Pickin' With Dave

 My weekends are consumed with spending as much time with my dad as possible.  Time is against us so I am making the best of it.  This weekend also marked the opening of Blueberry Ridge Orchard, where you can pick your own blueberry's by the truckload if you so desire.  My brother Steve and mom have been picking here last year and claimed it was pretty easy to fill up a 5 quart ice cream bucket full of beautiful blueberries.  Sunday morning I headed north towards Eau Claire on Hwy 93 to the old Darrell Hageness farm.  When I lived in Eleva and worked for Vic, Darrell was a good friend and a very nice man.  He had suffered quite extensive burns while working at the Paper Mill in Eau Claire and he was going back to school for accounting at the same time I was going there for electronics.  The farm is visible from Hwy 93 and he often had a word cut into the hay field for everyone to read.  Darrell has since passed away however I was delighted to find out that his daughter and family were still on the farm and had started the orchard featuring U-pick blueberries.  And pick there is!  My brother and mom had been there on Saturday morning picking 8 ice cream buckets.  Parking in the field, I was pointed in the right direction and picked 6 ice cream buckets in about an hour.  The berries were huge, some as big around as a quarter.  I have a number of blueberry plants, the same variety but nothing like these.  Sweet and bursting with flavor, I ended up going back in the afternoon to get another 2 buckets worth.  I thought the prices were very reasonable as well.  At $1.85/pound, an ice cream full of berries weighs about 6.5 pounds and cost about $12.00.  Comparing to the bland berries you buy at the store for $3.00 a pint, the equivalent amount would have cost you $30.00.   The picture on the right gives a great example of how loaded the bushes are with berries.  If you are in the area check out Mark and Andrea Nyseth's Orchard and pick a few pails (they freeze really well!).  They are the nicest people and you will leave very satisfied.   You can visit their website at http://www.blueberryridge-orchard.com/

So, weekends back home has left little time for fishing.  With the Mississippi River finally settling down to a manageable level (it is still pretty high and fast), my neighbor Lory and I decided to try out the Jon boat for the first time this year.  Loading up the boat and using my ATV, we simply drove to the neighbors house, through the horse pasture, and used his landing.  This take all but 5 minutes before you're in the water.  With the current still fast and 2 guys in the boat, we hit a whooping 10 mph running upstream.  Zig Zagging the river, looking for holes, our strategy was to run upriver as far as practical, drift back down fishing the rivers edge before anchoring close to the landing and trying for catfish, carp, or whatever enjoys a nice nightcrawler.  About 3 miles up we stopped, put on a couple of artificial lures and started casting.  My first choice was a shallow running Bomber A crankbait in fire tiger.  On the very first cast a small smallmouth bass inhaled it.  A nice start.  3 minutes later and 200 yards downstream I casted in front of a downed tree and this nice 17 incher grabbed the lure and put on an aerial display.  Lory finally got it in the net after about a minute and was taking my picture.  Releasing the fish we proceeded to follow the shore, casting tight and bringing it back.  With the water high and fast current, the fish were hanging tight.  By the time we arrived at our designated catfish hole the total was 6 smallies caught and released.  Not bad!  Our catfish hole was located where a side channel met up with the main river and formed a large current slack.  The edges of these slacks can be super productive.  The hole itself was about 14 feet deep so once anchored I rigged my casting reel with a 3/4 ounce bell sinker, snap, and a 2 foot leader with a circle hook at the end.  A fat and sassy crawler threaded on the hook I casted into the current edge.  It wasn't 5 minutes later when my pole almost went over the side.  Grabbing the rod I could tell it was a nice fish and within a few minutes the catfish showed itself.  After netting, unhooking, and snapping a picture, I released it back to fight again.  Because the line broke at the hook I retied, rebaited, and back out to the current break.  This time I wasn't going to chance losing my prized rod so I hung onto the pole waiting for that tell tale tug.  It wasn't long before something was yanking pretty hard.  The reel was in freespool so I let the fish run about 6 feet before reeling straight in, the proper method for circle hooks.  Well this fish was significantly larger than the first catfish however after about 10 seconds the line broke.  Although I did retie again it was getting late so we left.  The river is an exciting place to be.  We saw 2 immature eagles perch right above our heads while an osprey screeched it displeasure with our presence another half mile down stream.  It a great resource, one that is close to home and provides excellent fishing.

I will be heading back to Eleva this weekend to see dad, pick some more blueberries, and my good friend Rick Semingson from Blue Ridge, Georgia is coming home for a wedding.  Rick was a class mate of mine and I am always excited to see him.  He's lived in the south for over 30 years now and has developed quite a Southern Drawl.  My friend Charlie is suppose to be here for my annual trip with him and as well I am scheduled to go to San Francisco.  It's looking to be a busy next 10 days.

Too Hot to Fish?!?!?

Years ago if someone said it was "To Hot to Fish" I would have laughed in their face.  Remembering 1983, my boat was a 1982 Lund S-14 Deluxe with a 25 hp Evinrude.  My first new boat purchased the year before, it was a product of inspiration from my friend Gary Barneson, who had the exact same boat.  Come to think of it I saw him last week and he still has it so I took a picture of him standing next to his fine rig!  For 1983 it was a pretty nice boat, flat floor between the rear and front seat with a split center seat you could walk between.  Each center seat had a storage compartment for anchors, life vests, and other necessities.  This boat also had an open storage space under the rear bench seat, perfect for the 6 gallon gas tank.  A far cry from what I have today it was my yacht.  Being pretty handy I fashioned a front casting platform out of 3/4 inch marine plywood, added my own pedestal seat, and made a small front deck for mounting lights and an anchor mate.  It was pretty tricked out for the time and looking back I would have to admit there was something special about the simplicity of it all.  I caught a lot of fish out of that boat, with a metal mesh fish basket as my livewell, hung over the side it worked pretty well.  It was late July of that year and we were in a throngs of a pretty good heat wave.  I had just purchased a new Metro Fishing Guide and had read up on a lake I was interested in checking out, Whaletail.  Near Lake Minnetonka, it was suppose to be clear, full of bass and big crappies.  Getting away on a Sunday afternoon the bank thermometer in Wayzata said 105 degrees!  Often when it is this hot the wind is blowing hard right out of the south.  Remembering the humidity wasn't too bad, the breeze made it even warmer.  This weeks weather was insane.  As they often say, it's not the heat, it's the humidity and this week was no exception.  If you have ever been in southern China in August, you would have experienced exactly the same hot and humid conditions we saw in Minnesota this week.  It will actually take your breath away when you walk outside.  The latest trend in weather is to accentuate the Heat Index.  Living in the north country, we seem exceptionally proud of our wind chill index.  This is the result of the air temperature combined with the wind to make it feel colder than it really is.  Well we have gotten our fill of the "Heat Index" as a relative perception of the temperature, humidity, and wind to give you the feeling as though it was 120 degrees out.  Right, just as the wind chill all we need is something to make us feel more miserable than we really are!

