A Fantastic Weekend

Saturday turned out to be one of those days where the stars must have been aligned just perfectly.  After shoveling snow again (the last 30 out of 40 days) I stopped by my neighbor Tom Olson to see if he was interested in heading out to fish Pelican Lake in the afternoon.  After finishing up the endless snow removal and filling all the bird feeders, I hooked up the trailer, loaded everything up and stopped by Tom's to pick him up.  Next stop was Cabela's to pick up some bait and check to see if they received in any more of there special 6 inch fillet knives, a heck of a bargain at $9.99.  Well, they did have the knives but no waxies.  A quick stop at the hardware store in St. Michael and we were ready.  I have described Pelican Lake as a prolific shallow lake about 15 miles west of my house.  The last few years have been fantastic, even as the fishing pressure seems excessive.  After the water had risen more than 6 feet, it has transformed from a rather worthless duck swamp to a popular fishing lake.  The DNR is still planning on draining it, Lord knows why.  I guess creating duck habitat for the few if any ducks that fly this far east anymore is more important than the thousands of people that enjoy this unique fishing destination.  With the lake in sight, it was the typical scenario, there must have been over 500 shacks on the lake.  These shacks seem to form little communities on the lake and I am not sure if they are really catching fish or just having fun.  I guess it probably doesn't really make that much difference.

My strategy is always the same.  Because the lake is no deeper than 12 feet, I find an area in the middle of nowhere and drill my holes.  Today would be no different, yep 10 foot of water and a hundred yards from anyone.   Although I have fished with crappie minnows, like back home, I prefer waxies.  Crappies, especially larger ones can be extremely lite biters.  The key is to keep your bait moving slowly down from about 3 feet from the bottom.  The fish will simply inhale the bait and the only indication will be the line going limp as tension is taken off.  Time is of the essence as they will spit it out just as fast.  I think too many people in Minnesota ice fish crappies with a minnow and bobber combination.  Although I am sure they catch their share of fish, I cannot believe it's as effective as waxies and line watching.   Proof is the nice 12 incher Tom is holding in the first picture.  Using 3 pound fluorescent orange line, he can easily work his bait and detect the slightest change in the feel.   On the lake by 2:30 and off by 5:30 we ended up with a couple more added to this nice pile of sunfish and crappies, all larger than hate 2 status (hate 2 keep em, hate 2 throw them back).   By 7:00 all the fish were cleaned and I was ready for the next event of the day.

The other reason to fish a local lake was to make sure I didn't miss the much anticipated Green Bay Packer vs the Atlanta Falcon game.  Being a bonafide Cheesehead, I proudly fly the Green and Gold on my flag pole, just under the Stars and Stripes.  Although my neighbor Tim and his family hates the Pack, he has a huge projected screen television, perfect for watching football.  With my neighbor Otto (another closet Cheesehead) we convinced him that Otto and I could turn his boring night into something a little more exciting.  Bringing over the Walter's Beer from last week, we settled into what would be a totally unexpected outcome, a blow out by the Pack.  Of course we knew the Packers could win however it was pleasantly shocking to see the final score go from being 3 point underdogs to a 27 point differential.  My friend Phil was at the game and the tee shirt I sent was a big hit.  It was amazing to see how empty the stadium was during the last half of the game.  By the 2 minute warning it was evident the only people left were the Packer fans.  You'd never see that at Lambeau, I don't care how bad the Pack were losing or who the opposing team was.  Everyone is talking Super Bowl and it's easy to jump on that band wagon as Aaron Rodgers is proving to be everything Brett Favre isn't, yet we still need to get by Da Bears.  Here's hoping you have sound as you will find a special song in celebration.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed as Sunday's schedule will certainly effect my fishing plans for this weekend!

Not Much Going On

Its been one of those weeks that before you know it it's a week later.  It's amazing sometimes you seem to be so busy you can't find time to do much of anything yet it seems like you have done everything.  Besides snowing every day this past week I did make it back home on Saturday to see my dad.  He got a positive report from the doctor that his cancer was knock down as he continues to learn to swallow normal food.  Before stopping there I dropped my wife off with her sister and cousins and hit a few of my favorite spots in the area.  First stop was the Leinies Lodge in Chippewa Falls.  Leinenkugels Beer is brewed in Chippewa and they have a nice store where you can get a number of branded apparel.  My goal was to get a more formal Stormy Kromer hat, one with Leinenkugels embroidered on the side.  I like my red plaid Stormy Kromer but it's a little too farmer for those special occasions.  Finding a charcoal colored hat, I am pretty well set for any event!  My next stop was Schell's Sporting Goods in the Oakwood Mall.  I like Schells as they seem to have a good collection of stuff as well a full selection of Green Bay Packer merchandise.  I found the perfect shirt for my friend Phil Gordon.  A Packer green T-shirt with gold letters that spelled out "Brett Who?".  Obviously us Packer fans have all but forgot Mr. Favre as we celebrate the second round of playoffs with Aaron Rodgers.  Phil lives in Indiana yet he is a die hard fan and tells me he is on his way to see the game in Atlanta.  I hope the shirt brings him and the team good luck!  My next stop was to check out the rumor that Walter's Beer was once again being brewed in Eau Claire.  Back in my younger days Walter's beer was a staple of the area.  It's tag line was simple, "The Beer that is Beer". As a teenager I would work with guys like Bud Tollefson or Ronnie Semingson and Walters is what kept us going.  Like many local breweries, the Miller Lites of the world took it's toll.  Walter's closed in the late 80's, a victim of the changing times.  Arriving at the brew pub, yes they had Walter's, another goal in reach!  I ordered a glass, trying to relive that taste I had not experienced in over 25 years.  It was ok but I guess it just seemed to be better when I was 25 years old.  I did buy a six pack for home, it will give me something to talk about with the neighbors.

I did make it fishing to Mille Lacs on Sunday.  Deciding to try to evening bite, my friends Jason Rombalski and Lory Brasel filled the empty seats in my truck.  Getting a late start we headed to the pond and drove out past Indian Point.  Heading for my spot in 28 feet of water, we got the holes drilled and houses set up just before the witching hour, 3:00 - 5:00.  Although we have been fairly successful the last few times, the fish were skittish and I ended up with 2 smaller walleyes.  Jason had a few chasers and Lory caught a small one.  Certainly not my best trip, as always, it's nice to get out.  On Thursday I plan on heading down to the St. Paul Sportsman's Show to check out the first big show of the year and say hi to my friend Keith Holtan.  Keith and his wife own  Beaver Creek Cabins on the Kenai River in Alaska and was our guide in 2002 when we chartered with my friend Jeff King. 

