One Opener Down, One to Go

A Miserable Sunday

Well, like everything else these days Team Walleye's 42nd Annual Fishing Opener at Leech Lake ended as quick as it started.  One of the things that is going to stop is looking at the forecast 10 days before an event and getting excited about the predicted nice weather. What looked like a beautiful weekend in the 70's turned into a Northeaster of epic proportions. Opening Saturday admittedly was nice, sunny and in the 60's by the end of the day our faces were pretty sunburnt.  One could travel around the lake in relative comfort however Sunday and Monday were a complete 180 degree opposite with highs in the mid 40's, 20 - 35 mph winds out of the northeast, and cold driving rain that tested our will to stay out, in fact many simply elected to stay in.  As you see in the picture the wind was howling and it had the water pretty churned up as visibility was less than a foot sometimes. This year we had a special award donated by Kevin, a hand made spinning rod complete with matching colored accents to our hats and inscribed with the Team Walleye 2015 commemorative tribute.  We decided that the fairest way to award this prize among others was a simple and fair proposition.  You see we have 6 separated fishing sessions, 1 each morning and one each evening after supper.  A qualifying fish is 12 inches or longer so if a person caught at least 1 over 12 in a session, he would be eligible to enter a chance for the rod giveaway drawing.  If you caught a qualifying fish for each session, you received 6 chances. It worked out good until one of the guys thought we meant an entry for every fish over 12" so we spent some time pulling out his slips.  Besides the fishing rod we have prizes awarded for the 3 largest fish, the most individual points and most team points which is a determination of your own numbers of fish caught and how well you did to put your teammates with you on the fish.

Mark Taylor with a decent eater.

The trip started somewhat on the wrong foot as we stopped by Lundeen's Tackle Castle to pick up shiner minnows.  Checking them at the next gas stop 60 miles up the road one of the bags had all the oxygen gone and the  minnows were dying.  We quickly got a cooler, my brother Steve's portable aerator and luckily saved about 60% of them. That was close.  Not having my boat was an issue for me for sure.  Although haven driven wheel boats before this was the first time I was faced with learning a whole new process like which side to fish out of, how the wind affects our position, what to do with everything.  It was sort of like being a fish out of water but eventually I caught on and recovered well.  Saturday morning was our first session and as always, we started at Pine Point.  This is the go to area yet is gets pretty crowded in the morning.  I had Mark Taylor and Mike Kimpel in the boat with me and after catching a couple under 12" decided to go exploring, which is something I enjoy.  Off we went to an offshore reef, the conditions were great but I didn't mark anything.  From there we went to Ivan's Reef and starting catching some really nice fish in 14 feet of water, right off the rocks.  By 2:00 we had 10 walleyes caught, 7 in the live well when the game warden showed up.  Pulling along the leeward side of the boat we exchanged greetings before getting down to business.  First the license check, we were good.  Next he asked about our fish so I pulled out our Team Walleye score sheet and explained we had 7 in the live well with the biggest 19.5" and we released a small on and 2 over 22". "Can I see the 19.5 fish?" so we pulled that out and it checked out perfect.  He commented how organized we were then did a life vest check, OK on that front.  Finally he asked for the throw cushion, readily accessible.  Thinking I had seen it before every compartment I searched was empty as I danced around the boat.  Explaining it was not my boat and was fully aware of the requirement I did a desperate look underneath the fold down seat as he exclaimed the fine for that was $600. Digging for something he whispered to the other guys that he was just kidding but I didn't know that! Not finding anything his next comment was that underneath a seat that was difficult to access was not readily accessible as I gave up.......no sir, I am afraid we are missing that vital piece of equipment. He must of felt sorry for us as he asked for my license again and stated that we were only getting a warning this time, uffda. Sometimes you win one.

