Another Year!

Although I started Fishin' With Dave in May of 2008, I consider the last post in April as the end of my Blog Year.  For the Christmas Season in 2009 I was perplexed as to what I could give to my father.  At 79 there isn't much that he needs that is personal in nature, sure he loves the year subscription to the paper but I was looking for something special.  An e-mail came one day promoting a site that would actually print your blog in hardcover book form.  Called Blog2Print, I decided to check it's validity not knowing what to expect.  It was surprisingly simple, give them the URL of your blog address, pick the dates, add a few pictures and dedications and Voila, your blog has been just published.  Deciding this would be a good gift for my father, I downloaded Fishing With Dave, Volume 1, spanning my posts from May 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009.  Adding a dedication to my dad, it turned out to be one of the best gifts he has ever received, as he even made me autograph it.  In my posts are often people from Eleva mentioned.  Dad would go downtown everyday for coffee and bring the book with him for others to read.  Not having Internet, it was a fun way for him to see what I was writing about.  It went over so well that in 2010 I printed volume 2, May 1, 2009 to April 30, 2010.   Having learned a few things from doing the first one, I changed a number of things and printed 3 copies, 2 hardcovers and 1 soft cover.  Getting more winded with my posts made Volume 2 larger and more expensive (you pay by the page).  It made the perfect Father's Day gift that he continues to enjoy and it is my plan to start Volume 3 as soon as I am done today.  At 81 and struggling with throat cancer it's nice to be able to do something special for him.  My dad grew up in Eleva, a pretty strict Lutheran community.  I have said before it was not necessarily his job be my friend but to make sure I grew up to be a responsible, self sufficient adult.  Along the way we had issues and admittedly saying I love you to your dad wasn't something you did, I am sure he didn't to his father.  I think I need to take care of that before it's too late.

So the electronics install saga continues with my boat.  Having decided that repairing the holes cut into the panels would be too much work, I ordered new ones from my dealer Frankie's.  In the end it was a smart move on my part as now the installation is looking much better.  I did get the Ipod dock mounted and ran the ethernet cable from the front HDS5 to the back HDS10.  That works pretty well but there are a few bugs to work out.  On Tuesday, Lowrance came out with a software update and now the units are up to date with a lot of extra features.  Last night I finally got the Sonic Hub working and is it ever slick.  I can now control my audio system (radio, Ipod, speakers, volume) all from the HDS unit.  Thinking I could control the audio from the front via the ethernet was a mistake and now I have to install a NMEA2000 network cable from front to back.  Hopefully this will take care of it.  I still have to mount the transducer for the LSS-1 (Structure Scan) and network the system into the HDS unit, I am about a week away from that and will post pictures when I am done.  It is proving to be interesting and fun as long as I don't run out of time! 

My last picture is of the new pickup truck I took delivery of on Tuesday, a GMC Sierra 1500.  My Suburban was pushing 6 years old and had over 130,000 miles, it was getting to look well used.  I found myself hauling more stuff and with the gas prices rising, needed something to easily transport my ice fishing gear without always having to take my trailer.  Things really change in 6 years.  The engine is a 5.3 liter V8 (327 for all you guys my age) with an engine  management system that when cruising under light loads the engine drops to 4 cylinders. Coupled with a 6 speed transmission it claims to get 21 mpg on the road.  My brother Steve has the same truck and has confirmed up to 22.  Having all the latest electronics gadgets like built in bluetooth for your cell phone that actually comes through the radio to the USB port allowing you to plug in your Ipod and control it from the radio control, it's pretty slick.  Heck even my salesman Clyde, who is my age, was amazed at what you could do.   It's still snowing in Minnesota and Leech Lake is still ice covered, maybe going out next week.  I am hoping I can get out before opener and try all of my new stuff!

April Doldrums

The time between the last safe ice and fishing opener is always a challenge.  It is a time to get the garden ready, trim the apple trees, and get everything ready for fishing opener.  This year the opener is the second latest date it can be (last year was the latest) which basically means we have an extra week to wait before we hit Leech Lake.  My current project of  reconfiguring the electronics in my boat has hit a snag as it is less expensive and more convenient to order new sheet metal panels for my boat rather than simply try to make an adapter to cover up the existing holes.  Hopefully they arrive soon so I can get back to the work of finalizing everything.  I did replace my wired remote cable with the Ethernet cable and was able to link the two units together to see if they would talk to each other.  Like it is suppose too, I could display each units output on each other's screen which was pretty exciting.  The weather still can't decide what it wants to do, winter-spring-winter?!?!?!  Two times this week I woke up to snow, Saturday morning and this morning.  Although it was a beautiful scene, it melted fast and by noon on both days it was gone.  I know we can have snow into May but I have to admit, it's getting old.  The weatherman suggested that this winter is the 4th snowiest on record.  I think he is being kind!

The highlight of my weekend was taking the MSF (Motorcycle Safety Foundation) course.  Lasting both Saturday and Sunday, a total of 16 hours of classroom and road course training proved interesting.  There were 6 guys in the class with me being the oldest.  Most people take this course to get their motorcycle endorsement however having passed my test last year, I was interested in learning the correct way to approach riding.  Having some experience was interesting as the course assumes you have never been on a bike.  The first 6 hours was classroom work and I aced the 50 question test at the end.  Being multiple choice questions I approach each one by looking at what are the wrong answers.   The next 10 hours consisted of riding a small course in the parking lot.  We were all given Honda Rebel 250 motorcycles (pictured) and it was obvious they had seen better days.  All had the mirrors and front turn lights tore off, half had the back turn signals missing, and a couple showed evidence of some horrible event the bike experienced at the hands of a seasoned rookie!   It was pretty thorough and although it seemed as though I knew the material, it was good to have someone critic your habits and work on good fundamentals.  The highlight of my course was when I wiped out on the bike while working on a curve exercise.  Rolling through the corner, we were to accelerate and apparently I exceeded all expectations by having to lean enough for the right peg to hit and grab the pavement.  Ending up under the bike the instructor came running.  Expecting a good lecture, I was pleasantly surprised at the rather mature discussion of my misfortune.  I went on to secure a perfect score on the road test, something that even surprised me.

