The Feed Bag is On!!!

Despite last weeks sad turn of events, getting out on the boat can help wash all ones sorrow away.  Having a few sorrows to wash, the hot Mille Lacs bite has been nothing more than phenomenal and I have been taking advantage of everything she offers.   My first real trip was actually on Sunday, May 27th.  Although my friend Tom Emmons would more than likely disagree, he did take priority over what turned out to be a pretty good fishing trip.  This trip included Lory Brasel bringing his 18 foot Lund to fish with Tom McAtee, and I showing the newbie to walleye fishing, Welly Chou, the finer points of the Mille Lacs post spawn bite.  After stopping for bait at Lundeen's, Lory got the jump on heading to the landing on the west side by 10 minutes.  The wind was brisk from the east and my concerns about the rough water were confirmed as the lake came into view, 3 foot rollers hitting the shore.  As we passed the Conoco/Subway we spied Lory's truck parked, probably loading up for lunch.  A quick call confirmed my suspicions, it would be a lot easier and comfortable if we turned around and launched on the east side.  Although about 20 more miles, it was a smart move for sure.  Launching at the new Liberty Beach Landing, the ramp was full as we had to park the truck on the main highway.  There were 3 tournaments being held in the coming week (more on that) and with the bite strong, every landing was overflowing.  Finally getting on the water we headed to the first structure 2 miles out.  The east side of Mille Lacs has a ton of unnamed humps that come up from 35 feet to 20 - 24 feet, some are rather large and some are very small.  After drifting over a few times we fired up the Suzuki and headed a mile south to a small unoccupied structure topping at 22 feet.  We drifted across and the Lowrance lit up with fish hanging a foot or two off the bottom.  Usually this means the fish are active and it prompted me to try out the anchor function on my Minn Kota Terrova I-pilot.  Wow, what a fantastic feature for bobber fishing walleyes!  The anchor in the boat just became 99% obsolete.  With the bow into the wind the trolling motor kept us exactly in position above the fish with little sway.   Rigging up Welly line and casting it out he watched as this was a new experience for him.  As the bobber hit the stop on the line, set at 20 feet, it just kept on going.  I was wondering where his bobber went when we realized it was down.  Now bobber fishing has a technique all it's own as you really need to tighten the line before you set the hook.  With the fish moving and you stationary, this can be difficult to teach the right touch.  With that, Welly missed the first bite, the second bite, and the third bite before asking me to set the hook on the fourth hit.  Refusing, he finally got a nice 16 inch keeper.  While the Terrova held us in place a large thick mark appeared on the screen of my HDS 10.  Quickly reeling in my rig and letting it back down right next to the boat, the leech and sinker came into view as the fish swam up to meet it at 18 feet.  Back down it went and as the bobber hit the water it just kept on going.  A quick flick of the wrist and the above picture is what ended up in the net, a really nice 27.25 inch walleye.  Not bad.  The 4 of us ended up with 8 keeper walleyes, enough for each to enjoy a nice fish fry.

Last weekend was tournament time as Mark Applen and I fished the Minnesota Tournament Trail event on Mille Lacs, Sunday June 2nd.  We have fished this tournament for the last 2 years with the highlight being our rookie year where we took 3rd place, winning $1046 for the ENA Charity Fund.   Last year we gambled and may have placed 6th, in the money but our strategy pushed us to 16th place.  This year we ended up a respectable 69th out of 83 teams.....not very good!  Although the fish were biting like crazy we decided to stay close to our east side hot spots and caught a bunch of 21 - 25 inch fish yet no slot fish under 17 inches and no lunkers over 28 inches.  The primary issue was the early spring have moved the fish into deeper water, into their summer peak locations.  Our traditional hot spot of 2 years running was basically void of fish.  I was pretty confident that one needed at least a 28 inch fish to play the game and the winning team brought in 2 plus 4 slot fish (you can weigh 6 fish per team) for a total of over 18 pounds.  This along with a number of teams who did bring in a 28 incher made placing in the money very difficult.  Never the less after working our spots we headed out to the flats to try and salvage the day.  We were in the first flight of 50 boats to start at 7:00AM and as you can see the majority of the boats headed north to the mud flat areas.  We headed to the gravel bars and humps off the east side and really never got a slot fish or a 28+ until we moved to the Midget Flat.  Immediately we started marking fish and soon employed our trusty I-Pilot to hold us in place while we through out the bobbers.  Almost immediately they went down and within a 20 minutes we had 2 slot fish under 17 in the live well.  We continued to work the flat and caught about 19 fish total with the majority being again in the 21 - 25  inch range.  With a few hours left we decided to go back where we received a good tip that there were some slots being caught, as well be closer to the weigh in.  We managed to catch our third slot fish then had to head in to be counted as arriving before 3:00 to avoid disqualification.  Hindsight is 20/20 and the chances of getting a 28+ are as good where we fished as anywhere yet thinking about it, the area's were hit hard by the launches and they probably took most of those fish under 17 leaving little for us.  Oh well, it was still a blast to fish with my friend Mark, a great prelude to our big event on June 15 to raise money for the ENA fund to help the families of children with cancer.  This year is our Tenth Annual and we should surpass the $250,000 raise for a great cause.  If you feel like helping click on this link ENA Fund and hit the donate button on the bottom of the page to give through your Pay Pal account.  It's really a worthwhile cause and I will report on our success after the Golf Tournament we hold as our major fund raiser.  The last picture is a 25 inch fish that we got early Sunday morning of the tournament.  As I said, we really caught a lot of nice walleyes however Mark refused to take any more pictures unless it was of a 28 inch fish.  As a result this is the only picture I have for a reather successful day of catching the wrong sized walleyes!

Sunday I am taking my neighbor Blair and his friend from Chicago to Mille Lacs hoping to repeat the success of the last 2 weeks.  Blair asked if I would be interesting in hiring out but since he moved my shed (another story), it's the least I can do.  I hope the bite is still on, which it should be and I look forward to an exciting report next week.

At Peace

It's been a very difficult Memorial Day weekend with the passing of my dearest friend Tom Emmons.  Admittedly the right words have yet to come out but I will give it a good attempt.  Tom was working for CPT Corporation when we first met in 1980.  A brilliant engineer, we hit it off well.  In magnetic design lingo Tom was a pot core inductor guy.  This was a type of geometry for an electronic component that had great inductive properties and was self shielding.  In fishing terms it was like a type of reel, it was light weight, had lot's of line capacity, and a great drag.  Over the years one is bound to meet people through your work environment that stick and Tom really stuck.  From a business standpoint he was my best customer and the most consistent.  His designs were fabulous and had longevity.  First with CPT then with Stearns Computers, onto Moniterm Corp, DataCard, Teradyne, and a number of companies he consulted with, I still make a significant amount of components for the products he designed.  Through the years I had become a trusted confidant and friend.  Starting in 1998 until he was laid off at Teradyne in 2009, Tom and I would have lunch together at least 3 times a week, every week.  Teradyne was located a mile from my work which made for a convenient rendezvous.  That's many hours of getting to know your friend.  Our two big fishing events were the week between Christmas and New Year renting an ice house on Mille Lacs as well as our annual Fourth of July outing with the intent on watching the Garrison Fireworks Show while on the lake.  Along with our friend Tom McAtee we always had a great time and sometimes even down right dangerous!   Tom never like venturing on ice regardless of the thickness and it was quite a chore to talk him into the first ice scenario's.  As you see here Tom was a big man and probably had more to fear than Mr. McAtee and I in that department.  Either way he was the consummate outdoorsman who loved hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, and would rather rough it than enjoy the luxury of a comfortable bed, boat, or weather.  Here is my favorite picture of him with his ever present camo boonie hat, field jacket, shorts, and that impeccable smile.  This might even have been the largest smallmouth bass he had ever caught. 