My Awards

Sunday night was good as we did really well on Duck Point in 10 feet of water.  As stated earlier Sunday morning was absolutely horrible with predictions of an inch of rain coming.  Luckily it held off till about noon but it certainly took a toll on our enthusiasm as everyone was in by 1:00.  A couple of us took the time to head into Walker and pick up a few groceries and stop at Reeds, always a nice place to look around.  Also Sunday was my night to cook our annual fried walleye dinner and admittedly I got started probably later than I should have.  Luckily the weather was terrible and for the most part everyone except Andy and Pete decided to go out so it turned out OK.  Even I decided there was no use fighting the waves and to be honest, although Mark's boat was pretty big, it just doesn't ride like a fiberglass and as well, I was still learning the finer aspects of boat control. Monday was a little better as the wind laid down to 15 - 20 mph, almost tolerable.  We decided to hit the the area below Stoney Point thinking the wind would be better there but there wasn't any fish there. Heading back to Pine Point we were surprised that it seemed calmer and the walleyes had the feedbag on as we ended up with 13 for the 5th session.  Going in to eat at 2:00, dinner was served early and we were back out by 5:30. Unfortunately the hot bight of 3 hours ago was over with and for the rest of the evening we only managed 2 keeper walleyes as the heavy mist continued.  I really wanted to troll shad raps so we decided to troll the shoreline back to the resort which proved to be a bust. Maybe the cloudy water had something to do with it yet when we passed Brindley's dock a boy was just reeling in a nice walleye, go figure.  In the end Andy got the 1st and 3rd place for the largest walleye with my nephew Kevin getting the second place position with a nice 24+.  As you see I won both the Team award for the most total walleyes caught in a boat for the 3 days as well the individual points champion for the greatest amount of fish and points accumulated.  Ryan Sterle won the custom fishing rod even though he only fished for 3 sessions then went home.  All in all it was fun even if the weather proved hard on some of us old men!  We are definitely looking forward to next year, hopefully I'll have my boat by then and be somewhat proficient at it.

Speaking of my boat the last time I talked to my dealer the new delivery date was May 20th.  Before leaving town to fish Leech they called to ask me about a title to my old Ranger, which I didn't have. Asking about confirming the 20th Deb told me, no that was the build date and it would take a week after that plus another week to ship it from Flippin, AR to Minnesota.  A few days at the dealership and it looks like about June 5th is the date now.  The good news is that I should have a number of normal fishing days under my belt so the wait isn't that bad.  Still.  I am frantically getting ready to fly to Lac Seul, Canada with Pete in Garith's recently repaired Beaver.  The plan is to pick up our pilot at 5:30 and we should be in the air by 6:30.  A 4 hour flight and we could be fishing by noon.  I did peek at the forecast today, like last weekend it doesn't look like what was predicted 10 days ago, oh well here we go again.

Taking the Weekend Off....Sort of

Lundeen's Tackle Castle

Pulling the Salem home from Red Lake is sort of anticlimactic as it means an end to those fishing adventures that proved to be so enjoyable.  Looking to do something more constructive I called my friend Bill Lundeen to see if he needed any help at the bait shop on Saturday morning. The Brainerd Ice Fishing Contest was Saturday and with only a few bait shops open anymore, he claimed it was going to be busy and could always use a warm body.  Having helped Bill in the past I know how crazy it can get so I got up at 5:00AM on Saturday and headed north.  Arriving by 7:00 they were already busy, I waited for the cue.  It's easy to bag minnows and rig fishing poles, it's a little more difficult to run the cash register and issue fishing licenses, but in due time I was getting pretty good at it.  One of Bill's customers came in with an auger he ended up hitting a bolt with somehow and needed blades replaced.  This is an easy job and working off the top of the freezer I managed to replace both blades with only one minor cut to my hand, not bad.  The guy was so grateful he paid for the blades and gave me a 4 dollar tip for helping him, that would come in handy later!  It took about an hour and soon I was back in the swing of things and ringing up sales like a pro.  One of the things I do like is talking to the clientele as most people that stop in are looking for 2 things, bait and where are they biting.  The bait is easy and the "where are they biting" is often relative to where they want to go and what skill level they have.  With Mille Lacs it's pretty easy, just say the flats and you'll never be wrong as there is plenty of them around the lake and with the lack of snow one can drive almost anywhere.  It's interesting as I see myself as a pretty honest guy and I hosed up with a customer.  He got a minnow bucket, a dozen fatheads and a dozen rainbows, some waxies and a bait. When I came to ring him up I always call out what I am charging for as I enter it into the till.  Starting out at a dozen rainbows, enter..a dozen fatheads, enter...2 boxes of waxies, enter...a rattle spoon, enter... comes to $14.59, out of $20, here's your change.  The minute he walked out the door I realized I didn't charge him for the $3.79 minnow bucket and I'm pretty sure he knew that.  Well, there went my $4.00 tip.  I would never do that as my values are worth more than that.  Bill immediately sensed my mistake and called me on it but by then I had already acknowledged the problem.  Beyond that I missed a $0.50 oxygen bag so it wasn't too bad.  It was still fun to help and I know Bill appreciated the assistance.

