Middle of February

Tulibee's

The snow just keeps piling up as we have just moved into the 4th snowiest February on record with in excess of 20 inches for the month and it's only the middle of February.  As stated last week, the snow has really put the damper on fishing, not that I don't think about it yet the amount of snow on Lake Mille Lacs is restricting travel to plowed roads and no "off road" travel is suggested at all.  Last weekend I ran up to my friend, Bill Lundeen, former owner of Lundeen's Tackle Castle.  Our relationship is built on our love for fishing and not just another customer.  Admittedly that's how it started!  Bill still is doing some guide work and this time of year, there is usually a large corporate event that entails snowmobiling, ice fishing, whatever trips your fancy up north.  We talked about how interesting it is, some of these guys are from the southern United States, and really never get to experience snow.  Well the snow came just in time for these guys as the snowmobile trails around Mille Lacs are in excellent shape but the lake offers some challenges as there is about 12 inches covering the ice.  Nevertheless they rent like 3 ice houses from Mac's Twin Bay Resort and Bill is the guide in charge of helping the rookies out, showing them how to operate everything.  As well, I dropped off my portable Eskimo Pop Up  Insulated Ice Shelter, my FL28 depth finder, a Marcum underwater camera, and a couple of portable Propane heaters to keep everything warm.  I have become so dependent on my Vexilar FL28, I could probably fish without it however what would be the point as it makes everything much more enjoyable.  The guest's look at this and more than likely think it's crazy yet it is amazing to watch.  The tulibee's were biting and they are fun to watch on the Vexilar as these fish tend to chase the bait quite a distance vertically.  They had a few walleyes on but the tulibee's were the star of the show.  Bill likes to smoke them as they are a type of whitefish.  Admittedly I like to catch them as they are quite active on the depth finder and they put up a good fight.  As well, I like them pickled, they are like pickled herring and are pretty good, that is if I can get either Mark Applen to make it or at least give me his recipe!  This weekend might be a great time to go pick up my equipment and head out on one of the plowed roads for some ice fishing.  I guess we'll have to see how it goes.

Soft Sided Worm Binder

Although things might change, I am still getting ready for the Texas Bass Fishing adventure on
March 8th.  One of the things that needed to be done was to organize the collection of wacky worm components that has been accumulated.  Keeping it all in one place and to have everything at your fingertips, a quick trip to Cabela's and they had the perfect item, a soft sided, medium sized worm binder, perfect!  It has about 12 ziplock plastic "pages" to store your worms, a series of pockets on the inside of the covers to put your hooks in, it will fit nice in my suitcase and will allow myself to have everything at my fingertips.  Originally the plan was to simply take a few things with but not now!  It wasn't too expensive either, under $20.00.  The next thing that needs to be addressed is an adequate spinning combo for Bruce.  Something like a fairly stiff Medium action 6'6" 1 piece rod with a nice reel that will handle 10 pound monofilament line, maybe a 3000 or 3500 series reel.  Cabela's had some really nice deals on Black Friday weekend, some $70 Pflueger's for $34.99, it was a heck of a deal and I got 2 but now maybe I should have bought an extra, seems like there is always a need for another reel!  Today that same reel is sale priced at $49.99.   As I always say............Oh Well!  I have been telling Bruce how much fun wacky worming for bass is, simply cast the worm out, it is heavy enough to slowly sink on it's own and when you see the line take off, set the hook and hang on!  I guess one just has to experience it yourself!

Having things to do today, I am finishing up the post later.  Last year we were having trouble with my main starting/electronics battery in the Ranger boat.  It is a series 31 AGM and has performed well up until last summer where it would only last a few hours before one had to jump it with a trolling motor battery.  Last fall I traded the battery in for a new one, it only had 39 months on it yet the warranty was for 36 months...not much one could do.  Well the Interstate guy took my battery from the dealer, checked it out and said it was fine.  I suspect something is wrong with my onboard charger and will have to look at this more closely when the snow finally leaves us.  Today I picked up my old "good" battery and brought up my 25 hp Mercury that is one my Jon Boat which is used on the river.  Deciding it could use a good tuneup and carb cleaning.  Almost back to work and the mechanic called me, the bottom cylinder is scored and it's really not worth fixing.  Well, that changes things and I will be making a decision on my river boat soon as it definitely needs a new or different motor.  My age has me thinking of electric start this time.  It sure would be nice!