My last picture is of me celebrating the gifts from my co-workers Welly and Tom.  Both had spend a good amount of time in Mexico lately and each brought me something that I am truly grateful.  Of course everyone at work is aware of my Green Bay Packer status so Welly found this beautiful Poncho in lovely Cancun.  One look and he knew it was me.  I simply can't wait to wear it during next year's Super Bowl!  In my right hand is the special gift I received from Tom.  In a traditional hand crafted bottle is some of the finest Tequila in Mexico.  Both are wonderful gifts and allows me to reflect how special these guy are to me.  Of course I did have to model the Poncho to all of our factory workers, most of whom are die hard Viking fans.  I was definitely a good way to remind them which team to support next year!  Easter is this weekend and I hope to get most of my boat electronics completed, assuming everything comes in by Friday.  Speaking of Good Friday, it's a great time to plant potatoes and that might be the goal for this weekend as well.  Three weeks to opener, I am getting anxious for sure.  The fishing sales are in full force as I am doing my annual accumulation of the latest and greatest.

Networkin' with Dave (or Dave the IT Guy)

I have to admit that technology is really starting to wear me down!  My first cell phone was in 1990, what they called a bag phone.  It sat on the front floor of the car, with a rather large device stuck in the trunk and an antenna coupled through the back window.  Wow, a phone I could use in the car, just like at home, a simple 10 key number pad and a send button.  Fast forward to 2011, I have owned a Blackberry now for 2 years and trust me, I still haven't figured out how to really use it to it's greatest potential.  That will probably never happen.  Well, it's time for me to upgrade my depthfinder/gps on the back of my Ranger 620T.  Working with Bill, we have done some horse trading and I am finally ridding myself of the reliable Genetron for something a little more technical, a Lowrance HDS-10.  It came with Structure Scan/Side Imaging which can literally scan the bottom up to 500 feet either side of the boat.  Included is a down scan feature that more clearly identifies objects under the water, such as those sunken Spanish galleons in the middle of Mille Lacs.  Adding to the mix, Lowrance has a Sonic Hub made by Fusion, which is the same manufacturer of my current stereo system.  Along with my front depth finder, a HDS-5, they can all be magically hooked together via cables, software, and sweat to talk to each other.

So it goes like this........... The HDS 10 is the basic display and also serves as the main "server" in my new boat network.  The Structure Scan/side imaging module consist of a oblong shaped transducer that is feed into what appears to be an Ethernet Hub.  My HDS 5, in the front of the boat is connected to the hub via a 25 foot Ethernet cable.  From the Hub is another Ethernet cable that plugs into the HDS 10.  Now the Sonic Hub is really a NEMA2000 network device.  NEMA 2000 is a communications protocol and consists of a network tree of parallel connected devices that can communicate with the server (HDS10).  Because I have a factory glassed in, thru the hull transducer, I see that the boat had been pre wired with a NEMA 2000 based water temperature sending unit.  This makes sense as most water temperature sensing is done at the externally mounted transducer, so with a thru the hull transducer a separate temp sensor was installed.  So, I have this branch looking network assembly that has a cord to power the network, a temp sensor port, a Sonic hub port, and a cable going out to the HDS 10.  All of these cables crisscrossing my boat will allow me to switch displays on my front and back HDS units to track each other, I will be able to observe the structure scanning on both units simultaneously, as well control my stereo system via the depth finder screen.  This will allow me to change songs, channels, volume from both units, which is much better than kneeling down to adjust everything.  The unit comes with an Ipod dock and can be plugged into a Sirius Radio, which in turn can display the latest radar weather reports on the HDS10.  Uffda!

The real problem will be simply trying to learn every menu, option, configuration, setup and I am sure few thousand combinations of all you can do with the system. Just interpreting the Side Imaging displayed what it all means will be a challenge in itself. I had a tremendous amount of confidence in the Genetron as I could anchor in 20 feet of water, put a 1/8 ounce jig with a leech on, drop it off the back of the boat all while watching it fall to the bottom, move up and down, and get hit just like winter fishing with a FL20. I am sure it will take a bit of getting used to the new system and I only hope it is as good as what I am replacing. Here is a picture of what the display of the side scan looks like. Of course this technology has been the rave for a few years now, started by Bottom Line (now Humminbird), I can see it will take a lot of trips this year to finally figure how to interpret what the transducer is looking at, not that I am complaining . Sort of feels like a new episode of Sea Hunt!  This weekend has snow in the forecast for the Saturday morning, hopefully the last.  I have committed to spending both Saturday and Sunday taking a Motorcycle Riders Safety Course, a 16 hour classroom and riding skills class at a local motorcycle dealership.  I guess we are never too old to learn the right way to do things.  Next week is Easter then maybe a chance to get on the water and try my new network out, if I get it installed by then!

It's Finally Gone!

Flying to Chicago this week I had the option of simply getting on my return flight or riding shotgun with my friend Tom Emmons, who was working in Libertyville for the last 3 days. Sometimes O’hare airport can get really congested with long delays. Often it would be faster to just rent a car and drive back rather than wait for your plane to take off. Well late this morning the airline called me 4 times to notify me of the changes in my schedule , delayed an hour, moved up 15 minutes, moved back 30 minutes. The real message was that if went to the airport, I’d be lucky to get back by 10:00. My last sales call was only 15 minutes from where Tom was, I decided to take the known method of transportation and ride with Tom. A quick stop at the Bass Pro Shop in Gurney Mills and the relaxing ride is allowing me to get caught up on a few things. This weekend was the annual Northwest Sportshow at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Last year’s economic conditions really affected the show however the improved situation was evident this year. I had the chance to go down to the show both on Thursday night and Sunday afternoon. For me 4 hours is not nearly enough time to see all the new things and ask all of the questions. From getting my Lorwance Ethernet connection issues resolved to checking on a the latest new lures, it’s always a fun time. One of the things I really enjoy is visiting my friends Judy and Ken Marlow from Marlow’s on the Kenai. Featured in my Alaskan Links on the left side bar, it’s always great to see them again. As always they have a special treat for me, smoked canned sockeye salmon with a touch of jalapeno pepper added, it’s like manna from heaven. Here’s a great picture of the two with their booth. I like to sit with them and converse with the interested customers as we have a few pictures featured on their display.

Unfortunately I am going to miss ice fishing Lake of the Woods again this year. Normally the weekend before April 15t with last year’s trip being canceled as the ice conditions were such that the lake closed down by the end of March. This year was just difficult to get organized to go. My friend Ryan Sterle, who lives on the Iron Range tends to find time to do all sorts of things. Last year I posted a few pictures of the fish he caught on the Rainy River, and yesterday he sent another, a 55 inch sturgeon he got this weekend. Not the clearest picture as I am sure he used his cell phone and it looks like it was snowing. Last year’s fishing season on the Rainy was fabulous do to the early spring however I am sure this year is somewhat more normal and challenging. This is a really nice fish and it's something I'd like to try and do someday.

