September Lac Seul, Part 2.

Pete's 40 inch Northern Pike

Although the 2016 open water fishing season is winding down with about another 30 days of comfortable fishing, my current situation with the restrictions on Lake Mille Lacs as well my newly found opportunity to fish Lac Seul in Canada on a somewhat frequent basis has me looking at this season as a success.  Normally my routine has been opening on Leech Lake, maybe 12 - 15 trips to Mille Lacs with some time on the river thrown in there.  Occasionally the summer may be interrupted with a trip to South Dakota or some other exotic place however this year it was not in the cards. Looking back I suspect I have fished just as many days as what I would call normal however they were concentrated, like in my Lac Seul fishing, in 3 to 4 days of focused walleye chasing rather than a day here and there.  I was just commenting a few days ago, and those who know me and my love for Lake Mille Lacs would find this statistic interesting but my new Evinrude has pumped more Lac Seul water through it than anywhere else, at least 530 miles and over 30 hours of running hours this year alone.  My normal trips to Mille Lacs is about 50 miles run and maybe 4 hours running time.  I feel bad for the lack of time spent on Mille Lacs however the issues on the lake makes it difficult to commit any serious time and even more critical is it is difficult to find anyone who wants to fish the day with me. Most of my trips to Mille Lacs has been with people that are outside my normal circle of fishing friends.  The other thing of consequence is that my new boat is taking a lot longer to get used to fishing Mille Lacs, wheel vs tiller control.  You know they say...it can be difficult to teach and old dog new tricks however Lac Seul fishing has my boat written all over it.  I was looking forward to the fall trolling bite on Mille Lacs however they closed the walleye catch and release season on September 6th, so much for that.  Being able to go to Lac Seul on September 13th pretty much makes up for my missed September fall bite on Mille Lacs as we got to fish 3 days in a row and for a couple of those days the bite was slow but between 3 of us we did land over 150 walleyes in the boat plus had enough to eat for the first 2 days.

Dan's Walleye off of Dan's Hole

We always are blessed with a good group of guys that fish Lac Seul however as I state before I am
pretty fussy with my boat.  Usually in the fall I have Pete and Dan in my boat, both are good fisherman and both have been trained really well to wash the sand off their shoes before getting into the boat.  This saves me a lot of work as sand and boat carpeting don't really go together very well.  It is almost impossible to vacuum it all out and it get's everywhere, especially in the lid hinges for my compartments. Fishing out of the Ranger is pretty nice as the seats are very comfortable, there is a lot of room, we have Sirius/XM radio, an onboard baitwell for our minnows, of course my opinion is the small jester of respect shown by these guys pay huge rewards!   The picture on the right is one of Dan and a nice 24 inch walleye out of one of my favorite places to fish in Tuk Bay we found 2 years ago, Dan's Hole.  Now Dan uses what Pete and I refer to as a Snoopy Pole.  It literally drives me crazy but Dan is pretty proficient with it catching his share of walleyes.  The problem I see is that he is constantly reeling against the drag and as a result is twisting the line like crazy. Being a closed face spin casting reel, he seems to do just fine however I am really tempted to buy him a significantly better reel, something we can tighten the drag down but yet still be closed faced. Maybe the other thing that drives me crazy is that he has his closed faced reel mounted on a spinning rod that is turned upside down.  Uffda is about all I can say yet he is a great guy to have in the boat, never complains about anything and is simply happy to catch fish, even doesn't mind when I make him clean his shoes off!  Beyond this I have spent the last week drying out and vacuuming the sand out of my boat, getting it ready for winter.  That doesn't mean that I am done fishing for the fall but time is definitely running out before deer hunting and ice fishing starts!

This week was the anniversary of the shooting that took my friend Ron Edberg's life.  Ron was a great guy and all of his friends miss him dearly, it's still a good time to reflect on life.  The weather is really starting to cool down a lot, I guess it's almost October already.  Next week I head to the Coil Winding Show in Chicago where I plan on seeing a couple of great friends in the business and start planning our early December fishing trip off of Marco Island, Florida.  That should be a perfect time depending on the when we can get out on the ice.  I have to take my tires off of my Ice Cabin and get them resealed as they are leaking air, too much to do, not enough time!!!