A Little Late But............

13", 1.5 pound Mille Lacs Perch

Last week I was in Anaheim Claifornia attending the MD and M West medical Device show. Admittedly I could have written the post from there but for some stupid reason my pictures on my phone did not transfer very well.....ugh!!  Anyway better late than never.  So my birthday was on February 4th and I decided to head up to Mille Lacs and try to catch some tullibees for my friend Mark Applen, who makes the best pickled fish ever, and tullibees are excellent to pickle.  Mark had gone up to Mille Lacs the night before and I knew he had gone out of Hunter's Point Resort. My plan was to head out of a resort that had a good bridge across the cracks that form near shore then once over, one can travel almost anywhere as long as you know where to return safely.  Midget Flat was my destination, a small flat south of 9 mile that tops out at around 30 feet, deeper than most which top out around 24 feet, yet I have done well with Tullibees out there so it seemed like the place to go.  Once on the ice I called Mark to see where he was, about 3 miles out towards the end of the line of houses, 15 minutes later I spotted him off to my right.  One thing nice about both Mark and I's ice houses, they are Salem's and you don't see very many of them.  Once you spot it, you can be pretty sure of your destination, especially when Mark's white pickup is parked next to it. Heading over, Mark was outside with his grandson Beckett, so I stopped to discuss my strategy.  "Well, no need to go out there, I have been seeing tullibees on the camera right here.  He was parked off a break in 32 feet of water so I decided to give it a try.  Tullibees are notorious for following your lure off the bottom and will travel quite high.  In fact, in the past I have almost pulled them to the surface, actually to where I could see them hit my lure.  At Lundeens I stopped to get some bait and I bought what I feel is the ideal tullibee lure, a spoon with about a 4 inch drop line off the bottom with a panfish type jig on it. The spoon attracts them and the lure below is tipped with a waxie and they hit that.  Well I went into Mark's house and immediately started marking fish.  I jigged on up about 5 feet off the bottom, definitely a tullibee when it hit the lure.   Tullibees fight really good and this one was no exception, however when it got close to the hole it was orange colored, not your typical silver.  Finally getting it to the top of the hole it was this huge perch, actually the biggest I have ever caught.  You can imagine my surprise when I brought it in, too bad it wasn't the Perch Extravaganza as I am sure I would have placed.

2 nice tullibees

After I got the perch in, I was still bound and determined to catch a tullibee.  It wasn't long before I hooked one and got it up, man they fight good, almost like those trout we got a couple weeks ago.  Tullibees are related to the whitefish, cisco, and herring family, a bony and oily fish that people usually smoke.  They have a texture when pickled like commercial pickled herring and are delicious.  I sat in Mark's house and managed to catch 6 of them, not a bad take for a couple hours of fishing.  I am sure that had I gone out to the Midget Flat there might have been more fish yet here I was fishing in a warm place sitting on a comfortable couch, not hard to take at all.  Beckett (Mark's 5 year old grandson) was watching me so the last 3 fish I gave him the rod to reel in the fish, he really got a kick out of that.  Not one to let a good opportunity slip by I made sure Beckett asked Grandpa why we were getting all the fish!  It's good to involve the kids in some light humor, and of course they really don't understand what your asking them but Grandpa Mark does!  You might as well get the little ones trained right and to make sure they know who is the master of the bite!  It was a good time as Mark cooked up some pork loins, fried up some sliced potatoes, it doesn't get any better than this for sure.  Getting home the job of cleaning the fish was done and because it's been fairly warm, I did this down by my pole shed.  Enough fillets for Mark to do his magic, I might have to go and get some more soon.  I did end up catching a 15 inch walleye as well, a nice bonus to a day's fishing.  With only 2 weekends left for the walleye season and the last being the Hunter's Point Perch Extravaganza, winter is ticking away.  I have yet to catch a sunfish or crappie this year, maybe in March, if there is even any ice left as we have no snow left with this weekend being in the upper 40's and next claims a 50 might show it's presence.