The most difficult part of this is the fact that Tom, after a prolonged period of setbacks, personal issues, and depression, took his own life.  It is very hard to even discuss this however I feel that this post would not be complete without the whole story.  I think one of the best sentiments was written by my good friend Dale Stenseth, one of Tom's co-workers at a couple of companies he worked for.  Here are the excerpts:  "Yesterday, I attended a memorial gathering for a former coworker. He was also a Viet Nam era veteran, 4 years younger than me. While we remember those who have died in wars, we give less recognition to those who returned, particularly those who are wounded in body or mind. Many suffer from depression and other afflictions, like substance abuse and gambling. His demons finally became more than he could bear. Perhaps he had the last laugh. I had not talked with him in nearly a year. As is often the case for survivors, I feel guilty, as if I had somehow neglected him, even though I know I could not have saved him or changed his path.  I will remember Tom as a kindly person with a smile." 

Depression is a disease that like cancer can rip the life out of one's soul.  It is difficult to affect a person who is close to you unless they are willing to let you into their heart.  Those who were close to Tom and his struggles agree, we stood by him till the end, never giving up on our friend yet understanding that although our efforts failed, we still loved him to the end.  Our lives have been made better by our friendship with Tom, and even though our future maybe short one less friend, he has given the gift of resolve to always try to make our lives and those of others a better place.  Life is never fair as all of us have our examples.  The last picture was taken one October perch fishing while it was freezing cold.  Tom was never one for words and gave me the big hint, he was cold, let's go.  I made him stay, something I wish I could say today.  Love you buddy!

The Final Tally

As always Team Walleye organizer, Ron Edberg sent me the finally tally on the number and length distribution of our walleye catch on Leech Lake last week.  The numbers pretty much tell the whole story of a tough bite for opener. For 2012 the total number of walleyes caught over 12 inches amounted to a paltry 97 fish.  With 21 guys fishing this year it only amounts 4.62 walleyes per guy for the 3 days and .77 fish per guy per session (6 sessions).  Comparing the 2011 catch of 251 fish with the same amount of guys and the 2009 catch of 389 walleyes, slow is probably an understatement.  One thing a tough bite does is bring out ones creativeness.  As I stated last week, one can never leave an unproductive spot too early.  For me this meant moving around quite frequently.  Whether it's Pine Point, Stoney Point, Ottertail Point, Goose Island, Big Hardwoods, Little Hardwoods, Star Point, or my secret location I spent enough time at each of these traditional fishing locations to determine the best strategy.  Trolling Raps at dusk and fishing the deeper structures were the key to bringing walleye in my boat with 22 caught.  Out of 7 boats, Team Anderson produced 23% of the fish caught, not to bad as I attribute it to hard work, a good strategy, and having great fishermen in my boat to help with the task.   One of the interesting facts revealed by the graph is the linear distribution of the fish size.  From 12 inches minimum to the 27.5 inch winning fish there is a straight line between them.  This indicates that the year classes caught are evenly distributed with the population being well balanced. 

Here is the official Team Walleye 2012 group picture in front of the new cabin.  All of the guys are great, some seasoned fisherman and some that may have never caught a walleye.  There are a few that will fish with me throughout the year and some I will not see again until next year.  If you click on the picture it will load up and you should be able to read the names.  Quite a crew if I say so myself.  Of particular note is my younger brother Jon, the last guy on the right.  Life hasn't been exactly fair to him as he a number of surgeries to take care of a genetic condition that has caused the loss of his right eye, had tissue transplants, and extensive reconstruction of the area beneath what once was his nose.  A trip like this would normally be out of his reach so my other brother Steve and I decided to invite him with a few years back as our guest.  This year Jon fished every session and is a full blown Team Walleyer.  If we can just get him from winning the DCS award next year, it would be a huge accomplishment.  Maybe the fact that he fishes with Steve may severely handicap him.  I think Steve and I will have to have a discussion about his guiding capabilities!

As I write this post the rain gauge outside says 5.25 inches.  This is basically what has fallen in the last 24 hours.  The Mississippi River behind the house is really coming up and I am sure Mille Lacs is also moving higher.  Traditional this is the week the garden gets planted however it looks more like a mud hole than a garden.  The Mille Lacs walleye bite is in full swing with reports of 40 - 50 fish per outing.  The plan is to get up there on Sunday and see if the reports are correct.  I have committed to fish the Minnesota Tournament Trail (MTT) again this year on behalf of the Eric Applen Fund to see if Mark and I can score in the money.  Last year we got a little greedy so we definitely have a better plan this year.  Happy Memorial Day and take the time to honor those who have served.  For me it includes my Dad (Air Force), Uncle Keith (Navy), Cousin Jerry Ystad (Vietnam), and Rich Allen (Army Airborne).  Thanks for your sacrifices, you will not be forgotten.  Here is a picture of my dad at the age of 17, just out of basic training....good looking guy.  I guess I was blessed more with his brains than his looks!  God bless all of our veterans and service members.

Well, That's Why They Call it Fishing!

Well, the official 39th annual Leech Lake Opener for Team Walleye is now just a memory.  The bite was considerably worse than I expected but like my title says, that's why they call it fishing instead of catching!  Actually it's not that we didn't catch any fish but to say that the bite was tough is an understatement.  The early ice out, cold April, and the enormous lake fly hatch that occurred on the lake this weekend all had an influence on our success.  I don't have the exact numbers yet and will post them as soon as Ron sends them.  There were a lot of positives from this year's trip including a surprise upgrade from our previous 5 cabin arrangement to the brand new log cabin duplex that slept 10 each side, was connected, and had a total of 10 toilets and 8 showers.  Everything from balconies to luxurious beds, Cabins 2 and 3 made us forget about the amount of work needed to assure we had enough fillets for the Sunday night fish fry.  The exciting news is we have secured the same accommodations for next year's opener which will celebrate our 40th year at Leech Lake.  Unfortunately that time will come way too fast these days.  For me the catching was very much uneventful with my largest fish, a 28 inch northern pike pictured, fooling me into believing I had the trophy in the bag.  Truth be told my largest walleye was about 19 inches and the total was 11walleye's for the entire weekend.  I still managed to take 3 honors, top total individual points at 22 (2 points per fish), top draft team,  and #1 Boat Team which is awarded to the captain that had  the most walleyes caught in his boat.  Being the recipient of these awards in the past I do work hard for the guys that fish with me and look for strategies that prevent me from continuing to fish unproductive locations and patterns.  As far as the draft award, we have an interesting and fun event which happens Sunday morning.  After Saturday's results are in and points are assessed we have a fishing draft, sort of like the NFL does but in reverse.  Here the guy with the lowest score gets to pick who's boat he wants to fish in.  6 boats participate and with 3 per boat we have 2 rounds.  12 guys draft and once a boat is chosen it cannot be picked again till the second round.  I was picked first by Matt Taylor then by Kevin in the second round.  We had a great time and put 6 fish in the boat for top honors.  Both Kevin and Matt won a #5 Shad Rap in the new Helsinki color for picking the top boat for the Sunday morning session.

