The Last Day of the 2011 Walleye Season

Sunday was the official end of the inland waters walleye season here in Minnesota.  Not wanting to miss out on the opportunity to fish my favorite lake for walleyes, it was either this weekend or wait till May 19th.  Luckily my good friend and fellow Team Walleye member, Mark Mayerich was planning on going back out on Saturday and he graciously allowed me to join him.  Mark and his son Adam fished out of the Red Door Resort on the north side of the lake the week before and did really well. The bite on the southern part of the lake had slowed considerably however the north end was still going strong.  Accessing the lake out of the Red Door was about as far north on the lake as you can get, but the advantage is there are a large number of offshore flats that are relatively close to shore.  My last 2 trips were out of Dewey's, just south of Indian Point and it's a good 8 miles to the nearest flat.   After loading up with a scoop of minnows at Bill's, I proceeded to head north to Garrison then up around the top of the lake.  As I drove through Garrison there was a huge event happening on the ice, Stud Races.  I just had to call Mark and tell him that I was going to be delayed as I just had to enter, it was a sure bet to win.......he didn't think that was too funny!  Arriving at the Red Door Resort the first order of business was to get our road pass for the day.  $10 is not a bad price when you consider they put a nice bridge over the big heave in the ice allowing one to basically drive anywhere on the lake.  Loaded up we crossed the bridge and headed south towards Resort Flat, a structure about 2 miles offshore.  To be honest, I have never fished this flat before but with my GPS and Lakemaster chip, it was an easy find.  Arriving at the northeast tip I asked Mark if he had a favorite spot from last week.  While his GPS was acquiring the satellites he thought we should be on the other end.  When it locked on his way point showed we were within 200 yards of where they were before.  Mark swore they were more south but upon further investigation his GPS was set on Track Up instead of North Up.  This would give the opposite view of what my GPS was showing, we reset it and agreed, we were close.  Unfortunately someone was set up at the point so I decided to move down the break by 300 yards, looking for an inside turn along the way.  Finally settling in on a promising spot I drilled a number of holes from 30 feet to the top of the flat at 24 feet.  While Mark set up on the deep side I continued drilling a number of holes along the top and bottom edge, probably at least 20 or so.  Time to fish! 

The temperature was almost warm enough to fish outside but cold enough to freeze the holes pretty fast.  I elected to try my hand at searching for fish while Mark fished inside his portable house.  Mark's favorite bait has got to be the Chubby Darter by Salmo.  Although I have fished them many times, I have never had the success that he has.  As I stuck my head through the door of the portable, he showed me a signal on his Vexilar FL22 that indicated a fish starting to come off the bottom.  Just then a big red mark appeared 5 feet about the bottom and as he pulled the bait up the fish came down to slam it.  We landed a nice 23 inch walleye, a great start.  Mark had been seeing fish all along yet I was drawing a blank.  Within 30 minutes he nailed another smaller fish, big enough to keep, a good start to our trip.  It went pretty dead after that.  As I moved around from hole to hole, Mark stayed in his warm abode, still marking fish but no biters.  I finally caught a 16 incher on the deep side.  Eventually I got cold enough to set up my house at the same depth level as he was.  Drilling 3 holes, one for jigging, one for a dead stick, and one for my camera, I was nice and warm.  Unfortunately nothing seemed to come through so I put the camera pointed towards my suspending minnow and resumed hole jumping.  15 minutes of that brought me right back into my shack and as I glanced at the display on the camera, there was walleye smack dab in the middle of the screen.  Glancing at my bobber it was 18 inches down the hole.  I set the hook, the walleye shot off the screen as I started reeling it up.  6 cranks of the handle and the weight disappeared.  Quickly rebaiting I dropped it back down the hole and just as the minnow appeared on the screen another walleye showed up.  Staring at the minnow for about 3 seconds it sucked it in as the bobber sank.  I could see the minnow was completely in its mouth, set the hook and landed a nice 16 inch fish, we had 3 in the pail.  Another 30 minutes and nothing so I moved back outside.  Moving back to the 24 foot hole and dropping a Rattlin' Flyer a large mark met it at 22 feet and slammed it.  As it came through the hole the knot failed.  This was rare occurrence with braided line as the estimated 24 inch swam back down the hole.   Rather than retie I grabbed another rod, put a new Flyer on the snap and within 5 minutes had my third walleye.  As the old saying goes......all hell broke loose as I was landing a keeper walleye every 5 minutes.  On one occasion I dropped the lure, a fish came up but would not hit.  If you stare at your flasher long enough you can tell if the minnow head on your lure was still there.  It looked wrong, felt wrong so I reeled back up and found the lure was bare.  Hooking another minnow to the treble hook my hands were so cold I could not snap the minnow in half and with a fish hovering above the bottom there was no choice but to bite it in half, which I did!  Dropping it down the fish about grabbed the rod out of my hands and it was a dandy.  Measuring 27 inches, it was the nicest walleye I have caught in over 2 years.  I had Mark snap a picture as I told him his 23 incher just moved to second billing for this weeks post.  Within another 30 minutes we both had our limits of nice fish, packed up and headed out.

This year was the best I have ever had for walleye fishing through the ice on Lake Mille Lacs.  It started slow but really picked up in the month of February.  With all the bad ice, reports of record low fish populations, its been a lot of fun.   I did get a tullibee on Saturday as this and perch will be the main targets for the month of March.  Walleye fishing is still legal at Lake of the Woods till April 15th and is always open on the Mississippi River.  My friend Kevin bought a Jason Mitchell Meat Stick for pan fishing and my hope is to meet him on Saturday to see if I can match his performance of a few weeks ago.  We finally got some precipitation today, about an inch, the most since August of last year.  Driving to La Crosse earlier this week the river (other than Lake Pepin) was completely open.  Maybe an early trip in the boat for walleyes is in the cards. 

Frankies Live Bait and Marine

While watching the fishing shows on television this weekend I saw a commercial that really made me smile.  The star of the minute was Frankie Dusenka Jr from his business bearing the same name, Frankie's Live Bait and Marine of Chisago City, MN.  It gave me pause to think about one of the truly great boat dealers I have ever met, one I have been doing business with since 1989.   Thinking back Frankie has been an important part of my fishing experience for 24 out of the 30 years I have owned a boat.   About the only thing that has changed is we both have a lot less hair and it's gotten more gray!  The way I am treated as a customer has never changed.  My first experience with Frankie was in the summer of 1989, I had a 1986 Lund Nisswa Guide with the "new" Mercury Classic 50 outboard motor.  The Nisswa Guide was Lund's fiberglass boat, at 16.5 feet it was super wide and heavy.  To heavy for that motor as one afternoon on Mille Lacs the waves were 3 feet and I could not get the boat on plane.  Mark Taylor was with me and after turning down wind we finally got her going before swinging around back to the landing.  That Monday I checked out the Sunday paper and there was an ad "Non Current 1988 Suzuki 55 hp Outboard Sale, 651-257-6334".  1988 and 1989 were tough years for the marine industry and many dealers had either gone out of business or had a ton of inventory.  Frankie's had a number of these and although I wasn't excited about owning a Suzuki (Heck, I didn't even know they made outboards), the price was very attractive and they would take my outboard on trade.  It was a done deal.  Frankie assured me that I would not be disappointed and he was right, that 55 woke up the Nisswa, it was a new boat.  In January of 1990 I had the opportunity to buy a Ranger 680T without a motor.  I put that Suzy on the Ranger, sold the Nisswa and wow, did that boat move.  The 680T was a nice boat but in the big waves of Mille Lacs it was somewhat inadequate.  In the spring of 1993 I drove back to Frankie's to talk about something different.  I left ordering a new Skeeter 135T with a 75 Mariner, trading in the Ranger.  Now Frankie is an optimistic guy and I was assured that it would be delivered by Minnesota Fishing Opener.  I soon learned that it was more related to whether the factory had a full load coming north from Texas than one guys expectations.  After calling Frankie to discuss he said that if I wanted to get the boat, he could refund the transportation charges.  My brother Jon was unemployed at the time, gas was still about $1.25/gallon, I offered him the full $300 and he went and picked it up in Kilgore Texas.  With just a few days to spare, Frankie's got her rigged up in time for my annual Leech Lake Opener.  The next year I ran over a plastic bag which sealed my water intakes and my new outboard froze up while traveling full throttle 7 miles from shore.  I got her started and got back to the landing and dropped it off with him, yep the pistons were scored.  After contacting the insurance, we worked a deal where he put on a new 1994 75 hp, it had 6 cubic inches more than the 1993.  We re-propped it and I ran it till 2001, when at a walleye show Frankie grabbed me and showed me the new Ranger 620T he just got.  He was right, I needed that boat and he was willing to sell.  He quoted me a price, $26,500 with a 115 Suzuki, dual axle trailer, and could order whatever color I wanted.  Giving me almost what I paid for the Skeeter I still decided to check around.  Crystal Marine was the big Ranger dealer in town so I checked, $29,000 with a Yamaha and a single axle trailer.  After telling him he was really high priced the next comment was he wanted to beat Frankie, I'll match his price.  To late, I don't play that game. 