Iced Out!



May 12, Brindley's Harbor



As good as our intentions were, we could not change the situation at Leech Lake when we arrived at Brindley's Harbor for the 40th Annual Team Walleye fishing opener.  I guess in the back of our minds we figured that the bay we are on might be ice free by Sunday giving us some soft water to float a boat in.  No such luck.  After meeting at my place on Friday morning we headed north to Lundeens to pick up bait.  Normally our order would have been 3 gallons of spot tailed shiners and a gallon of fatheads, about $450 .  We left with only a gallon of fatheads as the shiners were not even available.  Leaving Bill's we headed north along the west side of the lake only to see that Mille Lacs was completely frozen over.  Not good, especially when we had 2 more hours of distance ahead of us. Turning off highway 200 heading to Brindley's we soon discovered that Leech was completely white.   Arriving at the resort only confirmed the situation, the harbor was froze shut, everyone but us had cancelled, and based on historical data it would probably be another 5 days before we would see open water.  Well............there were still important things to do.  One thing our group Team Walleye is proud of, we have never missed an opener.  With 40 years of history in our favor it just didn't seem right to think about redoing our traditional Minnesota Opener.  

Ryan standing on the ice

Other factors came into play such as changing 22 members schedules, something that was impossible.  The resort did not have significant room for the following week, and most important was our need to follow through with our friend Ron Edberg.  His daughter Jessica had planned to come down and spread his ashes into Leech Lake and join us in a celebration of his life exactly where Ron would have wanted to be this weekend.  Unfortunately for some like my friend's Kevin, John, and brothers Steve and Jon had come a long way from Wisconsin to simply see ice.  Making some quick decisions the Wisconsin guys stayed the night then headed out on Saturday.  The rest of us welcomed Jessica and turned our disappointment into a tribute to Ron.  I am sure he would have been proud of the group as we made the best of the situation.   On Saturday night we decided to have our traditional steak dinner and steak we had.  Adam Mayerich has earned his way to be a first class meat cutter at Cub stores and made sure we all had a 1 1/2" thick rib-eye, special cut for Team Walleye.  It was as good as it gets.  Later that night we set up the karaoke machine and let it rip.  Being the only ones at the resort, we  invited Tim and Greg (from Brindley's) over to celebrate the "still ice on the lake" opener.  It was nice as there no one to complain about our party!  Packing up on Sunday morning, we all headed back south knowing that it would probably be Wednesday before it opened up enough to get a boat out.  Tim and Greg worked a deal for us as they appreciated our loyalty as we did their's.   An opener to remember for sure.

My opening fish



So, it wasn't all bad news.  Adam and his friends discovered a crappie lake where one could fish right off the road.  With nothing else to do a few of us headed over to see what it was all about.  The water came right up to the road and if you set your bobber about 2 feet deep, a small jig and minnow did the trick.  I suppose we caught 20 crappies, some were decent sized in the 12 inch range.  Along with the crappies were a few average sunfish and a couple of smaller largemouth bass, like the one I am holding up here.  It just seemed like I needed to get a picture of me holding something I caught on opener regardless of size.  It was pretty cold out on Saturday as a substantial front came through accompanied by 40 mph winds.  Definitely cold enough to prompt one to wear a coat, at least we could fish down wind.   Leaving on Sunday Lory Brasel and I decided to take the scenic route home, east through Remer then south on Highway 6.  I was really surprised that some of the lakes still had substantial ice on them, especially with the wind as strong as it had been the day before.  Arriving at Mille Lacs, nothing seemed to have changed since Friday as it was still locked up.  With the shifting winds one would have thought there would be more open water.  It would take a few more days however I think that Leech was officially declared ice out on Wednesday the 15th and Mille Lacs will be out before today is over.  With rain in the forecast, family events to attend, work around the house to be caught up, it's going to be a stretch to get out fishing this weekend.  I am excited about checking out my new HDS 10 Gen 2 software upgrade as there is a number of improvements they have made to the system.  In addition to that, I still haven't had a chance to try my new Merten tiller control.  If it's nice, maybe I'll sneak out on Saturday for a while.  Of course, with gas hitting $4.20/gallon these days, maybe I'll be doing more river fishing this year!

