The Hot Bite Continues!

A month ago my good friend Bill Lundeen asked me if I could help him out with his annual corporate event taking a number of individuals fishing for a couple days.  I thought about for a week or two and decided that nothing was more important than helping a friend out.  Bill has trusted me with his clients many times and I had helped him with this same group a few years back, how could I say no.  Knowing how to put guys on fish and being versatile whether bobbering, pulling crawlers, or lead lining, it was important that these guys had a great time and this year the catching wasn't going to be too hard.  Not being able to sleep very well the night before, I got up at 5:00 and headed north nto Lundeen's.   There I met my counter part who would be in his boat, Mike Meleen.  Mike is an icon in the Onamia area and probably as good a bobber fisherman as there is.  The trip would be worth simply working with him and learning a few tricks from the master.  Our first task was to get up to the landing just north of the Casino and be ready for our group.  Arriving around 9:00 we had our group assembled.  Brett, his daughter Tara, and Gordy would go with Mike while Jim and Bill would fish with me.  Mike has a nice 20 foot center console Lund with a 115hp Johnson 4 stroke (made by Suzuki) and can fish 4 pretty comfortably.  My Ranger fishes 3 guys comfortably so it was a perfect group.   While I headed straight for Sherman's flat, Mike checked out the deep rock areas.  With 3 in the boat we brought out the crawler rigs on a 3 way setup.  Running 1 ounce sinkers, it allows you to keep the tangles to a minimum and the crawler up off the bottom.  Within the fist hour we had 5 fish netted including this nice one Jim got.  Truth be told Jim caught most of the fish as Bill and I fish Mille Lacs quite a bit so it was fun to make him work a little!  We did some lead line
trolling and did get a few more walleyes before Jim had to get back to the landing as he was heading out.   In the meantime Mike had his group at the Blue Goose for lunch so Bill and I made a beeline for Garrison.  They were nice enough to wait for us as we got time to chow down before heading back out.  I don't fish the north end much so my strategy was to simply see where Mike was going.  A stop at Myr Mar Flat proved quite productive.  By the end of the day we had landed 21 walleyes in my boat and 26 in Mike's boat, not a bad day at all.  Here is Bill with a nice 27+ walleye that he caught in the afternoon.  Between our boats we ended up with 5 keeper walleyes and a very nice perch, something that has not been common in the last few years.

It was after 7:30 by the time we got back to Bill's, Mike took the fish home and cleaned them while I jumped in the shower to cool off.  Bill's wife Kathy had a quick supper ready, I ate, had a glass of wine and I was out like a light.  The next morning we had to be at Izaty's dock at 8:30 to meet whomever wanted to fish.   Mike got the jump on me as he was going to check out a few areas that were rumored to hold fish.  In the meantime I stopped at the gas station and filled my boat, unloaded at Cove and got 2 miles from the landing when I remembered that the leeches were still in the cooler.  Back to the landing, retrieving the bait, I pulled into the dock at 8:30 sharp.  We had the same group less Jim so I took Bill and the others stayed with Mike.  I am not much for fishing the south end this time of year however Mike is the expert.  We followed the Lund for an hour but we both struck out.  Mike headed to another deep rock pile while Bill and I went to Sloppy Joe's and lead lined again as Bill had to leave by 11:00.  We caught 1 walleye before bringing Bill back in, he left as I waited for the next group Tom and his son Jack.  After being treated to lunch at Izaty's my suggestion was we run the 10 miles back to Sherman's where I knew the fish were.  Tom and Jack were up for a boat ride so we headed north.  A quick stop at 7 Mile produced 1 fish before we went to Sherman's.  Immediately we noticed nets out as the tip was over crowded with boats.  Heading down the edge we started marking and catching walleyes on the 3 way crawler rigs.  3 hours later we had 16 fish netted with Jack doing the majority of the work.  Here Jack is with the largest of the day, 27.25 inches.  I had to laugh as we were moving down the edge, Jack's rod was in the rod holder and it was bent in half.  I yelled, Jack...Fish!  As Jack grabbed the rod his dad reminded him that he has to pay more attention to what is going on.  After netting the fish and re-baiting, we headed back down the edge passing another boat.  Almost on cue the guy in the other boat yelled that our rod was bent over.........Tom's rod.  Jack and I had a pretty good laugh as apparently it can happen to anyone.  In the meantime Mike was struggling to find fish so I suggested he come over by us and anchor.  Not one to horn in on a spot I assured Mike we would work around him.  Mike anchored up the edge where we had marked a ton of fish and literally put on a bobber fishing seminar.  Within 90 minutes they had caught over 24 walleyes on one spot.  Uffda!!!  Brett's daughter Tara did most of the work in his boat proving the younger generation can hold their own against us old guys.  When we finally stopped at 6:00 both Mike and I had netted over 92 walleyes for the two days we fished with 6 keeper walleyes for the crew.  I had a great time, made some new friends, and got one heck of a tan.  I look forward to the possibility of fishing with this group in the future.  As far as Mike, I turned him on to my Tru Turn Hook crawler rigs and gave him a handful of hooks while he shared his secret bobber jig and gave me a handful.  It was nice to be able to learn something and share something.

