OK, So I Got Lucky!



Pictures from a better time!



With last weeks success in the book I figured the chance for a repeat was in the cards.  Heck, I didn't even reveal the name of the lake last week, that's how confident I was.  My spot was 300 yards from the nearest house, no real activity present, it just had to be at least good for one more night.  In my dreams!  So with that my second weekend at South Stanchfield Lake was a total bust.  Convincing my neighbor Lory and my wife's cousin Jason that I had the spot, we headed out on Sunday afternoon to repeat the action of last Saturday night.  With daylight savings time just starting, there was no need to get an early start as darkness was an hour later, 7:30.  Having snowed 6 inches between the weekends, maybe there would not be as many people and it would even be better, yeah!  Heading up Highway 47, a quick stop to get some grub and off to the lake.  I was surprised there were as many people on the lake as there was but still, no one in my "secret" spot.  Like last time the perch were hitting like crazy yet the anticipation of darkness and the bite kept us focused.  Well, it never happened.  After an hour of fishing past sunset with nothing to show, it was time to leave.  There were fish there but lord knows what they were thinking, certainly they weren't hungry.  We packed it up, stopped for a beer and headed home.  I guess I should not be surprised, last week was just an anomaly.  Oh well, there is always next weekend.



Collecting sap in my yard



March as been pretty cold as it goes.  My neighbor Brandon has asked if he could tap the mature maple trees that I have in the yard, all 5 of them.  Being a guy that likes to do this kind of stuff I gladly obliged and now have 5 - 5 gallon buckets waiting for the right day/night temperatures to get the sap flowing.  Sap flow is really dependent on the weather.  Below freezing temperatures at night and 38-42 degree day temperatures get that sap flowing at it's maximum level.   Each tree has a hole drilled into it and a tap inserted.  A bucket is hung on the tap and a tube from the tap to the bucket assures that all the sap is collected in the bucket.  Maple Syrup is made by boiling maple tree sap to the point where the sugar content is about 66 - 67%.  You can easily determine this by the temperature of the boiling sap.  When sap is mostly water it boils at around 212 degrees F.  As the water is driven off the sap, the boiling point goes higher and when the boiling liquid finally reaches 219.1 degrees, it is at the point of perfection...Maple Syrup.  It normally takes about 30 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of pure maple syrup.  Brandon has done a great PR job in the neighborhood as there must be at least 100 buckets scattered throughout the streets of my development, Wildwood Springs.  My friend Bill Lundeen also makes maple syrup and has a fairly large "sugar bush", a name commonly associated with a stand of maple trees used to collect sap.  Both Brandon and Bill have large wood fired evaporators to concentrate the sap to syrup, Brandon's is pretty nice and Bill's is a production grade piece.  Either way I am sure that there will be plenty of syrup this year as this spring is set up just perfect for collecting sap.  With plenty of snow on the ground it's assured to be below freezing at night and with the sun higher in the sky, it's bound to warm up.  Last year we had temperatures in the 70's and the sap never did flow much, this year will be completely different.  I'll let you know how they do. 

Next week I am off to Long Beach for our biggest trade show of the year.  I am looking forward to seeing my good friend Joe Stanfield, it's too bad we can't do a little fishing in California for an afternoon, oh well.  Arriving back on Wednesday night, Thursday marks the first day of the Northwest Sportshow.  The biggest of the season, I look forward to checking out the latest and greatest each year.  Some people say that not much changes but I guess it depends on how you look at it.  For me, it's a chance to see my contacts, question the guys that should know, and dream about the next new adventure.  My friend Keith is heading back to Alaska for a few weeks and I actually talked him and his wife Jane into having lunch with me before he goes.  Life is pretty damn good.

I Can't Believe it, Crappies!!



My first keeper crappie of the season

So, after chasing crappies on and off for the last 3 weeks, my neighbor Pete finally had the lead on the fish that we were looking for, a nice mess of crappies.  Based on our experience a few weeks ago when I went with him, he had better come up with something better than the last hot tip he got.  Actually I am a patient guy and trying new lakes is always interesting and one never knows, you could learn a thing or two.  Agreeing to meet at 12:30 on Saturday, he had minnows from the week before while I made an early morning run to my friend's Bill Lundeen to get my Vexilar and pick up some additional bait.  Having a cup of coffee with Bill and Kathy is a great way to spend the morning and with the new Mille Lacs regulations being discussed, we had plenty of things  to talk about.  After solving all of the days problems I grabbed a pack of Frosty ice jigs, a dozen waxies, my electronics, and a box of maggots then headed south.  Finishing up with a few things around the house I packed up my equipment, auger, and after deciding to fish out of one house, drove a block to pick up Pete.  Not sure how to get to his secret lake north of Princeton, we took the scenic route only to find upon arrival that there was no way to access the lake!  Discussing our options maybe his friend meant the lake across the street.  It certainly didn't appear that it was much of a secret as there were at least 200 houses and cars on the lake.  Well, it was the only lead we had and I wasn't going back to Green Lake again.  There was a vast area between 2 clumps of houses so we decided to look at this area as there was only one other guy in the area.  Asking how deep, he confirmed 17 feet, this was exactly what I was looking for.   Drilling about 10 holes to check things out, we got a good feel for the structure and started fishing.  Perch, perch. perch, they were everywhere and not a one over 7 inches.  Full of black spots, they weren't very inviting as we let all but a couple of the larger ones go.  As the sun began to set Pete decided we needed to be warmer so cleaning the snow off the ice, we set up his 2 man Clam and fired up the heater.  Although I don't mind fishing outside, once the sun went behind the clouds the holes started to freeze up pretty fast and I headed into the Clam.  As darkness grew I noticed marks higher up off the bottom, maybe 12 - 13 feet.  Bringing up my lure the fish struck but I missed.  With my waxie gone I knew that my lure had to change, a Frosty Ice jig with a #8 hook, something larger as crappies tend to simply inhale the lure and you need to set the hook as soon as the tension leaves your line.  That made a huge difference as the very next fish represented the first keeper crappie I had caught all season, not huge but a start!  For the next 90 minutes the bite simply got better.  As I kept hooking fish, I suggested to Pete that he change his lure as I thought the hook he was using was too small.  A quick change and he landed two immediately.  Unfortunately his urge to prove he could catch one on his own terms was way to much pressure and he went back to his old methods.  We ended up with 17 nice crappies ranging from 9 to 11.25 inches.  Crappies can be deceiving 

A nice batch of 9 to 11 inch fish

as an 11 incher looks just like one over 12 inches!  Deciding I needed a picture of our fish before forgetting we laid them on the ice for a pose.  As we were admiring our catch one of the fish nearest my hole took a flip, landed in the water and swam off before I could reach far enough down the hole to get it.  Damn, we'll have to stay to replace it.  By 9:30 we were successful in getting the one that got away, the bite had slowed so we packed up and headed to the bar for supper.  It definitely was my best day for crappies in 2 years as well finally broke my 2013 ice fishing drought.  One thing about larger crappies is they tend to swim up to the bait and just inhale it.  No tell tale tug, simply a slight movement of your line as the tension comes off the rod tip.  You better be quick and watch your line as they can spit it out as fast as they suck it in.  Although I used to be a big spring bobber fan, they can be somewhat delicate.  Learning from my friend Kevin, the master of line detection ice fishing, I'm getting much better with my Black Betty setup and not as good as him its close.

