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.

A Two Gloved Day

I have traded the cold weather for a little reprive and am writing from Los Angeles, California. It has been interesting as it is a balmy 65 degrees and everyone here is complaining about the cold. These people have no idea what cold is.....................like our trip to Mille Lacs on Saturday afternoon. The weather was predicted to be 48 for a high, perfect for that last fling before the ice freezes. This last time outing also gives me a chance to make sure everything works before I put the boat away, dump a can of Seafoam into the gas for storage, and maybe catch a few fish as a bonus.

Arriving on the lake I was surprised to see the surface temperature at the Cove Landing at a blustery 39.3 degrees, burrrrrrrrr. Water is an interesting substance. It is at its greatest density at this temperature, meaning that is sinks to the bottom. This causes the phenomenon called turnover as the denser water displaces the warmer water on the bottom, stirring the lake up. At around 39 degrees the water is pretty even from top to bottom. As water cools below 39 it starts getting less dense and stays on the surface. When water reaches 32 degrees it freezes, expands and floats. Ice is a very good insulator, protecting the water on the bottom which will essentially stay at 39 degrees all winter long. This allows life in the lake to enjoy an environment that is quite a bit warmer than freezing.

One nice thing that occurs in the fall when the water temperature in higher than the air temperature, the time on the lake can be warmer than that on the water. When it is colder than the air temp, it will feel much colder on the lake. Well Saturday my partner Tom proclaimed it a Two Gloved Day and offered the above pose. Our plan was to start in Wakon Bay for perch before heading to Anderson's Reef to pull some cranks for walleye. There were a few guys fishing perch and actually catching a few. They were all pretty small. Tom had the most unique method of catching these perch. We were in 4 feet of water, he had his bobber stop at 5 feet allowing his jig to sit on the bottom. Pulling it gently off the bottom he could actually sit and hold a fish on his minnow for minutes at a time as they played tug of war with Tom watching his bobber sit suspended 2 feet under the surface. This technique rewarded him with 3 nice perch including this nice 12 incher. Although we didn't kill them, tom was able to go home with a nice meal. About 15 minutes before sunset we headed to Anderson's. The water on the lake was a little warmer, 41 degrees. At this temperature the tullibees should be spawning on the reef. When tullibees spawn they essentially chase all the fish off the reef. It must have been the case as we did not get a single walleye. Based on the current water temp this did not surprise me. It was a so so year but I have a feeling that ice fishing could be excellent this year. At 39 degrees in cove my prediction of ice by mid November may be right on.

Finally I decided to model a favorite hat of mine, the Stormy Kromer. I sort of collect hats and this is my favorite cold weather hat. Previous post of me ice fishing will almost always feature this hat. So what is a Stormy Kromer? Well Stormy was a ball player in the early 1900's before he became a railroad engineer. Apparently he would wear his baseball hat while running the locomotive and it would often blow off his head by wind gusts through the cab. He became frustrated with this so he asked his wife, a pretty good seamstress, to modify his hat so it would stay on. The idea worked so good that it became a legend. You can tell a Stormy Kromer by the string tie in the front. Although most people think that the pull down flaps are for your ears, the real reason is to give extra grip to your head. It really works well and for a hat, it's pretty warm. They are still made in the good old USA in Ironwood Michigan. You can check out their website at http://www.stormykromer.com/ . And of course, my friends state that I look good in a hat..........as it covers up more of my face! Off to make more cider this weekend (we made over 17 gallons last Sunday) and I really do need to get my deer stand up.

Apples, Apples Everywhere!

Well my cider press and grinder finally arrived last Friday. The plan was to try it out that evening with maybe another batch Saturday morning. The lawn needed mowing and I had planned on hitting Mille Lacs in the afternoon. Best laid plans! Getting carried away with the lawn mowing and before I knew it the time had sped away. It was good to get the a few things done around the house as I had committed to helping my sister-in-law Sue on Sunday to get a few things done around her house before winter. Another issue is the current water temperature on the lake. It is hovering around 44 degrees and with the wind predicted to increase I always worry about being on the lake myself. At this time last year a lone fisherman's boat was found drifting on the north side without the occupant. It wasn't until May of this year that he was found. No thanks! Unfortunately the soft water opportunities are slipping away. Deer hunting is just around the corner and the way the weather is going, we might be ice fishing by Thanksgiving. Looking back the latest open water fishing I have ever done on Mille Lacs was December 6th and we still caught fish that day. The earliest I started ice fishing was November 17 when a good friend Earl Taylor and I found 5 inches of ice on North Center Lake. Both those dates are pretty incredible.

So it's apple cider time. Unpacking the new cider press the first thing I noted was the ratchet assembly did not work. Typical Chinese forged metal. It was a great idea, just had to open the holes more. Getting the equipment home I ground up about 4 gallons of apple pulp, mixed in the peptic enzyme that John Felix suggested and waited till the morning to press the "pommel". Pressing is best done if you put the ground apples in a fine mess nylon straining bag. This prevents the pulp from getting into the cider producing a cleaner product. Morning came and I immediately loaded the press and promptly squeezed out a gallon. The straining bags also let you handle the squeezed pulp easier as I rearranged the bag and squeezed it a second time. This produced another 1/2 gallon, not bad. Grinding another batch of apples filled up a 5 gallon pail for the evening press event. The evening pressing yeilded about the same amount, 1 1/2 gallons of juice. Looking at the pulp it still felt wet. I decided to get out my meat grinder and run the freshly pressed pommel through it. Once ground I loaded it into the press and to my surprised squeezed another 1/2 gallon. The third batch was done using the meat grinder alone and yielded over 2 gallons immediately. I think this will be the preferred way. One thing is sure, fresh cider is like honey from heaven! It is certainly better than any store bought, at least I think so.

Next on the agenda, apple pie filling. Searching the internet for recipes proved helpful yet difficult. There are so many variations on the same product however one caught my eye. There is a product out ther called Clear Jel. It is a modified cornstarch product that is used to thicken sauces in canned foods such as soup, pie fillings, salsa, and anything else needing a thicker texture. One can use cornstarch to do the same thing however Clear Jel will not break down during the canning process and is more stable during storage. I started looking at ingredients in many store bought products and its interesting how many carry Modified Cornstarch in them. One cannot buy it locally, or at least I have not found it, and had to order it on-line. It works very good and it will be interesting how they taste in 6 months.