Pickled Fish, a Labor of Love

Two weeks ago our trip to Mille Lacs was specifically to catch some tullibees for making pickled fish.  As stated earlier, the tullibee is a member of the whitefish family, an oily fish, makes an excellent imitation of real pickled herring.  I have had pickled sunfish, northern, suckers, yet these fish lack the specific texture of herring.  My dad was a big herring eater and when I was young the real good pickled herring was bought at Nelson's Grocery Store in downtown Eleva.  The store was an old fashioned small town store in a brick building with wood plank floors and a full service meat counter.  Back then everyone shopped the local store as it was more convenient to simply go downtown as opposed to driving to Eau Claire.  There was also a different attitude about supporting the local business man, the level of service was superior and there was little need for going to a grocery store for things other than groceries.  Gary Hillestad was the butcher behind the meat counter and would cut up a steak anyway you wanted.  Usually in the fall Nelson's would feature pickled herring.  It was always served bulk as it came in a large wooden pail made of vertical wood pieces held together with brass banding.  The herring chunks were mixed with whole pickling spices, onions, and were sold by the pound.  Herring was in the category of oysters and T-bone steak, a special treat and it was none fresher than from Nelson's.  After moving to Minnesota and meeting my friend Earl Taylor, he was a huge pickled herring fan.  Earl always had pickled herring and his favorite was from the Day Fish Company in Day, Minnesota.  Later in life we learned that the Day Herring was really supplied by Olsen's Fish Company in Minneapolis.  Olsen's makes a pretty good herring however I have fell in love with my new favorite brand, Brasel's Dang Good Pickled Herring.  The first picture is the real deal from Lory.

Per my post a couple of weeks ago, we caught 7 nice tullibees.  I cleaned the fish and Lory agreed to make the pickled fish.  Ending up with 6 pints, it took about 12 days and holy smokes!  The fish has the exact texture of the best pickled herring with a much better flavor, less fishy and very fresh.  With my taste buds in a whirl I suggested to Lory we head back up to the lake and see if we can get more for pickling.  Stopping to see Bill, we picked up a carton of waxies, a couple new secret baits, and the latest perception of where to fish.  Deciding on a mid lake hump coming up to 30 feet, we drilled our holes and set up the houses.  Saturday was pretty cold, never getting above zero, however the fish didn't seem to mind.   Dropping my first line into the hole, the bait never reached the bottom before a nice fish hit the lure dressed with waxies.  Tullibees really put up a great fight and I was amazed at the size of the fish that came through the hole.  What a great start.  The fish continued to bite throughout the day and within a couple of hours we each had our limit of 10 fish.  I drilled a hole for my underwater camera and the fish really put on a show.  Tullibees tend to bite light and often are just at the end of the line.  A slow oscillation of the rod tip  can can be critical to pick up this bite.  When seeing them hit the lure on the camera, it's fun to correlate what you see to what you feel.  Often there were up to 6 fish in the camera's view with fish appearing every few minutes.  It's also interesting to see the fish under the hole that the depth finder is looking down and see how the fish are represented.

With 20 tullibees and a few bonus perch we headed back early to start cleaning fish.  I like to use my brother Steve's method of filleting fish for the tullibee, slab off the sides by cutting down the backbone then remove the ribs and skin.  This is identical to how we clean our salmon in Alaska.  Not being very good at the secondary operation of cutting the rib bones out, my new Cabela's fillet knife has made me an expert.  Wasting little meat, we ended up with over 9 1/2 pounds of fillets for the next batch of pickled fish.  Lory and I make a great team.  I have shown him a new species of fish to target along with locations, and technique whereas he brings his ability to turn them into a bonafide delicacy.  They won't be done for another week or so but I can tell you it will be worth the wait! 

