Quick Trip to Lake John

Satellite view of Lake John

Lake John is a small lake just west of Annandale, MN.  In the past 40 years it's been one of my favorite lakes to just go fishing for the afternoon.  Mark Taylor's brother in law, Tim Guzek introduced us to the lake back in the early 1980's, apparently he had a connection somewhere.  It's always been a good panfish and largemouth bass lake, they even stock walleyes however one has never graced the end of my hook.  The lake runs north and south with a long narrow bay extending from the northwest corner.  The water is fairly clear but has a lot of weeds in it these days.  Back in the mid 80's we made a cheap plywood fishing shack and pulled it out to the lake on a snowmobile trailer.  With a small wood stove it was pretty nice for a bunch of guys who couldn't afford much.  We'd light a fire then fish the evening bite with crappies our main target, and we'd always come home with a few.  In this part of Minnesota one has to have your ice shack off the lake by February 28th.   This was our second year of having the shack and not being too smart, there was a lot of snow on the ice which pushed the ice down.  The last time we fished after re-drilling the holes, the water came up over the floor by about 4 inches and subsequently froze.  Having come out the week before we had to have it off the ice to start the process of removing it, there was no way with 4 inches of frozen ice over the floor.  It was a plain untreated floor as well so the ice was very much adhered to wood.  Plan B.....go into town and get a 40# bag of water softener salt.  Returning we spread the entire bag across the floor and headed home to come out the following weekend to finish the job.  Upon returning we were pleasantly surprised the salt did exactly what we predicted, the floor was bare, not a bit of ice was on it.  The next job was to lift the house off the ice and load it on our trailer.  In our arsenal was a couple of long ice chisels as well as pry bars but to no avail, the bottom of the house was froze to the surface yet.  It was critical that we have it removed that weekend as the DNR fine was pretty hefty.  A guy walked by with a hunting rifle and suggested he could remove the house, simply shoot through the floor and the impact would crack the ice and all would be good.  Back into town to get a box of 30-06 shells.  Returning he began to shoot the bullets through the floor, all 20 of them.  It was pretty loud but seemed like a good idea as on the edges you could see the ice shatter.  With all 20 shells shot into the floor we again tried to pry the house off the ice but it still held tight.  With daylight fading fast, we decided it just wasn't worth messing with anymore and tore the shack apart, wall by wall.  We did get the floor detached from the 2 x 4's that were stuck in the ice and pried what 2 x 4's we could but I an sure we left a few reminders of our presence there, of course it was a good spot so those left over boards would be perfect for marking our spot for next year!  Our fish shack was now on layers stacked on the snowmobile trailer, we headed up the road and stopped at a friends house, he had a couple of acres.  He let us unload the heap of wood which eventually he ended up burning.  Portable shacks were just coming into play so that ended our adventure into what turned out to be our permanent ice fishing shack.  

HDS 12 Live

My neighbor Tom Olson asked me to go with him in his boat which was nice as I  didn't have to do anything.  We did catch a few bass on a wacky worm set up which was one of the original intents for going to Lake John, try for some bass.  Unfortunately it was quite windy, coming out of the west as 15 - 20 mph.  our plan was to fish the edges of the long east to west bay where the wind would push us along the shore.  Within 5 minutes there was a small bass on my line.  Maybe 13 inches, not enough to take a picture.  A few more were caught before Tom caught this really funky looking bass.  He threw it back before I had time to snap a picture so no proof of our limited success.  Drifting the north side and casting for crappies, one finally hit my jig, maybe 9 inches, good enough to keep but it would be hard to work that area well so it went back.  It was just too windy to fish comfortably so we headed back to the landing.  It was still nice to fish a lake that I had not been to since 2015. 

Last fall I traded with Bill my HDS 12 Carbon for his HDS 12 Live, a newer unit.  It has some interesting features you can use like Live Sight for looking forward for fish.  Garmin has really set the industry ablaze with it's Panoptics system which people rave about for ice fishing.  Lowrance has some catching up to do however if and when they do I will be ready.  It's still a process to get everything changed over and working as their a little changes done every time they change models as well they have software upgrades to fix issues that were missed.  It's an easy process, simply download the update to your computer then transfer it to a miniSD card, insert the card and through the menu system find the upgrade then install it.  Admittedly it's nice to have everything talking to each other and working but sometimes it would just be nice not having to worry about it, like the good old days!  Oh well.  Yesterday Bruce Wiley flew me to Siren, Wisconsin's Burnett County Airport.  There we filled the plane up with their cheaper 100 octane low lead airplane fuel, punched to code in for the main airport building where we signed out the courtesy car and headed to Burnett County Coop to have lunch, buy some of their delicious cheese, and pick up some spotted cow beer for the neighbors.  That is always a fun couple of hours for sure. This new format is going to be the death of me!!!!!!