Winding Down



A nice mess of crappies

Last year at this time we were basking in 80 degree weather, the ice was already off Lake Mille Lacs, and ice fishing was the furthest thing from my mind.  This year we have yet to break 50 degrees in the month of March, something that hasn't happened in 30 years.  I guess it just proves that Mother Nature tends to even things out.  So with the continued cold weather comes the chance for late season ice fishing and my neighbor Petey was ready to go.  With significant snow remaining on the ice our strategy was to pick a local lake that should have significant traffic to have packed the snow enough to get around.  Having fished Pelican Lake near Albertville a couple of times, unsuccessfully of course, it seemed a good choice for one last outing.  Minimizing the amount of equipment, we brought Petey's ice house, my auger, our electronics and after stopping at the hardware store in St. Michael for bait, headed out to the lake.  Even with the colder temperatures the sun is getting higher in the sky which is melting the snow.  Expecting the landing to be in some state of slush, mud, and water, I was pleasantly surprised how good it was.  With few on the lake we drove to an area where I have done well in the past, 9 - 10 feet with weeds scattered.  With the wind howling out of the north, we drilled 4 holes using the truck as our wind break.  With about 6 inches of snow on the ice, another 4 inches of frozen slush, there was still at least 26 inches of ice as the auger drilled right

A bonus bullhead!

up to the handles.  After cleaning the holes, the fish started biting right away.  Nothing big but the action was good.  Within a couple of hours we had the bottom of our pails covered with sunnies and crappies, the largest being about 10 inches.  As the sun moved closer to the west it was time to put up the shelter and get warmed up.  The fish kept biting as we sorted through 14 crappies and 11 sunnies, nothing extraordinary but based on my year, I'll take it.  Pelican Lake does have bullheads in it and although I have seen them on the camera, had never caught one through the ice.  Well, there's always the first time as I coaxed a fish to come up and hit my ice jig, a sure sign of a crappie chasing the bait and pulled out this ugly bullhead.  Now, suppose I was from Iowa, this would have been a trophy but it wasn't what I was looking for.  Oh well, it did hit pretty hard.  I forgot my camera so I did this self portrait with my new "smart" phone.  It has 2 camera's, one on the screen side and one on the back.  Although the quality is not as good, the image on the screen allows you to at least attempt to get a good shot!  The other thing that I have enjoyed while fishing with Petey this year is to see him advance in his ice fishing skills.  Now I am not about to say that I am a better ice fisherman than him however I have been able to pass some of the things I do to be more successful.  For instance, I was looking at his depth finder and noticed that it seemed to have the sensitivity turned up quite a bit for 9 feet of water.  Disputing my thoughts, he showed me what we were looking at, the sinker above his ice jig.  Sinker........what the!  Complaining that the ice jig didn't sink very fast, he needed the sinker to get it down, all I could say was Uffda!!  The object of shallow water pan fishing is to slow the lure down, keep it light so when the crappies come up and inhale the bait, they don't get knocked in the head as a result.  Anyway he later admitted that the sink rate wasn't that bad as he started to catch more fish.  On our last trip I showed him how using a Frostie jig with a larger hook would increase his hooking percentage, which it did.  Petey's a good student, at South Stanchfield his catch rate of what we cleaned was 11%.  Sunday's trip yielded 25 keeper's with Petey's share at 8, a whopping 32% of the catch, a 3X increase in adding to the next fish fry.  At this rate I might have to start fishing alone again!



The snow is still here.

As I indicated, winter still has a pretty good grip at the house.  I snapped this picture on March 26th, the snowdrifts are at least 3 feet high along the road and the blanket is a good 8 - 10 inches.  With the temps heading in the 40's this weekend things will start to loosen up.  The weather is absolutely perfect for sap flow from the maple trees as my neighbor boiled up 65 gallons on Sunday and has promised me a pint.  Another advantage of a cold March is the apple trees will have plenty of rest and their bloom should happen as normal.  Last year's unusually warm spring and a colder than normal May raise havoc with all of my fruit trees as the crop was no existant.  I predict a bumper crop of apples, pears, and raspberries for 2013.  The snow will really help the moisture and with the amount up north, the river should get back to normal.  Time to organize the tackle boxes, clean up the reels, replace the line, and get ready for opener which is only 6 weeks away.  We ordered all of the Team Walleye hats and shirts this week as Mark Mayerich and I continue the countdown to the successful organization of our trip.  All I can say is we sure miss Ron Edberg.

