Posting from Cleveland

14" perch, WOW!

I guess maybe I need to stop complaining how crazy it's been, maybe I could get some fishing in sometime.  Actually I am hoping to get a months worth of fishing in next week with 3 1/2 days at Lac Seul, the clock is ticking down.  Writing from the Airspace Lounge in Cleveland-Hopkins Airport with 3.5 hours to kill, it's giving me time to write this weeks post.  As stated, not much fishing has gone on as I was thinking about going last Sunday but it was pretty windy and everyone was busy. On Saturday my wife and I attending a family reunion in Independence Wisconsin and after 5 hours we headed to Eleva to stop at my friend Kevin's place to discuss the upcoming wedding of his son Ben, which we are attending. Of course it doesn't take very long for the conversation to evolve into fishing and Kevin showed me a beautiful perch that he had caught in the Mississippi River earlier in the week.  This thing is huge!  I definitely needed some material for this week and he reluctantly agreed if I promised never to give up his secret, something I wouldn't do anyway.  He has promised to take me there someday and maybe when I get back from Canada, we can make that happen.  In the meantime I am looking forward to a pretty good evening of fish talk with the boys on Saturday.  Our good friend John Felix will be there as well as most of the good old boys from Eleva, it will be a fun time for sure.  The wedding is at a the Barn Again Lodge just Southeast of Mondovi, Wisconsin and it's a pretty cool place.  The reception is in the machine shed, the barn is remodeled and features sleeping quarters, it's nice and self contained for an event like this.  

All Hooked up!

I do not lack in people who claim that I should have my head examined!  Well on Monday I did just that and had an EEG, electroencephalogram at the University of Minnesota Hospital.  I have had some issues with short spells of dizziness and they are trying to pinpoint a possible problem.  The EEG takes about an hour however at least 40 minutes of it is dedicated to attaching 38 different electrodes to your head by first measuring everything then marking the locations with a crayon.  Next they scrub those areas with something that to be honest, my head still hurts where it feels like they used sandpaper.  Next they apply some adhesive before attaching the electrodes.  It was interesting and the good news is they did find some brain activity. One of the tests involve shining a strobe light into my eyes to see how I react, both with your eyes closed then open. Apparently that did nothing for me.  Before they unhooked everything I asked if I could take a selfie as I was sure it looked pretty stupid. I was right.  I won't know the results for a few weeks but the good news is they let me leave. Next on the testing plan is to hook me up to a heart monitor and leave it attached for 2 weeks to see if I have any issues with my heart stopping which could affect the blood flow to my head.  I decided to wait until mid October to do that as I didn't want to be tethered to anything while I was fishing.  Something tells me that won't show anything either but one never knows as I am not getting any younger.  I suspect losing about 20 pounds would hurt either. It's about 3 days before we leave for Lac Seul and the weather is looking very good with no snow predicted like there was this spring. Normally we bring our blue Clam ice fishing suits but I don't think it's going to be necessary this time as it looks like the mid to high 60's are predicted.  The boat is pretty well packed as I have removed all of the unnecessary tackle boxes, packed my boat fenders, updated my electronics including downloading all of my friend Bruce's information on the lake, changed out which fishing rods I would like to bring with, and made room for everyone else's stuff.  The oil reservoir is filled, my spare prop put away, and all of the safety equipment double checked and ready to go.  I certainly don't need any run in's with the the conservation officers.  

Because I will be in  Canada all week, returning Friday, next weeks post may not happen, we'll see. There is extremely slow internet at the cabin and I am sure it will not like pictures but we'll see.  If not, I'll post as soon as I can with hopefully another great report. 

Da Bears!

Last weekend was busy with social events which got in the way of fishing.   Wisconsin bear hunting is in full swing and 2 of my friends sent in pictures of their trophy bruins.  Because I have no fishing report for this week, sharing their stories and pictures might be something of interest.  The first picture is of my good friend John Felix and his bear hanging in the garage.  John really knows how to take a picture and this bear looks enormous.  Rather than repeat the story I copied his rendition from his e-mail as it is much more interesting.

This bear was suspect of clawing the boards on Harlan’s sugar bush on land 15 miles south of Ashland. It is the same property I shot the 350 lb. 10 years ago. Same bait as well. We hung a trail cam and looked for the largest animal, which is usually the one that marks his territory. After a month of pictures and effort it was decided that this must be the one. He was coming in mostly of and on all day, and night. The first day of season it was windy beyond. Harlan sat with me in a two man ladder stand to video. We got out early because of the wind. I waited until the following Monday to let the bait cool off and see if we had turned them nocturnal. I went to the stand and was settled in by 3:15 PM. The first time he approached he was around 35 yards + out. I had my 50 cal. TC with me but also had the bow as he looked around, turned and left the way he came. I processed all this and by the time I saw him coming back I didn’t have time to turn on the video.  When he got to the 25 yard mark, he presented a standing shot between a gap in the trees about 18 inches apart (this was like a hallway of trees and his frontal area including a heart shot was visible and I could see his head on the other side).  I knew the distance but double checked with a rangefinder. I squeezed off the shot, the broad head just grazed the triceps on the left side, caught lung and pierced the heart center mass on the top fat ring. It was a total pass through. He ran 33 yards and collapsed in 5 seconds graveyard dead.

