Moving Right Along!

Mr. Schubert and I with a nice Sea Trout

Deer hunting is done for me, at least this year as I hunt Zone 2 which runs through 2 weekends.  I have to admit that this years hunt was quite unusual as I really never had the need to dress warm as the temperatures were well into the 50's all 4 days I hunted.  I never saw a deer, lots of deer tracks, however as my buddy Kevin Aiona would say (I think he got this from either his grandpa Ed or Milo Whipple) "you can't make track soup!"  I am Ok with this, as I did get some venison from Deer Camp as we help cut one up.  I did make a bunch of what has turned out to be a fabulous combination, Bacon infused Venison Burger.  Simply grind a pound of good bacon with 2 pounds of venison trimmings.  It's pretty damn good if you ask me!  Last weekend I headed up to Jack's cabin on Saturday afternoon and hunted Saturday evening out of a stand at Brett's and Sunday morning on Loren's land.  I removed my stand on Sunday then headed over to Bill Lundeens and did some minor electrical work in his garage, a simple task that allows me to help repay his friendship.  Besides, I am not bad at rewiring!  Before leaving our hunting spot we drove over to Loren Tomala's farm to thank him.  He just had prostrate surgery the week before and looked pretty good.  Loren has a wonderful family and it's fun to stop in.  He had all his direct family showing up for there traditional Sunday morning breakfast so we headed out.  Of course 90% of deer hunting is hanging around your friends and through Jack I have met a lot of them. This weeks opening picture is of Mike Schubert, a long time friend and colleague, and I posing with his nice Sea Trout he caught a few years back when we were in Louisiana.  Mike just sent me these last week and it is "Fishin' With Dave" so  what the heck, it's a nice reminder of the great time we had fishing down there.  It also is a great come in to our up and coming Grouper fishing trip in Naples Florida on December 3rd, something I am really looking forward to as it's been a fishing drought as the last time I was out was October 22nd.

To be honest the weather has been extremely nice for this time of year.  Although we have had a killing frost, it has been relatively warm with nothing in the low 20's yet.  It looks like that's about to change with blizzard warnings for Central Minnesota and predictions of up to a foot of snow.  Of course the lakes are still wide open but a little snow on the ground tends to reflect the heat and make it colder out.  The map to the right shows a pretty good band of snow through central Minnesota which should get the ice making machine going in the next couple of weeks!  My Salem Ice Cabin is pretty ready to go, however I do need to let it down to make sure nothing is rusted tight and plan on having this done by the weekend.  The floor needs to be cleaned and everything put away for it's maiden voyage to Red Lake, hopefully by time I get back from Florida, maybe the week of December10th. This year's regulations for Red Lake is the same as last year, 3 walleyes with only 1 over 17 inches.  This is enough so  at JR's Corner Access we can have a nice walleye dinner and take a couple home.  Reports on Red state that the lake is full of 14 - 21 inch fish!  It's interesting as I was talking to my friends about the changing Ice fishing methods.  For years I loved pulling an ATV and my portable, unloading, driving out (sometimes 5 or more miles) then driving in at dark.  Today I really like the camping aspect of ice fishing, pull out the wheel house, fire up the furnace, get the DirecTV hooked up, pour a cocktail and fish from basically my living room. Am I getting more lazy.......you bet!!!  In February I will be 62 so no use pushing it!  Next week is Thanksgiving and in the last few years it is not been consistent what we do, oh well.  This weekend it is planned to go down to my wife's cousin's house in Fountain City so maybe I'll get to visit some of the local wineries or maybe even get to see my brother Steve who probably will do a lot of ice fishing with me this winter.

I would be remiss without mentioning that today is my dear Friend, Tom Emmon's 68th birthday. Even though he is not with us, he lives on through his memories.  Check the labels below and you can find enough pictures of the great times we had together.  I really miss this guy!