Too Hot To Fish!

Successful day of fishing in Seward

This weekend reminded me of a day in July around 1984, I decided to go fishing a small lake near Lake Minnetonka called Whaletail.  The forecast included a strong south wind of 20 mph and highs of over 100 degrees.   The lake ran north and south and was a conduit for that wind.  Like fishing in a convection oven, all I did was make myself miserable.  I'm not sure it filed that outing as Lessons Learn but it sure made me think about getting out this weekend, something I really wasn't up for.  Now this time of year is traditionally when I am in Alaska basking in the flannel shirt weather, maybe even a light jacket.  Unfortunately all I could do was live the fantasy through my good friends Jack, Mark, Matt, and Jared Taylor, all whom had left the Saturday before to their first Alaskan trip together as a family.  I couldn't have been more excited as half the fun was helping Jack plan his adventure.  Loading him up with my waders, fishing rods, baits, coolers, and other items that I figured he would need, the only thing missing was me.  Maybe next year.  So in the meantime they fished with the same captain we did last year in Seward, a young man that really knew his stuff.  Calling Jack on Sunday morning, they were just leaving the docks and heading to sea.  It turns out they had 6 foot seas and decided to fish the cliffs near the entrance of Resurrection Bay for silver salmon.  They loaded up in about 40 minutes, typical of that area.  There next stop was Montague Island for halibut.  Typical of the size there you can see they filled out with a limit of 20 pounders, not bad.  Mixed in were some rockfish and yellow eyes.  Been there, done that and it never gets old.

A limit of Susitna River silvers

The Taylor's have a connection in Anchorage, their cousin's wife Marina.  Marina was married to Tom Jarvis, a teacher who went to Alaska, taught in Nome, retired in Anchorage and began to work for the Alaska Fish and Game, his dream job.  Unfortunately he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and a good man left us too early.  Marina still has their cabin northeast of Anchorage, near Wasilla so the boys took full advantage of Alaskan hospitality.   Booking a river trip on the Little Susitna river, they took advantage of the silver run still in progress.  I love fishing silvers as the really know how to punish a 8 foot rod and a Super Vibrax spinner.  These fish are mixed with some being pretty fresh as indicated by their bright chrome color with those that have been in the river a few days turning more red colored.  Either way they are delicious on the grill and here's hoping the Taylor's will invite me over for a celebration meal.  Like my family, this will be a trip of a lifetime and I only hope that they do this again, time is always too short and running out.  Good job boys!

So it's Labor Day already.  The garden is full of weeds, tomatoes are starting to ripen, potatoes have died back, and the second crop of corn will be ready in a few days.  My cucumbers have been a complete disaster and along with the onions you got to got to wonder where the green thumb went.  The apples are looking good and putting some heft to them.  The Summer Crisp Pears have vacated their home and lay scattered on the ground.  Next to ripen is the Patton pears as they have developed into a very substantial sized fruit and taste great.   Apples and raspberries are next and within 4 weeks we could have our first killing frost.  The clock keeps ticking for sure.  I have an invitation to go back to Canada this fall with my neighbor Pete and at first our schedules didn't match but it looks like it's pushed out a week, I am not sure I can refuse.  This weekend is my annual pre-Labor motorcycle ride with my brother Steve as we travel the scenic roads of southwestern Wisconsin.  Hopefully we can plan our eventual trip around Lake Superior, a trip we should have taken this week!  It's suppose to cool off next week with lows back down in the 50's, a welcome relief from these 80 degree nights.  It's always something.

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.

