Finally Here!!!!

Spottail Shiner Minnow

Friday we head up to Brindley's to participate in the Minnesota Fishing Opener.  This morning was the final step in getting everything organized for this year's trip.  Most who know me understand that I am not much of a Global Warming, the sky is falling guy and the last 10 years seem to back me up.  These late spring's has really put a damper on the minnow supply for fishing opener, especially the spottail and golden shiner situation.  Late ice tends to keep the shiners from entering shallow waters early, therefore changes the spawning times and the ability to trap bait.  As well the heavy snows of February has put the levels of those ponds which raise various bait very high making trapping difficult at best.  In addition the traditional lakes where spottail shiners are usually harvested for bait are mostly infested with zebra mussels, that along with a ban on bait imported from other states makes it very difficult to secure our bait for this year.  Spottail shiners are the preferred like bait for Leech Lake and of course golden shiners, rainbows, and fatheads will work but the confidence factor is much higher when using spottails.  With my connection at Lundeen's no longer available we are on plan C right now as the situation changes almost hourly! I have secured some for my boat based on previous conversations because I like making decisions and moving ahead.  Two days before opener is cutting it close but we have had this situation at least 7 out of the last 10 years.

Fell Marine Wireless MOB System

Hanging around my good friend Bruce Wiley and his airplane, a Cessna 182 RG, then observing his safety equipment has prompted my ordering a wireless MOB (Man Over Board) switch for my Ranger.  Not that I think about it much as these days but I do wear my Onyx A/M24 Inflatable lift vest 100% of the time in the boat.  I am getting too old and God forbid I have another seizure while in the boat I definitely want to be safe.  The biggest issue that engine cutoff's prevent is the infamous Circle of Death, it occurs when one gets thrown out of the boat for any reason and if the motor is running and in gear, the torque of the motor forces it to start making circles and it really places the guy in the water in harms way. a terrible way to go, watching the boat make circled and coming towards you....No Thanks!  Everytime I start my outboard I TRY to connect the engine shutoff lanyard to my life vest which shuts off the motor in the event the guy at the wheel is thrown out of the boat or for that matter, displaced off the seat.  Truth be told I never connect it when making short runs, which in reality is the most dangerous.  This device is wireless and get's hooked in parallel with the existing cutoff switch in your boat.  Simple easy to hook up, now as long as you keep it in your life vest, around your neck, or clipped to yourself, anytime the red FOB gets 50 feet away from the base unit the engine will shut off.  After 6 seconds of being off the unit resets itself and someone can restart the engine and come back to pick you up.  It seems like a great idea as I am not getting any younger.  Because I actually do wear my inflatable life vest 100% of the time in the boat, I'll figure out a way to keep it there which should not be to difficult.  Interesting, I have these inflatables for each passenger in my boat, I also have regular life vests in the boat to stay legal if they don't wear one.  I let them decide however I make sure they know that I'm not jumping in to save them if they don't wear it.  It reminds me of a great story but that is for another time.

Left to right, top Dave, Brothers Jon and, Steve
 Left to right bottom, brother Blake and Sister Beth,
Good Job Mom!!!

Fishing opener in Minnesota is traditionally on the second Saturday of May and usually coincides with Mother's Day, which is on the second Sunday in May, which causes a few issues with some guys.  Well every 7 years May 1st is on a Sunday so the next Sunday is Mother's Day and opener isn't for another week yet.  My Mother died on her birthday, April 18, 2017 and although living in Minnesota and celebrating fishing opener, she never really gave me any problems with missing Mom's Day.  We would eventually get there and give her some flowers but she knew my love for fishing and like a great mom, never made a big deal about it.  Mom was quite a looker in her younger years however that era of the 50's and 60's it was popular and fashionable to smoke cigarettes, which didn't do her any favors in her later years. Not having any ready available pictures of her, I stole this picture from my sister's Facebook page and am posting it for a couple of reasons.  First it represents what my mother had to put up with so Happy Mother's Day mom.  The second reason is that this is the second year without our brother Jon, at the Team Walleye Opener.  Jon had a congenital affliction that ultimately took his life.  Before the disease claimed him, Steve and I would treat him to a weekend away from everything at Leech Lake.  Although Jon's issue had left him with a number of deformities on his face, he always appreciated the chance to get away.  On the last year of his life, on opener he stayed in the cabin all weekend because the pain was enough to make it difficult to be in the boat.  I told him that if he didn't want to go fishing that it was OK, and if he didn't want to come up again, that was OK as well.  His answer was pretty to the point, Dave, I love coming here as your friends treat me like a normal person and I would never want to not come.  Just sitting on the porch watching the lake was exciting and a welcome change to his normal routine!  Not bragging but the Anderson's have done quite well at Leech, I hold the record for most years winning the Largest Walleye of the opener award and Jon has won the most DCS (Didn't Catch Sh#T) awards.  Not bad as those are the 2 plaques we give out!  If you go to the left side of the blog and check out "See Team Walleye on Minnesota Bound" or simply click here  you can watch our story and learn more about the DCS award as well, maybe you can catch Jon walking by as he has the black patch over his eye.