Finally the highlight of my week was attending the CSI tackle wholesalers show with my friends Bill and Kathy Lundeen. This is the place where the new tackle is presented for the area bait shops and I like to attend to see what's being pushed for the next year. One thing that caught my eye was Lindy Little Joe's new Splash Brite Lighted Bobber. The bobber has a built in LED and battery. There are hidden terminals that when water shorts them out, the LED lights. When you pull it out of the water, the LED turns off. No more forgetting to turn off you bobber when you are done fishing. The battery is said to last up to 30 hours and when it finally runs out of juice, the bobber can be used as a standard slip float. The suggested retail is around $8.00 and I think it's a pretty slick product. Well hopefully I can make that last walleye run before deer hunting starts.

Oh The Weather Outside's Delightful.......................

Hoping to repeat my success of last Sunday night, I could not wait for this weekend to show itself. Unfortunately it showed itself as the first and earliest significant snow in many years. With lows predicted in the mid 20's I had no choice but to shift gears and take care of a few things at home. Little issues like blowing out the sprinkler system before it freezes or picking my apples before the cold renders them useless. Picking my apples was the first priority. With 7 loaded trees, it would be quite an endeavor. Finally finishing up on Sunday afternoon the day ended with 22 bushels more than I started with. My hopes are to make both soft and hard cider with most of them. A few weeks ago I ordered a cider press and apple grinder, which hasn't arrived yet. My friend Kevin has a friend near Ashland Wi that makes a wicked hard cider. I asked him if he could give me John's number and instead he had John call me. We had a fascinating discussion on pressing cider and gave me some fabulous tips like using peptic enzyme for better yields. Hopefully my press arrives by the weekend so I can start the process. One thing John says is that cider is better if blended with a number of different varieties. Sunday I bought a 1/2 gallon of Honeycrisp only cider and it was rather bland, proving his theory. Another fate for my apples have been drying large batches in the dehydrator. Using one of those fancy apple peeler/slicers I simply run them threw leaving the skins on, spread them on the drying racks adding a sprinkling of sugar/cinnamon before putting them in the dehydrator. They turn out simply delicious. I will probably try to make a few quarts of apple pie filling as long as I'm at it.

My friends Eric Hayes and John Delestry were more active in the outdoors this weekend. Eric and John have joined me on Mille Lacs on a number of occasions including the night we had a wild ride from 3 mile to Cedar Creek Landing. Determined to fish the evening bite we launched at the landing around 4:00 one afternoon. The wind was out of the southeast, perfect for drifting the reef. We had caught a few really nice fish going into dusk when all of the sudden the wind switched to the northwest and grew to over 30 mph. The landing is was exactly down wind from our location and we decided we had better head in as the waves had built up to an honest 4 feet. Eric's boat is a 17.5 foot Lund Angler with a 70 hp Johnson(Suzuki) tiller. Definitely a marginal boat in these waves, the adventure began. This was about as crazy a ride as I have been on. Eric was at the helm, John in the middle and I had the front manning the spotlight. Eric was doing a great job even though he was not aware of the raging seas around him. I kept encouraging him to stay on the throttle as we pushed through the waves. Going with the waves can be a dangerous proposition. The motor wants to push the back end of the boat down when heading up the next swell and you literally have to beat the one behind you from catching up and filling your boat. I seen a particularly large wave we just crested and I yelled to Eric to check it out, shining the light on the water next to him. The crest of that wave was about 3 feet behind and 3 feet above him! I probably shouldn't have done that. Arriving at the landing it was obvious this was not going to work. As we approached there was a Pro V on a trailer and the waves were crashing over the stern, filling the entire back end of the boat. John had agreed to jump out into the water close to shore as we headed to Mac's protected harbor. He would get the trailer and meet us there. John is a brave man. Before leaving there was a 16 foot lund hanging around the landing waiting their turn. We approached them screaming to follow us to Mac's, we'll go get your car later. They wisely obeyed our request and were glad they did. It was a very difficult to get to Macs but we made it. Those guys were immensely grateful for our insight, we were just glad they were ok. In the meantime John had made it to shore to find the guys loading the Pro V only had a S10 Blazer and could not budge the boat from the water. John ended up towing their entire rig out enough to drain the water completely. Arriving at the landing we first went back for our new found friends car. Loading them both we called it a night!

The first picture is of Eric's dog Lambeau (you got it Packers fans) with their opening day bag of ducks including green wing teal, gadwalls, and 3 mallards, a hen and 2 drakes. This is a pretty impressive bag if I must say. Lambeau is getting up in the years but he still has it in him. Eric hunts around the La Crosse area and his luck was much better than around Minnesota. The second picture is of John's son bagging his first deer during Wisconsin's Youth Deer Hunt last weekend, an nice tender nubbin buck fawn. Limited to does, he did a fine job of showing dad who's going to be the future deer hunter in his family. That deer will sure taste good this fall. Thanks guys for sending in your pictures as my weekend was pretty uneventful. It looks like the weather will be more favorable for getting up this weekend.

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!

Trolling Away the Evening

After traveling for the week I could not wait to get back up to the lake and see how the bite has progressed from the week before. Tom Emmons is doing some high level engineering work for us and I figured if he went fishing with me we could get caught up on some things we had little time to do during the week. Agreeing to meet at 1:00, he called in the morning and asked if our good friend Tom McAtee could go with. I had planned to troll all day and the additional line would up the odds 50%. My strategy was to continue pursuing the lead line technique I started last week. After a brief stop at our normal pig out place, Hardee's in Milaca, as well as a quick stop at Lundeens for ice, refreshments, and a rouge, we launched out of the west side. My original thought was to head to the east side but the wind was just enough that it would have been uncomfortable.

Our first stop was a portion of Shermans Flat called The Cut. I brought out the two lead lines from last week and a standard mono trolling rod with a #11 Tail Dancer. We trolled just outside of the flat on the 34 foot depth but only marked 1 fish. Time to move. Heading to a what will remain a secret hump, my Genetron came alive with fish. Of course unless you catch one, it is pretty much a foregone conclusion is they could be anything from eelpout to tullibees to perch. We never found out. What ever was swimming below, there were a lot of them and they were not hungry. My opportunities to catch a walleye on a lead line are shrinking fast.

