Mille Lacs Report

Tom's 17.5 incher

The last week in July was the last time I had been on Mille Lacs Lake, and that was only the 3rd trip of the year.  Thinking the late September bite may have improved, my neighbor Tom Olson and I decided to head up on Saturday night to fish the sunset time, from 5:00 - 8:30.  After getting caught up on a few chores around home we hooked up the boat and pointed the truck north to fish Anderson's Reef on the southwest end of the lake.  Unfortunately this reef has been a hit or miss area, nothing like it was 20 years ago when you could easily pick off  6 to 12 walleyes trolling Shad Raps or Rattlin' Rouges.  The advantage is it has some nice structure and minimizes our time on the road.  There is 2 special areas off the main reef that can be good and one has to troll through the 10 - 12 foot water before you hit the spots.  This can be good if the fish are hanging a little bit deeper than the 5 - 7 feet that I usually like to fish.  Stopping at Bill's to drop off some raspberries we headed to the landing.  I was surprised how high the water was for this time of year, as well there appeared to be a lot of musky fisherman working Cove Bay.  Getting the Ranger in the water, we headed straight for Anderson's through the marked channel out of Cove.  Interesting as the "new" channel doglegged to the right as you entered the main lake, where as the last 10 years it was marked pretty much straight thru.  It seemed somewhat deeper and I guess I should have changed my waypoints but decided maybe later.  There was only one other guy working the 10 foot perimeter of the reef and another boat anchored in one of those "special" spots.  Working the south edge we headed towards the anchored boat, a 621 Ranger and it
was the same guy we talked to at Bill's as he picked up a couple dozen leeches. Reports of substantial catches of 10 inch walleyes have been coming from the launches and as we trolled by we saw them pull in 2 that size.  Looking for better fish we were trolling 4 inch Rouges when Tom nailed a 17 inch small mouth bass.  Before long he had another fish, actually a nice 17.5 inch walleye. With the keeper slot at 18 -20 inches, the fish went back.  Although a 17.5 inch walleye is not really worth taking a picture of, we snapped one anyway to prove if nothing else, we did catch something. Twenty minutes later I felt like a weed had tangled my lure only to find a 10.5 inch walleye hanging on the back of that 4 inch rouge...go figure.  Hitting both special spots with nothing more to show, we headed out.  The surface temperature was still 65 degrees so maybe the full moon next week along with a major cool down will change the bite.

Sunset at 5,000 feet

With snow predicted in Minnesota for this week I have been working feverishly to put the finishing touches on my Salem Ice Cabin before winter.  As stated earlier I had the underside spray foamed and expect a noticeable difference.  Finished installing the compartment door underneath the unused space by the couch, it turned out pretty nice.  With the help of my neighbor Tim's Rotozip and air stapler, it went in like it was designed to be there.  It's a perfect place for my cord storage, up front and handy.  The next thing was to install an outside cable jack to connect a satellite antenna to. Because the wiring is all pre-done I decided to replace the current inside antenna output/12 volt power jack with a dual antenna/cable outlet.  Figuring the framing would allow me to snake a wire near the floor by cutting an access hole at the back of the cabinet, in line with the jack,  I was successful in running a wire between the openings.  Using a hole saw and my other neighbor Todd, we drilled some holes, pull the coax cable through, connecting the external jack before bolting it together.  It turned out like it was supposed to be there!  Reattaching the internal cable jack, I think it turned out very well.  The last thing is to caulk around the floor with clear silicon RTV before it gets too cold to cure.

As you know I like sunset pictures and had 2 to pick from.  The first was from Saturday night on Mille Lacs and the one I chose was taken from my airline seat coming home from Chicago on Wednesday night.  The low clouds hung all the way from Milwaukee to when we landed.  Being on the right side of the plane I didn't have a nice view until we turned south for the final approach.  It was still very nice.  Off to Lambeau as we are going to the Packer Vikings game tonight.  The weather guys are calling for heavy rains so it should be interesting.  Either way the Pack should win tonight and give me bragging rights back at the office on Monday!  Once a Cheesehead, always a Cheesehead.  The high this weekend is supposed to be in the upper 40's so I'll be scrambling to keep moving on all of the outside chores.  I can finally drive on my new concrete driveway thanks to the bungled job the city contractors did with the asphalt overlay on the street in front of the house.  The good news is we have more room.  Go Pack!!

