Positive Changes are Happening!

Another Mole!

What a difference a week can make.  Thursday Frankie's called and said the boat is ready!!  I am not sure if the boat likes being at Frankie's more than at home as in the last 12 months it has spent at least 5 of them in the shop.  The fiberglass guy does a good job and it looks like new.  As long as they had the lower unit off it was prudent to change the water pump.  It still looked pretty good but I agree with that philosophy as it seemed like a great idea.  I wasn't too impressed by the repair job on the front of the skeg, I guess my idea of a repair falls more in line with the fiberglass guy, it should look like new.  You have to look close at the skeg repair and because the "trim Tab" is built into the skeg design, it probably is a hard one to duplicate however...........and I'll just leave it at that! My friend Bruce understands the dilemma, you know it isn't right, bugs the crap out of you, but what's a reasonable answer for the repair, another month of no use?  Sometimes common sense has to dictate until there is a convenient time to address the issue that unfortunately only bugs you!  Upon getting her home and checking things out, the live well still had water in it and the valve control was on empty.  I thought...........I'll bet they forgot to remove the whiskey bottle cork that I inserted in the live well input at the rear of the boat, to stop water from leaking in (and would stop water from draining out).  Sure enough, after pulling the screen it was still in there.  Although it took a channel lock to pull it out we are back to normal.  She's washed and waxed, windshield cleaned, and the electronic's software has been updated.  The grab pole for the Ezee Steps, the system for us old guys to get into the boat easier, was rusting on the mount.  Being held by 4 1 inch 1/4" bolts, after removing and wire brushing the rusted areas it was repainted with truck bed liner spray (matches the Armor Coat on the trailer) then remounted with new stainless steel bolts.  It looks pretty good, at least better than seeing rust as one enters the boat.  Last week was posted a picture of a mole that I got on the first try.  Since then these seemingly dumb creatures have done their best to outwit me.  My friend Paul Wenaas responded to my post with a fool

The Cat Earning it's Keep!

proof mole trap that I needed to get, Fleet Farm had them for only $22.00, but after three unsuccessful tries I set only 1 trap again then headed to Fleet Farm to act on his suggestion.  Upon returning to set my new trap, damn if there wasn't a mole caught in my 4th set of this tunnel.  With the dry weather upon us, the moles will head to my irrigated lawn so all is not lost.  He says this trap works pretty good, I hope so as now my collection includes a 5th style.  Oh well, if they were pocket gophers it would be a different story.  It would be really nice if somehow our cat could figure out how to catch those dang moles.  He's actually pretty good at the above ground rodents and is quite successful in keeping the mouse, vole, and stripped gopher populations in check around the house.  It is quite amazing how quick our cat, Rocky can be however  I've seen those ground squirrels out run him but he's pretty savoy when it comes to mice.  Here he is pictured with a field mouse he got in the perennial garden earlier.  It's also amazing to watch as he seldom plays with them once caught, rather simply sit's down and within a minute has devoured everything but it's guts.  As stated earlier, if we could teach him to get moles!

Shimano Stradic CI4, 2500 Series

Thursday was the annual Fishing Garage Sale which usually has taken place down the road in Champlin.  At a previous sale, I signed the registration book with my e-mail and this year it was held east of Buffalo, MN, about 15 miles away.  Calling my friend David Grant we headed out there by 9:00 and it was pretty good.  As any good fisherman knows, one never has enough fishing rods and there was a nice selection of 13 Fishing and Fenwick rods, all at about 50 - 60% off of standard retail.  I ended up with a couple of 13 Fishing, 1 Muse which is a very nice 6'10" medium light/fast action spinning rod which is extremely light and 1 lime green Fate, another 6'10" medium light/fast action rod, not as light as the Muse but the color is pretty cool!  On the way home we stopped at Cabela's as in their Father's Day flyer was Shimano Stratic CI4's for $80 off, normally $229.00 for only $149.00.  These reels are premium reels which are incredibly light and come in at 6.7 ounces.  They are extremely smooth and a pleasure to fish with, especially paired with a nice lighter rod like the Muse,  one can fish all day jigging without any fatigue, which is important at my age.  My Canada buddies laugh at me, what if it goes in..........my Ugly Stick or Snoopy Rod is just fine and I am only out $30!  Well I try to be a little more careful although admittedly I wish that were the same for my boat!  The problem was that on Thursday Cabela's only had 1 series 4000 left, too big for walleye fishing, although this is what's on my Alaskan Salmon rods.  The guys says come back tomorrow, we will have more but get here early.  Like a good sheep I was in line Friday morning by 8:45 and the doors opened at 9:00.  At the reel counter there were 15 guys listening to the man behind the counter stating that there were no reels.  After a few choice words were exchanged, the guys said he didn't know when more would be in but they could come any day.  Repeating the routine on Saturday morning they had gotten in the 2500 series only.  Although I wanted the 3000 series the only reel difference is the 3000 has a slightly larger spool however the body and weight are the same as the 2500.  They say a bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush........I took a couple.  It looks good on the Muse and ready to go for our trip to Mille Lacs on Wednesday.

Still In The Shop

First mole of the year!

I am beginning to believe that my boat loves my dealer Frankie more than it loves me.  Of course there is a probable good reason for this, in my possession it takes it's own fate in my hands yet at Frankie's, it gets the tender loving care it really needs!  If I look at the total time it has been in the shop between May 20, 2019 to May 20, 2020, it was over 6 months!  Of course there is no one to blame except me so that leaves me tip toeing around my fishing adventures.  Of course add the current Covid situation in there and I should be on Lac Seul right now on my second trip of the year.  In the meantime I simply sit around and try to get things done.  So rather than sitting around and feeling bad about the boat not being in my possession therefore not being able to fish Devils Lake this weekend with Kevin and Ben, there were a couple of interesting moments to share.  The first is last Thursday Bruce Wiley called me to ask if I wanted to have lunch.  About 50% of the time lunch means more than just meeting him at a restaurant rather meeting him at his hanger and we fly somewhere for lunch.  The first option was Hanger 54 in the Eau Claire Airport, a quick call stated they were still closed.  Plan B was fly to Voyager Village, southwest of Danbury, Wisconsin, a large development with a golf course, clubhouse, runway, that is secluded in the middle of the woods/lake area.  A quick 35 minute flight in Bruce's Cessna 182 RG (Retractable Gear), as we approached Siren Wisconsin I saw a runway and asked about it, "nope, you need to be right on top of this one to see it" and of course he was right.  We landed basically on the golf course, hoping the guys teeing off to our right wouldn't slice one as we touched down.  Luckily we were good as we taxied our way to the plane parking area, threw $20 in the runway donation box and walked to the clubhouse and had a magnificent lunch, quite an operation.  Sat next to some retired business guys from the St. Paul area and had a good discussion of the current situations.  As we took off I was looking for my phone to take some pictures, no phone!!!  Damn, did it fall out of my pocket, did I leave it on the table....I seem to be getting worse at just set it it down and forgetting.  Well, not remembering that it was used, the last time was at the hanger, it must be there.  We landed back at Crystal Airport and made our way back to the hanger, Bruce exclaimed, "Is that your phone on the Taxi way?  Uffda it was, apparently falling out of my pocket when I entered the plane 3 hours earlier.......it was still there!  Undamaged somehow there has to be a better way of my hanging onto my phone!  So no pictures of the trip but I have been working hard on trapping a mole that is making tunnels in the yard.  These creatures are difficult to trap and finally getting one, I figured I solved that problem yet the tunnel was remade the following day.  Hopefully success will find me again, but it is a challenge for sure!