Our next stop would be spend the last 2 hours trolling Indian Point. It features a long and shallow submerged rock reef straight east of Rainbow Island. The last time I fished this reef with the Tom's it was quite windy as well the lake level was at least 1 1/2 feet lower than it is today. Trying to avoid the big waves I cut too close to the inshore side and hit the bottom rocks as the motor was powering through the swells. That little incident resulted in a mangled prop and a bent prop shaft to the tune of $1200 damage. I am more careful these days. With the water back to a more normal level, trolling is much easier. My pattern is to troll the 5 - 7 foot level with #5 shads or rouges. With 3 lines it was a chance to mix it up a bit and try some new lures. On Mr. Emmons line was a #11 Husky Jerk, on mine was a #5 crawfish shad rap, and on Tom McAtee's line was a Berkley Flicker Shad.

The Flicker shads are an interesting bait. A couple years ago Berkley was doing some promotional deal where stores were selling these baits at $1.99 each. They are a great looking bait and at that price were a bargain. Cabela's had the deal at $1.99 sale so I headed over one morning. Sorting through the bin of various sizes and colors my tote had at least 10 lures while I was still looking. A guy looked at me exclaiming, "Boy they Must be a great bait based on your tote!". Responding, that they looked great, I really was picking up these as "Buddy baits". He looked and said "Buddy Baits?". Yeah, at $1.99 verse $6.50 for a shad rap, they work perfect for giving your buddies who fish with you something to troll with other than your expensive shads as it doesn't hurt so bad when they lose them. He laughed and thought it was a great idea. Well Mac had the last laugh. That flicker shad out produced both Tom and I combined. His total was 5 smallies and 3 walleyes. The top picture is Tom with his largest smallie for the night on the Flicker Shad. Meanwhile I caught 2 walleyes and a gigantic Rock Bass pictured here. That was easily the biggest Rock Bass I had ever caught. The Husky Jerk is a nice shallow water bait which stays fairly snag free. Because it is longer than the shads we were using, I wasn't surprised surprised that Mr. Emmons nailed the nicest fish of the night, about an 18 inch smallie.

The full moon is on Sunday and I plan on taking full advantage of the situation. Sunday marked a significant change in the weather and the water temps should be falling now. Hopefully the big hogs will start to show up.

Hello From Boston

I have been in Boston this week, calling on customers old and new. I was traveling with my Sales Manager Chuck Wild as well met our new Representatives from Tiger Electronics, Karl, Evan, and Rick. Karl and I hit it off very well as he grew up similar to myself. One look in his office explains it all. When traveling it's fun to get the flair of the area and Boston really offers an opportunity to see our history close and up front. Karl graciously took the time to show us some of the sites in downtown Boston. One of my favorite stops is the Union Oyster House. As stated it is America's Oldest Restaurant,with much being the same as it was in 1826. The oyster bar is classic. A semi circle bar with the original soapstone working area, the oysters are shucked in front of you and served super fresh with horseradish, their special sauce, and Tabasco. They are huge and delicious. Washed down with a ice cold glass of Harpoon IPA, it the perfect way to start the night. Most of the area around the area was built in the early 1700's. Not far from there is North Boston which is the Italian district. Originally the slums of Boston, the Italians were the last to inhabit this section of town and they stayed. It is alive with small Italian restaurants and bakery's. After the oysters Karl took us to his favorite Italian place, a small but delicious eating place then ended the night at Mike's Pastries, the most famous bakery in Boston. At 10:30 PM the place was packed. Know for their conoli's, the bakers are working all night. Pretty amazing when you consider most of Minnesota shuts down by 10:00!

Next on my list was to go to Gloucester, one of the most important fishing ports in the world. Here Gordon's of Gloucester made fish a household staple. If you have had cod, haddock, or swordfish it likely was processed here. Today the decline of the fish stocks (although haddock are reportedly at record highs) and the ever popular Government regulations have impacted this area severely. To survive the town is slowly converting to tourism. It is certainly a beautiful part of the country. Gloucester is also the basis for the book and popular movie called The Perfect Storm, the story of the Andrea Gail and it's fate during one of the worst storms ever witnessed. When I was looking at buying our current home in 1991, Minneapolis was hit with one of the craziest snowstorms ever. Known as the Halloween Storm of 1991, it dumped over 30 inches of snow in 24 hours. Well this storm met up with another low pressure area then a hurricane in the North Atlantic to create the "Perfect Storm". I loved reading about how they commercially fish swordfish with the lights and the long lines. The book also had a chapter on what is it like to drown. This is why I wear my life vest all the time. We entered the Crow's Nest, the location for much of the movie scenes shot for the Perfect Storm with George Clonney. It was a typical working man's bar, nothing special however the looks we got were expected ones of locals checking out the tourists. I admitted to the bartender why we were there and she offered a photo album of the actors and filming. It was interesting, we had a beer, I bought a hat, that's off my bucket list.

Next stop was the Cape Ann Brewery. One of my hobbies when traveling is to visit local brew pubs and sample their wares. I have been to about 60 of them around the country from Homer Alaska, Manhattan Beach California, The Strand Brewery in Galveston Texas and now one on the far east coast of New England. The beer was excellent as I had a pint of their Fisherman's Ale (go figure). My free time is usually casual and I wear my Green Bay Packer Hat as there seems to be a Cheesehead always close by. It is amazing the people you meet around the world who are Packer Fans, including some in the Shanghai Airport in China. Well half way through my beer a guy look right at me and asked where I was from. Sconnie of course! He was with his wife and son from southeast of Milwaukee. We cheese heads are a friendly bunch and invited ourselves to join them for another pint, discussing the problems with the last Packer game. It was a lot of fun for sure and Chuck learned the power of the Green Bay mystic, something that he will never realize in Buffalo, New York. Here are a couple of pictures of my new found friends as well as me, the Gordon's from Gloucester fisherman! I did check out the fishing opportunities and yellowfin tuna are in the area as well as stripers and cod. I have put that on my list for potential fishing adventures.