I am leaving you with a picture of my dad, his brothers and sister.  From left to right is my uncles Gordon(Dewey), my dad Don, Uncle Keith, Aunt Lavonne, and the little guy in front is my beloved Uncle Jerry.  This picture was probably taken around 1937 or 1938 and really shows the style of the day, bibs!  Implying that time flies, although this picture was taken almost 74 years ago, dad remembers it like it was yesterday.  It's a great reminder to enjoy life while you can..........

Winnibigoshish by Gosh!

My first trip to Lake Winnibigoshish (Winnie) turned into one of those trips not to be forgotten. My host, Mark Applen had planned the trip along with a few of his old neighbors and friends familiar with the lake and I was fortunate to ride shotgun. The plan was pretty straight forward, Mark was to pick me up at 7:30, drive to Mille Lacs and pick up his wheel house, head north up through Remer Mn, and be on the lake by 1:00. A stop along the way to pick up some groceries to fill the gaps, we made it pretty much on schedule. Heading out of Denny's Resort on the very south end of the lake, we made a beeline for the waypoint Mark's friend Russ had given us. The resort was expecting us and had plowed a road about 5 miles up the lake, creating a turnaround precisely at our destination. Lake Winnie has a very distinct drop off running along the south and southeast end of the lake. This drop off is pretty steep going from 15 feet to 30 feet in about a 60 foot span and runs pretty parallel to the shore for a good 6 - 7 miles. The waypoint put us directly on the drop, with little structure around us other than the drop itself. Pat the resort guy suggested we park at 21 to 25 feet. This structure reminds me of the pronounced edges of the flats on Mille Lacs where we fish either the top edge or the bottom edge, seldom in the middle of the drop. Well, never fishing the lake and subordinating the "spot on the spot" to my hosts, we set up in the middle of that break. Although I wasn't crazy about the location, my strategy was to drill a few holes on both the top side and the deep side, with a few in between to test their effectiveness. After helping get the house dropped on the ice it was show time. A typical pattern would be perch on the deep side, and occasional walleye passing through, finishing on the top side for that evening migration of walleyes to the shelf. Winnie is known for its perch however the walleyes were showing themselves the first day. By the evening I had 3 nice keeper walleyes and a few respectable perch. By 5:00 the bite had died and it was time for supper, smoked pork chops, salad, some munchies and a glass of cabernet. Jigging in the house proved to be purely wrist exercises.

By the evening we had 4 wheel houses in our group. They included Russ, his Brother Randy, and Mark's old neighbors Mike and Judy. Issues with Russ's generator force everyone to plug into Mark's Honda 2,000 watt power plant. Although expensive, these Honda's are extremely quiet and are barely noticeable. After an hour of inaction we headed over to Randy's mansion to play a little Farkle, a new dice game I was introduced to. Randy has a very nice wheel house and had no problem accommodating 6 of us around the table. A few beers and $2.00 poorer, we headed back to our house to set the rattle reels and retire for the evening. Mark's house is set up with Direct TV and the weather channel became our next focus.  Forecast for our area was a winter storm warning, due to arrive within the next 12 hours. Hitting the sack, the rattle reels were silent through the night. We awoke Thursday morning to a light drizzle, not enough to stop fishing outside but still enough to get us wet. By noon the rain started freezing on the reels and by after lunch the snow began to fall. Thursday morning was fairly productive with both Mark and I scoring well on the perch in the 30 foot depth. After we had lunch I suggested we move the house to the deep side, at least we were catching fish there. A half hour and a 50 foot move,  we were reset for the duration and none too soon. The wind and the snow got progressively worse and it looked like we weren't going anywhere for a while. By 6:00 the blizzard conditions were severe and there was no way we would repeat any visits as the night before. The move proved to be a good decision as we caught a number of perch before dark and finished the night with a couple of nice walleyes, one at midnight and the other at 4:30 in the morning. Here are a couple of those walleyes caught on the rattle reels.

Waking up to a clear cold morning on Friday, the first order of business was to get the door open. The blizzard raged through the night and had created a good 4 foot snow drift outside our door. Mark had wisely faced his truck into the wind which minimized any drifts around the vehicle. It worked pretty well. After eating breakfast the next priority was to get the house lifted off the ice. The weight of the house, the 2 pickup trucks parked outside, as well as the newly formed snow drifts caused the water to flood the ice through the holes we had in the house. With over 2 inches on the ice, it was imperative we get the house back up on the axle before it froze in. By 8:00 the group had the houses hooked up, ready to go absolutely nowhere! What was a situation where you could drive anywhere on the ice on Wednesday turned into the inability to move more than 50 feet from our original parked spot. 15 inches of snow had fallen and the ice was all but impassable with 3 foot drifts as far as the eye could see. Well, never say never to a bunch of guys. Knowing the resort would plow us out eventually, the weather had predicted another 6 - 9 inches later in the day. Plan A was hatched, take the biggest, baddest , 4 wheel drive we had (Randy's 3/4 ton GMC) and attempt to blaze a path to the resort's houses about 4 miles away. 2 hours later, getting stuck about 20 times, and 1 1/2 miles down the lake, Plan B was decided upon. Someone had called the resort and our rescue was imminent, provided we had the patience to wait. Even though we had a good path started, Plan B sounded pretty good and we headed back to hook up the houses. About an hour later you could see the cloud of snow being pushed ahead of the V plow headed our way. It seemed forever to get to us and what a welcome sight as he plowed by. Here is a picture of the plow as it blew by us, pretty impressive. A half hour later we were off the ice, heading south right into the next storm! We ended up with 3 nice walleyes, about 20 perch, and a pretty good story of my first trip to Lake Winnibigoshish. Further south had significant rains, clearing most of the snow from Mille Lacs. Sounds like a pretty good excuse to check it out on Sunday, if you ask me!

Back for More

Here's the hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas.  I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with my father.  A month from 81 years old he had just finished a regiment of radiation and chemo in his fight against esophagus cancer.  Always the optimist, he is doing surprisingly well with his doctors giving him kudo's for his ability to take everything they have thrown at him.  He is also a realist.  His first CT scan will be on Monday, January 3rd and we will see how he has progressed.  Whatever the results, even at his age he is an inspiration.  We also got a chance to visit with my good friend Kevin and his family.  Although our time was short, we always seem to squeeze in a months worth of updates in a few hours.  One of the things I look forward to (but never expect) is the possibility of getting a package of Kevin's homemade lefse.  Well, I was rewarded with a couple of packages before we left.  If you have never had homemade lefse, I guess I feel sorry for you!  Nothing is better than a piece of lefse, spread with butter, rolled up and warmed in the microwave.  For all you non-Norwegians, I feel sorry for you!