Loss for Words

2012 Team Walleye Captain, Ron Edberg

Over the 4 plus years of writing this blog I have lost a number of people that meant a lot to me, were close to me, and I miss each one of them dearly.  Uncle Keith, Brother-in-Law Mike, my dear friends Russ and Tom Emmons, my father.  With each one comes an explanation, I might not like it but I understand.  Uncle Keith and dad simply ran out of time, Mike contracted kidney cancer and fought a brave battle.  Russ had a weak heart (that's debatable), and my dear friend Tom Emmons could not shake a dead end depression.  Even my friend Dewey's loss of his friend Al who died in a tragic auto accident, one can rationalize as we know the risks associated with our lives.  We don't like it and we might ask why, yet we accept the circumstances as painful as it may be.  My friend Ron Edberg defies acceptance.  As my flight from Chicago landed I turned on the cell phone only to have it ring almost immediately.  It was my wife, "There's been a shooting and 394 is closed."  Assuring I don't go that way I dropped off Dwight and headed for home.  The radio news was full of speculation yet I was only paying attention to the high level.  Once home and unpacked I checked the Internet for the story when it hit me.  The shooting was at Accent Signage, 5 people were fatally shot, this is where Ron worked.  Checking the current pictures, police tape spanned across a black Ford pickup to the UPS truck parked at the dock.  The truck was Ron's.  Immediately calling Ron's cell, no one answered.  The next number was our friend Mark Mayerich, Ron's closest friend who had been monitoring the situation.  No, I haven't been able to reach him however knowing Ron, he's helping out.........yes, this sounded like Ron.  Neither of us wanted to admit the uneasy feeling we both had.  At 1:30 that night Mark called and confirmed the worst, Ron was one of those that didn't make it.  How do you understand when a employee after 14 years of employment, became despondent, put his employer in a no win situation, then decide to make it right by killing those that tried to help him.  I did not know the shooter, the excuse of mental illness is probably right, who on earth would resort to such a senseless and destructive outcome.  I have no answers.



My 23 years with Team Walleye, Ron's legacy

 Ron Edberg graced my life in the early 1980's while deer hunting with my friends Mark and Jack Taylor.  Mark was part of a ragtag group of friends including Ron Edberg, his cousin Gary Ullon, and brother-in-law Mark Mayerich.  Meeting in Skime Minnesota on opening deer hunting, I was initiated to the group via the ungrounded refrigerator that I opened while barefoot on a concrete floor!  Man, that hurt yet began our relationship that continued to last week.  The main focus of Ron and my relationship was through our annual Leech Lake Fishing Opener deemed Team Walleye.  This was Ron's masterpiece as he was an accomplished artist and graphic designer.  Along with working in the sign industry he was a genius at creating logo's, theme pieces, and everything associated with our annual trip.  During the mid 1980's I fished Mille Lacs on the Minnesota Fishing Opener yet by 1989 my friends from Wisconsin had all but abandoned me.  When Mark Taylor asked me to join them I jumped at the chance and have never missed since.  Getting to know Ron better meant being more involved with planning the big event every year.  Starting with the beer duty, I progressed to the minnow man securing the bait for the weekend, eventually being the Tournament Director planning the rules, prizes, and working with Ron on a number of things that needed to be done.  Ron worked all year on this as we all enjoyed the organization he brought to our group.  From magnetic signs, bumper stickers, certificates, log books for keeping track of fish, menu's, sleeping arrangements, it was all possible because of him.   Mark Mayerich and Ron started the DCS (Didn't Catch $hit) award a few years ago using an old clear toilet seat which had lures embedded into the plastic.  Unfortunately Ron was the first recipient of the now prestigious award and along with our Big Fish Trophy, his name will be forever etched in the nameplates.  Ron was always grateful to be part of what he loved.


Classic Ron!