So this is Fishin with Dave, not Bitchin' About the Weather so I my fishing picture today is of my sweetheart Megan.  The daughter of my friend, Megan and her brother Ben (who has been featured before) are very special to me.  As I have stated in the past, Megan's dad Jack Taylor and his family are my family away from home.  As long as I can remember I am Uncle Dave to all of the Taylor clan.  Dealing with my dad's hospice,  it is comforting to have my "family" close.  Well, Megan is quite the fisherwoman, she can be stubborn, but that's OK, it gives her that spunk!  Here is Megan with a couple of dandy sunfish caught on their lake just west of Mille Lacs.  You got to love it!!  She is turning into a lovely young woman and knowing how to fish just adds to her resume of her many talents.  Her brother Ben is an absolute fishing addict and in a sense reminds me of me when I was young.   Having adopted the saying, "My greatest fear in life is when I am dead and gone why wife will sell my fishing equipment for what I told her I bought it for!", I think maybe Ben would be a good repository for some of my stuff. 

The heat is breaking however the weather doesn't look good for the weekend with storms in the forecast.  Hopefully I can get back up to the pond as the State of Minnesota is back in business and with a little luck the slot limit will be increased from 18" to 20".  If nothing else it might be time to get the Jon Boat out and try cat fishing on the Mississippi River behind the house.  My good friend Jeff King of Mile14 (see the side bars) will be having surgery soon and I want to wish him well.  I have been working with Matt Taylor and his trip to Alaska, hopefully he can see some of my friends and say hi for me.  I am off to the Twins game on Friday night with my neighbor Lory, always a good time.  Lot's of stuff going on.

Second Time Around

Last week was as crazy as this week.  After flying to Chicago and getting back late on Friday night, Saturday we left early to see my Dad in Eleva.  My brother was there so we got a number of things done around the house.  I decided to take the "old" way of going back home, Hwy 10 which runs a mile from the house all the way to Eleva.  Back in 1973 Oil Crisis the government instituted a 55 mph speed limit on major highways so there was little advantage between taking Hwy 10 vs the interstate, I94.  Today the major 2 lanes remain at 55 mph but the interstate is back up to 65 (in Wisconsin).  Having recorded mileage both ways, Hwy 10 is 5 miles shorter than taking I94, is much more scenic, and only takes about 5 minutes longer.  It's a welcome change from the last 25 years of thinking the interstate is better.  We headed back early Sunday with the intent of hooking up with my neighbor Lory Brasel and trying the late afternoon bite.  Last week the bite lasted well into the 6:00PM time frame, could it still be on?  Heading to the landing north of the Casino, evidence of a busy morning was confirmed by the truck trailers parked in the ditch.  Arriving at 3:00 there were enough empty spaces to stay withing the landing.  My strategy was simple, head to the Cut, backtroll to the corner, and depending on our success, either stay or move to 7-mile flat, scene of last weeks success.  Although the cut was void of boats, we only nailed 1 fish before deciding to move.  We did mark a lot of fish but they didn't seem to interested.  I caught a smaller walleye, 21 inches, but that was it.  Time to move to 7 Mile.  There were a few more boats on 7 Mile but the fish were just as uncooperative.  One thing was evident, a big mayfly hatch was about to commence.  My sonar marked huge masses of mayfly larva setting themselves up to emerge into adulthood.  There are theories as to whether these bug hatches affect the fishing or not but I can't believe they don't.  Evidence of the previous night's hatch were all over the surface.  Marking a load of fish on the point, we decided to anchor and try bobber for a while.  Using a crawler, Lory nailed the first keeper I had seen in 4 weeks.  We through it in the live well then spent the next hour trying to duplicate the feat.  No such luck.

My friend Bill had called to warn us that a weather front was moving in fast and we need to be cognizant of the approaching storm.  Deciding to move closer to the landing, we headed back to the Cut.  Again, there was not a boat to be found we started on the edge and immediately began marking fish.  Putting down the crawler rig, we went 20 feet before that tell tale thump, a walleye.  Setting the hook the 26 1/2 incher finally succumb to the net, a good start.  Re-baiting and 2 minutes later  boom, another 22 incher hit.  Releasing it and re-baiting I nailed a 24 inch walleye, again within minutes.  After the 4th fish, I suggested to Lory he reconsider my offer to use one of my hand tied spinner rigs as it was obvious the presentation was hot and what ever he was using was not.  Almost as scripted he retied, threaded the night crawler, let it to the bottom, and within a minute had a nice walleye.  I am not sure who was more excited, me steering him right or the fact that he caught one right away.  As we unhooked his walleye, the lightening made it's presence known.  Time to head for the landing.  We ended the day with 7 walleyes, 5 caught in the last 30 minutes.  We were able to stay just ahead of the storm but eventually it caught up with us.  An hour later the wind took out one of my nicest Autumn Blaze Maple, a 10 year old tree, the 3rd I have had in that location!  Oh well.  Power was off till 2:00, just in time for the air to kick back in.  The first picture is the 26.5 incher that I caught and the second is the last fish of the day, Lory's 24 inch walleye that practically jumped into the boat!  I am expecially fond of how his hat dressed up the boat significantly! I am in Loveland, CO returning Friday, maybe heading back home for Saturday and doing the Mille Lac thing this weekend.   Hopefully the bite is still strong!

Spinner Blade Madness

Monday was the 4^th of July, a great day to celebrate our nation’s birthday and even a better day to spend it fishing on Mille Lacs. My traditional partners for the weekend were not available this time and as luck would have it my friend John Delestry was ready to fill the empty seat. John was staying at his dad’s cabin near McGregor, MN and he e-mailed me looking for a vacancy in my boat. I was able to accommodate and we met at the landing, not too early of course. I was somewhat surprised at the lack of rigs that were parked at the landing; apparently everyone must have got it out of their system on Saturday and Sunday. Normally arriving at 10:00 would assure parking in the ditch on the service road. The day was looking to be a dandy as the southerly wind was strong enough for the perfect drift speed yet comfortable enough to make the fishing enjoyable. After talking to a few guys that had just returned to the landing we made a beeline for my deep rock hump off Sherman’s Point. Having done very well in the past, this year it has produced only a fish or two. Still worth a stop it proved elusive again. The next stop was The Cut on Sherman’s Flat. We had pulled a few fish off this structure last week as they were stacked right off the end. Heading up the edge, the wind was perfect as we long lined a couple of plain hooked leeches. Marking a school, as we passed John and I hit a double. Netting mine first produced a nice 21 inch fish. I unhooked it, took a measurement, and released while John was still battling a monster. As it appeared near the boat I could see John getting nervous! It was the largest walleye he had on a line, and a minute later we had her in the net. At 27 ¾ inches, she was fat and sassy, well exceeding 8 pounds. Not the magical 28 but close enough to be satisfied. Snapping a few pictures we quickly got her back in the water as she took off for the deep. Here is a picture of John and his fish. We continued to make our way up the edge until another boat claimed the last 50 yards. Working the edge, they nailed 5 while we basically stayed out of their way. We caught a couple more in the 20 inch range before the bite went dead. It was time to move.