Jared's 28 inch Walleye in the Trees

At this time I am expecting a call to pick up the boat either today or tomorrow.  The river is down so I have been trying to get the jon boat ready for the river.  The contingency plan is to fish off the dock of my friend John Meyer, down the street.  He has been great to allow some of us to simply drive down and fish off his dock for catfish, carp, suckers, walleye, and whatever feels like biting.  In the meantime Ben Aiona has been texting me pictures of their success on Devils Lake, North Dakota.  His son Jared is quite a fisherman and does not hesitate to get right in the action.  Apparently they arrived last Tuesday afternoon, went out and caught over 116 stripped bass in a few hours.  That is a lot of fun.  Here is a picture of Jared's 28 inch walleye caught on a leech and bobber in the trees, you can see them sticking out of the water. Ben was having some difficulties with his HDS 12 Gen 3 however it was resolved and he didn't need mine.  With 2 trips to Lac Seul cancelled, Bruce was talking about going somewhere, Ben suggested Devil's Lake as he would be happy to guide us!  that might be a great idea and we are kicking it around.  In the meantime my garden is coming along well.  Today it will be in the 90's and everything will be growing like crazy, including the weeds!  The asparagus is doing well, and we decided to try and freeze some rhubarb this year and it went pretty well.  After picking and washing, it was cut up into cubes and put in a shallow aluminum pan, then put in the freezer for 30 minutes or so.  Frozen solid, then we vacuum packed it, 4 cups to the pouch and voila, we'll have to see how it turns out in a few months.  It looks pretty good though. 

My goal for this week is pretty simple, get my Ranger back, clean out the jon boat, the annual fishing garage sale that is held in Champlin every year has been moved to Buffalo, MN this year so on Thursday morning I hope to be there as they have some pretty sweet deals.  Hopefully it all ends with a trip to Mille Lacs to fish the flats for walleye before it closes on July 1st, which is a whole new story in itself. 

Edge of Winter

Autumn Blaze Maple

Well it looks like there will be no Indian Summer this fall.  Indian Summer is often referred to the time after the first killing frost where the temperatures climb into the mid 50's to as high a 70 before the real cold weather starts to settle in.  Well this fall our first killing frost was quite late so we have jumped right into our pre-winter climate with lows in the lower 20's and highs in the mid 30's.   The first of October was quite nice so we'll just call that our Indian Summer!  With all the rain this fall, the Mississippi River behind the house is flowing as though it is late April.  Every lake up north is full to the brim, it should bring an interesting spring for sure.  All the wet weather has resulted in what the meteorologist refer to as a perfect fall for colors.  I don't disagree however this year with the late first frost has delayed, the trees seem to be doing their own independent thing.  Pictured here is one of about 4 Autumn Blaze Maples that I have on the property.  True to their name, these trees definitely put on a show in the fall and this year was no exception.  Each of the trees exhibited an beautiful blend of red, orange and yellow to give the tree it's name like a tree on fire, a blaze of colors for sure.  Unfortunately it doesn't last long, maybe a week before the wind and cold weather forces the tree to drop it's leaves.........leaving me with more work! The ash trees have already shed their leaves a month ago and some of my Norway Maples still have green leaves on them, they will not turn but simply fall off.  Never the less it is a labor of love as my John Deere X734 with a 60 inch deck does a great job of chopping up the leave eventually one has to put the vacuum attachment on to finish the job right.  The waning warm weather has allowed the installation of some new shelving in the pole shed as the intent is to get my fishing stuff organized a little better.  We'll see about that!  With a tempurture of 23 last night, pretty much everything is done for the year, even the grass looks done as the lawn tractor marks from the other night are permanently etched into the lawn until next April!  Deer hunting season is going to be late this year and this cold weather might just freeze the swamp and make travel to the stands a lot less complicated!

A nice flock of wild turkey's

This week is turning out to be a whirlwind of activity.  I brought my Salem Ice Cabin in last Monday the 21st but a drive through the lot on Saturday showed that nothing had been done.  Yesterday was a  doctors appointment to make sure I can still drive, a factor concerning the seizure I experienced last year at this time.  Coming out of the office at around 5:30 meant the traffic going west on 94 was going to be stop and go for at least 40 minutes, I decided to drive over to a good friends house, Mike Shields to see how he was doing.  Mike lives just about 3 blocks south of I94 and about 3 blocks east of the Mississippi River, definitely a mature neighborhood but well within the city.  Driving down his street there was a flock of about 30 young wild turkeys crossing the street.  Although this is not necessarily in the heart of the city, certainly the last thing one would expect is a flock of wild turkeys, never the less they were there.  Mike confirmed that there is a local flock around, I suspect that they traveled up the river edge from the south.  I certainly made for an interesting site.  Tomorrow the boat trailer goes in for repair, then up to Frankie's to mount new tires.  Frankie got Ranger to replace my black chrome rims as they were peeling.  It is recommended that one replace trailer tires every 5 years and this is the 5th year of use so I decided to bite the bullet and make sure that the tires under the boat are not a source of problems as we drive to Lac Seul.  Looking back those tires have about 30,000 miles on them already.   Hopefully this will be all taken care of before Thanksgiving.  Although retired, this year will find me doing a presentation at our annual TTA meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida then we head to Naples to charter a grouper fishing trip on December 7th.  This is the same guy we fished with 2 years ago when I caught the 200# Goliath Grouper.  With this cold weather it would not be surprising if Red Lake is froze over and thick enough to drive just after Thanksgiving, like it was a few years ago.

My New Fishing Partner

Jake the Red Horse King!!

It's been a odd summer with continued issues with my boat, which I will get into later.  In the meantime one of my tasks have been working on the jon boat to start fishing the Mississippi River behind the house.  A prerequisite was always to fish the neighbors dock and get a feel for the water flow, clarity, and what's biting.  A week ago or so the result was a nice golden red horse, a medium sized carp as well as a medium catfish.  In the neighbor hood is a guy by what we call him Limo Joe as his past life years ago was driving a limo.  After a number of years he finally settled down and now he has 2 wonderful kids, a boy named Jake and a girl, Kaylee.  The boy is 12 years old and is crazy about fishing so offering to take both of them to the dock we managed to catch a really nice standard red horse sucker and a small catfish.  It wasn't as good as the other day but for Jake it was a fabulous.  Well he had soccer on the next night but on Tuesday he was back at the pole shed ready for more.  We could not use the dock so at first we spent some time practicing casting, but the urge to fish was too great so we called mom and said we were heading down the road to fish the Champlin Mississippi River Point Park.  Our strategy was the same, fish the bottom with a glob of nightcrawlers to see what would bite.  Within 10 minutes Jake had this nice red horse sucker on, the second one he caught that week.  you can obviously tell that he's pretty happy with his catch.  Admittedly it's as much fun for me as it was for him.  In my younger days we often fished with my dad's friends Art Kelly, Danny Van Pelt, and Vic Wenaas, down at the Buffalo River fishing catfish in August. Getting to show him how to set the hook, hold the rod, use it for leverage, is fun and Jake actually listens!  Having no children of my own, Jake is like a grandson I will never have so it's quite the honor to be able to pass on some of my fishing knowledge to a younger person.  It's also makes me smile when I see his enthusiasm, like I had when I was that age.....let see, 52 years ago......uffda.  Jake can't wait to get out again but this time we will launch at the other neighbors landing and fish out of the boat, telling Jake we will get bigger fish from the boat! I am not sure who's more excited, Jake or me!