Just have to show another picture!

Dropping Pete off at his shed at 11:30, I decided to take care of the fish myself.  With a couple of smaller perch, I clean 19 fish.  On Sunday an impromptu fish fry developed at my neighbor Toolman Tim's where we fried up the fillets in my 20 inch frying pan while Pete's wife brought over the potatoes, I brought the beans and tarter sauce while Connie made a fruit dish.  It's amazing how many crappie fillets you can get in a 20 inch pan, we had them all fried up in about 10 minutes.  Nothing tastes better than a last minute fish fry with the neighbors!  The pressures on to do a repeat.  We had another 10 inches of snow early in the week and I expect the lakes to be difficult at best to travel on.  We are looking at rain on Saturday, maybe enough to knock the snow down and the prediction for next week is in the 40's.  The good news is we need the moisture as last fall was very dry, affecting the rivers and lakes.  With 10 - 15 inches of snow cover on most of the lakes, it will be interesting to see if I can get out this weekend and repeat my success.

Ok, One More Time



Last 23" walleye for the 2012 Mille Lacs season



At the last minute Mark Applen asked if I was interested in joining him to fish the Mille Lacs Perch Extravaganza at Hunters Point on Saturday, fishing Saturday night and heading home on Sunday morning.  As things worked out I took him up on the offer deciding to drive up on Saturday afternoon and fish the evening and morning bite.  What the heck, I really enjoy fishing with Mark in his wheel house, and his deer hunting friends Russ, Randy, Roger, Scott, Mike and Judy.  The Mille Lacs Perch Extravaganza is one of the largest ice fishing tournaments on the lake.  Focused specifically on perch, the winner is usually a nice 14.5 inch fish, weighing at least 1.5 pounds.  With the current perch situation on Mille Lacs, it was going to be a tough contest to win.  Driving up on Saturday afternoon I decided to meet up with Mark after the tourney was done, 4:00 would be about right.  Wrong!!!  By the time I arrived at Hunter's Point the line up of cars force me to sit for over an hour to finally get on the ice.  In the meantime I had been trying to call Mark to get his exact location of where he parked his wheel house so I could meet him.  

Big walleye in Isle



Luckily Mike called as I just got on the ice, they were at The Whitecap Inn.  Nice, I crossed the bridge at Hunter's and headed across the ice to meet them.  After having a brandy we headed back to their village they had set up, and settled in for some homemade chili, Farkle, and a lively political discussion.  I figured I was about 6 hours behind in the beer department as everyone was in bed by 9:30 but me!  Fishing till 11:30, I marked a few fish but could not get them to hit so I set the rattle wheels and hit the sack.  An hour later I was awaken by that familiar sound of the rattles going off.  Being in the bottom bunk I got up as the reel was definitely peeling line off.  A quick jerk and I pulled in this nice 23 inch walleye, the last of the season.  Mark had gotten up so I had him snap a picture from the top bunk, a great view from his perspective.  The rest of the night was uneventful as was the morning.  At least I caught something. We packed up, pulled his wheel house to his friend Russ's place and parted ways.   Bill had asked if he could use my equipment for a large group guide trip this week so I headed across the south end of the lake, passing through the town of Isle.  Minnesota is famous for it large statues depicting the importance of a certain theme for an area.  In Isle as in Garrison they have this huge fiberglass walleye by the visitor's center. 



Loren's skid loader

 Thinking about driving home, grabbing my crappie equipment and trying a nearby lake I decided to see if my friend Jack and his son Ben were at there cabin, 15 miles from Mille Lacs.  To my surprise his wife Janet answered......yes, they are out on the lake, come on over.  Arriving 20 minutes later Ben became my chauffeur as he picked me up with the snowmobile and brought me out to their ice house.  Deciding to try for the large crappies on the lake Jack drilled a few holes for me.  The first hole had fish and one hit my waxie with vengeance but I missed it. The rest of the day was no better as I fished for a few hours with nothing more than marks on my Vexilar.  Ben tried his best to help me but like every other day this year, it wasn't in the cards.  At midnight on March 4th all fish houses south of US Highway 2 have to be off the lake.  Because Jack would not have time to get up next week we decided to pull his shack back to the cabin.  With 2 foot drifts covering the lake and the only road available was the guy down the lake, we had no choice but to use it.  Along with Jack's house was his neighbor Dan's house, Chad Tomala's house, and a few other neighbors.  After getting Jacks house loosened from the ice we bought my pickup truck out to pull it off.  Hooking it up we got about 25 yards before a drift stopped us in our tracks.  At the same time Loren and Chad Tomala were heading to their shack, right next to Jack's when his truck got stuck.  While we were digging our way out Loren went back to get his little skid loader to clear a path.  A master at operating, I told him he must have been a drummer in his past life as you need to use both feet and arms to be proficient in moving snow.  Getting all of the houses off the lake became much easier and for Jack and his great neighbors it was good to get the end of the season done with.  For me, I just enjoyed the exercise and of course Jack's friends at the lake are super!

With the weather warming up and my desire to at least get one limit of crappies, this is my goal for the next couple of weeks.  The daily temperatures are now in the low 30's and you'd be surprised how fast 30 inches of ice can disappear.  Wednesday was the last day to comment on the Mille Lacs situation and I will post my letter to the DNR later.

The Drought Continues



Greg's 30 inch Walleye from Mille Lacs

 Another week, another fish-less day on the water.  Looking back at the year, the last successful day ice fishing goes way back to the weekend of December 28 when I was on Red Lake with Mark.  Although I have caught fish during the last 2 months, I really haven't kept more than 5 "I almost should have thrown back" sunfish.  A couple of weeks ago we tried Green Lake by Princeton with limited success however Pete saw a bunch of crappies on the camera and Jason did manage to keep 6.  Attributing this to a tough bite I decided to head back there on Sunday, I mean really, what's the chances of striking out 2 times in a row?  Well, I can tell you that it was pretty good! Picking up my neighbor Tom, we headed north to Green.  This time I brought my HDS7 which has depth maps of the most popular lakes in Minnesota, maybe a better understanding of the lake would increase our luck.  Arriving at the lake, Green was not one of the lakes that had any information on structure............so much for that plan.  We ended up going back to our spot from last weekend knowing that at least there was some fish there.  Like the movie Groundhog Day, I felt like Bill Murray's character, living the same scene over again.  I guess there isn't much else to tell.  So this week's picture is of a friend, Greg Jones.  A follower of this blog, we met in Anaheim attending the same week long trade show.  The first thing to come out of his mouth was how well they did on Mille Lacs the weekend before, catching quite a few fish including this 30 inch walleye.  With my luck lately, that's the last thing I needed to hear! I am glad someone is catching fish and it's great to have him share the memories with me.  That's a beautiful fish and will look great mounted on the wall of his office.  I guess I should have drove further north. 

