gallon pale adding fresh dill, sliced sweet onions, and fresh garlic.  Once the pail is full you take 8 cups of water (I used store bought water), 1 cup of white vinegar, and 1/2 cup of canning salt.  Add a tablespoon or 2 of pickling spice then pour over the cucumbers.  Put a cover on them and set in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks, they are absolutely delicious. Bernie passed away a number of years ago however I enjoy carrying on the legend for sure.  If you search this blog you will find a number of posts mentioning him, he was a great guy.  Anyway if you are around stop by and I will serve you some, they are truly delicious.  

Crock Pickles

I also have gotten into making fermented pickles.  They are basically done the same way sauerkraut is made, simply put cucumbers in a pickling crock, add a given amount of salt per cup of water, cover the cucumbers with the brine, of course I add pickling spice and dill to the brine.  Usually fermentation crocks have flat ceramic stones to help keep the cucumbers completely immersed in the brine.  The crock has a cover to keep out the bad things and in 3 to 4 weeks one has some of the most delicious tasting dill pickles you have ever tasted.  This is really the old fashioned way that pickles were made as they can stay in the brine for a long time and still be good.  Because it's been too warm in the pole shed for the proper fermentation, I have been keeping these in my Salem Ice Cabin for safe keeping.  I am figuring about 2 more weeks before they are done.  Speaking of my Salem, when we returned last March from Lake of the Woods ice fishing I noticed that my front frame on the Salem was rusted through.  Being nervous about this I have an appointment with Crystal Welding on September 14 to see if it can be repaired.  I really like my current wheel house and am hoping it can be fixed, certainly a lot cheaper than buying a new one!  I guess time will tell for sure.  In a previous post I talked about the new LiFePo batteries for my boat.  Forgetting to shut off the main battery switch, during this heat the parasitic currents fully discharged the battery.  In the meantime we got new phones on the 3rd of July.  The new Ionic battery app downloaded however when I tried to look I only seen 3 batteries, not 4.  Reading that there might be some issues with the new app I just sort of brushed it off.  Well after deciding to look into it, it was apparent something was quite wrong.  After investigating and recharging the suspect battery, now they all show up on the app and everything looks good.  I am still not convinced about a few things but I have time to think about it.  Everything is back to normal.  Canada is opening August 9th and Bruce is preparing for a possible trip in the middle of September, we'll see.  In the meantime I am installing Lowrance's new Active Target into the boat, it is a challenge but I think we can get it done.  It should be the ticket for locating walleyes in Canada as it is often we don't have to move very far and we are on to them. maybe this will help.

Fishing With Charlie

$59.95, 16 ounce musky bait

This thing called retirement, one truly has to wonder where you found the time to do everything while still working!  On the other hand there is no more excuses why you can't do anything.  On Sunday, July 21st we where invited to a memorial service for our good friend Chuck Teasley's wife Karla who passed away a few weeks ago from cancer.  Charlie has been a long time friend and met him in the early 80's while we lived in Osseo, MN.  He was a banker for Northwestern National Bank, which became Norwest, and is now Wells Fargo.  We had a lot of the same interests including fishing.  Eventually he moved out of the apartment building but we stayed in touch.  Deciding to move back to Duluth he sold his 1984 Lund Pro Angler to me and bought a 1986 Lund Nisswa Guide, a fiberglass tiller.  Chuck got married to Karla, who did work for Minnesota Power, a utility company in Duluth, MN.  Eventually she got transferred to on of their companies in Orlando, so Charlie decided that the Nisswa Guide boat was not going to work in Florida so I ended up buying that.  We kept in touch the entire time as Charlie and his now family would spend a week every July at Mount Carmel Ministries in Alexandria, MN and we usually found time to spend a nice day of fishing on Mille Lacs.  The memorial service was at Mount Carmel and after a day of remembrance, it was decided that I'd bring my boat back up on Monday and stay with Charlie the night and fish Muskies on Tuesday.  Charlie lives in Glen Carbon, Illinois just east of St. Louis, Missouri where Karla was last relocated.  There all his good stuff including an impressive collection of Musky fishing equipment was stolen.  On his way to Alexandria he called and asked where the best place to buy musky equipment in the cities, as he had an insurance check.  Thorne Brothers of course!  Meeting him on Saturday he had his daughter Morgan with him and I am sure he made the store's day with walking out with about $2000 worth of new baits, rod/reel, tackle box, you name it.  Arriving on Monday we decided to fish Lake Miltona, a known musky lake 5 miles from us.  All these lakes in the Alexandria area have zebra mussels and are incredibly clear.  Arriving at the landing which wasn't very good, we finally got out and surveyed the area.  A sunken island topping out at around 8 - 10 feet surrounded by deeper water looked to be a great place to start and with the wind blowing gently across it, a perfect place to start

