Walleyes with Weber

Last weeks fishing report from Mille Lacs was nothing short of phenomenal.  My good friend Jon Bathke conveniently takes off Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of each week during June to take advantage of the potential post spawn bite.  Reports from Jon included over 50 walleyes caught each day last Wednesday and Thursday.  Of course that talk gets my repaired heart a going and I knew that Sunday would be the day.  As luck would have it my old neighbor and friend, Roger Weber was working in the area last Friday and called to meet for lunch.  Never passing and opportunity to spend some time with Rog, we headed over to the new restaurant next to work, the Mango Tango.  They say that nothing will ever replace your experience with the first neighborhood you live in.  This was certainly true with my first house.  Being young and inexperienced, we counted on each other for help and support.  As neighbors, we each had our talents, me an electrical guy, our neighbor Troy, an excellent bricklayer, and Roger, enthusiastic laborer, we counted on each other for help and support.  As most things go time changes things and we all move apart.  Roger, Troy, and I continue to maintain contact with each other as there were too many good experiences to throw the friendships away.

Roger Weber and I had a lot in common as we both grew up working our way through the teenage years in a full service gas station.  Although Roger wasn't the most proficient fisherman I knew, he sure had connections.  Growing up in Aberdeen South Dakota, he was good friends with Tim Kessler and his family.  Bob Kessler owned the largest independent Super Valu store in the Midwest and had made a comfortable business for him and his family.  In 1989 and 1990 I had the great opportunity to be invited to fish Lake Oahe, a large reservoir on the Missouri River, west of Aberdeen.  Our 1990 trip was the most memorable as we were to fish with then South Dakota Governor Mickelson for the unofficial Governors fishing opener.  This was a private affair with the Governor, the Kessler family, Roger, a good friend Nels Johnson, and myself.  Staying in what I describe as the Kessler Compound, a house and 3 cabins moved to Akaska, South Dakota, it was a fascinating experience.  Akaska was a small town south of Mobridge, about 10 miles east of Lake Oahe.  Basically a one bar, one gas station town, at one time a cattle drive destination town,  it served well as a fishing camp.  At that time the Missouri was still experiencing the effects of the 1988 drought and the levels were down over 36 feet.  I found interesting was the boat landing was originally made to be usable as the lake first filled up, it became critical serving us as the levels went down.  Fishing was good however the lake had a 15 inch minimum size limit for walleyes.  One of the governor's staff came by my boat asking "Any Luck".  Responding that we were catching many walleyes however they were below the 15 inch minimum size.  I will never forget his next remark.............."Well you had better start keeping some of them, the Governor wants a shore lunch!"  I was more than happy to oblige and a shore lunch we had.  Being pretty proficient at cleaning the fish, that was my duty while the rest of the guys got the fire going and started cooking the potatoes, beans, with all the fixins.  I could not ever remember a better time eating fresh caught walleye, sitting on the banks of the Missouri River, and listening to the incredible stories Governor Mickelson shared about the history of the region.  Being a respected historian, we sat around the fire mesmerized by the tales of the days when cattle drives were the norm as the railroads forever changed the life in the west.  Unfortunately Governor Mickelson was killed in a tragic plane crash 3 years later, I feel lucky to have met such and interesting individual.

Meeting me at the house at noon on Sunday, Roger and I along with my good friends Tom McAtee and Mike Schuenke headed up to the pond.  After a stop at Lundeen's to get the latest info, we landed just north of the casino and fished the west side.  What ever the conditions causing the walleyes to go crazy earlier in the week had all but disappeared.  Maybe the cold front affected them as well the lake was like glass.   Fishing Rolands Flat, Sherman's Flat, the 20 Footer, excellent June spots prove fruitless.  I did get this nice smallmouth on Sherman's Reef, 20 feet of water in the rocks.  That's a lot deeper than I would have expected.  Heading to 4 Mile Gravel, we tried bobber fishing as one didn't even need an anchor to stay put.  There I nailed a nice 17.5 inch walleye, one for the box.  Deciding to finish the night back on Roland's, we anchored as Roger hooked this nice 20 inch walleye.  To big to keep it went back in the water.  The hit coincided with the wind picking up and after an hour we decided to leave with our single keeper.   Tom's boat had one as well, not the best day of catching, but a great day of fishing.  Spending the day with Roger reminded me why we have stayed friends for all these years.  Hopefully we can do it again.

In The Money!

Fishing Mille Lacs as much as I do often prompts the question from my friends and colleagues, "Do you fish any tournaments on the lake?"  Mille Lacs is a popular lake for both professional as well as amateur tournament events.   Professional organizations include the Masters Walleye Circuit, FLW Walleye Tour, and Cabela's National Team Championship.  This events are the big money tourney's with top rated pros like Gary Parsons, Ted Takasaki, and others with total winnings in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.  The amateurs events include the Wave Wacker, various resort sponsored tournaments, and the Minnesota Tournament Trail (MTT).  My answer is always the same...............Fishing tournaments are too much work as I would rather just have fun.  True, I am pretty competitive in the boat and the thought had often crossed my mind yet the opportunity never presented itself until Sunday.  My friend Mark Applen had received a slot in any MTT walleye tournament as a charitable gift auction item for his Eric Nicolin Applen Charity Golf Event.  Not wanting to waste a good prize, Mark and I bought the position for the full amount, maximizing the charitable gift.  We decided that we would fish day 2 of the MTT on June 6th, 2010.  It will be a fishing trip I'll never forget.

The tourney was held at Hunter's Point Resort located on the east side of the lake.  There were a total of 87 two man teams registered  for the day's fishing.  The first 50 boats would leave at 7:00 returning at 3:00 while the second flight, boats 51 - 87 left at 7:30 returning at 3:30.  The rules were simple, 8 fish per boat allowed, 6 could be weighed.  This would help to accommodate the no culling rule and define each teams overall strategy.  Rules included only fish under 18 inches or 1 fish 28 inches or better.  This meant that if your fish measured 18 inches, you would be disqualified but a fish could be on the 28 inch line and be fine.  The money strategy was simple, catch 7 fish under 18 then go look for the hawg.  This way you would have your 6 fish to weigh and if you got a big fish you could swap it out and include it in.  Looking at the results from the day before, no one caught a 28 inch fish.  With the no cull and lack of big fish caught we decided to get 8 fish over 17 inches to maximize or position.