I did get out fishing on Mille Lacs last Saturday. I had heard that using lead core line was in so I bought 200 yards at Fleet Farm before heading up. Lead core line is exactly what it sounds like, a lead strand with braid around it for strength. The line is also colored in 10 yard sections going from purple to white to black to green and a rainbow of colors for each section. The theory is that 18# lead core sinks at a rate of 5 feet for each 10 yards (or color) let out. To fish 25 feet deep simply let out 5 sections. At the end of the lead core is tied a mono leader around 10 feet long. The objective is that you can fish standard baits like floating Rapala's or Shad Raps at depths significantly deeper than what they would run. My plan was to have Tom drive while I take an existing line counter reel, strip the line and replace it with the lead core. After doing all that work the line prove too large of a diameter and could only get 4 sections on, not enough to fish the depth we planned. Plan B was to see if Bill had any larger capacity reels. He did not but reminded me of the large salmon rods I had let him use a number of years ago and they would work. After a half hour of rerigging we were set. Tom and I headed out to some of the deep gravel areas that had fish stacked on them. The fish were there but not very cooperative. Although we caught nothing on the lead core it was a great experience for next years strategy. We did end up on Anderson Reef for the evening bite, which never materialize either. Tom finally got a 16 incher with a Rouge before we left. Certainly one issue remains the warm water temperatures. It is still in the high 60's which needs to get into the mid 50"s before that shallow bite really gets going. Oh well, fun trying!

Sporting Clays Last Week

Last weekend instead of fishing I shot sporting clays at the annual Kramer Open, a charity event held at the Wild Marsh Gun Club, Santiago, MN. Our organizer Dave Kramer does this every year on the Saturday after Labor Day. Sporting clays is sort of like golf with guns. We shoot 100 birds (clay targets) in two groups of 50 on a 9 station course winding through the woods. Hitting all of the targets can be extremely difficult. The targets and shooting positions vary with each location with targets flying high, low, fast, slow, coming, going, and the occasional rabbit target where the clay is rolled on the ground. The intent is to try and duplicate actual shooting situations one would occur while hunting. I normally shoot with my good friend Tom Emmons however this year I assembled a team from work consisting of 2 engineers Welly and Al along with our manufacturing engineer Andy. It had been a while since Al and Andy had shot with Welly never having fired a shotgun before. Lucky this wasn't a team event!

My introduction to sporting clays was through Dave Kramer a number of years ago. Many of my customers were participating in this event and I thought it would be fun. I have been hooked ever since. My original shotgun is the Browning A5 Belgium model 12 ga (Top picture). I traded a snowmobile, recurve bow, and a bolt action 22 for it. Beautiful gun but I never could hit anything with it. I still have it as a collectors piece. When I decided to shoot the Kramer I also decided to get a new shotgun. Any excuse is good right! Having always wanted an over/under I picked up a Browning Citori 12 ga, O/U with a 26 inch barrel (middle picture). I figured that I could also use the gun for upland game such as pheasants and grouse, so I opted for the shorter barrel. Browning makes a very nice gun and I especially liked this. Prior to the meet Tom and I went out to practice with the new firearm. He shot skeet at the time and we decided to try it first. I shot a remarkable 23 birds the first time, which was pretty incredible, especially for me. Unfortunately the good shooting did not carry over to the sporting clays event. No problem, I was hooked. Eventually I joined a league with my Team Walleye friends and we have shot for many years. With my Citori I settled at about 35/50 (70/100) and stayed there. My best score with the Citori is about 40.

I was determined to look for other way to improve my score and what would any red blooded American do but blame the gun! I ran across a great deal on a Browning 525 Sporting Clays O/U with a 30 inch barrel, loaded with all those extras to improve your score. Maybe it is just in my head but it really worked. Tom claims all the improvement is because I am 4 inches closer to the target with a 30 inch barrel vs the 26 inch. The next year at league I improved by over 5 birds/50, consistently scoring 40 - 42. My first year shooting the Kramer Open with the gun saw me win the most improved shooter award. In a war of nerves with Mr. Emmons, whom I have never beaten, I lead the score all the way to the very last station. With 94 birds shot, I lead by 1 with 6 left. I shot first and hit the 4 in a row, with 2 left. These were easy targets however I think Tom was kicking his voodoo doll likeness of me and I missed the last 2. He was up next and hit the same 4, demolished number 5 to tie and nailed the 6th one to beat. He still thinks I lost intentionally to make him feel good as I had him sweating all day. I guess he will never know.

As far as Saturday results, it was pretty interesting. I shot an 88/100, good enough for 3rd place, right behind Tom's 92. Welly had never shot a gun before and his score was an amazing 48. Al had brought his new side by side 12 ga and shot over 55, which was fabulous for having not shot for over 20 years. Andy did well with a 57. I tried to spend a lot of time coaching these guys as it is pretty easy to see why they were missing them. Keep the gun moving, get out in front of it, your shooting way below it. They took it in stride and I felt did really well. One thing I did forget is to pay more attention to how they were holding their guns. Both Al and Welly were pretty bruised up for the next week as there was a price for their fun. Oh well, next year. Off to Mille Lacs this weekend, I can't wait!

Here is an on-line shooting game you might enjoy: /www.freeworldgroup.com/games/clay/indexnochat.htm

The Bounty of the Harvest

Stuck in Cleveland waiting for a flight I thought I would do a short post which continues to show off my reputation in the neighborhood as Superdave! I am celebrating a bountiful harvest of luscious Raspberries, Apples, and Pears. When I moved into Dayton, having acreage allowed me to expand my options so the first order was raspberries. I love raspberries! These plants came from Ted Konkel, my sister-in-laws mother. They are ever bearing raspberries meaning they have 2 crops per year. The first crop begins to ripen during the last week in June. These berries are produced on 2nd year canes which have over wintered from the previous year. Along with these canes, new canes begin to grow in the spring. This new growth produces berries around the first to second week in September. Often people simply mow down the canes early in the season, making it easier to care for them however it means you do not get that first crop. I take the time to trim out the dead canes each spring setting myself up for both crops. This years second crop reacted marvelously to the August rains we had and are simply huge, juicy, and extremely flavorful. As well they seem to be about 2 weeks early. This time of year the berry patch is full of bee's, both large wild bumble bees and honey bees from my hives in the back. Picking can be somewhat nerve racking however the bees are really more interested in the flowers than you. A bonus are the hummingbirds that are visiting the raspberries. They are constantly flying around and will actually hover as close as 2 feet from your face, checking out the stranger in their mist. It is pretty cool for sure and I might post pictures later. In the past about half my late crop would freeze out. Hopefully our first frost holds off a little longer.