The Monday night session is our last time on the water.  Since my brother Steve started bringing his boat my partners have been pretty random.  While getting ready to go fishing, 2 guys that I had never fished with before walked up to the boat and asked if they could join me, Jeremy and Lurch (Adam). Thinking this could be interesting, a couple of younger guys wanting to fish with me.......of course, come aboard.  Immediately they were informed we were heading to my secret spot, looking for the big fish winner.  A deep reef some 7 or so miles from the resort, I had discovered this 2 years ago when an early spring sent the walleyes deep.  They probably thought I was off my rocker but were willing to take the gamble.  Having been there earlier in the day the walleyes were hugging the bottom like a carp sucking snails.  Upon arriving the marks on the Lowrance showed a few fish 2 feet off the bottom which usually indicates more aggressive fish.  Within 15 minutes Jeremy nailed this beautiful 27.5 inch walleye.  In the history of Team Walleye only once did someone catch a 27.5 inch fish......this one was destined to be the trophy winner as I knew the tough bite would be almost impossible to match this fish.  I was right as he took the Big Fish Trophy for 2012.  It gets even better as Lurch caught a 26 inch fish about 10 minutes later that took 2nd place.  For Jeremy, this was the 3rd walleye he had ever caught so I was pretty pumped.  At my age it's getting to be much more fun to see others enjoy things catching these nice fish and helping them do so.  Fabulous Fish guy!!  So all in all it wasn't a bad trip as my boat racked up the Team Award, Individual Points Award, Top Draft Team Award, Biggest Fish Award, and Second Biggest Fish Award.  It has stopped being about me and shifted to what I can do to help others, honestly it's a lot more fun.

So I will leave you with a gorgeous Leech Lake sunset.   This was taken from my secret spot looking west toward Ottertail Point.  I love sunsets, the vivid colors and the serenity of the conclusion to another wonderful day of fishing.  As always it ends way to soon yet along with that comes more memories as well as things to look forward too.  A special thanks to Brindley's Harbor for making our stay an experience of a lifetime.  To my friends Mark Mayerich and Ron Edberg for arranging a great time as always.  Of course I cannot end without commenting on the Minnesota Bound segment about Team Walleye.  They already have it posted online at http://www.mnbound.com/watch-mn-bound/2012/5/14/minnesota-bound-622.html.  We are the first segment starting at 1:30 into the video and all of us were pretty satisfied with the job that Ron Schara Productions presented.  I hope that you enjoy the piece as well as we did!  This week is dedicated to helping my friend Mark Taylor install a Humminbird Sonar/Chart system into his large cabin cruiser then on Saturday we will haul it to Lake Minnetonka for it resting place for the summer.  Sunday is suppose to rain so a little family activities are scheduled.  I've already power washed the Ranger and rumor has it the bite on Mille Lacs is hot.  It will just have to wait till Memorial weekend.

Team Walleye on MN Bound

Checking the Minnesota Bound Facebook Page we were greeted with this teaser: "This weekend on MN. Bound, the magic of Minnesota's Fishing Opener. If you think this grand tradition is all about catching something, you'd be wrong. It's more like a reunion on water!".  Along with a picture of my good friend, Mark Taylor, it looks like Team Walleye will finally get the fame we have been waiting a full year for this coming Sunday's show.  Minnesota Bound is a locally produced television program by Ron Schara, Minnesota's beloved outdoor writer.  At one time he was the main outdoor sports columnist for the Star/Tribune, our Minneapolis newspaper.  I remember back about 1985 he wrote an article about spearing fish through the ice.  At that time correspondence meant writing a letter, addressing an envelope, adding a stamp and hope it arrives.  Two weeks later I actually got a response, personally signed by Ron himself.  That made quite an impression on me especially when his first comment was "Thanks for the lecture."  Who.....me?!?! Anyway I still have his letter and appreciate and continue to be a big fan.  If you have access to the Minneapolis television station KARE 11, it will air on Sunday night, May 13th at 10:35.  You can also catch the episode in about 2 weeks on their website http://www.mnbound.com/watch-mn-bound/.  Here's hoping they did a great job! 

The sticker on the right has been printed and distributed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.  Apparently in an effort to control Aquatic Invasive Species such as Asian carp, zebra mussels, spiny water fleas and whatever else has invaded our environment, the DNR decided this sticker will be the beginning of a long punitive process that allows you to be fined for doing nothing.  Right now it is illegal to trailer your boat with the drain plug in and doing so will result in a $150 fine.  Personally I have a big issue with the approach as it's like giving me a ticket for speeding while I haven't even started my truck.  Sure, I leave my plug in my boat, does that mean I am spreading invasive species?  The reality is  there are probably enough people out there oblivious to the current situation however I find it interesting that we are treated as common criminals and we haven't even don anything yet!  Oh well, the government will protect us all.  Sorry for the rant but this one strikes a nerve.  So the purpose of the sticker is two fold (literally).  The top part must be present in the interior of your boat and presentable upon request by a conservation officer or some other person in authority.  Because it's  ugly I have mine stuck to the bottom side of my storage compartment lid, and is acceptable.  The bottom part that looks like a construction sign is to be placed on your boat trailer, close to the winch.  I bet the DNR spend a few hundred thousand dollars printing these decals out.  Well last week our efficient legislator and Governor passed a new AIS law which invalidated this sticker.........go figure.  With a host of new laws starting July 1st, now it's a real mess.  For instance, I cannot take the leeches that are in water from home out of the boat when I leave the landing without first dumping it out then replacing it with water I brought from home to refill.  Huh???  Apparently someone trusts that the water I brought from home is really water I brought from home.  It should be an interesting fishing season and hopefully I can avoid being thrown in jail for insulting an officer, uffda!!!

The other good news is Brindley's Harbor asked if we would mind if they upgraded our accommodations for the weekend.  They have a brand new log cabin duplex that sleeps 10 on each side, has 5 bathrooms per, 2 refrigerators, washer/dryer, and are simply beautiful.  It took about 1 second to make that decision.  I am really looking forward to this weekend, a chance to see my friends and family, and catch some fish.  The weather looks fantastic and the fish on Leech Lake should be done with their post spawn phase and have the feedbag on.  Next weeks post should be a duzy.  Don't forget to check out our segment on Minnesota Bound.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year?!?!?!  OK, the calendar new year is January 1st, Chinese New Year is usually in February, and Fishin" With Dave's New Year is May 1st.  I started writing this blog in May of 2008 as a way to chronicle my fishing adventures and whatever else came along.  In 2009 I was thinking about a special Christmas gift for my Dad and because he didn't have Internet, printing a book of this blog seemed like a great idea.  Well, this thought came to me in November and at that time I had over 18 months of posts.  www.blog2print.com will take your URL and create a nice hard cover book for a base price plus so much per page after a certain amount.  Looking at all of my posts it quickly added up to about $150 so I decided to organize my blog based on fishing seasons (wow, did that make sense!).   Minnesota Fishing Opener begins in May and our fishing licenses expire on April 30th, seemed like a good plan and it would keep my cost for printing reasonable.  So here I am starting my 5th year blogging having never missed a week where I did not post.  Although my father has passed away I will print my 4th book, one for Mom, one for me and maybe a softcover for the office.  Sometimes I worry that Google will decide to exclude us freeloaders from their system and I would have nothing to show for all of my posting efforts.  It's still fun and I do have about 300 people a week coming into this site and sometimes I feel obligated yet when I get done with a post I am glad I continue to write.  I hope you enjoy it as well.
 