The Dusenka's have always treated me as their #1 customer.  I can assure you that they have customers of a much higher profile than me, as being the 1st or 2nd largest Ranger Dealer in the World doesn't come from me!  Frankie's wife Deb, runs the service department and many times I have called to inquire on parts and she will always order them for me without regard.  Frankie's brother Brad runs the bait shop and in both 2002 and 2004 he advised me on our fishing trips to Alaska offering to use his boat on the Kenai.  It was the difference between a nice trip and a great trip.  They do all of my repair work and in 2009 my '01 Ranger tilt switch stuck causing my outboard to tilt up to the point where it broke off the tiller handle.  Back to Frankie's, they fixed everything and when I picked it up we began to talk about a possible trade.  I left buying a 2008 Ranger 620T with a 115 Suzuki, exactly like my 2001 only updated with a longer shaft motor and a better trailer and one heck of a price.  In this age of come and go marine dealers it's really nice to have someone you can go to who you trust, that treats you like their best customer, sells top quality products, and is always looking out for your best interests based on a number of things....usually the way you fish.  

So I did get out this weekend, on Sunday afternoon my neighbor Tom and I drove to Pelican Lake to see what was biting.  The ice is pretty thin for this time of year guessing not more than 12 inches.  Because of this we decided to go on the north end and walk out to our spot.  There were plenty of guys including Chad Bentley, a friend I snowmobile with out west who I haven't seen in a few years.  This end of the lake is about 8 - 9 feet deep and arriving at around 3:00 we figured the crappies might be hungry.  My friend Kevin felt sorry for me from last weeks trip so he sent me a Jason Mitchell Meat Stick, an excellent panfish rod.  I mounted a smaller fly reel loaded with 2# test orange colored Suffix line and was eager to try it out.  We caught about 40 sunfish, some were almost big enough to keep but honestly, I have enough fish in the freezer for a while.  Tom did get this 2 pound largemouth that put up a nice fight but that was about it.  This weekend is the end of walleye season so I might head to Mille Lacs for one last try.  Lake of the Woods is still open until April 15th and a trip north might be in the future.  The weatherman says that Sunday could see our first significant snow of the year but I have heard that before.

Like Old Times

Sunday I had the opportunity to do something I probably haven't done for the last 30 years, ice fish with my friend Kevin Aiona,  back at our old fishing haunts around Wabasha, MN.  Home of the movie Grumpy Old Men, we lived that lifestyle of fishing the back waters and sloughs of the Mississippi River.  Places like Cattle Pass, The Oil Tanks, Railroad Slough, The Boat Harbor, and Nelson Road, these areas provided all the entertainment we needed to make the winters more enjoyable.  Back 30 years ago our fishing poles were simple sticks with 2 posts to wrap the line around,  a nail to stick it in the ice and our quarry was mostly sunfish, crappies, northerns, and bass.  The depth finder definition was a piece of lead snapped to our line and dropped down the hole to check how deep the water was.  Holes in the ice were accomplished by using an ice chisel and chopping our way through and the Mora Swedish Ice Auger had just made it's debut.   After dropping my wife off in Osseo, Wisconsin I made my way to Eleva, arriving around 8:00 Sunday morning.  Kevin poured me a quick cup of coffee as we loaded our gear and headed west towards the  river.  Our first stop was the bait shop in Durand.  I love these small bait shops in the small towns.  They have plenty of minnows, waxies, maggots, a few lures, and the latest fishing reports.  Today's strategy was to use maggots or Euro Larva, a bit smaller than a waxie grub but I think a lot more hardy.  Minnows can be a great crappie bait but I think that grubs tend to be more versatile and will consistently catch more fish.  Crossing the railroad tracks assured us we were in Wisconsin/Minnesota Boundary waters and my fishing license was now valid.  Although we did pull out our portable ice shacks, the plan was to drill a few holes and look for active fish before setting up the shelters.   With the ice being relatively thin for this time of year (12 inches) we decided to simply use my new Eskimo 8" hand auger.  At the end of last season I bought an really nice ice fishing combo from Cabela's at over 50% off.  It included a Quikfish 3 pop-up shelter, the hand auger, a portable stool, and a small sled with a cover to put everything in.  My "big" Clam ice shelter is heavy, bulky, but works get for the colder situations or when I am using the ATV for transportation.  This new setup is a breeze for early and late season ice where the temperatures are warmer, the ice isn't so thick, and I am walking out.  The sharp auger really works slick for punching a few holes where you need them.

It was still pretty cold out as we started fishing, enough to skim our holes fairly quickly.  Immediately we began to mark fish on our screens, a great sign.  The fish seemed somewhat aggressive as they would follow our lures but were very reluctant to bite, or so we assumed.  While I used my trusty old spring bobber setup loaded with 3 pound test line, Kevin had a high end pole with a sensitive tip and 2 pound test line.  Spring bobbers are great for detecting the faintest of bites and work very well.  Unfortunately we were in 15 feet of water and the line stretch of 3 pound test line negates most of that advantage.  Almost immediately Kevin connects with a nice 3 pound bass.  Back when we used to fish the Oil Tanks with tip-ups and shiner minnows, bass were a common target.  One trip Kevin and I nailed 6 largemouths with the largest pushing over 5 pounds.  The top picture is that first fish.  Within minutes I caught my first fish, a nice 10 inch perch.  It is interesting that the perch in the Mississippi are much larger now than what I remembered.  I suspect the cleaner water, a result of Zebra Mussels invading the river has played a role in this phenomenon.  With a few more fish in the bucket we set up our shelters that would provide a place to sit down and warm up.  For me the bite was tough.  You could see the fish approach your bait, hang there for a few seconds, then slowly slip away.  A few jigs of the lure would call them in and repeat the cycle.  Occasionally you would see a fish rush to met your bait and slam it but this was few and far between.  In the meantime Kevin was holding a seminar on light bite pan-fishing and was catching 3 to my one including this nice 13 inch crappie he is holding.  Admittedly his reactions are faster than mine which in these conditions make all the difference in the world.  The fish were there and simply coming up to the bait, inhaling it then spitting it out as fast.  Both of us spend a lot of time switching baits and he ended up catching most of his fish on a small teardrop lure with almost a micro piece of black plastic attached to the hook.  I simply had to laugh.  Watching his line, he would slowly drop his lure through the fish zone and look for any slight change in the line.  You really had to set the hook before the fish realized what it just did and Kevin is a master at this.  For me, I am become familiar with the slam of a walleye, even the finesse bite seldom passes me by but this was totally different.  Not unlike tullibee fishing on Mille Lacs, they too will inhale but are not a particular about line size so it's easier to feel them.  That combination of the right gear and paying close attention to your line really paid off.  I am sure that of the 10 people or so that were fishing around us, we were the only guys consistently catching fish.