The next picture shows the wonderful pears that I have in my orchard. Sadly I cannot even remember what kind they are as 2 varieties were planted for proper pollination. My thinking is this one must be the Summer Crisp as my second tree is prolific but the pears are rather bland. I have a third pear tree however they are rather small and soft. The pears pictured are what I call supermarket size. They are a crisp pear variety, very sweet, and are at the peak of ripeness right now. Pear trees have bionic sucker growth especially where they had been previously trimmed. This new growth can sometimes exceed 8 feet per year. This creates a mess in the spring when one needs to clean up the trees for the coming growing season. They have an unusual growth pattern as well with the main branches hugging close to the main trunk. I swear that when pruning in the spring I cut off all the potential pear bearing limbs yet the amount of pears are mind boggling. The branches are so heavy with pears they hang to the ground. Earlier I lost a fairly large limb which could not hold the weight of the fruit.

The last picture is one of my Haralson Apple tree. Haralson's apples are a Minnesota original introduced in 1922 by the Minnesota Horticultural Research Center at the University of Minnesota. Minnesota is the home of many well known including the now popular Honeycrisp. This tree is also very prolific and produces a bumper crop of apples every year. They are fantastic by themselves, great in pie, as well make excellent cider and dried apples. These apples tend to ripen later allowing a more civilized harvest. Along with the Haralson I have Firesides, Honeygolds, McIntosh, Honeycrisp, and an unknown rouge tree that produces the largest apples I have ever seen! I prefer the Firesides and Honeygolds for eating as they are excellent. The Honeycrisp's are good but very hard to grow. I understand why they get $2.99 a pound in the store. If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, I should be good for a long time!

Back to Normal

Well, what has seemed to be the longest 3 weeks of my life is finally over. Having spoke at both funerals, I was more than ready to hit the water, and that is exactly what I did. The full moon of this past week provided a couple of great opportunities to hit the pond. One of my favorite times to fish on Mille Lacs is during September and October full moon periods. Although sometimes I feel it's more hype than reality, it definitely provides the incentive to head up and fish what I call the "Witchin' Hour". This is the time between 1/2 hour before sunset to when it is completely dark and can last up to 2 hours. When I was younger I could stay out till one or two in the morning then drive home. It finally became apparent that I caught few fish after the sunlight disappeared and although stories of guys hitting the mother lode at 3:00 in the morning, I luckily outgrew that desire.

I remember one time I was out with a friend on Mille Lacs, it was new moon dark and we were fishing near Hennepin Island. It was October and at 10:00 the sky was about as dark as it gets. I wanted to head to 3 mile reef which was north of our position by at least 4 miles. The night was crystal clear and the shoreline lights around the lake created an illusion of closeness to the shore. At that time GPS units were unheard of so heading north, the reef is usually easy to find by looking for any lights from boats that might be fishing the area. As clear as the night was, I did not see lights. Finally stopping to get my bearings my guest suggested that I was lost. "Are you kidding" not wanting to let on that I was clueless. Abruptly turning to the left I headed out towards my hopeful destination. Running about 5 minutes I stopped again, as I remembered I had a spot light. 3 mile has buoys on it and with my light I could easily see the reflections a mile away. Again my guest prompted the question.........Dave, are you sure you know where you are? "Of course, you worry to much!" I hit the light, scanned the water and voila, the reef buoy was 50 feet in front of us. As amazed as Greg was, I never told him how lucky I was!! We trolled for about an hour before deciding to give it a rest. I threw out the anchor and we decided to take a nap before hitting the shad raps again. We woke up 2 hours later with about 5 boats trolling around us. We never did catch any fish.

Last Sunday was time to try this the fall pattern. Picking up my neighbor Tom we headed north launching at the new public access at Liberty Beach. The lake levels are back to normal and the launch is perfect for fishing those east side reefs. Settling in, we fish a few reefs before heading to our honeyhole. 3 mile has not been very good in the last 3 years however I always feel compelled to try it one more time. Arriving I decided to stay with the Chartreuse #5 shad rap that Bill suggested I use. Tom was bent on catching a muskie which left me alone to figure the pattern. After catching 5 smallies and losing a nice walleye he switched to the same color in a countdown. Withing minutes Tom landed this 20 inch walleye. I proceeded to catch a few more smallies including this one that I had Tom take my picture with. Not huge but a simple memory of a good time.

On Friday I headed back up to fish with my good friend Mark Applen. He has a boat slipped at the Fisherman's Wharf and hitching a ride with him would make my evening care free. Asking me to provide the strategy he would take care of the boat ride. Heading back out to the offshore reef, I started where we ended last Sunday. This time the chartruese rap fell short. Switching to a crawfish colored shad proved deadly. I ended the night with over 12 smallies, a keeper walleye, and a nice perch. Mark had never fished shad raps like this and was quite impressed.

The weekend will see me shooting the Kramer Open, a charity sporting clays shoot where I almost beat Tom Emmons last year, but that's another story. It is definitely good to be alive. I will leave you with one of those spectacular Mille Lacs sunsets.

The Second, My Brother-in-Law Jeeb

Jeeb isn't his real name, it's actually Mike, until someone corrected me .......it was John Jr. Too late, he was always Jeeb to me. Mike passed away last Tuesday after a 5 year courageous battle with kidney cancer. He was 53, a year younger than I. Mike was my wife's only brother and my favorite brother-in-law. Living on Paradise Lane in Galesville Wisconsin, his hobby farm of 120 acres sat at the end of a beautiful valley in God's Country. Here Mike is standing in a very nice field of clover he had planted. He was very proud of that clover indeed, as well he should have been!

Because Mike and I both loved to hunt and fish, we got along pretty well. Being a Norwegian from Eleva and he of Polish descent in Independence WI, it took us a while to actually get to know each other. Once established out friendship would carry on to the end. One of the first things we did together was snagging salmon in the Lake Michigan harbors and tributaries. Since Pacific Salmon were introduced into the Great Lakes, the annual spawning run occurred in late September. Using large lead cast treble hooks we would cast into the harbors and streams, working it back in long steady sweeps until the hook hit a fish and the battle was on. It was a free for all in those early years as it was a perfect solution to all those fish dying, going to waste. We definitely put them to good use (never mind they were pretty dark as they turned to their spawning stage), and of course the sport was fabulous. Catching 20 - 30 pound fish all day was something you didn't experience much in Trempealeau County! The picture on the right is of Billy Borgwardt on the left and Mike on the right holding up 5 nice salmon and 2 large brown trout we caught during one of our trips. My guess is that mess of fish went over 100 pounds. We liked salmon fishing so much that in September of 1976, Mike's now brother-in-law was getting married and at the wedding dance we decided that it would be a great time to head 6 hours east to Algoma WI and try our luck. Mike and myself rounded up my brother Steve, who had a station wagon, and another guy from the wedding, Dave Wolfe and off we went. Needless to say our wives were not very happy but I had a great excuse.............I was with your brother. Unfortunately we were pretty hung over when we got to Algoma and simply turned around and came home.