Mark and I did some prefishing on Saturday night to validate a possible location strategy.  It has been a deep water bite with most coming out of 25 feet and deeper.  Going out at 7:00 on Saturday night we checked out a shallow rock/weed spot in 10 feet of water.  In an hour we had 5 walleyes measuring in that sweet spot of 17 - 17.9 inches long.  We decided that would be a good place to start in the morning.  Arriving at Hunter's at 6:30 I signed the necessary paperwork, attached a ribbon to my bow eye, and had the boat inspected.  The first flight took off on schedule and we got out a half hour later.  Heading south we arrived at our spot only to see a boat from the earlier flight parked 50 feet from our spot, working the area.  Fortunately they were off the mark as we began to fish the weed line.   Within 5 minutes Mark had our first fish.  Keeping the net low, we managed to boat our first keeper while our company was oblivious to our quick strike.  After cutting them off as they approached, it became apparent to them that the fish were not shallow.   10 minutes later they fired up the engine and left, leaving us by ourselves.  Apparently they did not see us net our fish, foolish move.   In the next 3 hours we proceeded to get our 8 fish, with at least 5 of them over 17.25 and a couple in the 16+ range.  Almost all the fish were caught on night crawlers with spinners in 10 feet of water.  As stated, the rare 28+ fish prompted our strategy to weigh 6 fish over 17 and with a penalty for dead fish, we headed back to Hunter's to weigh them.  Being the first in, they were somewhat taken back but acknowledge we had done well.  Our fish weighed 10.71 pounds, good enough for fist place!  Done for the day and turning our fish over, we decided to try some lead line tactics.  Within 30 minutes the rain showed up so we headed back to load up the boat and watch the weigh in.  We knew a big fish would knock us out and as luck would have it a 7.56 pound walleye showed up.  After all said and done we ended up with 3rd, just 1.44 ounces behind the 2nd place team.  Not bad out of 87 boats.  Mark and I had agreed before hand that in the rare chance we would win, all monies would be donated back to the charity.  Along with a side bet, we netted $1046 for winning and $168 on the side bet.  Not bad for 3 hours of work.  Keeping the side bet money to cover our expenses, the balance of the monies went for an excellent cause.  Check out http://www.eric-nicolin-applen-fund.com/ to learn more about our charity.  As far as my ego, sorry it got a pretty good boost on Sunday, one I will never forget!

Mille Lacs 2010 Maiden Voyage

Having skipped last week's opportunity to hit Mille Lacs Lake, it gave me time to get a few things caught up around the house.  Memorial Weekend is usually my first real excursion to the pond and this year was no exception.  Monday is a great time to hit the lake as most of the traffic is heading south and the lake is substantially less crowded.  The reports from Mille Lacs has been excellent with a lot of fish being caught and a good number of them acceptable for the live well.  Mille Lacs has special restrictions due to the current Native American netting which goes on in the spring, during spawning, and before the fishing season opens.  These restrictions include a bag limit of 4 fish which must be under 18 inches with one allowed over 28 inches.  In the past 5 years the average walleye was exceeding 18 inches and bringing home some fish to eat was difficult.  This year has started out much better with many slot fish available.  The Minnesota DNR regulates the total amount of fish harvest based on the Indian harvest and available sportsman harvest.  The last few years the total harvest has been less than half of the total allowed (around 460,000 pounds).  This year we may have the opportunity to utilize our full allowable take of fish.  The first picture is the largest fish I landed, about a 22 incher.

Deciding to go out of the west side, we headed for a deeper rock reef south of Sherman's Point.  My friend Bill Lundeen had insisted that we fish deep, 26 - 30 feet.  The water temperature was 62, a number I expected to be higher.  After 30 minutes on the rocks I called my friend Jon Bathke to see if he was on the pond.  He answered the phone but was at home.  A short discussion of yesterday's success changed my strategy.  Hitting a special spot on Sherman's Flat, I nailed a couple walleyes, one keeper and one to long.  Action was slow so we moved to another favorite spot of mine, The Cut.  Although we marked a ton of fish as well I had a very nice fish on, that was about it.  I finally conceded to Mr. Lundeen's suggestion, headed south and bobber fish the deep water gravel.  Picking a popular gravel bar, we anchored in 28 feet of water, away from the assembled crowd.  Using slip bobbers set about 18 inches off the bottom baited with a leech, I had our first fish within 5 minutes of anchoring.  The next 3 hours proved to be quite successful as we put 7 more in the box giving us a total of 8 walleyes with a couple of nice perch thrown in for a bonus.  One interesting experiment that I like to do is target the fish just below the boat which show up on my depthfinder.  My guests were a couple of frequent friends, Tom McAtee and Tom Emmons.    Mr. McAtee had some issues with his line so I let him use my bobber rig as I jigged directly under the boat, watching the jig and fish on m depthfinder.  It was just like ice fishing as I caught at least 4 walleyes this way.  In an interesting experiment, I have a very cool stereo system in my boat.  As I marked fish directly below me, I cranked the volume to a definite uncomfortable level (Lot's of bass!).  The fish never moved.  So much for noise scaring fish.  This picture is of my good friend Tom Emmons with a nice keeper walleye.

This weekend I will be competing in the MTT Walleye Tournament on Mille Lacs.  Held out of Hunter's Point Resort on the east side,  Mark Applen will be my partner in our attempt to capture the $5000 grand prize.  It should be interesting as I have never fished an open water tourney on Mille Lacs.  I will report our results next week with the hopes that both bank accounts will be substantially larger on Monday!

The Rest of the Story

One of the more interesting things we do for our Leech Lake Opener event is to try and take data on the walleyes we catch.  Ron Edberg puts this together as it provides a wealth of information on the numbers, size, and location of the fish. The graph above is derived by everyone recording the length of each fish caught over 12 inches. Because they count towards the individual points and team awards, it is pretty easy to get the guys to participate. The two horizontal red lines on the graph represent the slot limit on Leech Lake, meaning any fish 18 inches up to 26 inches must be released. Under 18 and over 26 can be harvested. The total number of fish caught was 314. Of that 235 were under 18 inches and were legal.  About 80 fish were over 18 with a nice number of them over 22 inches.  Certainly not as good as last year Catch Chart for 2009 Leech Lake Opener, we were surprised at the numbers of fish under the 15 inch size.  Last year fish slightly over the 15 inch size were quite numerous and we expected seeing that population shift upwards to the 17 - 19 inch range dominating our catch.  This years catch represents the all of those 10 - 12 inch fish that we caught a ton during the 2009 opener, but did not record them.  Note that the last fish on the right was my winning 26.5 inch walleye.

As I stated last week, the fish were quite scattered.  Many of the guys scored very well in the evening fishing the shallower 6 - 10 foot water next to Pine Point.  Although the larger females were found in the deeper water off the reef, schools of 13 - 15 inch males were still hanging around the shallow spawning areas looking for a quick meal.  Some of the guys did real well including Troy, who won the team award this year.  Troy's boat had Saturday nights catch totalling 19 fish with Monday night's hitting 22.  Most of the fish were those shallow males still thinking the spawn is on!  This year I concentrated on trying to catch larger fish.  A few years ago my partner Eric Hayes and I discovered a rock hump about a mile up the shoreline from Otter Tail point.  In the subsequent years we seldom saw a boat fishing this hump which topped out at about 12 feet, dropping to 20 at the outer edges.  I decided to try it this year and to my surprise there were about 30 boats on my "secret" spot.  Although I had caught fish on this spot in the past, with all the boats you could see that the action was steady, not fast, but they were getting some nice fish.  When we arrived, Ryan quick called me and told me to get out of his spot!  I had given him this way point a few years ago and he had the same idea as I did.  Before hanging up he confessed that my brother Steve, who was in the boat with him, had just lost a dandy fish appearing to be well over 27 inches.  All I can say is I have caught many 28 inch fish that measured just under 26!  It did confirm the bigger fish were there, however. 