Sunday was back at Mille Lacs Lake with my good friend and hunting partner, Jack Taylor.  Jack has been catching northerns at his lake place on Platte Lake, west of Mille Lacs and was hoping to run into a few walleyes.  I told Jack I would pick him up in the morning, he would have to do nothing other than bring refreshments and I would take care of the rest.  The morning started out plowing the snow in my back area to get to the trailer.  Next was the need to shovel 2 feet of snow that accumulated on the trailer.  Pulling the trailer down to the shed, the next task was to load up the ATV and my portable shack.  I guess someone had other plans as I backed the trailer up, both front tires were flat with the beads broken.   Plan B!  Getting the jack out, I grabbed a ratchet strap and wrapped it around the tire.  Immediately the bead took and 1 tire inflated, one to go.  The second one wasn't as easy.  Doing the same exercise, I noticed the valve stem was shot.  Having a new valve stem I attempted to replace it but that proved a waste of time.  Replacing the tire with a spare an hour later I had the equipment loaded.  Picking Jack up we headed north, stopped at Bill's and went back to Dewey's.  To my surprise they were driving right to my spot.  With 18 inches of ice I was willing to take the chance.  As last week the 3:00 - 5:00 slot was the magic time.  I ended up catching 6 walleye and missing a beauty. 

Jack's dad was my good friend Earl Taylor, who passed away about 14 months ago.  Earl and I spent many hours fishing as we had many great experiences on the ice.  When I picked up Jack he had a surprise for me.  Back in the early 90's I had helped Earl get set up with a depth finder for ice fishing.  Being in electronics, I always had the pulse on the latest and greatest.  Back in the late 80's the hot portable depth sounder was Tom Mann's Super Sixty Hummingbird.  In it's trademark yellow case, it was powered by 2 - 6 volt lantern batteries.  Capra's Sporting Goods Store had a special bracket for mounting transducers and worked great for these types of units.  I gladly accepted the gift from Earl, a reminder of both him as well as how far we have come with winter ice fishing electronics these days.  Here is a picture of my prize, just as I set it up for Earl. 

Notice the bracket is a clamp connected to a ball type connector.  One would clamp the bracket to the edge of the case and stick the transducer into the hole drilled in the ice.  To help with the alignment I would glue a small bubble level to the top of the transducer.  This assured that you could position the transducer for the optimum sensitivity.  I am looking forward to getting her running again and may just take it out to experience the way we ice fished 20 years ago.  Either way it a cherished gift from Earl.  Wednesday I head to up to Lake Winnie with my friend Mark Applen.  We plan on staying in his wheel house, fishing Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, and coming home on Friday.  It should be an exciting couple of days and hopefully a great report. 

First Ice, Double the Pleasure

The much awaited first ice fishing trip of this winter season finally happened.  As I had predicted Mille Lacs lake was ready for us as my neighbor Lory accompanied me to the lake Saturday morning.  I was originally going to just bring up my gear and use the 2 up Polaris Touring snowmobile that Bill and I own yet seeing how much gear we actually had, I reconsidered and decided to haul up the ATV.   The other advantage of this would be our starting point could be 5 miles closer to our destination, a definite plus.   As always a stop at Lundeen's confirmed our first strategy as we loaded up with some fatheads, rainbows, a couple of the newest secret baits, and some refreshments.  Our destination was the deeper areas just off of Indian Point.  The best place to start from was Dewey's, just south of the point where we knew there would be ample parking.  Surprisingly he had a road plowed out at least a mile and a half out onto the lake.  Not enough to get us at our spot, we paid him the $5.00 to park on the ice (a pretty good deal) and after loading up the portables, augers, electronics, and bait we were off.  Arriving in 28 feet of water I had marked from a previous visit we separated, drilled our holes and got down to business.  I was excited to try my new camera and was not disappointed.  I usually drill 3 holes in my shack; one on the upper right for jigging, one in the lower left as a dead stick, and a third for the video camera.   The camera itself is tethered to a cable that connects to a wireless remote control positioning tripod.  This allows me to us a small hand held control to rotate the camera in any direction.  Whats real interesting is the camera has a built in sensing device which has a direction indicator on the screen.  Once you locate your lure, it's easy to pan the lure in the other hole then return to your main lure.  Well the walleyes started coming in almost immediately.  The camera is a great way to study how they approach your bait, what kind of mood they are in, and their relative size.  It also helps to confirm your depth finder readouts as they relate to what's below.   The walleyes were not very large and almost in a negative mood.  I tried a number of lures with little luck starting from a Rattlin Flyer to a Hawger Spoon.  When the fish are negative often it takes a lure like a Swedish Pimple with a minnow head to trigger a strike, but that didn't even work.  Frustrated by their lack of interest I panned over to my dead stick pole with a plain minnow hanging from a bobber.  As the camera panned over onto the screen was a walleye just sitting there with my minnow in it's mouth.  A quick jerk and the walleye was off the screen and heading to the hole in the ice.  Only about 12 inches, it never the less was my first walleye of the season.  In the meantime Lory had already caught a couple of walleyes, but was not setting the world on fire.  I decided to move down the spot about 100 yards and after only 15 minutes Lory called stating the walleyes had turned on.  Moving back to my original spot I reset putting on a jigging rap, figuring a more aggressive bite was happening.  Lory on the other hand was catching them on a plain jig head and a whole minnow, and had 4 on the ice.  I finally got the hint and switched, catching a nice perch and 5 more small walleyes, while he ended up with 12 walleyes caught and a bunch missed.  All told we caught 18 walleyes total, kept 6 respectable fish and had a blast.  As usual the prime time was between 3:30 and 5:00.  Here is a picture of Lory with a nice eater.

Sunday was a cleanup day around the house and with things settling down, I decided to try the dusk crappie bite at one of my favorite early season lakes near Buffalo, MN.  My other neighbor Tom wanted to go with us on Saturday however his truck's timing chain had other plans for him.  Sunday was a better day for him so we loaded up the gear and headed out, arriving at the lake around 3:00.  We knew this would be a quick trip and if the crappies are in, it won't take long.   The fishing area is close to shore allowing us to simply walk to the spot.  Some guys were driving on the ice which was about 10 - 12 inches and I surmised they must have much better insurance than I do!  The sunnies were in like crazy so I took this picture of the camera view below the shelter.  There are at least 8 sunfish swimming by and you can see the one near the center about ready to inhale the bait (the small white object in front of it).  While watching the sunfish sort of disappeared as the next thing you saw was a large northern pike coming into view.  I guess those fish aren't that stupid.  