Pickled Alaskan Silver Salmon

This week is the last weekend for inland walleye fishing.  It stays open into April on Lake of the Woods and is year around on the Mississippi River.  I usually have a chance to fish Mille Lacs more yet my travel schedule has been quite filled up lately as the year is flying by.  My quest for a crappie dinner has also influenced my Mille Lacs experience this year.  Last year I had 3 very successful outings on the big lake bringing home my limit of walleyes each time.  Maybe it's just hard to get excited about the current situation at Mille Lacs, something I will save for a future post or two, or three.  So in the absence of cooking fish I decided to make some pickled salmon from the fish I caught in Alaska.  Searching the Internet the perfect looking recipe appeared.   Using about 4 pounds of fillets the first thing was to skin and cut into chunks.  A 24 hour soak in 1 cup of salt to 4 cups of water then another 24 hour soak in white vinegar and it was ready for the brine.  A simple brine of 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, pickling spice, and the special ingredient, 1 cup of white port and just not any white port...Fairbanks White Port.  Uffda, was that hard to find.  I did find it in a 1.5 liter bottle, cheap and sweet, I told the clerk at the liquor store that there was enough for both the fish and I to get pickled.  Using red onions I figured that if nothing else the jar would look nice.  It'll be ready in a couple of weeks and I hope it's as good as it looks.  With halibut left in the freezer, that might be my next thing to try unless of course we can find some tullibees on Mille Lacs in a few weeks.

This weekend is busy and if I do get out it will only be for a few hours again.  Mark asked me if I wanted to fish the Perch Extravaganza on Mille Lacs but I have another engagement I need to attend.  Sunday may find me down on the river with my friend Kevin, we will have to see how that turns out.  Oh well, it snowed again and that will keep me busy for a while.  We have actually had some decent snow this year and maybe I'll get a chance to take out my snowmobile for a ride.  I know that we need the moisture as the Mississippi River behind the house was awfully low this fall.  Here's to changing luck!

Few and Far Between



First crappie of the day



Because of my travel schedule lately and the fact that my laptop is still in need of repair, I am finally getting a chance to wrap up last weeks fishing adventure.  I think the title pretty much says it all.  Having just got back from 4 days in California, it has given me time to reflect on how my ice fishing success has gone this year.  My time in Anaheim was manning our exhibit at the largest Medical Device and Manufacturing show in the United States.  Because Minnesota is a hotbed of medical device manufacturers and suppliers, there were plenty of my fellow outdoorsman from here that flew down to work the show as well.  While sitting at the booth entertaining customers, a friend commented that by the looks of my blog, ice fishing season seemed to be going pretty well this year for me.  I laughed and commented that he must be only looking at the pictures!

My response was that in reality, other than my pre-New Year's adventure with Mark, the only fish I have been eating is coming from my Alaskan trip.  Last weekend was no different.  Pete, my new ice fishing partner had his trip cancelled and wanted to go back out.  Acting on a tip he had gotten, a small unmarked lake north of Elk River was hot.  After doing some research, there must have been an error as the lake was nothing but a mud hole, no access, nothing.  With the start of the day already a bust, we decided to head to Green Lake, east of Princeton.  Joining us was my friend Jason Rombalski, who by the way is always good luck, and a friend of his.  Green is a medium sized lake with a good population of walleyes, perch, and crappies.  It also has some nice structure for fishing crappies in the basin areas.  Figuring I didn't need my GPS for the first lake, suddenly it would have been nice.   A few weeks back I decided to buy something smarter than me, a Samsung Galaxy 3 smart phone.  While waiting for the fish to bite I downloaded a Cabela's app that actually uses the GPS in the phone and overlays your position onto a contour map of the lake you are on, providing there is one.  Well, I started the app and voila, the lake map and our position appeared on the screen.  We found an area outside of a group of houses that looked promising and drilled some holes.  It was nice enough to fish outside and Jason nailed the first keeper, a 9 inch crappie.  Meanwhile I couldn't keep the 4 inch perch off my line and Pete, with his camera down the hole reports that it just thick with fish, just not biting.  Jason left early with 6 fish, enough for a meal, Pete and I continued till well after dark.  We marked a ton of fish but they sure were finicky.  Usually before a storm, which we had on Sunday, the fish go crazy but not this time.  As stated, we did mark a ton of fish, saw them on the camera, so it might be a good place to go back and try again. 



Ben's Northern

 My friend Jack has been doing pretty good at his cabin on Platte Lake.  Although the crappies haven't been too cooperative, the northerns have more than made up for it.  His son Ben has developed quite the knack for fishing these northerns as Jack sent me this picture of a nice fish he caught a few weeks ago.  They usually pickle them as there are no lack of pike in the lake.  Ben's going to grow up to be quite the fisherman and at 8 years old is already pressuring us to take him to Leech for our opener.  It might be a little too cold and rough but in a couple more years he will probably out fishing his dad, if he isn't doing that already.  While at the show in California, a colleague of mine stopped by to show me his success on Mille Lacs last week.  After hearing about the 20+ walleyes they caught, I asked him to send me pictures.  Not being sure which flat he was one, I have a pretty good idea as his group did as well as anyone.  There are only 2 weekends left of the inland walleye fishing season left and after February 24th, only Lake of the Woods, Rainy River, and the Mississippi will be open for walleyes.  It is only an indication of how fast this winter has flown.  Sunday is suppose to be nice out so a possible trip to one of the offshore flats may be in the cards for the weekend.  Being gone a week does little to help get caught up around the house.  Let's see, clean the garage....go fishing, Hummm.

Superbowl Weekend, Winter's Half Over

 Mark's feisty northern

With my neighbor Tim's annual Superbowl Party on Sunday along with snow predicted, I decided to head out on Saturday to retry Pelican Lake near my home.  My last trip was somewhat uneventful although I did catch a meal of sunfish that my buddy Kevin calls Hatta's...........Hatta keep'em, Hatta throw them back.  This time I decided to fish the east basin which has the largest expanse of 12 foot water and is seldom fished.   While plowing snow Saturday morning with my tractor, my friend Mark Applen drove up to check out what was going on and 5 minutes later he agreed to tag along to see if we could get some crappies.  Hoping the afternoon would warm up somewhat, we took our shelters while thinking maybe could get by without them.  A quick stop at the hardware store in St. Michael and we were off to the east side of the lake driving on where the lake meets the road.  With the ice over 22 inches thick we could drive wherever we wanted.  A tip from the guy who gave us the minnows gave us our starting point along the south shoreline in 12 feet of water.  I drilled about 10 holes, 30 feet apart, in a straight line towards shore with the last hole in 8 feet.  This is a great strategy to try different depths to determine where the fish might be.  Mark caught this 2 foot northern and other than a 4 inch sunfish I caught, that was about it for our first spot.  I did mark a few on my Vexilar but nothing that would cooperate.  Suggesting a move, we headed west towards a group of houses before veering towards a spot that looked promising.  Fishing till dark we only caught 3 crappies that would have been better served as bait for a tipup.  I suspect that with the water as cloudy as it is this year, the weedline might be less than 10 feet causing the fish to be shallower than in the past years.  Because it's so close and there have been a few good reports, it might just be a matter of time.