On Sunday morning we did a draft (like an NFL draft) where the lowest point guy got to pick the boat he wanted to go in for the session.  It was an interesting way to mix up the competition and have the guys get to know each other better.  This carried over to Sunday evening where I had the pleasure of having Henry and his nephew James in my boat.  Now James and I are like oil and water.  We are about as opposite as you can get politically.  I will admit however that he did check out some of the facts I threw at him and admitted that I was right!  That's a great start.  We decided to head back to the where the bigger fish were being caught.  Stopping short of the were I wanted to fish, we got everyone ready to go and would use the electric to get us the rest of the way.  In 20 feet of water it took James about 3 minutes to hook into this beautiful 26.25 inch walleye.  This was the largest walleye he had ever caught and I could see dollar signs in his eyes, thinking he just it pay dirt as it would be the largest fish caught as of Sunday night.  Excited as he was, my experience said not to count your chickens before they hatch.  At the end of the tourney James was in second place.  Although I gave James a hard time, he took it standing up.  It was fun to watch him catch this fish as well having both the first and second place fish coming from my boat.  Nice job James!  Henry really enjoyed the night as I fired up the stereo as we rocked to the sounds of 1965, the year he graduated.

This week I caught up on some yard work then went to the Twins/Brewers game at the new stadium on Sunday.  I had a great time as the new Target Field is very nice.  Memorial weekend is coming up and that means only one thing, my maiden voyage to Mille Lacs.  Reports are the fishing has been phenomenal so I cannot wait.

Successful Leech Lake Opener

This year was the 37th annual Leech Lake Minnesota Fishing Opener for our group, Team Walleye.  The tradition was started by my friends Mark Mayerich, Ron Edberg, Mark Taylor, and Gary Ullom, in 1973, while I was still in high school.  Having started out camping it only took a few years to wise up and get a cabin at a resort.  Settling on Brindley's Harbor on the north side of Traders Bay on Leech, the group has been there ever since.  I started going up with these guys in 1990, 21 years ago.  Back then we had 13 guys with Ron doing the major planning, Mark Mayerich taking care of the food, while Mark Taylor and I were in charge of the beer.  Looking for the cheapest brands, we would buy a 12 pack a day for each guy, 3 days of fishing X 13 guys = 20 cases of beer.  I was never much of a beer drinker so at least 2/3rds of my allotment was available, and we still ran out by Sunday night.  Those were the days.  Today we have dispensed with the group providing the beer and concentrate on the essentials, food, lodging, bait, covered slips, and peripherals like hats.  It is much easier as our groups have varied over the last few years with 24 guys on this opener, a record.  My first picture is of my Brother Steve with a huge perch, the first fish we kept on Saturday morning.

Besides fun the main event of the trip is the Big Fish Contest.  When I first began to fish with the group, we could catch and keep any fish so it was easy to bring them in and have these fish weighed at the resort.  Today the size restrictions force us to release all fish between 18 to 26 inches and generally we release anything larger than 26 as well.  Therefore the contest relies on measured fish as the largest and is done in 1/8" increments.  The last 3 years it has taken a fish longer than 26 inches to win first prize.  This also includes a nice chunk of money as well as being able to possess the traveling trophy, which has been in play since 1978.  The winner of the Big Fish Contest has until next opener to get his name engraved on the plaque. We also recognize the 2nd and 3rd place.  In addition to the Big Fish Contest, we keep track of each boat's total catch and individual catch.  We award a prize for the best individual performance and best team performance.  It also helps to keep track of how many fish we have in the freezer.  I am delighted to announce that this years Big Fish winner with a beautiful 26.5 inch walleye is me!  This will be my 5th first place finish in 21 years catching Mark Mayerich's total after he clinched last years title.  As far as individual and team performance, although in the top 10, this year was a tougher year for Team Anderson.  Never the less the first place win made up for any issues of the total walleye catch.  My good friend Kevin Aiona, who with his partner John Felix are rookies, ended up with the top individual performance and 3rd place in the Big Fish Contest.  This picture is me holding the winning fish!

This year Team Anderson consisted my brothers Steve and Jon along with myself.  Steve has been my fishing partner for the last 4 years however it was Jon's first time with us.  Jon has had a tough life with a genetic condition that causes the arteries in his face to deteriorate, creating a number of serious problems.  He has had many operations to repair damage to his upper lip and palate resulting in the removal of one of his eyes and nose, as well as grafting tissues to his cheek area.  He is one tough hombre and both Steve and I are very proud of how he has dealt with this.  Jon and I don't agree on a lot of things but I still love him and it was fabulous to spend the weekend with him at Leech Lake.  Steve and I are what I would call accomplished fisherman and admittedly we expected it would take some patience with our younger brother.  Were we wrong!  I set him up with a nice St. Croix rod with a Stradic reel and he fished as an equal to both of us.  Here is a picture of a very nice 25.50" walleye that he nailed at a new spot I found on the lake.  Maybe it's just instinct,  but I was impressed how well he did, of course he is our brother. 

The forecast for this weekend is very windy and being away leaves me with tons of stuff to do around the house so we will have to see what develops.  I do have the opportunity to go and see the Twins in their new stadium, which will be hard to pass up. Next week I will have more to report on the opener so stay tuned.

One Week Till Opener!

Commercial airline travel has become an interesting sport these days. This morning I got up early to catch a 9:00 flight to Chicago only to discover that it had been delayed till 9:45. Given the additional 45 minutes, I wondered into the Skyclub for some coffee and a small bite to eat. Often this is a place to meet fellow colleagues and this morning was no exception. Conner Quinn of Emerson came strolling by and with time to spare sat together for a few minutes as he was heading to Las Vegas. I figured at about 9:00 I would head to the gate, hitting the restroom first. Double checking my flight status the monitor said it was back to 9:00 and boarding. Scrambling, I rushed out of the club and looked for the first cart with a driver. After explaining my dilemma he kindly let me on board and what would have taken me 7 minutes was accomplished in less than one. A nice tip for the retired gentlemen and I was the 3rd last to board. Crazy thing was that we pushed off the gate at 9:15 and sat on the tarmac for another 45 minutes. Truly amazing.

Well the snow combined with the cold weather gave me an opportunity for that last push to get the boat ready for this weekend. Having just received my new boat polish that I ordered from Walleyecentral, it worked great. Everything is cleaned and vacuumed, new line on the rods, tackle boxes reorganized, it should be a great weekend. It was a good weekend for my friends to send me evidence of their successes. The first is Lucas Kimblom and his father Greg, a good friend from Eau Claire. Greg has an interesting profession which he and his team harvests human tissue from those that are less fortunate and have passed away. Bones, blood vessels, and a host of other products are harvested and used to help treat those that need it more than the person from whom it came from. Lucas participated in his first turkey hunt this year and by the picture, was very successful. It is great to see hunting traditions being passed down to the next generation. Congratulations Lucas, nice bird.

The next picture is Rambo, showing off his successful hunt. My wife’s cousin, Tony Rombalski, he bagged this bird on his dad’s farm just south of Eleva. The Rombalski farm is designated a Wisconsin Century Farm having been in the family for over 100 years. Turkey’s have really established themselves back home and turkey hunting is as popular as deer hunting. Rambo is an interesting fellow, a veteran of both the 1991 invasion of Iraq as well as a second tour of duty a few years ago. He is an excellent diesel mechanic and as you see a proficient turkey hunter.

