Sporting Clays Last Week

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

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

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

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

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

The Bounty of the Harvest

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

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

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

Back to Normal

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

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

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

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

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

The Second, My Brother-in-Law Jeeb

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

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

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

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

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

First of Two

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

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

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

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

Missing Alaska

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

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

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

A Boat Load of Boats

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

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

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

Rockin' With Charlie

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

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

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

Boating With Dave, Superdave That Is

We have been blessed with a colder than usual July as seen by the surface temperatures of Mille Lacs Lake. It has basically been one cold front after another so the fishing has been up and down like a yo-yo. Saturday was the official breaking in of my neighbors new outdoor kitchen so I decided that Sunday would probably be the best day to head to the pond. My friend and neighbor Lory Brasel shared my boat as we pointed the truck north once again. We got a fairly late start and in addition to fishing I had promised my good friend Bill to help him with his new Apple Ipod touch. I am an Ipod addict and carry one with almost everywhere. They are especially useful for airline travel as a movie can take you to your destination in an instant. I have a 160 gig Ipod classic with over 13,000 songs and 96 movies loaded into it. One never runs out of things to watch or listen to that's for sure. Paired with my Bose Quiet Plus headphones one can disappear into your own world. A few pointers and some Coca Cola, we decided to launch out of Cove Bay. The gravel has been giving up a number of fish this year and I though I would try a new tactic. With really only a few hours left to fish it was worth a try and who knows what success we would experience. Well, not that great! We trolled around the 4 Mile and 5 Mile Gravel with nothing more than a relaxing boat ride to show for our efforts. The wind had almost died and it was a perfect day to be on the lake. As trolling proved to be fruitless we found a couple of deeper rock humps and tried bobber fishing. My good friend John Bathke had just called of their success on the flats earlier that day. One little bite was all we could muster. Our final effort was spent on Anderson Reef looking for some shallow water smallies. The water level is up nicely this year however the recent heavy rains have clouded the water. Sight fishing was out of the question and with zero hits after a tour of the reef we headed back. A quick stop at the Conoco Station for gas and a 2 scoop ice cream cone we called it a day. No fish but relaxing none the less. This is what fishing is supposed to be all about anyway, right?

Attached is a picture of a cauliflower I picked out of the garden on Saturday. It's a dandy and is the perfect prop to show the neighbors. See in our neighbor hood there is a nickname for almost everyone. There is Tim the Toolman, Botz, Przymus ( pronounced scha-moose), Petey, Limo Joe, Snap On Gary, and mine is SuperDave. Although a derivative of SuperDave Osborne, the crazy stuntman, it has more to do with my overall knowledge of everything good. I have a huge garden and the cauliflower just enhances my reputation in the hood. Besides this, the garden contains such delights as asparagus, potatoes, sweet corn, tons of raspberries, onions, blueberries, cucumbers, squash, peas, peppers (3 kinds), kale, tomatoes ( 3 kinds), dill, cilantro, cantaloupe, carrots, radishes, and if one looked hard a rouge horseradish plant or two. Mixed in with a few flowers, it looks pretty good. Along with this I have a small orchard with 10 mature apple trees of various varieties and 3 pear trees that surprisingly offers up delicious pears come the first of September. I also have an uncanny ability to trap pocket gophers. As a young man in the summer I would often ride my bike 3 - 4 miles in the country to trap these unwanted pests. They make large mounds of dirt from their tunneling activity and if in an alfalfa field, can be real hard on equipment that can hit these mounds while cutting. A good friend Jim Anderson (no relation) would give me $0.50 for each gopher and the county had another $0.50 bounty for each pair of front feet brought in. I used to make a lot of money for a 12 year old back then! All these things add up to the nickname Superdave and I try to live up to the expectation. I have more stories but will save them for the future.

Speaking of neighbors, a good friend of everyone passed away on Friday. Like the rest of us we had a name for Jim Olson, it was Pepsi Jim as he worked for Pepsi Cola. He was a great guy, never in a bad mood, and was often seen driving his restored Allis Chambers utility tractor around the neighborhood. Jim fought a tough fight against his cancer but lost the battle. We will miss him and his positive attitude. It is a reminder that everyday is precious and like fishing Sunday, it really doesn't matter if you catch any fish, what matters is that you are able to enjoy the moment. Jim passed away way too early in life, take advantage of what you have.

