The River is Hot!

Dave's first Smallie!

Last week was spend getting the Jon Boat ready to fish the Mississippi River behind the house.  It hadn't been run in almost 2 years as it never made it on the River last summer.  New plugs and gas did the trick and by last Friday it was ready to go.  At the same time my friend David Grant texted me Friday morning...............you wanna go out on the river tonight?  Well, not finding any excuse I said sure, meet me at the pole shed about 5:30.  We hooked up the boat to my Razor and off to the landing on my neighbors property.  I asked Dave, bass fishing or Lazy man's fishing.  He wasn't too sure so we decided to go both.  Heading up river about 4 miles, we got in front of an island just south of the City of Dayton then drifted down the north side of the river casting crankbaits for smallies.  Dave is pretty good with a casting rig however it took about a half an hour to drill it into his head that when river fishing the fish face upstream so you need to cast above where you want the lure to go then drag it either into them or across their face.  We drifted stern first so I could maintain control with the trolling motor and I think he was in normal lake shoreline fishing mode where you sort of leap frog in front of each other.  While drifting it's really about the spots and one casts tight to the shoreline then drag your lure to the waiting fish.  I assured him that there was no way I could cover every spot and that I would definitely leave you with at least half the good areas..............STOP casting in front of me!!! Well it took about a half mile but being a smart kid he finally figured it out as I pointed out the choicest places to cast.  Bang, a nice smallie grabbed his firetiger Bomber A.  This was not only Dave's first river fish but his first smallie and the fight was on.  These river fish dang near jerk you rod out of your hands and they don't have to be that big.  He was pretty happy about it and even more so after he got the hang of where to cast, we must have gotten 15 smallies in an hour and a half, including a huge one that I estimated in the 20 inch category that took a swipe at my crankbait.  Dave did pretty good for a rookie and we had a lot of fun.  Well it was about 8:00 and I suggested we

Dave's 15 pound channel cat

try Lazy Man's fishing, where we anchored in the pool just below Cloquet Island on the river and fished the bottom with nightcrawlers.  It is one of my favorite ways to fish, I suppose because it really isn't much work.  The pool is around 12 feet deep and has a current edge to it, we fish right on the edge in the calmer part of the current.  One of the things I like to fish with are circle hooks.  If you have the right ones, the fish can swallow the bait however because of the hook shape, it will not become lodged in their throats but catch on the side of their mouth and literally rotate around and hook the fish in the corner of their mouths.  It is very easy to remove the hook and release the fish with little effort without hurting them.  The first bite we got was a big fish, it had taken the hook, swallowed the bait and was heading down river when the hook simply hooked itself in the fishes mouth, no hookset was needed.  I handed the rod over to Dave and the fight was on!  Although last week he got a 22 pound salmon, fighting this fish from an anchored position was a battle unique.  Getting it up to the surface it was a huge channel catfish, maybe 15 to 20 pounds. These fish really fight but those circle hooks work great and it was easy to unhook and have Dave pose for a great picture!  I was another first for him, earlier in the trip his first smallmouth bass and now a significant channel cat.  You probably can tell by his smile that he was having a good time.  We went on to catch another smaller catfish and a first for me in the river, a bullhead, but time was getting late and we had to head back and try to find the boat landing.  That was another adventure as the landing was very slippery and we barely made it back. Back we did though and I would classify it as a great trip for Dave to experience river fishing. He commented that it was hard to believe we were 25 miles from Downtown Minneapolis, but the river is simply a diamond in the rough, and of course it is in my back yard.  Admittedly it also good for my ego, to help pass on some fishing knowledge to a kid that is two generations away from me.  I am thrilled that he likes fishing with this old man, it truly makes one feel young again, thanks Dave!