Hopefully there will be a great report next week.

2018 Leech Lake Opener, In the Books

Biggest Fish Award!

Along with a lot of things going on in my life, the late spring has set back my schedule something fierce!  The ice finally went off of Leech Lake on Wednesday, May 9th, just in time for our 45th Annual Leech Lake Fishing Tournament.  This year was again a full house with 22 of us fishing the Minnesota Fishing Opener.  Without a doubt we struggled this year with almost bluebird conditions all 3 days and no wind, our group caught only 90 walleyes for the entire 3 days.  Last year we caught the same however we did manage to keep 42 fish that met the slot we impose, 12 inches to 20 inches.  This years keeper count was about half that, with only 22 fish kept.  Enough for a fish fry and only a few guys brought home fish.  Because of late ice out in most of the large lakes where shiner minnows are trapped for bait, essentially they were either not available and if they were, they became very expensive whereas one bait shop between Mille Lac Lake and Milaca, MN was selling them for $14.99/dozen.....uffda.  We loaded up on Fatheads this year yet most of our guys prefer shiners and bought them where they could. Saturday morning was our first session and it was pretty slow.  Only a few fish we caught between all of us, quite disappointing.  One group came into the resort with 3 limits of keepers, supposedly caught in Steamboat Bay, a shallow weedy bay, pitching jigs in 4 feet of water.  We knew that the fish would be shallow but pitching jigs in the weeds, it would have been better if one knew exactly where.  My boat actually tried Steamboat but with little luck.  There are channels where walleyes congregate, but apparently not this year. With evening quickly approaching, we went in and had supper before going out again.  The evening wasn't much better yet the thought of trolling number 5 shad raps in less than 6 feet of water seemed intriguing.  Some of our guys were catching a few walleyes on Ottertail Point,  yet this is a great area for evening trolling.  Setting up my crew we started trolling the east shoreline, long lining our Shad Raps till the bumped the bottom.  Just as it got dark something nice hit my lure and after reeling it in, the walleye measured 26.25 inches, a pretty nice fish.  We got another nice fish over 20 but they were the only 2 for the day.  Adam Mayerich was at Ottertail when the lunker was caught, while we headed back to the cabin he stopped at Pine Point on the way back and also caught a 26.25 inch walleye.  Because mine was caught first, my name was entered as in first place while he took second with the same sized fish.  Surprisingly that fish held till we were done on Monday night and I once again took the big fish honors for the trip! 

Beautiful Sunset on Ottertail Point.

 The weather was extremely nice for all three days of the Team Walleye event.  One has to love the Leech Lake sunsets and Saturday night was no exception.  With the sky on fire, you can see in the picture the tip of Ottertail Point on the right, the sunset is on fire with its reflection on the calm water.  There even appears to be a face looking down on us, maybe it's the Good Lord making sure all of us were safe!  Either way they are beautiful and definitely worth seeing.  Sunday was a bust as well as we tried everything, even Sucker Bay!  By Monday night and the only thing going for me was the largest fish prize, Jay and Henry, a couple of guys older than me asked to go with me.  It was great to have them in my boat as my strategy was changing.  For the last night we would fish Stoney Point and end the evening trolling Shad raps along the shoreline across from Brindley's Harbor, our host for the weekend.  We did get a few bites drifting Stoney Point but failed to capitalize on any of them.  When a boat with 4 guys chose to anchor right where we were drifting through, it was time to go to plan B, troll the shoreline.  Neither Jay or Henry had adequate trolling rods or Shad Raps, yet I was ready and rigged them up each with a good baitcaster with heavy pound line (15 lb test) so as not to lose my baits if we got snagged, that worked pretty good as no baits were lost!  We trolled at least a half mile before we hit Little Stoney Point, went around the corner and bang, a walleye hit!  After netting the walleye, it was under 20 inches and eligible for keeping.  5 minutes later we hit another walleye...25.5 inches, another  nice one.  We finally found our sweet spot trolling the west side of Little Stoney, ended up with 4 walleyes, 2 keepers, and had 3 additional fish on before they got off, which was quite good. at 10:30 we stopped to go back and enjoy our final night at camp.  It started slow but ended with quite a bang!