Finally In The Groove

Well after a tenuous June I finally made it back to the pond for the third weekend in a row! Sometimes beggars can't be choosers and this trip saw Mr. Emmons accompany me for the second time in as many weeks. Tom is a great friend to fish with, seldom shows his displeasure and lets me basically run the show with little complaints. He is the only guy that dares to smoke in my boat however he is keenly aware of what would happen should his lighted end get away from him. The day was as perfect as one could ask for with calm winds lasting right up to the time we left. I had my educated night crawlers with but still stopped at Lundeens and picked up ice plus an extra dozen leeches. My boat has 2 live wells and a baitwell which doubles as a great cooler. Generally Bill gives me bulk ice and I just dump it in the baitwell where it lasts all day long as long as I set the plumbing to recirculate. Arriving at the landing we unloaded and headed for Shermans. I generally start fishing the area on Shermans called the cut. It's edge runs southwest to northeast and is a great place to start. Within 15 minutes I caught the first fish, a 15" keeper, one in the box! About 10 minutes later we received a call from a my dear friend Mark Applen, who was on the 7 mile. We decided to head over and tag team the flat. Although it was nice to see Mark the only thing we caught was a 4 inch perch. After a short run to 9 mile we bid Mark ado and headed to the Sliver Flat, the site of Russ's nice fish last week. Almost immediately I hit this nice 25" fish on a crawler. This fish was the second on my educated crawlers, verifying my theory from last week! This fish hit like a freight train leading me to believe that the epic battle by my brave homegrown bait paid wonderful dividends! A couple more passes along this small flat produced little so we decided to switch strategies and don the planar boards. The calm weather proved excellent for trolling and it became a welcome change of pace. Heading between the Boot and Fishers flat Tom noticed his board dancing. Once he reeled the board in and I disconnected the battle was on. I was really surprised how active this fish was since often these fish are effected negatively by the boards. Landing this 24 incher, Tom was finally on the board. It took about another hour before I hit my first walleye on the planers. I have strike indicator flags mounted on the boards which fold back when a fish is on. These work great and makes identification of "fish on" considerably easier. Resetting our spread produced another nice walleye 15 minutes after this fish. We circled back through the productive area which proved to be less productive the second time around. We decided to see if our crawlers were still up to the task and tried a new spot, the southwest tip of the 8 mile flat. We nailed a couple of smaller walleyes but nothing worth bragging about. Although it was beautiful out, it was still hot and we both started smelling like ripe catfish bait. Having caught a few nice fish, one in the box, we decided to head to the Dairy Queen for a malt, some onion rings, and reflect on a great day on the water.

Some parting thoughts about Mille Lacs. The surface temperature is a cool 66 degrees. This is almost unheard of for the middle of July and should be at least 8 degrees warmer. Two years ago the temperature was in the mid 70's causing a massive tulibee die off which scattered several thousand of these dead fish on the surface. Mille Lacs is on the southern end of their range and "global warming" is suppose to be their ultimate demise. Last year was a record tulibee hatch and this cool weather will bod well for restoring the lake's population. It is offical, Mille Lacs has zebra mussels, probably riding on a boat that either came from the St. Louis River near Duluth or more likely a boat that just came from the Mississippi River. Zebramussels are a foreign invader and the jury is still out as to the effect that it will have on the lake. Time will obviously tell. The Minnesota DNR has stepped up exotic species laws meaning you must assure your trailer is clean of any weeds, your live wells and baitwells are empty, and your boat plug pulled at the landing. The fine for failure is about $150 and are strictly enforced. Make sure you pick up the latest boating guide in your area to note the regulations. At Mille Lacs each landing has information posted to your responsibilities. I am sure I will be heading back up this weekend to continue my nightcrawler theory validation. My great friend Chuck Teasley will be joining me the following week and I am really looking forward to fishing with him.