We closed the final chapter in Ron Edberg's life on Tuesday night, over 500 people stopped by the funeral home including the Mayor of Minneapolis, R.T. Ryback.  It was especially gracious for the family of Reuven Rahamim, whom was the owner of Accent Sign and also one of the 5 victims, to attend the service.  They had taken the time from their grieving process to show support and for most of us, an opportunity to meet the people on the other side of Ron's life.  He truly enjoyed his work and it was evident that they felt he was part of their family.  We will keep Team Walleye going, it will be our 40th year on Leech Lake without our leader.  There are big shoes to fill, expectations that will not be met, yet life goes on.  Life's is not about yesterday rather about the present.  At our industry meeting this spring a speaker talked about who we are.  It's not what people think and say about you after you are gone, it's what they think and say while your here.  There's comfort in knowing that all of his friends have expressed to Ron exactly what we still say today and forever, your a good man Ron Edberg!  If you are interested click on Kare 11 and check out the piece they did with Mark Mayerich and I as they were looking for something about Ron and his life and friends.  Also click on Minnesota Bound and watch the first segment of episode 622, it pretty well says it all.  I guess the only thing left to say is that we will miss you dearly and we will always love you.

Well, That's Why They Call it Fishing!

Well, the official 39th annual Leech Lake Opener for Team Walleye is now just a memory.  The bite was considerably worse than I expected but like my title says, that's why they call it fishing instead of catching!  Actually it's not that we didn't catch any fish but to say that the bite was tough is an understatement.  The early ice out, cold April, and the enormous lake fly hatch that occurred on the lake this weekend all had an influence on our success.  I don't have the exact numbers yet and will post them as soon as Ron sends them.  There were a lot of positives from this year's trip including a surprise upgrade from our previous 5 cabin arrangement to the brand new log cabin duplex that slept 10 each side, was connected, and had a total of 10 toilets and 8 showers.  Everything from balconies to luxurious beds, Cabins 2 and 3 made us forget about the amount of work needed to assure we had enough fillets for the Sunday night fish fry.  The exciting news is we have secured the same accommodations for next year's opener which will celebrate our 40th year at Leech Lake.  Unfortunately that time will come way too fast these days.  For me the catching was very much uneventful with my largest fish, a 28 inch northern pike pictured, fooling me into believing I had the trophy in the bag.  Truth be told my largest walleye was about 19 inches and the total was 11walleye's for the entire weekend.  I still managed to take 3 honors, top total individual points at 22 (2 points per fish), top draft team,  and #1 Boat Team which is awarded to the captain that had  the most walleyes caught in his boat.  Being the recipient of these awards in the past I do work hard for the guys that fish with me and look for strategies that prevent me from continuing to fish unproductive locations and patterns.  As far as the draft award, we have an interesting and fun event which happens Sunday morning.  After Saturday's results are in and points are assessed we have a fishing draft, sort of like the NFL does but in reverse.  Here the guy with the lowest score gets to pick who's boat he wants to fish in.  6 boats participate and with 3 per boat we have 2 rounds.  12 guys draft and once a boat is chosen it cannot be picked again till the second round.  I was picked first by Matt Taylor then by Kevin in the second round.  We had a great time and put 6 fish in the boat for top honors.  Both Kevin and Matt won a #5 Shad Rap in the new Helsinki color for picking the top boat for the Sunday morning session.

The Monday night session is our last time on the water.  Since my brother Steve started bringing his boat my partners have been pretty random.  While getting ready to go fishing, 2 guys that I had never fished with before walked up to the boat and asked if they could join me, Jeremy and Lurch (Adam). Thinking this could be interesting, a couple of younger guys wanting to fish with me.......of course, come aboard.  Immediately they were informed we were heading to my secret spot, looking for the big fish winner.  A deep reef some 7 or so miles from the resort, I had discovered this 2 years ago when an early spring sent the walleyes deep.  They probably thought I was off my rocker but were willing to take the gamble.  Having been there earlier in the day the walleyes were hugging the bottom like a carp sucking snails.  Upon arriving the marks on the Lowrance showed a few fish 2 feet off the bottom which usually indicates more aggressive fish.  Within 15 minutes Jeremy nailed this beautiful 27.5 inch walleye.  In the history of Team Walleye only once did someone catch a 27.5 inch fish......this one was destined to be the trophy winner as I knew the tough bite would be almost impossible to match this fish.  I was right as he took the Big Fish Trophy for 2012.  It gets even better as Lurch caught a 26 inch fish about 10 minutes later that took 2nd place.  For Jeremy, this was the 3rd walleye he had ever caught so I was pretty pumped.  At my age it's getting to be much more fun to see others enjoy things catching these nice fish and helping them do so.  Fabulous Fish guy!!  So all in all it wasn't a bad trip as my boat racked up the Team Award, Individual Points Award, Top Draft Team Award, Biggest Fish Award, and Second Biggest Fish Award.  It has stopped being about me and shifted to what I can do to help others, honestly it's a lot more fun.