We ended the day with a bucket full of very nice panfish, 38 total.  Our take included 12 crappies ranging from 11 to 13 inches, 6 perch in the 10 - 12 inch range, and 20 nice bluegills all over 8.5 inches.  It was a lot fun returning to our old fishing spots and experiencing those things that seem like they happened yesterday.  The trains still cause the ice to tremble as they rumble along the shoreline heading to Minneapolis or Chicago.  It sure seems like there are more of them now then ever before.  The blue skies accenting the majestic bluffs along the river makes a perfect backdrop for a day on the river.  The river has changed quite a bit in the last 40 years as sediment has filled in and cut off many of our old favorite fishing holes.  Driving by some of our old duck hunting haunts, they are now leased out and impossible to access.  The old bait shops come and go, replaced by larger convenience stores and gourmet cheese shops.  Heck, even as a fellow fisherman was leaving the ice he stopped to examine our impressive catch, commenting how tough the bite was.  He whipped out his small portable Aqua View camera exclaiming that "There down there, just don't want to bite!".  Oh well, for all that has changed some things will always be the same..........like fishing with my friend Kevin on a relaxing Sunday afternoon.   We have better equipment, better clothes, better transportation, yet we still look at life no different that when we were growing up together.  Thanks Buddy!

The Word is Out

Saturday was my birthday and at the last minute decided what better way to spend it than on Lake Mille Lacs fishing the hot walleye bite.  Because my friend Mark had already spent the night in his fish house the night before, he thought it would be a good idea to tag along and try the flats for a change of pace and agreed to meet me at Lundeen's at noon.  My plan was the same game as last week, drive on the ice at Dewey's till the bridge across the heave, unload the ATV, pack everything in the sled and head out.  I could not go by the first set of deep gravel humps without trying them.  It was as dead as the week before so off to 7 mile flat.  Word was that a couple of the east side resorts had roads open to the flats and Holy Moses, half the world must have gotten the word.  As we approached the center of the lake every flat in front of us had cars and trucks lining the entire edge circumference of the flat.  I'll bet from the air it looked like a high level Lakemaster Bottom Contour Map!  Arriving on 7 mile there must have been 75 guys set up including 1 guy in our exact spot of last weeks massacre.  Stopping to see how his luck had been he confirmed it was slow and if fact about 25% of the people had left already.   Amazing as I cannot believe that many people would be driving out as the ice conditions were not that great just a week ago and it hasn't been that cold.  If fact the word was 2 trucks went in on the south side earlier that morning.  As Ron White would say......You can't fix stupid.  Mark and I fished a few open holes left by the previous guys with nothing showing up on our screens.  Deciding to move we loaded up and headed west to a near shore flat called Sherman's that had few anglers and is quite large assuring we could find our own quiet area.    Using our maps we found that "special" looking area and drilled our holes along the top and bottom of the edge.

Almost immediately we began marking fish.  Within 10 minutes Mark had had a nice walleye through the hole, a good sign.  It was about 2:00 in the afternoon and the prime time was about 1 1/2 hour away.  Well, it took its merry old time and arrived about 30 minutes late.  The fact that we marked fish with regularity helped keep our interest knowing eventually they would turn on.  About 4:00 the action started as we put a couple of keepers on the ice.  At about 4:30 the fish really became aggressive.  Although hard to believe, they were almost too aggressive as they would hit so hard the the hook would almost be ripped out or hooked lightly.  I fish braided line and often the lack of stretch will make this problem even worse.  Between Mark and I we must have lost 9 fish after hooking them for less than 10 seconds, many of them coming off just before we got them into the hole.  By the time the bite stopped we had 3 nice keepers, a respectable perch, had let at least 3 more over 20 inches back into our holes, and lost another 9 fish we never saw.  Of course you should have seen the ones that got away!  Over all it was a great day on Mille Lacs as again we proved how important it is to get away from the crowds and noise, look for that "fishy" spot, and drill a lot of holes to move around looking for active fish.  On this trip both Mark and I caught all of our fish on the deep side of the drop and really never moved much as we settled into the couple of holes that stayed consistent.   Our hot baits were Mark's Swedish Pimple and my Rattlin' Flyer although I did catch one on a Jigging Rap.  With the fish as aggressive as they were, the Rap is a great bait however this time the fish were a little more fussy wanting something more subtle yet they still hit with vengeance.  With the season winding down I can't complain much about the last 2 weeks on the pond. 

It has been an interesting week as I spent Monday thru Wednesday in Orlando flying back Wednesday night.  Having been upgraded to first class I was looking forward to a nice relaxing ride home as I wrote this weeks post on the plane.  As luck would have it the on board WiFi was broken so I given a choice of playing solitaire for 3 hours or watch the Steve Martin movie, The Big Year.  It wasn't too bad.  This week might find me fishing some of my old stomping grounds on the back waters of the Mississippi River somewhere between LaCrosse and Alma.  My friend Kevin has been doing well as he nailed a 15 inch perch a few days ago.  That's a nice perch anywhere.  I continue to get the boat ready as everything indicates an early spring.  With the low water the walleye fishing this spring could be interesting.   We'll see!

The Bite is On

After last weeks attempt to get to the offshore areas I like to fish, Lory and I decided to try it again.  Another week of colder weather coupled with the additional time the resorters had to figure out their roads, we headed up much earlier in the day to take advantage of having more time to adjust our strategy if needed.  When arriving mid afternoon for the most part you are stuck staying in one place as it's important to be settled in during that peak time from 4:00 to dark.  I have a "secret" spot near Indian Point that is often very good when few have fished it.  With no roads beyond the heave and the threat of 8 inch ice you are restricted to ATV travel but once across those newly frozen areas there is substantial ice.  Driving up to Dewey's access we dropped $10 in the pay box and headed out to the known heave.  As always we stopped at Bill's and his thought was Dewey would have a bridge over the bad area to drive the ATV over and continue from there.  Parking the truck about 1/4 mile from our intended crossing point we unloaded the ATV to check everything out.  Well the bridge was laying on the ice and no practical way to cross the heave.  Looking across the barrier, contemplating plan B another truck came out with the intent on following our plan of getting to the other side.  As we talked Dewey shows up, gives a short assessment of the situation then offers to head back, get the plow, and push the bridge over the suspect area.  15 minutes later he was back and with some help from us spectators we had the bridge safely in place.  This was our cue to pack'em up and get going, destination 3 miles away.  The ice was very rough to the north of us so we followed the edge east till an opening presented itself then turned north towards the magic spot.  Lory was somewhat nervous as we maneuvered around large chunks of ice protruding from the surface, a result of the previous winds pushing the ice around and smashing it into itself.  Arriving at our spot it was great news, only one other set of holes were drilled and whoever was there had left.  On the other hand maybe that was an sign.  Setting up our house and drilling around 10 holes we fished for almost 2 hours and never marked a fish.  I had put the camera down and it sure looked like a great spot with gravel and small rocks scattered on the bottom.  Unfortunately we were not there to fish rocks.  After 2 hours I looked at Lory and stated we are leaving. get packed up as I had my eyes on 7 mile Flat, a good 6 miles north of our location.  I had rigged my HDS5 with a 12 volt plug and a RAM mount for inside the ATV cab,  it was just like being in the boat as we worked our way further north. 