My next 4 weeks will be focused on getting all of my fishing equipment ready for opener. From getting the boat ready, tuning up my reels, reorganizing my tackle boxes, I’ll have plenty to do for the next month. I just got the Leech Lake Tournament trophy engraved and I think I really outdid myself this year! It will give me something interesting to post for next week.  The good news is that the snow is FINALLY GONE!!!

A Couple Nice Fishing Reports

My planned "last trip" to fish Mille Lacs hard water fell apart at the last minute on Sunday.  Deciding to call Bill before leaving he said to bring the ATV as you can't get on with the truck.  Not wanting to drive back home and spend another hour hooking everything up I decided it would be a good day to get caught up on fixing my lawn tractor tire and putting new wheels on my jon boat trailer.  I always like getting fishing reports from my friends and earlier this week I received a couple of nice ones, One from Ben Taylor and the other from my Wisconsin buddy Kevin Aiona.  This first picture is Ben holding a large crappie caught on Platte Lake, where their cabin resides.  12 miles west of Mille Lacs, Platte Lake is a fairly shallow body of water that has sunfish, crappies, bass, the occasional walleye, and a ton of snake northerns.  Ben's dad is my friend and deer hunting partner Jack Taylor and he is turning his son into quite the young fisherman.   Still a little young to join us on our annual Leech Lake Opener with the guys, it's getting harder to leave him behind.  Ben is always the last one off the dock, fishing up to the last minute before hopping in the car to head back home.  His fishing accomplishments include a number of nice crappies like this, many northers caught on tip-ups, and largemouth bass caught right off their dock.  One of these days I'll look forward to showing him how to fish the big pond.  Nice catch there Ben!!

The next picture is right out of a Sunday morning fishing show.  Earlier in the week my good friend Kevin was fishing below the dam in Alma, Wisconsin and nailed this 28 1/2 inch pig walleye.  Kevin and I have spent many a day chasing walleyes and saugers in the spring as the fish tend to congregate below the dams, getting ready to spawn.  The fishing is usually pretty good up to the time the water gets too high and fast from the spring runoff.  This year the wet autumn and generous snowfalls have pushed the river to over it's flood stage fairly early.  Often we simply have a high water crest, then the river settles down somewhat back to a fishable state.  I am afraid we may be looking at 2 flood crests this year.  Never the less those big walleyes are there and if you can time it right, put on quite a show.  When the water comes off the crest and the temperature hits 45 degrees, you can find the big walleyes up on the flooded banks, in the timber, sometimes less than 3 feet of water.  Kevin picked this nice fish up in the middle of the river as you can see the lock walls and downtown Alma.  The flooding also means the backwater areas above the dam are accessible.  35 years ago this was prime time to fish northern pike on Daredevils and Johnson Silver Minnows.  We have been talking about trying to get back and try these waters for old times sake.  We'll see where that goes!

As stated earlier the end of March signals the start of the dead period, waiting for the ice to go off.  The next 2 weeks will determine if it's an early, normal, or late ice out.  Last year was pretty early as the ice on Mille Lacs had already pulled away from shore.  3 years ago Leech Lake still had ice on walleye opener, May 9th.  March is the perfect time to trim all of he fruit trees in my orchard.  Trimming promotes healthy growth, optimizes fruit production, helps disease prevention, and keeps the trees a manageable size.  Mature apple and pear trees tend to grow sucker branches on the pruned limbs.  All of these sucker branches have to be removed as they serve little purpose other than to fill up the space you just pruned out.  It's amazing how prolific these rouge branches can be.  With 11 apple trees and 2 pear trees the number of branches that need remove are in the hundreds (I know I said a million earlier, it just feels this way).  Some of them can grow quite long over a single summer.  Here are a few of the longer branches I trimmed from the trees, as you see they are almost 8 feet long.  Thinking about the real growing season, that's almost an inch a day.  Last year a very late frost in the second week of May pretty much destroyed my entire crop.  Hopefully this year Mother Nature will be somewhat less aggressive.  I am off to one of my favorite events of the year, the Northwest Sportsman Show.  There never seems to be enough time to cover everything I am interested.  Oh well, it will be fun trying.

Winter's Back

Today I woke up to the grim reminder that even though we have officially passed the Spring Equinox, winter still rears it's ugly head and has it's option of returning for another 30 days.  With 7 inches on the ground and a low temperature of 0 predicted for the morning, the wonderful weather I experienced in Texas is simply a fond memory!  We are entering the time of year I call no man's land.  The ice will be on the lakes till at least the 3rd week in April, yet too unstable to ice fish unless you go 300 miles north.  It usually takes a few weeks for the water to warm up but I am guessing it will be May before the boat will come out.  Along with the snow we got a pretty good rain, totally around 2.5 inches of total precipitation.  Of course this has raised the latest media hype regarding the flood warnings around Minnesota.  I don't recall it being at this level however based on the snow and rain, it doesn't look good.  Roads are closing and unfortunately a state road worker was killed when his excavator was trying to clear an ice dam when the water's current sweep his machine into the raging flood.  My good friend Kevin sent me an e-mail today with the current Mississippi River conditions at Alma, Wisconsin.  Fishing below the dam, he caught a real nice 28 inch walleye (Kevin, you need to take pictures!).  Kevin reports that the river flow is over 3 times the normal rate for this time of year and the fishing below the dam is pretty well over until the levels crest then settle down.  It's seems pretty early for these levels as I recall the middle of April was usually the peak of the high water.  As I have comment in a past post when I was young and living back home in Eleva, this would be about the time Kevin and I would start sucker fishing the Buffalo River.  It was an annual event that seems as though it was only yesterday we were fishing places like Bud's, the Culvert, Trix's, and Carp Sough.  A gob of worms and we were in sucker heaven!

Last week we did get a hint of things to come with a few days hitting the mid 50's, it temporarily melted a lot of our snow.  One of the things I have been working on has been my winter motorcycle project.  Last spring I bought a Honda 600 Shadow and after 3 months sold it for a Victory Kingpin.  A larger bike, I have been spending some time upgrading the looks and comfort by changing out the rear license plate holder, changing out the seat, adding a luggage rack and switching a few items with chrome versions.  Having put the bike back together it was nice enough Saturday to go for the first ride of the year.  I decided to check out the "flood stage" of the Crow River and put 45 miles on before discovering there was little evidence of what was to come but never the less it was a great excuse to get out.  My ride occurred between spending most of the day trimming my fruit trees.  March is the perfect time for this activity and I will elaborate on this later.  All I know is I must have cut at least a million branches!  The highlight of the day was seeing a flock of 35 Sandhill Cranes flying overhead.  Normally we see them in small groups seldom over 6 birds so this was a quite the sight.