Next stop was 7 mile Flat, a structure basically in the middle of the lake. Probably one of the best known flats on the lake, it’s been hot and cold the last few years. I think it’s popularity tends to attract a lot of boats and the activity tends to push and scatter the fish off the deeper edges. Today it looked like a ghost town. John stayed with a leech while I switched to a 3 way rig consisting of a 2 foot dropper anchored by a ¾ oz bell sinker and an 8 foot homemade crawler rig. My rigs are tied with 2 hooks that are 4 inches apart, 5 beads, and a quick change clevis. Starting with a chartreuse #5 Indiana Blade, it wasn’t the color. I switched to a silver hammered Colorado Blade, nothing. I replaced that with a red blade before finally digging out an old Glow color. It was like turning on the dinner bell. As fast as I could get a crawler on, the walleyes were hitting that lure with vengeance, often hitting so hard once or twice I almost lost my grip. John had got a few more on his leech but it was obvious a change was needed. For 3 hours we were getting a walleye every 10 – 15 minutes, right up to the time we had to leave. We had netted at least 20 walleyes, not one was under 19 inches, including this 27 ½ that I nailed. As I stated last week, the slot for keeping walleyes on Mille Lacs is anything under 18 inches. No fish for frying pan again this week. Oh well, it’s hard to complain! Rumors are that the walleye harvest numbers are down this year on Mille Lacs again as I have caught very few fish small enough to keep. Like last year the DNR is reportedly set to increase the allowable maximum size to 20 inches, but with the State of Minnesota shut down, who the heck knows what they will do.  I guess we will know by July 15^th.  Either way it was one of the more memorable trips and I was very fortunate to have John as my partner for the day.  I have promised him a late summer lead line trip and I hope we can make it happen. 

As for the rest of the weekend, I spent the other 3 days with my dad in Eleva. I had decided to deviate from my normal I94 route and cut down to Hwy 10, which passes a mile from my home in Dayton and goes right through Eleva. It is a scenic route and a stop at the Ellsworth Coop Creamery for some fresh cheese curds is a must. At 11:00 AM they bring out the days freshly made curds and they are manna from heaven. The fresher they are the more they squeak as you chew. You buy them in a 1 pound sealed bag and they are just laying on the counter at room temperature. The first bite produces a symphony of sounds bursting from your mouth. I am not sure that even describes it well. The next stop was Gunderson's Meats in Mondovi. In Minnesota no one knows how to make good summer sausage. They have the best, that tangy sour taste with plenty of mustard seeds to get stuck in your teeth. As a bonus I bought a pint of pickled kielbasa, fabulous! With the bite strong I am hoping to get out again and take advantage of the hot bite. I bought some plastic crawlers and would like to try them out. Hopefully I might even get a few to keep this time.

June Walleyes

As predicted last week, I made it up to the pond on Saturday morning with my neighbor Tom.  He had not been out this year so I figured he was ready.  Normally I don't try to get up too early as I prefer the early evening bite and of course allows me to get my much needed beauty sleep.  The wind was a little stiff but in a goofy direction.  The best winds are those that allow you to slow drift an edge of a flat or back troll with some sense of accuracy.  A calm wind allows you to use your trolling motor to present your bait right where you need it but if I need to fire up the big motor along with winds at right angles it becomes a challenge.  Pulling spinners with a crawler and Tom with a leech, we started at the humps before moving to a deeper rock reef.  I nailed a nice fish right away then nothing for the next hour.  From there we headed to the Cut, a area on Sherman's Flat that usually produces well this time of year.  There were quite a few boats scattered on the edges and by the looks of what I was marking on the HDS 10, they had shoved the active fish off the edges and into the deeper water.  Hugging tight to the bottom we needed to move as generally these fish tend to not cooperate very well.  Searching for a flat edge that was in the right direction of the wind by the time we arrived the wind ad switched!  Oh well, with time running out for the day we headed back to the rock reef catching a nice smallie before loading the boat up.  We caught 4 walleyes, all longer than 18 inches so my plan to bring some fish home didn't turn out very well.  Catching fish too big........darn! 

Sunday saw us heading back to Eleva to see my dad.  Dropping my wife off in Eau Claire to spend some time with her cousins, I hauled my motorcycle on a trailer and went for a little ride before getting to Eleva.  This part of Wisconsin is deceivingly beautiful and scenic.  My goal was to get on the back roads that wind between the villages and farms of west central Wisconsin.   Heading to Mondovi I followed Hwy 37 to Hwy 88 which took me to Gilmanton.  There I went east on Hwy 121, past Lookout taking a right on County Road Q.  This road was made for motorcycles as it curves it's way to Independence, following the ridges and valleys along it's course.  Alone on the road, you notice things that were once an everyday part of your life.  The smell of fresh cut hay filled the air as the farmers were harvesting their second crop of the year.  Coming over the ridge one would get a wiff of good old cow manure.  Not exactly like smelling fresh apple pie, never the less brought back memories of cleaning barns with my friends in years past.  It was a good smell.   Heading north on Hwy 93 past Elk Creek, I took left on Cty Y deciding to go through Chimney Rock.  Not much has changed other than I almost hit a jake turkey as he pecked at the gravel along side the road.  I ended my trip by going past Jimmy Tollefson's old place where I spend many a day in the summer experiencing those smells that bring me back.  Up the hill and over to Mockingbird, it is the highest point between Eau Claire as it overlooks the valley were I grew up.  

Heading to my folks I was put right to work mowing, trimming and weeding the garden.  One thing my dad taught me well was the right way to mow a yard.  He has this old Simplicity with a back mower roller that gives that ballpark, checkerboard look.  Seeing how his help (an bless their souls) had simply mowed the grass, I took charge and did it the right way, mowing in the opposite direction, trimming around everything, and edging the driveway and sidewalks.  It's the least I could do as we learned on Tuesday there is little left to do for my dad.  With a 4 day weekend, we'll go see him first then hopefully I can head to Mille Lacs and catch a few walleyes as they are much easier to eat as he likes anything my brother or I catch for him.  I will leave you with a picture from Mockingbird Hill looking over Eleva.  It's a great place to be from, that's for sure. 