Mike taught me how to make venison bologna. This was a yearly ritual and I got pretty good at it. Being from Independence, he was a master at grinding, stuffing, and smoking nice big rings of bologna. This was handed down for generations. Well, if I was going to get into it serious I would need a sausage stuffer. Mike knew someone in Winona and one night we headed over to see if he had any. Entering the house he did the formal introductions and the customary, having a beer first, the owner of the house pulled open a trap door in the kitchen to reveal an almost straight down stairway into the cellar below. There among the cobwebs and dirt floor were a number of items including an old Enterprise brand sausage stuffer. "Well, it only has one stuffing tube and the press liner was bent but other than that it's in pretty good shape" stated our host. When asked how much, "$25" was the answer. I wasn't sure what to expect however it seemed reasonable. Today I wish I had bought every one he had as they are collectors items. It is still in mint condition today and I carry on the traditions that Mike had taught me.

Mike worked as the head foreman at the TRW plant in Galesville where they made complicated automotive switches primarily for heater controls. He was a genius when it came to plastic molding. One of the guys he worked with held an annual sheephead fishing contest. Sheephead is a common name for the freshwater drum and are extremely plentiful in the Mississippi River at Trempealeau WI. I had asked a number of times to be invited and finally in 2005 was given the chance. Joe was the coordinator of the tourney which was usually on the first Saturday in July, from Noon to 3:00. Prizes were awarded for the largest fish, the most total weight, and one for the smallest fish. Mike fished with Jake Jacobs (Highpockets) so I enlisted my friend Eric Hayes to be my partner. Eric and I are pretty good fisherman and felt we had more than a good chance to win. Heading down stream we caught a number of nice sheephead, maybe a half a 5 gallon pail, and felt pretty good. Well Mike and Highpockets unloaded their catch, 3 - 5 gallon pails of Sheephead!!!! Both Eric and I were humbled to say the least. Mike really knew how to put those fish in the boat.

The third picture is one of Mike on the last fishing trip we took together. We were on the Mississippi River and had met my good friend Kevin, who was anchored in this spot. Kevin invited us where to anchor across the same channel and we hammered the smallies. This is just one of many Mike had landed. We had a great time however by now his treatments were beginning to take a toll. Cancer is a terrible disease, one that Mike fought hard against. It was a battle that he simply could not win. I have a great friend Mark Applen who lost his son Eric by cancer at the age of 17. I am reminded of his motto: Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, I will try again tomorrow. That is the courage that Mike showed, and one that I will remember for the rest of my life. Jeeb, may your long journey end in peace my friend.

First of Two

August has been a tough month for me and my close friends and relatives. On Friday my dear friend Rich Allen passed away after a long struggle with an illness. Rich was one of those guys that you meet through a friend through a friend. Jack Taylor is one of my closest friends and deer hunting partners here in Minneapolis. Moving to the "Cities" at 20 years old and no family or friends near, the Taylor's became my family away from home. Jack and I have been deer hunting together for about 25 years. As we have grown older things have changed where as it is just us 2 that go out together any more. Jack has a cabin on Platte Lake, 10 miles west of Onamia, MN and we decided to hunt around this area. Looking for private land is almost impossible these days however Jack got a tip to call a guy by the name of Rich Allen, who has 160 acres just south of the cabin. A few weeks later Jack had secured a place to hunt with Rich. Showing up at his place the week before, our intent was to set up our stands. Well, 20 years ago Rich's land was farmed and included a cranberry bog. Today about 80% is bog/swamp with about 30 acres of high ground. Although a few guys hunted Rich's land, no one wanted to walk through the swamp to get to the other side. Luckily we had ATV's and Rich was excited to have us make some trails back to other side of his property. We did and wet it was! Jack and I had the whole back 40 to ourselves. We struggled as the trails would only last a few times before water would impede your intent. Rich always thought this was a great show and seemed to look forward to our arrival each year. As we grew to be friends my relationship with Rich grew closer. Deer hunting became our annual reunion, meeting new friends like Steve, Brett, Finn, Charlie, Kevin, Eugene, Zee, and Rich's brother Bobby from Washington. It was also a great time to develop traditions. To assure our continued welcome Jack and I would host a very special steak dinner on the Friday night before hunting opener. Using a marinade of Tabasco sauce, super hot chicken wing sauce, and hot salsa, we treated the steaks before throwing them on the grill. Everyone always looked forward to our Friday night treat. We were always grateful to have a place to hunt and be welcomed. In 2007 Rich built his dream pole shed on the property. Jack and I being capable seasoned electricians wired the entire shed including the lights. Small token for his generosity. Rich's love of his life is Mary. She has asked us if this year we would carry on the deer camp as Rich felt it need to, with a special gesture of scattering his ashes by his stand.

One of the things I enjoy is bringing new technology to people. One year I brought my Ipod and a docking station to deer camp. Rich was so impressed that he just had to have it and insisted I sell it. In the end I complied to his wishes and Rich had tunes! I suppose he felt more comfortable buy my used stuff as he would then have a ready made source for assistance, which I loved to comply. To be honest I still am not sure if he ever really knew how to use it, but I know he sure got a kick out of it.

Rich was an Army Airborne Ranger during the Viet Nam war. Although he never talked very much about his army days, stories about Rich and his army days often were related to us by his friends. He had a tattoo on his arm with a parachute and a pair of boot hanging down. People who knew what this meant also knew the hell he went through. Stories of Rich in small 6 man ranger patrols dropping behind enemy lines to provide forward initial support for the advancing troops and the tremendous difficulties they overcame were things legends are made of. Brett has told me that he made over 200 jumps. He was the guy you wanted on your side if push comes to shove. If you hung around long enough with Rich, you get the sense that he possesses those qualities that few have.