Todd's first Catfish

As state before I do like fishing the river with night crawlers, it reminds me of my childhood growing up in Eleva when Kevin and I would fish the river all the time, often in August we would go to the chicken plant and get some chicken livers then go below the Buffalo Bridge (the Highway 93 bridge going south across the Buffalo River).  One other option that I have near home is to fish the river from my neighbors dock, it's pretty relaxing, no need to haul the boat down, just drive to the dock, bait up and cast out then set your pole into the dock poles (which make excellent rod holders) and wait for the bite.  This time I asked my neighbor Todd to join me.  He had never been river fishing before, especially like this.  I was showing him the string of bubbles breaking at the water's surface, that's a carp working the bottom.  I don't think he believed me however about 10 minutes later one of the poles doubled over and was pulsating pretty hard.  I grabbed it and gave it to Todd, here you land the first fish.  As stated earlier, the circle hooks will set themselves as the fish pulls against the current and away from the line.  He had a huge carp.  The problem is that we did not have a net and the deck of the dock was about 3 feet above the water.  We could see the fish next to the dock and the only opportunity to handle the fish was to get on the shore and wade through the mud however buy the time we figured it out the hook broke and the fish swam away.  I had made the hook snells with 10 pound mono so lifting a large fish like that was out of the water and 3 feet up would surely snap the line, although it did anyway!  After re-rigging the the pole we casted out again and it wasn't long before the pole bent

over again, This time I wasn't about to lose it.  I let Todd reel it in while I waded in the muck to grab

Golden Redhorse

the fish.   Dang, this fish was another nice cat, I estimate around 18 pounds.  I got it cleaned off and had tod hold it up for a picture before releasing it.  We were on a roll!  Shortly after that we hooked another fish, this time it was what I call a river redhorse as the fins were very dark reddish in color, just like we used to catch in the river back home.  Next was another huge catfish, about the same size as the first one.  Next on the list was a Golden Redhorse, a beautiful bottom feeder, they put up a great fight and their coloration is a stunning golden color.  For some reason I really like catching these fish, and of course beauty is in the eyes of the beholder but they are truly a gorgeous fish. Fishing until dark our final total was 3 channel cats, all at least 15 pounds, 4 redhorse suckers of which 3 of them were the golden type, 2 rock bass which quite honestly I have never caught in the river, and the 1 nice carp, a total of 15 fish for the 2 hours we sat on the dock.  Not bad as those big catfish took about 10 minutes to land, unhook, take pictures, and release.  This time we didn't think of it however I have a new telescoping landing net in the boat that would have worked out just great for this, oh well the muck did wash off pretty easy.  On the way out we stopped at the neighbors house and showed him the pictures, I think he was impressed.  Either way I will probably head back out to the river this weekend as these last two trips have reminded me how much I truly enjoy the simpler aspect of fishing the river.  And besides, one never knows what one will catch, the most exciting part!  I know that this time I am stepping up the size of my snells to 15 pound test!

Serious Time on the River

Lory's 24" channel cat caught on a crankbait!

My neighbor Lory and I decided to get out on the river late Sunday afternoon to experience both the crankbait bite and to sit down and anchor, enjoying bottom fishing for catfish, carp, and redhorse suckers.  Due to the recent rains, the water had come up about a foot so the current would be faster and anticipated that it would push the smallies up close to shore.  We traveled all the way above the city of Dayton and fished the north shore for a couple miles or so with crankbaits.  There was a lot of junk flowing in the water but never the less it was quite a bit clearer than I expected and we could easily stay close enough to hit the rivers edge in striking distance of at least some smallies.  Unfortunately the water coming up had shut them down and we only got 3 smallmouth, not very well considering we usually catch around 10 of them including some nicer ones.  The high water give them a lot of extra places to hide under the brush.  lory did get a real nice 24 inch channel cat that hit his crankbait with vengeance. Normally one doesn't think about catching catfish on crankbaits but I have caught them before and a 24 incher can really put up a fight for sure.  Well it was a great start to the evening however the plan was to drift and cast till about 7:30 them anchor behind and island closer to the landing and fish the bottom while enjoying a bottle of excellent Merlot that I had brought back from Carlos Creek Winery a couple of weeks ago.  We got anchored just before the sun went down as we baited our hooks and put the rods in the rod holders, a nice way to do this. Opening the wine I poured each of us a glass just as a pontoon came out of the side channel, a husband and wife opening their bottle of wine.  We held up our glasses and gave them a toast for the beautiful evening, they were quite surprised, two river rats anchored in the hole, fishing catfish and drinking fine wine, they laughed!  It was a pretty good experience as we got down to catching some serious fish.