My last picture is of my good friend Lory Brasel. Lory used to work for me before heading to Portland Oregon to work for a window manufacturer. He has since come to his senses and moved back to Minnesota however he still maintains his connections in Portland. The great Columbia River flows past Portland on its way to the sea. It still sports a fishable salmon run and May marks the peak of the spring Chinook. Not as big as the Kenai king run, they still provide a great sport. This first run of salmon utilize the most upper portions of the rivers, often making their way hundreds of miles to their traditional spawning beds as far away as Idaho. The dams on the Columbia have had a huge impact on the modern day runs, however they still manage to support a population of both early and late run Chinook and Coho. I am sure Lory enjoyed great salmon feast.

Here's hoping for a great report next week!

Windy in Wisconsin

Minnesota Fishing opener is always 2 weeks before Memorial Day weekend and Wisconsin Fishing opener is always on the first weekend in May. Because Memorial Day is on May 31st this year Wisconsin's is May 1st, as early as it can be and Minnesota is May 15th, as late as it can be.  This happens about once every 7 years on average and when it does I like to cruise over to my cousin Greg's cabin (actually a house) on Clear Lake and try my luck.  This year was no exception so picking up my cousin Paul in Hudson we headed over to show Greg how to fish.  Paul suggested I be there at 6:00 but after telling him he's crazy as I am an hour away we compromised at 6:30.  A fresh hit of coffee and we took off.  Paul is my first cousin, as Greg is, and we spent a lot of time together when we were kids.  He had 3 sisters so my brother Steve and I sort of adopted him as our honorary brother.  Paul has come with me to Wyoming snowmobiling and in 2008 joined us for our Alaskan fishing trip, which helped make it one of the best yet.   Arriving at the landing, we decided to launch the boat first and look for Greg later.  The lake is really a small chain of lakes consisting of Island, McCann, Clear, and Chain Lake.  Clear Lake is the smallest of the 4 and as we came out of the channel onto Chain Lake ran into a man wearing a blinding chartreuse sweatshirt driving a Tracker boat with 125 Merc........both sure signs that we had found him.  In the boat were his dad (my uncle and Godparent, which BTW is so anointed because every time he saw me he said "Oh My God"!) Loren Nelson of Eau Claire, Greg's father in law, Norm Hanson and his neighbor Mike Brott, both from Cleghorn Wisconsin ( a suburb of Eleva!).  These guys have been going to Greg's cabin for at least 16 years now and it was fun to see them all again.  Loren is 82 now and still gets around pretty well.  It was fun to be with these guys as they had all sorts of goodies brought from their food plots.  Canned potatoes, fresh laid eggs with those deep orange yokes, home made cookies, I could not wait to eat.  The top picture from left to right is Cousin Greg, Uncle Loren, and Cousin Paul

Windy in Wisconsin was putting it lightly.  This small chain of lakes stretches north to south, perfect for riling up the whitecaps from the 30 mph south wind.  We were able to find some shallow bays and shorelines to try our luck with crappies but despite water temperatures in the 60's they were not around.  We tried the range of 1 foot water to 5 feet with little to show for it.  By the afternoon I had 2 - 4" perch, a 4" bass, and had exhausted any fishable water that has some protection from the gale force winds, which by the way were getting stronger as the afternoon went on.  Deciding we needed a break I headed to the very south end of the lake and told Paul we were going to troll shad raps on the weed edges, traveling with the wind.  It was our only hope to salvage a tough day of fishing.  Going with a crawfish colored glass shad, within 3 minutes I had a fish on.  Certainly not the largest northern I have ever caught yet today it would prove to be the big fish of the opener.  He was a tough guy breaking off the rear hook as he stayed secured to the front one.  Throwing it into the livewell I thought to myself, wow that was fast and we have about another 1/2 mile to go.  Thinking too quickly can be a big problem and this day was no exception.  Neither Paul or I had any other hits.  Being blown around for about 5 hours we decided it would be best to load the boat up, head to the cabin and have a cocktail before the fish fry started.  Lucky Greg had some walleyes and perch from Lake Erie or we would have starved!  Still it was a successful day for sure.

Finally I have some surprising news to report.  My brother found that first nickel he made and bought a brand new Lund 1725 Explorer SS, loaded with a 115 Merc Optimax, HDS7 sonar/chartplotter, Terrova 24Volt front trolling motor, and a custom cover to boot!   This is a pretty interesting development if you know my brother.  I figured something was going on when I got a call from him this weekend from the Stark's showroom in Prairie du Chien, WI.  His first attempt was a 1675 with a 90 Opti, however I am not a fan of 16 foot boats and big water.  I know, I am the one who used my 16 foot Lund Pro Angler on Lake Michigan for downrigging salmon, yet I just think and extra 8 - 12 inches really makes a difference.  Telling him he could do what he wants, my advice.........look at the 17 footers before you do anything.  Sure enough my next call was that he had taken my advice, checked out the 1725 and for $1000 more he got a longer, wider boat with 25 more horsepower, not a bad upgrade.  For listening to his older brother I have a very good Garmin 240 depth finder for that trolling motor ( has the built in transducer) complete with a Johnny Ray mount and the correct adaptor cable.  Truth be told that in 1982 he let me use a new trailer he had and I never paid him for it.  Although it was a smaller trailer for a 14 foot boat, I suspect that if you added the interest for 28 years, I would owe him about $50,000 today.  Unfortunately the depth finder is all he's getting!

Biding My Time

In preparation for possibly participating in Wisconsin's fishing opener next weekend, I decided to take my boat out on Sunday afternoon, the better of the two days.  We got a nice rain on Friday/Saturday and although Sunday was somewhat windy, I found a small lake west of town that had a nice landing, making it easier for me to test my strength.  My Ranger has a 115 hp Suzuki Four Stroke outboard.  I am constantly amazed by these motors and their unbelievable ability to sit all winter with nothing more than Sea foam added to the gas, and start within one or two revolutions of the engine.  My previous 115 Susy did this and my new one came through the winter storage as though I had just shut the motor off 5 minutes ago.  One thing about the new boat is it doesn't idle as slow as the old boat, which consistently trolled down to 1.9 mph.  The new one is about 1/2 mph faster, which is not a big deal and may be related to the fact that the motor is still tight and needs a few more hours to loosen up more.  This also gave me a chance to test my new Lowrance HDS5 sonar/GPS for use with my front trolling motor with the built in transducer.   The GPS worked very well however the sonar took too long to lock onto the bottom and in a 3 foot weedy bottom, it did not even acquire. This was pretty frustrating and reading the manual did not offer much help.   Later that evening I posted the problem on Walleye Central's Electronics Forum and on Monday I had some great replies, including one from Lowrance's customer tech service.  Apparently there are setup selections you have to make in the main system's menu for your specific installation.  Changing to the suggested settings, I attempted to get a reading off my concrete floor and it worked great.  My 2010 maiden voyage was a success as I solved some issues that required some outside help.  I am ready to hit the big water.   Although casting for crappies yielded nothing admittedly I did not try too hard.