Catching Up

Pig on the Pig Roaster

This weekend was a chance to get caught up on a few things before winter is upon us and that is now less than 90 days away.  Saturday was our neighbor, Tim Kuntz annual end of summer pig roast and I usually help out in some fashion even if it's only moral support.  Finding a reasonably priced pig can be a challenge these days as he ended up going to Starbuck, MN to get this beauty, a 265 pound porker. Injecting the meat with our favorite Maple Cure from PS Seasonings in Wisconsin, he let it sit overnight before putting on his pig roaster Saturday morning.  Adding a nice rub to the outside of the pig, it looks pretty good as we slow cook it to 200 degrees.  It can be amazing how long it can take to fully break down all of the fats and connecting tissues however by 6:00 it was ready to eat.  We had a good amount of the neighbors stop by but in the end there was a lot of pork left, enough for a few good meals.  While the pig was cooking in the morning I did take advantage of Tim's cleared driveway to pressure wash the inside of my boat, cleaning what remained of our Lac Seul trip a couple of weeks ago.  With just the right slope and having a concrete surface to work on, I used some commercial carpet cleaner and my pressure washer to make it look new again.  Sometimes I feel that the sand that gets down inside the carpeting can be almost impossible to remove and  that a pressure washer only drives it deeper.  Vacuuming it out a couple of times before putting the hose to it should help but I think next time, if I have the opportunity to return to Lac Seul, I will definitely put temporary carpeting over the entire floor.  I will take one less "anxiety" point away from the trip and it's probably a good idea anyway.  My current Ranger was suppose to be "The Griz's" boat and in talking with him over the years he always put down additional carpeting while using the boat for guiding in order to protect the original flooring.   I'll have to look him up at the Sportsman Show this year to see what he used.

Cookie, Carter, and Marcus

So while I was out mowing, cleaning boats, and helping with the Pig Roast my friends Eric and Greg were busy participating in the Wisconsin Youth Hunt this weekend.  Eric to ducks is like me to walleyes as he well set up with all the equipment and knowledge to hunt in the backwaters of the Mississippi River around La Crosse and beyond.  The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources establishes a youth hunt ahead of the normal duck opener.  This really give the youngsters a chance at those first ducks before they get too wary caused by normal hunting pressure.  It's a chance to get the young interested in duck hunting, a sport that has seen a decline in participation for a while.  As you see in the picture, they were very successful bagging a number of nice wood ducks plus a nice hen mallard.  Cookie, the yellow lab belongs to Greg and his son Marcus is on the right.  Carter, in the middle is Eric's son as I've had the good fortune to fish with him last year.  As you see these kids are getting pretty good at handling a shotgun and certainly have been rewarded for hanging with their dad's Eric and Greg.  It great to see this and is definitely worth the time to recognize their efforts to keep their sons interesting in something besides video games.  

My plan for the weekend is to try and get to Mille Lacs for some night trolling.  Believe it or not, I've only been up there 3 times this year and am almost embarrassed to say so.  I guess it will depend on whether I can find someone to go with or not.  In the meantime the work continues on the Salem Ice Cabin, getting it ready for the ice fishing season.  Re caulking the floor, finally getting to cutting and installing a door to take advantage of the space under the couch, adding an external cable antenna connection and upgrading the inside one, replacing the curtain rods, finish spray insulating the hole covers, time is getting short.   Recently the City of Dayton overlaid our street in front of the house and totally screwed up my driveway.  Where it used to be 1.5 inches above the road was now almost 3 inches below it.  Although there was a solution, replace a third of my driveway to match up with the road, it was a stupid plan so I had the entire driveway redone.  It's looks great, not like somebody cobbled together a stupid plan to simply get by.  It's a 7 day wait to drive on it however the weather has been perfect for curing concrete.  My travel schedule is crazy for the next few weeks, more adventures I guess!