Father's Day

Last Sunday was Father's Day.  Although the bite continues to be hot, between seeing my dad and having the double pleasure of visiting my Uncle Jerry, who is in from Boise Idaho, I don't think fishing would have been any better.  As both my dad and I get older, you come to the realization that things will not last forever.  Thinking back these two guys have given me some interesting fishing experiences over the years.  Dad got me started fishing as we often fished the Eleva Pond for trout and crappies, the Buffalo River for carp, and as a special treat we would head to Marshmiller Lake near Bloomer Wisconsin for the slab bluegills.  April was sucker fishing in the creek below the dam and a few choice holes in the river.  Trout fishing in Eleva was usually relegated to the months of May and June as the Rod and Gun Club and the Wisconsin DNR would plant hatchery browns, rainbow, and brook trout into the pond and local streams.  I will remember one April, I suppose I was no older than 10 years old.  My fishing pole was an old 5 foot steel octagonal rod with a Pflueger level wind reel loaded with black Dacron line.  My dad had rigged it up with a sinker and hook, with a can of worms my brother Steve and I headed to the bridge on Hwy 10 that crossed the creek from the pond.  The creek ran through town so it was only about a block from where we lived at the time.  Well, don't ask me how but I somehow caught a northern pike that had come up from the Buffalo River and it was huge!  It was the biggest and meanest fish I had ever seen (compared to the suckers in the river), guessing it was at least 3 feet.  Not knowing what to do with it, Steve ran home to get dad.  Lucky thing northerns are pretty tough as I suspect my sense of panic was well relayed to my dad as it took about 5 minutes for him to get down to the creek.   Dad unhooked the fish, took one look at me and slipped it back into the water.  As it swam away my jubilation went as well.    Knowing my limits of expressing myself in front of my father, he sensed my frustration, explaining that this fish was not legal to keep for at least another week.  In hindsight it taught me a good lesson as I probably could have got away with carrying it home but those teeth were pretty intimidating.  BTW, the fish was only about 22 inches but I can guarantee it was much bigger when I caught it.

I had not seen my uncle Jerry (Zeke) since uncle Keith had passed away a few years ago.  I have mentioned how influential he has been in my fishing life and seeing him on Sunday was a pure pleasure.  I have previous posts of our fishing adventures in Alaska and Mille Lacs however it really started in the summer of 1965 during a visit to Boise.  Zeke was a dentist and I suspect he made an offer to my dad, bring Steve and Dave out for a visit, I'll fix their teeth for nothing and we can enjoy some time together.  Well the trip out was memorable as we went through the Black Hills, stayed in Cody Wyoming before heading to Yellowstone.  At that time it was popular to feed the bears and we saw quite a few of them.  Heading to Boise my brother and I got all of our cavities filled (still in today) and managed to find some time for fishing.  Zeke used this opportunity to teach me how to fly fish, something almost unheard of in Eleva.  Boise is considered high desert and because we were pretty young we stuck to fishing the irrigation canals that flowed through the area.  I suppose there might have been some trout in these waters however we caught mostly squawfish, a native member of the carp family which inhabits the western part of North America.  Zeke says they call them pikeminnows, a more politically correct term these days.  Today I still fly fish today using the same techniques I learned over 40 years ago fishing in Idaho as this nice dolly vardon caught in Alaska demonstrates.  With a little luck maybe Steve and I can retrace our journey of 1965 and try a little Idaho fishing later this year.

As for Father's Day, it was a good one.  My dad is not doing too well but then again just seeing him was a blessing.  Here is hoping for the chance to celebrate it again next year.  The weather has been wet and windy yet with a little luck I'll get to Mille Lacs on Saturday to catch him a few walleyes for supper, he'll like that!

The Bite is On

 Sunday was our day to reaffirm that the hot bite we experienced during last weeks MTT was the beginning of that pre summer frenzy which usually lasts through the month of June.  Joining me in my boat was my neighbor Lory as well I allowed my friends Tom and Tom to tag along, provided they stayed out of my way!  Having exhausted my supply of leeches we stopped and picked up a half pound before heading to the lake.  Our destination was the Shah-Bush-Kung-Bay landing, just north of the casino.  Sometimes known as Cashes Landing (years ago), it has a nice deep water protected landing and offers a lot of fishing options being near the middle of the lake.  There are a number of great late spring/early summer spots just off the landing which are excellent for catching walleyes.  This year everything is about 2 weeks late and these near shore locations should be really hot.  Well my predictions were true.  Within 15 minutes we had our first walleye.  Looking for something in the box the first 6 fish were all larger than 18 inches.  With the slot at less than 18 and 1 over 28, it was proving difficult to do.  I started with a crawler and Lory with a leech, Lory nailed the first 2 so I switched.  That was a good strategy for the first couple of hours.

As often happens, the bite went slow for a little while so I decided to head to a deeper rock reef a mile north.  Generally this reef is good for some of those slot fish for the livewell but the rocks makes it more difficult to fish.  My guess was correct as we nailed 2 fish, one for the box and a 25 incher I am holding in the first picture.  More often than not usually I am the only guy on this reef.  Many times guys will drive by and see my boat, quick turn around and see what's up.  On Mille Lacs most people fish the well known spots where all the other boats are.  When they see someone in a spot unfamiliar, they got to check it out.  As I stated its quite difficult to fish with the rocks so most people don't stay long.  After a few lost rigs and fewer marks on the sonar we headed back to our original spot.  We immediately started catching fish again, ultimately ending up the day with 12 and 2 in the box?  Lory nailed this fat 26 incher on a leech, the largest of the day. We chose to spend the last hour trolling Indian Point with Shad Raps.  With a south wind hitting the reef all day it should have been good for a couple of keepers.  Well all we caught were 6 smallies.  I truly believe that these reefs have been over run by smallmouth bass which leaves little left for the walleyes (in my opinion!) 

I am getting more familiar with my HDS10 and am having a lot more fun.  My previous depth finder, the Genetron, was excellent at marking fish which over the years I had developed the confidence.  My greatest concern with the new Lorwance was redeveloping that confidence.  One of the ways I am learning is to record the sonar readings and look at them on my computer.  This is actually pretty amazing as I found recordings of my sinker and bait falling to the bottom.  We marked a tremendous amount of fish and it is fun to go back and actually see where they were, look at the GPS points, and try to establish some patterns.  A labor of love for sure.  Friday is my annual duty of helping my good friend Mark Applen making his ENA Golf Tournament another success.  We hope to raise another $25,000 for helping kids with cancer, having passed the $200,000 mark in the last 8 years.  It is a tribute to the Applen's dedication to their son Eric, who passed away from this terrible disease.  Sunday is Father's Day and with my father struggling it will be good to spend some time with him.  As a bonus my Uncle Jerry is in Eleva, man I have been practicing up for a few years now!  Luckily we like each other.  Might just have to skip out early one day next week for that evening bite as the night ban has expired on Mille Lacs.