So I will leave you with a gorgeous Leech Lake sunset.   This was taken from my secret spot looking west toward Ottertail Point.  I love sunsets, the vivid colors and the serenity of the conclusion to another wonderful day of fishing.  As always it ends way to soon yet along with that comes more memories as well as things to look forward too.  A special thanks to Brindley's Harbor for making our stay an experience of a lifetime.  To my friends Mark Mayerich and Ron Edberg for arranging a great time as always.  Of course I cannot end without commenting on the Minnesota Bound segment about Team Walleye.  They already have it posted online at http://www.mnbound.com/watch-mn-bound/2012/5/14/minnesota-bound-622.html.  We are the first segment starting at 1:30 into the video and all of us were pretty satisfied with the job that Ron Schara Productions presented.  I hope that you enjoy the piece as well as we did!  This week is dedicated to helping my friend Mark Taylor install a Humminbird Sonar/Chart system into his large cabin cruiser then on Saturday we will haul it to Lake Minnetonka for it resting place for the summer.  Sunday is suppose to rain so a little family activities are scheduled.  I've already power washed the Ranger and rumor has it the bite on Mille Lacs is hot.  It will just have to wait till Memorial weekend.

The Big Weekend's Coming

Well, Minnesota Fishing Opener is just a few days away and everything seems to be coming together like it always does.  For me the Opener still has a magical appeal as it has all of my life.   Back home in Eleva fishing opener was always the most anticipated day of the year, better than birthdays or even Christmas!  Its been that way for as long as I remember.  The Eleva Pond was a typical Mill Pond created by the damming up of a fast moving creek then using the power of the water to mill grain prior to the invention of the internal combustion engine.  Most small towns and villages had a local water powered mill to provide the community with a location to process grain for many applications.  Although many of these ponds are no longer maintained, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin has no natural lakes so the ponds were the focal point for fishing and remain that way today.  The Eleva Pond is feed by Big Creek and Adams Creek, both spring feed and perfect for trout.  Every spring the local Rod and Gun Club would stock 500 or so adult trout in the pond, just in time for opener, the first week in May.  Known as "planted trout" their flesh was white and rather bland.  If the trout survived the season, feeding on freshwater shrimp eventually turns their flesh to a deep orange color improving the flavor tremendously.  We called these fish "natives" although true native fish were rate.  Worms were usually the bait of choice however an occasional Mepps Spinner was used when a more exciting way to fish was desired.  Here is a picture I pulled from the Eau Claire Leader, a young man fishing the Eleva Pond on the opener.  That could have just as well been me 50 years ago, I am glad some things never change.