Arriving at 7 Mile I had an idea of where I wanted to fish however the area had a number of portables parked in my spot.  Looking at the GPS and the Lakemaster bottom contour map I located a spot that indicated an inside turn with a gradual slope from 36 to 24 feet.  As stated before these structures often rise from the lake floor to the top of the flat within 20 - 30 feet.  I fish this area quite a bit in the summer and am pretty familar with where the fish tend to be and this was one of those spots. The changed strategy was to set up on the bottom side of the flat in 36 feet while drilling holes at the top edge then paralleling along both edges to provide a stretch of structure to work along.  The ice was a good 18 inches thick, in great shape, and once set up we started working the area.  It wasn't too bad out but the wind was cold, never the less we worked the outside hole structures with little protection from the cols.  By this time it was about 3:00 in the afternoon and almost immediately we started marking fish.  They were not very aggressive and would often just come up to the bait, check it out and quickly disappear off the Vexilar screen, at least there were fish in the area.  It took about another hour before the fish started hitting our lures and by 4:00 we had enough to know the best was yet to come.  With a few walleyes on the ice and a few bonus jumbo perch, at 5:00 the switch really turned on.  I had caught a nice fish earlier but didn't get a chance to snap a picture.  The first picture is a nice 23 inch fish that helped redeem myself of letting the first on go without getting an official picture of the blog.  Within minutes Lory nailed this nice 22 inch walleye.   We were still hole hopping when Lory landed a keeper out of a hole exclaiming there was another one down there.  Quickly baiting up he dropped the line and a second fish slammed the lure, another keeper.  He said there is a third one, again dropped the lure and wouldn't you know picked up a third fish in less than 3 minutes.  We ended the day with over 20 walleyes caught, 8 nice keepers 16 - 17.5 inches, and over 6 released that were 20+ inches.  My real prize was a 4 inch walleye that hit my minnow head, pretty comical.  The hot baits were the Rattlin' Flyer with a minnow head, a Hawger spoon with a whole minnow, a shiner on a dead stick, and my trusty old Jigging Rap.   With 3 nice perch we left the flats for the 10 mile trek back to the truck hoping the ice hadn't shifted while we were gone.  The bridge was still in place, we loaded the truck and left satisfied with one of the best ice fishing day's we've had on Mille Lacs in a while.  It is a testament to being able to adjust your strategy, understand your location, and work for your fish.  Sometimes it all comes together, just like on TV!

Today is my Dad's birthday, he would have been 82 years old.  His birthday is on Ground Hogs Day and I will always remember his comments regarding the predictions for winter as he always felt a connection to the folklore of the day.  Today he would have said we will have 6 more weeks of winter, something that we haven't had much of lately.  Happy Birthday Dad, love your son Dave.

Heave Ho

Last weeks sub zero weather was just what the doctor ordered to heal up those open area's on Mille Lacs, some that were over 1/2 mile wide.  With the new ice pushing 8 inches, although not safe enough for cars and trucks, an ATV would be the perfect mode of transportation for our Sunday excursion to the lake.  With little snow on the ice it was critical to put the chains on the rear wheels which really stabilizes the ATV when traveling over clear ice.  Loading up my tow behind portable in the back of the truck, we put the ATV in my ramp trailer, Lory and I headed up US Highway 169.  With every aspect of that road memorized as I am exactly 68 miles from Bill's bait shop, 1 hour and 10 minutes if I hit the stop lights in Elk River just right.  With the conditions stabilizing we figured Bill would have the latest hot spot for us to try.  My friend Mark Applen had called as we drove up telling of a nice limit of jumbo perch he had gotten yesterday on the east side.  My original plan was to fish one of the deep offshore gravel bars, one that has been very productive at first ice.  Being almost February its far from first ice yet ice conditions have resulted in little fishing pressure on anything out further than 2 miles.  Well Bill had bad news, the ice has healed nicely however the rising temperatures have caused the ice to expand and heave, causing a major obstacle for getting out very far.  The crack extended from the southwest end of the lake following the shore for 5 miles before cutting across Indian Point then dipping into the bay between there and Sherman's Point.  Bill suggested that some houses are now stuck on the lake side of the crack and bridges were already being dragged out to provide a safe crossing.  We decided to try an area I call Roland's Flat, just NW of Indian Point.  Mark and I fished there the previous week and had some action.  The backup plan was to fish the deeper rock humps south of Sherman's however in both cases this heave pictured stopped us in our tracks.  This heave line was about a mile out from the landing and if you look closely at the middle you can see it extends as far as you could see.  The high point shown is over 5 feet and the darker areas at the base is water that has flowed through the crack onto the ice.  The previous week this was open water.  With the ice at 8 inches it didn't pay to try and find away around so we fished the south edge of the flat with the top being right about where the water starts.  Not the ideal spot on the flat but we really had no choice.   

The plan had changed but we were in a fairly good area, there were few people around us and no one venturing close to the heave which marked the top edge of the flat at 15 feet.  Like most flats the edge is a fairly steep drop and within 30 feet was the bottom edge at 22 feet.  My GPS showed a slight inside curve which usually indicates a prime spot.  The nice thing about this flat is that the top is covered with weeds and provides excellent cover for perch and walleyes.  Unfortunately the fish did not share my enthusiasm for this great spot!  Being rather pleasant out hole hopping wasn't much of an issue.  Lory did find a hole that did have a fish in it as shown here, a fat and plump 25 inch walleye that went back down the hole.  10 minutes later he had a smaller fish on, surely a  keeper but it got off just as he brought it to the hole.  A couple more hits and that was about it, the flurry lasting a whole 30 minutes.  As for me.........well someone has to assure his friends catch fish, take the pictures, make sure they are on safe ice, and have a nice ride back to the truck, yep that's me!  I missed one fish and that's all she wrote.  Oh well, still nice to get out.  Lory was using a plain jig head and minnow while my bait of choice was a Jigging Rapala.  Admittedly the Jigging Rap is a more aggressive bait and the jig with minnow is a more finesse presentation.  Obviously the fish wanted finesse rather than attack a faster moving lure what few there were of them.   The weather this week is back in the mid 30's to 40 and it should be interesting to see the new developments.  The websites are telling of marked roads to the middle of the lake for snowmobile and ATV traffic only.  This might be the weekend I can get out to some of those past productive offshore areas as I have not had a good report since my Lake of the Woods trip.  Maybe it's time to start planning another trip to the border.

The warm weather is tugging at my soft water ambitions.  I am starting to reconfigure some of the things on my boat for more convenience.  With March a month away and no significant snow anywhere in the Mississippi River drainage area, it could be an early start for the Ranger this year.  With ice fishing going the way it has, maybe it's a good thing.