Hunting for mice

While heading to my pole shed to get the tractor ready for plowing there was a beautiful red fox hunting mice in the field behind the house.  He must have been hungry as I was simply a minor distraction for him.  It was fun to watch as the fox would listen, watch, then finally take a leap with all fours off the ground coming down on dinner.  He did get a mouse before deciding that having someone watch him hunt was a violation of his privacy.  Heading towards the neighbors, I snapped this picture as he started his trot east.  His coat was thick and full and looked good.   It's pretty neat to have them around although they do have a fairly strong odor that I could sense from my car.   The other advantage is they tend to keep the population of rabbits in check as they were getting way out of hand.   Checking my previous posts on my fox sightings they seem to start around the first week in February as I have made mention a couple of my sighting in both 2010 and 2011.  I wonder if this is the same guy?  Along with coyotes, deer, raccoons, and muskrats, the back yard is pretty tame as I don't have to deal with 1000 pound brown bears as my friends in Alaska do!

With a Saturday temperature predicted to be 35 and my neighbor Pete hinting he'd like to get out, I think we're going to try a couple of lakes I haven't fished in a while, maybe Lake John, west of Annandale, MN.  In the late 1980's my friends Mark and Jack Taylor had a crude ice house on Lake John.  We did pretty well however late in the year the heavy snows had caused water to flood the floor with a depth of 4 inches.  Having to remove off the ice by February 28th we filled the inside with rock salt.  The following week the water had disappear yet it was still frozen into the lake.  A guy came by offering the solution to our problems and after following his instructions to go into town and buy a box of 30-06 shells, he proceeded to shoot the whole box of bullets through the floor and into the ice.  The theory was that the slugs would hit the ice and fracture it enough to loosen the lake's grip on the bottom of our ice shack.  I thought the guy was crazy but what the heck.  It didn't work and we were left with simply tearing it apart for firewood, never to see the ice again.  Although a pain, it was fun fishing in our own special castle.

One Eyed Walleye

The one eyed walleye



Coming out of the deep freeze that occurred last week and Saturday's weather forecast appearing to be reasonable the plan was to spend the day with a number of firsts for my friends.  My fishing companions were Lory Brasel with his new Otter portable, Pete Sipe with his new Clam Thermal, and Keith Holtan, the first time we have ice fished together.  All three had a good reason to get out so I picked the destination, Resort Flat out of the Red Door Resort on the north end of Mille Lacs.  Reports were encouraging and with Keith coming down from Brainerd, it would be convenient for all of us.  After stopping at Lundeen's for bait, we headed north to the McDonald's in Garrison to complete our foursome.  The Red Door Resort is right smack in the middle of the north side and they do a great job catering to ice fisherman.  Every year a crack/heave develops parallel to the shoreline, about 50 - 100 yards out.  Water is an amazing part of nature.  At 39 degrees it is at it's densest sinking to the bottom insuring livable water for the fish.  Only 7 degree's colder it becomes the lightest as it freezes and expands by 10%, which is why it floats.  As the ice continues to freeze it actually shrinks and with the -20 degree weather a few days earlier, the ice contracts causing a break that opens up a space between the ice sheets.  At the Red Door they had a bridge crossing the crack which opened up earlier in the week that spanned 8 feet.   Without the bridge it would be crazy to try and drive across the newly formed ice that filled the crack.  Of course as the weather warms up, the ice will expand which will cause the ice sheets to push together causing huge heaves up to 8 feet high.  This cycle repeats continually as the temperature swings from -20F to 36F then back down.  Once across the bridge we drove 3 miles out to the flat. 

Lory's 24 incher

There is an area along the flat that has proven to be pretty good so we set up along the edge taken up a good 50 yards of an area.  Punching holes from 22 feet on the top of the flat to 34 feet on the bottom edge, we went to work.  Unfortunately the weatherman was a little off as it stayed around 10 degrees with a strong wind blowing the snow around and filling the holes I had drilled.  Although I punched over 25 holes for "ice trolling" my guest decided to stay out of the wind and fish in there shacks.  Me, I still like to hole hop and worked the area until I needed some relief from the wind.  With Keith in my Clam, I set up my Eskimo pop up next to the truck, out of the wind in 34 feet of water.  Lory had a fold up chair and I was in business.  With the area covered, it was now up to the walleyes to tell us were they were at and what they wanted to eat.  Well, they took their merry old time.  As Keith came by to check on how I was weathering the wind and bite the bobber on my dead stick was nowhere to be found.  With a nice big shiner hooked to the end of the line, chances are what ever had it was good sized. Carefully taking the slack out of the  line until the line was tight, a quick set and I pulled up this nice 26 inch walleye.  She was in pretty bad shape, skinny as a rail (like most of my Mille Lacs walleyes have been) and missing it's left eye.  It looked like it had been that way for a while and I suppose it is why the fish was so skinny.  Next to catch a fish was Lory, the first in his new Otter.  Another skinny 24 inch fish never the less a great way to break in the shack.  His fish came out of 22 feet of water, right on the top of the flat. 



Pete's 23 inch walleye



Next to catch of fish was Pete.  All snug in his new Clam, the fish made a mess out of his fishing lines before we were able to get it turned around and up through the hole.  Now this fish looked pretty good and healthy compared to the previous two as it measured 23 inches.  Pete was in 24 feet, closer to the edge of the flat which really didn't help with zeroing in on the perfect location.   There was one thing in common, all fish were caught on a whole minnow.  No matter how hard or soft I jigged my Rattlin Flyers, Jigging Raps, Hawger Spoons, the only thing I could get were a few fish coming in to look at the commotion then leave.  I did mark what I'm sure was tullibees as they aggressively followed my lures up the water column more that 12 feet.  After this summer's tullibee die off, it was nice to see that a few survived.  As for Keith, I set him up right at the edge break of the flat in about 25 feet.  This is usually my favorite spot as walleyes cruise the edge looking for their next meal.  Unfortunately the never showed up for him, not one of my better days of putting people on fish.  Oh well, I am fortunate that being a guide, he understands the situation.  Hopefully I will get the opportunity to rectify this situation again with better results.  Either way we did get 3 nice fish, marked enough to keep it interesting, fished with my friends, and finished the day at the Players Bar and Restaurant for their fish fry.  I really got the hankering to catch some crappies and maybe Sunday I can get out before the Superbowl.  