Nice carp!!

So the Ranger, well it looks like it will be in the shop for at least another 2 weeks as investigating the cracks, Frankie's guy found additional damage from my lower unit hit back in May on Lac Seul.  It has been assured it's repairable however I had to call the insurance company, they will need to remove both the main motor and kicker, not an easy task.  Hopefully it will be done by Labor day but who knows???  Not complaining and thankfully August is the time to fish on the River for smallies and rough fish, they are fun to catch.  With access to the river so close it just takes hooking the jon boat up to the ATV, opening (and making sure they are closed again!) the gates and launching, 10 minutes and we are on the water.  The smallmouth bass action using crankbaits is good so not having the Ranger isn't the end of the world however hopefully this is the end of the 2019 hitting a rock nightmare!  My goal is to teach Jake how to use a bait-caster before the season ends.  Admittedly this retirement is an interesting transition.  The biggest accomplishment so far has been the garden and making pickles.  One of my batches is fermentation pickles, similar to Clausen type pickles.  They are stacked in a fermentation crock, layers of dill, garlic, spices, cucumbers (the larger ones) then repeat with an added couple of grape leaves to add natural tanins to help keep them crisp.  In a 3.5 gallon fermentation crock it is filled about 3/4 of the way then a brine mixture of 1/3 cup of pickling salt to a gallon of water, fill the crock then put the weights in to keep the cucumbers under the brine, and let them naturally ferment.  it has a lid with a water lip to keep out any bad yeasts and stuff.  They are looking pretty good and hopefully will be done by the middle of next week.  Just in time for another batch.

Back From Lac Seul Outposts

When you hit a Rock at 34 mph!

It has taken me over a week to recover from last weeks Lac Seul experience but with everything coming to a head this Friday, it's just been crazy.  So the recap of what was a pretty exciting week at Lac Seul Outpost starting last Tuesday.  After meeting in Sioux Lookout on Monday night, the plan was to stay overnight at the Best Western then head into Chamberlain Narrows on Tuesday morning, fish the afternoon, Wednesday, and Thursday before heading back home on Friday.  Our first order of business on Monday night was to find a place to eat.  Monday was Victoria Day in Canada and is similar to Memorial Day in the United States except almost everything is closed, especially places to eat.  We finally found a Chinese place, New Kowloon open and for the most part it was pretty good as they served beer.  After a decent meal we headed back to the hotel only to get up by 6:00 with the goal to be at the landing in Deception Bay by 7:00, to beat the rush.  We had met a guy at the hotel that had a Range like mine, and was also going in the morning but had planned on following the camp boats.  Stating we knew the way in, he decided to follow us as I took the lead.  Well about a mile up from the Bear Narrows Red Buoy Corner, I was off a little to the left however the green buoy was still on my left as in this part of the lake one should stay to the left of the Red Buoys and the right of the Green Buoys.  Well even though off course a little I still had plenty of room between me and that green buoy.  All of a sudden a loud crashing sound, my outboard hit the bottom with vengeance as the motor suddenly stopped.  Obviously the green buoy was to far on the reef to be trusted.  The force of impact left 2 rather large holes in the front of the lower unit, quickly draining out the gear grease, therefore triggering a sensor that prevents the motor from starting when the crankcase was low.  As you see the prop didn't turn out too bad as most of the damage was to the housing.  Anyway the guy that decided to follow up must have damn near had a heart attack as this wasn't pretty.  RJ said that if I'd been over by less than 10 feet I would have been OK.  We were only 5 miles from camp so RJ decided to pull me in to less than a hero's welcome.  Well we were in camp and had 2.5 days to fish, we decided that the kicker motor would have to do as the fish were going in the Narrows and one didn't have to go very far.  We come to learn that the guy following us did the exact same thing at the same spot 2 years earlier.

26 inch walleye on

As far as fishing, it was pretty good close to the camp Admittedly it looked pretty funny with a 20.5 foot Ranger being pushed by a 9.8 hp Kicker motor but it performed very well.  Having a remote control steering on the kicker, it was interesting trying to get somewhere  as it was easy to overcompensate as we zig zagged up Chamberlain Narrows.   Later we found that if one just pointed the kicker straight, dropped the big motor into the water then steer with the big motor, it would work pretty good, at least we went straight!  There were a lot of fish in the channel and for 2 in the boat we ended up with 160 fish for the 2 1/2 days, not bad.   Also the big females were starting to make their way back to the big lake so we did catch quite a few over the 22 inch mark.  We ate good both Tuesday night and Wednesday as fresh walleye and northern pike were on the menu.  It was one of the softest bites that I have ever experience.  The fish just came in and either inhaled the minnow or took it's merry old time, often holding the minnow up to 30 seconds.  This took a lot of patience and understanding of how the fish were reacting, Yet we did miss only a few as the bite was good if you had the patience   Also a few weeks ago I mentioned the new long shank Fireball Jigs from Northland Tackle worked very good. they are perfectly set up for minnow fishing on Lac Seul  as most of my fish on Sunday morning were dead minnows and the long shank jig.     We did try plastics for some success yet I because of the weather, we stayed under the Bimini Top most of the time making it difficult to cast.  Also I was excited to try the new Genesis Live software upgrades that I installed but that never happened either.  The real excitement happened on Friday on our way out!

Bruce had arranged for my boat to be towed out by the barge, a large boat with twin 150's on the back.  The schedule was to be at the dock at 5:00 AM and we'd get hooked up and pulled back to Deception Bay Landing (35 miles).  Tying a long ( about 80 feet) rope to my boat, I was requested to trim up my motors and away we went.  Having my GPS on, we quickly got to 30 mph when my boat started to swing back and forth wildly.  I was attaching my life vest when the first swing threw me on the floor.  Desperately grabbing the steering wheel I struggled to stay in the boat.  The boat continued to sway violently until it was perpendicular to the tow boat, just ready to be jerked in the opposite direction and during that process the tow rope ( a 1 inch twisted rope) broke.  It was the best thing to happen as the extreme swaying stopped.  Quickly fastening my lifevest, the barge came back and checked on my condition, he said he was going back to camp to get another rope.  After getting reset, I put the main motor down to act as a keel, and we took off.  This time the tow rope was quite a bit shorter and the boat ran right up the first wake, although tracking better it also wanted to sway as well I was getting pretty wet from the prop spray.  Stopping we added about 20 feet more of rope and things settled down nicely.  It did take about 5 miles for me to settle down but the rest of the trip was thankfully uneventful.  Finally making it back to the landing we headed south and was able to drop the boat off at Frankies before 6:00.  I made the claim earlier this week and we'll see how it shakes out.  So far I am 2 for 2 this year with the motor, on opener the power steering goes out and the very next trip I take out the lower unit!  Oh well, just remember the Serenity Prayer, God grant me to accept the things I can not change, change the things I can and the Wisdom to know the difference.  So all in all it was a successful trip!                                                                                                 