Wild Rice and Home Made Maple Syrup

Things slowed down around 1:00 so I figured it was a good time to head to Dewey's Mille Lacs Access and try a spot we call the Christmas Tree.  Dewey runs a road in Vineland Bay and it extends out past Indian Point and areas east of there.  The lake has quite a few heaves caused by the shifting ice as it warms an cools and this year it's pretty bad.  The best thing is to pay for a road access and usually they have a bridge across the bad spots that allow you to get out on the ice further.  Well I put my $10 in Dewey's pay box and headed east about 1 1/2 miles where there he was with another guy, in front of his bridge.  The warm weather had really pushed the ice up and he pulled his bridge until it was a bit safer to put it back in place.  It was about 2:30 when I stopped and he offered to refund my money but I simply decided to stay on the shore side of the crack and try my luck.  After BS'ing with those guys for a while I punched about 10 holes in 22 feet of water and started fishing but by then the wind was picking up and the bite was nonexistent.  Deciding to pack up I headed back to Bill's just in time for pizza and his homemade tortilla soup, a nice way to end the day.  It's fun to help out someone and I did get out on the lake for a couple hours anyway.  Bill and a friend of his harvests their own wild rice on the lakes around Onamia in the fall and as well in the spring he makes quite a bit of maple syrup so I picked up a couple of containers for my friends in Texas.  Feeling guilty for all the TX they sent, I'm sure they will enjoy the goodies from there up north friend.

Superbowl Sunday is at my neighbor Tim's again as it is every year and I'm looking forward to watching the game, even if the Packer's, who should be playing, are not.  The plan is to sneak out and maybe go look for some crappies on Saturday before the cold weather returns that evening, we'll see.

Out For Trout

A couple limits of nice Rainbow Trout

So last Thursday was my day to spend with Bill Lundeen of Lundeen's Tackle Castle on the corner of highways 169 and 27 in Onamia, MN.  I seldom get a chance to fish with Bill and usually when we go it's not only a great time but more often than not, very successful. It's been a tough year for Bill with the current situation at Mille Lacs however he is a survivor and while others are leveraged to the max, Bill has persevered through this difficult time.  I have a friend that states when a guy dies he probably has less than 5 guys he can count on as his true friends and Bill is on my list.  So when he asked if I was interested in a trout fishing outing to one of the many old pit mines near the Crosby/Akin area it was an invitation hard to refuse.  Setting the date of Thursday, October 23rd, I opened my calendar and was ready to meet him at the crack of dawn.  Unfortunately an important customer asked at the last minute if he could stop by at 9:00 the same morning I had little choice to oblige.  Now what our planned start time of 7:00 in the morning was now 11:30, oh well Bill is an understanding guy.  After a successful 2 hour meeting I headed north and pulled into the bait shop in record time.  Bill was ready to go as we loaded his canoe carrier and canoe onto may truck we headed north.  The day was absolutely gorgeous and if the fish weren't biting it still was going to be a great day.  Arriving at the lake we unloaded our gear and carried the canoe down to the landing about 50 yards down the hill. These old mine pits are deep, clear, and usually are stock with trout as they do well in the deep water during the summer.  With the water temperature around 50 the trout would be found in the shallower water as we headed to the 20 foot range and started trolling with small nightcrawler rigs.  Its kind of interesting to fish out of a canoe, it takes a while to get your sea legs and the confidence to move around and feel comfortable maneuvering around.  Our strategy was to troll the 20 foot water, looking for fish that might be suspended.  I ended up putting a 2 hook crawler rig on 4 pound test

