Annual Trout Fishing trip

Dad's Gift, Panther Martin's Deadly Dozen

Well, we were able to get in our annual October trout fishing trip to an old mine pit that we have been going to for a number of years.  With Bill Lundeen as my guide we met at his house last Thursday and he was ready to go.  My father died in 2011 however he knew how much I loved fishing and a few years before he passed away he gave me a box of Panther Martin trout spinners called the Deadly Dozen.  Knowing my dad he probably ordered them from a Field and Stream or Outdoor Life magazine but wherever, he presented me with this kit of 12 spinners for trout fishing.  He had that look on his face when he gave them to me that I would never forget, that look of....Geez, I finally got something you don't have!  He was correct and I put them away for safe keeping.  Well last year I told Bill I am going to catch a trout with the spinners my Dad gave me but after 8 or so years, I simply didn't remember where they were.  I had a Mepps Spinner and decided to use that but it wasn't the same and I only caught one fish.  Sort of a stubborn streak in me but I was bound and determined.  Well 6 months went buy and one day I found the box of the Deadly Dozen, probably right where I left them earlier.  Not to be shut out again putting them in an obvious place where they would not be forgotten, when Bill set the date last week, it was the first thing I packed!  Our strategy was simple, launch the canoe, attach the trolling motor, fire up the electronics and troll down anywhere from 10 - 30 feet with a small spinner rig, or in my case a Panther Martin.  Although I was determined last year, this time I was serious!! We headed up the shore in 30 to 40 feet of water as the fish marks were numerous on the depthfinder.  With a small trailer of a nightcrawler,  I was getting bumped but Bill caught the first trout.  Trust me, sitting in the front of a canoe has it's limitations, luckily this year I had settled down somewhat and got my sea legs quite quickly.  Having the bucket

Beatiful Day, Beautiful Lake

up front, Bill threw the trout under my seat, not the greatest idea with my limited ability to bend over these days! Finally getting the nice trout in the bucket, Bill was  getting hit quite a bit and had a number of them get away, I was getting nice hit but not hooking any.  Finally deciding to switch to a spinner with a larger hook, it paid off as my first trout came to the surface.  In the meantime Bill and I worked out a better system for moving the caught fish from back to front, use the nets each of us had.  With that problem solved there was another one on the line. Admittedly Bill caught more fish however my goal had been accomplished and Dad's Deadly Dozen proved to be a winner.   I wish he was here to be able to brag about the fish we had caught, he would have liked that, never the less I guess in the grand scheme of things, he wanted me to enjoy these baits and we finally got a chance to prove they worked pretty well.  Next time the strategy will to go to the next larger size as one upping Bill is now the goal!

A Pan Full of Trout.

We cleaned the trout like we used to back home in Eleva, cut the heads off, slit the belly and pull out the entrails then finally removing the blood line under the backbone.  These fish are all about 10 - 12 inches after being cleaned.   They are excellent on the grill, smoked, or delicious pickled by my good friend Mark Applen.  I have plenty to try all these methods for sure.  We know these trout are planted into the lake, similar to what the trout back in the Eleva pond were.  Planted trout usually have a pale white color to their flesh but as they feed on more natural food their flesh becomes more pinkish orange in color, which these all exhibited. They taste a lot better as well this way.  This is one of my favorite trips of the year and of course as you see in the above picture, it is also one of the most beautiful times of the year.  Trout fishing ends on October 31st and although it would be nice to get out again, the weather appears to be heading for a cold and wet period so we'll have to see.

I have been working on my Ranger boat, dressing it up a bit seeings how it wasn't used much this year.  One of the first things was to put some disc brake caliper covers on to dress up the wheels.  In the process of doing this by taking the tires off, the front axle, inner tire was wore down to the point of having no tread left.  Last year the front tire exhibited some wear while the back tire was almost perfect, I discounted it to the fact that dual axle trailers create some drag and wear on the tires and rotated front to back.  Well the limited amount of mile since the rotation put almost double the wear in about a year verses the previous 4 seasons.  Well, maybe Ontario Hwy 502 finally got it's revenge as the axle may need replacing and using the recommendation that trailer tires should be replaced every 5 years as well as the wear, it will be getting a new set of tires as well.  My appointment with the alignment shop is on October 31st, here;s hoping we skip the Halloween Blizzard this year.  There are also a few minor issues to clean up so the plan is to get these taken care of before the boat is put away for the winter.