WOW!!!  30 Inch Channel catfish

Ever since fishing halibut in Alaska, I really like using circle hooks.  It takes a little discipline to reel straight instead of setting the hook however often times the fish will simply try to swim away and set the hook by itself.  The nice thing about circle hooks is you can let the fish take the bait as long as you want and the intent is that when the hook hits the corner of their mouth it rotates and always hooks in the lip area and not deep in their throats.  This makes for good release survival and easy hook removal.  My first fish was a nice 22 inch Golden Redhorse, they are so pretty and I have caught them many times before.  The second fish I caught was a bruiser, a huge 30 inch channel catfish, I am assuming at least 15 pounds, and boy do these things fight. They can really bulldog their way around the boat, and as I said before, by moving away the fish virtually sets it's own hook.  I picked up the rod out of the rod holder and she was solidly hooked, the battle was on!  Even though I didn't have much line out this fish was not about to show itself right away.  At first I thought it was a big carp as most of the catfish I catch are relatively small in size, usually under 20 inches.  I got her up to the surface just in time for Lory to scoop it up in the net and we brought her on board.  It was the largest catfish I can ever remember catching, even bigger than the ones that we used to catch with m buddy Kevin Aiona on the river.  I had Lory snap a few memories and back in the water she went.  Never the less it was a very nice fish and one that I'll never forget. The circle hooked worked great and she swam away no worse for the wear.   I have some employees at work that would have really loved to have this fish for supper and if I can find some time maybe I'll take him out for an evening of fishing.  I think both of us would enjoy for certain. We have a lot of people from Southeast Asia working for us, many from Laos and they love to eat fish.  I showed them a picture as I have told them many times that I catch catfish in the river above Anoka, they just drooled!

Beautiful Golden Redhorse

Friday is our annual invite to BIR (Brainerd International Raceway)  by Kevin Sonsalla, a special friend and business associate.  He does a lot of work for Tony Schumacher, the NHRA drag racing star.  He usually invites us up on the Friday before the big weekend and we enjoy the hospitality passes, get fed, watch them put together the car and all sorts of interesting things. This year Lory is going with us again, it makes for a real nice day as he will meet us at Cabela's and we'll go from there.  I am sure we will run into our neighbor Tim Kuntz who just got done remodeling an old school bus into the coolest RV you've seen in a while.  Because he is a die hard Viking fan he's going to rename the School Bus the Skoal Bus.  Usually we like to sit with him on the top of the bleachers as the view is pretty good from up there.  It's quite amazing to watch those cars go from standing still to 320 MPH in less than 5 seconds, the whole earth shakes.  On the way up I'll have Kevin stop at Bill's and we have to pick up more wild rice.  I have been giving it to some of my good customers in California and are getting rave reviews.  It's about the time he will start harvesting rice again, not and easy job for sure but the fruits of his labor are quite good.  I will leave you with a picture of the Golden Redhorse that I caught Sunday night.  I think they are such a pretty fish, put up a good fight and provide a lot of good entertainment.  I can assure you we never caught them this big in the Buffalo River when I was a kid.  I can tell you that it's a pretty relaxing way to fish, that's for sure.  Also my friend Bruce heads to Lac Seul this weekend and I am anxious to hear how well his new "anchor" works.  Sometimes fishing the river behind my house feels like I am all the way in Canada, it is pretty special and you can almost have the whole river to yourself!