Getting Things Buttoned Up

4 Series 32 AGM's and the charger

After all the electrical work on the boat prior to going to Canada, in the end it didn't make a hill of beans difference in the performance of my electronics.  Almost everytime we were done fishing an area I had to turn the master switch to the jump position to get the outboard motor started.  Of course hindsight is 20/20 and admittedl I was probably too smart for my own good!  Thinking I could solve all of my problems with some rewiring and a boost circuit, along with the assumption that the AC voltage at the docks could be bad, like they were at Fisherman's Cove, I was loaded for bear!  As you might have read, I rewired the power to the console area, added a new power distribution methodology, cleaned up my boost converter, yet still it was like I did nothing.  In the boat I added a USB charging port for charging things such as cell phones, my Ipod, and other things.  It has a  built in volt meter so I can easily monitor the battery voltage at the power distribution center, and there is where my first clue appeared.  Normally battery voltage should stay above 12 volts however the voltmeter showed 11.6 and it was falling.  In about an hour it was down to 10.5, low enough to cause major problems.  I even brought a special AC voltage booster for the power at the docks but the plug in voltage at the docks was adequate to assure a good charge.  Even so after about 4 hours, I was in trouble.  Add that to the fact that power went out the night before our last day and therefore it was really a problem as the low battery from the day before didn't even have a chance to charge fully.  On top of this, I had to keep the power on to run the baitwell pumps to keep our minnows alive.  Well I made it through the trip, inconvenienced but still got back to the landing.  The discussions started centering around whether or not my main "house" battery was starting to get a weak cell as it sure acted like it.  Once home I charged everything up then removed the house battery and took it to Pete's and had him load test it.  Yep, it is weak for sure.  Well this would explain everything that was going on for the last 2 months.  So I run series 31 AGM's as they are truly maintenance free and because they are in the floor do not require any maintenance on the electrolyte. In addition, I always keep my onboard charger plugged in as it has a maintenance mode to keep the batteries healthy.  I called my dealer as these batteries are about 39 months old, they have a 36 month free replacement and I assumed a pro-rated formula after that.  NOPE, 36 months, that's it.  I explained this issue has been going on a while, I guess if I would have checked in May it would have not cost me anything.  Frankie's stated they would talk to the Interstate Battery rep and we will see what they can do.  In the mean time I needed a good battery so I bought a replacement ...... $360 ... ouch!! I trust Frankie's will do everything they can for me as they always do, but a warranty date is a warranty date.  Interesting as I put in the new battery and connected it the positive cable sparked when it touched the terminal, that's not necessarily good.  I found the source of the current draw and put a switch in to shut off certain parts of my electronics without affecting my pumps and other safety features.  All the stuff I did a month ago is still a great idea, but honestly, may have not been necessary.

Getting the pig going!

We go home on Friday night, September 21st and on the next day, our neighbor Tim had his annual pig roast.  He gets about a 230 pound whole hog and has a specially made pig roasted where he first brines the whole carcass before putting it in the smoker and pouring the smoke to it.  It takes a good 12 to 18 hours to completely cook it however it is quite delicious, especially with his own homemade barbeque sauce.  This year along with the food, he had entertainment, our old neighbor Bots and his band called Blues Driver.  They are pretty good but admittedly I really didn't know many of the songs as I am not much of a blues fan!  I still appreciate good music and they did an outstanding job for sure.  This weekend will be getting caught up around the house as we had our first freeze a week ago so everything is changing quick.  I need to replace the vacuum system on my new lawn tractor as I am not raking nothing!  The boat still needs to be put together and the lawn needs fertilizing, sprinkler system blown out, trees trimmed and the average high is only in the low 50's.  I have talked to Bill and it looks like we have a trout fishing date set for the 12th.  I am hoping to get back on the river this weekend but we'll have to see.  Last weekend was my good friend Big Dave's son's wedding in Alma.  We drove home that night and I got my first speeding ticket ever.....damn.  Oh well not much one can do about it.  I am also trying to get my new mud flaps to fit my truck, getting ready to pull the ice shack.  My 45th class reunion is on the 13, no rest for the wicked, as they say!!

Ice Out

Ice out days for Mille for the Past 39 Years

When the ice has melted off a lake here in Minnesota, we traditionally call the event Ice Out.  It's a real big deal as most of our lakes have been frozen over since December and it marks the beginning of a new year of open water fishing.  The most notable lakes are the large ones like Lake Mille Lacs and Leech Lake as it sets the stage for what the fishing conditions might be for this years Minnesota Fishing Opener on May 13th.  An early ice out usually means that the spawn will have been completed and the traditional 2 to 3 weeks of recovery will be over so the fish tend to bite better. This is not always the case but can provide a good indicator of how the fishing will be.  I feel that Mille Lacs Lake is the one who's ice out sets the tone for the state.  Ice out is often defined as when someone can drive a boat unimpeded from Garrison, MN on the Northwest corner of the lake to Isle, MN which is in the Southeast corner of the lake.  The average date for the ice to leave Mille Lacs is April 27.  The earliest on record was March 26, 2012 and the latest on record is May 14, 2013 so you see there is little correlation from year to year.  Early ice out means and early spawn and the bite is usually better by fishing opener but that's

2017 MN Ice out map

not always the case.  In 2008 we still had ice on Leech Lake at opener, it wasn't officially declared Ice Out however we could get our boats into the harbor at the resort and fish the part of the lake that was open and it was absolutely fabulous!  I remember scooping up ice from the lake for the coolers however even with the cold water, fishing was excellent.  So much for that theory!  Admittedly we caught a lot of 15 - 17 inch fish which tend to be males and that makes sense.  This year's early Ice Out on Leech Lake should bode well for our 44th Annual Team Walleye opener.  The walleyes should be done spawning by May 1 and by the 13th they should really have the feedbag on.  Unfortunately the early ice out on Mille Lacs means the pre spawn netting starts.  Interesting as there will only be a catch and release season on Mille Lacs this year however when the lake was iced over till May 14th, that year we had a record spawn and the lake is just full of 14 - 16 inch walleyes............perfect for the gill nets.  It's sad but there is little one can do.   With the Minnesota Walleye Opener about 4 weeks away now things are looking like it could be a fantastic opener this year.  Time will tell!

Limit of 23 - 27 inch walleyes from Lake Erie this week.

The boat finally got dropped off at Frankie's on Friday for some minor but critical work.  First the kicker motor has to get worked on as it hardly started toward the end of last year.  The kicker is a 9.8 hp Evinrude 4 stroke made by Tohatsu and it's a nice engine when it runs!  Apparently the EPA regulations for these types of motors requires them to run so lean that they are difficult to get started again, and mine was no exception!  There are some "secret" adjustments that can be made to get them to run better.  As well they will change the oil, add what is known as an I troll to help control the throttle better, along with a new remote control electric steering for the motor.  This might be overkill however I am anxious to have better control over my trolling methods.  Another thing which is getting done is and aerator timer on my bait well.  In Canada the baitwell in my boat is indispensable as it makes getting minnows a heck of a lot easier than grabbing the minnow bucket from over the side every time.  The problem is the aerator in the bait well runs constantly,  I would like a timer that runs for a minute then rests for 5 as one doesn't need it running all the time.  Other things that are happening, my friend Bill Lundeen is up in Duluth fishing Lake Superior.  He usually is in Arizona at this time driving his mom back to Onamia but she didn't go this year and both he and Kathy need a break!  Also my friend Kevin Aiona and his son Ben are at Lake Erie pre fishing the upcoming Cabela's National Walleye Tournament, on Lake Erie the 11th and 12th of this week.  Ben texted me a picture of their limit of 8 walleyes in the 23 to 27 inch class.  His biggest was 31 inches and I don't know why he wouldn't send me THAT picture but it's OK, I'm sure it will turn up somewhere.  