Deer Hunting Family Style

The 2011 Deer Hunting season so far has been just that, hunting.   Having strategically located my stand in a “can’t lose” spot, Saturday morning Jack and I were greeted with nothing less than gale force winds, sometimes gusting to 35 miles per hour.  The swamp I was in did not have the big 16 to 20 inch diameter poplar trees of Rich’s place so I had to settle for something less sturdy and as I found out, more susceptible to the whims of the near hurricane.  The fact that my stand is 20 feet tall to the chair added another aspect of excitement to a rather unsuccessful opener.  There were times that I swear the only thing holding that tree up was the ladder portion of my stand.  I always wear my harness just in case the unfortunate event would see me falling out of the stand, I’d be saved.  As the wind increased my thoughts ventured to whether or not it was a good idea as if the tree went down I would be securely tethered like a flag to a flag pole.  Apparently I survived.  The greatest thing about deer hunting with Jack is all the great people we meet.  What impresses me the most is how they have involved their entire families into this great tradition.  Friday night was spent at Rich’s place, having our traditional steak feed and reacquainting ourselves with those we spent the hunt with last year.  There was no shortage of young hunters as Brett’s son (featured last year), his friend Brennen, Chris with his 3 super smart boys, Kevin, his dad Eugene and his boy Austin long with Ken.  I love to engage the kids on the ways of the world as we shot a few rounds out of my pistol and spent the night arguing which gun was the best for deer.  Unfortunately I did not get a picture of our group this time, something I regret.  I did however snap this picture of our hunting host for this year, Loren Tolama and his fine bunch of children and grandchildren.  Sunday’s wind was an exact repeat of Saturday’s weather and during the afternoon the Tomala's called and said were coming over to see how we were doing………….. 3 truck loads! Loren is the guy on the right side of the picture and is the big kahuna of this bunch of dedicated deer hunters.   On the far right is Nathan Tomala, a senior at Pierz High School who is playing this week for a chance to go to the Minnesota State Football Tournament.  In between is his parents, uncles, and 4 of the most interesting young hunters I have ever met.  They spent an hour with Jack, Ben and I discussing everything that is important in life like deer hunting, football, and whatever makes the kids smile.  A couple of weeks ago Loren took Ben in the John Deere combine to pick corn while letting me get on the old Farmall M and pull the gravity box over to the edge of the corn.  I think I could have stayed there all day.  If you measured wealth not by money but by family, the Tomala's are definitely one the "richest" families I know. 

So what does deer camp look like?  Well, Loren suggested we pull Jack's wheel house (pictured above) onto the property to make sure we have an official headquarters to base ourselves out of.  It was kind of nice to have a place to get our hunting clothes on, cut up some lunch, and have a place to unwind for a few minutes before heading back to Jack's cabin.  It worked out really well as we cooked some locally made wild rice sausage for lunch on Sunday, pretty good if you ask me.  When I first started deer hunting in Minnesota, it was with my friend Mark Taylor, Jack Taylor, Mark's brother-in-law Tim Guzek, and myself.  We would leave Minneapolis right after work on the Thursday before opening day and drive to Roseau, MN to hunt with Dale Larsen, a guy that I worked with who was from that area.  Roseau is home to Polaris Industries and is located 10 miles from the Canadian border.  We probably started going in 1980 and would take "Old Blue", an older powder blue van that Jack and Mark's dad Earl had.  We would throw a love seat and chair in the back then loaded her with our favorite refreshments as it was about a 6 hour drive.  Arriving around midnight at the Evergreen Motel, they'd leave the room door open for us so we would not have to wake them.  Back them we had little money so 4 of us crammed in a single room with 2 queen size beds.  At about $20 a night, if we split it our cost per guy was $20, a bargain!  Those were the days for sure.   Well, Mark hasn't hunted with us in a number of years so we thought we'd send him a picture that might convince him to come and spend the weekend with us.  The last picture is our proposition, a couple of chairs, a bottle of "Easy Jesus" (E & J Brandy) and a plastic red cup already mixed for him.  I did e-mail it to Mark but like a lot of us, sometimes as we get older we simply have more excuses why we don't try to enjoy life as much as we once did.   Maybe next year.  I am planning to go up for a day this weekend and see if I can still bag a deer if possible.  The weather is suppose to be nice as last weekend the deer simply would not move with that wind.  Wish me luck! 