Back To Reality

Last weekend was spent repainting my family room.  It was about time as it's been the same color for 19 years and provided the incentive to look at replacing the carpet as well.  This and the fact that my Green Bay Packers were playing on Sunday afternoon gave me cause to finish up a few things around the house and relax during the game.  I can report that the room turned out great and is ready for a new carpet.  I cannot say that the game on Sunday turned out as well.  Although my beloved Packers finished the season at 15-1, they looked like a team that hadn't played in a few weeks.  Between the miss tackles and passes it was almost embarrassing.  Oh well, the good news is that it will free up the next 2 Sunday's to hit the ice hard.  With the below zero temperatures of this week it will be makin' ice like crazy.  I am really looking forward to those open water areas on Mille Lacs to heal up so we can fish the deeper offshore areas.  The fishing reports have been spotty with some guys doing well while others struggling.  Of course a number of my friends have been getting out and the first picture is of my deer hunting partner, Jack Taylor.  Jack has a cabin on Platte Lake, just west of Mille Lacs, a shallow lake full of small northerns, and occasional walleye, and some really nice crappies.  Here Jack is posing with a couple of crappies over 11 inches that he caught a few weeks ago.    Platte Lake is shallow enough to be in danger of freezing out every few years so the lake association has put in a few aerators when the oxygen levels get low.  Nice crappies like this are the result of successfully preventing the lake from having depleted oxygen levels when the snow blocks the light to the natural weed growth.  With the total lack of snow this year, they might not even need to install the aerators this year.

This next picture is my friend Pete, back from Alaska for a month.  Pete is good friends with Dave Genz of ice fishing fame and they wasted no time getting in some great ice fishing before Pete heads back to Fairbanks to start work this week.  Having drove to Alaska last March, he got assigned to the oil fields in Prudhoe Bay where it is now dark 24 hours a day.   Working 6 weeks on and 2 weeks off, there is little time to spend money and his intent is to work another year then come back and retire.  He is the master of the Mississippi River and I look forward to fishing with him in the future.  Here Pete is holding 2 bull bluegills that measure right at 11 inches.  Those are huge bluegills for anywhere in the country.  Of course fishing with Dave doesn't hurt as he is one of the best pan-fisherman on ice around and has all those great secret spots to nail fish like this.  Dave also has the latest and greatest equipment as he is sponsored by Vexilar, Clam Corp, Strikemaster, and a number of other ice fishing specialty companies.   Pete is driving back via the Alaskan Highway and I wish him safe travels, he'll need it this time of year.

The warm weather has made this years ice fishing season some what odd as I am already seeing some stores start closing out their inventory in preparation for open water fishing.  This will take a month or so but the change is happening.  The warm weather has given me an opportunity to work on my boat, cleaning up a few of the wiring items, and rethink how my electronics are mounted.   Certainly it's better than staring at my snowmobiles that just sit there and complain of no snow.  We are truly in a drought as there has been no significant rain or snowfall since August, almost 6 months now.  I knew when I bought that new snow blower we'd skip a year of snow.  You are welcome!  As stated, the Pack is out, Mille Lacs is in and I will make sure I have a ready camera next time.

Technical Difficulties

One of the things I like about technology is the amazing amount of it out there for everyone to use.  For me, I really like digital camera's and try to keep one available where ever I go.  My go to point and shoot camera is a Canon S95, a very feature loaded device that is very fast for a camera that fits in the palm of your hand.  Fast is a term used to describe how wide the aperture can get to let as much light in as possible.  For the S95 that reference is f2.0.  What this really means is that it will shoot excellent pictures in low light conditions, most represented on my blog by the beautiful sunset pictures I have posted.   After being frustrated by "forgetting my camera", I bought a cheap Nikon refurbished point and shoot digital to simple always keep in the boat or car.  Well, that camera is not very good, probably worth what I paid.  It has served me OK in a pinch but had a tendency to overexpose light areas and over saturate the colors.  At first ice I told the story of laying down on the ice to take a picture only to see the camera didn't work.  Well, I sent it in under warranty and they will fix it but it's now been over a month.  In the meantime I am more frustrated with my Nikon than ever as you see last weeks picture of Mark makes him look like he has a neon shirt on!  I decided to order a new Canon 300 ELPH300HS to replace the Nikon, received it last week and took it fishing with me last Saturday.   Meeting Mark on the ice, we fished an inshore structure called Roland's Flat.  Unfortunately there was open water on the far side of the flat so we were confined to the west end.  Still, there is a nice drop.  Having my new camera ready for it's inaugural debut I took a couple of pictures of the nearby open water (January 7, open water on Mille Lacs yet?!?!?) which looked interesting.  I noticed 3 beeps after each picture, checked it out and the message on the screen said "no card".  Just my luck, new digital camera and no memory card.  Oh well.  Towards evening Mark asked me to hit the hole he was in as there was a fish down there and wasn't biting on his lure.  I dropped my neon perch colored #5 jigging rap and within seconds a nice walleye had fully inhaled it.  Pulling the transducer first I landed the fish, a respectable 24 inch fish beautiful in color, fat and sassy.  Again without a camera I turned to Mark to take one with his phone...too dark.  I fumbled for my phone however my ice armor has way too many pockets and couldn't hold the fish and dig so I simply let the fish go without an ounce of proof.  Really, it was a nice fish.  This was the only fish I caught but it was still nice to get out and check out my new XTR ice grippers.  Pretty nice.  So, my first picture is of Keith Holtan and his fish from his Lake of the Woods last week.  Instead of writing my blog last night both Lory and I went to the St. Paul Sportsman Show to meet Keith and his wife Jane, along with their friend and my cousin Greg's friend Al.  We ended the night at The Liffy, across the street from the Excel Center were we enjoyed a few Guinness's together.  I got some interesting stuff at the show, a new motor trailering support for my 115 Suzuki, a couple of interesting jigs, and a BoomB(())X, a device that can be powered off of a standard USB port and audio output jack found on a laptop.  It literally turns any box, Styrofoam minnow bucket, cup, into a speaker.  It's pretty cool!

So my next picture is of my cousin Greg's son-in-law, Joe Thomas.  Joe plays for the Cleveland Browns and is the top Offensive Left Tackle in the business today.  Personally I think he would look a lot better in a Green Bay Packer uniform, but I suppose it would not leave him much time to ice fish this time of the year.  I am sure he'd rather be practicing but that's a different story.  If the speculation is true Aaron Rodgers back up, Matt Flynn is a free agent this year and with his spectacular performance 2 weeks ago, might look good in a Cleveland uniform.  It would be nice to see him get a Super Bowl ring.  Joe caught this  nice musky last weekend at Greg's lake, east of Chetek, Wisconsin.  I haven't received the details of the fish but everything points to at least a 45 inch length and I suppose around 25 pounds, maybe Greg will comment.  Having just hoisted a 51 inch sturgeon through the ice, I understand the excitement a fish like this brings.  Funny, I never seem to catch anything like this when I fish Greg's lake!  Either way that fish makes Joe look small, something I know he isn't.

The middle picture is the latest from the satellite on January 10th.  As you see there is still a lot of open water around Mille Lacs yet.  With the below zero temperatures of the last couple of nights, here's hoping it will get somewhat back to normal soon.  It might be hard to get out this weekend as I have a room in the house tore apart and am painting.  It wouldn't be so bad however we haven't had much luck matching colors.  Maybe a run to Pelican Lake will be in order, and of course the Packers play on Sunday afternoon, that will be a must watch!!!