The recent rains up north have risen the river back to it's high point, 4 feet above the level of the previous Sunday.  It will be a few weeks before it returns to some manageable flow.   This weekend may see me back at Mille Lacs to fish with my friend Mark Applen who is staying up at his ice house.  The way things are going, I can see the bite going for the next 3 weeks or so.  Maybe I'll call my brother Steve.  Six weeks from now we will be heading to Alaska, something I am really looking forward too.  The raspberries and blueberries are ripening in the garden and the warm weather has really jump started the corn.  It's going to be a busy summer for sure.

The Word is Out

Saturday was my birthday and at the last minute decided what better way to spend it than on Lake Mille Lacs fishing the hot walleye bite.  Because my friend Mark had already spent the night in his fish house the night before, he thought it would be a good idea to tag along and try the flats for a change of pace and agreed to meet me at Lundeen's at noon.  My plan was the same game as last week, drive on the ice at Dewey's till the bridge across the heave, unload the ATV, pack everything in the sled and head out.  I could not go by the first set of deep gravel humps without trying them.  It was as dead as the week before so off to 7 mile flat.  Word was that a couple of the east side resorts had roads open to the flats and Holy Moses, half the world must have gotten the word.  As we approached the center of the lake every flat in front of us had cars and trucks lining the entire edge circumference of the flat.  I'll bet from the air it looked like a high level Lakemaster Bottom Contour Map!  Arriving on 7 mile there must have been 75 guys set up including 1 guy in our exact spot of last weeks massacre.  Stopping to see how his luck had been he confirmed it was slow and if fact about 25% of the people had left already.   Amazing as I cannot believe that many people would be driving out as the ice conditions were not that great just a week ago and it hasn't been that cold.  If fact the word was 2 trucks went in on the south side earlier that morning.  As Ron White would say......You can't fix stupid.  Mark and I fished a few open holes left by the previous guys with nothing showing up on our screens.  Deciding to move we loaded up and headed west to a near shore flat called Sherman's that had few anglers and is quite large assuring we could find our own quiet area.    Using our maps we found that "special" looking area and drilled our holes along the top and bottom of the edge.

Almost immediately we began marking fish.  Within 10 minutes Mark had had a nice walleye through the hole, a good sign.  It was about 2:00 in the afternoon and the prime time was about 1 1/2 hour away.  Well, it took its merry old time and arrived about 30 minutes late.  The fact that we marked fish with regularity helped keep our interest knowing eventually they would turn on.  About 4:00 the action started as we put a couple of keepers on the ice.  At about 4:30 the fish really became aggressive.  Although hard to believe, they were almost too aggressive as they would hit so hard the the hook would almost be ripped out or hooked lightly.  I fish braided line and often the lack of stretch will make this problem even worse.  Between Mark and I we must have lost 9 fish after hooking them for less than 10 seconds, many of them coming off just before we got them into the hole.  By the time the bite stopped we had 3 nice keepers, a respectable perch, had let at least 3 more over 20 inches back into our holes, and lost another 9 fish we never saw.  Of course you should have seen the ones that got away!  Over all it was a great day on Mille Lacs as again we proved how important it is to get away from the crowds and noise, look for that "fishy" spot, and drill a lot of holes to move around looking for active fish.  On this trip both Mark and I caught all of our fish on the deep side of the drop and really never moved much as we settled into the couple of holes that stayed consistent.   Our hot baits were Mark's Swedish Pimple and my Rattlin' Flyer although I did catch one on a Jigging Rap.  With the fish as aggressive as they were, the Rap is a great bait however this time the fish were a little more fussy wanting something more subtle yet they still hit with vengeance.  With the season winding down I can't complain much about the last 2 weeks on the pond. 