Ben's nice Smallie

Fishing was definitely tough.  With the water so clear and the walleyes "up shallow" we probably don't have the technique needed to look beyond what makes sense.  One good thing that came out of this was finally getting to use my 9.9 hp kicker motor effectively.  It really had been a pain during the past 3 years, didn't run right and steering was connected to the main motor which had to be running to take advantage of the power steering.  I finally had Frankie's install an I Troll Speed Controller for the Kicker as well as a Panther wireless steering unit.  They cleaned the carburetor  and did something to the jets, and this year it started right up and it took about 5 minutes to become proficient in operating the kicker motor such that it was very effective.  We had our moments but for the first time since I have had the boat that it felt as though the trolling function was in full control and worked beautifully.  Admittedly I am anxious to try this on Mille Lacs.  Sunday afternoon Ben Taylor was with me as it was decided to go out to Submarine Island to check it out.  While I threw a crankbait, Ben threw a plastic swim bait and did quite well on it.  Here he's holding an 18 inch smallie, a very nice fish, especially on Leech, which to be honest, I do not recall ever catching a smallmouth bass there.  Friday morning is our time to leave for Lac Seul and fishing opener there.  Apparently all the ice is out however the Rags, a shallow area that cuts off about 3 miles is still too shallow to get through so we'll have to go around.  It's quite easy to fish shallow on Lac Seul as the water is quite stained and about 18 inches is the max one can see down.  Here's hoping the Canadian Opener will be much more successful in the catching department, I remain optimistic!

Uffda.......Busy Schedule...............But....Fishing Opener!

My gift from Jeffrey

Wow,  Last week was a whirlwind of activity, too much to even take the time to report in on the Fishing opener.  Adding to the craziness was the fact that upon returning from Leech I ended up taking my nephew to the airport then getting everything ready for my guests that were arriving from Taiwan the next day.  I spent the next Wednesday and Thursday with my "Golden" Brother CK, then a mad scrabble to get a few things done around the house, pack as we headed for Lac Seul, Canada on Friday.  It was great to see my friends from Taiwan, CK, Jeffrey, Serena, and May.  Although I usually get to see Jeffrey at least once a year, I haven't seen CK or Serena in a number of years. Jeffrey has been extremely generous and the last couple of times he brought me some Single Malt Whiskey from Taiwan's famous distillery, Kavalan.  It is ranked as one of the best whiskey distillers in the world and he went all out this time bringing me a bottle of Solist Whiskey, aged in Sherry Wine barrels, and is cast strength (meaning it's alcohol content is as it is right out of the barrel, about 57%).  It is very good and I am sure it  deserves it's world ranking as whiskey's go.  It's definitely a treat and I appreciate their generosity for sure.  It was great to see CK again, he calls me his Golden Brother because I understand the business that we are in similar to him, we see eye to eye on a lot of things.  They have been our business partners of ours for overseas manufacturing and we have done business with them for almost 20 years now.  Interesting as I told them I only have a few days between Minnesota Opener and my trip to Lac Seul and they graciously fit it into that time frame.

Ben's eelpout

So why talk about Whiskey than the Minnesota Walleye Opener, frankly because it was probably the worst opener for catching fish on Leech Lake that I have experienced since starting to go there in 1990.  Not that there are few if any fish in the lake, quite contrary, however I believe that unusual spring and a huge baitfish situation lead me to catch only 4 walleyes for 3 days of fishing, maybe I am just getting old but all the other guys didn't do so well either!!  I did get to fish with my friend Ben Taylor and we headed out to Annex Reef where he nailed this beautiful eelpout, definitely a great fish and they are absolutely delicious to eat.  Besides that I think that my boat caught a total of 10 walleyes, not many for each session and as well we only brought in 2 keeper fish (between 14 and 20 inches), pretty slow.  I even tried trolling shad raps along Ottertail point and although we did get a few fish they were all in that 10 - 12 inch range. The word was that the walleyes were very shallow, in the 4 - 6 foot range however we had water temps in the high 50's so this didn't make a lot of sense.  Usually I like the deeper structures when the water temps are up there like this however that wasn't the case as my go to spots were not very good and I didn't mark many fish on those 12 foot humps that are located off a few midlake reefs.  In the end we got enough walleyes for everyone to take a couple home plus we had our fish fry on Sunday night.  Luckily the group caught a lot of northern pike and the resort does an excellent job of cleaning out the Y bones so they deep fried just perfectly and to be honest, Northerns are a great tasting fish, firmer than walleye and they seem to have a little more flavor.  Catching isn't the most important thing about Walleye Opener however it certainly helps.  This year was Team Walleye's 44th year opening on Leech Lake and my 27th year with the group.  Time certainly flies and it seems like just yesterday when I started going with these guys in 1990.  Although it wasn't our best year of catching fish, it certainly was a good year to get the group together again, I guess as we get older this is quite a bit more important!