 The weather in Minneapolis continues to be about 2 1/2 weeks ahead of schedule.  The lilacs are coming into full bloom and my fruit trees have exploded with blossoms.  Luckily my good friend Bruce got his 4 honeybee hives in place on the back part of my land just at the perfect time.   With 5 acres of land, a large garden and a small orchard, the bees are a welcome addition.  I remember a few years back a neighbor (and not the most congenial) challenged me with a sense of displeasure "Dave, I understand you have bee hives on your property, I have to say that we have noticed a considerable increase in bees around our house".  Responding, I asked her if they were about 3/4 of an inch long, big and fat.  "Yes, that describes them perfectly, they are all over my flowers."  Without even flinching I stated that she really has a problem with bumble bees as my honeybees look almost like flies and she was obviously mistaken and misinformed .  Having just been outmaneuvered, she left without saying another word.  Most of the other neighbors find it fascinating and a side bonus is Bruce brings me enough honey to last for a whole year.  It tastes especially good knowing it came from my property and surrounding area.

The bees perform a very important function of pollinating all the fruits and vegetables throughout the growing season.  My yields on raspberries, apples, pears, cucumbers, and blueberries are second to none and I always have a bumper crop.  The middle picture is of a honey gold apple tree and the white blossoms are of a pear tree.   Feeling better I planted my potatoes and onions in the garden today.  This year I went with an interesting variety of potatos including Yukon Golds, Kennebec, Norland Red, All Blue (a blueish purple fleshed type), and Cal White.  Could make and interesting looking potato salad!  Along with the potatoes I put in onions.  Using plants instead of bulbs gets me larger and better keeping onions.  I know last year most of my onions averaged over 4 inched in diameter.   My garden center had some 8-10-42 ferilizer, which is a great for starter and root crops.  Time will tell. 

Hopefully I will have a great report from Wisconsin next week.

Mom's Turn

Sunday was my Mother's (Betty) turn to celebrate her birthday.  She has always looked young and just turning 76 she's in pretty good shape.  Besides a few chromosomes, we share the experience of open heart surgery, however hers was over 20 years ago.  We both agreed it that time did not make any difference in the pain factor.  After serving his time in the new Air Force, my dad did what many young men did at that time, head to the big city for a job.  In this case it was Milwaukee Wisconsin to work at the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company.  This was the early 1950's and Schlitz was the 2nd largest selling beer in the United States, after Budweiser.  At the brewery my dad met my Uncle Lee Ystad who's wife had a sister........The rest is history.  Moving back to Eleva dad took a job at US Rubber (now Uniroyal) tire factory in Eau Claire.  Mom became a stay at home housewife raising us 5 kids.  Being from Milwaukee I suspect Eleva was quite a culture shock for her.  She was never one to put up with too much and maybe that was her "big city" way of dealing with us screaming kids.  Her favorite weapon of choice was a flyswatter, and knew how to use it.  She also made each one of us participate in the daily chores like dishes or laundry.  Looking back it was probably the best thing she taught us, hard work and responsibility to help around the house.  I can assure you we didn't look at it this way at 10 years of age!  It is always great to see her and I hope we celebrate many more birthdays together.

Mom's step dad and mother would always come and visit for a week each summer.   Because her step dad was not our real grandpa, we always called him by his name, Howard.  Howard was an interesting guy, the likes we only seen a couple times a year.  I remember as a kid we would pick them up at the Eau Claire rail depot.  Eau Claire was the last stop for the Chicago Northwestern 400 train that ran from Chicago to Minneapolis ( the 400 claimed to make the 400 mile journey in 400 minutes).  Usually with a Harvester Cigar in his mouth he never showed much emotion, but loved to fish when he visited.  His favorite thing was to take grandma, their son (my uncle) Dennis, my brother Steve and I fishing in Alma Wisconsin.  This would generally involve shore fishing at the wayside on Beef Sough with 10 foot cane poles and worms we would dig in the garden.  Fishing with cane poles is about the simplest and cheapest way to catch fish.   They generally have about an 8 foot fishing line tied to the end of a 10 - 12 foot bamboo pole, with a hook and a bobber set at around 2 feet.  You would use the length of the pole to get the line our from the shore.  Once the bobber when down you would simply lift the pole up to set the hook and haul them in.  We would always catch a few real nice sunfish this way, enough for Howard to take some back to Milwaukee.  After fishing Howard would drive over to Wabasha, 10 miles up river and on the Minnesota side to have a beer.  At that time the Wabasha Bridge over the Mississippi was quite interesting with a unique turn near the end.  That bridge has been long since replace but was both fun and scary crossing it.  While grandma and Howard would have a beer, we would play shuffleboard or bar bowling for a couple of hours before heading back to Eleva.  Now my dad never, ever would have brought Steve and I into the bar and even as kids, we knew better than to tell dad where we were at.  It was sort of like going to the forbidden city and we were smart enough to assure that the following years trip would include the same side trip!  Certainly one meets a number of characters in their life and Howard was one of them. 

As a final note, I would like to share with you the typical way people back home invite everyone to a party and thank all the guest, through the Ad Delite, a local advertising weekly.  To let every one know how much we appreciated their celebrating Dad and my birthday, he ran a notice in this paper.   As I described in an earlier post, dad's nickname was P.O.D and in true fashion this is how he signed his name.  Eleva is truly a great place to live!  My boat is ready and I am feeling good enough to try and take it out this weekend.  Because of the late Minnesota fishing opener, I am planning on picking up my cousin Paul and fishing with my cousin Greg at his cabin near Bloomer  for the Wisconsin opener, May 1st.  Hopefully I can sneak out next weekend to test out my new HDS5 and livewell timer.

Rainy River Report or I wish I was There!

Monday marks my 6th week since my surgery.  The last week has proven to be the best I have felt.  Coughs and sneezes are still an issue however my strength is coming back allowing me to get some stuff done around the house.  This has been especially difficult because of the fabulous weather we have been experiencing.  Still watching myself I am committed to being at least 80% by opener, which is 4 weeks away.   This weekend would have been the traditional week I would have gone to Lake of the Woods (LOTW)for our annual last ice fishing trip of the year.  My good friend Mark Mayerich usually organizes this trip out of the Morris Point area, just northwest of Baudette.  Usually we would go on one of the two  weekends before April 15 ( walleye fishing closes on the lake) depending on if Easter interferes.  Looking at my past posts in April will give you an idea of the conditions we encounter.  This year our trip was interrupted by 3 big events: 1. My surgery; 2. Mark's new job needed his attention; 3. The early ice out force Lake of the Woods to close all access to the lake around March 31.  A quick look at the Motis website shows the ice has left almost 40% of the lake, an unbelievable situation.  Well, there is always next year.

The lack of ice on LOTW has been a bonanza for those who fish the Rainy River for the large spawning female walleyes heading up river from the lake as well as a sizable population of sturgeon.  Knowing I am laid up I have 2 friends that went up this weekend and sent me some incredible pictures of their trophy catches.   The first picture is my good friend and fellow Team Walleyer Ryan Sterle.  Ryan is Mark's cousin from Eveleth Minnesota and seems to have plenty of time to fish.  Here he is pictured with a 30+ inch walleye caught this weekend.  Ryan fished both Easter weekend and last weekend.  His reports include a couple of fish over 30 and a number of fish in the 26 - 28 inch range.   The picture on the right is that of my friend Keith Holtan, Alaskan guide and Minnesota winter residence.  Keith is holding a nice 30 inch class fish that he caught this weekend as well.  His reports include catching over 60 walleyes with 12 being between 28 and 30 inch fish.  These are trophy fish in anyone's book.