Lead Line Success

This last week saw 2 excursions to Mille Lacs, taking advantage of the coming full moon which occurred on Tuesday.  Reports of fish being caught on lead lines had got me excited about trying to perfect the technique enough to give me the confidence to put it in my arsenal of strategies.  The first opportunity came last Saturday evening when my friend Mark Taylor and his son Jared agreed to grace my boat.  Mark and I are the best of friends however as we have grown older things have gotten in the way of our time together.  In our early days we have spent many hours in the boat together and along with his dad Earl, have many great memories.  Although this trip wasn't going to be very long, the weather was beautiful as it was a wonderful day to get out for a little walleye magic.  Picking them up we headed for the new Liberty Beach landing on the east side.  With dead calm conditions, the comfort level was quite high.  Having learned of the hoards of fish on the north side of a popular gravel bar, we headed there to try our luck with trolling crankbaits.  Because there were 3 of us, the strategy was simple; 1 rod out on a planer board, 50 feet from the boat, while a lead line rig on each side would give us a respectable 75 foot spread of lures attacking the water.  The planer board rig consisted of a #11 deep diving Rapala Tail Dancer in a rainbow trout pattern (Hot bait for some reason) trolled 150 feet behind the board.  Diving to about 26 feet, this would be perfect for the 28 - 30 feet we were fishing.   The other 2 lines took advantage of the lead core line.  Literally a braided line with a lead center, it sinks 5 feet for every 10 yards (30 feet) of line let out when trolled at 2.0 MPH.  Because the line controls the depth, you simply put a 10 - 20 foot mono leader on and you can now troll shallow running crankbaits in the deeper hotspots on the lake.  Lead core line changes color each 10 yards making it easy to keep track of where you are.  This year I switched to Sufix line as the colors are both bright and have great contrast to give you a better handle on where the line is.  My previous line had black next to brown, almost impossible to read.  I guess a line counter reel would help however I sort of like the old fashion method.  On the 2 lead cores I attached a couple of #5 shad raps in Clown and Hot Steel color.   Within 3 minutes Mark reeled up this dandy 24 inch walleye, the first to be caught with the lead core method in my boat................success at last!

Mark and Jared were new to this method and thought it was pretty slick.  The speed of catching the first fish always puts the anticipation level for the second one on high alert.  Hoping to get one on the planer board to show them how that works, the flag on the board went down about 20 minutes later.  Planer board fishing requires some good boat coordination.   One has to remove the in-line planer board from the fishing line before you can reel the fish in.   If one is not careful, this is the place fish are lost.  The release was successful and the battle continued until Jared reeled in a nice 23 inch walleye.   The calm weather had us dialed into this strategy for sure.  With an hour left before we would leave for the reef to do some at dusk casting, I noticed my blind side rod was doubled over and without hesitating I grabbed the rod.....my turn!  My second fish hooked on the lead line, it was exciting to reel in.  Finally seeing the fish, it was about 24 inches before a LDR occurred.  Long Distance Release is really good for the fish but terrible on the ego.  Therefore there are no pictures of me to complete the trio.  Oh well, it was great to get Jared and Mark out.  I tend to give Jared a hard time but never the less he is always smiling.  When in High School, Jared had an assignment, write a biography of someone important in your life.  He asked if I would be that person and requested an interview.  Agreeing only if I could see his finished product, he finished his paper and sent it in.  Jared is a shy sort and after a couple of months I pressed him to see his finished product and grade.  Relenting, he sent me the manuscript by mail.  Often one never realizes his impact on the younger generation, however Jared articulated it beautifully.  Admittedly I am tough on the kid.  I expect him to talk to me, am always pushing him to express himself better, however I never expected him to say the things he did about his dad's friend, Dave.  I believe that kids today need positive outside influences like I did growing up in Eleva.  I had 20 dad's growing up from my uncle's Dewey, Keith, Jerry, and Loren, to my dad's friends Art Kelly and Daniel Van Pelt, to my teenage bosses Vic Wenaas, Wille Drangsveit and Ronny Semingson.  Each added a little to who I am today and I try to pass that on to those kids in my life.  As for Jared, he turned out to be a pretty good kid. 

My second excursion on the night of the full moon, Tuesday was with my neighbor Tom.  It was dang near gale force winds and after fighting for a couple of hours we headed into Indian Point and tried some casting.  Tom managed to have a nice muskie follow but that was it.  No fish, no pictures, just got my boat carpet washed was all.  Maybe the next full moon will be better.