Stay tuned my report from last weekends Canadian Fishing Opener at Lac Seul should prove to be more positive on that elusive catching side!

Ice Out

Ice out days for Mille for the Past 39 Years

When the ice has melted off a lake here in Minnesota, we traditionally call the event Ice Out.  It's a real big deal as most of our lakes have been frozen over since December and it marks the beginning of a new year of open water fishing.  The most notable lakes are the large ones like Lake Mille Lacs and Leech Lake as it sets the stage for what the fishing conditions might be for this years Minnesota Fishing Opener on May 13th.  An early ice out usually means that the spawn will have been completed and the traditional 2 to 3 weeks of recovery will be over so the fish tend to bite better. This is not always the case but can provide a good indicator of how the fishing will be.  I feel that Mille Lacs Lake is the one who's ice out sets the tone for the state.  Ice out is often defined as when someone can drive a boat unimpeded from Garrison, MN on the Northwest corner of the lake to Isle, MN which is in the Southeast corner of the lake.  The average date for the ice to leave Mille Lacs is April 27.  The earliest on record was March 26, 2012 and the latest on record is May 14, 2013 so you see there is little correlation from year to year.  Early ice out means and early spawn and the bite is usually better by fishing opener but that's

2017 MN Ice out map

not always the case.  In 2008 we still had ice on Leech Lake at opener, it wasn't officially declared Ice Out however we could get our boats into the harbor at the resort and fish the part of the lake that was open and it was absolutely fabulous!  I remember scooping up ice from the lake for the coolers however even with the cold water, fishing was excellent.  So much for that theory!  Admittedly we caught a lot of 15 - 17 inch fish which tend to be males and that makes sense.  This year's early Ice Out on Leech Lake should bode well for our 44th Annual Team Walleye opener.  The walleyes should be done spawning by May 1 and by the 13th they should really have the feedbag on.  Unfortunately the early ice out on Mille Lacs means the pre spawn netting starts.  Interesting as there will only be a catch and release season on Mille Lacs this year however when the lake was iced over till May 14th, that year we had a record spawn and the lake is just full of 14 - 16 inch walleyes............perfect for the gill nets.  It's sad but there is little one can do.   With the Minnesota Walleye Opener about 4 weeks away now things are looking like it could be a fantastic opener this year.  Time will tell!

Limit of 23 - 27 inch walleyes from Lake Erie this week.

The boat finally got dropped off at Frankie's on Friday for some minor but critical work.  First the kicker motor has to get worked on as it hardly started toward the end of last year.  The kicker is a 9.8 hp Evinrude 4 stroke made by Tohatsu and it's a nice engine when it runs!  Apparently the EPA regulations for these types of motors requires them to run so lean that they are difficult to get started again, and mine was no exception!  There are some "secret" adjustments that can be made to get them to run better.  As well they will change the oil, add what is known as an I troll to help control the throttle better, along with a new remote control electric steering for the motor.  This might be overkill however I am anxious to have better control over my trolling methods.  Another thing which is getting done is and aerator timer on my bait well.  In Canada the baitwell in my boat is indispensable as it makes getting minnows a heck of a lot easier than grabbing the minnow bucket from over the side every time.  The problem is the aerator in the bait well runs constantly,  I would like a timer that runs for a minute then rests for 5 as one doesn't need it running all the time.  Other things that are happening, my friend Bill Lundeen is up in Duluth fishing Lake Superior.  He usually is in Arizona at this time driving his mom back to Onamia but she didn't go this year and both he and Kathy need a break!  Also my friend Kevin Aiona and his son Ben are at Lake Erie pre fishing the upcoming Cabela's National Walleye Tournament, on Lake Erie the 11th and 12th of this week.  Ben texted me a picture of their limit of 8 walleyes in the 23 to 27 inch class.  His biggest was 31 inches and I don't know why he wouldn't send me THAT picture but it's OK, I'm sure it will turn up somewhere.  

Easter Weekend is coming up and often it occurs around my mothers birthday.  Unfortunately these days she is not doing so good but I am pretty sure she will be around to see her 83rd birthday. I am sure I will be spending time with her this weekend and hopefully will have a good time as I don't think she has too many more in her.  I did spend last Sunday with my brother Steve at mom's visiting and helping him rig up an HDS 12 on his Lund boat.  We moved his existing HDS 8 up to the bow and set up the boat so he could network them together.  He is thinking about getting a Motorguide i5 like I have so we are expanding his NMEA 2000 network to handle that as well.  He is getting pretty set up with updated electronics, a SonicHub audio server, the Motorguide, maybe a Point One GPS receiver.  Looks like I have lots to continue doing for him as he, along with my sister Beth, have done and outstanding job taking care of mom.  God Bless them!