Sundown came however the crappies had not shown up.  Too dark for the camera I put it away relying on my trusty old Vexilar FL20.  Tom was determined to try some crappie minnows while my go to bait is a waxie.  In this fairly shallow water (about 12 feet) I like to work the water column as crappies can be about any depth this time of year.  Noticing a jiggle at the the bottom of the display I lowered my bait and was rewarded with that tell tale inhale of a crappie bite.  Setting the hook, it was a solid fish, just what we were looking for about 12 inches.  The real question would be if this was a loner or part of a school.  10 minutes later confirmed it was a loner.  I did manage a second smaller crappie and added it to the pile of 3 reasonable sunfish and the crappie.  Although we didn't slay them, it was still nice to get out 2 days in a row.   This weekend is Christmas and I will be busy visiting my dad, who turns 81 this year.  With a little luck I will be back at Mille Lacs on Sunday and maybe a couple more days before New Years.  BTW, I am keeping the Dean Martin Christmas song for another week as we did get another 6 inches on Monday, so enjoy!  Have a fabulous Christmas and hope each one of you has a good tug at the end of your line.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

So the predicted snowfall for Saturday was 12 - 16 inches and they were not too far off!  17 inches later, Saturday's snowfall was listed as the fifth largest since they began keeping records.  Considering that 18,000 years ago Minnesota was covered with a sheet of ice 2000 feet thick, I seriously doubt this is the case.  Never the less it makes for an interesting weekend of frantic weather coverage.   The weathermen are stuck in the studios, going on 18 hours without sleep.  You know these events have to be the highlight of their careers!  Truth be told, they probably could not leave anyway as all the roads were closed down.  Lucky it was the neighborhood Christmas party on Saturday night, with the roads blown shut, there was no better place to go than to Bot's house.  Here is a picture looking down the road by my house.  I have to admit this is pretty darn early for this much snow as we probably have 2 feet on the ground already.   Apparently this is the snowiest start to December on record as well.

One benefit of this huge snow event was the collapsing of the Metrodome, home of the Minnesota Vikings.  Being a Packer fan I would have to say the side show has been nothing but comical.  When the dome was built in 1982 the first couple winters saw the roof give out.  See the Metrodome uses air pressure to keep the dome inflated, like a big balloon.  It's interesting to go to a game there, as you enter the pressure pops your ears.  When the game is done, they open the revolving doors and as you approach the opening you are literally pushed out with a gust of wind.  Give them credit, it has held for quite awhile, including the great Halloween Blizzard of 1991, which dumped 28 inches of snow on October 31st.   Anyway it should play well for a new stadium.  Monday night's game is going to be played at the new University of Minnesota's football stadium.  They will be hard pressed to accommodate all of the ticket holders but it will be fun to see how the Vikes do in their new surroundings! 

Luckily the snowfall totals on Mille Lacs has been significantly less.  Snow cover tends to insulate the ice, keeping it from freezing (makin' ice) as fast and adds weight to the top causing water to sit on the top just under the snow.  The high winds of Sunday keep much of the lake bare and with -15 overnight temperatures it can make an inch of ice a night.  Reports from Bill claim that there are already plows on the lake pulling out houses.  You wouldn't catch me driving on the lake with my suburban this early!  By Saturday there should be a good 12 inches in most places, more than enough to take a snowmobile or ATV to a few of my secret early ice spots a few miles out on the lake.   Hopefully I will have a great report for you as I don't think I could stand another weekend of dealing with the snow.  As far as local lakes, the snow will make this first ice challenging at best.  I am anxious to try out the new camera, the new St. Croix ice rod I bought at the show, and a few of those special lures that seem to catch me every year.  I will leave you with a picture of the parking lot at work.  We are suppose to get another 3 - 4 inches tonight and quite honestly, I am not sure I know where they are going to put it all.

The Ice Fishing Show

Last weekend was the annual St. Paul Ice Fishing Show at the Excel Center in downtown St. Paul.  This is a 3 day show featuring the latest and greatest products for the upcoming ice fishing season.   My good friend Mark Applen called and suggested we head down on Saturday afternoon, an idea I was up for.  The show has grown significantly in the last few years and arriving the 2010 attendance was incredible.  One thing that became clear very quickly was the amount of new and exciting products for the guy who loves the hard water fishing.  From the latest in depth finder technology to what I call mansions on wheels, there is something for everyone.  There were gadgets for jigging your pole, new ways to clean the slush from your freshly drilled holes, and an amazing collection of sophisticated electronics claiming 1/4 inch separation 30 feet below you.   One of the newer devices out is a LCD display underwater camera.  I have owned a couple of the earlier model CRT type cameras however they are somewhat bulky and have limited battery life.  The new Marcum VS625SD pictured here has a bright sunlight readable screen, a High Definition Sony camera, and respectable battery life.  Cabela's had a nice $100 off coupon this week and coupled with a number of unused gift certificates, I pulled the trigger on one.  I am looking forward to using it this winter and of course they are becoming popular options for summer fishing.

One thing that is fun at these shows is buying "The Show Special".  Mark and I are suckers for this tactic and readily open our wallets to the deals.  I was the first to fall victim, buying a clip on LED light for the inside of my portable ice house.  Having seen them at stores for $25.00 the $12.00 I paid seemed like a bargain.  Next were the new St. Croix ice rods, nice and light with just the right action.  $20 regular price, the show special was another 10% off.  Well, contrary to what anyone says, it's always nice to have another fishing pole, in the bag they went.   After enjoying a shot of Christian Brothers Brandy at their booth we headed for the back room and ran across a very unique product, the Frying Saucer.  A second look verified a clever fish fryer using what looked like and inverted sombrero mounted on legs with a propane burner.  Completely portable it looks like just the ticket for frying fish outside.   A perfect compliment to Mark's ice house, he just had to have one and they were more than able to oblige!

20 years ago the ideal setup for ice fishing was to pull a permanent fish house, built on runners, onto the ice and leave it there for the season.  Today it is being replaced with what are called Wheel Houses, a fish house built on a special trailer, made for the ultimate in portability and comfort.  The base trailer frames have special axles that lower the house to the ice via rotating the wheels.  More like a modified travel trailer they have holes in the floor, bunks, a table, storage, and depending on what you want to pay, kitchens and bathrooms.  Starting at $6000 for a basic model you can spend up to $25,000 for a luxury house.  The convenience is the ability to move around from lake to lake or simply leave it in one spot.  Mark has a nice smaller house and he has talked about getting something larger.  For me, I still like being able to move around the ice with minimum effort.  Maybe someday!