Friday I am off to Rockport Texas to fish reds and sea trout.   A couple of years ago I fished in Jacksonville, Florida and had high hopes on catching a red drum as this is one my list of fish I have not caught.   I love watching the weekend fishing shows, especially when they are going after reds as they look like an interesting fish.  We will be fishing out of a large air boat in the barrier marshes of the coastal regions of Texas.  Reports include the possibility of seeing an alligator or two.  My host Joe Stanfield has arranged to spend the evening with a friend of his and are planning on having fresh fish for supper (notice I said planning!).  The famous Blackened Redfish starts with this fish and heres hoping we are successful.   Look for my full report next week.  

Tullibee Time

Earlier in the week my friend Bill Lundeen asked if he could once again use some of my ice fishing equipment for a large client outing he is having this week.  This presented a perfect opportunity to head up to Mille Lacs as the word was out the tullibees were biting with some bonus jumbo perch mixed in.  With the weather scheduled to hit the mid 40's on Saturday, I called my neighbor Lory to see if he was up for some tullibee fishing.  Having never caught one of these beautiful silver fish, he jumped at the chance.  Tullibees are a member of the whitefish family and are often referred to as cisco's.  Mille Lacs represents the southern most extent of their range as they are a cold water fish, thriving in the lakes north to the arctic circle.  On Mille Lacs tullibee die offs occur, especially if the surface temperature stays in the high seventies for too long.  The lake is shallow and windy causing the water temperature to mix and stressing these cold water fish.  3 years ago the lake experienced a considerable warm spell triggering a massive die off of tullibees.  In August, thousands of dead fish were floating everywhere.  Well of course, this has happened before however this time we had a new culprit, Global Warming!  The crash in the population at Mille Lacs generated new regulations.  Fisherman were now limited to a 10 fish limit and the fall netting season was cancelled, and remains so today.  At one time they were considered rough fish, bony, only catch able in the winter, and basically good for pickling and smoking.   The last 2 summers have been much cooler and the fish have rebounded tremendously.  Gill net surveys of the lake revealed a year class never before seen on Mille Lacs.   

Tullibee are a fun fish to catch. They generally inhabit the deepest waters of the lake and a good place to start is on the deep edge of the flats that are scattered through out the north half of the lake.  32 to 36 feet is prime depth.  These fish have a pertinacity to follow lure high off the bottom, and the flashier the better.  I have "jigged" them up over 25 feet to the point where I could see them down the hole.  Having a fairly small mouth, they will occasionally hit a lure dressed with a minnow head however a nice plumb waxy grub is almost irresistible.  I like to use a small panfish jig with a larger hook, say #6, tied about 6 inches below a hook less spoon, something shiny as an attractor.  Perch find this combination pretty tempting as well.  Drilling a number of holes starting from the top edge of the flat to about 30 yards off the deep edge we immediately started catching smaller perch. Sometimes these little perch will also follow a bait up high before plunging back down to the bottom.  When a tullibee hits, you will know it.  They are very powerful for their size, violently head shaking all the way to the surface.  By the end of the day we had 7 nice tullibees and 4 jumbo perch in the 12 - 13 inch range.  I figured we must have missed at least 10 more of the silvery fish as they were biting pretty light.  I made a deal with Lory, I'll clean them for you and you make your famous pickled fish.  Tullibee is a member of the herring family and have the same texture and flavor you find in gourmet pickled herring (although some may find that a contradictory term).  It will be a couple of weeks before they are done but I will let you know how they turn out.

Writing from 38,000 feet, I am on my way back from Denver.  Tuesday night we had the chance to take a quick ride through Estes Park, CO and the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. This time of year the town fills with wild elk that use this area as there wintering grounds.  I was surprised to see a large number of nice bulls gathered in small groups grazing along the roads.  This was an exceptional animal as you can see he has a few battle wounds from previous encounters with other bull elk.  His left brow tine is broken, his left ear is pretty mangled and his hair had evidence of past fights.  I guess they will begin losing their antlers soon, growing a new set by August.  Simply amazing!