Lac Seul, Days 3 and 4

39 inch Northern Pike

Deciding there was too much to write about in one week, my Lac Seul report is broken into 2 parts.  It also works well as I didn't go fishing last weekend.  This trip was my longest to Canada since I was a teenager traveling with the Tollefson's and the Semingson's to Lake Nipigon.  4 full days of fishing was on the docket and admittedly the first 2 were pretty good.  Sunday was our third day on the water so the boats headed back to Wapesi Bay where we had fished the first day and did quite well.  Arriving at the same point my bait of choice was a jig dressed with a 3 inch Gulp Alive minnow, cream colored.  A few bounces off the bottom and it felt like a freight train just hit my bait.  The pole I was using had braided line on the spinning rod and you really do feel everything.  Whatever it was, it was big and after 4 minutes she surfaced, a huge northern pike.  After a couple of runs Dan finally coaxed the fish into my landing net which was not nearly as big as it needed to be.  With it's tail hanging out of the net we managed to get it over the gunnel of the boat and unhooked.  A quick measurement put the fish as slightly over 39 inches, the largest northern I have caught since the 42 inch monster that I had landed while ice fishing on the north side of Mille Lacs in 1994.   She was quite fat and we estimated her at around 17 - 18 pounds, all I know it was difficult to hold her steady while Pete took the picture.  A few snap shots and back into the water she went, one flick of her tail and she was gone.  This fish may have explained why the walleyes weren't as plentiful as they were 2 days ago.  Getting more comfortable with the reading the water and using the electronics, we began searching for active fish.   On Sunday a minor cold front went through and like most waters, it definitely affected the fish bite.  With the wind coming from the north or northwest we struggled to find any area's of concentrated fish yet between the 6 of us we managed to catch enough for dinner that night and get a good start on accumulating our take home limits for the trip which were 4 walleyes each.  With 8 walleyes packaged for transport, we cooked up all the cleaned fish from the days catch and what was left over from the previous day, we were stuffed.

A net full of walleyes

Monday was our last day of fishing on the big lake.  With the second day's success in Tuktegweik Bay, it was decided to return as the wind was already quite strong by the time we headed out.  Having a known previous trail on the depth finder was critical as one now had a trusted route into the bay though the rocky channels.  Of course our first stop was the same point that we named Dan's Hole where 2 days earlier we simply caught one after another.  Although we marked quite a few fish still hanging around the point in 20 - 24 feet of water, they seemed quite lethargic and not really very hungry.  The wind had set up a great drift and while we did manage a few fish it was time to start looking again.  Up the shoreline were a few points that looked promising and the map did show a channel heading to a smaller lake, sometimes these channels can be really productive.  With 8 fish in the refrigerator the goal was to bring home 16 keepers for the day (our definition is 16 - 18 inches), the number needed for all of us to fill out.  Bruce's boat joined us for a while but admittedly the bite was tough and soon he took off for more productive waters.  In the meantime we decided to work the bay marking a few fish here and there, catching a few here and there, checked out the channel which wasn't anything to write home about.  Eventually we fished passed an outpost camp to find a nice sand flat between and island and shore.  Again not much there. Finally at the west end of a small island, the fish marks started to appear on my screen.  Generally speaking, when those marks are a foot or two off the bottom it is a good chance they are active and feeding, and feeding they were.  Dropping the Minnkota and using the spot lock we sat in place while Dan and I reeled in one after another.  We weren't sure what was going on with Pete as he could only sit there and watch the 2 masters at work.  Although I did get a few on Gulp most wanted a real minnow on the jig as the bite was rather soft instead of simply slamming it.  After starting to accumulate a number of fish we talked about how many we should keep in the boat.  If Bruce was having the same luck we'd be over however we decided to keep 12 and assume that we were on the fish and Bruce wasn't.  With a flurry of 3 straight hours of non-stop catching we decided to head back to camp somewhat earlier than usual.  Having to clean fish, prepare supper, and get things packed for the morning ride out, it was the right thing to do as we spotted Bruce's boat in the Narrows.  With only Dave and Wayne in the boat, apparently Bruce had enough of catching fish and was in taking care of business.  A quick question to Wayne, how many did they have.............3 keepers.  The decision to keep our 12 worked out perfect as they really needed only one more to complete our catch.  Luckily within a minute they nailed the last fish as we headed to the dock.  Loading the net with the walleyes I headed for the fish cleaning house with 16 walleyes to fillet.  It was a successful trip indeed.

Waking up to a brisk north wind, the temperature had dropped to a chilly 41 degrees for the boat ride to the landing. Even fully bundled in a rain suit with many layers of clothes I was pretty chilled by the time we arrived.  Enjoying a hearty and hot breakfast at Knobby's in Sioux Lookout we were ready for the 9 hour trip back.  It was another great trip, my third to Lac Seul within a year, I'm getting to like it.  So far I have discovered 3 new areas where to fish beyond the normal spots they go to, it's a lot of fun to explore.  Now it time clean the boat carpeting and see if there are any walleyes biting on Mille Lacs.    