I am writing this from the airport soon to be on a plane to Denver.  This is my third straight week of flying out of Minneapolis and I am ready for Opener.  One thing Denver has that my last two destinations included is a Bass Pro Shop.  As stated earlier, I like their lure selection and they have some nice business casual clothes that are very comfortable.  It will probably kill me but I might have to make a stop, the third in 3 weeks.............Lord help me!  The Denver BPS has a fantastic seafood restaurant called Islamorada, named after the famous Florida Key with the same name.  There are 2 things about Islamorada that frustrates me; first is I always have a hard time pronouncing it correctly after I haven't said the word in a while.  It is a Spanish word meaning "purple island" and is pronounced aisle-a-more-AH-dah.  I keep wanting to start it with the word "is" and then get all screwed up.  When I finally get it right the name just flows from one's vocabulary yet maybe it's my Norwegian accent that prohibits me from getting it right every time, oh well.  The second thing that frustrates me is the fact that I would love to get back there and do some fishing as it doesn't get any better than that.  Watching fishing shows on Saturday and Sunday mornings, there is always a couple based in Florida.   Roland Martin often fishes out of Islamorada as well I have seen the guide we hired in Key West, Captain Steve Rodgers,  fishing Yellowtail, Sailfish, Grouper, and Tuna as well.  I love the area and look forward to getting back there some day.  As far as the restaurant itself, they serve great raw oysters on the half shell, something I could eat a couple dozen at a time.

It's been a goofy spring for sure.  April weather in March, March weather in April yet now that it's May we are full speed ahead.  My travel schedule has left little time to actually get out and fish however the reports have been spotty to begin with.  Because I have been gone most of the last 3 weeks, the weekends have been simply filled with trying to catch up.  I picked up my boat last Friday from Frankie's and what a wonderful job they did re-fitting my cover.  Saturday wasn't too nice so it gave me time to replace the line on a number of reels, shine up the boat, and start getting it ready for the big weekend.  I got to tell you the Ranger is looking pretty good right now!  She's vacuumed, waxed, polished, and ready to go.  I'd like to take her out this weekend but alas, another family commitment as my niece's son is getting first communion.   Zak is a pretty good kid and I have no problem sacrificing another weekend for him.  All bets are off starting May 11th however!  I'll tell you about that someday.  Anyway the flight attendant is telling me to shut this thing off so till next week have a great weekend, and if nothing else try to make someone else smile, it's pretty cool!   I'll leave you with a picture from the Opryland Hotel from last week, absolutely beautiful.

Hanging in Nashville

The last 3 days have been spent in the Music Capital of the US, Nashville, Tennessee.  As President of our trade association for transformer manufacturers (TTA), it was time for our Spring Meeting and along with the usually strategic sessions.  I did get to visit the Opry Mills area before arriving at the airport, where I am writing this post while waiting for our ride back to Minneapolis.  Opry Mills is a Mall/Entertainment area which is home to Opryland USA, The Grand Ole Opry, and the main attraction in Opry Mills is the Bass Pro Shop.  Although Cabela's is only 5 miles from my home I think Bass Pro Shop's have a much larger selection of fishing tackle and equipment.  Maybe it's because those bass fisherman need more stuff than us walleye guys but again they seldom fish with live bait.  I have been interested in a technique called Drop Shot rigging, very popular for bass fishing.  As you see in the picture a hook is tied anywhere from 6 inches to 24 inches above the end of your line, with the hook attached directly to the line.  At the end of the tag is a sinker that is heavy enough keep you in touch with the bottom.  The theory is that the lure or bait is kept off the bottom and more in the strike zone of the fish's vision.  Like you and I, it is easier to see something at eye level than having to always be looking down for something.  My thought is that this would be a great technique for walleyes on Leech Lake where we normally fish with a simple short shanked 1/8 oz live bait jig and drag it across the bottom.  With the lake ice outs so early this year, I suspect the big females will be in the hunt after having spawned a few weeks earlier and may be hanging in the deeper rock ledges off the reefs.  The plan is to use a live shiner minnow as bait and along with a special drop shot sinker, fish these rocky areas more effectively than with a jig.  One secret is to tie the sinker with a lighter pound test than your main line and if the sinker gets snagged you can simple break the drop line, preserving you minnow and hook.  It seems like it should work and I will give a full report on my rresults in a few weeks.   Bass Pro Shops have a great selection of tackle made for this technique and I loaded up with some special hooks and drop shot sinkers which should make rigging much easier.  I also bought a fish counter for keeping track of the number of fish in the livewell, 2 half ounce bass jigs that were on sale, and a new LED Livewell light.As for the store itself, the Nashville Store is not the largest one I have been in however their aquarium was pretty nice.  Loaded with huge fish I was particularly amazed at the size of a couple of Largemouth Bass swimming around. They were easily in the 12 - 15 pound class,  dwarfing anything I could catch in Minnesota.  Along with a couple of nice paddlefish and wipers (cross between a white bass and a sea run striped bass), like airplanes I could sit and watch them swim around for hours.

Nashville is the home of the Grand Ole Opry, originally started as a radio program in 1925 it survives today with much of the same character as it did 88 years ago.  I had a chance to attend the Opry a number of years back and it was like going back in time.  After a few sets the show would stop for a commercial that was read in front of the audience.  While this was going on the stage was being prepared for the next act.  If you like country western music and want to an institution, I highly recommend a visit to Nashville.  This area suffered under a severe flood 2 years ago and it has recovered remarkably.  The Gaylord Opryland Resort is also something you need to see with it's beautiful indoor atrium's, complete with it's own river flowing through the Delta Conservatory.  Big enough to float a boat, you can go for a nice ride as you pass, catfish, carp, and colorful koi fish.  I will have to get back someday. 

On Monday I dropped off the boat at the dealer to get the cover re-fitted for the new trolling motor and am hoping that it will be done when I get back later tonight.  Once I have the boat back it will be full speed to the opener.  I still have much to do before I go but admittedly it's a labor of love.  The forecast is talking about snow again on Saturday.  Oh well!