Reflections of a day trout fishing

that Bill tied up for me which had a gold hammered spinner then weighted with a 1/2 ounce sinker. We probably went 50 yards when a tap tap was felt, I dropped the rod tip back still feeling the fish, gave a jerk yet still missed the fish. It was another 20 minutes before I felt another fish and letting it take the bait a little longer the hook set yielded a very nice rainbow trout in the 14 inch range.  Although it was a smaller lake and we could circle it in a reasonable time we decided to get back where the fish were biting. That last fish I caught ended up breaking the line (it was only 4# test)in the net so I put on another rig Bill had tied up but I don't know, not much confidence in going from Gold hammered to Red and White spinner color.  After another 20 minutes I decided to tie my own rig using 6# test, the hooks from the broken rig and the gold spinner blade I was back in business.  Almost immediately I got another rainbow trout, then another and another.  Struggling to put a fish in the boat Bill finally landed one but in the end our limit of 10 trout was predicated on my ability to out fish him 3:1.  I was just one of those days.  Most of these trout are stocked and represent a stock and take fishery, these fish had been in the lake for over a year as they were all 13 - 15 inches and had a nice pink/orange flesh.  It was a super day watching the trout leap out of the water, catching our limits, and the most important aspect........spending the day with Bill, the most important.  Heading back to the bait shop and home we cleaned the fish, had some pizza, a few beers before heading home.  It truly was one of the best days fishing this year.  One of the more striking pictures was the one of the reflections of the trees off the water as we pulled into shore.  With no wind to disrupt the water, the scene was fabulous.

Loaded with fish

Sunday was slated for getting the Ranger out to run some SeaFoam through my system for its long winter sleep.  I asked my neighbor Tom Olson if he wanted to go and he affirmed so we headed out. The lake was Indian Lake north of Annandale, MN, not particularly deep but it has 3 distinct areas in the lake that drop to 25 feet.  I have an old crappie fishing book and they claim that in the fall crappies will congregate in these holes, stack up, and should be easy to fish.  Well the first small hole proved both windy and impossible to fish so we moved south on the calm side of the lake.  Maybe thinking the fish were shallower we worked the 7 - 10 foot depth around the south shore but nothing was biting. With a southeast wind and a 25 foot trough perfectly positioned for a drift we dropped the trolling motor and using a slip bobber and jig, floated right down the middle.  With the weed line at about 12 feet, anything we marked should be fish. Just at the point where the bottom started rising was about 4 marks close to the bottom and one of our bobbers went down.  After putting the trolling motor in anchor mode we hovered over the spot and the longer we stayed the more fish congregated below us.  We caught a few crappies with the first one being awfully small with a couple of keepers in the mix, I was surprised by the amount of fish showing up on the depth finder screen.  The fish were biting very light and maybe it was just our setup that used standard light jigs verses maybe a plain hook in the dorsal fin presentation.  We ended up with 5 and I'm sure that given time we could have sorted through a limit of fish but it was time to go.  Forgetting to take a picture of the screen showing all the fish I went online and found one that exactly duplicates what we were seeing, it was pretty incredible.  Either way the day accomplished my 2 main objectives, the first was to get the SeaFoam mixed into the gas and into the motor and second, to prove the schooling crappie theory.  It would have been nice to catch more but at least I know it is true!