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.

A Night to be Thankful

When the Ranger meets a Yamaha

Last week was our 41st Annual Team Walleye fishing opener at Leech Lake.  There is a lot to tell however I am compelled to write about my experience on Monday night as we were leaving to fish the evening session. After enjoying a wonderful steak dinner for the last meal of our stay at Leech Lake Jeremy, Jared, and myself were determined to make the night a successful outing and as always, was anxious to get going.  I'm not as nervous as I used to be and was one of the last to leave the dock which was OK as the bite hadn't been very good anyway.  Leaving the harbor at around 6:10, I headed out about 200 to 300 yards off shore as Monday night finds very few boats on the lake.  Although the rain made driving difficult, never the less it was OK as we headed out to Pine Point.  As we left I scanned the path ahead and as expected it was clear. With my passengers on the left side of the boat, I usually ask them to keep an eye out as they form my blind spot but with nobody on the lake, I felt we were safe.  We hadn't gone a mile when out of nowhere the boat hit something hard..............another boat.   Everything turned to slow motion as I caught the boat in the corner of my eye as we passed by.  Immediately I turned around to find we had clipped the back end of a Lund, hit the motor as we glanced off.  What went through my mind is every boat owners nightmare yet my first impression was to check my passengers then return to the other boat to make sure they were OK. Fortunately they were understandably shaken but fine, we spent the next few minutes calming down.  Mike, the owner of the boat was surprisingly gracious as his concerns were the same as mine, everyone was still in one piece, shaken but unscathed.  With the rain coming down I managed to give him my information while he already had his friend coming to pull him in.  Finding out he was staying in our old cabin at Brindley's I would meet him later that evening.  After insisting that he needed no further help we decided to stay our course and fish the rest of the evening.  Returning at 10:15, I had already called my insurance and secured a claim number and contact information to give to Mike.  After a brief talk he went out of his way to assure me that everything was fine, boats can be fixed.

My Ranger damage

 Being the guy that ruined his night and could have made his life much more difficult, Mike is an amazing person.  Back at the cabin the Cass County Sheriff's deputy showed up to take a statement. He was a very nice guy as I cooperated fully with his requests.  Stopping at the resort office in the morning, I talked to Tim and Greg about the previous evening while another man was sitting at the counter having coffee.  Being right there he looked at me and explained that Mike and him broadsided a boat 5 years ago, something that I remembered.  I guess you never know how it feels until it's happened to you.  Bottom line for me is the fact that I always have high expectations and this shattered it.  My friends have told me that it should be a humbling experience as I am always on the Guy's case to be better, I guess it's my nature. Thinking about it I'm not sure humbling is the way I feel.  Embarrassed, angry at myself as I look back at everything that lead up to the event, looking at what I did wrong, I take full responsibility.  I am in charge of the boat and assuming that I can count on anyone to assure a safe trip is simply wrong.  The safety of my passengers and those who share the waters is on me, something that I do understand, one can never let his guard down.  As far as being humbled, I don't need to run over a boat to be humbled. On the other hand, dealing with Mike and asking for his forgiveness, which he accepted, that's humbling.

My first Walleye of the Season

So, I did catch some fish! Honestly the fishing was quite a bit slower than we expected as 2008 had ice on the lake as we fished and the fishing was fabulous.  Usually we fish with large shiners however the late spring assured that the selection would be limited as we settled for what we could get, about the size of a standard fathead minnow.  Along with small shiners we did take about 2 dozen small pike sucker minnows, a decision that would prove to be successful.  Thinking the walleyes were shallow it was difficult to establish a pattern. Some caught them in 12 feet while others did well in 8 feet.  We divide our fishing into 6 sessions, one in the morning and one after dinner for 3 days.  With 21 guys and 7 boats, 3 guys to a boat, success varied from 5 walleyes over 12 inches per boat to no walleyes caught.  It wasn't till Monday night before the fish really started turning on.  There was a lot of 20 to 26 inch walleyes caught with few under 20 inches, the top of the slot.  The population of large walleyes prompted the DNR to move the protected slot from 18" - 26" protected to 20" - 26" protected.  Apparently the smaller males had not come into the shallows yet to spawn and the whole lake was in flux.  For the first 2 days most of the walleyes were caught in 10 - 12 feet of water and we sure worked for them.  Monday afternoon I drove to Reed's Sports in Walker and after picking up a few stinger hooks, some 12# monofilament line, and some shiner minnows, my nephew Kevin Anderson and I contemplated the advice.....go deep, the fish haven't hit the shallows yet.  Something told me that there still has to be something somewhere as we headed back to the cabin.  After having a nice steak then dealing with my issue, Jared, Jeremy and I headed to Duck Point, an area that had produced a number of fish over the last 2 days to try to nail some walleyes.  We did manage to get 2 keeper walleyes in about 90 minutes however my plan was to troll shad raps on the east side of Ottertail Point.  At 8:25 we headed over and started trolling Shad Raps in 5 - 7 feet of water, about 40 feet from the rocky shoreline.  I did this on Sunday night and only caught 3 yet I just had the feeling.  The feeling is something difficult to explain as it's almost an