Million Dollar Smile

Ben's First 17" River Smallmouth

With a number of things to catch up with around the house it was an easy decision to stay close to home and fish the river.  With the different motor on the jon boat, it's much more enjoyable to get around at a reasonable pace.  Actually I had fished both Saturday and Sunday afternoon however we start with the Sunday trip as the Saturday adventure was just a couple of old guys going out.  The Taylor's are my closest and longest friends since moving to Minnesota in 1976.  The patriarch of the family, Earl Taylor was one of my best fishing buddies.  Although no one can replace your own father, Earl came very close.  His two son's Mark and Jack represent my generation as we think alike, enjoy the same activities (including Easy Jesus), and have been friends for over 36 years.  Mark's son Matt and Jack's son Ben represent the 3rd generation of Taylor's that I call family.  Ben Taylor is 9 years old and turning into quite a fisherman.  Enough so that I never hesitate to use him as my repository for all those baits and fishing equipment that sit around simply collecting dust.  A couple years back I fished with my friend Eric and his 9 year old son Carter and was very impressed by his rod handling abilities, good enough for dad to let him use his G. Loomis rod.  Ben has those same qualities so a few weeks ago I ran across an excellent deal on a high quality Quantum rod/reel combination.  Picking it up for Ben, I gave it to him around his birthday, complete with line and a rod sock.  Ben had been asking about fishing on the River so on Sunday him and Jack met me at the pole barn as we headed to the neighbors landing.  The river can be somewhat difficult to fish.  The current is swift, boat control is limited as our strategy is to drive up as far as practical for the time we want to fish, then float back down casting lures into the shorelines, looking for active smallies, northern, or whatever may be hitting at the time.  A favorite lure is a squatty type crankbait that dives around 4 feet, in either a crayfish color or the ever successful Fire Tiger pattern.  Earlier in the week a trip to Fleet Farm found a bin of clearanced crankbaits and there were a few Matzuo Asai Shads, shallow water cranks in fire tiger for under $4.00.  Picking up a couple I knew these would be great for Ben, if he lost them, no big deal and yet they would be very effective.  Arriving about 3 miles up river and after getting everything ready, it was time to give Ben a lesson on casting...Stay out of the trees, hold your rod tip high, don't over cast and hit the rocks, keep a steady retrieve, often times the fish hit right at the boat.  It only took about 10 casts before I felt comfortable that he "gets it" and started fishing on my own.  Well it wasn't 10 minutes and a bass exploded out of the water with his bait firmly hooked in it's mouth.  Before we could even get the net out he lifted the fish over the boat gunnel and onto the floor.  I sort of winced but when your excited, getting the fish

A beautiful Golden Redhorse

in the boat is the most important aspect of fishing!  "So, I'm fishing for the first time in Uncle David's boat and the first time on the river. I'm fishing with the pole Uncle David gave me along with the lure he bought for me. Uncle David shows me how to fish this brand new experience and right away I catch my first small mouth and it's a beauty, 17 inches long!"  I'm not sure who was more excited me or Ben but I can definitely guarantee there isn't a smile that could compete with his.  After settling down we continued our float where we caught a few smaller fish before finishing the casting part of the trip in the Big Fish Eddy.  OK, I just made the name up but last week I pulled a 20 inch smallie out of that hole and Sunday saw me connect with a fish that appeared even larger.  Unfortunately she threw the hook before we could net it so it was time to put the casting gear away and head across the river to anchor and fish the bottom with night crawlers.   After re-rigging our poles and getting situated, I felt the first bite.  For river fishing like this it's almost mandatory to use circle hooks.  In Alaska all halibut fishing is done with circle hooks.  Basically the fish can swallow the bait but the hook does not catch until it's pulled back out to the corner of the mouth where it rotates and digs in. With the bottom feeders on the river, they work great, you let the fish take the bait then simply reel in and the fight is one.  Grabbing my reel and simply turning the crank, the fish was on.  Handing the pole off to Ben, he fought the fish while we got the net.  Being too big to hoist over the side of the boat, we landed this beautiful 5 pound golden redhorse.  Of course neither Ben nor Jack had ever seen one before so we took a few pictures and let it go.  They are really unique as we did get another one, 2 nice carp, and a 3 pound channel catfish.  5 fish in about an hour and all species Ben had never caught before.   About 7:30 we headed back to the shed with another great day on the river.  I do like the night crawler fishing, it's very relaxing and you never know what will show up at the end of the line.