Finally we have had enough cold weather to create fishable ice conditions.  Unfortunately we are also having record snows, with at least 10 inches on the ground with another 12 - 16 predicted for tonight and tomorrow.  Last Friday I returned from a 4 day trip to Austin Texas to a winter wonderland.  Arriving late Friday night, it was obvious I was going to spend the next morning shoveling snow.  By the time I cleaned up all of my driveways plus my neighbors, hit the Ice Fishing Show, and repairing my plows and snow blowers, the weekend was done.  It appears that I will be repeating the same thing this weekend with significantly more snow to deal with.  Blizzard conditions are predicted with the high temperature on Sunday to be around 0.  It's way too early for this.  Hopefully I can get out but it's looking more like it won't be till next week.  Oh well, I do have my portable set up in the shed and I can still pretend!  I will leave you with a shot of the Ice Fishing Bikini Team, always a warm reminder of winter's more interesting traditions here in Minnesota.

Electronics and Fishing

Electronics and fishing have had a long history together. Things have progressed a long way and at a crazy pace. Modern electronic components such transistors, Mosfets, and integrated circuits have worked their way into the necessities of today’s fishing scene. The average boat today has more electronic capabilities than computers of just 15 years ago. One simply has to look at my boat, a 2008 Ranger 620T and you quickly see what I am talking about. Bolted on the back is a 115 Suzuki 4 stroke, fuel injected, computer controlled, including oxygen sensors, timing circuits and other sophisticated engine management systems. Next to it is a Minnkota Vantage trolling motor, complete with a deployment system for lowering the motor into the water which state of the art pulse width modulation circuit maximizing the power for optimum battery life. Under the stern area houses 3 large glass mat series 31 deep cycle batteries all connected to a built in microprocessor controlled battery charger assuring maximum charging for each outing (if you remember to plug it in each time you put the boat away!). Moving up to my control console, there sits a Genetron depth sounder with incredible circuitry for marking fish and a Garmin GPS that has a built in base map accurate to less than 20 feet. A control module directs which functions such as lights, live well, and accessories can be turned on or off with a simple poke of a button. With built in live well timers it even has electronic circuit breakers, replacing the need to have replaceable fuses. The engine gauges now provide integrated information such as total hours and service alerts on top of the standard RPM readings. In the control panel is mounted a sound system, complete with an AM/FM/Sirius satellite radio and a built in Ipod dock. In between the back and the front, each compartment including the live wells have it’s own LED lighting assuring that if left on the power consumption will not drain the batteries for weeks. The front of the boat has a remote control module for the sound system, a Maxum Bow mount Trolling motor with the same maximizing circuitry as well a built in transducer and temp sensor. This feeds into a Lowrance HDS 5 color depth sounder/gps unit with the latest base map information. Eventually I will replace the Genetron with an Lowrance HDS10 with side scan sonar, integrated GPS, Sirius Weather Radar capabilities, and can be connected to the sound system to control all functions from one central location. This is quite a step from the first depth finder I owned, a Heathkit which I built myself. In my tackle box are a couple of lighted bobbers which are triggered by the presence of water between 2 contacts. Reel them in and they shut off………….magic! (actually it FET technology at it’s simplest)

Being in the electronics business I have had my associations with a number of these products, some that are main stream while others were simply some ones next million dollar idea. As mention in a past post, I designed the power output transformer for the Clearwater Classic which is still being used today by Marcum. My Genetron’s were provided by Dick Knutson for whom I made many wound parts for. Although they are still one of the finest fish locators out there, technology past them years ago and combined with the Red River floods of a few years back and the passing of Dick, they are destined to be museum pieces soon. Some of the less famous products I have been involved with include an electronic controlled trolling hard bait, like a Shad Rap. Inside were a battery, solenoid, and a timer circuit. The solenoid controlled a movable lip which would dive for a certain time then pull the lip causing the bait to change direction or depth on it’s own. Interesting idea but at $35 each, those snags could be awfully hard on the wallet! My good friends Tom Emmons and Tom McAtee made a maximize for our trolling motors long before Minnkota introduced them. Probably the most interesting device is the one pictured here, the Magnabait. It is a water tight, floating device that has built in speaker with an LED in middle of it. Powered by a number of internal batteries, it’s purpose is as an electronic lobster baiting device. See, lobster fishermen have to use rather expensive bait to entice lobsters to into their traps. The electronic device has a built in circuit which produces a short sound mimicking the mating call of a lobster. The LED flashes at the same time as the sound is generated, about every 20 to 30 seconds. Apparently this is an acceptable alternative to actual lobster bait, and I guess it works pretty good, unless of course they lose them. I have some friends in the electronics consulting business that did some work for the company and offered me to try them while ice fishing. The theory is that crawfish make the same basic sounds and will call fish into the area you are have your holes drilled. Although I used them many times, the jury is still out as to their effectiveness. As for lobsters, well I haven’t caught one yet! Here is the website if you are interested in more information: http://magnabait.net/

Once again I am writing this on a flight to Austin Texas, where the weather promises to be in the 70’s all week. Much better than the 4 inches of snow I just left. This weekend is the Ice Fishing Show in St. Paul and I look forward to checking out all the new gadgets for this year. I might even get a chance to hit the ice on Sunday, as it is forming as I write.

Goodbye to My Fishing Friend

As I have written before, getting older means that eventually you will lose some of your good fishing friends.  Of course as we age, so do our friends and it's just part of life.  Last Friday morning I received one of those calls that one never expects, my friend Russ died last night of a massive heart attack.  The problem is that Russ had just turned 40.   The suddenness of it all is somewhat overwhelming however.  Russ was married to our good friend Jessica, a new opportunity, yet our relationship did not start out exactly seeing eye to eye.  I suppose the 15 years of age difference and our backgrounds was enough to create some differences however one could see a good man underneath all of those defenses.  It took a few years and as time passed  found that we had more in common than not.  Often I would bring a new bait for him, a left over pedestal for his boat, a software program to share.  One thing that Russ became hooked on was fishing.  Having done little ice fishing and limited open water fishing, I was probably a bad influence on his fishing budget.  An ice auger off Craigslist, a end of the season ice house, a used 16 foot Lund with a 25 hp motor.  All those things that a guy definitely needs!  As time went on I took Russ to Mille Lacs, both ice fishing and open water fishing.  He has never experienced big water angling and it was interesting to see his reactions the first time we drove 5 miles off shore to fish a special area in the middle of the lake.  Russ had a blast.  Here is Russ with his son Cage. 