Catching With Clos...........and Nightcrawlers

After 2 years of promises, I finally had the opportunity to take my good friend Russ Clos to Mille Lacs for some soft water fishing. Russ and I have ice fished a number of times last winter on Pelican Lake, successfully catching crappies and sunfish each time. It was his first time to Mille Lacs during the regular open water season and I always find it exciting to share a good experience with a friend. The weather forecast stated a southeasterly wind 5 - 10 mph, which is more than a fishable forecast. Weather forecasting is the only job where you get paid being wrong 80% of the time and Saturday was no exception. Arriving at Lundeens to pick up crawlers the flag on the VFW told a completely different story, out of the Northwest and around 20 mph. As the lake came into view our fears were confirmed. Although the waves were not terribly large, each one was being blown over causing the lake to look like a determined washing machine. My strategy was basically the same as last week due to the amount of fish I marked, it seemed like a pretty good idea. The first two stops produced a small perch. The wind forced us to fish along flat edges that coincided with the wind direction. Arriving at 7 mile, the west side was positioned perfect for the drift. About halfway down the flat I nailed this nice 25 inch fish. We repeated the same drift 4 more times with only a little more sunburn to show for it. Russ was feeling the motion somewhat so I decided to troll to 9 mile flat with #11 Tail Dancers and give both of us a break. Nothing was hitting our Rapala's. At 9 mile we took out the crawlers and drifted the west edge looking for any takers. Although we marked quite a few fish, none were in the mood to hit our baits. The next move was to the Sliver Flat, is a small and very narrow flat north on 9 mile. Drifting over the top and down the edge produced Russ's first large walleye. This fish was over 24 inches and represented the largest walleye he had ever caught. Releasing it we fished a couple more passes before heading back to Shermans. Fishing in these conditions can be very exhausting and by 5:00 we were done for the day. Wind burnt, sun burnt, and 3 walleyes made for a tough day however seeing Russ catch his largest walleye made it all worth it.

My last three outings have been less than spectacular, especially hearing from my friends and their successes. First of all, I am not that bad of a fisherman! Opener at Leech Lake was fantastic yet my Mille Lacs outings have been less than stellar. Well, it rained enough last night to entice the night crawlers to expose themselves in my garden. Having bought crawlers the last 2 times, I figured it would be a good time to stock up on some home grown worms when it suddenly dawned on me, the night crawlers I have been buying are Canadian crawlers (no offense Bill). For crying out loud, what do Canadian crawlers know about catching Minnesota fish? Well, the answer certainly seems obvious to me, they don't. Looking back at my successful trips over the years, crawlers out of my garden have been the standard in my boat and I presume they are a lot smarter at catching walleyes in Mille Lacs than those imported Canadian beasts! This conclusion came to me as I was adding my own harvested crawlers to the ones left over from the weekend. For a moment there was some apprehension as adding good crawlers would make it difficult to distinguish between the two. Although I caught and added 86 worms to an already 2 dozen, what would the possibility of grabbing one of the Canadian bred for the hook and not catching anything again? I finally concluded that if my own crawlers were smart enough to catch walleyes they were smart enough to train their Canadian counterparts the fine art as well. With that problem solved I look forward to getting back up to the pond this weekend and really nailing them!