19 inch Smallie

Going backwards for Saturday, my neighbor Tom and I spent a few hours on the river to check out to see if the fishing was as good as it was the week before.  The first thing we noticed was the river level had already dropped another foot or so, enough for us to pay more attention to where we were going.  With a couple extra hours to play with we headed upstream about 6 miles and started beyond where the Crow River meets the Mississippi.  Almost immediately Tom nails a nice 19 inch smallie, a great start to the trip.  We really like fishing those outside bends where the bank is quite steep and the river depth provides a nice continuing drop.  With new line on his reel, I think Tom had a lot more confidence and it shows with this fish.  As we drifted down the sky was getting darker and darker.  Looking at the weather map on the phone it was obvious we were going to get wet unless we thought of something fast. A glance at the County Hwy 12 bridge going across the Crow River, we arrived just in time to park underneath as the sky opened up.  I was a nice break, time for a beer and discuss the next strategy.  With the water down, what was looking good last week had changed significantly yet there were new area's becoming apparent.  Drifting down the north side of the River, we decided to try the south side but soon discovered a dramatic change in the water quality.  The Crow River enters the Mississippi River form the south and it is very dirty, chocolate colored from the farm areas it flows through.  With visibilities of less than 6 inches vs the north side at around 18 inches, it was apparent that the outflow of the Crow stayed on the south side for a number of miles before completely mixing with the Mississippi.  After 200 yards of drifting we headed back across the river for cleaner water.  We encountered many smaller bass this trip and Tom

Nice northern pike

did manage to get another fish over 16 inches but that's about it for size.  A number in the 12 inch range and even a few under 6 inches, regardless of size, those bass are pretty aggressive.  I did get a couple of northern again, including a nice 28 incher.  I'm surprised at how many of those snakes have graced my line these days.  We ended up at the Big Fish Eddy (see previous reference) where the previous week saw us hook up 4 smallies before leaving.  We did get some smaller fish again and I decided to try for walleyes while Tom casted for bass.  I tried a smaller sucker minnow on a 3 way rig and bottom bounced it for 50 yards down the current break in 10 - 12 feet of water.  No such luck.  After a few last casts we headed the boat down river to check out the Anoka Bridge as I had never been that far down river before.  It was interesting and it looked like there were a few potential fishing holes to try before the summer is done.  As we loaded the boat back up my tow vehicle, a 2008 Polaris Razor side by side had completely lost power in one cylinder.  Assuming it was a fuel issue, it was time to bring it in the shop for a tune up.  As we locked the last gate behind us, Tom, who is a superb mechanic, suggested that it sounded like an ignition problem to him.  After cleaning the boat and putting it away Tom left yet I couldn't help think about his diagnosis.  Pulling a spark plug wire on one side, the motor simply turned over.  Repeating on the other side and it started but only ran on that cylinder so I swapped the spark plugs and the problem followed.  Next I pull a plug from my Sportsman 800 ATV then replaced to assumed bad plug and voila, purred like a kitten.  New plugs were only $6.00 but it saved me from hauling it in and paying the minimum charges, I guess a nice trade.....fishing trips for engine advice.

This weekend's as busy as most have been.  Sunday is the annual St. Peter and Paul's Fall Fest in Independence, Wisconsin, my wife's home town.  With friends we haven't seen in a while it will be fun to get back and meet old friends.  As well we'll probably go and see my niece to celebrate her birthday as she's growing up too damn fast as well.  The colder summer has put the damper on my sweet corn however the pickles seem to be holding their own as I've made about 8 buckets so far.  It's almost time to start working on my wheel house and get it ready for the winter.  It needs to get the underside spray foamed for insulation, and I have a cupboard door to install taking advantage of a space that isn't being used.  Lac Seul is in 4 weeks, that will come up fast.  Oh well.

A Boat Load of Boats

Last weeks post discussing my 2 boat purchases from Charlie gave me thought about all the vessels I have owned in my lifetime. The various boats I have owned each have a story behind them along with fond memories. 1979 was the start my my journey to where I am today. My friend Kevin knew where there was a boat sitting in a field east of Eleva. The strategy was to check out the boat then go negotiate with it's owner Paul Wichmann. $200 later and I was in business. It was a 14 foot aluminum Starcraft, probably no wider than 4 feet. Brother Steve had a new trailer and "let me use it for a few years", so all I needed was a good motor. I was talking to a customer of mine and he had a 1975 15hp Evinrude, like new. Parting with $575 I was in business!