Sunday proved to be somewhat cooler, a perfect excuse to ice fish for what might be the last time of the year.  Although the ice is still plenty thick the warm weather had deteriorated the access points enough to prevent one from driving onto the lake.  Loading up my auger, tackle, Vexilar, and bait into a pull sled, I headed for the north end of Pelican Lake where a short 1/4 mile walk put you on fishable waters.  The first thing I noticed were most of the holes were wide open.  Water form the snow melt tends to drain into these holes and keeps them open.  Walking from hole to hole I spent the first hour trying to figure out where the fish were.  After about an hour and 30 holes fished, I finally hit upon a couple of fish and parked myself in 10 feet of water.  Catching a fair amount of fish I only ended up with 1 nice crappie and 1 nice sunny as the rest were pretty small.  The weather made the area around the lake extremely foggy yet the geese and swans were making their presence well known.  With no wind, it was a very peaceful afternoon.  With temperatures falling for the next couple of days, I might be able to sneak out on more time, maybe looking for those Jumbo Perch on Mille Lacs that have eluded me the last few years.

Texas Reds, Part 2

Redfish fishing in Rockport Texas was an experience I will never forget.  I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to fish in a number of interesting areas around the country and each has their own unique set of circumstances.  By now you probably have figured out that I love to fish.  Whether it's fishing suckers off the dock or hauling in halibut in Alaska, there is another common thread that always adds to the experience, the people I have the pleasure of meeting.  Over the years those people have become good friends, whether it's Jeff King, Mile 14 fame, Ken and Judy Marlow, Keith Holtan, Bill and Kathy Lundeen, and for the most part all of my close friends, we have a common bond, fishing!  My trip to Texas was no different, new friends were made and it was though I have known them all my life.  My host for this trip was Joe Stanfield (sitting on top, to the left).  Having met Joe over 20 years ago at a trade show in Cincinnati, it was clear we had much in common.  He's quite the Joe, a Texas boy, has that typical Dallas accent with a heart that I cannot figure out how it fits in that short little body of his.  Although I only get to see him once a year we make up for lost time pretty fast.  This years APEC conference (work related) was in Fort Worth and Joe suggested that our friend Jim Cox (lower left) from California and I join him the weekend before for a Texas adventure.  Jim is an avid fisherman himself and often seeks tuna off the coast of California as well is at home being an independent judge for billfish tournaments in Costa Rica.  Joe met both of us at the Corpus Christi and took over from there. From the hotel to the guided trip he took care of everything. 

After checking into our hotel the next item on the agenda was to make contact with Butch and Penny (Butch is in the yellow jacket), Joe's old neighbors when he lived in Rockport.  From the minute we walked in you could sense that any friend of Joe's was a friend of theirs.  The have a beautiful home on a canal that is connected to the main waterway leading to the popular fishing spots in Rockport.  Built above a sacrificial floor designed for hurricanes, their house became our home for the next 2 days.  After catching our fish, Butch and Penny hosted our fresh fish dinner as long as we furnished the wine.  The redfish on the grill with Butch's recipe was incredible.  Although he cooked each of us a fillet, half way through mine I knew it was not going to be enough and weaseled my way into having him cook another whole fillet for me.  Truth be told I could have ate a third one but decided not to make a total pig of myself.  Here is a picture of Joe, Butch and Penny.........I left with an open invitation to visit them again.  I hope that it will be possible in the future.

Jim had to fly back to Dallas on Sunday morning so after dropping him off at the airport, Joe and I headed up the coast to Galveston, meeting up with his good friend's Dick and Horacene Daugird.  These two amazing people run the Lighthouse Charity Team http://lighthousecharityteam.com/, a charity dedicated to helping people in need and assisting in raising money for other charities through providing meals to raise funds.  Completely made up of volunteers and sponsors they have carved a valuable need for servicing those less fortunate.  Dick, Horacene, and their crew served over 3000 meals a day for a month, helping the victims if Hurricane Ike, which devestated Galveston in 2008.  Arriving at their Galveston home it was pretty incredible.  A sizable building sitting on the water front, it served as a base for charitable events in the area.  I was to meet Dick last summer while he was in Minnesota however the storms prevented us from getting together.  We sure made up for it in Texas.  After having a couple for beers Dick and Horacene gave us a tour of the town, checking out a friends $1,000,000 house before treating Joe and I to dinner at a waterfront restaurant.  Here is a picture of my new friends as we enjoyed our dinner.  It was clear that Dick enjoys smoke cooking as much as I do and has the equipment to prove it.  Our discussions lead to turkey brine's and I sent him a few packages of PS Seasonings Maple Cure to try out.  Somehow I think that it will become his favorite. 

Leaving Galveston Joe and I drove to the marina where he moors his 58 foot yacht.  Although he would probably disagree with me, where I come from 58 feet is a damn big boat.  Finishing the night at the "club" we met a few other amazing people before we hit the sack, ready to head to Dallas the next day.  The fishing was great but the people you meet makes these trips even more memorable.

Of course I did go fishing on Sunday.  Inviting my friend Mark Applen to head up for another batch of tullibee's, having never targeted these fish he readily agreed.  We picked up Lory and headed to Mille Lacs.  The ice season is winding down as the walleye fishing is now closed.  We still were able to drive out to the hot spot and by dark had 26 tullibees for Lory to pickle.  This will probably be our last trip to the pond before opener as the temperatures are scheduled to be in the 50's this week which causes the ice to expand and heave.  It's been a good season and maybe I'll try one last attempt to fish crappies on Pelican. 

Texas Reds

My well planned fishing trip to Rockport,Texas was everything I had imagined and much much more.  Meeting my good friends Joe Stanfield and Jim Cox at the Corpus Christi airport on Friday afternoon, we located our hotel on the main drag and headed directly for Joe's friends Butch and Penny.  Resident's of Rockport, Butch was also going to join us on the trip Saturday.  Rockport Texas is a smaller city on the gulf coast, nestled behind the Inter-coastal Waterway, 3 hours south of Houston.   Here large saltwater marshes and barrier Islands create a haven for fish and wildlife, including alligators, migratory geese, white pelicans, and the endangered Whooping Cranes.  Aransas National Wildlife refuge is located in this area and the chance to see one of these magnificent birds was pretty good.  Waking up at 5:30 Saturday morning, a quick breakfast and we were off to pick up Butch.  Arriving at the house he had some bad news...............storms with severe hail were due to pass through the area and our captain had called delaying our trip till after the squall line passed, he figured about 11:00.  Killing time we had a chance to view Butch's beautiful house, located on a canal leading to the prime fishing grounds, talk about fishing strategy and envision how good those fish were going to taste this evening. 