My 4th of July Tradition

Sticking with a tradition that has lasted over 15 years I had the pleasure of taking the Tom's back out on Mille Lacs on Saturday the 4th of July. As usual they met me at the pole shed with Caribou Coffee in hand. A quick transfer of gear and food, we headed north. Our first stop was at the Milaca Hardies for lunch. This restaurant has all but disappeared from Minnesota. It is too bad as they make an excellent burger. Our next stop was Lundeens for some bait, ice, and advice. After obtaining all three it was off to the landing. It could not have been a more beautiful day. The wind was none existent as the surface of the lake was like glass. This certainly was a turn around from the last 2 weekends, and a welcome one at that. Launching the boat we headed to the first rock hump which produced a single fish. Next stop was The Cut, a long stretch of an edge on Sherman's Flat. Dragging a combo of crawlers and leeches produced nothing. The weather was really getting hot and I recognized my guests could use a break. Pulling out the planer boards and line counter rigs, I threw on some #11 Tail Dancers and had Mr. Emmons let out 150 feet of line. After putting the board on his line we set up Mr. McAtee. Both boards were running great so it was my turn. I had not let out more than 20 feet and the port board started to dance. After a 5 minute battle the lunker showed itself, a 24 incher. A quick picture and back in the lake it went. Alright, that was quick! Resetting the lines we trolled for the next hour with nothing more to show. Oh well, it was 3:00 and I figured we would head to a favorite mid lake reef to check out the shallow rocks. In years past it has been common to see hundreds of walleyes with a muskie or two mixed in, leisurely swimming on top of the reef in 3 feet of water. The walleyes where not there so we spent 20 minutes fishing for smallies. I have become very proficient with a tube jig and immediately hooked into this nice fish. Catching 3 more smaller fish we moved south to a small gravel hump for some bobber fishing. The wind had picked up some what and it would be perfect to anchor and try our luck. I tend to look the area over first with my depth finder to verify if there are any fish in the area. Having registered quite a few marks we threw anchor and started fishing. The bobbers went down almost immediately. McAtee lost 2 real nice fish right away before Mr. Emmons hit this beautiful 23 incher. We caught 6 walleyes before moving back towards the landing to be closer to the Garrison Fire Works show. Settling back at Sherman's Flat, we anchored on the top side and decided to keep bobber fishing. As we were anchored I noticed a number of fish directly under the boat. Almost like ice fishing, I dropped a jig/leech combo over the side until my sounder displayed it on the screen. You could literally see the fish chase the jig up and down until finally one hit it, the only keeper we got for the day. As darkness descended on us, the fireworks had not started yet, we decided to move in closer. Bad move. Once anchored it was like the 3 stooges trying to figure out the best way to reset our bobbers. Tom dropped his depth finder weight overboard to set his depth and it immediately wedged into the rocks below. A quick response resulted in leaving most of his rig on the bottom. In the meantime I was trying to move my bobber stop and it just tore my line to shreds. In 10 seconds my line had snapped without putting it in the water. Looking at each other we decided it was too dark to retie, the fireworks were still not happening, and if we were going to eat supper, it might be smart to head in. Once the boat was loaded we headed south for our meal at Chico's. I was looking forward to having a cold beer with a taco however it was closed. Back to Hardies! Over all it was a fair day. The weather was great plus we ended up with 8 walleyes, 4 smallies, and a nice perch. We are all getting alittle older and I hope we can continue this tradition for years to come.

Wind, Wind, Wind

After working at the in-laws again on Saturday I was ready to get out fishing on Mille Lacs. the plan was to head up just after lunch on Sunday with my friend Tom Emmons. About 9:00 I got a call from my friend Bill Lundeen informing me that the wind had turned the lake into a frothy mess with the forecast claiming even stronger winds in the afternoon. If Bill calls with a warning, you had better listen. A quick check of some local lakes and wind gusts to 50 mph, I decided to fight another day. July 4th is my tradition trip with the "Toms" and let's hope mother nature cooperates at least once this year!