Easter Weekend is coming up and often it occurs around my mothers birthday.  Unfortunately these days she is not doing so good but I am pretty sure she will be around to see her 83rd birthday. I am sure I will be spending time with her this weekend and hopefully will have a good time as I don't think she has too many more in her.  I did spend last Sunday with my brother Steve at mom's visiting and helping him rig up an HDS 12 on his Lund boat.  We moved his existing HDS 8 up to the bow and set up the boat so he could network them together.  He is thinking about getting a Motorguide i5 like I have so we are expanding his NMEA 2000 network to handle that as well.  He is getting pretty set up with updated electronics, a SonicHub audio server, the Motorguide, maybe a Point One GPS receiver.  Looks like I have lots to continue doing for him as he, along with my sister Beth, have done and outstanding job taking care of mom.  God Bless them!

Got My Boat Back

Structure scan images.

Back a few months I picked up a new item for my boat electronics, Structure Scan 3D.  I had the standard Structure Scan however my electronics were capable of displaying the bottom in this mode so I thought I would make the upgrade.  Here is the description from the Lowrance Website:  Lowrance StructureScan® 3D allows anglers to see fish, structure and bottom contour in a stunning three-dimensional view. StructureScan® 3D imaging scans underwater terrain and fish-holding structure to create a high-resolution, 180-degree, three-dimensional view beneath your boat.  With this unique imaging view, anglers gain a better understanding of where fish and structure are located in relation to their boat. The picture-like, three-dimensional views are displayed on the Lowrance HDS Gen3 series of fishfinder/chartplotters, when used in combination with the StructureScan 3D Skimmer® transducer and module.  Because I am now taking my boat to Canada more often I felt this might be a great addition to my electronics for exploring new areas, especially with the capability of side scanning a fairly large area.  The problem is that the transducer module is different than my existing one where as it has 2 output connectors and an over molded area in the cable that would require me to drill the hole where it passes through my boat much larger than the existing one. I figured it would be easier to just have someone who has done it before to install.  I picked up my boat on Friday after delaying a few weeks (My latest invitation to Lac Seul forced me to reschedule) and I have to admit Frankie's did a fabulous job as always.  It would have been a real pain to snake the transducer cable through the gunnel although I have done it before as I get older maybe I am just getting lazier!  My biggest fear was enlarging the through hole and having the appropriate cover to make it look good. They did that just perfect for me an I am ready to go.  One problem for me is I pretty much empty out my stuff in the boat before dropping it off, you never know who's lurking around.  It also gives me a chance to get reorganized somewhat.  Besides not ready to fish, there were storms around on Saturday and I had to go see my Mom on Sunday, she's having a hard time at 82 with her health............a good reminder for those who smoke, it will catch up to you!  Anyway it also gave us a good opportunity to stop at Blueberry Ridge just north of Eleva and pick about 4 gallons (20 pounds) of blueberries, they are delicious.  Last year the crop was essentally froze out but Mark and Andrea Nyseth have a bumper crop this year.  It doesn't take too long to pick an ice cream bucket of nice plump blueberries and at $1.95/pound, not a bad deal either.  Mark and I keep talking about taking him and his son up to Mille Lacs, after the season gets done!  Talk is always cheap.

Dave Grant and a nice Largemouth

So Bruce always says that Lac Seul spoils a guy and there is no reason to fish anywhere else. Well I understand what he's saying but there's plenty of fish to be caught around home however going up to Lac Seul is a 5 day adventure and it's tough getting everything done these days. This is the time of year I normally am starting to fish the river however because of the recent heavy rains across Minnesota, the Mississippi River behind my house is pretty high for this time of year.  It looks like it could be a while before the water clears up and slows down a little bit.  The Mille Lacs bite is still going but my list is pretty long of the things I need to do and obigations that I have to make.  For instance, Normally I will fish with Chuck Teasley, my friend from Illinois however this year his daughter is getting married at the Bible Camp that they come to each year (Charlie sneaks out and we usually fish Mille Lacs for a day) however this time we will head up to Alexandria and attend the wedding.  I did get invited back to Lac Seul for a mid September trip and I am looking forward to heading back for sure.  This leave me with only one story, that of my good friend Mike Grant's boy David Grant.  Not only does he have a great first name but he loves to fish as I have been prodding his dad to get with the program and get them to go out with me.  This is a big issue for me, finding people that want to fish is getting harder and harder.   Well Dave and I exchange important e-mails every so often and he sent this picture to me, a nice largemouth bass caught in a Maple Grove, MN lake.  I asked him but he hasn't responded however it did remind me of fishing Weaver Lake in Maple Grove and I just hammered the bass on that lake.  In fact that lake is where I learned to fish plastic worms for bass,  Unfortunately I dumped on of my rods over the side of the boat so I marked the spot and went back the next day with a big hook and setup to try and snag it.  Unfortunately a guy had previously murdered his wife, cut her up, stuffed her in plastic garbage bags and dumped her in Weaver Lake.  This was going on while I was trying to snag my rod using large treble hooks and weights.  My friends speculated what I might catch but fortunately the only thing I got besides weeds was my rod back.....no plastic garbage bags with human parts stuff inside, thank God!  Anyway I am hoping to get out with Dave sometime soon and maybe he can show me some of his secret spots!!

My goals this week are to get the boat completely put back together however I will have to go back home to Eleva this weekend to take care of a few things for mom.  By the time you read this I should have already helped my friend Bruce fire up his new trolling motor/anchor system just in time as he heads back to Lac Seul soon.  My garden is awfully weedy, the sprinkler system just broke, I need to get my jon boat ready for the river, it never ends! Hopefully I can find some time to get out soon.

Wow!!!

Ranger 620FS, Uffda!

Saturday was the big day, time to pick up the new boat from the dealership.  It has been 3 months from the day I ordered it and as you can imagine it was pretty exciting.  Arriving at Frankie's by 11:00 the first order of business was to take a look at everything and all I can say is they did an excellent job of rigging and getting everything prepared.  The initial inspection looked good so it was time to settle up the bill and when Deb presented the balance it was significantly less than what I expected.  Acknowledging a computer issue we went over everything and got it straightened out, never want to short anyone.  Next on the agenda was to go over all of the new features which included keyless ignition, all the nuances of the motor, and generally how everything works.  Upon firing up the Lowrance electronics the first thing stated was the Motorguide needed updating.  Joe Dusenka, Frank's son was helping me and did a fabulous job of walking me through everything. As stated before this boat is a significant departure from what I have been running for the last 40 years and it's pretty exciting.  After making sure I knew what I was doing, we hooked it up to the truck as I planned on dumping her into the water close to the dealership in case there were any obvious issues. The first thing that stood out is the boat sits up about 4 inches higher on the trailer than the previous 620T so it will need to be launched at the deeper landings.  They only put enough gas in the tank to start the motor so it was off to the Marathon across the street to fill up the 51 gallon tank.  Figuring about $140 to fill it up the pump stopped at $75 so the heck with it, that was plenty.  About 1/2 mile from Frankie's is a nice landing on Chisago Lake so I dumped it there.  It definitely isn't as nimble as my previous boat.  Once in the boat I started the motor and was very surprised how quiet it was.  The landing is in a no-wake zone and it took about 5 minutes to idle out to the main lake where I punched it.  OMG!!! It was on plane in about 2 seconds, amazingly quick.  Deciding to check a few things out, the boat back trolls at around 1.8 mph, forward trolls at about 2.6 mph, not bad.  The power steering is effortless, almost too much as when I pushed the throttle the boat climbed to over 50 mph immediately and really felt squirrelly so I backed it down, I guess it will take some getting used to.  It is all basically "fly by wire" as the steering is electric, the gear shift is electric, very smooth indeed. It loaded up very easy as I headed back to Frankie's to park the boat for a couple hours as I went to a friends house in Wisconsin.  Home by 6:00 the neighbors all stopped by to see and the very first comment was, you had better get some lugnut locks on those wheels! I suppose they have a point.