Not huge but the action was great

casting.  These new musky baits are quite interesting and some can be very heavy, which is why I don't fish them much, getting too old and it's hard on one's self.  Never the less we drifted across the area, me throwing a large Mepp's and Charlie throwing literally the kitchen sink.  He had a nice follow but failed to get a hook up.  On one cast he lifted his line up only to see his $60 Beaver tail bait slide to the bottom, the clasp had either come unhooked or something.  It kind of takes the wind out of your sails, oh well with the wind it was lost forever!  To be honest it wasn't the perfect day for muskies anyway, a bright sky, cold front had just passed through, crystal clear water, we decided to head to the calmer side of the lake and fish for bass along the reeds.  Admittedly since my time in Texas with my friends Matt and Joe, wacky worming for bass has found a place in my strategies.  The reed beds were well developed on the west end of the lake and the wind was perfect for following the edges.  We'd land our plastic worms right at the edge and if there was a bass it would slam the lure and take off with it.  Within 5 casts we had our first bass.  Not big but a lot better then watching our big baits come back to the boat empty!  Wacky worming is a lot of fun.  The worm is hooked in the middle and with no weight it slowly falls in the weeds.  Even with slack in the line you can still feel the hit, often you see the line heading off across the water.  Ending the day with over 15 bass it turned out to be an interesting day on the water.  Deciding that I didn't like the landing, Charlie drove my truck to the east side landing which was much deeper and easier to load onto the trailer.  A quick bite to eat at a bar in Miltona then on to Carlos Creek Winery and see if it is possible to pick up a wine club order, no it's too early however we did end up getting some wine anyway.  Back to camp, it was decided that because we have a lot of lost time to make up for, I would stay the night and fish a half a day on Wednesday.  Mount Carmel is on Lake Carlos so we stayed there as there are 4 lakes accessible from Lake Carlos.  In the morning we attended another service at the chapel before heading out.  These lakes are crazy, full of structure and clear.  Even in 5 feet of water it seemed as though one would hit bottom.  Crossing into Lake Darling it was interesting to see how much current was flowing between the lakes.  The Long Prairie Rive runs through this chain and with all the rain, it was really moving.  Again our strategy was the same, hit the edge of the reeds and fish for bass.   Admittedly the action was great and in 5 hours we had at least 15 fish.  It was time to leave so I left Charlie with a bunch of baits, said our goodbyes and will look for the next opportunity to fish with one of my dearest friends!

New cracks in the splashwell area.