Wrong Strategy or Simple Greed!

The plan for Saturday's MTT Tournament was set, leave work early on Friday heading up to Mille Lacs for a possible hour or two of pre-fishing.  Stopping at Bill's for a possible last minute update I stopped for gas before meeting my partner, Mark Applen at his fish house.   The tournament rules meeting was at 7:00 at Hunter's Point Resort.  The organizers had a pretty nice set up with grilled brats and burgers available and an outside bar pouring drinks and serving beer.  My friend Joe Stanfield coined a new title for a common cocktail I enjoy, a Captain Morgan with Diet Coke.   He calls it a Skinny Pirate and about 80% of the bartenders figure it out.  When I ordered it Joe's way, the lady loved the name but couldn't figure it out.  Pointing to the bottle of Captain, she smiled............coming right up.   The rules meeting started, 2 flights leaving, 1 - 50 at 7:00 AM and the second 51 - 70 at 7:30.  We were officially #47.  No culling was allowed meaning once a fish is in the live well, it stays there.  Our limit on Mille Lacs is 4 fish each so each 2 man team could catch 8 fish however only the largest 6 fish could be entered.   The legal slot on Mille Lacs is under 18 and 28 and over.  The rules were specific, any fish on the 18 inch line and you would be disqualified.  Any fish on the 28 inch line would count.   Fish under 13 or dead fish turned in would result in a 0.12 pound penalty.   You must be recognized as in line for the weigh in before 3:00 (or 3:30 if in the 2nd heat), the official time was determined by the Tournament Director, no ifs, ands, or buts!  Winners would be announced at 4:30.  Deciding to relax rather than pre-fish we headed back to the ice house for a walleye and smoked rib dinner.  It was a pretty early evening as we had to be up by 5:30 and at Hunter's by 6:15.

Waking up at 5:30 we were greeted with a familiar loud hum of at least a billion lake flies that hatched through the night.  The trees, cars, houses, anything withing 100 feet of the lake was literally covered with these rather benign but annoying insects.  BTW, I do mean a billion.  This is one of the largest bug hatches I have seen in years, verified by the tremendous amount of carcasses floating on the lake.  Although a royal pain, we did manage to load and launch our boat arriving at Hunter's Point with plenty of time to spare.  All the boats staged just outside of their breakwater as the "Official" pontoon broadcast the National Anthem over the marine band radio, channel 68.  Boats were to parade by the pontoon single file and in order and away we were off.  Our strategy was to head back to the winning reef we fished last year.  About a 10 minute ride we arrived to an empty hotspot, fabulous!  Last year there was a tournament boat parked on our spot, although he did leave early.   Mark started with a short snelled leech while I long lined a crawler.  Within 5 minutes we had our first keeper fish, a nice 17 incher.  The next 2 hours were incredible.  By 9:00 we had 5 in the box, had caught over 15 walleyes and were well on our way to a respectable tournament limit.  The bite was definitely hot.  Our plan was to keep those fish over 16 inches, get our 6 then head out to try the flats for a 28+ fish.  Debating to keep that 15.5" inch fish, we decided to through it back as we "knew" we could get that last fish to meet our high expectations.  Having laid down a pretty good set of GPS tracks Mark was on the front of the boat when this huge muskie swam by.  I caught a glimpse of it's tail and my estimate was 48 inches plus.  Muskies are always exciting to see but not this time.  The slot fish simply stopped hitting for about a half hour after the muskie swam through.  When the fish decided to start biting again, all we could catch were those in the over 18 to 26 inch range.  With 5 fish and only larger fish hitting, we decided to go for broke and head to the flats for a big fish.  Noticing no one was on the Midget Flat, we cruised  over and started marking fish like crazy.  Missing a couple I finally felt something nail my crawler rig.  Feeding it line for a few seconds I set the hook and she was a hog.  As it came into sight it looked like the tourney winner.  Quickly landing the old girl a measurement revealed we'd have to stretch her another 2 inches to contend.  A quick picture and back she went along with the last of our hopes for that first place.  We weighed our fish at exactly 7.77 pounds, well maybe that number was lucky.  In the end we finished 16th out of 70 boats, with a pound separating 16th from 6th.  Our decision to throw back that last 15.5 inch walleye cost us the money.  Disappointed in our hearts we screwed up.  Never the less our "real" score would have put us in the top ten finishers 2 years in a row.  Oh well, I think there is a saying about being a "Legend in our own mind", that's us!  Next year we will definitely remember what we didn't do.  The first picture is the 26 inch walleye we coaxed out of the Midget and the second one is the bugs resting on a boat in the harbor.  It was a ton of fun as we did catch over 20 walleyes.

The plans are to head back up on Sunday to see if the hot bit is still on.

Back on the "Dead Sea"

With all the hoopla of the opener behind us, it was time to head up to the pond and see how the walleyes were biting.  Having 2 weeks to report on, I will start with my trip on May 22nd with Jeffrey Chen, my business colleague from Taiwan.  Jeffrey gets to Minnesota about once every 2 years so I look forward to doing something special with him.  Having no set time of the year to travel we have made done everything from snowmobiling on the North Shore to checking out the floods on the Mississippi River.  Of course all of these things have a down home slant of good old Midwestern fun.  Because he had never fished before, we decided a day on Mille Lacs would be a great way to spend the day.  Asking if he'd go rain or shine, he answered "of course!".   Well, with the weather we have been having lately it looked more rain than shine.  After picking him up at the hotel we headed north to Bill's for a license and bait.  Although Jeffrey had fished in Taiwan before, the bait shop proved to be pretty interesting.  It sort of reminded him of the restaurants in China where your meal is either crawling or swimming.  A bucket of leeches, some crawlers, and refreshments we headed to the east side where the bite was reported in 20 feet of water just off the rocks.  Well, half the lake must have gotten the same report as there was a pretty good crowd fishing the area.  After about an hour of backtrolling the rain decided it was time to make our trip more miserable.  Donning our rain suits the sky opened up like one of those overflow buckets at the water parks.   Having had enough of the "hot bite" we headed to a shallower spot closer to shore.  10 minutes into the pattern a 15 inch walleye answered the call.  Being the good sport I let Jeffrey reel in his first walleye.  The rain continued off and on and with the light bite decided to try some bobber fishing which would give Jeffrey a chance to see a bite in action.  Anchored on the spot we caught the first walleye, the strategy seemed sound anyway.  After an hour and anther 1/4 inch of rain we moved out to deeper water.  The wind had picked up and noticing a net being used on Big Point we decided to drift across the point.  Once again within 5 minutes we nailed a nice 22 incher.  Jeffrey reeled this one in as well and after 3 more drifts would be the last fish we caught.  He didn't quite understand the reason we had to throw the big one back as he was looking forward to a walleye dinner later that evening.  Assuring him we did the right thing, we still had at least one fresh fish and with a couple out of the freezer, he would have his wish.  Deep fried walleye and fresh grilled asparagus, it was truly a meal fit for a king, at least Jeffrey thought so!