This week was the one year anniversary of the passing of my friend Rich Allen and my brother-in-law, Mike Rombalski.  They say time heals however I still miss them both.  Weddings this weekend so we will have to see what the next post brings.

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.

My Friend Earl

The problem with getting older is that everyone around you is doing the same. Along with with the aches and pains come the realities that your friends will not last forever. My friend Earl (Mick) Taylor passed away Sunday morning at the age of 83. As I have mentioned in past posts, the Taylor's were the first and remain the best friends I have met since moving out of Eleva almost 34 years ago. Earl and Ellie, their children Linda, Mark, and Jack have been my family away from home for all that time. In fact I would venture to guess that over the years, because of location, I have spent more time with Earl than my own father. I guess when you find something good you stick with it. Through the years Earl called me his 3rd son. We were always invited to every family affair, weddings, funerals, graduations, retirements, anniversary's, you name it we were there. Earl and I had much in common however it was our love for fishing that was a special bond. We would often go out, like a couple of old friends, and he particularly liked ice fishing. Earl lived on South Center Lake in Lindstrom Mn, a perfect place to perfect our skills. He was a key member of Team Walleye and continued to fish with us at 79 years old. You do not have a friendship for this long without a few good stories!

Earl and ice fishing were synonymous. Early in our friendship he would often ask me to tag along as I shared his enthusiasm and more than likely being young, I could drill his hole through the ice easier! (Back then we drilled all the holes by hand) One day Earl called and asked if I would take him and his friend Harry Peters up to Mille Lacs. Never one to miss a chance to get out I gladly accepted and told them to pick me up by 9:00. Well in those days I had little patience for tardiness, especially when we were going fishing. Outside by my garage I had everything organized including poles, auger, tackle, and coffee. 9:00 came and went. 9:30 passed by, 10:00 no Earl, and by 10:30 I am about ready to have a heart attack! Well around 11:00 Earl shows up driving Ol'Blue (his panel van) with Harry riding shotgun. I was pretty upset but decided to go anyway. Mark had warned me about his dad's friend Harry. He was a great guy, just liked to start the day with a cocktail somewhat earlier than most of us. That day was no exception. We fished Sunset Bay on the east side of Mille Lacs as it had ice thick enough to drive on. Not the best spot however it was convenient. It was mid December and you could still see open water a few miles out. We were sitting there fishing when Harry decided he wanted to fish somewhere else, started Ol'Blue and headed for the open water. Now Earl was the calmest man I have ever known. Never one to panic over anything he simply looked at me and said "David, will you go get Harry?" Thank God Harry wasn't in a hurry. Chasing down the van, yelling at the top of my lungs, he decided to stop and see what I wanted. Harry had gone about 100 yards but it seemed like a mile. As I approached the window he asked if I wanted to go with him. "Move over Harry, don't you see the open water?" Harry moved over and we headed back to Earl. As I gave him the key in his snickering laugh he simply said "Thanks Dave"

Another time Earl picked me up in his Buick as we headed for South Lindstom Lake, right by the Dinner Bell. This was a great early ice spot, plenty of parking, and an easy walk out. We had a pretty successful day and it was getting cold so Earl went to start the car while I packed up. He came back out to help and upon returning he discovered that the car was running and the doors were locked. It was a Sunday, we were the last ones off the ice with no one around to help. Well Earl started laughing, however I didn't see much humor in our situation. Back then you could open a car using a coat hanger or similar device. Simply make a hook with the wire, fish it between the window and the weather strip, hook the lock pull and lift. I started walking around and to my surprise ran across some 14 ga solid electrical wire. What it was doing there I'll never know, but it was there! Earl was an electrician, not a locksmith, as he wondered what good that wire would do. We stripped the insulation off and in 3 minutes I had the door open. Earl looked a little surprised it was that easy but relieved, we loaded our stuff and headed home.

Earl was a Medic towards the end of World War II. He married his sweetheart Ellie, who has remained an absolute doll all these years. Mark and Jack are truly my brothers, Linda my sister, their families very special. He will be missed, like the other 3 friends that passed away this year. There are too many stories to tell about Earl and I could go on but like many things, we all have to stop sometime. As stated earlier, he was the calmest man I have ever met. No matter what the situation he always approached things in a positive light. I think our lives would be better if we were all a little bit more like Earl.