The opener sets in motion a good list of things need to be done.  Tackle box cleaned, new line on the reels, searching for the last place you set down that prized lure last fall, and getting the boat ready.  Having installed my electronics, I had the chance to launch the boat in Diamond Lake, a shallow weedy farm lake a few miles from the house.  The lake is about 10 feet at it's max and although I believe it must freeze out from time to time, it's become home to a number of White Pelicans either migrating north or staying for a few months.  There must be some fish left as the count was over 30 birds.  Launching the boat, the motor started, my goal was to get some feel for the new depth finder and GPS, check out the side/down scan function, and do my normal check of all systems including livewell pumps, switches, gauges, and electric motors.  In mounting my Side Scan transducer there are conflicting theories of whether to mount for high speed operation as over 8 mph, the readings become less accurate.  I did a combination mounting, securing it to the step under the transom yet allowing the surface to read at full throttle.  This proved to be one of my better ideas as at full throttle my down scan images mirrored the sonar readouts with incredible accuracy.  The down scan offers an interesting look at what is underneath you, sort of like standing on the bottom of the lake and looking at a side view.  There are still a few settings to figure out on the HDS system but slowly I am mastering the intent of the manufacturer, not necessarily the easiest task.  There was an interesting twist to my maiden run this year.  I have removed all of the old transducers as the Ranger has a factory installed transducer epoxied to the fiberglass floor which "shoots" thru the hull providing excellent high speed performance.  The side scan transducer is long and narrow, offering little if any drag.  The first thing I noticed was my boat seemed awfully fast for having a full tank of gas.  A check of the GPS read 38.7 mph.  This made no sense as the most I could ever get out of the boat with just me in it and a quarter tank of gas was 37 mph.  I made a number of test runs hitting 39 at one point, 2 mph faster than last year.  Was it the 6 month rest the motor experience, I doubt it.  The only thing I can figure is my two Genetron transducers where adding drag.  I hardly believe this as these were installed for minimal effect but numbers don't lie.  Maybe its an anomaly!

Opener is going to be extra special this year.  Not only is it our 38th annual but now we are destined to be television stars.  Yep, Team Walleye organizer Ron Edberg was watching a regionally produced outdoors show call Minnesota Bound, hosted by Ron Schara when he noticed a contest they were having.  The show was featuring traditions in the outdoors and invited anyone to submit their "Fishing Opener Traditions", 300 words or less (of course) and the winner would be picked around May 10th.  The Grand Prize would be their production crew spending a couple of days with the winners to film an episode for an upcoming show.  Ron and I put something together, revised it a couple of times and sent it in.  Well, today we were informed that Team Walleye has been selected for the Grand Prize, WOW!!!  The details are starting to gel and the film crew has already made reservations at Brindley's to spend a few days with us.  I will have more updates as things progress including a review of our experience and the show dates.  One thing is for certain, it's going to be and exciting weekend for Team Walleye.  Here is our winning essay penned by Ron:

Our opening fishing tradition will celebrate its 38th year on Leech Lake. Started in 1974 at Leech Lake with 4 high school friends, we have continued the same tradition every year since. My late father once told me “If you give it up once, you will never get it back” and he was right. Over the years our Leech Lake Opener has grown, evolved, and changed to maintain the excitement and anticipation of the Minnesota Walleye Opener. In 1978 we created a traveling trophy that has the names of each winner engraved. Akin to the Stanley Cup is showing its age, complete with its own nuances left by each holder.

Camping at various resorts on Leech, in 1982 we settled into Brindley’s Harbor Resort and 3 years later secured the much coveted Cabin 14. Our group expanded, including more family, friends, and 3 different resort owners. Fathers and kids joined the group, some have passed away and some of our kids, now in their 30’s are poised to carry on the tradition for well into the future. This year along with the original 4 will be 18 more with 5 cabins reserved. Over the years we have had 61 different guys being part of our group. In 1991 we adopted the name “Team Walleye” long before any others. Each opener every team member gets an official embroidered hat with our logo, magnetic signs for our cars, stickers, and each person bringing a boat for the group gets a commemorative T-shirt. Each member has their pre-assigned duties from KP to sleeping arrangements.

In early 2000 the walleye fishing on Leech Lake was in serious decline. At one time there was a waiting list to get a cabin at the resort however the decline caused everyone but “Team Walleye” to abandon Brindley’s and Leech. At its worse we were the only group at the resort that year. Paris,at Brindley’s expressed their appreciation for sticking with them however we explained that tradition and their friendship were more important than all the walleye in Minnesota.

This year’s opener includes the combined efforts 38 years in the making. We break our fishing into 6 sessions, 2 each day. Having developed a points system for scoring total fish caught, it helps to keep an accurate count of our fish in the freezer. On Sunday we have a draft, the guy with the lowest points gets to draft his boat for the next session. This allows members a fun way to mix up the group. We have a Sunday Night fish fry as both 2009 and 2010 have saw record catches of 390 and 370 walleyes over 12 inches. During the early years it was only about fishing. In 2011 it continues to be much more than catching fish or getting together, it’s about the memories, the future, and tradition.