In 1981 I was invited to fish Mille Lacs with some friends of mine. Teaming up with a guy at work who had a bigger boat, we joined them and I was hooked. It was obvious that if my love for the lake was going to sustain, I would need a larger boat. Selling off the boat and motor separately I keep my borrowed trailer and bought a brand spanking new 14 foot Lund S14DLX, the widest boat in it's class along with a new 25hp Evinrude. Unable to afford anything larger I immediately started to remodel it by adding a carpeted casting platform in the front as well as some electronics and an anchormate. This is the boat that I scared the pants off of Big Dave with a midnight cruise in 3 foot waves on Mille Lacs. He still gives me crap! My next boat was the 1985 Lund ProAngler with a 50 hp Merc, Charlies first boat. On a per year basis I estimate that I probably caught more fish out of this boat than all others. It probably had to do with being less fearful then! Next came the 1986 Lund Nisswa Guide with the same motor as my previous one except now they called it a Classic 50 as it's real prop HP was 42. This was a great motor, sort of a gas hog because of it's 4 cylinders, and was getting waxed on the water by the Japanese outboards. While fishing the flats on Mille Lacs with my good friend Mark Taylor the wind had come up and it was time to head in. Pointing the boat south against the 3 footers I could not get on plane. Whipping the boat around with the wind, I got her going and the next day promptly traded the motor for a 55 Suzuki. Great motor!! 1990 was a bad year for the boating industry. Through my wife's work we were able to bid on a slightly used 1989 Ranger 680T on a Rangertrail. This was the premier tiller boat of the day. I mounted my 55 Suzuki on it and was in business. Although it was a beautiful boat, it's hull was more like a bassboat's and frankly pounded the heck out of me on Mille Lacs. So much so that in 1993 I traded it for a new Skeeter 135T with a 75 Mariner tiller. This was a rocking boat, 17'3" long, and handled the waves like a knife through butter. It also took the longest to get used to. The boat was ordered in time to make the fishing opener however a delay at the factory in Texas meant it would miss the next truck north. The dealer charged a $300 delivery fee so I asked my brother Jon if he would pick it up for the same amount. 3 days later I had the boat. A year later I was cruising on Mille Lacs when the motor just killed. Once stopped you could smell how hot it was. Raising the motor revealed a plastic bag had wrapped around the water intake and seized the pistons. Once cooled the motor restarted and I was able to return to the landing. The next day I headed for Frankies, filed an insurance claim and had a new 1994 75hp on the back. To my surprise the 1994 was a model change and the motor was much more powerful, such that I needed a new prop. That boat often hit 40 mph. Although I really liked that boat, the fit and finish was not very good. 2001 came along and Ranger introduced their 620T with a 115 hp 4 stroke Suzuki. My previous experience with my 55 hp was enough to convince me. This boat is 20' and has proven to be everything one would want in a large tiller operated boat. It can do about 37mph yet troll at 1.8mph for total versatility. Great storage, plenty of room, can handle big water, and looks great. Today I am running the exact same boat in a 2008 model.

I did get out on Sunday. Consecutive weekends of fishing does not leave much time to get the chores done around the house, especially when the garden is in full production. Sunday evening I asked my neighbor Lory if he wanted to head to the river for a couple hours of relaxation mixed with a few beers. Fishing off a neighbors dock I rigged Lory with a nightcrawler and I was determined to get a catfish using Sonny's Stink Bait on a catfish worm. I can assure you that it definitely does stink! Back on the river stink bait works great for catfish. Last year I had caught a number of them off the same dock so I know they are there. Well I never got even a hit. In the meantime Lory hooked this carp as well as a golden redhorse sucker (middle picture). I had never seen one of these fish before so it was exciting to research the internet and see exactly what kind of fish it was. As you see in the top picture the river is very peaceful and provides a great way to unwind a hectic weekend.