I had posted this picture last year when we had a chance to hit Mille Lacs.  It was the largest walleye he had ever caught and although it wasn't the most successful day, we had fun.  One of our favorite lakes to hit in the winter was Pelican Lake, just down the road from his house in St. Michael, MN.  A shallow lake, 12 feet at it's maximum, it is full of nice sized crappies and sunfish.  We could hit the lake in the mid afternoon, catching a nice mess of fish and be back by 7:00 in the evening.  I would like to think I was a good mentor to Russ.  Teaching him how to fish using a Vexilar FL-8 to the proper way he should interview for a job to helping him stay focused on having the confidence to forge ahead.   It probably explains why these things hurt so bad.  You invest time in a friendship, looking for a lifetime of sharing those rewards and sometimes it simply doesn't turn out that way.  God bless Russ and his family, I will miss you my friend.

Another Great Hunt

One of the interesting things about blogs like Fishin’ With Dave is that fact that you meet people that have never crossed your path, yet they become an interesting part of your circle of friends. Neenahpete certainly fits into that category as well the son of an engineering contact, Bruce Buratto, whom I met only over the phone and through e-mails. Bruce resides in western Massachusetts and we have worked on a couple of transformer projects however over the years we have traded fishing tips, ATV stories, and the differences between how things are done “out east” verses in Minnesota. Bruce has a son, Matt, who is one of my followers and an avid outdoorsman as well. Seeing my less than stellar spiked buck on last weeks post, he had to send me a picture of his successful archery hunt this year. This picture is Matt posing with a nice respectable 9 pointer. Rather than tell you the whole story, here is what Matt e-mailed to me: Today I decided to move to a different tree on a wood road that my father and grandfather made years back. I saw a small four point buck and a doe yesterday and a couple others the previous week. They all seemed to be going up the same ridge. Yesterday I noticed a bunch of scrapes on some trees just below the ridge. This is what ultimately prompted my stand location change to right behind the scrapes. For once it finally paid off. The deer came walking up the wood road under my stand. He was less that 10 yards away and never new I was there until I grunted at him to stop him. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. Before we know it we'll be on the ice. I can't wait!  Well, Happy Birthday Matt and great job.  Some guys wait years to nail a nice buck like that, heck I only have to look in the mirror!  What is even more exciting is to see Matt carry on traditions and experiences that both his father and grandfather participated in.  In this day of computers and video games, it is a refreshing to see his pictures and listen to his stories.   The amazing thing to me is as such a good looking young man like Matt, I imagine it's difficult to find time for the outdoors when you have all the girls chasing you.  Thank God I never had that problem!

Matt's last sentence was "Before you know it we'll be on the ice"  Well Saturday produced a good old snowstorm dropping 10 inches of heavy wet snow in the area.  Last year we did get our first snowfall rather early however it didn't last.  This one could stick around for a while.  This is a good omen for early ice.  As stated in a previous post, my earliest foray on the ice was November 17th with Earl Taylor.  Fishing North Center Lake in Lindstrom, MN there was a good 4 inches of ice covering the lake this early.  Although the small ponds and swamps have a thin coating of ice on them now, we will need some more cold weather to get walkable ice.  Next week shows highs in the mid 20's with lows in the single digits so we can't be too far off.  With the weekend approaching it will be good to get my gear out and tune it up.  I am predicting a great year for walleye on Mille Lacs.  The earliest I have been on the pond was the weekend after Thanksgiving.   Early ice is always one of my favorite times and I am looking forward to a little hard water.

Opening Day Success

Wow, the time seems like it is in hypermode these days.  Besides being behind with almost everything, deer hunting was upon us last weekend, November 6 and 7th.  As everything lately, it seems as though last year was just yesterday.   Once again I had the pleasure of hunting with the same group as in the last 6 years.  Hunting my remembered friend Rich Allen's land, it was Jack, Brett and Trenton, Kevin and Austin, Eugene, and our host Ken.  Arriving Friday, it was exactly as predicted, WET!!!  Receiving record rainfall in September and 3 - 5 inches 2 weeks ago, the lakes, creeks, rivers, and swamps were filled to the brim.  I hunt the back part of Rich's land and the real only way to get back there is trudging through the swamp.  In year's past Jack and I would take our ATV's and crawl through the peat and alders.  The problem this year is the fear of getting stuck, as well, we are not as adventurous as we once were.  This means donning on the hip waders and making your way through the tangle of clumps, brush, and holes that challenge the boot height.   Arriving on Friday the first order of business was to check out how bad it really was and make a decision if we would even expend the energy.  Walking back to the stand, it was about as I expected.  I had left half of my stand in the woods last year, meaning to come and get it once the swamp had frozen.  Great idea but like a lot of great ideas, sometimes you just don't get to them.  There it was, just were I had left it a year ago!  Luckily I had removed the pads and armrests as the 25 foot nylon ropes attached to the stand were missing all but about 6 inches.  I guess the mice must have found it great bedding material.  Faded but functional, I decided to endure the walk and hunt in the tree I have gotten to know over the years.  My ladder stand is nice but a pain to set up, even with 2 guys.  With the ropes gone, Jack and I used our collective heads and got it in position.  Standing almost 18 feet high, it's a balancing act to put that top strap around the tree to secure.   I had brought the straps but had grabbed the wrong ones, dang it.  It's too high up to take any chances so I headed back to my truck to retrieve the right ones.  That second trip out there had me thinking if the right decision had been made!   Everything set, we headed back to Rich's for my famous marinated steaks.  This has always been a tradition we started and it may well be the last time we will do this at Rich's as Mary has the place for sale.

With Daylight Savings Time still in effect for Saturday morning, I took my time wading to my stand.  Wearing hip boots, I have to carry my warm boots in a plastic bag stuff my bibs, gloves, a change of socks, and extra pair of pants in case I trip on the way out, as well as a book, a MRE (thanks Tony), hand warmers, knife, camera, and water into a backpack.  It took about 20 minutes to walk 1/4 mile, I got to dry ground, changed, and climbed the stand.   In the stand for about 45 minutes something caught my eye, a nice spike buck was walking right in front of me.  I am not on trophy ground and was looking to refill the freezer with some fresh venison, down he went on the first shot!  I guess the trouble I had sighting in my new scope was all forgotten.  Of course now the work begins!  Not wanting to drag the deer out through the swamp, I waited till sunset when Brett volunteered to come by and help.  Although it wasn't the worst thing I had done, it took all we had to pull that deer through the swamp.  Luckily I have a medium size plastic sled that makes it much easier.  The top picture is my little spike buck, small but nice and tender!  As stated, this is probably our last year hunting Rich's forcing Jack and I to check out a couple of areas for next year to see if any hunters were around.  Skipping the morning hunt, we discovered a couple of nice spots where it appeared as though no one was hunting the area.  Deciding to see how the other guys were doing, we headed back to Rich's to discover Brett had a small doe down.  A number of us were available to help him so I dragged the sled back out and we pulled her through the swamp.  Here is Trenton, Brett's son posed with the deer.  Neither were trophy's but satisfying never the less. 