Lac Seul in September

Pete's High Noon Walleye

No worse for the wear because of my bonehead move on August 31st, our trip to Lac Seul finally got underway last Thursday.  As stated last week, this trip would be quite a bit different than my previous visits as we were taking my Ranger 620T.  It's was sort of exciting and worrisome at the same time.  The exciting aspect had to do with the accessories on the boat, a great depthfinder/gps, a bow mount trolling motor with Ipilot that has an anchor function, the Sirius radio attachment for weather overlays, it would be a real test of their validity on Lac Seul.  The worrisome part deals with my own, what some call anal, concerns with the huge amount of sand everywhere.  Sand is hard on carpets and can really scratch up the gunnel's if one rests their sandy shoes on them.  Without being too much of a pain I gradually let Pete know of my concerns and both him and our other guy Dan Sadler really respected my wishes.  Having a broom and a rug on the dock right where you entered the boat didn't hurt either!  The only other concern was the stainless steel prop on the Suzuki, they are great for open water performance but hitting a rock can bend the prop shaft, I know as I have done that in the past.  Prior to leaving I was able to locate an aluminum prop from Frankie's and installed it, using the stainless as a spare.  Being extra careful, we returned with not even a scratch on the prop.  The only other issue was the tilt/trim function on the motor, on Sunday it started acting up, I'm not sure what I did to fix it but the rest of the week was fine.  With the concerns addressed it was time to get into camp and hit the water.  From the landing at Deception Bay to Lac Seul Outfitters, it's about a 75 minute run at 30 mph.  We followed Bruce as he had the route on his GPS, however my Lowrance and Navionics chip had a detailed map of Lac Seul which included the safe routes displayed on the map. Although we did deviate somewhat, a safe arrival at camp was welcome.  Unloading and settling in, it started raining so it was decided that cocktail hour would suffice. 

Dan and Dave with a couple nice walleyes

Friday morning arrived as planned with coffee, eggs, bacon, American fries, and stove top toast (toasters draw too much current for the generators).  This would prove to be our staple morning meal for the next 4 mornings.  Our first destination was Wapesi Bay north west of camp and about a 30 minute boat ride.  Actually its only about 5 miles as the crow flies yet the route takes us past Tom's Landing, Pecker Point, and back southwest around islands and sunken reefs.  Following Bruce we stopped at one of his favorite points with only a few fish.  Using the electronics we moved over to the next point and drifted the 25 foot to 12 foot depths looking for active fish.  At 20 feet we found them as we deployed the Minnkota and set the anchor function.  This really works slick as the head of the motor has a built in GPS and it directs the motor to stay on that spot, or at least within 15 feet.  We started hammering them including the first picture, Pete's high noon walleye.  Fishing with a simple jig and a minnow dropped over the side of the boat was all one needed to do.  Often the jig never hit the bottom before a walleye would take it.  Lac Seul has a nice regulation, 4 fish, everything from 18 - 21 inches has to be released and only 1 over 21 is allowed in the 4 fish limit.  Our own slot is 16 - 18 inches and no fish kept over 21.  Catching over 100 fish a day is pretty easy for the boat yet our tight slot can mean limited fish to bring back to camp.  Of course we always have enough to eat yet trying to time our take home fish can be interesting.  Dave Callister was the new guy in camp and in his honor we did a genuine shore lunch.  BTW, I am the designated fish filleter as I've seen what the others do and personally I can't deal with it so it's lucky I love to fillet fish.  Going to work I cut up 10 walleyes while the rest of the crew (except Pete) started the fire, cut up potatoes, cooked up some beans, and got the oil nice and hot.  Everything was ready as I filleted the last fish, it was time to relax and chow down.  Because the shores are 99% rock one can't be too choosy where you have your shore lunch as long as it had sand, we managed to find an acceptable spot.  An hour later we were back catching walleyes, filled to the gills with shore lunch and 2 hours later we headed back to the cabin, a great first day. 

Blue colored walleye

On Saturday it was decided to head south to an area called the Goal Post.  A 14 - 20 foot flat rising in the middle of the channel, we drifted a couple of runs before anchoring again.  Although the wind was fairly strong the trolling motor held up beautifully.  Unfortunately it was difficult to fish as the wind continued to get stronger by the hour.  Deciding to leave, Bruce headed into what is known as Tuktegweik Bay as we followed.  Being out of the wind would be nice and who knows, the fish might be biting better than where we were.  Bruce headed to the front of an island to fish the face of the steep drop off that existed.  He likes this kind of structure yet I prefer the sharp drop offs then 15 - 25 foot flat area just off the points.  With little room to maneuver 2 boats we decided to go and look for fish with the depth finder.  Two points later we mapped an area where the fish seemed to be stacked, dropped the virtual anchor and again started hammering the walleyes.   What was really interesting about this spot were the "blue" coloring on the walleyes.  Checking the Internet it appears that they are simply a coloration phase of your standard walleye, much like you see then vary from dark golden, green, to almost black.  These fish were absolutely beautiful, especially as they came to the surface the color was almost neon like.  Our spot was consistently producing all day as it was hard to leave.  Before leaving we established a waypoint on the Lowrance and labeled it Dan's Hole after Dan Sadler, the guy that occupied the middle seat.  Although his fishing equipment leaves much to be desired, his fishing abilities are second to none! Catching quite a few, we ended up with enough fish for our evening dinner. 