Pretty exciting if you ask me! John claims the bear was an older male, probably in the twilight of it's life.  Although it was over 6 feet long and had a large head, the bear had practically no fat on it and weighed about 240 pounds.  A younger, healthy bear would have been much larger.  This brings me to the next picture, my friend Greg Kimblom.  Greg shot this bear with his Remington 30-06 on private property in northern Wisconsin.  The bear weighed 225 pound dressed out and was one of 5 that was visiting his baiting station.  Being further from his hunting area than John, he decided to take this one.  As you see, both bears weigh close to the same however as they say, I picture says a thousand words.  Hanging in front of John, his bear looks massive.  Posing for a quick field shot, Greg's bear doesn't look as large yet in both cases they represent the average weight of a black bear shot in the midwest.  Of course they can get much larger with reports of 600 - 700 pound boars being shot every year.  Either way these will make great rugs for the living room, assuming their wives are tolerant!

Indian Summer is in full swing and Friday night is the peak of the New Moon period, time to try our luck trolling rouges on the Mille Lacs reefs.  With temperatures in the 80's, it is too nice to pass up.  Shallow reef trolling has been slow this year however with the water temps in the 50's it's got to get better.  On Sunday morning I will be running the store at Lundeen's Tackle Castle, stop in and say hi.

Successful Leech Lake Opener

This year was the 37th annual Leech Lake Minnesota Fishing Opener for our group, Team Walleye.  The tradition was started by my friends Mark Mayerich, Ron Edberg, Mark Taylor, and Gary Ullom, in 1973, while I was still in high school.  Having started out camping it only took a few years to wise up and get a cabin at a resort.  Settling on Brindley's Harbor on the north side of Traders Bay on Leech, the group has been there ever since.  I started going up with these guys in 1990, 21 years ago.  Back then we had 13 guys with Ron doing the major planning, Mark Mayerich taking care of the food, while Mark Taylor and I were in charge of the beer.  Looking for the cheapest brands, we would buy a 12 pack a day for each guy, 3 days of fishing X 13 guys = 20 cases of beer.  I was never much of a beer drinker so at least 2/3rds of my allotment was available, and we still ran out by Sunday night.  Those were the days.  Today we have dispensed with the group providing the beer and concentrate on the essentials, food, lodging, bait, covered slips, and peripherals like hats.  It is much easier as our groups have varied over the last few years with 24 guys on this opener, a record.  My first picture is of my Brother Steve with a huge perch, the first fish we kept on Saturday morning.

Besides fun the main event of the trip is the Big Fish Contest.  When I first began to fish with the group, we could catch and keep any fish so it was easy to bring them in and have these fish weighed at the resort.  Today the size restrictions force us to release all fish between 18 to 26 inches and generally we release anything larger than 26 as well.  Therefore the contest relies on measured fish as the largest and is done in 1/8" increments.  The last 3 years it has taken a fish longer than 26 inches to win first prize.  This also includes a nice chunk of money as well as being able to possess the traveling trophy, which has been in play since 1978.  The winner of the Big Fish Contest has until next opener to get his name engraved on the plaque. We also recognize the 2nd and 3rd place.  In addition to the Big Fish Contest, we keep track of each boat's total catch and individual catch.  We award a prize for the best individual performance and best team performance.  It also helps to keep track of how many fish we have in the freezer.  I am delighted to announce that this years Big Fish winner with a beautiful 26.5 inch walleye is me!  This will be my 5th first place finish in 21 years catching Mark Mayerich's total after he clinched last years title.  As far as individual and team performance, although in the top 10, this year was a tougher year for Team Anderson.  Never the less the first place win made up for any issues of the total walleye catch.  My good friend Kevin Aiona, who with his partner John Felix are rookies, ended up with the top individual performance and 3rd place in the Big Fish Contest.  This picture is me holding the winning fish!

This year Team Anderson consisted my brothers Steve and Jon along with myself.  Steve has been my fishing partner for the last 4 years however it was Jon's first time with us.  Jon has had a tough life with a genetic condition that causes the arteries in his face to deteriorate, creating a number of serious problems.  He has had many operations to repair damage to his upper lip and palate resulting in the removal of one of his eyes and nose, as well as grafting tissues to his cheek area.  He is one tough hombre and both Steve and I are very proud of how he has dealt with this.  Jon and I don't agree on a lot of things but I still love him and it was fabulous to spend the weekend with him at Leech Lake.  Steve and I are what I would call accomplished fisherman and admittedly we expected it would take some patience with our younger brother.  Were we wrong!  I set him up with a nice St. Croix rod with a Stradic reel and he fished as an equal to both of us.  Here is a picture of a very nice 25.50" walleye that he nailed at a new spot I found on the lake.  Maybe it's just instinct,  but I was impressed how well he did, of course he is our brother. 

The forecast for this weekend is very windy and being away leaves me with tons of stuff to do around the house so we will have to see what develops.  I do have the opportunity to go and see the Twins in their new stadium, which will be hard to pass up. Next week I will have more to report on the opener so stay tuned.