Being a fishing guide also means that you have to know your weather, and our guide Dave was no exception.  Heading to our rendezvous point, it was 10:50 and the blue skies were within sight after enduring a pretty windy, rainy morning.  Our trip would be a first for me, first airboat ride, first redfish caught, first time fishing the gulf.  I can guarantee you it exceeded my expectations for all three.  The first order of business was loading up our gear into the 22 foot, flat bottomed boat powered by a huge V8 engine.  Putting out 545 hp, this aluminum blocked, fully blueprinted Cadillac engine drove 2 - 8 bladed propellers, each counter rotating for stability.  This machine rocked.  After securing our noise muffs, hats we took our place on the boat.  Being the one most excited about the trip and my past guiding experience, I got to ride up in the elevated cockpit of the boat, putting me about 7 feet above the surface of the water.  Our guide Dave idled out of the launch area before he hammered the throttle.  I know one thing, being up on the top, right in the main flow of air is a rush that's hard to explain.  It was still pretty windy from the morning's storm so we stayed close to the edges of the marsh, crossing over oyster beds, the Inter-coastal, up small islands, thru channels to our fishing grounds.  Dave would simply take the boat, run it up into the marsh grass, pointing the front end into the waters edge and shut it down.  We fished the channels that ran through the marshes, usually in water less than 2 feet deep.  It actually reminded me a lot of fishing Indian Slough back home with my buddy Kevin.  Our rigs were simple, a 3/4 oz egg sinker with a 2 foot leader, plain hook, and hunk of fish for bait.  Casting it out into the open water, it was identical to cat fishing, wait for the fish to grab the bait, let it run for 10 seconds or so before tightening the line and hammering the fish.  It didn't take long before Jim nailed his first, a beautiful 24 inch fish, one for the box.  Reds have slot limits in Texas with all fish under 20 inches released and you can keep one over 28 but you need to report it to the Fish and Game department, where you will get permission to catch another one.  Few do as the 22 - 26 inch fish are the best to eat.  Moving a couple of times, we had 3 in the box before heading to the honey hole, and honey it was.  Our limit was 12, and with 6 in the box, none caught by myself, the "feel sorry" factor started.  "Here Dave, reel this one in........BS, I catch my own fish!  Well 3 minutes later and I nailed the 26 incher you see in the first picture.  Once the ice was broken, I quickly established myself as a credible Red Fisherman, catching the largest of the day, one over 28 that had to be released.

We ended out the day with 12 nice redfish caught within a span of less than 2 hours.  We endured a once in a lifetime ride on an incredible machine, capable of skimming across anything that's wet, and got to see 2 Whooping Cranes on the way back.  Once at the dock we loaded the boat and watched the guide clean the fish with the efficiency of a seasoned pro.  There were the usual cast of pelicans, gulls, and terns to take advantage of the free meal they were about to experience.  Simply slabbing the fillets off the backbone, he removed the ribs and left the skin on.  Our plan was to have Butch cook them up for us that evening, using a few of his famous seasoning and barbecue grill.  We headed back to the hotel, cleaned up, and stopped at an oyster bar for a little appetizer of 2 dozen raw oysters before heading back over to Butch's.  His recipe was pretty simple... fajita seasoning, lay the fish directly on the grill skin side down, close the cover and cook for 20 minutes.  It was the final reward for what turned out to be a memorable trip for me.  Another item crossed of my bucket list!  There is too much to tell in one post so I will add another later in the week.  I am still in Fort Worth, heading back tonight with nothing left but a sunburn and memories.

Pickled Fish, a Labor of Love

Two weeks ago our trip to Mille Lacs was specifically to catch some tullibees for making pickled fish.  As stated earlier, the tullibee is a member of the whitefish family, an oily fish, makes an excellent imitation of real pickled herring.  I have had pickled sunfish, northern, suckers, yet these fish lack the specific texture of herring.  My dad was a big herring eater and when I was young the real good pickled herring was bought at Nelson's Grocery Store in downtown Eleva.  The store was an old fashioned small town store in a brick building with wood plank floors and a full service meat counter.  Back then everyone shopped the local store as it was more convenient to simply go downtown as opposed to driving to Eau Claire.  There was also a different attitude about supporting the local business man, the level of service was superior and there was little need for going to a grocery store for things other than groceries.  Gary Hillestad was the butcher behind the meat counter and would cut up a steak anyway you wanted.  Usually in the fall Nelson's would feature pickled herring.  It was always served bulk as it came in a large wooden pail made of vertical wood pieces held together with brass banding.  The herring chunks were mixed with whole pickling spices, onions, and were sold by the pound.  Herring was in the category of oysters and T-bone steak, a special treat and it was none fresher than from Nelson's.  After moving to Minnesota and meeting my friend Earl Taylor, he was a huge pickled herring fan.  Earl always had pickled herring and his favorite was from the Day Fish Company in Day, Minnesota.  Later in life we learned that the Day Herring was really supplied by Olsen's Fish Company in Minneapolis.  Olsen's makes a pretty good herring however I have fell in love with my new favorite brand, Brasel's Dang Good Pickled Herring.  The first picture is the real deal from Lory.

Per my post a couple of weeks ago, we caught 7 nice tullibees.  I cleaned the fish and Lory agreed to make the pickled fish.  Ending up with 6 pints, it took about 12 days and holy smokes!  The fish has the exact texture of the best pickled herring with a much better flavor, less fishy and very fresh.  With my taste buds in a whirl I suggested to Lory we head back up to the lake and see if we can get more for pickling.  Stopping to see Bill, we picked up a carton of waxies, a couple new secret baits, and the latest perception of where to fish.  Deciding on a mid lake hump coming up to 30 feet, we drilled our holes and set up the houses.  Saturday was pretty cold, never getting above zero, however the fish didn't seem to mind.   Dropping my first line into the hole, the bait never reached the bottom before a nice fish hit the lure dressed with waxies.  Tullibees really put up a great fight and I was amazed at the size of the fish that came through the hole.  What a great start.  The fish continued to bite throughout the day and within a couple of hours we each had our limit of 10 fish.  I drilled a hole for my underwater camera and the fish really put on a show.  Tullibees tend to bite light and often are just at the end of the line.  A slow oscillation of the rod tip  can can be critical to pick up this bite.  When seeing them hit the lure on the camera, it's fun to correlate what you see to what you feel.  Often there were up to 6 fish in the camera's view with fish appearing every few minutes.  It's also interesting to see the fish under the hole that the depth finder is looking down and see how the fish are represented.