Lac Seul is a great place to fish and as I get to know the lake better it's really fun to go exploring new places.  It's easy to have a few honey holes and jump between them yet finding new areas can be really exciting.  This spring we discovered an area just full of walleyes in the 7 foot depths and there was no one around to bother you.  It's said that you cannot catch fish where there is no fish so using the electronics to verify that a spot even holds fish became very important.  Next week will be the last 2 days of our trip as we have a wedding on Saturday and there will be little time for fishing this weekend, not that the last 4 days shouldn't last me a while!

When it Rains it Pours

First fish of the day.

Let's start off with the good stuff from last week!  While scrambling to get things done for our trip to Lac Seul this week, Pete and I found time to get out on the river for a few hours on Saturday night.  The last trip saw a couple of walleyes caught on nighcrawlers fished on the bottom, a surprise as normally carp, catfish, and suckers are the results of this setup.  It got me thinking about trolling the holes with Shad Raps, Flicker Shads, or any other bait that would tap the bottom while trolling up river.  Once on the river it was obvious the recent rains had risen the water levels over a foot from last week.  The current was faster and maybe the higher water had pushed the smallies back shallow.  We decided to head upstream and cast for some smallies before starting to troll for those walleyes.  Rigging up Pete with a spinning rod, I attached my yellow crankbait and within 2 minutes he had a beautiful 18 inch smallie on the line.  Pretty impressive however there became an immediate discussion of was it the fishing skill or the guide's attention to setting up his guest for the evening?  Of course it was my opinion that the guide had 80% of the reasoning for this nice fish being on board.   Think about it as he picked the location, the choice of rods, the ever important "lucky" bait which he could have easily saved for himself.  That debate will continue this week as we both head to Lac Seul for 4 days of nonstop walleye fishing.  As for the rest of the evenings fishing, we did get about 8 fish, a couple in the 17 inch range and a number of small ones before we started trolling for walleyes.  I put on a brown perch colored Little Ripper on my rig and a fire tiger Flicker Shad on Pete's.  Trolling to the top of the hole, our intent was if we caught anything substantial, we would continue the pattern.  About the time we decided there was nothing going, we dropped the anchor and reeled in the baits.  To my surprise was a small 8 inch walleye, the same size as I got last week hooked to the Little Ripper.  Well, at least the method has promise.  Not all that excited about small walleyes and with the high water comes more current, we decided to fish some nightcrawlers.  The sun sets too fast these days and after 20 minutes of no action we called it a night.

A nicer time, sunset on the river

Sunday was originally planned to go motorcycling with my brother Steve.  We have done this for the last 3 years as I trailer my bike down to Fountain City while my wife attends Farm Fest with her cousins.  This year I had been a little indecisive as plans were changing by the minute.  Of course at the last minute it was decided that we would go, I loaded the Victory Kingpin and met my brother at our destination.  Our plan was to head to Minnesota, go through Iowa along the river before crossing at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin before returning home.  Things were going really good, we weren't traveling too fast when we hit a left turning curve.  We were riding together as I was traveling on the outside of the lane when I got too high on the curve.  Instead of looking where I needed to go I looked straight, a big mistake.  We covered this in my motorcycle training but it was too late.  The bike went upright and straight for the guardrail.  Although my speed was more than reasonable, I should have never looked forward as now I was on a collision course.  Hitting the brakes the bike scrubbed a lot of speed before it went down.  Hitting the cable guard rail, it stopped everything like it should but threw me onto the edge of the road.  I suspect I was down to 10 - 15 mph when this happened and I sustained only a few areas of road rash and a jammed toe.  I always ride with protective clothing and I'm sure things could have been worse without a helmet, riding jacket, heavy pants and boots.  Getting up I staggered some before coming to my senses, was thankful no one hit me while I was thrown onto the road.  Walking back to the bike, it was impaled between the cables, still running and on it's side.  Unfortunately those cable guard rails do a great job of stopping you but also inflict a lot of damage as my bike was really wedged in.  I am confident that had there not been the rail there the bike would have stopped within a few feet of it, a little scraped up but rideable.   A few guys stopped by to help including a lecture on going too fast, but we finally got it out and upright.  Now the fender was pushed into the front wheel, the back tire was flat, not much I could do but hop on my brother Steve's bike and head back.  He really helped by getting my trailer and with his son in law Brandon, picked up the bike and brought it back to LaCrosse.  I guess pictures were the last thing on my mind.  Deciding to go to the Urgent Care on Sunday morning the doctor asked what's wrong.  I showed her the scraps, they took an xray of my toe which turned out OK but it was pointed to my that I have arthritis in the toes, and they showed me how to brace it using the toe next to the big toe.  She asked if there was anything else she could fix, I told her my pride.  No such luck.  I would not be surprised if the bike is totaled, but I'm hoping they can fix it.  Hitting a boat on opener, now this.....here's hoping my luck changes soon!  I guess one should be fortunate that all that happened was a few scrapes and soreness.   Therefore I decided to post a picture from the night before looking up river.