Wonders of the WigWam

Well, enough complaining already!  I am sure that you will all check out my first picture and rightfully so, what a story.  As I wrote in last weeks post, a last minute scramble solidified Mark and my decision to fish at the Wigwam Resort.  Our plan was to pull his wheelhouse to Lake of the Woods and us it as our sleeping quarters staying at the Wigwam. On my way to his location, The Fisherman's Wharf,  Mark called and suggested we see if there had been any cancellations at the resort or in Baudette.  Agreeing that pulling the wheelhouse would be an extra burden, Mark found a room at the Walleye Inn, a motel in town.  Although 15 miles from the resort, it would free us from the hassle of reduced mileage, setup and tear down.   Picking Mark up at 11:30 AM we were enjoying a beer with Wigwam's owner Tom by 3:30.  Although staying in town also had it's issues, it made our arrangements less complicated.  Our schedule was to pick up a ride to a large, heated ice house we rented from the resort at 7:30 Thursday morning.  Showing up at 6:00 we had a nice breakfast then got in line.  The ice was 14 inches thick and the resorts were only allowing light vehicles like ATV's or the proverbial 4 wheel drive, fully chained Geo Trackers pulling a dual axle people hauler.   The ice would support heavier trucks but the volume of traffic would have severely cracked the ice causing bigger issues.  So 6 of us loaded into the dark trailer and headed out 3 miles as though we were on a secret mission, hidden from any knowledge of our route.  Dropped off at house Number 35, the holes were drilled, our bait was transferred and we were set.    The fish limit consists of 8 in possession which only 4 could be walleyes or all 8 being saugers.  A nice sauger is 15 inches and we started catching them right away.  At the rate they were biting we were concerned about keeping too many fish too fast so we let a lot of nice fish go all about the time the bite slowed down.  At 2:00 the walleye bite turned hot and I caught 4 nice 17 - 18 inch fish, perfect keepers.  The nicer saugers were more difficult to get and after talking to a friend the suggestion of having the resort fry up your fish sounded pretty dang good.   We managed to get 5 more saugers, enough for dinner at the lodge.  Between my 4 walleyes and our ride back Mark caught this beautiful 24.5" walleye.  Like the walleye from last week's post, this thing was a pig as I estimated it was over 6 pounds.  Most walleyes this size will weigh in at around 4.5 pounds.   Day one was pretty exciting, the bite was great, we ended up with 9 fish in the bucket, a nice trophy walleye and enough fish for supper.  I will admit the the resort did a great job deep frying the fish and with a side of beans and a salad it doesn't get any better.

Friday morning brought us on the first flight of fisherman on the lake.  This time we got house Number 36, about 50 yards north of yesterday's house.  The same game, we started fishing by 7:30 and immediately started catching saugers.  Our strategy was a little different this day, keep the nicer fish right away as we needed 12 to fill our limit.  About 9:30 Mark decided to put a whole minnow on his lure, dropped it to 26 feet when a huge red mark on the depth finder came up to meet his lure.  One gulp and the fish was hooked.  Not understanding what exactly Mark had at the end of the line, it was obviously a large fish.  The first thing Mark asked if I would remove his 2nd line and the depth finder from the hole he was fishing in.   This was a good move, something I soon discovered would have been a good idea if I would have done the same.  Almost immediately the fish came up to the top.  Because the water is stained, it's visibility is about 3 feet.  At about the 5 minute mark I caught a quick glimpse of the bottom part of the tail and announce to Mark that the 10# walleye on his bucket list was at the end of his line.   The fish went back to the bottom and essentially had it's way with everything including my 2 lines that were still down.   As I watched Mark trying to reel in the fish with his 3 foot St. Croix Ice rod and reel loaded with 6# Crystal Fireline the drag keep going.  At one point I began to doubt whether Mark knew what he was doing as he reeled against a drag that was clicking as though the pressure nut was loose.  Little did I understand as this was starting to get ridiculous, I wanted to get back fishing!  10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, almost 40 minutes had pasted before the tangled mess of my line appeared above the hole.  Carefully cutting the lines, I freed Mark's line of the tangles, just in time to see this monster fish swim past the hole.  Sturgeon!!!  Another 5 minutes Mark had it's head in the hole as I grabbed it and pulled and pulled and pulled it through.  51 inches and an estimated 50+ pounds, Mark had successfully landed the biggest fish of his life.  It was pretty amazing as I got to witness the capture of this beautiful prehistoric beast.  Although not on his bucket list it quickly was added and immediately crossed off!  As for me, here is a picture of my super sized tullibee, proof I actually can catch fish as well.  And Mark,  it took all of my posturing to get him to head up with me and it turned out to be one of those lifetime memories for both of us.  By 7:00 we were heading south, a take out container of our fillets deep fried for the way home, and somewhat exhausted.  We are already talking about next year.

As a parting note I was really impressed with our time at the Wigwam Resort.  We were treated like as though we had been coming up for years.  It probably helped to drop my friend Keith Holtan's name as he grew up with the owner, but something tells me that was just a bonus.  Both Mark and I will definitely be back.   You can check out their weekly fishing video at IDO Lake of the Woods Fishing Forum as it's pretty good.  Make sure to have them fry your fish at night, it's great and only costs $5.00.  Fishing was reasonable at $100 per person you got a ride out to a huge heated house, bait for the day (rods, reels, and lures if you need), a ride back at night, and your fish cleaned, packed and frozen.  Quite a deal if you ask me.  Mille Lacs is still exhibiting issues but the south side seems stable.  The weather is still warmer than normal and there was no snow between Minneapolis and the Canadian Border, very unusual.  It's only a matter of time before the big freeze moves in.  Jeff King made it to Mexico and next week is our time to spend with Keith at the St. Paul Sportsman show sharing a Guinness at the Liffy.  Fishing should definitely get back to normal this weekend, whatever that is.

Last Minute Scramble

With the ice conditions on Mille Lacs continuing to deteriorate my friend Mark Applen and I have been contemplating a trip further north, say the Canadian Border.  After talking to my friend Pete, checking out the video fishing reports from the Wigwam Resort on Lake of the Woods, it seemed like the place to be.  Putting something together this quickly and between Christmas and New Years would be challenging.  Calling almost every place I knew it would be difficult to find last minute accommodations for this week and as predicted, not a room available anywhere.   The guy at Wigwam was very helpful however there were a lot of options available we never explored.  First of all the lodging.  Calling back and asking about driving on the ice with Mark's wheel house (we can stay in there), they cannot guarantee however the guy said the resort will let us stay in the house as long as it's parked in the camp area on the resort.  $10 a night, including electricity seems reasonable.  If they were going to let us drive out on the ice all of our problems would have been solved.  Unfortunately they are only allowing specially equip ice transport vehicles and or snowmobiles and ATV's at this time.  Because of our last minute hair it would be dumb for only 2 of us to drive 2 trucks, one for the house and the other for the ATV's.  Yes, we could have put it in the truck but where do we put our portables,  it just presented 1 too many issues.  I had just about given up on the notion of being able to put a trip together.   This morning a light bulb went off, maybe the resort has ice shacks for rent, we could pull the wheelhouse up then use the resort services for the fishing.  Being somewhat restrictive as to where we fish, never the less it could be a good option for just the 2 of us.  A quick call this morning and voila, I have a house rented for 2 days which includes transportation to and from the heated shack, bait, and free fish cleaning!  We are heading up Wednesday afternoon, a 6 hour drive, with the hopes that the bite is still going strong.  It sure beats hanging around the house.  In the meantime my friend Pete sent me this picture of his friends 11 pound walleye they caught and released on Lake of the Woods a few weeks ago.  Pete is a friend of ice fishing legend Dave Genz and they were up for a few days and figured the total number of walleyes and saugers caught was well over 350 fish for 3 days.  Here's hoping my report will be as good as theirs and the fish are as big.  I did stop at Fleet Farm tonight and found a few potentially deadly lures to try out (of course I do that every week!).  Stay tuned

A quick word on Christmas, it was great, no snow yet but Santa found his way.  It was nice to see all of brothers and sisters at Mom's; Steve, Beth, Jon, and Blake as well as a few of my nephews and nieces.   It feels that we are all at some crossroads in life, never thinking too hard on any one issue yet understand none of us are getting any younger.   Maybe a few days away will clear the old noggin and a better reflection will pop out of my fingers.  On the other hand sometimes there just isn't much to say.