It's a winner for sure.  A crazy week has just turned crazier.............I love it!!!  Lot's to do in a few days.

The Rest of the Story

One of the more interesting things we do for our Leech Lake Opener event is to try and take data on the walleyes we catch.  Ron Edberg puts this together as it provides a wealth of information on the numbers, size, and location of the fish. The graph above is derived by everyone recording the length of each fish caught over 12 inches. Because they count towards the individual points and team awards, it is pretty easy to get the guys to participate. The two horizontal red lines on the graph represent the slot limit on Leech Lake, meaning any fish 18 inches up to 26 inches must be released. Under 18 and over 26 can be harvested. The total number of fish caught was 314. Of that 235 were under 18 inches and were legal.  About 80 fish were over 18 with a nice number of them over 22 inches.  Certainly not as good as last year Catch Chart for 2009 Leech Lake Opener, we were surprised at the numbers of fish under the 15 inch size.  Last year fish slightly over the 15 inch size were quite numerous and we expected seeing that population shift upwards to the 17 - 19 inch range dominating our catch.  This years catch represents the all of those 10 - 12 inch fish that we caught a ton during the 2009 opener, but did not record them.  Note that the last fish on the right was my winning 26.5 inch walleye.

As I stated last week, the fish were quite scattered.  Many of the guys scored very well in the evening fishing the shallower 6 - 10 foot water next to Pine Point.  Although the larger females were found in the deeper water off the reef, schools of 13 - 15 inch males were still hanging around the shallow spawning areas looking for a quick meal.  Some of the guys did real well including Troy, who won the team award this year.  Troy's boat had Saturday nights catch totalling 19 fish with Monday night's hitting 22.  Most of the fish were those shallow males still thinking the spawn is on!  This year I concentrated on trying to catch larger fish.  A few years ago my partner Eric Hayes and I discovered a rock hump about a mile up the shoreline from Otter Tail point.  In the subsequent years we seldom saw a boat fishing this hump which topped out at about 12 feet, dropping to 20 at the outer edges.  I decided to try it this year and to my surprise there were about 30 boats on my "secret" spot.  Although I had caught fish on this spot in the past, with all the boats you could see that the action was steady, not fast, but they were getting some nice fish.  When we arrived, Ryan quick called me and told me to get out of his spot!  I had given him this way point a few years ago and he had the same idea as I did.  Before hanging up he confessed that my brother Steve, who was in the boat with him, had just lost a dandy fish appearing to be well over 27 inches.  All I can say is I have caught many 28 inch fish that measured just under 26!  It did confirm the bigger fish were there, however. 

On Sunday morning we did a draft (like an NFL draft) where the lowest point guy got to pick the boat he wanted to go in for the session.  It was an interesting way to mix up the competition and have the guys get to know each other better.  This carried over to Sunday evening where I had the pleasure of having Henry and his nephew James in my boat.  Now James and I are like oil and water.  We are about as opposite as you can get politically.  I will admit however that he did check out some of the facts I threw at him and admitted that I was right!  That's a great start.  We decided to head back to the where the bigger fish were being caught.  Stopping short of the were I wanted to fish, we got everyone ready to go and would use the electric to get us the rest of the way.  In 20 feet of water it took James about 3 minutes to hook into this beautiful 26.25 inch walleye.  This was the largest walleye he had ever caught and I could see dollar signs in his eyes, thinking he just it pay dirt as it would be the largest fish caught as of Sunday night.  Excited as he was, my experience said not to count your chickens before they hatch.  At the end of the tourney James was in second place.  Although I gave James a hard time, he took it standing up.  It was fun to watch him catch this fish as well having both the first and second place fish coming from my boat.  Nice job James!  Henry really enjoyed the night as I fired up the stereo as we rocked to the sounds of 1965, the year he graduated.

This week I caught up on some yard work then went to the Twins/Brewers game at the new stadium on Sunday.  I had a great time as the new Target Field is very nice.  Memorial weekend is coming up and that means only one thing, my maiden voyage to Mille Lacs.  Reports are the fishing has been phenomenal so I cannot wait.

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.