Tomorrow at 5:00 AM we head to Lac Seul and this time I'm bringing the Ranger.  I did have the sense to put on an aluminum prop, just in case, but it will be fun to fish out of my own boat.  Not one to go off exploring where I'm not comfortable with, cross my fingers, it will be just fine.  The only thing I worry about is that the water has been high and there has been a lot of deadheads in the water.  Apparently the water is down, which should help.  I guess we'll have a report next week and I'm looking for it to be as good as last year was.

Busy Week

Sandhill Cranes Near the House

Mark Applen and I had been discussing his current wheel house situation for this years up and coming ice fishing season and apparently he decided to do something about it.  There were some deals floating around the area for a few 2014 Salem Ice Cabin wheel houses and some of those were actually pretty good.  Mark ended up purchasing one at a dealership in Mankato and in the process, arranged to get his floor spray foam insulated.  He generously offered to haul mine down and drop it off at the insulating company, Reichel Insulation, the same day he would pick his up new house and it really worked out slick for me.  As stated last week they called and said that it was done and to come and pick it up on Friday afternoon.  It's a nice drive to Mankato and after meeting the owner's son and looking at the nice job they did, I'm pretty impressed.  The house should be a lot easier to heat using less propane as well as be more comfortable to spend your time in.  With Mark having the identical house its been fun to help him not make the same mistakes that I have!  With summer winding down it's time to start getting it ready for the winter as the inside floor/wall joints need silicon caulk, hopefully I can get the new door under the couch installed for extra storage, and Mrs. Sipe can finish the last curtain.  On Tuesday morning I headed to California for work.  Driving by the field just across from the old PDQ station there were 2 large sandhill cranes eating the grain stubble left from the combining that was done earlier.  They are magnificent birds standing close to 4 feet tall, they are certainly becoming more numerous around the area.  Stopping along the road I snapped this picture of them pecking in what was left oats that were planted to keep down the erosion.  Like the resident bald eagles that next down where the neighbor Blair has the boat launch on the Mississippi River, it's nice to see these exotic looking birds.  As long as they stay out of the garden, there fun to have around.

Pacific Ocean Sunset

Tuesday morning caught me getting on a flight to Los Angeles (LAX) for a number of business meetings. California is a great place to visit, especially if its February but to be honest, just too many people!  Like the old Mama and Papa's song, It Never Rains in Southern California, they are in the midst of a severe drought.  I don't know, it seems brown there when ever I go but it is pretty dry.  We have a couple of employees in the Los Angeles/San Diego area so it's nice not to have to rent a car and fight the craziness of their what seems to be a constant rush hour.  Tuesday night we connected with one of our suppliers and had dinner at the Chart House Restaurant in Cardiff, California. Sitting practically on the beach, we had a stunning view of the sunset looking out over the Pacific Ocean, it was quite amazing.   It didn't make up for the sorry state of the oysters on the half shell, they were pretty bad for an upscale seafood place.  On Wednesday I was relayed to Mike Schubert where we headed to Dana Point to check out the incoming fishing boats.  With a hurricane developing off the coast of Baja Mexico, the waters were pretty churned up, great for surfing but not so good for fishing.  Never the less we did see some yellowfin tuna carted off the boats heading for a weighin and cleaning.  Mike had an hour meeting at the American Legion, a great place to hang out before we went to his favorite place in Huntington Beach, Longboards (what they call surfboards).  There the oysters were in perfect form and about a third the price from the night before, as well as their entire menu was extremely reasonable.  They had an interesting side drink, a shot of vodka with cocktail sauce added then topped with a raw oyster.  Not afraid to try anything, it was pretty good.  Being from Minnesota it was quite unusual to sit outside on the sidewalk patio, it's 76 degrees out and they have the propane patio heaters going full bore.  I suppose with a strong wind coming in from the ocean, it's something people expect there.