So what the big deal with wind and Mille Lacs Lake anyway? Mille Lacs Lake is located about 80 miles due north of Minneapolis. It is a relatively a shallow lake with it's maximum depth at 38 feet. Mille Lacs measures about 25 miles long and 13 miles wide. With very little to stop the wind and it's shallow nature, respectable waves can develop quickly. This time of year the walleyes have moved to offshore structures and regardless of which way the wind is blowing, once it hits a certain point, there is few places to hide that hold fish. One of my favorite places to fish in late June early July are the mud flats. These are mid lake structures that resemble underwater plateaus, rising 10 to 12 feet from the bottom. They can cover a few hundred square feet to over a square mile. There are well over 2 dozen identified flats as well as numerous unnamed flats. One of the more popular mudflats is 7 mile Flat. It's 7 miles from something however I am not sure the reference point as 9 mile is directly east and 8 mile is directly north. This flat has a U type shape and like many flats drops from 24 feet on the top to 36 feet at the base in less than 20 feet. 7 mile can hold some big fish. One of my favorite ways to fish is rig a crawler harness with a spinner and back troll along the edge, moving from 36 feet to 24 feet, hang the edge, then move back down. Depending on the mood of the fish, you may find them either on the deep side or the shallow side. Once you locate the fish, it is wise to continue the pattern until they quite biting. I tie my own crawler rigs. My friend Leon Lambert taught me the fine art of tying a snell and after a quick refresher course I got pretty good at it. I like to use Tru-Turn bait holder hooks for my crawler rigs as they really work well. When guiding I count on these hooks as they practically set themselves. Trying to teach a person the nuances of live bait fishing can be frustrating however the Tru-Turn hooks help my clients be more successful. Another popular method of fishing the flats has been the slip bobber technique. Usually one anchors on the top side or the deep side, right on the edge so one can cover both depths. This type of fishing is often extended well into the dark by the use of lighted bobbers. They have a small LED and battery which keeps the bobber lighted. It is very exciting to see the bobber go down and watch where the fish goes. This technique can be deadly. I once did a lot of bobber fishing and have got away from it. I certainly caught a lot of fish under a bobber over the years however today I prefer to keep moving. The fish I am holding came off of 7 mile flat. Hopefully I will have something more substantial to report next week.

Bonjour from Montreal

I am writing this post from Montreal (no Eric not Montreal WI!) Quebec. Fishing has been slow so I spent the weekend finishing up my brother in law's landscape job that his wife Suzy asked me to help with. He has been struggling with cancer and I have offered to get some stuff fixed up around the house for them. It was hot but after 3 weeks I was able to completely redo their landscape edging around the house. I looks real nice and it's one more thing that they don't have to worry about.

I always drive down Wisconsin Highway 35 on the east side of the Mississippi River. This winds it's way along Lake Pepin though Diamond Bluff, Stockholm, Maiden Rock, Pepin before meeting the river just south of Nelson Wisconsin. I will put a plug in for the Nelson Cheese Factory. At one time it actually manufactured cheese however I think their current store which sells cheese, wine, gourmet items, and ice cream is much more successful. I have never been in there where it is less than 4 deep waiting for an ice cream cone, still $1.00 for a single and $2.00 for a double. It's a nice break. As you head south on 35 past Nelson, to the right is Big Lake. Being an old river rat we pass familiar haunts like Indian Slough, Wilbers, Thachers, Catfish Slough, The Cutoff, Railroad Slough and the Oil Tanks. As I passed these areas a lot of memories also passed by. Kevin and I would fish these areas every weekend through the summer. We were not much walleye fisherman then but we sure hit the bass hard. Here is Kevin holding a nice bass we got in the slop up Catfish Slough. I believe this was taken in June of 1981 as I have bought a new Lund in 1982. It's surprising to see that Kevin had a good start on his beer gut even back then! He is sitting in my first boat, an narrow aluminum Starcraft that we bought from Paul Wichmann. With a 15 hp Evinrude it was a great first boat for the river. I replaced the cross seats and made a new transom, added a trolling motor and real swivel seats. That boat could really catch the fish. Our arsenal consisted of daredevils, moss bosses, spinner baits, Johnson Silver Minnows and here Kevin caught this fish on his favorite, a Miller Wobbler with a chunk of Uncle Josh's Pork Rind on the back. Our technique for bass was pretty elementary, cast into the carpet of duck weed and slowly work it back on the surface. The bait coming over these thin layer of weeds would leave a distinct trail, recording its path back to the boat. When a bass did hit, it blew a 2 foot hole in these weeds, often missing the bait and leaving an interesting history of what just happened. The pork rind really added that extra attractant however the fish often grabbed the end of it rather than up higher into the hook. A quick recast would often be enough to have them hammer it again and the fight was on. Back then we would definitely eat a fish like this! As stated, walleyes really didn't even exist as a viable game fish. Of course today it is completely opposite, the bass go back and the walleye's get deep fried! I really miss fishing with Kevin and have made a promise to rekindle the "Good Old Days". Sitting on the tarmac in Chicago I got a nice e-mail and decided to call him. It's settled and we will get together like days of old. I am looking forward to our date.