Happy New Year, stay safe and look for a a potentially amazing report in a few days!

Second Ice?!?!

It's been and interesting week to the start of our ice fishing season.  Last week was my first adventure onto Mille Lacs and it was an encouraging experience.  6-12 inches of ice had cover the first mile or so and the lake was completely frozen over.  The first 10 days of December saw nighttime temperatures near zero, perfect for making ice.  A thin but effective snowcover kept the temperatures ideal for freezing up the lake hard.  Last week everything changed as we had a significant rain, melting all the snow, causing the average temperature to increase.  The show stopper came last Thursday as the low pressure front moved east and brought gale force winds from the north.  I am not sure how it all happens but the wind created large areas of open water while piling the ice over 15 feet high on the south shore.  I snapped a picture as we drove by the pile of 12 inch thick ice chunks that were a flat surface last weekend. It's pretty amazing what Mother Nature can do.  The fact is that all week it's been high winds, one day from the west, the next from the south, the next day from the north.  This has caused something that hasn't been seen at Mille Lacs in all the years I've ice fished, almost a complete island of ice has formed around the lake isolating most of the lake from normal travel.  It's effect can best be seen at this MODIS website, a site that displays pictures of daily satellite photos of North America by region.  You can chose the day you would like to see and if it's clear can get a excellent idea of ice cover, useful both at the beginning of the season and towards ice out.  Here is a screen shot from December 20th, 2011 showing the view from space and the large open areas that travel completely around Lake Mille Lacs.  For reference the lake is about 18 mile north to south and 14 miles east to west.  As you can see the ice island encompasses 80% of the surface area.  We are going to need the wind to stop blowing and some below zero temperatures to really heal up those open areas for safe travel.  Pretty interesting for sure.  A picture is worth a thousand words and if you know anything about the current conditions on the lake, this picture says it all.  Be careful out there!

Although we knew there was open water on the lake, the area I fished last week should be safe to walk out to.  Meeting my friend Mark Applen Saturday afternoon we assessed the situation as reports suggested that we stay off the main lake.  They were right!  Walking out to the spot in Vineland Bay the ice was solid and appeared to be firmly attached to the shoreline.   There were a number of wheel house that had been pulled to the area using ATVs, something I suppose I could have used however I do need the exercise.   With more activity at the spot I fished last week we moved down the break to an area we could have by ourselves.  I set up in 22 feet while Mark punched his holes in 15 feet.  The break is very abrupt as he was only about 12 feet from me.  As always I drill a number of holes around the area which allows me to move around, finding the right depth.  Mark pretty well planted himself on his first 2 holes.  The perch were thick in my spot.  I threw my camera down and at any given time there were at least 10 on the screen, all 6 inches and smaller. I caught numerous 6 inch perch while Mark, just 12 feet away was hauling in 10 inch perch.  Well the old saying is where there is perch there is walleyes so I just decided to wait them out.  In the meantime Mark was accumulating a nice pile of fish including a couple of nice walleyes like the 21+ he is holding here.  I did see a few walleyes on the camera, some of them very respectable yet the 7 foot differential must have been the depth where the fish, done with feeding, settled in for the night.  My stubbornness sort of took over and I stayed till dark with only 1 fish to show for the day.  Mark, on the other hand had 10 perch and 1 walleye on the ice, and had released 3 other walleyes outside the slot limit.  Oh well, at least somebody got some fish.  My only solstice is the fact that it was my idea to fish where we did yet reality it was probably the only place to fish that was safe.  While out on the ice we got a call from Bill, the Mille Lacs County Ice Rescue Squad was busy that day.  4 guys had walked out to Sloppy Joe's and got stranded on an ice chunk that broke off of the shore anchored ice shelf.  After resolving that issue another call came in as a couple of anglers were floating away out of St. Albans Bay.  I like ice fishing but have no desire to use trolling as a viable technique.

This weekend is  a special one as I wish everybody a very Merry Christmas.  It will be different without my dad but I know he would be sad if we did not celebrate with our hearts in the season so we will not let him down.  At this time last year we had 18 inches of snow on the ground, today it is as brown as can be.  The winter solstice happens tonight and I am looking forward to the days starting to get longer (more fishing time!).   I doubt there will be time to fish until after Sunday and I have a couple of nice pictures that can be used for fill.  Be good and make sure to leave Santa something special, he definitely deserves it.

First Ice 2011

FINALLY!!!  With the stretch of near zero weather last week I was primed to get out and drill a few holes.  Decisions, decisions..............go local for some panfish action or head to Mille Lacs where I had some good report on the walleye bite.   That invitation from Bill was too much so I loaded my new Eskimo Ice Fishing Combo into the truck and headed up north.  Last spring while in Cabela's they had a closeout on an Eskimo setup, a Quickfish 3 pop up shelter, an 8" hand auger, an ice fishing seat, all in a narrow sled that included a cover.  I believe I paid less than $160 for the entire setup.  I was really looking for something that was light and portable, would easily fit in the back of the truck, and easy to pull.  My insulated Clam house checks in at well over 100 pounds, coupled with my Strike Master auger, heater, flasher, camera, and bait we are talking about a couple hundred pounds of gear.  When I can simply drive to my spot via the truck or ATV it's not a big deal but if I'm walking, that's a lot of weight to tug around.  The Eskimo setup is simply perfect for these early ice outings as well, something light for those short trips when it's nice out.  My destination was an area they call the "Trough" located in Vineland Bay.  After stopping at Bill's to load up on bait I headed up the shoreline and pick a spot where it would be easy to walk out.  About 1/2 mile or so offshore, the Trough is an area with a steep drop off in the middle of 12 feet of water.  It stretches for a good 1/3 of a mile and bottoms out at 24 feet.  The drop off is steep going from 12 to 24 in less than 10 feet.  Normally I have a GPS with the lake contour loaded into the map software but when I pulled it out the batteries were completely dead.  Knowing the drop was straight north and seeing another shack about where I was going, I headed off. 

It's interesting walking first ice.  The ultimate dilemma is what do you trust more, yourself or the ice!  The reports had the ice thickness at about 6 inches, more than enough to support a guy walking.  With no snow on the ice I made sure to put on a pair of ice cleats on my boots, a must for first ice.  I do not want to repeat the same fate my friend Leon Lambert suffered during a trek across 11 Mile Reservoir in Colorado on clear ice, he slipped an shattered his wrist. The first 1/4 mile was pretty rough.  As the ice freezes on Mille Lacs it works it's way towards the middle of the lake.  Often a wind will push the newly frozen sheets of water into the bays, piling it in many layers.  This ice is white in color and layered provides a very secure base for walking.  As I approached the edge of the chunk ice there were more areas of clear ice, frozen between the chunks.  Eventually I passed the edge and started crossing substantial patches of ice that was sometimes difficult to judge the depth.  Relying on cracks in the clear ice to give the confidence of it's thickness, I worked my way out to where those guys were.  About half way out those guys had packed up and headed in.  The first thing I noticed was they were staying on the white frozen ice chunks, the same as what was near shore.  It makes you think if one was doing the right thing.  Fortunately the ice was strong, safe and realistically I probably could have rode my ATV............naw.   Having developed the confidence my next task was to find the drop off.  Using my Vexilar and water from the minnow bucket I shot transducer readings through the ice every 50 feet.  12 feet, 12 feet, 12 feet, 12 feet, 24 feet, alright!  Backtracking to the top of the break I found where the bottom started leveling out and setup there.  Drilling a couple of holes in 22 feet, a few holes up the drop, a few beyond the drop, and a few in line with my depth, I was ready to fish.  The ice was a good 6 inches and all fear disappeared for the time being.  I fished outside testing each hole to determine the best place to set up my base.  My original strategy of 22 feet paid off immediately as the Vex lit up like a Christmas Tree in that bottom 6 foot range.  Bang, a small perch, bang, a nice perch, bang, a 14 inch walleye........Wow.  I drilled another hole, set up the Eskimo and settled in.  It was about 12:30 and my plan was to fish till 4:00 as I had a turkey in the smoker for my neighbors annual Christmas Party. 