I am finishing this post from the Sky Club at Chicago O'hare.  My regular laptop is broke and am using my friend, Tom McAtee's.  Usually I can do this on the plane or somewhere I can find time and space but it is almost impossible to type on my 10 inch Asus pad.  I sent it out to Oregon to get fixed and with a little luck, it should be back next week.  One last thing, I did by something from Amazon.com for my laundry sink.  Not spending enough to get free shipping I ordered a Buck folding fillet knife (like I need another fillet knife) to get past $25.00.  I got it on Wednesday and it's really nice.  If you take the free shipping into account, I got a very good deal. 

Return to Red Lake



Cooler full of walleyes

With the threat of sub zero weather ahead of us, my friend Mark Applen landed in Minneapolis from Maui, Hawaii at noon on Friday and by 3:30 we were heading back north to Red Lake.  A chance to get one more weekend of fishing on Red, our secondary goal was to pull his wheel house back home after being stored at JR's for the last 4 weeks.  Joining us were Mark's friends Russ and his brother Randy as well as Mike, Judy and their chocolate lab.  After solving the world's problems during our 5 hour ride up, a quick check with the crew confirmed they were at JR's Corner Access and our arrival would be perfectly timed to enjoy the walleye's they had brought in and had fried up.  I ordered a round, sat down and chowed down on the perfectly deep fried walleye chunks with Russ's special homemade tartar sauce.  Sorry but sitting in a simple converted pole shed on a picnic table, eating fresh walleye and washing it down with a beer, true nirvana!   It was time to fish and we had a plan.  Up until the time we arrived JR was not allowing anyone to venture out past the crack in the ice, based on the pending below zero weather and high winds.  Our friends were on the shore side of the crack however our intent was to return to our previous location, 6 miles out on the lake and over the crack. 

Mark with a nice eater

As we left JR confirmed that the bridge across the crack was open, we were free to explore.  Mark and I decided to take the 6 mile trip, crossing the break and returning to our spot where we did so well a few weeks earlier.  The wind was still reasonable and there were few in the area, a good sign.  Setting up exactly where we were last time, it was about 10:30 before we settled in for the night.  Things sure had changed in 3 weeks as we failed to get a single bite.  Waking up to below zero temperatures and an increasing wind our strategy changed to fish closer to Mark's friends closer to shore.  Besides, they were catching more fish!  This was my third trip with Mark and his house and I had finally figured out the routine and we were packed, moved, and reset in about an hour.  Spreading out in a line separating our shacks by about 50 yards, we set up off the reef hoping our decision would be the right one.  Our timing was perfect as the predicted high winds and falling temperatures were right on the doorstep.  Snug in the wheel house we went to work with Mark catching the first walleye, the second walleye, the forth and fifth walleye.  Yep, I managed only the third of five we caught.  As things slowed down we headed to Randy's mansion on wheels to play a little Farkle, have some 5 star, and plan the evenings trip to the resort for dinner.  Although accused of playing conservative, I did win the last hand allowing me to at least buy the first round of beers. 

Sunrise and the Sun dogs

With the wind howling, a substantial ground blizzard occurring, we loaded all six of us into Randy's truck and headed in to clean fish.  As before the indoor fish cleaning room was much appreciated as Russ and I took the knife to our total of 11 nice walleyes we had together.  Having JR's fry up 9 total, we feasted on our familiar meal, had a few brews, talked smart to a few guys and took advantage of indoor plumbing, it was time to head back to our mansion's on the ice.  Setting up the rattle reels, Mark was fast running out of steam and we hit the sack.  Unfortunately both nights we spent on Red were silent.  There is nothing like being woke up at 1:00 in the morning by the sound of the rattles clanging away as a walleye runs with the minnow.  The good news is we did get a good night's sleep, something I am sure Mark appreciated, yet I am sure he would rather have sacrificed!  Waking up to a subdued wind, it was -12 below zero as the wind had rearrange was was an even layer of snow the day before.  With the rattle reels silent, we decided to pack up early and head south.  Sunrise can be an enchanting time and Sunday morning was no exception.  As we began to pack up I snapped this picture of the sun as it begins it's daily journey across the sky.  The 2 spots on either side are called Sun Dogs, evidence of ice crystals in the air, a reminder of the day before.   By 10:00 we were on our way back home, another great ice fishing adventure.  Although the fishing wasn't the greatest, I always consider it a bonus when fishing with good friends.  Admittedly I missed Judy's pickled garlic, but you can't always have everything you want!  For Mark, dealing with a 100 degree swing from 85 in Maui to -15 at Red Lake provides an interesting contrast for sure.

This week has been cold with the last few days at -15 below zero, at least we continue to make ice.  With little snow, you can basically drive anywhere on the lakes as long as you pay attention to areas of possible current and ice heaves.  I am not sure where I will end up this weekend however my friend Keith is putting the bug in my ear to meet him somewhere.  Sunday looks like the nicest day, maybe a trip to Mille Lacs is in order.

You Win Some, You Lose Some



Huge Non-Typical Whitetail

Last week was dominated by 2 major events, attending the St. Paul Sportsman Show and the Saturday night Green Bay Packer/San Francisco 49er's game, with maybe some ice fishing in between.  It's probably easier to start with the fun aspect of last week and deal with the not so good later!  The St. Paul Sportsman Show is the first of the year, not as large as the Northwest Sportshow, but a great way to start 2013.  My friend Lory Brasel and our Wisconsin Sales Rep, Dan Dominski decided to tag along for a night of entertainment.  This show has more what I classify as non sports related exhibitors, guys who sell salsa, surplus junk sellers (there are some good deals), cookware, yet still has an interesting mix of things to see and buy.  One of the more interesting booth was the Steve Porter's Live Trophy Buck exhibit, where they brought in a trailer with 3 huge bucks they had raised from birth. Along with the trophy bucks was the genetic history of each as well as the sheds from each year to demonstrate how these deer mature to such beautiful animals.  It was certainly interesting as these deer seemed very comfortable being the stars of the show.  As every show goes, one cannot leave without buying something and this year was no exception.  The first item was an innovative LED lighted slip bobber which had 2 colors and used standard button type batteries.  A guy was selling a slip bobber knot device for $5 which had a lanyard, line clipper, and extra line....just had to have one of those.  Next was a couple jars of locally made salsa before I bit on an 18 inch Rapala EZ Glide knife for $10.00.  The retail on the knife was $39.95 but I think its probably been discontinued as it is a bit long.  I figured if I got good at it, I could skin 4 fillets at once!  Of course the highlight was meeting Keith, his wife Jane, and their son Mac, who flew down from Anchorage to spend some time with his parents.  After trading a few things I bought in China for him with some eco-friendly cleaner that they used in their fish cleaning house on the Kenai, we settled in at the Liffy for a couple pints of Guinness and something to eat.  Hopefully I can find the time to get out fishing with Keith soon.