Harvest Moon Harvesting

Last Sunday's full moon is known as the Harvest Moon. This bright moon is defined as the full moon closest to the autumn equinox which occurs around September 22th each year. It's name derives from the fact that the bright full moon would help farmers continue to harvest their crops well into the evening with the additional light it provides. Harvest Moons occur in October once every four years with the latest being October 13th. Well, the 2009 Harvest Moon did not let me down. My neighbor Tom loves the full moon bite and asked weeks in advance to reserve a seat in the boat. He is as crazy as I and with the ability to put up with my nuances, makes a fine fishing partner.

Our strategy was to launch out of the east side and fish our favorite perch hole first, checking to see if they have moved in shallow before heading out to our evening destination. Checking the wind forecast showed a predicted 5 - 7 mph blow from the NW. Not enough to change our plans we first stopped at Cedar Creek Public Landing. Well, the forecast lied. As one suggested, you are suppose to add the 5 and the 7 to get the real number. It was a strong 15 mph wind out of the NW and the rollers were a pushing 3 feet plus as they had the whole lake to work themselves up. Deciding that it would be too much work to land the boat at the access we headed to Mac's Twin Bay. They have a nice deep protected harbor and the $10 to launch is cheap insurance. Heading east to the perch hole wasn't too bad and we arrived fighting the wind for position. Not wanting to anchor, we drifted around a few boats and caught a number of small 6 - 7 inch perch. Not enough to keep our interest and understanding the pounding ride ahead of us, we decided to head straight to the reef. From our position it was straight into the wind for 7 miles. Nasty ride!! Arriving at our final destination 35 minutes later, the waves were literally breaking over the shallow rocks as if an angry ocean. Of course the good news was the wind guaranteed a perfect drift over the reef. The other interesting thing was the water temperature. Last Sunday it was a balmy 65 degrees as opposed to this Sunday's reading of 52. It had dropped a whooping 13 degrees in 7 days. Looking at the forecast for the next week, it could be in the low 40's soon. At 52 degrees the walleyes should be literally jumping in the boat!

Well, 2 hours of casting shad raps and rouges produced 1 - 13 inch walleye and a 14" smallie. Pretty paltry if you ask me. Standing on the bow, running the trolling motor in the big swells takes it's toll on an old man. At 7:30 I decided to start trolling, a less stressful endeavor. The wind had started to relent for the evening which set us up for what was to come. In the next 90 minutes we caught 14 walleye or 1 about every 6 minutes. They ranged from 12 inches on the short side to the fattest 27.50 incher I have ever seen. What ever it was the old favorite bait, the Rattlin' Rouge proved deadly. Tom's fished the fire tiger pattern and I stuck with my all time favorite, the tiger minnow. My 115 Suzuki trolls down like a dream and with a subtle pumping action, really triggered these fish. The fish were all caught in the 5 to 10 foot range with a surprisingly good number at 7 feet and deeper. We put 8 in the box, the first time I have completed a full boat limit this year. The keepers were very nice ranging from 14 to 17.75 inches, perfect eating size.

What I found very interesting was the amount of minnows that were present in the stomachs of the fish as we cleaned them. Each fish had at least 1 large minnow and most had 2 with some as high as 4. These fish were stuffed like a Norwegian at Thanksgiving! It is no wonder the bite has been tough of late. Certainly the cooler weather has triggered the fish to put on the feedbag. I am not sure where they could have fit anymore fish in their already stuffed stomachs but what the heck, they were biting. My last picture is one of the minnows we extracted from a fish. It was at least 5 inches long and looks like a young tullibee, which is reported in the lake at record numbers. They are predicting a high of 39 with occasional snow showers this weekend. I had better bring the winter gear as I sure could have used it on Sunday. At least we are catching fish!