This year has not been very good to my Ranger boat.  Hitting the rock while heading into camp on Lac Seul put a huge crimp in pretty much everything.  While getting the boat ready to take to Alexandria, I noticed a bunch of cracks in the back by the splash well. Thinking it be damage from the hit on Lac Seul in May, on Thursday it went back up to Frankie's.  As well a couple of weeks ago when we were on a maiden run after the lower unit was repaired, an attempt to open the motor up with the trim full up met with an unsettling result, the engine lost all steering feel almost losing control.  The same scenario was attempted last week with the same results.  Anything over 4800 RPM's and 50% till caused the handling of the boat to be very scary.  Dropping it off last Thursday and discussing the issues, Joe grabbed the motor and twisted it, seems there is air in the steering lines.  The fiberglass cranks would need to be looked at by their guy. Asking that they water test the boat to be sure, my next big trip is back to Lac Seul and there is no desire to have any issues.  A call this morning confirmed a couple of things. First the steering issue was air, they bled out the system then tried it with success.  Also the cracks did not look like they were related to the hit, so they called Ranger who offered to fix them however the boat had to be sent back to Arkansas, otherwise I could use Frankie's and they would pick up half of the cost.  This seemed reasonable so another 2 weeks in the shop!  Oh well, it will give me plenty of time to hit the river as this is the prime time to be fishing smallies and catfish.  Not that I need an excuse but it certainly  better than waiting!  In the meantime the garden is exploding with cucumbers, zucchini, potatoes, beans, you name it.  The onions and peppers look great as we have been making about 2 gallons of "Bernie Konter's Fall Feast Pickles" every other day, and they are delicious.  Plan on getting out on the river in the next day or so...too much to write, so little time!

Lac Seul, Part 2.

Pete with a nice walleye

So how good is fishing at Lac Seul?  Well, from a consistent standpoint, it's probably the best place I have fished yet.  Starting at around 2:00 on Tuesday afternoon till my final cast on Thursday night, I estimate that both Pete and I landed over 300 walleyes, maybe 400 as you just start losing count after a while.  The bait of choice is a simple 1/4 ounce gold colored jig with a rainbow minnow yet I was determined to buck the trend.  Armed with a good selection of Berkeley Gulp and the appropriate 1/4 ounce jig heads I am pretty satisfied with the results.   My technique was a method perfected by The Griz, a famous walleye guide from Minnesota.  I have met Dick Grizinski many times at both the local sports shows and at Frankies, my boat dealer. The Griz is a pretty well known guide, has a website www.fishwiththegriz.com, and has made Snap Jigging a signature presentation.  An interesting side note, my 2008 Ranger 620T was ordered for The Griz but certain circumstances prevented him from taking delivery and in 2009 I picked up his boat.  So, what is snap jigging?  It's a simple technique of letting a jig settle to the bottom the quickly snapping your rod a foot or so causing the jig to jump off the bottom before settling back down.  I decided to try it on Leech this year as the bite was difficult and had some success.  The problem with snap jigging is the walleyes usually hit it on the way down just when you have the most slack in your line.  Often you can see the fish hit your jig via movement in the line or simply the next time you snap there's a solid hook set and the fight is on.  You do tend to miss some fish as they often hit the jig before you have time to react yet I think the excitement of the strike outweighs the negative aspects of snap jigging.  Using Gulp and snap jigging results in some amazing strikes and I think its much more exciting than simply dragging a jig and minnow.  Looking at our catch rates, I would have to say that my strategy caught as many walleyes as the traditional methods but I didn't have to deal with constantly rebaiting with minnows.  Sharp hooks and special jig heads that have a straight hook shaft with a wire bait holder worked great, my preference is VMC Neon Moon Eye Jig which worked great in combination with Gulp Alive Minnow Grub.