Muskrat in the yard in January?!?!

I did go fishing on Saturday, before the game.  With only a few hours my destination was either going to be Little Pulaski Lake in Buffalo or possibly Pelican Lake near Albertville.  A stop at the hardware store in St. Michael to get bait the guy at the counter confirmed they were driving on Pelican, with 15 inches of ice, you could go anywhere.  My mind made up, it certainly would be easier to unload my portable and drag it 20 feet rather than the 150 yards at Pulaski, as I would not have trusted the ice there.  As I approached the landing to drive on the lake there was a pickup truck going about 40 mph, headed straight for me.  Stopping before driving on the ice, I waited till he was on shore then rolled down the window and asked the conditions.  I really wanted to give him a lecture but he was about 17 years old and would not have listened anyway.  As you travel on the ice with a vehicle, it creates a wave of water ahead of your travel.  The faster you go the larger the wave, sometimes to the point where you hit a weak spot and the ice blows up in front of you.  Idiot!  I set up in 9 feet of water and immediately started catching fish, small bluegills.  By 5:30 I only managed 5 keepers and they were questionable.  It was cold and I really didn't see any point in taking pictures so we'll leave it at that.  Rushing home to watch the Packers, I cleaned the fish, gathered my refreshments and went over to my neighbor Tim's to watch the game on his huge 10 foot projection TV.  That's about all I will say about the game other than there is always next year.   I did want to show you an unusual thing that happened on Saturday morning, one of our cats disappeared behind the house.  Walking around the garage, the next thing I saw was a standoff between it and a muskrat, Lord knows where it came from.  Apparently it had been eating in the ground bird feeder and our cat Rocky probably thought he had died and gone to heaven.  You see Rocky is a legendary mouser, let him outside and before you know it he's got a mouse ready to chow it down.  It's pretty amazing how careful he eats his prize catches, starting from the head, he downs everything but the entrails.  I am sure Rocky assumed the muskrat was the biggest mouse he had ever seen and was contemplating his smorgasbord.  Unfortunately this mouse fought back and he was keeping his distance!

So with the Packers eliminated from further playoff action, I plan on heading back to Red Lake for the weekend with Mark Applen.  Our intent is to spend a few days fishing then pull his wheel house back to Mille Lacs.  Talk is the bite has slowed down but one never knows as you will never know until you try.  One thing for sure, it's going to be cold.  According to the weather reports Minnesota is expected to see the coldest air in 4 years.  Projected to be over -20 below zero, it could prove interesting yet one things for sure, it will be making ice like crazy. 

New Fishin' Partner

Pete with a keeper!

It's been a busy week with the outcomes significantly better than last week.  During the last Green Bay Packer/ Viking game of the regular season my neighbor Pete Sipe had suggested that we should go ice fishing the following weekend after New Years, I about fell off my chair.  Pete lives down the block from me and we have a lot in common.  He owns the Marathon Service Station in Osseo, MN.  After securing a job in Minneapolis, my first apartment was in Osseo.  I would drive by his house every morning, patronize his then father's gas station, certainly had seen him many times without knowing 20 years later he'd be one of my trusted friends.  I have asked Petey at least 100 times to come fishing with me and this time he agreed.  Now the pressure was on, where to go, what strategy, I didn't want his first trip with me to be his last.  I suppose I should have had more confidence in him as he was just looking for a good outing, something I'm sure we accomplished.  Deciding on Mille Lacs, the fishing reports have been good, the ice conditions were stable, and with clear water to try his new camera, away we went.  Although the reports of 15 inch ice is adequate for driving, it's still a little early for me to be free ranging around the lake, especially with the new cracks present.  Bringing my side by side ATV, we decided to pull our shacks out after crossing the first bridge over the heave that always forms near Indian Point.  Our first stop was a deep gravel hump a couple of miles east of the point.  Usually at this time of year there are a few shacks parked in the middle of this area yet upon arrival there was only evidence of a wheel house that had come and gone.  Setting up on the edge it wasn't long before Petey nailed this nice keeper walleye.  This area was simply a stop on our way to Sherman's Flat, an area reported to have a hot bite.

23 inch walleye

Within an hour we were set up on Sherman's Flat in an area that I am very familiar with.  On an edge near one of the points,  it is one of my go to spots on the lake both summer and winter.  Drilling holes along the top 24 foot edge as well as the 34 foot bottom edge, all we needed was some cooperative fish.  They were hard to come by.  Marking fish, they would come up and look at the bait, hang for a few seconds and disappear.  As always I drill about 10 - 15 holes for moving around, the flats provide the perfect place to apply this strategy.  24 feet...........34 feet.........24 feet, moving up and down produced nothing.  Fishing a hole just outside my portable shack, I set my rod down as I went back into the shack to get something, returning a minute later and picking up my ice fishing rod, it bent over.  Getting the fish up from 24 feet, it was a nice 23 inch walleye.  Unlike the last nice walleye I had caught on Mille Lacs a few weeks ago this fish was fat a sassy.  A beautiful golden green color, it looked well fed and healthy, something that was nice to see.  With sundown close this had to be a sure sign the bite would materialize.  Unfortunately it was not the case.  We managed to mark a few more fish yet 2 were all the day would bring.  Packing up at dark we headed back to the truck, stopping at Lundeens before having lunch at the newly opened Chico's.  When we stopped at Bill's, I was going to comment on how small his fatheads were.  Being busy he asked me if I could help myself to the minnows we needed so I scooped the fatheads out of the end tank where they always are.  Arriving back at his shop I was looking at the tanks and noticed he had the normally fathead tank on the end was now marked Crappie.  No wonder the minnows were so small! Oh well.  Regardless of the minimal catch, Petey did much better and certainly more hardcore than I expected.  It was a great outing and he promised to go out with me again, something I look forward to.

Today's event was my past due colonoscopy, something I honestly look forward too.  About 14 years ago I discovered blood in my stool, not a very exciting proposition.  A subsequent examination removed a polyp, which was explained as a problem waiting to happen.  The next one was scheduled 2 years later and with a clean report they are now scheduled every 5 years.  My doctor reminded me that I was over 18 months past due and suggested I get this taken care of.  I am sure many of you have already experienced this wonderful medical procedure and have enjoyed the prep almost as much!  For those who haven't, you should look forward to this important procedure.  Colon Cancer is nothing to ignore.  If you are 50 or have a family history of colon cancer please allow yourself to be checked out as the picture says it all.  Besides, it's really fun to chug down a gallon of GoLytely only to go heavy an hour later, not really but honestly, it isn't that bad.  Equally humiliating is having to lay down while a skilled physician lubes you up and inserts a 6 foot combination camera, air hose, vacuum cleaner.  This is a great time to ask the doc to look for your hat as it must be there as I have had some people tell me my head is up my ................. he'll smile.  I learned today that they use carbon dioxide gas to inflate your colon verses plain air.  Apparently the CO2 is reabsorbed into the body causing little to no discomfort, he was right.   The report was great, clean as a whistle and more importantly, peace of mind.  For those who have gone through this, you know what I mean.  For those who haven't, don't let a potential time bomb tick away.