Back in Business

Finally! Working till noon on Saturday I headed to Chisago City and picked up my boat at Frankies. Although the hood was not in yet, she would run just as fine with the damaged old cover. Arriving home the first thing I needed to do was getting her looking respectable again. Vacuuming out 2 1/2 weeks of tree seed accumulation, washing off the rain dirt, and getting the road film off with Armor All she looked like new. My Ranger is a 2001 model. I take much pride in taking care of my boat as it usually pays off dividends when it's time to upgrade. I had arranged to head to Mille Lacs on Sunday with my friend and neighbor Lory Brasel. We also were asked to provide a test drive for a gentlemen who met us at the landing to take a short ride.

Before we went out on Sunday I agreed to help Lory take his boat out for a test run. In order to minimize our time we went to Diamond Lake. Lory's boat is a mid 1990 Lund 1800 Pro V with a 110 HP Johnson 90 degree V engine. Diamond Lake is located on the western edge of Dayton and is a small shallow prairie type lake. Being surrounded by farm country, the water is clear yet clumps of bright green algae has taken over the majority of the water volume. On the northwest end of the lake we were surprised to see a rather large flock of white pelicans taking residence on a small island. I estimate there were over 50 of them. I have seen them migrating through in the spring with a stop over yet this is the first time they have hung around. They are magnificent birds and a fascinating to watch.

We finally turned our attention to the north and headed in that direction. The day was absolutely beautiful with the lake being as smooth as glass. I had a typical strategy for this time of year; hit the 16 foot hump by Sherman's Point, head to the flats with a stop at the Cut and 7 mile. I marked a ton of fish on the rocks but no takers. The Cut prove just as productive and a complete circle around 7 mile produce just a few marks on the graph, but that was it. I decided to head back to the rocks and we nailed a smallie (pretty odd for this deep, this time of year). Heading south we went to Rolland's Flat, stopped at Rainbow Island an casted for smallies, ran to a deep gravel spot for another fruitless half hour of crawler drowning before finishing up with a few trolling runs up and down Indian Point. Not for lack of effort, we ended the day with 4 smallies and 2 walleyes pushing 11 inches each. Although fishing was not the greatest, it was a relief to finally get out.

This time of year reminds me of 2002 when the walleyes were going crazy. My nephew Kevin, stopped by work yesterday on his way to a job interview. In 2002 we teamed up on Mille Lacs to put on a walleye catching demonstration. The walleyes were hitting anything from crawlers, plastic worms, leeches and I suspect bare hooks if we tried long enough. Between Kevin and I we caught 55 walleyes that day, my personal best on Mille Lacs. I am hoping that Kevin gets the job as it will give me another great fishing partner. He has been to Alaska a couple of times with his dad (my brother Steve) and myself provide us with the pleasure of seeing a young man experience something we had to wait 45 years for.

Sittin' With Dave?!?!?

I am thinking about changing the name of my blog from Fishin' With Dave to Sittin' with Dave. This is getting insane as it's been almost 3 weeks since my boat misbehaved and it's still in the shop. My timeline is starting to look pretty interesting. Immediately on Tuesday (the day after Memorial Day) I dropped the boat off to have the dealer get started. My next task was to contact the insurance company to see how much damage they would sign up for. I was informed of my $1000 deductible and they promised to start the process. Having received the forms and sending the estimates, it turned to a waiting game. On Friday May 30th I decided to call the shop to see if my insurance company had made arrangements with them. Having acknowledged that no one had contacted them, I asked if they ordered the parts, and was told no. At that point I reminded them that I had a $20,000 boat sitting there and it needed fixing regardless.......get the parts on order! Being preoccupied with my uncles funeral I waited till Thursday to followup with the insurance. I had received an e-mail with the information and it proceeded to call my agent because it did not have any phone numbers. After looking at it the claim form was made out to a different David Anderson ( I am only the 7th most popular name in Minnesota). After a quick re-evaluation of the data, I was promised this would be expedited. More delays. In the meantime I was fighting with HP on my laptop repair which had seen the screen go dead. After about 5 hours of discussions with India, they must have decided I was too smart for them and reassigned me to a real live American customer service agent. It is incredible what took 5 hours with Rakesh could be resolved in 15 minutes with Bob. My laptop arrived as Bob promised last Thursday, one problem down.