On Monday my good friend Tom Emmons and I decided to start out his open water season on Mille Lacs.  Although the day was nice and warm, the wind was howling out of the SE at around 30 mph.  In order to be somewhat comfortable, we  launched out of the Cove Bay landing and fished the south end of the lake.  It wasn't as bad as I anticipated..........the waves that is!  Man, the walleye bite left a lot to be desired.  Everything seems to be about 2 weeks behind schedule as the lilacs are still in full bloom around here.  With surface water temperatures around 56 degrees, the fish haven't seemed to move too deep yet.  We spend a bunch of time on Sloppy Joe's and marked a number of fish but they had lock jaw for one reason or another.  Moving to a few shallower spots proved fruitless.  Deciding to try and troll some shad raps around Anderson Reef about the only thing we came up with was a 14 inch smallie.   My secondary reason for going up was to do a little scouting.  On Saturday my good friend Mark Applen and I are once again entered in the MTT Walleye Tournament.   The entry fee was again part of our ENA Charity Golf outing where last year Mark and I took third place winning $1024 on behalf of a generous donor.  This year we are being sponsored again by our committee member John Budde, a testament to his faith in Mark and I's ability to at least triple his money!  I only hope that we can find the mother lode again and make John happy.  The rest of the week is going to be nice and warm and should help our strategy.  Wish us luck, we'll probably need it.

The Final Results

I finally have found time to post the final results from our Leech Lake Opener this year.  Although I am still waiting for a few more pictures, Ron sent me enough to put something together.  As for the summary Team Walleye had 22 attendees this year.  2 short of our record of 24 guys last year, everything went off without a hitch.  As stated earlier, the weather was pretty tough on Saturday but turned around on Sunday with the best day being the day we left.  This usually happens 9 out of 10 years so we are well acclimated to the nuances of the weather.   Around 3:00 on Saturday the representative from Ron Schara Productions showed up to film footage of our group's appearance on MN Bound.  Laurie did a great job interviewing the key members of Team Walleye including Ron Edberg, Mark Mayerich, Gary Ullom, and Mark Taylor, the original members.  I was given about 10 minutes to explain how Team Walleye keeps track of our tournament status, scoring, and the trophies involved.  She ended with the next generation of Team Walleye, Adam Mayerich and Matt Taylor.   Saturday night's menu included 16 oz rib eyes for everyone and after a great meal it was back out on the lake for more filming.  Greg from Brindley's volunteered to take her out so she could film Team Walleye in it's preferred environment, fishing!  We were one of the first boats they came by and as if on cue Gary set the hook on a nice walleye.  Grabbing the net I landed the fish as I have thousand's time before and the video camera caught all of the drama!  With a little luck it will be part of the segment.  Wrapping up the filming on Sunday morning we have been told it will be a couple of weeks and she would let us know the schedule.  I suspect she got about 3 - 4 hours of material which will probably be shrunk to about 10 - 15 minutes.  Asked about the process, she would actually do the editing and Ron Schara would narrate the story.  We are really looking forward to the finished product.  Here is a picture of this year's group.

We did have some new winners in the Big Fish Tournament this year.  Having won it last year, I was in charge of presenting the trophy to John Felix, my friend from Ashland, WI.  Unfortunately I don't have a picture of him however his fish tied Matt Taylor for the largest walleye caught in the 38 years of Team Walleye, 27.5 inches.  I was very nice fish and continues to set the bar high for next year.  Second place was my friend Kevin with a 27 inch fish, another nice walleye.  Third place was my brother Steve with a 26.25 inch fish caught first thing Saturday morning.   For individual points, Kevin took top honors with 98 points.  Points are a combination of total individual walleye's caught, total fish caught in the boat, and extra points awarded for catching the largest fish in the boat per session.  Although 98 points is a respectable score, the record was 202 points by a gentlemen in my boat 3 years ago.  That will be a number destine to stay on top for a while.  As stated last week, Team D Anderson again took top honors with the top boat award scoring a total of 46 walleyes caught in the old Ranger.  Last but not least the DCS (Didn't Catch $hit) trophy went to my brother Jon for his lack of being able to put any fish in the boat.  With Ron Edberg winning the last two years, I am sure that he was relieved not to be in the running this year.  Admittedly Jon was pretty happy to walk away with something, a toilet seat trophy and $20 for his efforts.  The good news is that the Anderson boys, my brother Steve, Jon and myself all walked away with some type of honor this year!  Here is Jon receiving his award from me, a reconfigured toilet seat made of clear acrylic complete with fishing lures embedded.

Each year Ron has been compiling data on the total number of fish caught.  Compared to the previous 2 years our total fish count was down quite a bit, 250 walleyes vs 386 for 2009 and 314 for 2010.   Although we did get enough for a nice fish fry on Sunday night as well as each brought home at least 3 walleyes, the slow Sunday's catch was a major contributor to the lower numbers.  One thing notable was the lack of fish under 15 inches.  The previous 2 years had good numbers of smaller walleyes, apparently they grew up some!  Often the weather and bait fish numbers have a big factor on this as we see the future of fishing on Leech to be very positive.  Ron has done some comparative overlays on the graphs and I will try to post them later. I did get out on Sunday for my first trip to Mille Lacs with Jeffrey, my friend from Taiwan.  Time is forcing me to put that off till next week!  Have a great Memorial Day and don't forget those who have gave all for our country.

38th Annual Leech Lake Report

Another year of fishing has passed and the start of a new season has begun.  My open water season gets inaugurated with our annual Fishing Opener at Brindley’s Harbor Resort on beautiful Leech Lake, Minnesota.   This was my 22^nd year with the group and as always it proved to have all of the elements of a great time.  Our trip started on Friday morning with Ron, My brother Steve and Jon meeting at the pole shed, loading up the gear.   Heading out at 9:00 we stopped to pick up another friend, Gary Ullom then proceeded to Lundeen’s, meeting my friends from Wisconsin, Kevin and John.  Loading up on bait we headed north.    Arriving at the resort 2 hours later, the first order of business was to get our boats unloaded and the minnows in our holding containers.   Unfortunately one of my live well pumps failed and I lost quite a few shiner minnows however luckily we split them up so the impact was not too severe.  I had bought an oxygenator as a backup and quite frankly was very disappointed in how it didn’t work.  After a few celebratory traditions a couple of us headed to the harbor point at midnight to cast a few crankbaits.  Success usually means the morning will be pretty good.  Within 30 minutes we already had 5 nice keeper fish caught on Shad Raps and Rattlin’ Rouges.   The Omen proved correct as we woke up to a 20mph NE wind, rain, and a hot bite.   Leech Lake walleyes were in a tight post spawn pattern as the ice had just left 2 weeks earlier.  Wind blowing into Pine Point concentrated the fish, which were scattered throughout the 10 foot depth range.  Everyone caught walleyes on Saturday morning.  By noon you could see a clearing line coming in from the northeast and by time we ate supper the rain was gone but not the wind.  The bite continued to be OK however by the Sunday morning the sky was clear, the barometer was rising and the fish didn’t seem to like that very much.    The group records all of the fish caught, individual points as well as team points (by boat) are awarded.  If I have 2 guys in my boat and they do really good, I benefit as the total fish caught in your boat adds to your individual score.  Sunday morning wasn’t very good for Team Anderson!  Usually a good session can catapult you into the top scores as Sunday nights session would prove. 