A final note, the Packers won in convincing fashion last Saturday against their rival the Minnesota Vikings.  Saturday night they play the 49er's and it should be a great game.  Thursday night is my annual date with Keith and his wife Jane, both working their booth at the St. Paul Sportsman Show.  I haven't seen him since Alaska and it will be good to get together.  With a little luck I can sneak out before the game and get a few panfish on a local lake.  Next week is looking like a trip back to Red Lake may be in the cards.  A busy week for sure................GO PACKERS!

Red Lake, Red Hot!

A fiesty 36 inch northern pike

The much anticipated time between Christmas and New Years meant only one thing, ice fishing.  In the past it has always been a time for something special with special friends, yet as always things change.  Based on our success at Lake of the Woods a year ago, my good friend Mark Applen was planning our third holiday adventure.  Mark has a nice wheel house (not as nice as it could be however that's another story) equipped with a furnace, 2 bunks, table, sink, and a substantial flat screen television for those slow moments.  This is my third year of taking advantage of the holiday season with Mark and each one has provided a special memory of an exciting trip.  In 2010 we joined Mark's friends for a few days on Lake Winnibigosh, 3 hours from home.  This was my first trip fishing Winnie and we did alright as we were on an underwater break which gave me an opportunity to move around somewhat.  The trip was highlighted by a substantial snowstorm that stranded us 6 miles out on the lake.  Although our efforts were valiant, it really took the resort plow to come out and rescue us.  2011 saw us at Lake of the Woods and Mark landing a 50 inch sturgeon, something neither one of us will forget.  This years trip found us at Red Lake, 4 1/2 hours north of home. 


Rattle Reels

Mark had been there the week before and knowing we were going to start there left his house at JR's Corner Access. At a $1.00/day storage fee it made no sense to spend 4 times that much on gas to pull it home then back again.  The plan was to arrive Wednesday night, fish through the night into Thursday.  If fishing was good, we'd stay and if not, Lake of the Woods was simply another hour north.  Arriving at 8:30 Wednesday evening we hooked up the house, paid the access fee of $15 for multiple days, had a beer and headed out on the lake.  JR had just opened up a bridge across a major break in the ice some 3 miles out which opened a vast area of unfished waters.  Taking about 2 hours to find a spot to drop the house, drill holes, and get set up, we were fishing by 10:30.  The walleyes started immediately as we caught a few on the jig poles before setting up the rattle reels to attempt to get some sleep.  Rattle reels are special made wheels that have steel rattles inside them.  Line is wrapped around the spool and are mounted to the ice house wall directly above each hole.  In Minnesota you can fish 2 lines each so before the lights are out you lower your lines into the water and if a fish takes the bait, the turning of the spool will cause a loud rattle with hopes of waking you up and catching the fish.  Well rattle they did, pretty much all night, finally stopping at 3:30 in the morning.  I am not complaining as it's easy to stop this, simply don't set them yet hearing those reels go off is music to my ears, regardless of the time.  So much for a good nights rest!

Mark with a dandy walleye

Thursday brought with it a steady parade of walleye's hitting everything from sucker minnows, Rattlin Flyer's, Slender Spoons, Jigging Raps, Lindy Darters, and a bait we dubbed the tuna spoon, which Mark did extremely well on.  Not unlike Lake of the Woods, Red Lake walleyes would come in small schools of fish roaming the vast featureless basin.  Action would consist of catching 2 or 3 fish in a flurry then waiting 15 or 20 minutes for the next group of fish.  Red Lake has an interesting history as in the late 90's the Native Americans, whom control 80% of the lake, netted everything out.  During the early 2000's crappies filled the biomass void with an explosion of 15" fish.  Gradually the restrictions on netting, the restocking of walleyes has brought the lake back to the hottest bite in Minnesota.  Along with walleyes, a population of respectable northern pike exist in the lake, as my first picture shows the feisty 36 inch fish that hit my jigging rap.  The walleyes were fat and sassy, nothing like the ones I caught on Mille Lacs last week.  My largest was a 23 inch fish, caught on a Lindy Darter.  Similar to a Chubby Darter, my friend Mark Mayerich's favorite LOTW bait, I express scepticism as I hook it on my line.  Experimenting with lures, I pumped the darter about 10 times when the fish hit, proving my initial comments completely off base.


Fresh fried walleye!



By the time we left on Saturday morning the tally of walleyes caught was well over 70 fish.  with only a few fish under 14 inches, the majority were between 16 and 19.  This year the limit on Red Lake had been increased to 4 fish under 20" which guaranteed we would bring fish home.  One nice thing about JR's was the indoor fish cleaning facilities and the great way they would cook your fish.  Bring your fish in, clean them, cut them into pieces, and for $5.00 per person will deep fry them, add some french fries, for a meal of fresh walleyes that was fit for a king!  I love the simplicity of it all, served in a shallow cardboard box, some tarter sauce and ketchup, finger food at its finest.  We cleaned 7 walleyes on Thursday, cooked and ate 4 of them, with 3 in the box.  On Friday we brought in another 5 (can only have 8 in possession), cleaned them and ate 2 with 6 in the box.  Saturday we only needed 2 more to fill our limit which was pretty easy.  Although we brought steaks, pork chops, and a cooler full of food, the daily walleye feast was enough to satisfy our needs as we bought most of it back home.  I don't think you could have asked for anything better than this as the walleyes were fried to perfection. 



Avenue of the Pines



Another successful trip, our backup plan never materialized.  This was my first trip to Red Lake and I'm sure it will not be my last.  In the grand scheme of things the drive seems to go fast as the roads to Red are very good.  The part I love the best is the stretch between Deer River, MN and Northome, on Minnesota Highway 46.  Labeled The Avenue of the Pines, the highway winds though the Chippewa National Forest and it's majestic pines.  The newly fallen snow provided a perfect scene as we drove back through the walled route, contemplating our great 3 days together.   Mark is the perfect host as we have the same interests and passions.  He still won't let me take the top bunk, did I say he can be stubborn!  This week brings me licking my wounds from Sunday's Viking win yet hopefully there is redemption next Saturday night as the Pack will host Minnesota at Lambeau field.  The below zero weather keeps adding to the ice and by Sunday we should be driving to our hot spots on Mille Lacs or exploring the panfish bite closer to home, we'll see.  Happy New Year everyone and may 2013 bring a you success.  Keep those lines tight!

Finally.............