Shad Rappin'

Undeniably my favorite place to shop these days is Fleet Farm.  Everything from grass seed, ATV batteries, to sporting goods my motto is "if Fleet Farm doesn't have it, you don't need it!".  On Sunday I was helping out my brother-in-law, Walter and we needed some parts to fix a water line to the garden.  He lives in Hudson Wisconsin and the local Fleet Farm is only 10 minutes away.  After a few minutes trying to figure out all the parts needed to repair the water line, we headed for a tour of their sporting goods area.  They have a real good selection of fishing tackle and often put their obsolete lures and overstock on sale.   No real review of the current lure's available would not be complete without a pass down the Rapala Shad Rap aisle.  Of course something caught my eye, an exclusive  Fleet Farm color, Hot Pink Clown.  Man, I just had to have that color as it should be as good as Hot Steel for deep trolling this summer.  The come in various sizes, #5, #7, and #9 are the most popular. #5 is my favorite size as I do a lot of shallow water trolling as well, it is beginning to be my go to bait for deep water lead lining in the summer.  They run about 5 feet deep and offer a good consistent feel when  trolling the reefs and shorelines, especially in the spring.  This size definitely is deadly on all sizes of walleyes as it's not too big to scare away a 15 incher yet a 28 inch fish will slam it just the same.  If I am fishing 7 feet of water the #7 works well and of course 9 feet of water, the #9 is my choice.  So I get my newly found prize home, unboxed it, and as it was being placed in the appropriate tackle box I couldn't help but smile at my colorful collection of these deadly crankbaits.  Managing to lay them out on the floor of my boat, here are 21 different color patterns that were in my Shad Rap box.   This doesn't count the few that are stuffed somewhere in my collection which were simply camera shy.  The colors are as follows starting from the top left and going down then back up: Pink Pearl*, Pearl, Blue/Silver, Sunset Tiger*, Blue/White, Perch, Yellow Perch, Crawdad, Helsinki Shad, Dark Brown Crawdad, Silver, Clown, Hot Pink Clown#, Hot Steel, Red Tiger, Fire Tiger, Chartreuse, Shad, Lambeau Field#, Fire Tiger Bleed, Purple Pearl*.  The colors with the * are exclusive to Gander Mountain and the # are Fleet Farm's colors.  Truth be told there are 28 official Rapala colors and I estimate at least another 10 that are private labeled for stores however I not a big fan of those you don't see.  So why have so many..............well why not, after all they are awfully pretty!  Actually each has a purpose and I have fished with everyone except the Lambeau Field pattern (I'd hate to simply fish out a lake).  The brighter patterns like the Clown and Hot Steel work very well for lead lining.  The lighter colored ones are great for Leech Lake or fishing right at dusk.  The darker patterns can work very well at night, especially if there is a full moon.  Crawdad colors are deadly for smallmouth bass and walleyes, and if I were limited to just 1 color it would be this one.  The Dark Brown Crawdad is new color pattern for this year so my experience is yet to be discovered.  The other aspect of the Shad Rap is that it was one of the first "shad" type crankbaits that worked extremely well for walleyes.  With their balsa wood body and plastic bill, for the most part they simply slide off rocks and snags, although I have left quite a few on the bottom of Mille Lacs.  I would guess they were introduced in the early 1980's and remain my #1 confidence bait for trolling and casting for walleyes.  In fishing it is the confidence that can really make the difference.  Heck, I even landed a 12 pound Silver Salmon at the Homer Fishing Hole in 2000 with a #5 Fire Tiger pattern.

I spent a few days in Chicago and Detroit this week.  Having never been through Michigan, I found it quite interesting as there were a number of wineries and fruit orchards along the way.  On of my stops was at our manufacturers representatives office which was located on the southwest corner of Midway Airport.  Midway was the major airport serving Chicago until 1955 when O'hare opened.  With it's short runways and being surrounded by residential as well as commercial buildings, the airplanes come pretty low as they approach the runways.  Midway's runways are pretty short for today's standards and if you have ever landed there, you'll see what I mean.  The pilots really pour the coals to the braking systems on the planes.  It has become a major hub for Southwest Airlines and it was fun sitting in the upstairs offices watching the planes come in about every 5 minutes.  Besides fishing, I could watch aircraft, trains, an large ships all day long.  Something about them fascinates me and I just had to take a picture.

I am getting the urge to try the boat out and may just do that for a few hours this weekend.  Monday she goes into the dealer while I make my way to Nashville for a conference.  Opener is 3 weeks away and by the looks of the trees, it should be very good.  Onions got planted last weekend and I am going to put my potatoes in on Saturday.  They always say that Good Friday is the best day to plant potatoes but that just seems too early to me.  Radishes and lettuce also got planted and I wouldn't be surprised if they will be up by the weekend.

Back to Reality

Well, what goes up must come down.  After 6 weeks of significant above normal temperatures, we experienced a very hard frost this week.  Normally this would not be a problem however the warm weather has cause most of the trees to bud out significantly and more importantly has advanced my apple and pear trees to start blooming way too early.  2 years ago a mid May hard frost eliminated my entire apple crop as it froze all of the fully opened blossoms and killing them.  As of today most of the blossoms are still fairly tight and have not opened up, this may be a good sign.  The new reports of the hard frost extending south to Missouri have the commercial orchard's concerned.  I guess we will just have to wait.  If left alone apple trees tend to be cyclic, producing heavy one year and light the next.  Orchard chemically thin the apples once the blossoms have been set and have started to develop small fruit.  When the apples are about the diameter of a dime the trees are sprayed with Sevin (carbaryl), an insecticide that will cause about half of the fruit to drop off the trees.  Once thinned, the apples will grow larger and the stress on the tree is less causing them to fruit more consistently from year to year, assuring a viable crop each season.  I wanted to try this last year as the trees were filled with apples, just ran out of time.  My Haralson tree always produces a good crop yet my Honeycrisp, Honeygolds, and Wolf River apples are very cyclic and will not have a large crop regardless.  Lord knows how my pears will survive.  In the end the cold weather might simply be a minor issue or I might just be able to take the summer off!  Last Sunday I was determined to fertilize my orchard, something I did for the first time last year and it really paid off.  Having bought a heavy duty 1.75 inch earth auger for my drill, I drill 4 holes around each tree at the drip line then fill each with a 10-10-10 fertilizer.  It is recommended that you do this before the tree fully leaf's out.   As I was preparing to start drilling Rick Shermer, a guy with the same interests shows up to say hi.  Noting that I was ready to fertilize my trees and showed him how it was done he just had to try this.  Being the nice guy that I am, reached for the auger and told him to go ahead and use it today.  Promising to bring it back later that day, not a problem....right?  3 days later and no Rick we stopped by to check it his chickens, garden, trees and maybe hint about the auger.  Well, he had no intention on giving it back!  This was fine with me as Rick would give you the shirt off his back as noted by his past actions when he rototilled my garden as I laid up from surgery a few years ago, mowed my back acreage when it was too tall for my mower.  He actually came by on Saturday morning and with his Kubota made short work out of tilling my garden again.  What a guy.  I did receive my new auger this week and the trees are all ready for their summer meal.