The countdown to Lac Seul for next week is still being decided.   All that is known is I'm driving so the boat needs to get ready.  It's going to be pretty exciting to have my boat there, it will give me a great opportunity to explore the areas we fish with the electronics, not that it's needed.  I am worried about the sand and have assurances from Pete that he'll keep his shoes off the gunnels, I think we'll be ok.  With some family things going on this weekend, fishing next, a wedding on the 13th, as always, I'm running out of time.

Dog Days of Summer

10 inch Walleye on the Mississippi River

There is a lot going on these days, enough to limit the fishing to a few hours a night on the river.  The current situation on Mille Lacs has turned off a number of my usual fishing partners but there's always someone to hit the river with.   Now that the jon boat has a 25 hp motor, it's a bit more enjoyable fishing the river as it pushes the boat about 20 mph upstream, about 67% faster than the old 15 hp.  Joining me on Saturday night was my good friend Mark Applen who had never been on the river with me before.  Loading up the crawlers, his poles, some sucker minnows, and a few adult beverages, we launched at Blair's and headed up the river about 4 miles.  In Old Town Dayton, where the Crow River meets the Mississippi, the two waters take almost the entire length from our launching point to finally mix.  The Crow flows through mostly farmland and tends to be quite "muddy" while the Mississippi has more of a flow through forest regions and has a number of dams upstream to help settle the water.  It's quite noticeable where on the north side of the river, it's pretty clear while the south side, where the Crow empties, stays fairly muddy.  I tend to like fishing on the north side, although I cannot be certain it's better, it is more fun to fish water that looks cleaner.  Mark and I had a number of nice smallmouth on the lines but never landed anything larger than 14 inches.  Lot's of little ones, which is good and maybe with the water level dropping, one might have to change our fishing strategy.  As we approached closer to home the plan was to anchor and fish for whatever shows up on the end of the line.  Mark rigged up a sucker minnow while my pole was the old standby, a gloob of night crawlers fished on the bottom.  Night Crawlers are the super bait of the river, anything and everything likes them and besides, one never knows what's at the end of your line.  It wasn't long before that familiar tap-tap was felt, nothing big as it sort of bit like a small catfish, which the river is full of.  A minute later the hook comes up bare, threaded another 2 crawlers on the hook and the same thing, tap-tap-tap and nothing.  Now catfish are greedy fish and even if they bite light eventually they swallow the entire bait and end up hooked.  Well whatever was stripping my bait, it couldn't have been too big and I soon found out.  Finally hooking one, the fish appeared on the surface, a 10 inch walleye, interesting.  I caught another one soon after, there must have been a school of them hanging in the 10 foot current break, just below the island.  I suspect that as the water continues to drop it will concentrate the fish into the deeper holes and it will be time to try and see if we can locate some larger walleyes, I know they are there.  We really didn't get too many more fish and suspect that they are up in the shallower waters at dusk.  Loading the boat we headed back to the pole barn where a number of the neighbors stopped over and helped finish the remaining refreshments.

Test run after a rebuild

The other highlight of the weekend was attending the Lucas Oil Nationals at the Brainerd International Raceway (BIR), site of one of the fastest drag racing tracks in the United States.  Another good friend and business associate Kevin Sonsalla met myself and my neighbor Todd at Cabela's and headed north.  It been a number of years since I've been to BIR and it was alot of fun to get back up and watch the race.  Last week's post mentioned that the teams would tear the engines down and rebuild them with new heads, pistons, rods, and bearings after each run.  With only about 2 hours between runs, these guys did it in about an hour and it was pretty amazing to watch.  Because of Kevin's VIP passes, we got to eat supper in the hospitality area and I even had the chance to get Tony's autograph for Lyn's cousin Micky, an avid race fan.  We watched Tony test start the engine after the last rebuild of the night before we headed back to the bleachers at 5:00 to watch the finish.  The fastest we saw were times in the 3.83 seconds for 100 feet with speeds up to 313 mph.  Overall the race saw 2 track records set, the first was a Funny Car time breaking the 4 second mark at 3.998 and the second record was set by Doug Kalitta with a Top Fuel Dragster passing the line at 3.72 seconds.  Man, that's fast!  It's really hard to describe the feeling when these cars head down the track, your whole body shakes.  I definitely appreciate Kevin thinking of me as we got to see some really fast cars, have a nice dinner with refreshments on the house, and did get to meet a few people including Tony Schumacher as well as my other neighbor Tim and his crew.