Beautiful evening Rainbow

I have spent the week trying to get everything loaded and working together.  For instance, I mistakenly loaded Version 3.0 of the Lowrance software into my main unit then when it was time to review the link between it and the Motorguide motor, it wasn't available as an option on the screen.  I know it works because Joe showed me it yet now I had to figure it out. Reading the instructions there was a big point in stating that the Lowrance software must be version 3.5 or newer. Not realizing that I had put in an older version of the software, 30 minutes later it dawned on me so I re-downloaded the right software via my phone and updated it.  Bingo, it worked great however I punched the wrong button on the control screen and turned the Motorguide on then listened to the propeller grind against the winch with little idea on how to stop it.  10 seconds later it stopped but not before completely ruining the prop and part of the plastic on the winch.  So much for the newness.  It's been a slow progress yet it's a labor of love as one decides where everything should go, how to organize, and the need to fill in the gaps with the technology like getting my Ipod connected to the sound system which by the way worked out really good.  The storage options are significant and one thing I have to decide is whether to put my Plano 3700 boxes in the designed storage in the boat or to simply keep my traditional tackle box in tact.  I guess there is no reason not to use the storage, it definitely is drier and if I need they can always go back into the soft sided tackle box.  The front compartments have a built in fan that helps dry out things that are stored there.  This would be a great place for drift socks, rain suits, anything that can get wet.  One other thing of note is there is a drain in every compartment and anywhere there is a channel to take water away.  This should be a lot nicer if a wave ever comes over the bow, which I know there will at some point. There are a lot of little things like the LED lights that didn't stick to where they were put, some foam missing on the windshield, and overspray on the windshield, for the most part everything was pretty easy to fix. I also have a panel that appears to be cracked and they have a new one coming for me.  Between getting the garden planted, working on the boat, mowing the lawn, there's hope that I can get to Mille Lacs on Sunday for it's maiden voyage.  Scrambling to get everything done, Tuesday night was interesting as we got a brief shower that for the most part put a damper on my mowing. The sun did come out but not enough to dry the grass and allow me to finish yet it did result in a beautiful rainbow to the southeast so I snapped a picture before it went away.

This Friday is our 13th Annual ENA Golf Tournament at Daytona Gold Club in Dayton.  ENA is the initials for Eric Nicole Apple, son of my good friend Mark Applen (Red Lake fisherman extraordinaire) who had his life cut short by a rare form of cancer.  Both my wife and I have been volunteering our time along with a number of wonderful people that give their time and energy to our cause.  I encourage you to read about Eric at his website located HERE.  All the proceeds are dedicated to helping less fortunate families deal with the hardships of childhood cancer as we try to bring a smile to those that need it the most.  To date we have raised over $300,000 and every dime available goes to the cause.  I am proud of the work we do as there is nothing more satisfying than to provide a little joy in the life of someone who's life is feeling hopeless.  We do have a nice silent auction and raffle, admittedly I have bought some really nice stuff like my Showdown Ice Fishing Depth finder, heck a good way to help and get something nice as well.  

Getting Close!!

Mike with an interesting pose

A few weeks ago I received a call from Frankie's, my boat dealer informing me that the title for my old boat was missing.  "What title? I don't ever remember a title for the boat!?!?"  Well yes there is a title but Lord knows where that was so on May 13th I called the State of Minnesota and got the process down and sent in $11.00 along with the application, it should be printed next Tuesday. Well it arrived on the 29th and because the boat should be here later in the week  I decided to drive up to Frankie's on Saturday to personally deliver it and my electronics.  With a fresh cup of coffee and things loaded up, it was off to Chisago City.  Arriving at the store, the lot was completely filled as I waited for a parking place to become available.  Apparently there was a bowfishing contest the night before and the weigh in was taking place.  Deciding to go back and take care of everything first, the service manager, Deb Dusenka (Frankie's wife) saw me and had a big smile, "Guess what, your boat is in!".  It really took me by surprise as I didn't expect it till later in the week and admittedly it was a little emotional....I know!  Anyway their son Joe was in with his kids to head out fishing but when when he looked at me it was almost immediate, Hey Dave your boat is here!  After a few minutes of talking he suggested to head over to the back lot and unwrap it as it just got off the trailer.  I felt like a kid at Christmas as we untied the factory wrap.  The first thing we looked at was the Evinrude 250 motor, we were expecting a 3 bladed stainless steel however it came with a 4 blade RX4 with adjustable vents.  Joe immediately confirmed that this was the first he's seen that came from the factory with this specific prop as the big dealers have been recommending a change to this for much better performance.  I did notice a problem however, the kicker was a 9.8 Evinrude tiller rather than the remote control kicker that was on the work order. Apparently they ordered the wrong thing, oh well.  The good news is that the existing motors are blue in color which looks somewhat odd and the new ones being built will be graphite, perfect to match my boat.  The bad news is that they are not expected to be delivered until mid to the end of July.  I could keep the tiller but am not crazy about having to control everything while standing up so it will be worth the wait.  I pick it up Saturday.  Too excited to take any pictures there is none for this week so I decided to post one last picture of Mike Wiley and a walleye he caught 3 weeks ago on our snowy Monday at Lac Seul.  I loved the pose!

Ben's perch from last weekend

Not having the boat meant I could concentrate on the garden.  The onions are starting to do really well, potatoes are up and the asparagus is about done with. Tomatoes and peppers are in however the recent cold weather (frost warnings last Saturday night) has stopped any progress for them.  I plant 3 rows of sweet corn early then 3 more about 3 weeks later and they are all up. Beans, cucumbers, dill, cabbage, brussel sprouts, zucchini and winter squash, zinnia's, dahlia's round up the list.  Raspberries are coming along well and the apples look better than expected.  The Amundson's finally got the bees in and have 2 really healthy looking hives in the back.  I was worried about the pollination of my apple trees but there seems to be plenty of apples and they are doing fine, enough for me to spray them for the first time on Saturday.  That should have been done earlier but the rain has delayed it somewhat so we'll have to just have to wait. I do need to spray again with Sevin, which acts to thin the apples for a better crop.  Hopefully there will be enough apples for cider this fall as last year was a total bust.  Anyway this is "Fishin with Dave" and not Gardening with Dave so instead of the pictures of the progress of my plantings the next picture is of Ben and a nice perch he and his dad got out of Platte Lake where their cabin resides. Ben's quite a fisherman and if you look closely at his hat you'll find a Green Bay Packer pin just above the walleye's head, that a boy!

My wife Lyn and I went to Eleva on Sunday to visit Mom.  It so happened to be the Eleva Broiler Fest, the annual town festival complete with tractor pulls, demolition derby's, live music, and charcoal chicken.  Back when I was a kid we had a Doughboy Fryer's chicken processing plant and it was the largest employer in town.  It is just not right if you don't have some of that charcoaled chicken however like a lot of things, something has changed over the years.  I suspect most of it is age yet I still think Walt Gehring's chicken was a lot better than what they make today.  Maybe it's the chickens, who knows.  It was great to see a few of my friends, Jeff Koxlien, Roger Olson, Big Dave Pedersen, my cousin Paul, and Kevin Aiona.  I've been gone now for almost 40 years however it seems like I just left yesterday.