Having tried the Goose Island area the day before with some success, I decided to open the evening session there.  Leech is a funny lake.  One year they can be killing on Goose and the next year there is nary a boat in site.  Sunday night was no exception, no boats on Goose and no fish.  After about an hour my brother (bless his soul) called to inform me they were getting some nice fish on Ottertail Point.   Heeding his advice we cranked in and fired up the Suzuki.  Arriving at Ottertail, there were about 10 boats working the area and a few nets showing themselves.  15 minutes into it I landed a nice 25.75 inch walleye….great start!  Well the next hour saw a number of fish caught in the other boats while we hit another dry spell.  As the sun went down my strategy shifted telling Mark and his son Adam, we were going to troll shad raps.  Earlier that day they had asked if both could accompany me that evening which was fine with me.  The rules are it’s my game.  Thinking they were simply going to use their spinning reels I informed them to put the lightweight gear away, I am not spending half the night getting baits unstuck.    Being the gentleman I am Mark got my top trolling rig and Adam got the next best.   Selecting baits for them, I suggested that color is less important than size and depth.   Sometimes you can have 3 identical baits but one has that special nuance which really turns the fish.  That night Mark’s white with a red bill was the clear ticket.    Trolling shads is one of my strategies on Leech however these guys had never tried it.  Sunday night I put on a Shad Rap clinic and by midnight we had boated 18 walleyes, the largest at 25.75 and put 8 in the live well.  Mark had the hot rod with 12 fish caught, Adam added his 4 and I only ended up with 2, which were twins at 25.75”.  This is why Mark and Adam wanted to fish with me that evening and I am glad they were not disappointed.    Of course I attributed Marks success to the fine trolling rod he was given to use, yet when you’re hot you’re hot!  The first picture is my 25.75” that fell victim to a #7 silver Shad Rap and the next one is Mark’s largest fish of the night.  Although I didn’t do so well personally, Marks performance put Team Anderson in the lead for top boat.

I believe Sunday night’s success was based upon a common situation that sets up on Leech.  As the wind pounds into a point it concentrates the walleyes.  The wind had been blowing into Ottertail point for 4 days and finally died Sunday afternoon.  That evening the fish were still there however by Monday morning they had scattered with the rising barometer.   Monday morning the lake was glass calm being much more reluctant to give up her walleyes.  By noon we had managed 2 walleyes so it was time to pull out the entertainment portion of the session and head to Submarine Island for a little sucker fishing.   With water temps in the mid 50’s the lake suckers were stacked in the 3 foot tops of the reefs spawning.  There were thousands of them full of eggs and milt, ready to hit a Hot’n’Tot that got too close.  It was a nice break to the rather monotonous state of the walleye bite and my boat companions enjoyed something they have never seen.  Back trolling Sunday night with Mark, we tried Stony Point with little fanfare so back to Ottertail and 5 more fish, again Mark had the hot rod.  This year was an interesting one as I scored a quintfecta  catching 5 species including walleye, perch, northern pike, eelpout and sucker.   An interesting mix for sure.  Here is a picture of me with a trophy lake sucker.   Unfortunately I had to leave for Denver within hours of returning home so again I am writing this on the plane.  The flight attendant just told me to turn it off so stay tuned as I will post more pictures and results from another fantastic  Minnesota Fishing Opener.   In addition, the representative from MN Bound showed up on Saturday afternoon and I will report on what proved to be an interesting filming session.

The Big Weekend's Coming

Well, Minnesota Fishing Opener is just a few days away and everything seems to be coming together like it always does.  For me the Opener still has a magical appeal as it has all of my life.   Back home in Eleva fishing opener was always the most anticipated day of the year, better than birthdays or even Christmas!  Its been that way for as long as I remember.  The Eleva Pond was a typical Mill Pond created by the damming up of a fast moving creek then using the power of the water to mill grain prior to the invention of the internal combustion engine.  Most small towns and villages had a local water powered mill to provide the community with a location to process grain for many applications.  Although many of these ponds are no longer maintained, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin has no natural lakes so the ponds were the focal point for fishing and remain that way today.  The Eleva Pond is feed by Big Creek and Adams Creek, both spring feed and perfect for trout.  Every spring the local Rod and Gun Club would stock 500 or so adult trout in the pond, just in time for opener, the first week in May.  Known as "planted trout" their flesh was white and rather bland.  If the trout survived the season, feeding on freshwater shrimp eventually turns their flesh to a deep orange color improving the flavor tremendously.  We called these fish "natives" although true native fish were rate.  Worms were usually the bait of choice however an occasional Mepps Spinner was used when a more exciting way to fish was desired.  Here is a picture I pulled from the Eau Claire Leader, a young man fishing the Eleva Pond on the opener.  That could have just as well been me 50 years ago, I am glad some things never change.

The opener sets in motion a good list of things need to be done.  Tackle box cleaned, new line on the reels, searching for the last place you set down that prized lure last fall, and getting the boat ready.  Having installed my electronics, I had the chance to launch the boat in Diamond Lake, a shallow weedy farm lake a few miles from the house.  The lake is about 10 feet at it's max and although I believe it must freeze out from time to time, it's become home to a number of White Pelicans either migrating north or staying for a few months.  There must be some fish left as the count was over 30 birds.  Launching the boat, the motor started, my goal was to get some feel for the new depth finder and GPS, check out the side/down scan function, and do my normal check of all systems including livewell pumps, switches, gauges, and electric motors.  In mounting my Side Scan transducer there are conflicting theories of whether to mount for high speed operation as over 8 mph, the readings become less accurate.  I did a combination mounting, securing it to the step under the transom yet allowing the surface to read at full throttle.  This proved to be one of my better ideas as at full throttle my down scan images mirrored the sonar readouts with incredible accuracy.  The down scan offers an interesting look at what is underneath you, sort of like standing on the bottom of the lake and looking at a side view.  There are still a few settings to figure out on the HDS system but slowly I am mastering the intent of the manufacturer, not necessarily the easiest task.  There was an interesting twist to my maiden run this year.  I have removed all of the old transducers as the Ranger has a factory installed transducer epoxied to the fiberglass floor which "shoots" thru the hull providing excellent high speed performance.  The side scan transducer is long and narrow, offering little if any drag.  The first thing I noticed was my boat seemed awfully fast for having a full tank of gas.  A check of the GPS read 38.7 mph.  This made no sense as the most I could ever get out of the boat with just me in it and a quarter tank of gas was 37 mph.  I made a number of test runs hitting 39 at one point, 2 mph faster than last year.  Was it the 6 month rest the motor experience, I doubt it.  The only thing I can figure is my two Genetron transducers where adding drag.  I hardly believe this as these were installed for minimal effect but numbers don't lie.  Maybe its an anomaly!