In addition to the nice walleyes, Keith sent me a picture of his first sturgeon he caught.  Although this ancient fish can get significantly larger than the one he is holding, this fish is no slouch.   As a guide on the Kenai River, Keith has caught his share of trophy King (Chinook) salmon.  He reports that this fish was as close to battling a trophy King as it gets.  Both Ryan and Keith were using a simple jig and minnow combination to catch all of their fish including the sturgeon.  The conditions on the Rainy River would have to be described as excellent.  With the ice off the river 2 - 3 weeks earlier, I'll bet it was a zoo this weekend.  As much as I would like to be there, it's just as exciting to have my friends share their experiences with me as this is what my blog is all about.  Congratulations guys on a great successful outing. 

In the meantime I continue to get my boat ready with a successful installation of my front live well timer.  If the weather is nice, I might just be able to sneak out next Saturday, time will tell.

Cruising the Northwest Sportsman Show

A couple of weeks ago the Northwest Sportsman Show was held at the Minneapolis Convention Center.  This is the area's largest outdoor sports show featuring fishing, hunting, camping, and vacationing.  I like to make 2 trips to the show, usually on the first day to get a jump on the crowds and again on the weekend with my brother.  This years show was probably the smallest I have seen in 20 years.  The economy has really taken a toll on the recreational business, especially the marine and RV industries.  As well consolidations and bankruptcies have changed the landscape of what choices consumers have today.  Case in point has been the changes in ownership of Lund and Crestliner boats.  Brunswick Corporation controls both companies and owns Mercury Marine.  Today if you buy one of these boats it is almost guaranteed to come with a Mercury outboard and if you want something else, it is going to cost you.  Skeeter Boats have been owned by Yamaha Corporation for a while now and it is the same thing.  They come pre rigged with a Yamaha or if you want something else the price just changed.   Of course this is the strategy for companies to garner greater market share for their products.  Unfortunately it leaves companies like Honda, Evinrude, and Suzuki a more limited market for their motors.  I do think that the consumers suffer however in this down market, it might be the only way to survive.  The bankruptcy of Genmar (owned Ranger, Stratus, and a number of high end glass boats) and the fact of Warrior Boats vanishing off the face of the earth makes one wonder how bad it really is.

The good news is that I have high hopes my brother Steve is about ready to part with some of his money (word has it he still has the first nickel he made!) and contribute to a recovering economy by purchasing a new boat that he so deserves.  We were looking at a new Lund Pro Guide 1825 with a 90 hp Mercury 4 stroke, dual trolling motors, wave whackers, a custom cover, a Lowrance HDS7 sonar/GPS unit, and a very nice trailer with spare.  I was taken back by the price however it is comparable to competitive boats out there today.  I really hope he does something for himself being just 18 months younger, it's about time Steve fishes in luxury.  Because I am picking on him, he is my featured picture at the start of this post holding a rather large Pink Salmon caught in the Kenai River.

The Sportshow is also time to renew our friendship with Ken and Judy Marlow of Marlow's on the Kenai (see my Alaska links on my sidebar).  We have stayed them many times during our trips to Alaska and have fished often with their son Neil out of Seward.  Judy always has a jar or two of smoked canned salmon to give us at the show, an absolutely wonderful treat.  The  picture is of their resort which sits on the Kenai River just east of Soldotna.  We always get the cabin in the middle and we are always treated like royality by these two wonderful people.   Of course I forgot once again to bring my Leech Lake Knife with me to the show.  They will sharpen it like new for a ridiculous fee of $2.oo.  It still is pretty sharp and I will just have to try and remember to bring it next year.  The Sportshow is a great time to get updated on the latest technologies.  Companies like Lowrance, Hummingbird, LakeMaster, and Garmin have their latest in depth finder/GPS/mapping technologies on display.  One reason I like to go on the first night is the crowds are smaller and one has more time to discuss these new products with the factory reps.  It's also good to see my boat dealer, Frankie's Marine of Chisago City, displaying the latest boats.  Being the largest Ranger Dealer in the United States, Frankie and his wife Deb run a first class dealership.  I am already looking forward to next years show as there is something magical for me when I attend. 

Fishing with Jimmy

As stated, my surgery has brought out a number of well wishes from my friends, including a surprise e-mail from an old friend, Jim (Jimmy) Tollefson.  Jim moved to Scottsdale, AZ many years ago however when we were in our mid to late teens we were the best of friends.  Jim's dad, Gyle Tollefson was a fantastic man, worked at Armor's in Eau Claire, and had a nice farm 3.5 miles northwest of Eleva.  At the age of 14 I used to ride my bike everyday to the Tollefson's, help with chores, then did what every country kid did, have fun.  Our adventures ranged from riding Jim's mare through the woods, fishing trout in Lindsey Creek that flowed through the neighbors, or simply playing in the hay loft, the storage area above the main floor of the barn.  All of these adventures solidified my relationships with Jim's family, his dad Gyle, mom Marine, Sisters Judie, Pat, Lowie, and Tami, as well their husbands , Jim Rose and Harry Goodermoe.  The Tollefson's were a tight knit family and getting to know them was like being invited to be part of their family.  This relationship eventually got me invited to their annual August fishing trip to Lake Nipigon, Canada.  You can only imagine what this meant to me!  Here is a picture of Jim and I at a celebration of Jim's mom, a few years ago.  What a couple of guys.

My first trip with them to Canada was an adventure that could never be duplicated today.  At the age of 15, I was accepted by the Tollefson's including Gyle, his brother Bud, his brother in law Orville Sather, a number of sons and in-laws like Jim Rose as well Jim's dad Hub, a few friends like Danny Van Pelt, Knute Gehring, then the 2 teenagers, Jim and I to join them for a week in Canada.  Jim Rose was married to Pattie Tollefson and his father, Hub Rose was in charge of my well being.  I could not have been in better hands.  An interesting note Hub's wife, Mrs. Rose as we called her, was my math teacher for all 4 years of high school, something you probably would never see today.  Leaving on Friday after everyone was done with work, our destination was an old loggers cabin located on Crown Land, near the outlet of the huge Lake Nipigon, north of Thunder Bay, Ontario.  Known as Fort William/Port Aurthur it had just changed it's name.  We would leave Eleva around 5:00 Friday afternoon pulling our own 14 foot aluminum boats, stacked one over the other on a trailer.  Driving all night our first stop was Duluth to eat at the Black Bear.  I could tell you stories but that is for another day.  Arriving in Grand Marais, Mn around 1:00 AM, we would stop for gas before pushing to the border.  Arriving at the Pigeon River border crossing we would be across the border by 3:00AM,  would continue pushing north to Thunder Bay arriving about the time the liquor stores would open.  Once stocked up our final destination was McDiarmid, and Indian village on the southeast shores of Lake Nipigon.  Here we would launch our boats, readying the journey across the bay and down the lake to our destination.  First we needed to fill out gas cans, as well a couple of 16 gallon tanks for the week.  Our boats were quite small and the weight of the gas proved to make the trip quite interesting.  Before the final push off, we would buy ice from the ice house.  This was a large storage building that held ice cut from the lake in the winter and stored in sawdust.  Even in the heat of August, they would scrap the sawdust away, wash the ice off and cut it into usable sized chunks for the coolers.  This ice was to last all week, keeping the beer cold, providing ice for drinks, and keep our catch fresh.  This is certainly an experience I doubt anyone would ever see today.  The journey from McDiarmid to the cabin was about 10 miles across the water.  This was a long way to go in small boats, overloaded with gear and gas, hoping the waves would stay calm until we rounded the corner, heading south towards the cabin.  Having the wonderful experience to go there 3 times, the last was the most interesting as our flotilla was delayed by a huge log raft, miles long, being towed to the entrance of the Nipigon River, only to be pushed down the river and floated down to a staging location.  Talking with the tow Captain, this was the last year they would transport logs in this fashion, across the lake and down the river.  Modern technology would use roads to haul out the logs.  It was a site to be seen for sure as we were seeing history come to an end before our eyes.  Waiting for at least an hour for the log raft to clear, we continued our journey.