On Friday afternoon I received a call from State Farm. Amazingly they had already talked to the dealer and had processed my claim. Discussing my dilemma with an insurance agent friend, he express some possible issues with my claim. Oh great! The estimate came back at $3200 damage. He claimed that they might not cover it because of the malfunction so take a strategy that the problem made the outboard crash into the boat. Well the claims adjuster started by saying there would be a problem covering the malfunction. What I heard him say was "you are SOL". What he really said was we cannot cover the electrical damage but everything else. I quickly looked at the estimate and this part was only $120. We went over the bill less the $120 and my $250 deductible.........wait, the original told me $1000 deductible. I guess that's what the other David Anderson had! My expectation of how much beer money was going to leave my pocket just changed by $630 in my favor. Victory #2! I called the shop to make sure they were on track and today I confirmed to them that if I did not get out fishing this weekend someone was not going to be very happy. Well, apparently my new motor cover had not arrived yet. I reminded them that the motor, if fitted with a new tiller handle, will operate just fine with the old hood despite the hole in the front. We will see if this tactic works tomorrow and I will be back on Mille Lacs on Sunday. I have included a picture of my baby.

The time absent from fishing has given me a chance to get some worth while activities done. The last 3 weekends have been spent helping my brother-in-law get a number of things done around his house. He is having some serious medical problems and although I would always rather be fishing, it feels good to help in this case. On Monday I got to golf with my Minnesota Sales Rep, Dwight Bialowas, in the NHL Alumni Tournament. Dwight is an ex-Minnesota North Star and with the likes of Donny Beaupre, Brian Bellows, Gordy Roberts, Jack Carlson, Timmy Young, we play at the Legends, a beautiful course in Prior Lake. Our team included Dwight, Doc, Vic, a police officer, Mike and myself. Both Mike and I golf once a year and it shows! Dwight and Doc are basically scratch golfers leaving the rest of us provide entertainment for them. I have done this 3 years now and have never had a lie we could in good conscious use. Well after a bloody mary on the course my drives improved to the point where we actually used 2 of mine! Friday I volunteer for the Eric Applen Memorial Tournament. Mark Applen hosts this golf event in honor of his son who succumb to cancer at the young age of 17. Our charter is to raise money for the families of children with cancer. Mark amazingly raises between $20,000 and $25,000 each year, which is incredible as it is all raised by extraordinary everyday people. My contribution is a full day's guide trip on Mille Lakes, which usually goes for top dollar! It is my best trip of the year as it really helps a needy family.

Hopefully I will finally have a real fishing report early next week as I know the fish are biting and it's truly driving my crazy!