It time to set up my deer stand although it's more like setting up my deer blind.  With my bad luck this year all I need to do is fall out of an eighteen foot high tree stand.  My friend Jack has secured a place to hunt this year as we really don't feel like trudging the swamp again for the wet summer has surely filled it up.  There's still work to be done winterizing the boat as the oil needs changing, the lower unit is do to be changed, and it has to be tucked away in the garage for it's long winter's sleep. Slowly the ice fishing stuff is coming out and I'm looking forward to drilling a few holes soon.

Catching Up, Slow but Sure



Holding down the fort.



It was Memorial Day weekend and it still seems like the first week in May.  With all the rain we are having, just getting in the garden has been a challenge.  For the most part I am still 3 weeks behind but slowly catching up around the house.  For the last month the plantings have been a little here and a little there with potatoes in first, radishes, onions, carrots and peas.  It was good that I rototilled before the rains as it is still significantly wet 4 inches down.  With half the corn in, dill, kale, beans, squash, tomatoes and pepper plants looking better, all I have left is the cucumbers.  I traded my 10 liter fermentation crock for a 15 liter crock and am looking forward to making crock pickles again, they're pretty awesome.  Saturday was spent helping my good friend Bill Lundeen run his bait shop, Lundeen's Tackle Castle on the southwest corner of Mille Lacs.  His daughter, Amanda graduated from the University of St. Thomas and there was no way he and Kathy were going to miss seeing her receive that diploma.  Unfortunately graduation coincides with some of the busiest time of the year for the Lundeen's but I guess he felt we could handle it.  Along with me was Mike Wolff, Mike Melleen, and Don Zaske, all who have worked for Bill at one time or another.  All of these guys are just wonderful and each has their own specialty.  While Don worked the propane, Mike Wolff and I manned the cash register, credit card machine, and with Mr. Melleen's help we all took turns with the license machine.  And licenses we sold!  I'll bet we did over 120 sold to locals and as far away as Hawaii.  Leeches were the most popular with most people and we almost sold out of 5 - 6 inch sucker minnows as some guys were just hammering the big walleyes on them in the various harbors around the lake.  All in all it was a great day to meet new people, work with the guys who have your same passion, and give the gift of letting Bill and Kathy do something special in their lives.

Little and Big Waverly Lakes

Did I say it's been raining?  With a short window on Sunday I did a little planting if the garden before heading out to fish for the afternoon.  With the boat still having sat on the trailer since last October, we simply had to get out.  My destination was Big Waverly Lake in Waverly, MN.  Having purchased a Minnesota Lake Map book that showed significant walleye stockings the last few years and some encouraging words from a friend of mine, I stopped by Cabela's to get some shiner and fathead minnows before cutting cross country to my destination.  Big Waverly is a misnomer as it's not very big at all.  I guess next to it's twin, Little Waverly, it's the biggest...........makes sense.  I arrived at the boat landing just as 2 guys were loading up their bass boat, we discussed the fishing conditions before putting the boat in the water.  After unhooking everything, plugging what needed to be plugged, I backed into the landing.  It was obvious the water was high as it was at the same level as the dock, oh well....more water to float the boat in.  Not this time as the high water covered the more level part of the ramp and with the front wheels of my truck in 6 inches of water the boat was still on the trailer.  I could get to the dock and possibly jump out of the truck and launch but it just didn't seem like a good idea.  Now if I had another guy I would have backed it in far enough to drive it off and back on again, which I am sure the bass boat guys did.  So much for Plan A.  Little Waverly Lake was across the street and although it was just as high the ramp was steeper and I was able to launch.  The problem is that Little Waverly really didn't have the fish population as it's significantly more shallow with much less clarity.  Well at least I got out and tried everything.  You can't knock a guy for trying!

These weekend is graduation central as we are invited to 3 different parties.  I have decided to skip the ones on Saturday and fish the Minnesota Tournament Trail's event on Lake Mille Lacs with Mark Applen.   2 years ago we had taken 3rd place winning over $1000 for Marks Charity.  Last year we got somewhat greedy and could have been in the money but decided to switch strategies, lessons learned.  This year will be more difficult as the slot size is 18" - 20" and the limit is 2 per person.  You can be assured we will do our best looking for a top 10 win. 