Arriving at the Loggers Shack was always exciting. Located just on the bay next to the dam area, it featured a large dock, dock house, a large cabin with a bunk room, mess area (real wood stoves), storage rooms, an outhouse, and an incredible wood stoked sauna.  Down the shoreline towards the dam was an unusual old building with dates carved into the wood from back in the 40's along with their fishing success.  It was understood that the old wreck of a house was actually owned by the Prince of Wales as his wilderness vacation home, when Canada was wholly under the control of the English Crown.  You could tell it was once a beautiful building.  The logger shack itself was an abandoned building that was used by fisherman and hunters like us. I was never sure how we were assured occupancy however eventually the Canadian Government destroyed them, preventing groups like ours to utilize these facilities.  Interesting that I went to Google Earth to check out the area and discovered that I could see both the dam and the location of the Logger Shack which we stay near some 38 years ago. 

All of our fishing were for northern pike.  Most of the time was spent below the dam in the bays off of the main river channel.  These bays were bridged by real log booms that stretched across the entrances to keep logs that were sent down the river in the channel from entering these bays.  The booms consisted of large, often 3 feet in diameter or larger logs strung together with huge chains.  In order to fish these bays we would literally jump these booms with the boat, finding those large logs that were more waterlogged that sat low in the water.  Once across, we would fish the large flats that were stump filled bays, loaded with northerns.   Returning to the shack, someone was always in charge of filling the water jugs from the middle of the river, just below the dam.  Somewhat dangerous, the water was clear, clean, cold, and fresh.  It served as our drinking water during the stay.  A special treat was to go and fish what Jim called the Inland and the Inland, Inland lake (see the second photo).  Not their real names however they describe their location perfectly, a couple of fertile, weed filled lakes off the main body of water. Contrast to the clear cold water of Lake Nipigon, these lakes were full of northerns of all sizes.  To get to the Inland, Inland lake was quite an adventure as it consisted of a mile and a half of a tight switchback channel  ending in a smaller lake, above the first lake.  Weed filled, Gyle would often catch the largest fish of the trip, usually well over 45 inches and 25 pounds, on a large bucktail only he would bring up.  One time as we entered the channel off the main lake into the first lake, Hub let me troll a black and white daredevil spoon and caught a nice walleye, then another and another.  Nope, we weren't keeping walleyes, only northerns!  I suspected knowing then what we know now, we could have spent all day catching delicious walleyes, we just didn't know any better.  Our goal was to bring the big fish back to Eleva and show off the catch to all of our friends.  It was some of the greatest times I had fishing.  One story that always stood out was the tradition of never criticizing the day's cook.  Sitting at the picnic tables inside for breakfast one morning we were served pancakes.  As they were set on the table, Jim Rose grabbed one and stuck it into one of the cracks in the table and it stood straight up!  Before Jim removed it the cook saw his antics and looked right at him and said, "Is there anything wrong?"  With one smooth motion, Jim grabbed the upright pancake, threw it on his plate and exclaimed "Nope, just the way I like em!"  It was a classic moment for sure as no one could hold back the laughter.

These pictures of the aerial views are from Google Earth.  It is fantastic to be able to go back and look at where we really fished and what is looked like.  Of course in the 70's we had little of what resources are available today.  Maybe that's what made it so memorable.  Unfortunately Gyle, Bud, Orville, Hub, Knute, and Danny are no longer with us and thinking back it seems like it was just yesterday when I was with these guys.  Everyone needs friends like these guys and I still hear Gyle in his big booming voice making those expectations for us.   At the time, that trip cost me a whopping $35.  Although a lot of money back then, it seems ridiculously cheap now.  Jim and his family including his relatives like Roger Tollefson, the Sather Boys, his brother-in-laws Jim and Harry remain dear friends to this day. 

Fly Fishing Adventures

Last weeks post brought a comment from a fellow fisherman by the name of Bryan McMurry.  He dropped a note introducing a book he wrote called "It's Not About The Fish".  Intrigue by the title and after looking at his website, I decided to order a copy.  Arriving on Monday, I just finished reading it today and it is purely delightful.  It is amazing how our experiences and philosophies are the very similar.  Although the book is about his experiences fly fishing, they apply to many experiences we have all had.  If you are interested in checking out Bryan's book you can see it at http://www.bryanmcmurry.com/.   

Bryan's fly fishing stories bring back a few memories of flyfishing in Alaska.  In 2002 we hiked over 6.5 miles up a well marked trail to Crescent Lake, south of Quartz Creek along the Sterling Highway.  Crescent Lake is well known for it's grayling, some being trophy size, and having never caught one, we were intrigued to have a chance at this unusual fish.  It took us about 2.5 hours to hike up to the lake outlet through a simply beautiful valley along Crescent Creek, which was rushing to meet Quartz Creek.  The hike brought us to the 2500 foot elevation through well documented bear country.  Making plenty of noise going up and down, I suspect the bears were focused on the salmon run going on at the Russian River as well Quartz Creek.  It still was pretty nerve racking.  We were disappointed to discover the grayling were not even close to the 16 inch range touted in all of the books and reference literature.  The biggest we caught could not have been more than 8 inches.  Still, the grayling is a beautiful fish with the sail like dorsal fin and the metallic platinum/rainbow colors. 

Our next fly fishing adventure in Alaska was in 2008 when we flew across the Cook Inlet to fish a remote small river called Polly Creek.   Hiring a charter airplane to drop us off on the beach we fished the first half mile of the river as it dumped into the Cool Inlet.  This promised to be a great place to ambush silvers as the came in on the high tide.  Because high tide was a good 8 hours away, we were relegated to fishing a few holes and the riffles between what was regarded as the honey hole, down to where the freshwater met the salt water.  It took about an hour to feel our way around the river and soon found the fish.  Here my brother Steve has a very nice Chum (or Dog) Salmon on his fly rod.  This was a very nice fish, maybe over 12 lbs however after about 15 minutes it snapped his line.  It was the prize hookup of the day. 