With 20 tullibees and a few bonus perch we headed back early to start cleaning fish.  I like to use my brother Steve's method of filleting fish for the tullibee, slab off the sides by cutting down the backbone then remove the ribs and skin.  This is identical to how we clean our salmon in Alaska.  Not being very good at the secondary operation of cutting the rib bones out, my new Cabela's fillet knife has made me an expert.  Wasting little meat, we ended up with over 9 1/2 pounds of fillets for the next batch of pickled fish.  Lory and I make a great team.  I have shown him a new species of fish to target along with locations, and technique whereas he brings his ability to turn them into a bonafide delicacy.  They won't be done for another week or so but I can tell you it will be worth the wait! 

Friday I am off to Rockport Texas to fish reds and sea trout.   A couple of years ago I fished in Jacksonville, Florida and had high hopes on catching a red drum as this is one my list of fish I have not caught.   I love watching the weekend fishing shows, especially when they are going after reds as they look like an interesting fish.  We will be fishing out of a large air boat in the barrier marshes of the coastal regions of Texas.  Reports include the possibility of seeing an alligator or two.  My host Joe Stanfield has arranged to spend the evening with a friend of his and are planning on having fresh fish for supper (notice I said planning!).  The famous Blackened Redfish starts with this fish and heres hoping we are successful.   Look for my full report next week.  

A Wild Weekend

With the weatherman predicting another record snowfall for Sunday while Saturday's weather would be the last of the February thaw, I decided it would be a great time to head up to our deer hunting grounds on Rich's place and retrieve my ladder stand.  The trek back to my stand consists of a quarter mile adventure through an alder swamp.  At the end of deer season last fall it was decided that rather than go through all the work of removing it piece by piece, it would be much simpler to leave it in the woods and wait till the swamp freezes.  Of course that's what I said year and the heavy part of the stand keep it's host tree company all year.  Determined to get it out before the thaw, and looking at my schedule, it was as good a time as any.  The fact that I needed to pick up my ice fishing gear from Bill Lundeen and my friend and hunting partner Jack claimed the crappies were really biting on his lake, I picked up my frequent weekend companion Lory, and once again headed north.  Our route takes us up the Great River Road which parallels the Mississippi River, crosses the confluence of the Crow River before meeting the highway north.  Crossing the Crow River, we ran into an interesting scene, 10 - 12 wild tom turkeys robbing a ground feeder in front of a house.  It's been a tough year for turkeys with the deep snow. 

The pending storm must have had the all the wildlife on high alert.  Hooking the trailer to the truck, I noticed something ran over the edge of my holding pond.  Sure enough  it was my red fox whom lives inside the drain culvert.  This holding pond is basically a depression that drains a good portion of my neighborhood runoff rain and melt water and allows it to be reabsorbed into the water table.  If the water gets too high, there is an outlet culvert which runs underground a few hundred feet, emptying onto the flood plan of the Mississippi River.  It only to the outlet in the spring while the ground is still froze and the melt is fast.  I suspect that the depth of the culvert keeps it fairly warm deep inside, making a cozy home for the fox.  One of the benefits of having the fox around is the noticeable absence of rabbits on the property.  Last year the rabbits were at epidemic levels, eating everything in site.  I hope it decides to stay around for a while as it pretty cool to see it around quite a bit these days.  One thing is for sure, if you walk down to the culvert the fox has made his presence well known as they make sure their skunk like scent is everywhere!

Our first stop was at Bill's to pick up my portable ice house, Vexilar FL20, and my underwater camera.  For my efforts I was rewarded with a smoked Tullibee that he had caught last week.  The fish was a work of art and would go great with the Miller High Life that Jack always has.  Next stop was Jack's cabin on Platte Lake, 12 miles west of Mille Lacs.  There we unloaded the trailer, replacing the contents with his 2 up snowmobile, the perfect means for hauling out tree stand and headed for Rich's place.  Coming around the corner, something caught my eye, a huge immature bald eagle high in a tree.  Stopping to take a look, it soon became apparent, it was guarding a road kill deer, exposed by the weeks snow melt.  Getting out to take a picture, it decided to take flight.  Had this been a more mature eagle, I doubt it would have given up it's readily available food source.  Never the less it was pretty cool to see a young eagle this close.  After accomplishing my goal, we headed out on Platte Lake for the evening bite, which never developed.  A few sunnies was about all I could muster up, but all in all it was a good day.

Admittedly I am getting sick of winter.  After spending a few days in 76 degree Anaheim, CA two weeks ago, then a couple of 60 degree days in Denver last week and reading Jeff's adventures in Mexico, the latest 12 inches of snow has taken the wind out of my sails!  A week from Friday I travel to Rockport Texas to fish Redfish in the barrier marshes of the Gulf of Mexico with my Texas friend Joe Stanfield and Jim Cox, one of my suppliers.  The website looks interesting and will provide a good break for this long winter.  In the meantime the weekend plan is to try again for a limit of tullibees, maybe smoking them this time.  We did open a jar of the pickled ones Lory did last week and they are coming along real well.

Tullibee Time

Earlier in the week my friend Bill Lundeen asked if he could once again use some of my ice fishing equipment for a large client outing he is having this week.  This presented a perfect opportunity to head up to Mille Lacs as the word was out the tullibees were biting with some bonus jumbo perch mixed in.  With the weather scheduled to hit the mid 40's on Saturday, I called my neighbor Lory to see if he was up for some tullibee fishing.  Having never caught one of these beautiful silver fish, he jumped at the chance.  Tullibees are a member of the whitefish family and are often referred to as cisco's.  Mille Lacs represents the southern most extent of their range as they are a cold water fish, thriving in the lakes north to the arctic circle.  On Mille Lacs tullibee die offs occur, especially if the surface temperature stays in the high seventies for too long.  The lake is shallow and windy causing the water temperature to mix and stressing these cold water fish.  3 years ago the lake experienced a considerable warm spell triggering a massive die off of tullibees.  In August, thousands of dead fish were floating everywhere.  Well of course, this has happened before however this time we had a new culprit, Global Warming!  The crash in the population at Mille Lacs generated new regulations.  Fisherman were now limited to a 10 fish limit and the fall netting season was cancelled, and remains so today.  At one time they were considered rough fish, bony, only catch able in the winter, and basically good for pickling and smoking.   The last 2 summers have been much cooler and the fish have rebounded tremendously.  Gill net surveys of the lake revealed a year class never before seen on Mille Lacs.   