My Nephew Kevin

instinct emotion.  Following my instinct has proved successful as a number of times my boat and the guys in it have taken advantage to win the biggest fish, most pints, and best team.  Well, trolling 1 1/2 hours we managed to catch 11 walleyes in the boat, good for the best single session points total and allowed me to wind the best points total for the tournament.  What was more important, Jeremy caught 4 walleyes using a method that only I tend to use...he was pretty happy.  Of the 11 walleyes caught 9 of them were under 20 inches that we could keep.  With keeper walleyes at a premium, it was a welcome addition to our total catch.  We do keep track of our catch rates with a scoring system on Sunday we hold a draft, the lowest point total can chose who he fishes with.  Because there is 2 guys per boat we have 2 rounds.   I was lucky to have my nephew Kevin Anderson as well as my great friend, Mark Taylor.  While fishing was challenging, Kevin caught a nice walleye, about 23 inches.  He is a great guy and I love hanging around with him as he's not afraid to work and loves to fish.  Unfortunately Kevin's score for 6 sessions of fishing was dismal at best and he ended up receiving the DCS (Didn't Catch S**t) Award for the least amount of points.  Mostly fishing with his dad who is my brother, they didn't do very well.  Someday he'll learn who he needs to align himself with, Uncle Dave or Dad!  In the end we had a great time.  Adam got a full workout with his new boat, we still had enough fish for our Sunday Night Fish Fry, and were still able to bring a couple of fish home.  It's been 2 years since we last fished Leech and quite honestly, it seemed like yesterday.  It's always fun to see Tim, Greg, and Paris at Brindley's and we are already planning for next year, something that will come too soon.  Thanks Mark Mayerich for arranging a great trip, we could not do it without you.

All I can say is be safe, pay attention, and have fun.  Stuff happens and when it happens to you, learn from your mistakes.

Too Cold To Fish?

Monday Morning Wake up Temperature

Now normally I would not even broach the subject of temperature and ice fishing, for crying out loud, we need something to thicken the ice on Mille Lacs this year.  Well we got that something in the form of what is known as a Polar Vortex, a fancy way of describing the scientific phenomenon when a high pressure ridge forms in southern Canada which forces the jet stream to purge south which brings Arctic temperatures with it.  It all pretty humorous as every weatherperson is falling all over themselves trying to be the coldest.  I don't know if it's just me but growing up in Eleva, subzero temperatures in the winter seemed like a non issue, unless of course you were trying to start your old carburated automobile which had a tendency to flood quite easily when the temperatures dropped.  Eleva is in the Buffalo River Valley, about a mile or so wide and cold air sinks so we often had some of the most frigid air in the region.  We didn't do much ice fishing when I was young as the Eleva Pond contained trout which the season was closed until May.  Ice fishing for me started when I was about 17, I had a car and could drive to Alma, the closest place for decent fishing.  Along with the introduction of the Mora Ice Auger, things progressively got better, easier, and a lot more fun.  Now the Sunday after Christmas saw Mark and I woke up to -25 below zero temps on Red Lake, not a big deal as we were 5 hours north of home snug in our wheel house catching walleyes, besides the previous 2 days were a comfortable 30 degrees out.  Starting on Saturday, January 4th was the beginning of a 5 day run where temperatures would not get above zero at all.  I guess I am just getting older (some say wiser)  but with Sunday's high temp of -10 and Monday a whooping -16, it is just  best to let old Mother Nature build some ice for the rest of the winter. 

