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| Kevin on the Right and Myself on the left |
Everyone has a special friend in their lives and mine is Kevin Aiona. We grew up together as we live right down the block from him and his family. His mom Donna was in the same grade as my dad so we had lot's in common to begin with. If there was anything to do with fishing, Kevin and I were inseparable. From fishing behind Bud Tollefson's house for suckers in April to cat fishing in August, when I fished Kevin was right by my side! The memories are so many that it's almost impossible to name them all. Since we were about 10, we fished special places on the Buffalo River like Carp Slough, the Buffalo Bridge, the Trestle as well as Big Creek, Trout Creek, areas on the Mississippi north of Alma such as the Cut, the Wiggle Waggle and Catfish Slough. One of our best times and an annual favorite was fishing Wilbur's in April for the northerns as they spawned in the flood waters of Big Lake. At first we'd rent a boat from Wilbur, and row up the shoreline casting daredevils. In the late 70's I secured an old Martin 7.5 hp outboard and we had a motor to give us the status of a couple of big shots! I am sure that we did really well every time we fished for northerns, but admittedly it was a long time ago. Never the less we did very well as you can see by the picture. Kevin is about a year younger than me but he looks pretty young in this picture, I suspect this picture was about 1978, I loved wearing old army jackets and Kevin, he still looks like he was in Junior High. I am sure he will laugh at this picture yet those were the best of times. Kevin was my best man in my wedding and I was his. His son Ben who has appeared in the blog is my God child, quite an honor. From the age of 10 to 25 I am sure there were a number of great pictures. I found an old photo album and it prompted me to pay tribute to my friend, we really caught a lot of fish in the day, with minimal help other than our own knowledge. No depth finders, GPS, heck a good rod was maybe $15.
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Kevin and a nice 4 Pound Largemouth
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Both Kevin and I got pretty good at fishing bass along Catfish Slough. I had bought a boat from Paul Wichmann which was laying in one of his pastures. I fixed it up and ended getting a 15 hp Evinrude and we were in business. One weekend Kevin and I camped just south of the Wabasha bridge. We would throw Moss Boss's into the pond weed along the shore, working the bait on the surface as it would leave a trail marking where you had fished. More often the bass would explode through the pondweed to hit the plastic lure as it skipped over the weeds. The bass we caught were 3 to 4 pounds and would leave a hole in the pond weed, leaving a clue as to the success we had. We caught a lot of bass like the one Kevin is holding. That weekend we got back to our campsite after dark and walked up to the tent with our flashlight. All of a sudden we heard this sharp rattling sound and we knew exactly what that meant, a rattlesnake. Swamp rattlesnakes were know to be in the area and we finally ran into one. Well we found it and quickly dispatched it. Putting it into a burlap bag we got back in the boat and headed for Slippery's on the Wabasha side of the river, just upstream from the bridge. The legal drinking age was 19 so we decided to celebrate our adventure. There was a guy in the bar that was interested in our now dead snake so for a couple of beers we gave it to him. BTW Slippery's is the bar where the original Grumpy Old Men was filmed, pretty cool. It has changed now but at the time it was the same as in the movie. We also fished alot of walleyes in Catfish Slough. Both Kevin and I got good at making our own standup jigs then tying fake fur on them, we hammered the walleye while we drifted with the current down the slough. It could be the middle of July and 100 degrees out and we'd still hammer them in 5 to 7 feet of water. It's been a while since I have fished that area but Kevin says it's all filled in now. I guess it's tough to stop change but the river is constantly changing. Kevin and his son Ben are still river rats and my goal this year is to try and relive the past, a pretty big task. Maybe I'll learn a few new things.
Anyway my intent is to not forget those that were an important part of your being. There is a lot of guys that fit this description, Paul Wenaas, Barry Kolden, Anyway running across these old pictures brought back a lot of memories and there are a few more that will give me an excuse to elaborate on the past!
Nelson Cheese Factory. At one time it actually manufactured cheese however I think their current store which sells cheese, wine, gourmet items, and ice cream is much more successful. I have never been in there where it is less than 4 deep waiting for an ice cream cone, still $1.00 for a single and $2.00 for a double. It's a nice break. As you head south on 35 past Nelson, to the right is Big Lake. Being an old river rat we pass familiar haunts like Indian Slough, Wilbers, Thachers, Catfish Slough, The Cutoff, Railroad Slough and the Oil Tanks. As I passed these areas a lot of memories also passed by. Kevin and I would fish these areas every weekend through the summer. We were not much walleye fisherman then but we sure hit the bass hard. Here is Kevin holding a nice bass we got in the slop up Catfish Slough. I believe this was taken in June of 1981 as I have bought a new Lund in 1982. It's surprising to see that Kevin had a good start on his beer gut even back then! He is sitting in my first boat, an narrow aluminum Starcraft that we bought from Paul Wichmann. With a 15 hp Evinrude it was a great first boat for the river. I replaced the cross seats and made a new transom, added a trolling motor and real swivel seats. That boat could really catch the fish. Our arsenal consisted of daredevils, moss bosses, spinner baits, Johnson Silver Minnows and here Kevin caught this fish on his favorite, a Miller Wobbler with a chunk of Uncle Josh's Pork Rind on the back. Our technique for bass was pretty elementary, cast into the carpet of duck weed and slowly work it back on the surface. The bait coming over these thin layer of weeds would leave a distinct trail, recording its path back to the boat. When a bass did hit, it blew a 2 foot hole in these weeds, often missing the bait and leaving an interesting history of what just happened. The pork rind really added that extra attractant however the fish often grabbed the end of it rather than up higher into the hook. A quick recast would often be enough to have them hammer it again and the fight was on. Back then we would definitely eat a fish like this! As stated, walleyes really didn't even exist as a viable game fish. Of course today it is completely opposite, the bass go back and the walleye's get deep fried! I really miss fishing with Kevin and have made a promise to rekindle the "Good Old Days". Sitting on the tarmac in Chicago I got a nice e-mail and decided to call him. It's settled and we will get together like days of old. I am looking forward to our date.