Our Alaska trip planning is really starting to take shape.  We finally have all of our lodging booked as well as 2 days of ocean fishing out of Seward.  We have come to enjoy the combo trips out of Seward which feature both Halibut and ocean run Silver Salmon with the chance of getting a few rockfish and Ling Cod as a bonus.  Our planning works well with the tides for the days we are going and look like the morning high tide to afternoon low tide differential is only 2.5 feet.  That sure beats Homer where you can see a 20 feet change in 6 hours.  August quarter moon tides tend to be quite tame and our trip is planned to take full advantage of them.  Halibut fishing is always the best at the lowest differentials in high to low tides and for sure it's a lot easier to fish.  We have had to use 6 pound weights on time to hold our baits on the bottom of a rushing tide in 300 feet of water.  This is truly work!  My cousin Mark will be hosting our Kenai salmon fishing adventure with a rented 18 foot/35hp jet that will handle all of us.  We are trying to do something exciting and another fly out trip across the Cook Inlet for Silvers might be interesting.  The last time we flew over to Polly Creek it wasn't what we expected but still caught fish and had our first encounter with some Brown Bears.  My uncle Jerry is not coming this year however in the spirit of our adventure he did make me a few items for the trip.  Being a master wood worker, he hand made these fish dispatchers, a must for any Alaskan fishing trip.  Hooking a big Silver is one thing, landing it is another, but once you get the fish in the boat watch out!  These things flop around with the tenacity of a tornado.   About the only way they can be safely subdued before completely trashing your boat is a good konk on the head.  This can only be accomplished with the right tool and Jerry is the master of what he calls the Konkinator.  They come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, wood types, each with their own special label.  Starting from the top you see the plain Konkinator, design by Cordless Conker Co., Inc., LTD.  This is made from a heavy wood and can be very effective.  The next one down is made from the famous Lodgepole Pine of central Idaho.  Called the Oinker Silver Doinker, it is courtesy of Rip'N'Jerry Mfg. LTD, Kenai Branch.  The middle grey colored a uniquely stained device directed right at my political preferences.  Labeled the Lite Wt. Smolt Smasher it further described as Republicanator for Killing Small Fish, Boehner & Co, Brains LTD.  I told Jerry that the gray color reminds me of elephants.........what can I say!  The next light colored pine device is none other than Dave's Sockeye Slayer and was specially built by Andersonock-A-Head Mfg, Chimney Rock, Wis. The bottom is the one he made for our trip in 2008 and I can assure you it works pretty well.  I am anxious to try all of these out in a few months and hopefully can reward Jerry with the assurance that we had a great time.  Now I know where I got my sense of humor!  Thanks Jerry, I will cherish these gifts forever.

With snow in forecast and a heavy travel schedule, time continues to fly.  I finally got an appointment with Frankie's to get my boat cover redone because of the trolling motor difference.  She is nice and clean as I had more time on Saturday to keep going once Rick took care of a few hours of planned work.  As predicted I started the Suzuki and honestly it could not have turned over for more than 2 seconds.  I love the way that motor sounds, it's a 4 stroke and purrs like a kitten.  With opener 4 weeks away, this cold weather should prove interesting.  Slowly but surely things are coming together.

Northwest Sportshow Time

This last week was the annual Northwest Sportshow at the Minneapolis Convention Center.  I really look forward each year to the show and usually make 2 trips down as I always miss something the first go around.  As well, and those who have accompanied me know that I really like to talk which makes it hard to get everything accomplish in one night.  There are a ton of new products being introduced as well as number of new companies selling their ideas.  There were a number of new things that caught my eye and I just had to have.  The first was some new software called Lakemaster Contour Elite.  Developed by a couple of guys from Wisconsin, it takes the Lakemaster data and creates a useable program to manipulate that data, write it to a SD card, and then allow you to put it into your on board electronics to utilize the mapping much better.  I am anxious to see how this works and will report on it later.  The next thing I thought was interesting was a tool made by Trusty Cable Tool, a company in Ohio.  They were selling a cable tool which was invented to help remove cables from Lowrance
Locators/Chartplotters.  More often than not the cables, which twist lock onto the unit connectors, are difficult to get at and twist on and off.  This design allows one to slip it over the cable and using the hex end like a socket wrench, simply twist off the connector.  It looks pretty slick as one of my issues with my HDS10 and HDS5 is the difficulty in removing the transducer, power, and ethernet cables.  It was kind of funny as the guy didn't have any in stock as the plastic tooling was not complete.  He looked pretty trustworthy so I gave him the $10 and he promised to ship it to me.  We'll see.   The next interesting booth was hosted by Jolly Roger Tackle .  A young man from Albertville, MN, he has started a business of custom tackle specializing in spinner blades, tied rigs, and a line of crankbaits.   I have a lot of respect for guys willing to go off on their own and do something with their lives besides wishing they would have done something years earlier.  I did buy a couple packages of custom painted spinner rigs and they are pretty impressive.  Truth be told a spinner blade turns pretty fast in the water and although they are painted with perch like detail and eyes I can assure you that it's all a blur once the blade starts spinning.  These great paint jobs do more to catch the fisherman than anything.  They still look great and I can't wait to tie up a few nightcrawler rigs and try them as I know general color variations can make a big difference sometimes.  Another interesting thing is how large the spinners are getting.  I usually run #2's and am seeing blades as big as #5's, stuff we use for bass baits.  It was evident by the number of boat displays that the marine industry is on it's way back.  It has also gotten very expensive!  A new Ranger 621, fully decked out was $72,000.  Man, that was more than I paid for my first house.  2008 - 2010 was very hard on this business as a number of manufacturers either went out of business, merged, or filed bankruptcy.  Everyone said they were busy and at least for this year things look great.

My friend Keith Holtan did make it up to the Rainy River over the weekend.  Wanting to rub it in a little, Keith sent me a picture of this nice walleye he caught.  Planning to head back to Alaska after Easter, it time to begin getting his business, Beaver Creek Cabins and Guide Service up and going for the upcoming salmon season on the Kenai.  We will be looking forward to seeing him next August and I wish him a safe trip up the Alaskan Highway.  Actually I wish I had time to ride with him and fly back, it's one road I would really love to travel.   Maybe in retirement.  In the meantime my brother and I continue to solidify our plans for our sixth trip to Alaska with my cousins Greg and Tom Nelson, and Mark Anderson, who lives in Anchorage.  As soon as we get this set I will post our plans. 

I have finally gotten my boat ready to go and need to take it in and get the cover readjusted for the new trolling motor.  My tackle boxes have been redone, are cleaned and ready to go.  I will probably get the motor started this weekend, something that I am always amazed at.  Usually I put on the water muffs, pump the fuel bulb a few times and I'll bet the motor doesn't turn more than 2 seconds before it starts.  I love my Suzuki!  I still need to put new line on the reels that need it.  In addition my 35 year old Troybilt tiller received new rear tine shaft seals compliments of around 3 hours of wrenching.  As stated, it is pretty early spring and have already tilled the garden 3 weeks earlier than normal.  I even planted some spinach and radishes.  There still is more work like fertilizing the lawn, fertilizing the apple trees, spraying the trees, and general cleanup.  This weekend is Easter and Sunday will be spent with the family, enjoying ourselves as we get older.  Have a blessed Easter.

Not Much Happening

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock.............so much to do, so little time!  The sad part is that with my work schedule and this great weather, I still haven't had time to get the boat out.  Fishing reports on the Rainy River has been nothing more than fabulous and somehow fitting it in seems impossible.  So I'm relegated to yard work, cleaning the garage, putting the ice fishing stuff away, and getting the boat ready.  One thing that I have completely ignored is my asparagus plants in the garden.  Usually I am cleaning up the beds around the middle of April, hoping for the soil to warm up and encourage those tender green sprouts to show themselves.  I have about 100 or so plants in my garden and on a good May/June day can pick 2 to 3 pounds of succulent spears.  My usual routine is to leave the tops on the plants through the winter giving it some protection from the elements.  In the spring I prepare the beds by raking the dead stuff and burning what's left to create nice clean rows.  If lucky I can usually accumulate about 10 pounds to bring up to fishing opener on Leech, with some years not having anything.  Well with everything greening up like it's May I looked out the window and thought to myself, man I had better get out there before those shoots start popping up as it's a lot easier when I am not digging up good ones.  With Saturday slated to be in the 70's, it'll be a great day for it.  On the other hand, if the asparagus is up, I might just have to cook up some.  Either way this early spring has got me in a rush.  Just an FYI, one of my favorite ways to cook asparagus had been to either microwave it or cook it in a special steamer made for the job.  Today I simply brush some olive oil on the spears and throw them on the grill, need I say more.