Matt and Christina

Saturday saw on of our long time Team Walleye members, Matt Taylor get married to his long time sweetheart Christina.  Matt is the son of my great friend Mark Taylor, my adopted Minnesota family.  He has been with Team Walleye since 1991 when Mark Mayerich, Mark Taylor, Gary Ullom, and Ron Edberg all brought their 10 year old son's to the Leech Lake Fishing Opener to make sure the traditions continue and Matt along with Adam Mayerich have never missed a beat.  So Matt and Christina, after 7 years, decided to tie the knot, assuring that the moment would be cherished by their families forever.  Because of the circumstances their reception isn't scheduled till July, which works well for me.  They are quite the couple having travelled all over the world, he is a computer  systems guy and she teaches in the public schools system.  Both are very adventurous and have worked hard to get those things they want to do, out of the way before they really settled down.  Christina's one goal was to be part of the Minnesota Vikings Cheerleader squad.  She finally realized her wish and is on the 2013 rooster.  Meanwhile Matt has taken on the role of being his mom's James Bond guy.  That is pretty hard to deny.  The only thing I commented when they announce their wedding, don't schedule it on Fishing Opener!  My wife loves taking wedding pictures and she arranged this one using the flowers on the alter.  Not knowing much about Catholic protocols, she got a friendly push from one of the custodians about rearranging flowers on such a sacred place.  We got our pictures, put the flowers back in plenty of time, at least enough get this shot.  You have to admit, a pretty good looking couple, congratulations.

The weekend looks as though we might get a January thaw with highs in the mid 30's by Sunday.  The 55 degree swing in the temperatures will be welcome however it will cause some havoc with the ice.  Ice is at it's greatest volume at around freezing then shrinks as it gets colder causing cracks. When the temperature warms, the ice expands and has a tendency to cause heaves.  We'll see what Sunday brings as I am planning to go to Mille Lacs to do some business and stop at Bill's.  The Packers lost, somewhat disheartening but little I can do about it.  The game provided a good excuse not to go fishing in the cold however maybe I should have just went anyway.  My good friend Phil Gordon has season tickets and asked if I wanted to buy them if they were available.  We inquired at the prescribed 9:00 call time but apparently they were only selling so many to those who had not committed earlier and we did not get them...it still would have been nice to go.  I know they had tickets available but they were nosebleed seats, the television is a better place to watch the game.  Thursday night is the opening of the St. Paul Sportshow, the first of the year.  My friend Keith Holtan has a booth representing his Kenai Alaskan business Beaver Creek Cabins  and guide service.  Stop by and see Keith, he would appreciate it.  I already have the end of January booked for trips as I leave with my wife's uncle and family to Lake of the Woods on January 24th then the following week go back to Red to pick up Mark's wheel house that's parked at JR's.  It's a tough job but somebody has to do it!

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!

Heading North

Official 2013 Team Walleye Shirts

After some debate based on facts and a little speculation, we are full steam ahead for the 40th Annual Team Walleye opener on Leech Lake. I finally got the boat back together, tackle box set (noticed I didn't say organized!), the correct rods in the boat, carpet washed an vacuumed, she looks pretty good. I am anxious to try out my new Titan tiller system which promises to make steering the 115 Suzuki much easier especially in the big waves. A few weeks ago a new Scheels 7 foot spinning rod with a Shimano CI4 reel found it's way into my rod locker and it just screams for that familiar tug of an opening day walleye inhaling a shiner minnow as we drift across Pine Point. Unfortunately Mother Nature may have other plans for us. The latest reports shows a lot of white ice left on the lake yet the ice out line continues to trudge north. My friend Jack was at his cabin on Platte Lake, west of Mille Lacs, on Sunday to get his boat ready but was unable to dump it in because the ice was tight to shore. On Tuesday night, Wednesday morning the lake was officially declared ice free. My friend Keith from Alaska texted me that on Wednesday the ice had officially gone off his home lake of North Long Lake, outside of Brainerd about 25 miles north of Jack's lake. We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed! Team Walleye is committed to going regardless of the ice. There have been some discussions about moving it by a week yet with 22 guys going this year, with schedules and having to rent substantial amount of space that is not really available, food purchased, it's not rally much of an option. Plan B includes the possibility of fishing some of the smaller lakes around and with the big wind due on Saturday, that might be enough to allow us to get out on Sunday. Oh well, it's just fodder for future stories about our group. I did pick up our official hats and shirts last night and admittedly, even if we are not fishing, we will sure look good!

Potatoes are Planted!