One week and Counting

Panther Martin Remote Tiller Steering

The end of April has been a whirlwind of activity but admittedly it does make the time fly.  With about a week to go before we head up north for opener there is still a lot to do around the house, heck the boat hasn't even been in the water yet, maybe this weekend.  While getting things ready I noticed that the sticker on the license plate attached to the boat trailer still had 16 on it, not good.  the assumption was that somewhere I renewed it on or near the expiration date and simply misplaced the new sticker, a very plausible scenario.  Attempting to renew it online only met with a reject which was strange because the plate number and VIN number was correct.  Calling the Minnesota Department of Motor Vehicles provideded me with the answer.........Sir, your trailer was not registered for the year 2016 and has been removed from the data base.  In order to get your renewal, you need to go to a nearby Deputy Registrar's office and sign an affidavit certifying that the said trailer in question has not been used since December 31, 2015.  Apparently I did not renew it last year and the 16 designation means that the plates expired January 1, 2016 and not December 31, 2016.  Therefore I have been pulling my boat trailer all of last year on expired plates.  So I go in and sign a document that the last time I used the boat trailer was in October of 2015, that satisfied the agent and I was able to secure new tabs for this season.  It sure would be convenient to issue boat trailer license renewals similar to the boat itself, a 3 year sticker and do it at the same time. Oh well, one more thing out of the way!! This weeks picture is of the Panther Martin Remote Tiller Steering module they added to the boat.  It is quite compact and works really good, at least in the garage.  Note the heat gun on the floor for removing my old plate sticker.  As stated in the past, I really enjoy trolling Shad Raps along the shorelines on Leech Lake and this should make it quite a bit easier to control the boat while trolling. The boat is pretty well put back together with the right strategic rod/reel combos that are best suited for walleyes on Leech as most of our strategy is slow drifting with a jig and minnow combination, as well the trolling rods are ready to go!

Plano deep 3700 Series Storage Boxes

This year I intend on using plastics more.  One of the things to make storage easier was purchasing a few of the Deep Plano 3700 plastic boxes to store all of my plastics in, as they generally are kept in their original packaging bags.  Using 3 boxes I can sort them by scented ones such as Gulp and PowerBait, BFishN type baits like the Pulse X featured last week, and plain 3 - 4 inch curly tail grubs in a number of pretty wild colors. I like to be organized in the boat and these boxes really do an excellent job of storing these lures and the Ranger's compartments were specifically made to hold this size so it really makes it nice. Last year I keep them in a soft sided tackle box but it proved to be extremely difficult to access everything and this really make it easy.  One of my goal is to commit to teaching my friend Bruce the art of fishing plastics on Lac Seul this year and will probably even set up one of my jigging rods for him so he doesn't have to switch his own lures.  I have been very successful in getting him in my train of thoughts on equipment such as depth finders and trolling motors, now it's time to introduce a new method he can use when the walleye bite slows down, or to really take advantage of it when the bite is hot.  Either way both the Minnesota Opener and the Canadian Opener should be in prime!

I did pick up our Team Walleye hats and the honorary shirts for those who bring their boats.  They are pretty sharp and I will guarantee that we will be noticed on the lake!  pretty much everything is a go as my friend has confirmed our annual bait situation, so we are set there.  Lot's of stuff to get caught up on, the garden needs tilling, the lawn needs mowing and fertilizing, boat need to be checked out. The list never ends.