Uneventful

Gas Prices This Week

One of the authors I read in high school was Ray Bradbury.  His book, The Illustrated Man was a collection of science fiction short stories written in 1950.  He starts the story with this: "It was a hard rain, a perpetual rain, a sweating and steaming rain; it was a mizzle, a downpour, a fountain, a whipping in the eyes, an undertow at the ankles; it was a rain to drown all rains and the memory of rains." At the time Bradbury was writing about astronauts on the planet Venus and represented the current theory of the climate on the nearest planet to Earth (That theory has since been proven false).  I really think he was writing about the last 6 days here in Dayton, MN.  It has rained none stop through last weekend and has assured that the drought is all but a distant memory.  Besides raining the only thing else going on has been the rapid escalation of our gas prices.  I used to laugh at the gas prices in California, often $0.60 - $0.70 higher a gallon than here in Minnesota.  Well, I guess it's not very funny anymore as Minnesota took the top spot in the lower 48 as the highest gas prices in the nation.  WHAT??? Yep, according to Pete, my neighbor and gas station owner, the perfect storm of refineries shutting down for so called "maintenance" opening the door for astronomical prices.  I snapped this picture at the neighborhood Sinclair station where I buy my motorcycle gas.  For the first time in years Diesel is less than Unleaded Regular.  There are some reports around the Cities of prices exceeding $4.40/gallon.  Rumors are that in a couple of weeks things will get back to normal if we even know what "normal" is these days.  It wasn't less than 6 weeks ago we were under $3.29/gallon.  I guess we can thank our government for another unnecessary exercise in stupidity!  Either way one has to do what one has to do!

Incredible Blooming Apple Trees

So the apple trees finally decided to outdo themselves this year, making up for last years early bloom, a full month later than last years.  And bloom they did.  Apples tend to do well every other year so orchards work hard to even out this cycle.  By chemical thinning of the new apples, they succeed in keeping the apple crop relatively the same each year assuring product for market.  Last year my apples were blooming on April 15 (very early) and a normal frost pretty much destroyed the entire crop.  Because the trees did not have to put energy into producing apples, this years blooms were absolutely incredible filling up each branch on every tree.  With the danger of a late frost pretty much past, I will definitely have a ton of apples this fall, especially if my spraying routine is adhered to.  Spending time trimming my trees each spring, my orchard is looking pretty good these days.  The pruning theory is to open up the middle of the trees allowing the sun to penetrate the center of the tree.  It's the sunlight that gives color to the apples and its interesting that a leaf covering the apple can create it's shadow as the fruit turns red.  I have already fertilized them and the spraying will start as soon as the blossoms fall.  My neighbor Otto has a recipe for coddling moth traps involving water, vinegar, sugar, and a banana peel.  It smells pretty bad but it worth trying out.

So why am I talking about gas prices and apple trees?  The sad truth is the boat hasn't even been in the water yet.  With Leech covered with ice and the weekend filled with yard work, rain, and a trip to Osseo, WI to see my niece's daughter's dance recital, what can I say?  Reports on Mille Lacs have been spotty as the ice went out on both Leech and Mille Lacs on May 16th, the latest for Mille Lacs ever.  I suspect that it will take a few weeks to get the lake going however I did hear that Leech has been putting out fish.  Saturday is my day to help a friend, Bill Lundeen.  His only daughter graduates from college on Saturday and he needs my help to run the bait shop for about 6 hours.  I have done this before yet the Saturday before Memorial Day is probably going to test my resolve.  Either way it will be fun as I am pretty good at doing this and it will be good for Bill and Kathy to celebrate another milestone in their lives.  If you are driving by Lundeen's Tackle Castle on Saturday between 11:00 and 4:00 stop by and say hi.  I'm betting I can increase his sales by 20% so I'll need all the help I can get.  I might bring the boat up and fish the evening bite or simply head over to my friend Mark's place and jump in his boat for an evening of bobber fishing.  Of course there's always Monday!

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.