With the late spring comes late planting. My asparagus is 2 weeks behind as I normally have about 5 pounds to take with us for opener. Last night there were a few spears poking their heads out of the ground, maybe enough for a meal. The old adage is the best time to plant potatoes is on Good Friday. For 2013 that date would have been March 29th. Admittedly a little early for my preference however there is some basis for the folklore and in years where Good Friday occurs in April, it is not a bad reference. Easter is really celebrated the first Sunday after the next Full Moon which occurs after the Spring equinox (March 21st) Next year the first full moon is on April 15th putting Good Friday on my mom's birthday, April 18th. In the past lot's of things were tied to the moon phases and it's affect on life so many things are tied to these celestial occurrences. For me, I simple try to get it done when I can yet May 8th is pretty late to be putting in potatoes yet that's exactly what I did. Planting 5 varieties, Yukon Gold's, Russet's, Red's, Kennabec's, and a purple variety, at least that is done. Most everything else can wait another week or so. One of the things I have been meaning to do is upgrade my raspberry patch. Right now the garden has Heritage planted and although they do ok, the second crop tends to be later and often over half is lost to an early fall frost. Researching different varietals for our area, I decided that getting one summer bearing type, Boyne, and an earlier fall maturing type, Autumn Bliss was in order. My garden store ordered them and while in Chicago they came in. Sunday saw a new raspberry patch just behind my existing garden, we'll see how they do.

One last note, although the late spring is causing a number of issues, the good news is that it's stopped virtually all netting on Lake Mille Lacs. Although I try not to be too political here, this is a good thing as the Minnesota DNR and the Native American tribes from Minnesota and Wisconsin have really screwed up my favorite lake, Mille Lacs. One day you might just open up to a diatribe of personal thoughts yet it's time to fish so keep those minnows dunked and your lines tight!

Ground Hog Day, May 2nd?



May 3rd snow accumulating



OK, I know that Ground Hog Day is on February 2nd and not May 2nd, my dad's birthday was on February 2nd so I know the story well.  As the folklore goes, the ground hog (we call them wood chucks around here) comes out of its burrow each year on February 2nd to see if he can see his shadow.  If the sun is shining, it's shadow will appear causing it to go back into the burrow for winter will be here for another 6 weeks.  If it's cloudy and there is no shadow, spring will come early.  The most famous ground hog of them all is Punxsutawney Phil and for 2013 it was cloudy and spring was to come early, well so much for that prediction.  Having spent the last 3 days in Chicago it was reported that just east of Minneapolis near Ellsworth, Wisconsin the total snowfall for Wednesday's storm was 14 inches.  As we approached the Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport it was easy to see the extent of the storm as my home did escape the brunt of the snow.  It's still dang cold as the average high for today is 65.  Today the temperature is 35 degrees and snowing....again.  So, the garden remains bare, my potatoes should be in by now, the apple trees should be starting to blossom, the lilac should be showing hints of green but it looks like April 1 instead.  Oh well, it's Mother Nature at her finest!  Rest assured warmer weather is going to come, the garden will be just fine, and I expect a record crop of apples, pears, raspberries, and blueberries.  The problem now will simply be finding the time to get things going.



Satellite view of Leech Lake, 4-29-2013



Along with our late spring is the issue of our annual trip to Leech Lake for the Minnesota Walleye Opener.  This year is the 40th annual and Team Walleye is really looking forward to getting back up on the lake.  I only wish the lake was as excited as we are!  Here is the current satellite picture from the University of Wisconsin site that shows Leech Lake as if though it was still January.  With the sun high and rain predicted for the next few days, with a little luck the bays will open.  Next weeks weather doesn't look like it could set any melting records but all we can do is hope.  The signs are being complete, our 40th commemorative shirts will be done on Monday, the food is bought, we will go regardless.  We generally get our bait at my friend Bill Lundeen's bait shop however he has informed me that with all of the ice, shiners are probably not going to be on the menu for Mr. Walleye this opener.  Most shiners that are sold in bait stores come from local bait dealers who actually net them from a number of different lakes that include Leech and Winnibigoshish, which are of course iced in at this time.  Shiners are by far the best choice for opener but so again is open water at a nice 55 degree temperature.  It certainly will test our ability to make the most of it as our Big Fish Tournament should prove interesting.  The Sunday night fish fry could be in jeopardy as well, but not the great time.  Our friend Ron really looked forward to the opener and if nothing else, it will be a celebration of his life. 

Being in Chicago means the boat is still apart.  One thing that bothers me about my Ranger is the control panel mounting to the fiberglass.  It is simply screwed into the fiberglass with 10 #6 screws, it's OK the first or second time you open it up however eventually the threads disappear an you need a #8.  That's fine as well but eventually they will strip out of the soft fiberglass.  I ordered some #8-32 stainless steel T nuts and matching machine screws.  My idea is to drill out the holes, insert the T nuts with a generous portion of epoxy and mount them as inserts into the fiberglass.  It looks like it will work so that's my project for this weekend.  Other than that, the countdown continues!

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.