Between 12:30 and 4 the action was steady.  I ended up with a 14 inch keeper walleye, an 18 1/4" (pictured on top) and a bonus 24 inch walleye pictured above.  Along with about 25 perch (keep 8) I am not complaining for the first time out.  the hot lure was an orange #5 Jigging Rap in a Brown Trout pattern, with a minnow head on the bottom treble hook.  Fishing the clear ice is intersting as you can see the fish underneath the ice as you  reel them in.  This time of the year sitting on the ice can be nerve racking to say the least.  As the ice freezes it is constantly moving and cracking.  As it cracks the ice sounds like you are hitting a large metal tank with a hammer, a sound that reverberates across the surface.  As I sat in my shelter the ice let out a huge rumble as I heard the crack coming towards me.  Fishing the hole in front of me, the crack actually split my hole in half and continued between my 2 legs.......time for a heart check!  Although in no danger, it is still somewhat nerve racking to watch the ice crack in front of you.  I took a picture of the crack as it entered my Eskimo, I guess you just had to be there.  On my way back I entered the area near shore where the ice was rough.  Ice sheets piled up makes for an interesting scene, one I decided to take a picture of.  Trying to get a fish eyes view I laid on the ice and pulled out the camera.  Well it stopped working.  Laying there for about 5 minutes working on fixing it with no luck I got back up and continued my walk back to the truck.  Being about 200 yard from shore I noticed someone walking towards me..............a game warden maybe?  Here it was guy who's wife noticed me laying on the ice and was concerned.  Getting closer he asked if I was alright.  Assuring him of my failed photography event, I expressed my appreciation for his kindness and concern with one of my Ron Schara Outdoor Calendars.  We were both satisfied, I met a very nice man concerned about his fellow fisherman, he got a nice calendar and the fact that his efforts did not go unnoticed.   I am sure that if I could have stayed till sundown the walleye count would have increased nicely.  With that I am looking forward to getting back up this weekend.  My friend Mark Applen is heading north to grind some venison and with a little luck I can tag along and help then find time to close out the evening on his "secret" spot.  We'll see!

By the way, I have been meaning to comment on my friend Dewey's last post.  If you check out the left side (called a sidebar) you will see a category of Blogs I Follow.  One of my favorites is What's Dewey Doin'?  Sometimes other people have this knack of saying what you are thinking and Dewey is the expert at this.  His last post is a simple letter to his dad.  Although I never knew his father, and I know he has long since passed, it takes courage, insight and a huge heart to write what he did.  This will be my first Christmas in 56 years without my dad and I am not sure I could have expressed myself any better.  Thanks Dew, missing somebody hurts but wow, I wouldn't trade that ride for nothing.  You are the man!

Back in Eleva

Hopefully my traveling for the year is done as I am writing this while on a flight from San Jose, California back to Minneapolis.  San Jose is an interesting town where you have a mix of palm trees, evergreens, and trees that have started to lose their leaves.  Although nice, I prefer the diversity of our weather back home and last weekend was no exception.  While my wife attended a cookie baking event my brother Steve picked me up in Fountain City, Wisconsin with the intent on heading to Eleva and help my mom.  Our first stop was the Seven Hawks Winery, downtown Fountain City. Wisconsin is known more for their cheese than it's ability to grow good wine grapes however there is an increasing interest in new hardy wine grape varieties suited for our climate.  An example of this is in Pepin, WI where one could not miss the large castle like building being constructed to house a new winery along the river.  Fountain City's Seven Hawks Vineyard has been there for a number of years now and is located just upriver from town, nestled into the hillside, it kind of looks like those pictures of vineyards in Italy.  Steve and I stopped to taste their wares and admittedly it was pretty good.  One of the nicer wines was a drier white apple wine.  Being near many commercial apple orchards it only makes sense.  Unlike many fruit wines made in the Midwest this was not post sweetened.  It provides a benchmark for the apple wine Lory and I are making and hopefully it will turn out as good.  Here's a link to their website to learn more about the wines they offer: http://www.sevenhawksvineyards.com/?page_id=8

While in Eleva it had snowed a good 4 inches.  It was one of those times where the snow was sticky enough to stick to everything it landed on.  With no wind the effect was stunning.  As I passed over the Buffalo Bridge, just out of town, I could not help but stop and take a picture of the Buffalo River as it passed under the gorgeous winter scene.  Standing there on the bridge brought back many good memories of my time growing up in Eleva.  The bridge was our favorite stop to try our luck at catfishing using the chicken livers we had gathered earlier from the chicken plant.  The hot, humid part of August was the best time as catfish would move up river to spawn and were very active.  Sometimes you could even stand on the bridge and see their ghost like forms crossing the shallow areas to the next deep hole.  Armed with a coffee can of livers and a generous coating of Off repellent, you could always count of seeing Vic Wenaas or Art Kelly fishing on the bank with the pole set in a forked branch harvested from a nearby alder tree.  The bite was always the best right at dusk and on a good night you could get 2 or 3 nice fish.  Unfortunately there are no longer any well used paths from the bridge to the river as I suspect people have better things to do these days (that's debatable!). 

The other nice surprise was running into an old friend, Tommy Austin and his wife Kathy.  Steve and I took my mother down to the bar where my brother Blake's wife Jo was having a little birthday celebration and there he was.  Tom is still running Austin's Body Shop in the same building he's been since I can remember.  That building was actually the old blacksmith shop that my grandpa Roy owned and Tom had bought it from him.  The shop was a great hangout for my friends and I when we were teenagers.  Tom would often put us to work wet sanding cars that needed to be painted, running errands, and probably the most exciting aspect, riding on his homemade hard tail chopped motorcycles to Eau Claire picking up paint at Sam's Auto(someone had to hold it).  At the age of 15 I am not sure my dad would have appreciated me riding on the back of these contraptions so I never told him.  Eau Claire was a good 18 miles away remembering getting off the bike and my back muscles would just be parted by the vibrating sissy bar one leaned back on.  Either way it was quite an adventure.  Tom is still into the motorcycles and has many articles attributed to his custom designed Harley's and association with Klock Werks out of South Dakota.   Word is he may be working on a Victory, something I can't wait to see.  Tom worked with his dad, Herman Austin.  Herman's story is tragic when in 1955 a drunk driver crossed into his wife's lane hitting the car head on and killing her and 3 of their children.  For a small town like Eleva and the Austin family, this was a horrific event. When I worked at the gas station Herman would always stop by on his way home and fill up a 5 gallon can of fuel oil to heat the house for the next day.  I still remember it as if it was yesterday, Herman would give me a dollar as the price per gallon was $0.20.   It was fun to run into them for sure. 

I am pretty sure I will be walking on some ice this weekend, trying my luck on the early crappie and sunfish bite.  It's been around 10 each night with highs less than freezing.  Here's hoping something doesn't screw that up.