It has been an interesting week as I spent Monday thru Wednesday in Orlando flying back Wednesday night.  Having been upgraded to first class I was looking forward to a nice relaxing ride home as I wrote this weeks post on the plane.  As luck would have it the on board WiFi was broken so I given a choice of playing solitaire for 3 hours or watch the Steve Martin movie, The Big Year.  It wasn't too bad.  This week might find me fishing some of my old stomping grounds on the back waters of the Mississippi River somewhere between LaCrosse and Alma.  My friend Kevin has been doing well as he nailed a 15 inch perch a few days ago.  That's a nice perch anywhere.  I continue to get the boat ready as everything indicates an early spring.  With the low water the walleye fishing this spring could be interesting.   We'll see!

My 4th of July Tradition

Sticking with a tradition that has lasted over 15 years I had the pleasure of taking the Tom's back out on Mille Lacs on Saturday the 4th of July. As usual they met me at the pole shed with Caribou Coffee in hand. A quick transfer of gear and food, we headed north. Our first stop was at the Milaca Hardies for lunch. This restaurant has all but disappeared from Minnesota. It is too bad as they make an excellent burger. Our next stop was Lundeens for some bait, ice, and advice. After obtaining all three it was off to the landing. It could not have been a more beautiful day. The wind was none existent as the surface of the lake was like glass. This certainly was a turn around from the last 2 weekends, and a welcome one at that. Launching the boat we headed to the first rock hump which produced a single fish. Next stop was The Cut, a long stretch of an edge on Sherman's Flat. Dragging a combo of crawlers and leeches produced nothing. The weather was really getting hot and I recognized my guests could use a break. Pulling out the planer boards and line counter rigs, I threw on some #11 Tail Dancers and had Mr. Emmons let out 150 feet of line. After putting the board on his line we set up Mr. McAtee. Both boards were running great so it was my turn. I had not let out more than 20 feet and the port board started to dance. After a 5 minute battle the lunker showed itself, a 24 incher. A quick picture and back in the lake it went. Alright, that was quick! Resetting the lines we trolled for the next hour with nothing more to show. Oh well, it was 3:00 and I figured we would head to a favorite mid lake reef to check out the shallow rocks. In years past it has been common to see hundreds of walleyes with a muskie or two mixed in, leisurely swimming on top of the reef in 3 feet of water. The walleyes where not there so we spent 20 minutes fishing for smallies. I have become very proficient with a tube jig and immediately hooked into this nice fish. Catching 3 more smaller fish we moved south to a small gravel hump for some bobber fishing. The wind had picked up some what and it would be perfect to anchor and try our luck. I tend to look the area over first with my depth finder to verify if there are any fish in the area. Having registered quite a few marks we threw anchor and started fishing. The bobbers went down almost immediately. McAtee lost 2 real nice fish right away before Mr. Emmons hit this beautiful 23 incher. We caught 6 walleyes before moving back towards the landing to be closer to the Garrison Fire Works show. Settling back at Sherman's Flat, we anchored on the top side and decided to keep bobber fishing. As we were anchored I noticed a number of fish directly under the boat. Almost like ice fishing, I dropped a jig/leech combo over the side until my sounder displayed it on the screen. You could literally see the fish chase the jig up and down until finally one hit it, the only keeper we got for the day. As darkness descended on us, the fireworks had not started yet, we decided to move in closer. Bad move. Once anchored it was like the 3 stooges trying to figure out the best way to reset our bobbers. Tom dropped his depth finder weight overboard to set his depth and it immediately wedged into the rocks below. A quick response resulted in leaving most of his rig on the bottom. In the meantime I was trying to move my bobber stop and it just tore my line to shreds. In 10 seconds my line had snapped without putting it in the water. Looking at each other we decided it was too dark to retie, the fireworks were still not happening, and if we were going to eat supper, it might be smart to head in. Once the boat was loaded we headed south for our meal at Chico's. I was looking forward to having a cold beer with a taco however it was closed. Back to Hardies! Over all it was a fair day. The weather was great plus we ended up with 8 walleyes, 4 smallies, and a nice perch. We are all getting alittle older and I hope we can continue this tradition for years to come.