A nice 22 inch Walleye

Fishing was focused in shallow areas on or near points and in 4 - 12 feet of water.  Personally I felt the fish were in very shallow and I did really well casting into the shorelines.  Chamberlain Narrows is a necked down area where the walleyes pass through on their annual spawning migrations and they certainly were in the area last week.  Quite honestly we seldom ventured more than a mile from camp as the walleyes seemed to be everywhere.  One of the best spots was about 300 yards across the channel, anchored in 10 feet of water.  I took a video that shows Pete and I hooking 17 walleyes in 17 minutes.  This wasn't untypical as it seemed everywhere we went we caught fish.  Lac Seul has a slot limit where all walleyes between 18 - 21 inches have to be released, a total of 4 fish per person which only 1 can be over 21 inches. One of the other interesting regulations is that if you keep a fish, you have to kill it.  We accomplished this by simply folding back their heads and breaking the neck.  It's a big fine to have a live fish on board so it's important to make sure the fish are dead.   You can bring back 4 walleyes and luckily you can eat what you want and eat we did.  Bruce has a nice propane cooker on the deck of the cabin and using a deep cast iron frying pan (I call it a chicken cooker) we had fish each night to compliment or main meals. On Wednesday night Garith made his "infamous" fish boil.  Using Zatarain's Crawfish-Shrimp-and-Crab-Boil-In-a-Bag, I was skeptical but after looking at the ingredients ( I am severely allergic to crustaceans) and seeing it was just spices, I couldn't wait.  Apparently Garith is the master at this and after boiling rutabagas, carrots, potatoes, in the pot with the spice bag he added walleye when the water became minimal.  After using a ladle to transfer to your plate, he had melted butter to pour over the mixture and using a little salt and pepper I got to admit it was seriously fabulous.   On Thursday night we had Surf and Turf when Garith made a prime rib and we cooked up the remaining walleyes needed to keep us legal.  I have decided that Garith and I make a great pair!  Along with being his co-pilot, we have the same philosophies, same tastes, same attitudes, and we like the same stuff.  It's never too late to meet new friends!

Cessna at Sunset

I did take some videos of the plane then uploaded them on YouTube with the help of my smarter engineer, Welly Chou.  They are pretty interesting and if you have a fast internet connection, change the resolution to 720P or 1080P, it's pretty incredible.  Here are the links for your convenience.  The first is when we land at Lac Seul called Arriving at Chamberlain Narrows.  Turn the volume up to hear the distinctive sound of a 9 cylinder Pratt and Whitney Rotary Engine  It's really cool.  Next is Parking the Beaver, again a short clip of Garith driving the plane to it's parking spot.  Finally a parting shot of our departure from fishing heaven on Lac Seul called Leaving Chamberlain Narrows. Outpost.  Our flight back took a little longer as we bucked a 20 knot headwind most of the way.  Taking off at 7:30 we stopped at Scotty's Seaplane Base on Crane lake to go through US Customs and refill the gas tanks.  Dropping Tom off at Round Lake, we took off just as Bruce landed his Cessna.  A quick flyover to say goodbye to Bruce and Wayne, we head back to Surfside arriving by 2:20. With plenty to do it was back to the same old grind, planting the garden and getting caught up because the late spring.  Here is one of my more interesting pictures as I walked down to the beach at sunset to capture Bruce's plane, a Cessna with amphibious floats. Certainly after a day of fishing the show Mother Nature put on each night was incredible.

With a sad heart I also learned this week that a fellow fisherman and friend had died over the weekend, Bernie Konter.  Bernie was from my wife's home town of Independence, Wisconsin and was a friend of her brother, John. Back when I first started blogging in 2008, Bernie was one of my first subject, even before I started adding tags to the posts.  Bernie Konter's Fall Fest Pickles apparently caught the attention of his daughter Tonya of Wilmar, MN and on Monday night while I was helping Adam with his boat I received a phone call from a 320 area code.  Answering it, I learned that Bernie's family had searched his name and discovered my post of almost 6 years ago. I was also told that he passed away on Saturday at the young age of 70 years old.  Bernie was a good man as he moved to Buffalo City, Wisconsin after he retired to be closer to his love of the Mississippi River and fishing.  For some reason he was always very nice to me as our relationship was based on the occasional running into each other and talking about fishing.  In 2008 he called to see if I'd meet him and his family at Mille Lacs and I couldn't refuse.  Bernie was famous for his Fall Fest Pickles, a recipe that I make every year without fail.  He loved the outdoors and I guess my only regrets will be not spending more time with him.  Maybe in another life, God bless you Bernie and I hope there's a fishing pole waiting for you somewhere.