So, what about fishing, it is Fishin With Dave ya know!  Well things are moving along in that department.  I am pleased to report that Mille Lacs Lake official ice out was Monday, March 26th.  This smokes the previous old record for the earliest ice out of April 3.  As a reference, last years official date was May 1 and the average is around April 26th.  Leech Lake has reportedly lost it's ice cover yesterday, March 28th.  With nice weather scheduled we can look forward to an early walleye spawn with the fish being on the bite by time Minnesota fishing opener begins.  Man, it's awfully early.  I am even hearing reports that there are boats out on the main lake at Lake of the Woods.  We should still be ice fishing!  With opener 6 weeks away, the big females will be deeper than normal but should be more aggressive.  I did buy a new fishing reel a few weeks ago.  During the 2010 golf tourney I bid and got an Ardent C400 casting reel and at $115 it was a steal.  Looking to replace a worn out reel I checked them out on the website and they had a closeout on the reel in a Fishouflage Walleye color, $75.00.  I ended up getting 3 of them, one each for Adam and Mark Mayerich as well one for myself.  These are first class reels, made in the USA, and work exceptionally well.  I have my Ranger almost ready to go and just have a few more tweaks before she takes her maiden run for 2012.

Finally on Sunday we went to celebrate my great aunt Florence's 100th birthday at the Strum Lutheran Church.  Just like Garrison Keillor would describe, it was held in the church basement like all good Lutheran events.  Florence is quite amazing and at 100 still retains that Fagerland edge to her.  I asked her if she was coming to my 100th birthday and she gave me a resounding YES.  Quite articulate, we had a great discussion and I can only hope that I age as well as she has.  At 100 a person has lived an interesting life.  She witnessed WW1 as a child and lived through the depression, and WW2.  She saw technology change right in front of her as there were no phones, no radio, no TV, cars were a luxury to today when we take all of this for granted.  She's certainly seen more than most, Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!!

April Showers Bring May.....Oops, Make That March

So, the nice weather continues.  For the last 10 days we have had daily temperatures above 60 as the ice has all but disappeared on most of the lakes south of Brainerd, MN.   Amazingly everything is about 4 weeks early as the week of rain has transformed my brown yard into a carpet of green. I was able to prune up all but 3 of my apple and 1 pear tree, which I will have done this weekend.  This is usually a transition period where it often takes 4 to 5 weeks for the ice to clear.  My friend Mark Mayerich had his annual Lake of the Woods ice fishing trip cancel, which is extremely unusual for this time of year.  Apparently the ice has deteriorated much quicker than normal with decisions to shut down made within a few days after the onset of this weather.  I have been on this trip many times with Mark as it is usually around St. Patrick's Day.  Having stayed at both Arnesen's Rocky Reef Resort and Morris Point Resort, I can tell you that this time of the year can be very cold as well.  In 1997 we stayed at Morris Point on the southeast side of the lake.  We woke up to -10F a couple of mornings but the fishing was great.  More often than not you need an extension on your ice auger as the ice thickness is greater than you auger length, which is usually 42 inches.  I have a 12 inch extension and have needed it for most of my trips to Lake of the Woods.  The trip in 1997 was memorable in 2 ways, first the Hale-Bopp comet was clearly visible in the night sky.  I had brought my good 35mm camera and a tripod, set it up and using a 30 second exposure, the resulting picture was incredible (for an amateur).  One day I will have to see if I can find them.  The second experience was meeting a FBI agent in the lodge after a hard day's fishing.  He was from Washington DC, had never been to LOTW, and was very interesting to talk with.  Much so that after a while he offered to buy us a drink...........EJ (brandy) and Charge was our request.  He took one look at us and with a big smile said "Ah, you boys drink Easy Jesus huh!"  It was pretty funny as we had a great time.  Anyway, with the ice fishing done my friend Ryan Sterle decided to keep the cabin reservations and fish the Rainy River.  Wednesday night he sent me this picture of a 60 inch sturgeon he had caught later in the day.  Ryan is a Team Walleye member and is an avid fisherman as well as a good friend.

Everything looks like it's about 4 weeks ahead of schedule.  This could bode well for opener as the fish might be well into their post spawn period and the big females may be on the bite.  To give you an idea of how early things are here is a picture of the lilacs in my yard.  Normally they do not even start to bloom until the third week in April.  Unfortunately these early springs can mean a late season killing frosts as everything tends to even itself out.  2 y

ears ago a hard mid May frost essentially wiped out my entire apple crop as it froze all of the blossoms before they had a chance to develop.  It did result in less work for the summer, however!   Driving by Mille Lacs yesterday it was interesting the temperature change by the lake.  When I left Brainerd the outside temperature was 63 and overcast.  As I approached the lake the temperature dropped to 43 degrees as a mild east wind blew over the ice creating a layer of fog and the need for a jacket.  Reports that the ice was out almost a mile was not evident as I suspect the wind had shifted it to the west shore.  Not enough to pile the ice on the shore, I am sure it's only a matter of time before the wind will create some late ice havoc.  Either way I predict ice out on Mille Lacs will occur within the next 2 weeks as this picture shows it's breaking up fast.   Mille Lacs average ice out date is April 24, the earliest was April 2nd in 2000, and the latest was May 7th, 1965 (modern records).  I think it has a chance to beat the old record by a day or 2 as it is still forecasted to be in the upper 60's this weekend with the mild weather continuing in the foreseeable future. 

This weekend is my great aunt Florence's(Grandma Myrt's Sister) 100th birthday celebration.  She's still quite the gal at 100 and I just hope those good Fagerland genes were passed down to me!  I got my jon boat all fixed up moving the battery to the front, I have re-situated my pole shed and have put the Ranger in it's rightful place, ready to hook up.  It seems as though I should find sometime to get out and take advantage of this nice weather.

What Happened to Spring?