He was the genuine article for sure. One thing that always struck me was how Rich would end our phone conversations by saying "I love you Dave". I have never had a man say this to me before, and the first time it caught me by surprise. It was an indication of how Rich felt about his friends as well his confidence with himself. I will end with a simple Rich, I love you too. Rest in peace my friend.

Missing Alaska

It was a slow year for the kings, the reds returned in good numbers, 100 pound halibut are still being caught, and the silvers started showing up a week ago. Those weekly fishing reports from the Alaskan Fish and Game site are painful reminders of what being stuck in Minnesota is like this time of year. This is our leap year, otherwise we would be relaxing somewhere on the Kenai, enjoying the cool weather and an Alaskan Amber. 2 years ago their tourist motto was simple: Alaska, Before You Die! and could not agree more. To celebrate our non-trip this year I decided to enjoy a piece of grilled salmon and look through some of our pictures of the previous trips. These are all from our first real fishing trip in 2002. Our group consisted of my brother Steve, Cousin Greg, his friend Bob Bakken, and myself. Our itinerary started in Homer with 2 days of halibut fishing with a day allowance for bad weather (which is more common in August) Sure enough we did get blown off the ocean after an hours ride out only to turn around. Although disappointed, I am glad the Captain was looking out after our best interests. The rest of the week consisted of 4 days on the Kenai with a half a day hiking 6.5 miles up to a remote grayling lake. Not one of us had caught a grayling before and agreed it could be a great way to spend the afternoon. The hike was on a well used trail to Crescent Lake, about 2500 feet above the Kenai. We were warned that the area has Grizzlies and it was quite comical to see 4 grown men walking 6 miles singing Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work we go. That probably scared the bears more than anything! After 2 1/2 hours of hiking we finally arrived at the lake outlet. To our surprise there was a young couple who biked the trail and had their 6 month old baby with them. So much for our great accomplishment! We found the grayling in Crescent Creek at the outlet of the lake. The water was gin clear and after about a hour we finally found the fish. Stories of 16 inch fish were soon dashed by a constant hooking of 6 - 8 inch fish. They were everywhere and all out of the same mold. Here I am fly fishing for those monster fish! The scenery was simply breathtaking as we hiked along the foaming Crescent Creek as it raced towards the Kenai.

Having arranged the use of a friends boat, the first night we pulled it to Stewart's Landing owned by our good friend Jeff King of Kings budget Charters. Arriving at his "office" with boat in tow, we asked about landing and fishing the area. His first reaction was, "you guys got a boat, don't you have a trip booked with me tomorrow." I think his expectation was that we would also cancel our trip. We would have none of that and explained we booked the trip in January and have no intention on breaking our date. I got the impression that he was impressed with our attitude and proceeded to show us where to fish, how to fish, gave us an anchor, and a few other tips. Doing exactly what he told us, we had our first and still probably our best Kenai experience. The silvers were in thick and gave us quite a show. Jeff was spot on in his description of where these magnificent salmon hold in the river. The next day the guide we were schedule with loaded us into his boat and anchored in the exact same position we were in the night before. Talking to our guide Keith, I learned he was from Brainerd MN and we had much in common, especially Mille Lacs. Well, without saying a word we started the day where we left off the night before. Keith was netting and unhooking for a hour straight. Finally he exclaimed, " Geez guys, I don't feel like I am doing much more than netting your fish instead of guiding". We laughed and told him Jeff had us anchored the night before exactly where you are now. "So you are the guys he said did well last night!!!" To make him feel more useful we asked for a ride downstream to show us similar hot spots and he was more than happy to assist. In less than 2 hours we had caught at least 24 silvers, keeping our limit of 8, and back at the landing in 3. Although we could have done as well ourselves, we gave Keith an $80 tip for his efforts and river tour. The guide trip and tip were some of the best money we spent. The first picture is me holding a very nice silver caught in our "Honeyhole". The next picture is my brother Steve holding another nice silver just served up by our expert netman Cousin Greg.

These trips have been made more enjoyable by the help of a number of people like Jeff King, Ken and Judy Marlow, Mickey, and my family. We had learned that fresh sweet corn on the cob is as good as gold and brought a couple of coolers with. It was one of the best things we did as it solidified our relationship with the locals. The year before I bought my 2001 Ranger from Frankie Dusenka. His brother Brad spent a month every year in Soldotna and had a 16 foot Lund with a 35 hp motor (max allowed on the Kenai) at a friends house in Sterling. He insisted we use the boat and gained the fishing freedom few visitors experience. All of our trips have been memorable however the trip in 2002 marked the beginning of a better understanding of the Alaskan fishing experience. If you are looking for more interesting information on Alaska please check my links on the left side. We are busy planning our 2010 trip and hope to have everything set by the end of December. As for fishing this week............well I spent 2 days helping my brother-in-law who is now in home hospice. Sometimes there are more important things than fishing. I did head to the River for a couple of hours Sunday night only to watch the water flow by. Hopefully Mille Lacs is in the cards for this coming weekend.

A Boat Load of Boats

Last weeks post discussing my 2 boat purchases from Charlie gave me thought about all the vessels I have owned in my lifetime. The various boats I have owned each have a story behind them along with fond memories. 1979 was the start my my journey to where I am today. My friend Kevin knew where there was a boat sitting in a field east of Eleva. The strategy was to check out the boat then go negotiate with it's owner Paul Wichmann. $200 later and I was in business. It was a 14 foot aluminum Starcraft, probably no wider than 4 feet. Brother Steve had a new trailer and "let me use it for a few years", so all I needed was a good motor. I was talking to a customer of mine and he had a 1975 15hp Evinrude, like new. Parting with $575 I was in business!