A couple of parting shots.  One of the things you commonly see in the rural areas of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and I am sure many states as well, all the road signs seem to have at least one bullet hole in it!  From shotguns to rifles to pistols bullets holes, one thing's for sure, there is no closed season on signs.  Here is a good example of this as we stopped to check it out.   I guess I remember participating in that sport 40 year ago as well.  I am writing this at 38,000 feet over Nevada.  Flying to San Jose, California for a Medical Trade Show the plane has WiFi on board.  $12.95 for the flight, about 3 hours worth, is pretty reasonable.  I can check my e-mails, finish a much past due post, and generally keep myself entertained.  Amazing world we live in today.  My stand is still in the woods, waiting for the freeze and hopefully I get this done soon.  The loss of 35 pounds really made a difference this year.  Carrying around that big bag of potatoes inside my body really dragged me down and I felt great all season.  I am sure at last years weight, I probably would have not gotten this deer.  This is sort of a transition time of year, hopefully ice fishing is not to far away.

Perchapalooza

 Thursday was a good day to take off work and get a number of things accomplished before the weather turns its head towards winter. The two things on the agenda were getting the new scope on my deer rifle sighted then heading north and catching the front end of the full moon bite on Mille Lacs. As stated my neighbor Lory volunteered his time to accompany me this day. The rifle sight proved more challenging than I had first assumed. The Burris scope on my rifle was over 25 years old and had started acting up. My first concern was with the ammunition a friend of mine at work had loaded up for me. Although the shells were about 10 years old, I had successfully grouped my sight in each year. 2 years ago I was all over the place, making adjustment, eventually settling back to my original settings. The last deer I had shot was a wounded buck which came by which took me 6 shells to finally dispatch it. Sensing an issue I sent it back to Burris, confirming that the springs were weak and my lifetime guarantee was applicable. The model was obsolete so they gave me 75% off any scope in their catalog. This was a great deal! Using a few older shells to do the initial sight in, I was close and grouped nice. Switching to Federal Premium’s and 100 yards, things didn’t work so well. I finally got an acceptable group however I will have my friend, Brett Jelkin reload me some shells close to what Rodney did for my years ago. Hopefully that will straighten things out.

Having accomplished the first agenda item we headed north to check off our second item. Arriving at Lundeen’s, Bill was already on a different lake looking for crappies. He agreed to meet us later at the super secret perch hole. After loading up a few dozen fatheads and twister tails we headed out. I had gotten pretty good instructions of our meeting place and understanding the fall perch bite, we quickly zeroed in on their location. I have to admit it was a bonified Perchapolooza!!! From 2:00 to 6:00 we totally annihilated them using everything from our Powerbait Twister Tails to scavenging every chunk of minnow leftover from the massacre. Our boat limit was 40 perch and after the first 10, decided that a minimum size was in order. Estimating at least a perch every 2 minutes for each of us I would bet we caught over 400 fish total. If you go to my Thursday, October 14th post (http://davidjanderson.blogspot.com/2010/10/workin-for-man.html) you can compare the 2 livewell shots, then and now. Certainly a significant difference.   Bill showed up in time to partake in the success.  The top picture is my fishing partner Lory with a beautiful 12 inch perch.

Leaving the perch hole with our limit, we head to Indian Point for the evening shallow walleye troll.  The moon was well positioned to give us all the light we needed to set up a trolling pattern.  Within the first 15 minutes I nailed this nice 24 inch walleye that hit my #5 Hot Steel Shad Rap in 10 feet of water.  With the sunlight still peeking out from the horizon, it made for a memorable picture.  Unfortunately this was the only fish we were able to scrape up and left at 8:30.  There was a lot of traffic on the point and having exhausted our efforts on the perch, we decided to leave.  It took an hour to clean our fish and vacuum pack them and we were in bed by midnight.  It certainly was a day to remember.  Next week it's home to see my dad who is struggling with some medical issues and offer some help.  I can always fish later.

A Trailer Load of Potatoes

As a child growing up my dad would always finish washing my ears with the comment "these ears are so dirty you could grow potatoes in them!".   Well whether there was any truth to that, I am always think of him as I dig my potatoes out of the garden before a hard freeze occurs.  This year was a bumper crop for one of my favorite things to grow.   Planted in early May, the wet summer was perfect for producing this trailer full of delicious tubers.  Potatoes, along with corn (maize) were the 2 most important food crops originating in the New World.  Native to Peru, South America, they have become a staple in the world's food supply.  Today's varieties are hardy, disease resistant, and yield exceptionally well.  This wasn't always the case as in 1845 when the Irish, for whom the poor people depended solely on the potato, experienced a blight (disease) which eventually killed over 1 million people.  There are some interesting side stories regarding the role of England, who controlled Ireland at the time, however that is a story for another time.  What is interesting about potatoes is that the plant contains toxic compounds, especially in the leaves, stems, and round fruit that grow from the flowers.  Although these compounds in severe cases can cause coma and eventually death, it is very rare.  Never the less potato breeders developing new cultivars are keenly aware of this property and look for toxicity levels in the tubers to minimize any problems associated with this.  When the tubers are not fully covered by soil and are exposed to the sun, the tops turn green.  The green areas have more concentration of these compounds and should be discarded before cooking.   A little research shows that in the last 50 years there has been no reported cases of death from poisoning, and those cases that have  been reported have been minor issues relating to eating the green portion of the tuber or because of drinking potato leaf tea (that doesn't even sound good!).  If any of you have read John Krakauer's book Into the Wild, the main character died a agonizing death eating a distant relative of the potato plant's wrong parts.

This year I grew 5 different varieties of potatoes.  They included Norland Reds, Kennebec, California White, Yukon Gold, and a blue potato cultivar pictured here.  The Norland and Kennebec tend to grow some nice large tubers as you can see the bigger ones in the trailer.  My guess is I dug over 125# of tubers from the 2 40 foot rows planted.  Fertilized with an 18-46-0 mixture, the high middle number assured good root development.  One of my favorite ways to prepare the fruits of my labor is to cut up a few potatoes along with an onion from the same garden and put them in some aluminum foil.  Add a little olive oil and Italian seasoning, throw them on the grill and in about an hour you have a delicious addition to any meal.  As with my pickles, the fruits of my labor pays off for all the hard work in the spring and summer.