Tribute to Uncle Keith

Friday saw the passing of my uncle Keith Anderson, my dad's oldest brother. I am especially fond of my uncles and aunt on Dad's side, growing up with them while I was young, each played an important role in who I am. Keith was probably one of the smartest men I knew, always outspoken, never wincing words. This is an admirable quality as you always knew were you stood with him and he always stood for something. Keith and his wife Dorothy gave me 4 wonderful cousins, Cindy, Linda, Paul, and Julie who are the epitome of standard Norwegian stereotypes...........blond hair, blue eyed, and just as smart as get out! They have all remained my friends which was highlighted by Paul joining us in Alaska last year. Keith was always my favorite subject with the camera as he never failed to deny me that handsome pose and great smile. My grandpa Roy and Keith ran the Mobil Service Station in town. Back then Eleva was a like many small towns. With a population of around 400 we had a grocery store, drugstore, Gamble store, feedmill, lumber yard, train depot, and 6 - 7 operating gas stations, 4 bars and a large log cabin for various civic gatherings. He eventually sold the service station to Vic Wenaas which I had the pleasure of working for. I think Keith felt alittle like I was carrying on a family tradition. When I was a young boy he would often include me in activities like camping and fishing. Keith loved to camp. Neither of us would ever forget the time he invited me to camp and fish with Paul and himself at Coon Fork Dam near Augusta. The Coon Fork River was only about 30 miles from Eleva, but to me it seemed like a thousand miles away. I was probably 12 years old, it was my first time camping with them, and it was fishing opener. This usually meant trout fishing back home however the Coon Fork River emptied into the Eau Claire River which had a sizable population of Muskies. The river below the dam was as wild a river as I saw. The tea colored water flowed from pools, over car sized rock, through rapids wandering its way downstream. I had experience with northern pike, however Keith had suggested we walk downstream and cast the pools. With my trusty old Zebco and solid glass rod, I pitched my old spoon into the current only to see a monstrous fish leap out of the water with my lure in its mouth, heading for the Mississippi River. Having little experience with this kind of behavior it took about 3 seconds and crack, the line reported a failure! My reaction was swift and vocal. Knowing a few swear words may bring a similar reaction that my dad may have given I held my honor by stomping my feet and hitting the pole against the rocks with the vengeance of a fisherman scorned. Of course Keith understood my love for fishing, even at that age found humor in my experience. This was over 40 years ago and up to last summer he still found joy in reminding me of the fish that got away. I did redeem myself later that day by catching a smaller muskie near our campsite yet he for some unknown reason (like illegal size) he let it go. Foiled again!

Later in life I had the pleasure to pay back Keith something for everything he had given to me. His other brother and my fabulous Uncle Jerry (featured in a couple previous posts) lives in Idaho. Jerry and Keith were best of friends and when grandma was alive, Jerry would try to get back to Eleva once a year. Well, I caught wind of this and asked both of them to join me for a day on Mille Lacs. I cannot explain how excited it was when they accepted. My house was a 2 1/2 hour trip from Eleva and another 1 1/2 hour to the landing, a full day for sure. It was exactly the same time of year, first of June and we started out on the west side. Catching nothing we made a beeline for the south shore when out of the corner of my eye I noticed a few boats on 7 Mile Flat. At that minute the strategy switched and decided to see what might be out there. Arriving it was like glass, perfect for slowly working the edge with a crawler, using the electric motor. Rigging each with a spinner rig and nightcrawler, we started to backtroll. Almost immediately I nailed a nice walleye, maybe 20 inches. One in the box. 10 minutes later Keith set the hook on a dandy. A nice walleye off the flats puts up a tremendous fight and this one did not disappoint. When I finally landed it, the fish measured over 27.5 inches. I was just about to release the fish when Jerry yelled................David, what are you doing? I exclaimed that I was releasing this fish which prompted and immediate response "The hell you are!" I quickly got the hint that these were the biggest walleyes they had ever caught and it was not going to be for nothing. Jerry had nailed another nice 26 incher 5 minutes later. As we were back trolling Keith asked me "Dave, What do you think Al Linder would be doing right now?" I replied "Keith, he would be doing the same thing we were" with an air of confidence mixed with BS. I had my doubts Keith even knew who Al Linder was, let alone ask about him. It could not have been more than 5 minutes from the question when Keith looked at me, pointed his hand at a boat and asked "Dave, is that Al Linder over there?" (30 feet from us). One good look and Holy Moses, it was Al Linder! We both had established the tone for the remainder of the day. Keith actually knew who Al Linder was and as predicted, he was doing exactly the same thing that we were doing. Another mystery of life. The above picture was our 4 biggest fish for the day and it set up a date for the next year where we smoked cousin Paul, his father-in-law, and my other cousin Greg. It was very satisfying to be able to spend some time with Keith in my environment and show him a good time.

I will miss Keith, his wisdom, advice (although I did not agree with all of it!), his kindness and life lessons he taught me. Although we cannot stay young forever, we can pass these things on to the next generation as Uncle Keith did as he had much to give. God Bless you Keith.