Opener is going to be extra special this year.  Not only is it our 38th annual but now we are destined to be television stars.  Yep, Team Walleye organizer Ron Edberg was watching a regionally produced outdoors show call Minnesota Bound, hosted by Ron Schara when he noticed a contest they were having.  The show was featuring traditions in the outdoors and invited anyone to submit their "Fishing Opener Traditions", 300 words or less (of course) and the winner would be picked around May 10th.  The Grand Prize would be their production crew spending a couple of days with the winners to film an episode for an upcoming show.  Ron and I put something together, revised it a couple of times and sent it in.  Well, today we were informed that Team Walleye has been selected for the Grand Prize, WOW!!!  The details are starting to gel and the film crew has already made reservations at Brindley's to spend a few days with us.  I will have more updates as things progress including a review of our experience and the show dates.  One thing is for certain, it's going to be and exciting weekend for Team Walleye.  Here is our winning essay penned by Ron:

Our opening fishing tradition will celebrate its 38th year on Leech Lake. Started in 1974 at Leech Lake with 4 high school friends, we have continued the same tradition every year since. My late father once told me “If you give it up once, you will never get it back” and he was right. Over the years our Leech Lake Opener has grown, evolved, and changed to maintain the excitement and anticipation of the Minnesota Walleye Opener. In 1978 we created a traveling trophy that has the names of each winner engraved. Akin to the Stanley Cup is showing its age, complete with its own nuances left by each holder.

Camping at various resorts on Leech, in 1982 we settled into Brindley’s Harbor Resort and 3 years later secured the much coveted Cabin 14. Our group expanded, including more family, friends, and 3 different resort owners. Fathers and kids joined the group, some have passed away and some of our kids, now in their 30’s are poised to carry on the tradition for well into the future. This year along with the original 4 will be 18 more with 5 cabins reserved. Over the years we have had 61 different guys being part of our group. In 1991 we adopted the name “Team Walleye” long before any others. Each opener every team member gets an official embroidered hat with our logo, magnetic signs for our cars, stickers, and each person bringing a boat for the group gets a commemorative T-shirt. Each member has their pre-assigned duties from KP to sleeping arrangements.

In early 2000 the walleye fishing on Leech Lake was in serious decline. At one time there was a waiting list to get a cabin at the resort however the decline caused everyone but “Team Walleye” to abandon Brindley’s and Leech. At its worse we were the only group at the resort that year. Paris,at Brindley’s expressed their appreciation for sticking with them however we explained that tradition and their friendship were more important than all the walleye in Minnesota.

This year’s opener includes the combined efforts 38 years in the making. We break our fishing into 6 sessions, 2 each day. Having developed a points system for scoring total fish caught, it helps to keep an accurate count of our fish in the freezer. On Sunday we have a draft, the guy with the lowest points gets to draft his boat for the next session. This allows members a fun way to mix up the group. We have a Sunday Night fish fry as both 2009 and 2010 have saw record catches of 390 and 370 walleyes over 12 inches. During the early years it was only about fishing. In 2011 it continues to be much more than catching fish or getting together, it’s about the memories, the future, and tradition.

It's a winner for sure.  A crazy week has just turned crazier.............I love it!!!  Lot's to do in a few days.

Too Much Time in Chicago

Well, I am getting pretty familiar with Chicago's O'Hare airport these days as I just spent the last 3 days hosting our trade association meeting in Chicago.  The last speaker of the day had a great topic about creating experiences for your customers (more on that) and started his talk with a couple of interesting stories.  I found them fascinating and thought I would share them.  My apologies if you know the ending!

THE FIRST STORY: Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago. Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder. Capone had a lawyer nicknamed “Easy Eddie.” He was his lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie’s skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time.
To show his appreciation, Capone paid Eddie very well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie also got special dividends. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block.
Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocities that went on around him. Eddie had a soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object. And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was. Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn't give his son; he couldn't pass on a good name or a good example.
One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done. He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al “Scarface” Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great.
So, he testified. Two weeks before Capone was to be released from prison,  Easy Eddie’s life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street. But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he could ever pay. Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine. The poem read:

The clock of life is wound but once,
And no man has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop
At late or early hour.
Now is the only time you own.
Live, love, toil with a will.
Place no faith in time.
For the clock may soon be still.

THE SECOND STORY: World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O’Hare. He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific. One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank. He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship. His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet.
As he was returning to the ship he saw something that turned his blood cold: a squadron of Japanese aircraft were speeding their way toward the American fleet. The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn't reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger.
There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert them from the fleet. Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber’s blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent. Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible and rendering them unfit to fly. Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction. Deeply relieved, Butch O’Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier. Upon arrival, he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch’s daring attempt to protect his fleet. He had, in fact, destroyed five enemy aircraft.
This took place on February 20, 1942, and for that action Butch became the Navy’s first Ace of W.W.II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Congressional Medal of Honor. A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29.
His home town would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O’Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man. So, the next time you find yourself at O’Hare International, give some thought to visiting Butch’s memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor. It’s located between Terminals 1 and 2.
SO WHAT DO THESE TWO STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER?
Butch O’Hare was “Easy Eddie’s” son!

OK, I thought it was interesting.  The point was how we never know how our actions will affect people or the future.  I particularly love Easy Eddie's poem.  Our talk progressed to how in today's market people are looking for an experience.  Well, it immediately made me think about my good friends Bill Lundeen, Jeff King, Keith Holtan, and of course my experiences guiding clients for fish.  Guiding turns out to be the ultimate in providing your customer with an experience.  Because one can never count on the fish cooperating, the experience is what saves the day.  His point was that successful businesses today provide that experience in a number of ways from buying a scoop of minnows to selling transformers.  It was a great lesson.  I did get all of my electronics connected and buttoned up.  With opener a week away I am scrambling to get the boat out for it's 2011 maiden run and a chance to do a dress rehearsal.  This week will be a mad dash to get line replaced, lures sorted, boat compartments cleaned, and everything polished up.  I'll let you know how that goes as it is looking pretty interesting.