Tullibee are a fun fish to catch. They generally inhabit the deepest waters of the lake and a good place to start is on the deep edge of the flats that are scattered through out the north half of the lake.  32 to 36 feet is prime depth.  These fish have a pertinacity to follow lure high off the bottom, and the flashier the better.  I have "jigged" them up over 25 feet to the point where I could see them down the hole.  Having a fairly small mouth, they will occasionally hit a lure dressed with a minnow head however a nice plumb waxy grub is almost irresistible.  I like to use a small panfish jig with a larger hook, say #6, tied about 6 inches below a hook less spoon, something shiny as an attractor.  Perch find this combination pretty tempting as well.  Drilling a number of holes starting from the top edge of the flat to about 30 yards off the deep edge we immediately started catching smaller perch. Sometimes these little perch will also follow a bait up high before plunging back down to the bottom.  When a tullibee hits, you will know it.  They are very powerful for their size, violently head shaking all the way to the surface.  By the end of the day we had 7 nice tullibees and 4 jumbo perch in the 12 - 13 inch range.  I figured we must have missed at least 10 more of the silvery fish as they were biting pretty light.  I made a deal with Lory, I'll clean them for you and you make your famous pickled fish.  Tullibee is a member of the herring family and have the same texture and flavor you find in gourmet pickled herring (although some may find that a contradictory term).  It will be a couple of weeks before they are done but I will let you know how they turn out.

Writing from 38,000 feet, I am on my way back from Denver.  Tuesday night we had the chance to take a quick ride through Estes Park, CO and the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. This time of year the town fills with wild elk that use this area as there wintering grounds.  I was surprised to see a large number of nice bulls gathered in small groups grazing along the roads.  This was an exceptional animal as you can see he has a few battle wounds from previous encounters with other bull elk.  His left brow tine is broken, his left ear is pretty mangled and his hair had evidence of past fights.  I guess they will begin losing their antlers soon, growing a new set by August.  Simply amazing!

All's Well in Cheeseland

Well, I suspect you probably know what this post will be, my  beloved Green Bay Packers won their 4th Super Bowl on Sunday with Aaron Rodgers erasing any doubt that Ted Thompson did the right thing in getting rid of Brett Favre after the 2007 season.  Being the only true Packer fan in my neighborhood, it was sweet justice!  Even on Sunday afternoon my Viking fan neighbors chose the Steelers over me.  In the end the inability of the Steelers to complete their 4th down play in the last minute killed their chances.  The Packers were a sleeper this year.   Their record of 10-6 didn't tell the whole story as the Packers never trailed by more than 7 points both during the regular season all the way through the playoffs being the first team in NFL history to have such a tight scoring differential.  Of the Pack's 6 loses, 5 were by 3 points and the 6th was by 4.  Pretty unbelievable if you think about it.   Either way its a great time to be a Cheesehead for sure!

Last week I reported the plan was to take put the Brazilians for a Minnesota ice fishing experience.  Well Friday I received the call, it was too cold and they cancelled.   What!!! Too cold, holy moly, it was only 28 degrees out!   Never the less I was still interested in going out to I decided to call the Braselians, Lory and his wife Lynn to see if they were willing to step up to the challenge.  Agreeing, we headed back to Pelican Lake for the evening crappie bite.  Getting there around 1:00 we moved 2 times before hitting the honey hole.  Drilling 2 holes and setting up the house, i was lowering my dead stick bait with a minnow however it wouldn't go down.  Little did I know that the a crappie had sucked it in, waiting for someone to set the hook.  I had a rather small #10 hook which is not the best for minnows and subsequently lost the next 6 minnows to the initial drop.  Finally getting a nice fish, we stayed till dark catching a nice number of fish while bringing home enough for a meal.  Not the most prolific day on the lake, it was fun never the less.

Writing this from Anaheim California, the weather is nothing short of fabulous.  With temperatures back home below zero, we are enjoying 70 degree days.  Attending the Medical Device and Manufacturing Show, the largest in the nation, we get a chance to talk to future customers that may need our services.  Working trade shows is a lot more difficult than it seems but all in all it is a necessary to attend and be a player in the industry.  I will leave you with a picture from my back lot, a beautiful red fox living in the culvert that drains my water catch basin for the storm sewer system.  The culvert is 4 feet or so under the surface and provides a warm environment for the fox.  He often is found sleeping on the south facing bank of the catch basin, catching a few rays of the warm sunshine.  I hope he sticks around for a while as it's kind of cool to have him around.  Hopefully  I can get to Mille Lacs this weekend.  You will have to put up with one more week of my beloved song, sorry, I cannot help it!

My Snowmobile Weekend

Friday was my annual snowmobiling trip with my friends Dwight and Mike.  This is our third year of hitting the trails and its been nothing short of fantastic.  Taking Friday off assures that the trails are still pretty smooth before the weekend crowd does it's damage.  Friday we put 146 miles on our sleds as we made a loop from Emily, MN to Hill City, Palisade, then back to Emily.  Finishing out the evening at the Bungalow Supper Club, we enjoyed an all you can eat rib dinner that was out of the world.  Nothing beats a small town Supper club.  Having stuffed ourselves beyond reason, we headed back to Mikes cabin for an evening glass of wine while sharing a few stories of our snowmobiling adventures from years past.  Unfortunately this is one of the few times I can get out with my sled and it's much appreciated.  Saturday morning we got up and drove west 15 miles to Cross Lake, MN for breakfast.  That sausage and sauerkraut omelet sure hit the spot!  Back by noon we loaded up with a total of 176 miles, shut the cabin down and headed back to the city.  We have record snow on the ground I am planning on trying to get more miles in this year.