Busy Week

Sandhill Cranes Near the House

Mark Applen and I had been discussing his current wheel house situation for this years up and coming ice fishing season and apparently he decided to do something about it.  There were some deals floating around the area for a few 2014 Salem Ice Cabin wheel houses and some of those were actually pretty good.  Mark ended up purchasing one at a dealership in Mankato and in the process, arranged to get his floor spray foam insulated.  He generously offered to haul mine down and drop it off at the insulating company, Reichel Insulation, the same day he would pick his up new house and it really worked out slick for me.  As stated last week they called and said that it was done and to come and pick it up on Friday afternoon.  It's a nice drive to Mankato and after meeting the owner's son and looking at the nice job they did, I'm pretty impressed.  The house should be a lot easier to heat using less propane as well as be more comfortable to spend your time in.  With Mark having the identical house its been fun to help him not make the same mistakes that I have!  With summer winding down it's time to start getting it ready for the winter as the inside floor/wall joints need silicon caulk, hopefully I can get the new door under the couch installed for extra storage, and Mrs. Sipe can finish the last curtain.  On Tuesday morning I headed to California for work.  Driving by the field just across from the old PDQ station there were 2 large sandhill cranes eating the grain stubble left from the combining that was done earlier.  They are magnificent birds standing close to 4 feet tall, they are certainly becoming more numerous around the area.  Stopping along the road I snapped this picture of them pecking in what was left oats that were planted to keep down the erosion.  Like the resident bald eagles that next down where the neighbor Blair has the boat launch on the Mississippi River, it's nice to see these exotic looking birds.  As long as they stay out of the garden, there fun to have around.

Pacific Ocean Sunset

Tuesday morning caught me getting on a flight to Los Angeles (LAX) for a number of business meetings. California is a great place to visit, especially if its February but to be honest, just too many people!  Like the old Mama and Papa's song, It Never Rains in Southern California, they are in the midst of a severe drought.  I don't know, it seems brown there when ever I go but it is pretty dry.  We have a couple of employees in the Los Angeles/San Diego area so it's nice not to have to rent a car and fight the craziness of their what seems to be a constant rush hour.  Tuesday night we connected with one of our suppliers and had dinner at the Chart House Restaurant in Cardiff, California. Sitting practically on the beach, we had a stunning view of the sunset looking out over the Pacific Ocean, it was quite amazing.   It didn't make up for the sorry state of the oysters on the half shell, they were pretty bad for an upscale seafood place.  On Wednesday I was relayed to Mike Schubert where we headed to Dana Point to check out the incoming fishing boats.  With a hurricane developing off the coast of Baja Mexico, the waters were pretty churned up, great for surfing but not so good for fishing.  Never the less we did see some yellowfin tuna carted off the boats heading for a weighin and cleaning.  Mike had an hour meeting at the American Legion, a great place to hang out before we went to his favorite place in Huntington Beach, Longboards (what they call surfboards).  There the oysters were in perfect form and about a third the price from the night before, as well as their entire menu was extremely reasonable.  They had an interesting side drink, a shot of vodka with cocktail sauce added then topped with a raw oyster.  Not afraid to try anything, it was pretty good.  Being from Minnesota it was quite unusual to sit outside on the sidewalk patio, it's 76 degrees out and they have the propane patio heaters going full bore.  I suppose with a strong wind coming in from the ocean, it's something people expect there.

The countdown to Lac Seul for next week is still being decided.   All that is known is I'm driving so the boat needs to get ready.  It's going to be pretty exciting to have my boat there, it will give me a great opportunity to explore the areas we fish with the electronics, not that it's needed.  I am worried about the sand and have assurances from Pete that he'll keep his shoes off the gunnels, I think we'll be ok.  With some family things going on this weekend, fishing next, a wedding on the 13th, as always, I'm running out of time.