As far as fishing goes, I am sorry to report there has been little time for that.  My plans are to take

Thursday, October 21st off to sight in my new rifle scope then head to Mille Lacs.  Now that the water has cooled, word has it the perch are biting better.  Going with my neighbor Lory, we hope to bring back a few of these great eating fish as well check out the evening trolling bite as we are right on top of the next full moon.  We'll see!!!

Workin' for the Man

My friend Bill Lundeen of Lundeen's Tackle Castle on beautiful Mille Lacs Lake is mentioned frequently on Fishin' With Dave, and for good reason.  Bill and his lovely wife Kathy's bait shop is strategically located at the corner of Hwy's 169 and 27, on the southwest side of the lake.  A gateway point for fishermen coming to Mille Lacs, there are many options after loading up on fresh bait, snacks, tackle, ice, and some up to date advice on the latest status of the bite.  When I moved into my current residence 18 years ago, it was easier to head to Mille Lacs by taking  US Hwy 169 north to Onamia.  In about 1 hour and 15 minutes I was at the lake, a little faster than my previous route of going north on Hwy 47.  My new preferred route presented me with a few options for bait shops.  Prince's north of Milaca, The Holiday Station (now a BP), and Bill's all were given a chance.  Prince's seemed like it was never open, The Holiday Station was a little to big company for me, leaving Lundeen's Tackle Castle as my effort to support the local business's.  Through the years we have become good friends.  Sharing fishing reports, opinions, and just about anything else, I was excited when he asked if I could possible watch the store last Sunday.  Apparently the Bishop was coming for a special celebration at their church and it was an event they would really like to attend as a family.  After clearing my schedule, got up at 5:00 and drove my motorcycle to the store for a quick lesson in how to run the operation.  I did get some help from a former employee, Mike who was up fishing and visiting his mother.  Together we restocked the essentials, dusted the shelves, swept the floor, all while selling a few minnows and leeches in between.  Here's a picture of me behind the counter, ready to greet the next fisherman that walked in.  Although it wasn't terribly busy I did manage to sell a new landing net, 1 quart of Bill's famous home made maple syrup, some sucker minnows, a few rainbows, and some leeches.  We did have one issue with the DNR license machine but all in all it went pretty well.  Bill and his family came back from church, happy to have been able to attend and the shop was still in functioning condition, abet a little cleaner!  It was certainly a nice change from the transformer business and it really feels good to be trusted enough with another man's life work.  As I said before, if you are ever in the area stop in and tell them Dave sent you, I guarantee you a smile.

Of course I did get a chance to get out on Friday night with my neighbor Tom.  The weather has been nothing short of phenomenal and this night was no exception.  Bill had reported that the perch were starting to go in Wahkon Bay, usually an opportunity to put a few perch in the live well with plenty of action.  We would fish to just before sunset then head to 3-mile reef to try some shallow water walleye fishing.  Well the perch were definitely going crazy however the problem was they all measured between 4 and 6 inches.  I must have caught 100 or so casting a ivory colored Power Bait twister tail while Tom casted for larger prey.  In the end I had caught only 1 perch that measured enough to make it worth filleting.  Of course that first keeper must get into that live well to set the stage for introducing additional company to keep the first one happy.  Well, that didn't happen.  This was our one and only fish for the night and trust me, it looks a lot larger than it really is!  Our trip to 3-mile proved a fruitless effort.  We  could not even scrounge up a lowly rock bass.  I think the water temp was still too high, 59 degrees, not enough to drive the fish shallow.  The full moon is in a week or so and this might be my last stand before I put the boat away.   I am hoping to get back on the Mississippi River this weekend for an attempt at a trophy smallie.  With fall rapidly approaching, time is getting short to get everything done before the snow flies.  I guess it's the same every year.

Da Bears!

Last weekend was busy with social events which got in the way of fishing.   Wisconsin bear hunting is in full swing and 2 of my friends sent in pictures of their trophy bruins.  Because I have no fishing report for this week, sharing their stories and pictures might be something of interest.  The first picture is of my good friend John Felix and his bear hanging in the garage.  John really knows how to take a picture and this bear looks enormous.  Rather than repeat the story I copied his rendition from his e-mail as it is much more interesting.

This bear was suspect of clawing the boards on Harlan’s sugar bush on land 15 miles south of Ashland. It is the same property I shot the 350 lb. 10 years ago. Same bait as well. We hung a trail cam and looked for the largest animal, which is usually the one that marks his territory. After a month of pictures and effort it was decided that this must be the one. He was coming in mostly of and on all day, and night. The first day of season it was windy beyond. Harlan sat with me in a two man ladder stand to video. We got out early because of the wind. I waited until the following Monday to let the bait cool off and see if we had turned them nocturnal. I went to the stand and was settled in by 3:15 PM. The first time he approached he was around 35 yards + out. I had my 50 cal. TC with me but also had the bow as he looked around, turned and left the way he came. I processed all this and by the time I saw him coming back I didn’t have time to turn on the video.  When he got to the 25 yard mark, he presented a standing shot between a gap in the trees about 18 inches apart (this was like a hallway of trees and his frontal area including a heart shot was visible and I could see his head on the other side).  I knew the distance but double checked with a rangefinder. I squeezed off the shot, the broad head just grazed the triceps on the left side, caught lung and pierced the heart center mass on the top fat ring. It was a total pass through. He ran 33 yards and collapsed in 5 seconds graveyard dead.

Pretty exciting if you ask me! John claims the bear was an older male, probably in the twilight of it's life.  Although it was over 6 feet long and had a large head, the bear had practically no fat on it and weighed about 240 pounds.  A younger, healthy bear would have been much larger.  This brings me to the next picture, my friend Greg Kimblom.  Greg shot this bear with his Remington 30-06 on private property in northern Wisconsin.  The bear weighed 225 pound dressed out and was one of 5 that was visiting his baiting station.  Being further from his hunting area than John, he decided to take this one.  As you see, both bears weigh close to the same however as they say, I picture says a thousand words.  Hanging in front of John, his bear looks massive.  Posing for a quick field shot, Greg's bear doesn't look as large yet in both cases they represent the average weight of a black bear shot in the midwest.  Of course they can get much larger with reports of 600 - 700 pound boars being shot every year.  Either way these will make great rugs for the living room, assuming their wives are tolerant!

Indian Summer is in full swing and Friday night is the peak of the New Moon period, time to try our luck trolling rouges on the Mille Lacs reefs.  With temperatures in the 80's, it is too nice to pass up.  Shallow reef trolling has been slow this year however with the water temps in the 50's it's got to get better.  On Sunday morning I will be running the store at Lundeen's Tackle Castle, stop in and say hi.