In 1981 I was invited to fish Mille Lacs with some friends of mine. Teaming up with a guy at work who had a bigger boat, we joined them and I was hooked. It was obvious that if my love for the lake was going to sustain, I would need a larger boat. Selling off the boat and motor separately I keep my borrowed trailer and bought a brand spanking new 14 foot Lund S14DLX, the widest boat in it's class along with a new 25hp Evinrude. Unable to afford anything larger I immediately started to remodel it by adding a carpeted casting platform in the front as well as some electronics and an anchormate. This is the boat that I scared the pants off of Big Dave with a midnight cruise in 3 foot waves on Mille Lacs. He still gives me crap! My next boat was the 1985 Lund ProAngler with a 50 hp Merc, Charlies first boat. On a per year basis I estimate that I probably caught more fish out of this boat than all others. It probably had to do with being less fearful then! Next came the 1986 Lund Nisswa Guide with the same motor as my previous one except now they called it a Classic 50 as it's real prop HP was 42. This was a great motor, sort of a gas hog because of it's 4 cylinders, and was getting waxed on the water by the Japanese outboards. While fishing the flats on Mille Lacs with my good friend Mark Taylor the wind had come up and it was time to head in. Pointing the boat south against the 3 footers I could not get on plane. Whipping the boat around with the wind, I got her going and the next day promptly traded the motor for a 55 Suzuki. Great motor!! 1990 was a bad year for the boating industry. Through my wife's work we were able to bid on a slightly used 1989 Ranger 680T on a Rangertrail. This was the premier tiller boat of the day. I mounted my 55 Suzuki on it and was in business. Although it was a beautiful boat, it's hull was more like a bassboat's and frankly pounded the heck out of me on Mille Lacs. So much so that in 1993 I traded it for a new Skeeter 135T with a 75 Mariner tiller. This was a rocking boat, 17'3" long, and handled the waves like a knife through butter. It also took the longest to get used to. The boat was ordered in time to make the fishing opener however a delay at the factory in Texas meant it would miss the next truck north. The dealer charged a $300 delivery fee so I asked my brother Jon if he would pick it up for the same amount. 3 days later I had the boat. A year later I was cruising on Mille Lacs when the motor just killed. Once stopped you could smell how hot it was. Raising the motor revealed a plastic bag had wrapped around the water intake and seized the pistons. Once cooled the motor restarted and I was able to return to the landing. The next day I headed for Frankies, filed an insurance claim and had a new 1994 75hp on the back. To my surprise the 1994 was a model change and the motor was much more powerful, such that I needed a new prop. That boat often hit 40 mph. Although I really liked that boat, the fit and finish was not very good. 2001 came along and Ranger introduced their 620T with a 115 hp 4 stroke Suzuki. My previous experience with my 55 hp was enough to convince me. This boat is 20' and has proven to be everything one would want in a large tiller operated boat. It can do about 37mph yet troll at 1.8mph for total versatility. Great storage, plenty of room, can handle big water, and looks great. Today I am running the exact same boat in a 2008 model.

I did get out on Sunday. Consecutive weekends of fishing does not leave much time to get the chores done around the house, especially when the garden is in full production. Sunday evening I asked my neighbor Lory if he wanted to head to the river for a couple hours of relaxation mixed with a few beers. Fishing off a neighbors dock I rigged Lory with a nightcrawler and I was determined to get a catfish using Sonny's Stink Bait on a catfish worm. I can assure you that it definitely does stink! Back on the river stink bait works great for catfish. Last year I had caught a number of them off the same dock so I know they are there. Well I never got even a hit. In the meantime Lory hooked this carp as well as a golden redhorse sucker (middle picture). I had never seen one of these fish before so it was exciting to research the internet and see exactly what kind of fish it was. As you see in the top picture the river is very peaceful and provides a great way to unwind a hectic weekend.

Rockin' With Charlie

Tuesday was my day to spend with a very good friend, Chuck Teasley. Every year Chuck and his family attend a Bible camp on Lake Carlos near Alexandria for a week with his wife's side of the family. Depending on our schedules he tries to meet me for a day on Mille Lacs Lake and this year was a go. I met Chuck around 1980 while living at the apartments in Osseo MN. Chuck was a young banker at the local Northwestern Bank, had a chip on his shoulder the size of a cement block, and I think some of it's still there! Young, handsome, and confident, I am not sure what he saw in me other than a possible stabilizing force for all that energy. We both loved to hunt and fish and I suppose it is the thread that has kept us friends all this time. Chuck eventually got married and moved to Duluth, which meant he needed a new boat. It was a perfect opportunity for me to upgrade from my 14 foot Lund, so in 1987 I bought his 1985 Lund Pro Angler 16 foot with a 4 cylinder 50 hp Merc. That boat was a fishing magnet for sure as it now gave me the range I needed on Mille Lacs to hit the offshore flats. We even used it to fish Lake Michigan's salmon as I equipped the boat with down riggers and out riggers. In 1989 Charlie's wife was transferred to Orlando, Florida. Living down south he saw no need for his new Lund fiberglass Nisswa Guide so I sold his old boat and bought his newer boat. This was my first glass boat and certainly not my last. You can probably blame my current Ranger on Charlie's introduction to the Nisswa. You know what they say, beer comes in aluminum but champagne always comes in glass!

Today Charlie is living in Illinois, east of St. Louis, MO. Besides being a big game hunter and Mr. Mom he is a full time ISR instructor. ISR stands for Infant Swimming Resource and is a program to teach children as young as 6 months to save themselves if they should ever fall into the water alone. Chuck has taught thousands of infants and young children the skills to survive an otherwise fatal mistake. He has real life, happy tales from parents of his students on the success of his methods. Now if he only could show a little success in the fishing boat with me! After meeting at the house we packed our gear and headed up Hwy 47 to a friend of mine, Mark Applen's ice house, for the night. It's really a mistake to call this thing an ice house however that is a tale for another day. Needless to say our accommodations were first class. After a couple of pizza's at the resort bar we called it a night. At 11:00 pm the wind was howling pretty good which usually means it is only going to be worse in the morning. Never fails! Instead of getting pounded again we decided to head to the north side of the lake. After a feeble attempt to launch at the Wealthwood Landing, we final got the boat off the trailer at the North Garrison Landing. Much better! The wind was tolerable so we headed east to Matton Flat as a previous report sounded favorable. A 20 mph north wind was the result of a cold front that went through just as we arrived the night before. Heck, that is as good of an excuse as I can come up with. The wind was perfect for a drift off the north point of the flat and we missed a number of good fish. Although we only finished the day with 3 walleyes, 1 over 18 and 2 under 12, never the less it was a great spending time with Chuck. Heading back home we stopped at Lundeens for a sample of his excellent ribs he makes in the smoker I found for him as well as a couple of horseradish pickles, unbelievable! A stop for gas and an ice cream cone, it was all over. Time flies for sure.

Well this is not the end of the story. Yesterday Charlie e-mails me a couple of pictures of the fish he caught AFTER a day with me. Well, what can I say other than a little of my luck must have rubbed off on Chuck!!! He's a Chuck to love for sure. I hope everyone has a friend like Mr. Teasley.