Time for a Change

Saying Goodbye to an Era

This time of year brings me back to my days growing up in Eleva, Wisconsin.  The first part of April meant the suckers were biting and at 10 years old my friend Kevin and I would be the first to dig worms in the newly thawed soil and head down behind Bud Tollefson's to catch them from the bank.  A simple hook and sinker along with a branch stuck in the ground, we would catch fish there as well as our other typical haunts on the Buffalo River such as Trix's, The Culvert, The Trestle, The Buffalo Bridge, and Catfish.  As soon as we secured our driver's license it was off to rent a row boat at Wilbur's, located just up river from Alma, Wisconsin in the back sloughs of the Mississippi River to catch the northern pike that had just got done spawning.  We didn't travel very far in those boats but we sure caught fish.  Soon Kevin secured a 14 foot aluminum boat from Ray Filla of Independence, who's wife was Ardis Bue, daughter of our good friend Claude and Ardelene Bue. Finding a 1950's vintage 10 hp direct drive Merc outboard, the kind that turned the prop the second the motor ran and reverse was turning the motor 180 degrees, we were in seventh heaven.  A couple of years later in 1980 Kevin noticed a boat that was in Paul Wichmann's pasture so for $200 and using a trailer that my brother Steve had, I bought it. All the wood was rotted so I replaced the seat and the transom, threw a 15 hp Evinrude tiller on it and was in business.  2 years later I sold the motor to Tom McAtee, the boat to another guy and bought a new 1982 Lund S14 DLX with a 25 hp Evinrude tiller.  In 1986 my next boat was a 1985 Lund Pro Angler with a 50 hp Mercury tiller followed in 1988 with a 16 foot Lund Nisswa Guide, both bought from my good friend Chuck Teasley.  On the Nisswa Guide I eventually swapped out the 45 hp tiller for a 55 hp Suzuki tiller as it was simply too heavy for that Merc.  By 1990 I upgraded to a 1989 Ranger 680T with the same Suzuki, in 1993 a 17 foot Skeeter S135 and a 75 hp Mariner tiller.  In 2001 I traded it for a 20 foot Ranger 620T with a 4 stroke Suzuki 115 hp tiller and in 2009 I did the same again.  All of my fishing boats for the last 40 years have had one thing in common, a tiller controlled motor, it's a matter of convenience and fishing style.  Last year's fishing opener found me in a concerning situation as I hit another boat while cruising towards Pine Point.  Although no one was hurt it really got me thinking about the events that lead up to this, my lack of visibility, and letting myself fall into the scenario of not being in total control.  As well, it was getting harder to turn the 115 tiller and yes, I understand one can get a power assist for it, but at 60 years old I finally decided that after over 50 years of fishing, it was time for a change.

Ranger 620 FS with the New Evinrude G2, 250 hp HO

At this year's St. Paul Sport Show my first stop was Frankie's Marine display, just as you come in.  I have been doing business with him since 1989 and have never looked back.  We discussed my thoughts and concerns and of course he had the solution I should consider.  A couple more visits and I pulled the trigger on a new Ranger 620 FS with a full walk thru windshield and steering wheel. Hanging on the back I decided to go back to Evinrude with their newly designed from scratch E-Tec G2, 250 hp HO model that really has a lot of nice features.  In addition, Ranger's come with the best trailer in the business and I have never had a bit of trouble with them.  After running 4 stroke Suzuki's for 14 years it will be interesting to see the changes in these new 2 stroke engines.  Not wanting to give up either back or forward trolling, the boat will come with a 9.9hp 4 stroke kicker motor to meet the slower speeds and boat control needed, I just won't be able to control it from the back anymore. The other interesting thing is the new Motorguide bow mounted trolling motor which communicates with my Lowrance electronics.  The old 620T had the Minnkota I-pilot with the anchor lock position and although it worked well the accuracy of staying in one position was about +/- 30 feet whereas the new Motorguide reports verify a +/- 5 feet, which is significantly better when holding on a structure. Because of the communication with the Lowrance electronics one can now simply control the trolling motor through the screen on my depthfinder, something the Minnkota would only work with a Humminbird since Johnson Fishing acquired both (I think this is a big mistake but....).  Some of my friends have stated, sure Dave now you can go even faster but all reports state that the ideal cruising speed for the best economy is around 30 mph, at about half throttle where the fuel usage is not much different that my Suzuki at 30 mph.  The other thing that's nice is Ranger offer's a limited edition color with matching engine panels as shown above.  One of the nice things about dealing with Frankie is he knows my boats pretty well and without even seeing my 620T we agreed on a price knowing it would be in excellent shape.  It sold pretty fast which is good and bad, good for Frankie but bad if my boat doesn't get here in time for opener!  Part of the fun will be organizing my gear, thinking about the best fishability for my style, where am I going to put what, and just getting to know all of the nuances of the new rig.

The ice is going out pretty early this year as most of the lakes south of Brainerd Minnesota are now open.  The extended forecast looks like Leech will be prime for our 42nd annual Team Walleye event and the following weekend should find me back at Lac Seul for the Canadian opener.  Trying to get all of my chores done prior to fishing season I took off the snow blower and cab off the lawn tractor assuming it doesn't snow anymore and installed a front mounted dethatcher and the lawn vacuum. It should make short work of the spring lawn work and help the spring green up.  With a nice weekend forecasted it will be a good time to burn my garden and get the asparagus beds ready, I have over 100 plants and there is nothing better than fresh asparagus coated with olive oil and thrown on the grill.

No Boat Yet

AIM's Walleye Length to Weight Conversion

It's been a month now since my bonehead move on Leech Lake, hitting another boat.  As stated the damages definitely required a major repair as I brought it into Frankie's the day I returned from opener. After getting all the estimates and settling with my insurance company, it's simply a matter of getting in line with the body shop and everything points to it being ready for this weekend.  Of course getting the boat back doesn't necessarily mean that it's ready to go.  Knowing that it would probably be at the repair shop for 3 - 4 weeks I removed pretty much everything that wasn't bolted down, you never know.  It only took about an hour to empty all of the compartments out however putting all of the stuff back in will be another story.  This will be a great time to clean up everything, sort through the good and the bad, kind of like getting a new boat!  Having expected it a week earlier, I have resigned myself to the fact that it's probably a fair punishment if you may, for damaging it in the first place.  Never the less I am getting restless as the water temps on Mille Lacs are now in the low 60's and the mudflat bite should be starting to turn on.  There was a catch and release tournament on Mille Lacs last Sunday at the Red Door put on by the AIM Pro Walleye Series (read the story here).  This is a great venue for the lake as the teams would turn in their top 5 fish caught.  I understand that the fish were assigned a weight based on a method given to all boats.  Each fish was required to have it's picture taken with a specially formatted SD Card, in a provided measuring trough, and any discrepancy from the strict rules resulted in disqualification of that fish, and I understood there were a few.  Here are the AIM Rules if you are interested.  Although the total results of the tournament have not been officially released the winner, Bob Nitti's (Hunter's Point Resort) team submitted 5 fish that weighed 38.13 pounds, over a 7 1/2 pound average.  In the press release referenced earlier, the winning strategy was using slip bobbers with leeches on the top of the flats.  Pretty impressive, which brings me back to my boat.  I'll have to scratch that itch pretty soon as i get really excited about 26 - 28 inch walleyes that roam Sherman's Flat this time of year.

Onions!