The End of An Era

My mom, Betty Anderson

Tuesday, April 18th was my Mother's 83rd Birthday.  At 4:00 on that day she passed away from COPD, I probably don't need to elaborate the causes.  It marks and end of an Era, for 52 years my parents home was home, things never stay the same. My dad met my mother Betty in Milwaukee back in the early 1950's when after he finished his stint in the Air Force he went to work at the Schlitz Brewing Company.  There he met my uncle Lee Ystad who was married to my mother's sister, Dorothy.  I am sure that Lee told my dad that my wife has a good looking sister you should meet, and the rest is history! Married in 1954, they  lived with my Grandparents (Dad's Parents) for a while and I can only imagine how that went.  Mom, being from Milwaukee was a city girl and was sort of a tough gal!  Meanwhile my grandmother was a church going, small town woman, just the opposite of mom.  Well, they prevailed and eventually mom adapted to living in Eleva, a town of 465 back then.  She was the disciplinarian in our family as it never was........"Wait till your Dad get's home" rather she, and I would have to say very effectively, could dish out whatever the punishment needed to be and it was usually with her favorite weapon of choice, the fly swatter!  She knew how to use it and it was interesting as we were pretty settled down by the time Dad got home.  She eventually got a job at the local Grocery Store as a general stocking help and cashier.  In a small town everyone knows you and where you came from so everyone knew mom for sure. I find it very interesting that Mom did not have a driver's license until she was in her 50's, and even so, she never really drove at all.  I know she let her license lapse and really never wanted to drive.  She was a pretty woman up to the end and actually looked young for her age.  I remember when I was in my late teens people would often ask if I was her younger brother.  Yet she did not like her picture taken and was quite adamant about that, enough that it got me in trouble many times.  This is a picture taken about 10 years ago, she would be upset that I even published it here however I am proud of her and like to brag about her (This is where I got my good looks from!).  She was an interesting person, quite independent in many ways and quite dependent in others. Admittedly we were not a hugging, kissing, family, maybe to some it would

Mom and Dad at their 25th Wedding Anniversary

appear we were quite cold.  That's the way it was. 2 weeks before my father died (August 2, 2011) I sat on the couch with him and finally got the courage to say.....Dad, I never really told you this but I wanted you to know that I love you. Well his comeback was straight and to the point......Dave, when we were kids, we never had to say that to our parents as we just knew!  That was it, end of story!  Wow, I had to think about it for a while but vowed to start telling it to mom every time I talked to her.  After 56 years of silence I believe it changed her as she always responded to that positively.  Sitting with my brothers Steve and Blake, and Sister Beth, they gave each one of us a hand written note she had wrote and requested they be given out to each of us upon her death.  Mine says:  "Dear David,  I's so proud of what you turned out to be.  I can't thank you enough for all that you have done for me.  You take good care of me.  You have always been so hardworking, I remember when you were 12 and started working a garage after school.  You would stay there working until late at night.  Growing up you always helped me and as and adult, I always knew if I needed anything you were only a phone call away.  I love you so much! Love, Mom  The was a star at the end and another statement:  Look up at the stars and know that I am with you.  For that shining star you see is me watching you from above."   Uffda, pretty hard to top that.  Of course we all read ours out loud and between the tears we exclaimed, where did this come from!!!  From an amazing lady, one who was plucked from her world, hauled up to a foreign place, raise 5 kids, and found her real home.  Those who are reading this please consider, it's not to late to tell those who are special to you that you love them.  It's amazing what the results can be!! Love you mom.  Here is her obituary.

My new iTroll Kicker Motor Controller

So it's full speed ahead with our Opening fishing event.  I brought my boat in a couple weeks ago to Frankie's and they called, come pick it up!  I got the iTroll and remote steering installed as well, they did a number of warranty issues that I did not expect.  The tongue jack on the trailer was almost impossible to crank and the outboard engine had a few recalls that needed to be updated, a cover and the engine software.  I also had them install a timer on my baitwell aerator pump as it drove me crazy that it ran all the time. The iTroll is and interesting device as it precisely controls the speed of my Evinrude 9.8 hp kicker motor that I have been trying to use for trolling presentations.  It is a special servo motor connected to the throttle that allows you to adjust the throttle in small increments to get just the right speed.  It was difficult to set this using the shift lever to get the right speed.  As stated it was a bear to steer and the new Panther Martin remote steering should make trolling crankbaits and breeze!  I can't wait to try it on Minnesota Opener in a few weeks as I have a feeling the shallow water #5 Shad Rap bite will be pretty hot!  I will definitely give you a full report.  Now I need to find the time to get the boat in the water and try everything out as well as reorganize things, put the rods and tackle back in the boat, the list never ends.  As well the yard needs work and I am in Chicago next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  It's going to be a crazy next 4 weeks!