Swans in the Mississippi River

 A quick post to report on last Saturday's first ice fishing outing on Mille Lacs.  Because Bill had a number of items I ordered for Christmas, a quick trip to Mille Lacs to pick up the stuff and fish the evening bite was in order.  Reports of 8 inch ice were common so I loaded the ATV, gear, and headed north.  One interesting thing that I noticed on the way up was the significant amount of Trumpeter Swans in the Mississippi River between the house and the 101 bridge.   They were scattered along the river for 7 miles in groups up to 30 birds.  These birds make their winter home below the warm water discharge of the power plants near Monticello.  I believe the estimate is over 2500 swans winter there, I know there were at least a couple of hundred along the shallow areas of the open water.  With the cold weekend, I am sure that the river has froze shut forcing the swans back upriver to the warmer water.  I arrived at Lundeens and spent some quality time unwinding first.  Not in a hurry to get on the ice I complimented Bill on his great influence on me.  Lately I have been waiting till the last minute to do things.  Knowing that I was heading north, Friday night was the time to take the ice auger out and get it started.  Last spring saw a new gas tank installed by myself, didn't really think nothing of it.  Well, after pouring gas into the carb for the 5th time, it was obvious there was something wrong.  After an hour I called Bill and asked if he had any new Strikemaster's.  He finally talked me into not giving up and within the hour had figured out how hosed up I had made it.  Freezing cold, I reassembled the gasket, heat shield, gasket, spacer, gasket, carburetor, governor assemble, gas tank, and air filter perfectly and it started right up.  It probably would have been much easier in 70 degree weather under less duress!


26 incher with a little body



Arriving on an inshore hump I set up in 20 feet, working the edge.  With some of the ice still heaving and cracking, it was smart to stay closer to shore.  After drilling a number of holes and setting up my dead stick line, it was outside to hole hop.   At the last Eric Applen Golf Tourney I had purchased a new Showdown for hole hopping,  a nice unit but takes a little bit of time to dial it in right.  Coming back into the shack and setting it in the dead stick hole, I noticed the minnow line was pretty large.  Thinking the gain was too high I began to look at the settings when I noticed the bobber was completely out of sight..........Duh!!!  Setting the hook on this nice 26 inch walleye, not bad for the first fish of the season.  Not unlike a lot of fish caught this year, this one was pretty skinny.  Resetting the line, outside again to hole hop, returning to warm up I put on a Slender Spoon as the sonar's were not marking much fish.  Dropping it down, these take a while to get to the bottom however as is descended a line came up to meet it, wham a 24 inch walleye!  Finally around sundown a third mark appeared and aggressively hit my lure.  Man, another nice fish until it came through the hole..............dang eelpout.  This was the first one I had caught on Mille Lacs in over 5 years so it was good to see.  They have a beautiful brown coloring and although great to eat, I put this one back.  Leaving at 5:30, 3 fish in 3 hours was good enough.  Arriving back at the landing another surprise was waiting, the front tire on the truck was flat, we won't even go into that.



A beautiful eelpout



Today I am heading to Red Lake with my friend Mark Applen.  He has his wheel house parked at a resort and with a little luck we can hit the night bite.  If the fishing is good we will stay there and if not the plan is to head north to Lake of the Woods.  Either way I am looking forward to spending a few days with Mark and hammering some walleyes that are hopefully fatter than the ones I have been catching.  I have a few new lures to try out and it will be a great way to end 2012.  Next week the lakes around home should be ready for some panfish action.  Have a great New Year and here's hoping next weeks report is successful. 

Making Ice



 

Slender Spoon from Custom Jigs and Spin

The cold has finally arrived.  Last year at this time we were struggling for ice as the wind and weather had created a huge ice island on Mille Lacs separated by a few hundred yards of open water completely around the lake making travel to the hot areas impossible.  This year is completely different.  The lake froze a couple of weeks ago and with this weeks temperatures hovering around 0, the lake is definitely making ice.  Hunter's Point resort on the east side of Mille Lacs reports they have a road staked to both Sliver and Boot flats, 6 miles out from the resort.  With a good 7 - 9" of ice, I have my Polaris Razor all set to go, my new Thermal X is ready, the electronics are all charged up, it's just a matter of picking the right day this weekend.  The Razor is my side by side ATV with a roof, windshield, and a special mounting for my Lowrance HDS7 from the boat.  With an accurate Lakemaster chip, I use it as a large screen GPS where as it very accurately displays the bottom contours in 1 foot increments.  It makes searching for that spot on the spot much easier.  Everything is marketing these days and ice fishing has hit a crescendo to say the least.  In this world it's very popular to promote products through association as the ice fishing world has Team Ice.  A group of companies and guys promoting ice fishing, a great example is the Slender Spoon.  Early ice fishing video's have featured this lure as the killer bait for this year's hard water season.  Being promoted via a number of web forums, the Minneapolis area is all but sold out of these lures, a testament to the effectiveness of the media.  They are light spoon that exhibits a slow "tantalizing" drop that makes them irresistible to walleyes and perch.  I haven't bit on the hype yet as my winter tackle box is void of these, probably will have to pick up a couple, just in case! 

Christmas in China

I am finally settling back into a normal routine after my trip to China.  For some reason it's taken a long time to readjust to being back home, maybe it's simply that fact that we are in the shortest daylight time of the year.  Early Sunday morning was spent in the Mercy Hospital emergency room as I must have gotten into something that resulted in a severe allergic reaction, something I haven't experienced in over 30 years. I still think my trip made me more vulnerable.  Christmas is upon us and it seems as though it was just yesterday.  We will head back to Eleva and see my mom as well,  spend time with the relatives.  My friend Mark Applen is fishing Red Lake right now and is going to leave his wheel house at the resort.  Red Lake is about 5 hours north of Minneapolis, on the way to Lake of the Woods (LOTW).  Our plan is the Thursday after Christmas head back up and either fish Red or continue on to Baudette.  We made a few phone calls and everyplace is booked for next week so we decided to stay in his wheel house, something I have done in the past.  I like staying out on the ice however because the lakes are stained, they pretty well shut down after sundown.  Mark has Direct TV in the ice house, a nice Honda generator, we will have all the comforts of home!  The time between Christmas and New Years was the time my friend Tom Emmons, Tom McAtee, and I would rent a house on Mille Lacs.  With Tom gone, it's probably good to start a new tradition as Mark and I had a blast fishing LOTW last year and the 50 inch sturgeon he caught.  Because Christmas is on Tuesday and I leave on Thursday, next weeks post could be late, delayed because of fishing, pretty good excuse if you ask me!

I will leave you with a picture from the Hotel we stayed at in China.  Although not a terribly religious nation, China fully embraces the spirit of the holiday's, at least from the commercial point of it.  Snowmen and presents, stocking and tinsel, it's all pretty interesting from a Christian perspective.  I think that it proof that we are more the same than different, any excuse to have a celebration is just fine with me!  Merry Christmas and be safe.