Vic Wenaas owned the Mobil Service (heavy on the service) Station in Eleva.  Formally owed my my grandpa Roy, I started working for Vic in 1970 at the tender age of 15.  My job was to work the 5:00 - 9:00 shift, pumping gas, washing windshields, checking oil, all those things that one used to expect when you would pull into a gas station.  All gas stations were "full service" then and the thought of pumping your own gas was unthinkable.  Regular leaded gas was $0.379 per gallon and fuel oil was a whopping $0.199 per gallon.  During that summer I had 2 jobs.  3 nights a week loading chickens for Willy Drangsveit and 4 nights a week working for Vic.  About August Vic gave me an ultimatum, either quit loading chickens and work for him or quit and work for Willy.  I chose Vic and never looked back.  I can not even imagine today any 15 year old having to make that decision, as I don't even think they could work until they are 16.  One thing it did was give me plenty of money in my younger days.  Vic was the most important mentor in my life outside my family.  He also had a Ski Doo snowmobile and influenced me to buy my own that year.  Managing to save a pretty good chunk of money, Vic brought me to the Ski Doo dealership in Augusta, Wisconsin were I bought a 1971 Ski Doo Olympic 299 single cylinder Rotex engine with a whooping 18 horsepower.  I still remember paying $572 cash for my new form of winter entertainment.  Those were some of the best times of my life.  Along with my friends Jimmy Tollefson, Steve Herbenson, and Tom Peterson, we turned snowmobiling into the major transportation method for the next 3 years.  Most trails at the time where simple one width tracks that traveled between major towns and those that owned sleds.  My friend Jim had a trail going from behind my house, up through Schultz's pasture, through Indian Valley, up over Old Baldy (a large hill with no trees on it), through Heaths, across O'Krooley's and ending at the Tollefson farm.  Jim, his dad Gyle, and brother-in-law Jim Rose had made a number of trails through their back wooded acreage which claimed a number of front bumpers as maneuvering became more difficult as the winter went on.  I ran that sled hard for about 3 years, literally wearing it out before trading it to Gary Engen, along with a bolt action 22 rifle and a recurve bow for a blonde stock Belgium Browning A5 shotgun.  I still have the shotgun as well memories of those days sledding with my 299 along with Jim and the "Great One". 

Today I run a 2006 Polaris 900cc Switchback.  This sled is quite a contrast from that 1972 single cylinder Ski Doo.  Putting out a solid 152 horsepower, she'll top 115 mph faster than you can imagine.  It sports a 144 inch, 1 1/4 inch lug track that hooks up with the ability to lift the ski's when you crack the throttle at 55 mph.  One of the best things about the motor is the electronic reverse feature.  To go in reverse, let the engine return to idle, push a button and the engine begins to slow down.  Just before it's ready to stop the ignition suddenly changes causing the piston that was just on its way to TDC (top dead center) to ignite prematurely forcing the engine to reverse direction.  No gear changes, nothing to engage, just a simple push of the button.  Back up, push the reverse button again and the motor does the same exercise only reversing the engine back to it's normal running direction.  Sweet!   The sled is great in the deeper snow as it has that longer track (normal track size is 121 inches) however unfortunately is pretty front heavy.  It's been out west with me a couple of times before I reconfigured my older 2004 700cc Switchback as it is lighter, more maneuverable, and handles much better on the side hills.  Oh well, with the new sleds selling for more that $10,000, I suspect the 900 will carry me for a few more years. 

This weekend is guaranteed to be exciting.  On Saturday I have been recruited to take a number of guests visiting from Brazil ice fishing with my fishing partner Mark Applen.  Mark called me for some advice and help.  I think we have a great plan to show what we do for entertainment here in Minnesota.  Maybe we can trade and ice fishing trip for a Peacock Bass Adventure on the Amazon.  Sunday needs no explanation as the Packers are in the Super Bowl.  Back at my neighbor Tim's for the big game,  there will be at least 50 people expecting to leverage the situation against me.  Oh well, at least the Pack are Back.  Enjoy the game and Happy 81st Birthday to my Dad!

GroundHog Day?!?!?

In the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murry was destined to live the same day over and over and over.  Last week seemed like my own Groundhog Day week, living the week as I did the week before, fishing Pelican then watching the Packers.  Stopping at my neighbor Lory's, I asked him if he was interested in hitting Pelican Lake for a few hours on Saturday.  Never one to miss an opportunity to wet a line, I picked him up and we headed to Pelican.  Now last weeks spot was fabulous and I had turned the GPS on to get a fix on our position yet I made one mistake, I never marked the spot.  Taking an educated guess, away from the crowds, we drilled a hole and verified we were in the zone, 11 feet.   Drilling 2 more holes for the house and 3 outside we cleaned them out, set up the shack, and lowered my camera.  Well at about 6 feet the camera hit the bottom..............impossible!  A sanity check with the Vexilar confirmed  that whatever I read 10 minutes ago wasn't what I was seeing now.  Looking at Lory, I informed him that we would have to move.  I think he assumed I was crazy yet somehow knew that if he didn't agree, he was going to have to fish them holes by himself.  Driving around, trying to get my bearings, we stopped, drilled and CAREFULLY measured 11 feet.  I suspect that I had ice on the bottom of the transducer, skewing my first assumptions.  Resetting everything, the crappies started immediately.  Starting at 3:00 and finishing around 6:30, we logged about 30 total sorting out 9 for a meal later.  It was fun, lot's of little ones with not a single sunfish caught.  I felt we had a good spot but maybe too close to the crowds. 

One of the things worth mentioning was the temperature Friday morning, January 21st.  My thermometer had 25 below zero when I woke up and had climbed to about -22 by the time I took a picture of the bearer of bad news.  Later conversations confirmed that the neighbors had a minimum temperature of -28 earlier that morning.  Although these temperatures are great for making ice, as I get older it is easier to understand why people head south for a few months.  I sent this picture to my friends in China as they seldom see temperatures lower than 40 degrees.  When asked how cold it really is I tell them that if you went outside and yelled your name, it wouldn't be till March until you heard it!  This is traditionally the coldest week of the winter and temperatures in Northern Minnesota lived up to it's reputation, -46 in International Falls.  It certainly builds character!

If you have sound on your computer, you can't help but love the selection for my opening song, I love The Green Bay Packers.  In a repeat of last week, the Packers defeated the Chicago Bears to win the National Football Conference Championship and are headed for the Super Bowl on February 6th.  Trust me, being a Cheesehead in Minnesota, especially in my neighborhood can be rough.   Viewing the game at my neighbor Tim's place is a pure pleasure despite being outnumbered by Viking fans 10:1.  No matter, I am basking in the glory as everyone knows where my allegiance is, win or lose.  The entire state of Wisconsin is giddy for the next 2 weeks and we are excited about Aaron Rodgers having the opportunity to finally put the last nail in the Brett Favre era.   Tim has an annual Super Bowl Party and I am sure all of the neighbors are just waiting for me to show up as I always make a big deal about my Packers every year.  Hopefully it will end exactly how every Cheesehead dreams of.  Next week I am traveling with my sales representative Bernard Guzzi from the Chicago area.  Our plan is for me to fly to Milwaukee, drive to LaCrosse, drive to Appleton, then back to Milwaukee.  When he originally asked me to make the rounds I responded, under one condition...........we stop at the Packer Pro Shop in Green Bay.  He agreed however I found out today Bernard was at the game on Sunday.  It should make for an interesting 9 hours in the car together!  So until the Super Bowl is history, you will have to endure a couple more weeks of Eddy J. LEmberger.  GO PACK!!!