Stuck in LA

Fishouflage European Carp Pattern

OK, another idiot move by yours truly!  The second week in February is always the MD & M Show in Anaheim, California and my company, Precision Inc., always has a booth there.  It's been awfully cold in Dayton this year with at least 50 days where the temperature has been below zero, the 80 degree weather in California would be a welcome change.  Catching the early flight to LAX, it was a typical -18F when I left the house.  Looking at my flight options for the return flight I decided to book the redeye back on Thursday night, board at around 1:00 in the morning, the 3 hour flight would get me in Minneapolis around 6:30AM on Friday.  Good plan, saves me a hotel room and I could sleep on the plane.  Well, reread my plan......leave Thursday night at 1:00, well that is actually Friday morning.  The Thursday night flight booked was leaving 24 hours earlier than what was in my head so I had to rebook.  the Friday morning Redeye was full so I am finishing this  post from 35,000 feet, a few days late but at least I am back on track.  From my view the weather is very nice in Los Angeles yet that's about all that's nice.   It seems like there is a gazillion people living in LA as you can drive for hours and never leave the city.   One interesting thing about shows are the people you meet.  The booth next door to me was a German company and the guy in charge had just arrived.  After talking to him for a while we soon discovered something in common, both of us love to fish.  In Germany he often fished for European Carp as well as zander, similar to our walleye.  He also talked  about pike, whitefish, eels, but I forgot to ask about German Brown Trout.  Of course I had to describe ice fishing to him, something he thought was pretty interesting. Yesterday I showed him a site where he could buy shirts with a European Carp imbedded in the pattern.  Fishouflage is one of my favorite sites and I own a number of their products, mostly in the walleye or crappie patterns.  He thought that the carp pattern was quite interesting and took down the website.  I was not sure they shipped to Germany but promised if he had any trouble I would take care of it for him.  He'll probably be the first in Germany to flaunt his passion on his shirt, it was a lot of fun talking to him and we left with.....if you're ever in Minneapolis I know someone who could entertain you for a day of fishing.


Marbled Godwit

One thing I like in LA is to walk along the beaches and jetties on the ocean.  This time of the year the water is around 55 degrees and the only thing around are the crazy surfers in wetsuits and shorebirds.  My friend and colleague Mike Schubert was my host and after setting up our booth on Monday we drove around the area of Huntington Beach where he lives.  Mike has a boat harbored at the American Legion where there is a big area of channels and harbors in Alamitos Bay, Newport Beach.  Showing me the entrance to the harbor it was pretty nice as I saw Californian Sea lions swimming  up the entrance as well a number of shorebirds feeding in the surf.  One in particular called a Marbled Godwit, had a very and pointed bill, it must have been 6 inches long.  These birds would walk along the sand, just as the water receded, looking for bubbles, a tell tail sign of sand crabs their favorite food.  They would shove the entire length of their beak into the sand in search of their next morsel.  No bigger than a dime, they would pull the crab out of the sand and immediately eat it, it was fascinating to watch them work.  As well there were small birds, usually in packs of 6 - 10 that would race in and out with the waves, just staying ahead of the water.  With the surf's mesmerizing rythme, it was very relaxing to just stand there and take it all in.  Sort of like another world, behind me was the big city and in front of me was the peacefulness of the ocean.

It's finally threatening to warm up next week.  After the last 2 months of below normal temperatures, it will be a welcome relief.  I am anxious to get out and do some crappie fishing, maybe Sunday.  The Mille Lacs Perch Extravaganza is next week and I probably need to practice up for that as well.  The winter is going fast as we only have another 9 days of Minnesota inland fishing season for walleyes and pike, not very long.  Lake of the Wood stays open till April 15th and I might just have to make one more trip up north, we'll see. Planning for my Louisiana trip has been fun and I am really looking forward to catching and eating some redfish.  Our host, Dick called me as one of his guides read this blog and was interested in walleye, offering a trade, walleye fillets for flounder.  Seems like a good trade to me and I'll be bringing some with!