So, while the boats away it's given me a great opportunity to get caught up on a few things around the house.  It's not that I haven't had a fair number of times fishing as 3 days at Lac Seul feels like a month of fishing around here.  I would never say that that's satisfactory yet it's nice to have the pole shed half cleaned out, the garden planted, and the lawn is starting to look pretty good.  It's been a very wet and late spring which has delayed a my gardening as the soil continues to be saturated causing it to lump then dry hard after tilling.  It's really almost too hard to till but it's got to be done.  Because of this my potatoes are just poking through, the first rows of corn is about 2 inches high, but wow, my onions are looking pretty dang good.  Last year I'm sure that they were planted too deep and never really developed any bulbs of a decent size.  This year we ordered onions from Texas, Long Day varieties for our long summer days, as well special onion fertilizer with trace nutrients.  The instructions state to also us a 23-0-0 fertilizer 2 weeks after planting to boost the tops of the onions.  Having 46-0-0, I simply used half the recommended application rate and did it ever help as my onions have never looked so good.  I guess we'll see in another month or two how they turn out.  Another thing I did was spray my apple trees for the first time.  Getting a $50 coupon from my neighbor Pete, I bought a 26 gallon tree sprayer, big enough to spray all of my apple trees in one mixing.  This thing will spray 30 feet vertically and does a great job, as long as I mix the orchard spray correctly.  My first batch didn't turn out too well as I doubled the dose and instead of mixing 2 TBS per gallon I mixed 2 ounce per gallon.  Well, the trees did not like that one bit as it burned the leaf tips.  Worried I might have killed the trees, they are finally coming back and looking pretty good......another lesson learned, haste makes waste.

Besides getting the Ranger back and ready, I have been working on my Jon Boat for the Mississippi River.  Our steady rain has keep the river close to flood stage for the last 6 weeks but it's starting to recede.  I need to look for a 25 hp short shaft motor as the 15 hp Evinrude that's on it is not quite enough power for 2 guys. I do like fishing the river and is always my short term escape when I have a few hours to kill.  

Frankies Live Bait and Marine

While watching the fishing shows on television this weekend I saw a commercial that really made me smile.  The star of the minute was Frankie Dusenka Jr from his business bearing the same name, Frankie's Live Bait and Marine of Chisago City, MN.  It gave me pause to think about one of the truly great boat dealers I have ever met, one I have been doing business with since 1989.   Thinking back Frankie has been an important part of my fishing experience for 24 out of the 30 years I have owned a boat.   About the only thing that has changed is we both have a lot less hair and it's gotten more gray!  The way I am treated as a customer has never changed.  My first experience with Frankie was in the summer of 1989, I had a 1986 Lund Nisswa Guide with the "new" Mercury Classic 50 outboard motor.  The Nisswa Guide was Lund's fiberglass boat, at 16.5 feet it was super wide and heavy.  To heavy for that motor as one afternoon on Mille Lacs the waves were 3 feet and I could not get the boat on plane.  Mark Taylor was with me and after turning down wind we finally got her going before swinging around back to the landing.  That Monday I checked out the Sunday paper and there was an ad "Non Current 1988 Suzuki 55 hp Outboard Sale, 651-257-6334".  1988 and 1989 were tough years for the marine industry and many dealers had either gone out of business or had a ton of inventory.  Frankie's had a number of these and although I wasn't excited about owning a Suzuki (Heck, I didn't even know they made outboards), the price was very attractive and they would take my outboard on trade.  It was a done deal.  Frankie assured me that I would not be disappointed and he was right, that 55 woke up the Nisswa, it was a new boat.  In January of 1990 I had the opportunity to buy a Ranger 680T without a motor.  I put that Suzy on the Ranger, sold the Nisswa and wow, did that boat move.  The 680T was a nice boat but in the big waves of Mille Lacs it was somewhat inadequate.  In the spring of 1993 I drove back to Frankie's to talk about something different.  I left ordering a new Skeeter 135T with a 75 Mariner, trading in the Ranger.  Now Frankie is an optimistic guy and I was assured that it would be delivered by Minnesota Fishing Opener.  I soon learned that it was more related to whether the factory had a full load coming north from Texas than one guys expectations.  After calling Frankie to discuss he said that if I wanted to get the boat, he could refund the transportation charges.  My brother Jon was unemployed at the time, gas was still about $1.25/gallon, I offered him the full $300 and he went and picked it up in Kilgore Texas.  With just a few days to spare, Frankie's got her rigged up in time for my annual Leech Lake Opener.  The next year I ran over a plastic bag which sealed my water intakes and my new outboard froze up while traveling full throttle 7 miles from shore.  I got her started and got back to the landing and dropped it off with him, yep the pistons were scored.  After contacting the insurance, we worked a deal where he put on a new 1994 75 hp, it had 6 cubic inches more than the 1993.  We re-propped it and I ran it till 2001, when at a walleye show Frankie grabbed me and showed me the new Ranger 620T he just got.  He was right, I needed that boat and he was willing to sell.  He quoted me a price, $26,500 with a 115 Suzuki, dual axle trailer, and could order whatever color I wanted.  Giving me almost what I paid for the Skeeter I still decided to check around.  Crystal Marine was the big Ranger dealer in town so I checked, $29,000 with a Yamaha and a single axle trailer.  After telling him he was really high priced the next comment was he wanted to beat Frankie, I'll match his price.  To late, I don't play that game. 

The Dusenka's have always treated me as their #1 customer.  I can assure you that they have customers of a much higher profile than me, as being the 1st or 2nd largest Ranger Dealer in the World doesn't come from me!  Frankie's wife Deb, runs the service department and many times I have called to inquire on parts and she will always order them for me without regard.  Frankie's brother Brad runs the bait shop and in both 2002 and 2004 he advised me on our fishing trips to Alaska offering to use his boat on the Kenai.  It was the difference between a nice trip and a great trip.  They do all of my repair work and in 2009 my '01 Ranger tilt switch stuck causing my outboard to tilt up to the point where it broke off the tiller handle.  Back to Frankie's, they fixed everything and when I picked it up we began to talk about a possible trade.  I left buying a 2008 Ranger 620T with a 115 Suzuki, exactly like my 2001 only updated with a longer shaft motor and a better trailer and one heck of a price.  In this age of come and go marine dealers it's really nice to have someone you can go to who you trust, that treats you like their best customer, sells top quality products, and is always looking out for your best interests based on a number of things....usually the way you fish.  

So I did get out this weekend, on Sunday afternoon my neighbor Tom and I drove to Pelican Lake to see what was biting.  The ice is pretty thin for this time of year guessing not more than 12 inches.  Because of this we decided to go on the north end and walk out to our spot.  There were plenty of guys including Chad Bentley, a friend I snowmobile with out west who I haven't seen in a few years.  This end of the lake is about 8 - 9 feet deep and arriving at around 3:00 we figured the crappies might be hungry.  My friend Kevin felt sorry for me from last weeks trip so he sent me a Jason Mitchell Meat Stick, an excellent panfish rod.  I mounted a smaller fly reel loaded with 2# test orange colored Suffix line and was eager to try it out.  We caught about 40 sunfish, some were almost big enough to keep but honestly, I have enough fish in the freezer for a while.  Tom did get this 2 pound largemouth that put up a nice fight but that was about it.  This weekend is the end of walleye season so I might head to Mille Lacs for one last try.  Lake of the Woods is still open until April 15th and a trip north might be in the future.  The weatherman says that Sunday could see our first significant snow of the year but I have heard that before.