Having caught a few Humpy's that were sitting behind the rocks, we soon discovered the mother lode of Dolly Vardon trout.  These sea run trout follow the salmon runs into the streams and gorge themselves on the eggs of the spawning salmon that may end up free drifting in the current.  They are handsome fish with almost fluorescent orange spots and white lined fines, like a brook trout.  Locating them in a stretch of the river over 100 feet long, we used a pattern called the Egg Sucking Leech to fool quite a few Dolly's 14 to 20 inches long.  It was really fun to concentrate on our fly rod skills to catch another species found in Alaska.  If you notice, I have white tape on my glasses.  Prior to our plane ride, I had a pair of good Costa Del Mar interchangeable lens sunglasses.  Upon being dropped off I could not find my glasses, although I did have the replacement lenses.  Anyone who fishes these conditions know how important polarized glasses are for seeing fish.  Well, my brother Steve had a cheap pair of regular glasses as a spare so we removed the worthless lenses and using white tape from our first aid kit, taped in the polarized lenses.  Although not the prettiest, they did the job just fine and kept me in the game the rest of the day.  On the way back our pilot mentioned a pair of nice sunglasses that were left on the counter.  Not hearing it, it wasn't till the next day my cousins put 2 and 2 together and we went back to the Soldotna Airport to claim my long lost glasses. 

I am still healing and not as well as I would have expected or liked.  The Sportshow is this week and I look forward to seeing Ken and Judy Marlow from our Alaskan adventures as they are simply wonderful people.  Hopefully I can talk my brother into buying a nice boat this weekend!

Chuggin' Along

Patience is a virtue and I am certainly exercising every bit of it I can muster. Sitting home for the second straight week has me thinking that things should be progressing faster than this!  I guess it reminds me of an old Rodney Dangerfield joke....................I get no respect, when I was a kid my dad got sick and tired of me running around in circles so he nailed down the other foot!  Oh well, time will pass.  I am still awfully sore and have severely underestimated the extent of the healing process.  Luckily I have started cardiac rehab today.  My condition is different than the standard bypass surgery patient, however the healing process is the same.  I am bound and determined to be back to a winning form by fishing opener.  I think I'll make it.

One of the great benefits of being laid up is all the nice attention one gets.  From comments on my posts to a slew of get well wishes, all serve to remind one how fortunate I am with all of my friends, relatives, business associates, and neighbors.  One guy that has stood out has been my Uncle Jerry.  Jerry is my dad's youngest  brother, living in Boise Idaho.  If one would blame anyone for my love of fishing, you could definitely point to Uncle Jerry!  His mother, my Grandma Myrt would always compare me to him, our love for fishing was legendary.  Living in a small town in Wisconsin really limited fishing to the local rivers, streams, ponds, and if one was lucky you could hitch a ride to fish the Mississippi River near Alma, Wisconsin.  Jerry had left Eleva while I was quite young so most of my knowledge of him was passed on by my Grandma Myrt.  Apparently he was drafted into the Army where legend has it they could not wait to get rid of him, but kept him anyway to add to the torment.  Although after the Korean War and before Vietnam Jerry would proclaim it was not the most pleasant time of his life.  Upon being released from his own personal hell, he started school in Montana to become a forest ranger before shifting gears to become a dentist.  Back in about 1966 my dad took my brother Steve, Grandma, and myself out to visit Uncle Jerry.  A memorable trip, we traveled though the Black Hills, The Big Horns, and Yellowstone before arriving in Boise on the third day.  Apparently my dad must have made a deal with Uncle as both Steve and myself had all of our teeth fixed, no small task!  I still have fillings intact from that visit as my dentist compliments me all the time on the great work he did.  Intertwined with drilling teeth and filling holes, we managed to get a ton of fishing in.  Jerry is an excellent fly fisherman, virtually unheard of back in Eleva.  There we learned the correct way to hold and cast a fly line, using a book held between your elbow and side as to assure the proper wrist action.  They don't teach fly casting this way any more as it is more free flowing these days.  I guess I will always prefer the "right" method!

Jerry and I have a very special relationship.  I received a fabulous get well card from him last week wishing me well and as a bonus sent me a number of pictures he knew I'd appreciate.  The first picture is a very nice 36 inch rainbow trout out of  the North Fork of the Clearwater River in Idaho.  When you compare the fact that a 18" trout was a huge fish back home, this is a definite trophy.  The next 2 pictures are proof that Jerry still has a sense of humor!  Holding this 25 pound carp caught in the Brownlee Reservoir, on the Snake River, it must have provided an epic battle.  He included 2 pictures of this magnificent fish, with one showing an uncanny resemblence to himself.  He should know better!  One thing the carp does represent is the great fishing we both experienced in the Buffalo River back home.  Although there were fish in the river as large, we seldom caught anything over 10 pounds.   You can take the kid out of Eleva, but you can't take Eleva out of the kid.  I'll bet Jerry enjoyed catching the carp as much as he did that nice rainbow he is holding.  I like that!  Sharing the same level of excitement and appreciation for our past accomplishments, I am sure that the good Lord has a special place for us as I could not explain heaven any better than spending eternity fishing with my Uncle Jerry. 

Uffda!!!

Well I made it through surgery with flying colors (according to my doctor!).  I am not sure that my body would necessarily agree however at this point I will trust them.   With the exception of surgery on one's brain, it  is probably the most invasive surgery there is.  As pictured on the left, you can see a normal thoracic aorta in the white box verses a thoracic aortic aneurysm showing the bulged out artery.  When these babies blow, there is little that can save you, you simply get that Oh Crap look and say goodnight.  Leading up to the surgery I was asked many times if I was nervous and my response was always a resounding no!  I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to fix this problem.

The surgery lasted about 7 hours.  My pre-op nurse asked me a few questions, discussed briefly the procedure, then warned me of what it would be like when I woke up (He told no lies there),   Being surprised how quickly this all happened, in a fleeting moment I was struggling against a breathing tube shoved down my throat.   The surgery included cracking my ribs and spreading them apart to get at my heart.  Once the chest was opened up the heart lung machine was put in place to maintain my blood as they stopped my heart.  There were 3 main objectives during the surgery.  The first was to reposition my coronary arteries to an area further down the aorta as to not interfere with the actual replacement.  The second was to determine the condition of my aortic valve and replace it with either a natural pig valve or a permanent mechanical one.  I had previously decided to go with the pig valve as they only last 15 years, they do not require one to take blood thinners as the artificial ones do.  The great news was that my original valve was in great shape so we left it alone.  The third was to replace the aorta with a Gore Tex type membrane.  This will last the rest of my life.  An interesting note, my wound is super-glued together!  It is a very unobtrusive wound and although it is rather long, doesn't look as though it has been opened through to the inside of the chest cavity.  The staff at the University of Minnesota Hospitals were fabulous as the surgery was almost routine.

I will be stuck at home for another couple of weeks recovering.  I am still pretty weak and the pain killers offer no mercy.   It's a great time to get caught up on my spinner rig supply as well I am researching lead line trolling for Mille Lacs.  This year's Northwest Sportshow will be a focal point for acquiring the right equipment for lead lining and it's techniques.