March 6th, 2012 was the first day of the entire winter season in which I was able to actually use my new snow blower.  Waking up to 8 inches of heavy wet snow, the John Deere got a long overdue workout.  Seven  days later, March 13 it was 66 degrees and the forecast predicts temperatures in the 70's out till next Tuesday, March 20th.  Plans to fish Lake of the Woods have been all but dashed as reports have all lake access closed.  Reports from Wheeler's Resort at the mouth of the Rainy River claim they have never seen the ice deteriorate a quickly as it has.  Well, it's Minnesota and as we say.....If you don't like the weather, just wait a week!  Just as fast as the warm has arrive, it can be pushed back south just a quick.  This year's lackluster winter has resulted in lake ice thickness considerably less than normal.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming week.  Besides putting a damper on our late season ice fishing this weather is really affecting the another little know rite of spring, the maple syrup harvest.  After being dormant for about 5 months maple trees start waking up when the daytime temperatures start getting over 40 degrees.  With temperatures below freezing at night and warm temps in the day, the sap flows from the roots making it's way to the very top of the tree.  The ideal conditions of cold night/warm day temperatures really get things going as it is not unusual to get up to 5 gallons of sap from a medium sized tree.  The current weather is proving less than ideal for the sap flow.  With nighttime temperatures in the 50's and day time in the 70's, this has all but shut down the sap.  The above picture is one of my trees that the neighbor has tapped.  Last year I noticed that the neighbor a few blocks down from the house had every available tree fitted with a tap and bucket.  Inviting him to have access to my trees for this year he stopped by on Monday night asking permission.  I checked out the buckets this morning and there probably wasn't a gallon between them.   It takes roughly 30 - 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of pure maple syrup.  Sap is boiled, driving the water out as it becomes sweeter and thick.   As the sap is reduced the sugar content increases which in turn raises the boiling temperature of the liquid.  When the boiled sap reaches a temperature of 219.1 degrees it is finished and ready for a big stack of pancakes.   A grove of maple trees is called a Sugar Bush and my friend Bill Lundeen harvest's over 1000 gallons of sap each year making 25 - 30 gallons to sell at the shop.  He's not very optimistic this year.

The weather put a stop to getting out this past weekend.  Most of the small ponds in the Minneapolis area are ice free and the lake ice is already starting to turn black.  I have been working on both boats, putting on a new MinnKota Terrova on the Ranger while replacing a storage compartment and moving the battery on my jon boat.  The Terrova is the I-pilot version and has a accurate electronic compass and GPS built into the motor head.  It has a number of cool features like Spot lock which when engage will keep your boat in a stationary location as an anchor.   I hate throwing out an anchor.  It will also memorize up to 6 different tracks, each could be 2 miles long, and accurately follow what it has memorize.  I am pretty excited to try it.  Having learned the ways of the river last year, I am fine tuning my jon boat to make my fishing experience more enjoyable as I am moving the battery more to the front of the boat.  This will give me a lot more room in the back to fish from.  If the weather continues a trip to the Mississippi River or even the Rainy River might be in the cards sometime in the next 4 weeks.  It could be a record early ice out for many of the lakes I fish and could really change our Minnesota Fishing Opener on Leech Lake.   Looking in the sky tonight, I can't help but notice my winter friend, the constellation Orion.  He is soon to disappear from the night sky as we continue to to longer days.   If you have a chance look in the western sky just after sunset and you will see 2 very bright stars very close together.  The one on the right is the planet Venus and the one on the left is the Planet Jupiter.  They will be the closest together tonight before starting to move apart.  If you turn around and look above the eastern horizon you can see the Planet Mars, the one with the reddish tint.  The stars are really putting on a show this month.

With fishing winding down till opener my weekend will be tasked with starting to trim my apple trees.  March is an excellent time to do this and is necessary to assure a good crop later in the year.  Pruning the trees opens up the inside allowing air and sunlight to penetrate the fruit, which is good.  It makes spraying and picking much easier.  The frost is expected to go out by Friday, it looks like I am going to be fairly busy. 

Back on Lake Pepin

With walleye season closed on Mille Lacs I decided to call my friend Kevin and my brother Steve to see if they wanted to meet me back down on Lake Pepin on Saturday to try our luck again for panfish.  I was really looking for an opportunity to fish against Kevin now that I had his secret rig, a Jason Mitchell Meat Stick.  It also gave my brother a chance to get away from work for a while.  Dropping my wife off at her sisters in Hudson I headed cross-country to Hwy 35 while Steve picked up Kevin in Eleva.  Arriving a few hours earlier I met them on the ice to find out the bite was tough.  Steve had seen a number of nice fish on his underwater camera but they didn't seem very interested in getting caught.  Dragging my Eskimo portable, a hand auger,  and a few of the basics, I decided that based on the temperature projections, would leave my heater in the truck.  Well, that was a mistake.  With my Ice Armor bibs and coat I can usually stand to be outside most of the time, however Saturday proved to be quite windy which sucked the heat right out of your body.   Relenting I set up my portable hoping to at least get out of the wind.  The Eskimo Kwik Fish shelter can be a challenge to set up in the wind as it is basically a sail, catching as much wind as it can as you desperately try to get it secured to the ice.   I did manage to catch a few fish, 6 to be exact with 4 sunfish around 8 inches, an almost respectable crappie, and a perch.   The good news is that although he had a few hours head start on me, Kevin ended up with the same fish count as I, 6.  I can only conclude that given the same set of circumstances, Kevin and I are pretty much alike.  My brother Steve did get a couple fish and because we have had some good successes this year we donated our catch to him so he could at least have a decent fish fry.  The side benefit is both Kevin and I did not have to clean fish. 

Tuesday was my day for tests at the medical clinic.  At 9:30 was a date with the Dermatologist, 10:30 was with the Heart Echo Lab, and 12:30 was with a NeuroOptomologist.  Uffda!  The first appointment with the Dermatologist was to discuss a mark I have on my temple.  With all the time I spend on the water, admittedly my application of sun screen is often secondary to getting out fishing.  In addition I really believe the higher the SPF rating, the more it scares the fish.  Truth be told that SPF really means Surely Poor Fishing!  I do carry that spray type that allows you to apply without touching your hands but often by the time I remember applying it my skin is half cooked.  Well, the doc determined that the mark was precancerous and needed to be removed.  After asking me if I was going to be in a wedding, giving a presentation, or on television within the next 2 weeks, using a small aerosol can of liquid nitrogen he quickly froze the affected area.  He was right, it burned a bit! As he set down the can I was expecting a good lecture on the use of sunscreen, my time in the sun, and other doctorly things you hear once faced with a diagnosis.  Actually he was pretty good about it.  Although my excuse of SPF being a fish repellent must of hit home as he mentioned a couple of others such as gasoline and bug spray, he suggested that I put SFP 30 UVA and UVB or better on my exposed skin before I leave in the morning, allowing time to wash my hands and free my hands from the scent.  I'd be lying if I told you it was probably not expected but you can be assured that I will start taking better care of my face (it's the only one I have!).   To prove that it has crossed my mind, about a month ago while checking out the Maple Grove Gander Mountain store closing, I picked up this nice TilleyLTM6IS Airflo hat complete with a hidden, pull out neck protector and InsectShield.  I am not sure about the insect protection but at least the wider rim and neck protector will help with those raccoon eyes I sport after a good day of fishing on the lake.  Hopefully I can get used to the hat as my good friends always claim that I look good in a hat..........it covers up more of my face!  My echo went well as my heart shows no changes from my surgery exactly 2 years ago last Thursday.  The NeuroOptomologist was pretty amazing, heck I never even knew they existed.  Searching my records he found a test for Acetylcholine Binding Antibody needing to be run again.  That's a pretty big word and looking it up on the Internet, I am still confused.  Oh well.

This weekend is suppose to hit 60 degrees.  The snow will be melted, Lake Pepin will probably have an ice breaker open a path for the waiting fleet of north bound barges, and the tullibees have not yet shown their intent on Mille Lacs.  I have started putting my Ranger back together and my river boat is in need of a new interior make over.  Maybe some open water fishing is in the cards.  Alas there is much to do to get caught up before Opener just 65 days away.