The Taylor's Door County fishing adventure

Last but not least is news from the Taylor Family vacationing in Door County, Wisconsin.  Apparently they chartered a salmon fishing adventure and did pretty well.  Jack sent me 2 pictures, one of Ben holding the biggest fish of the trip, one he caught, a 20+ pound King Salmon.  They did not send me the final results but as you can see, the family is holding up 7 beautiful fish.  My personal opinion about this picture however is different, yes they were very successful yet check out Ben's head as apparently he's hung around Uncle David enough to finally wear something that differentiates him from the rest.  The biggest salmon and that Green Bay Packer hat, a sure sign of a true winner for sure!  Jack and his family are family to me and I appreciate them sharing their lives with me, we'll see if they will share the fish as well.  Check out their video report from Sturgeon Bay Outdoors HERE. We are approaching Labor Day and some of the busiest times of the year.  With family birthdays this weekend, out of town next weekend, my annual motorcycle trip with brother Steve the following week, back to Lac Seul starting September 5th, it's truly crazy.  The garden is ripening right on time and canning needs to be done, I make pretty good salsa, ya know!  I brought my ice house to Mankato, MN to get the bottom of the floor spray insulated before it got too cold out, which will really help keep it warm on the ice.  As my grandma Myrtle would say......Uffda!

Catfishing for Harold

Otto's first Mississippi fish

I am fortunate to have a lot of great friends in the neighborhood and one of those is Ricky Shermer.  Ricky is younger than me and 10 times crazier.  We both garden and have apple trees, enjoy working outdoors, and possess the same cynical attitudes about many things including politics.  Generally what's mine is Ricky's and what Ricky's is mine if we every need something.  He has a real nice Kabota zero turn monstrosity of a lawn mower and coupled with a dethatching unit and a vacuum system works wonders for getting the yard in shape in the spring.  Rick likes to get up early each day and you can always tell if he's been around checking out the place as there's a motorcycle track in the yard where he drove his scooter, verifying that your onions aren't as big as his!  I have been telling him about my latest adventures on the river when he asked me to do him a favor, "My dad, Harold Shermer loves catfish and next time when you go out and catch a few, save some for him".  Well, that's about as good excuse as any to get back out on the River and try our luck.  After getting a few chores done around the house I called my other neighbor Otto to see if he'd like to go with me for a couple of hours.  Now Otto is not much of a fisherman but when I added that there would be Jameson served in the boat and he would really have to do very little but sit there and enjoy the tranquility, he couldn't refuse.  After asking him to humor me for 5 minutes while I casted a crankbait into the shallows for that huge smallie I missed last week, we headed below Cloquet Island, scene of last's weeks success.  Dropping the anchor in the current break it would be a simple strategy, night crawlers on the bottom and a Jameson in the cupholder.  It wasn't long before we got a few small taps, the kind catfish are notorious for which stripped our hooks.  Otto finally hooked a nice golden redhorse before we finally got a keeper sized channel cat, maybe 16 inches.  Putting that on the stringer we continued to get bites and ended up with 3 catfish before it got too dark.  After getting the boat put away the fish were cleaned, vacuum packed, and frozen for Ricky.  Here's hoping his dad Harold is going to like them because there's a lot more where they came from!  Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the catfish, oh well.

Tony Schumacher

Sunday my wife Lyn and I went down to Independence Wisconsin to the annual Fall Fest.  It was fun to see all of our friends that we have known for over 40 years now.  It's interesting how much old fashioned bread, coffee cakes, and baked goods are sold there.  I can guarantee you that you'll never find this kind of home cooking in the city.  After stopping to see Lyn's uncle and aunt, Bernie and Nellie, the next stop was at Kevin's to retrieve my motorcycle GPS that I let him use of their trip to Glacier National Park.  It's actually a pretty nice GPS and is completely waterproof and shockproof.  With lifetime updates, the maps are always the most recent, sometimes I'm surprised how quickly they are updated.  Friday will be spent at BIR (Brainerd International Raceway) to attend the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals featuring all of the top drag racing stars in the world.  Another good friend, Kevin Sonsalla has pit passes to Tony Schumacher, the #1 guy in Top Fuel Dragster racing today.  It's a lot of fun to stand next to the guys working on the engine, it's amazing that they make one run then completely tear down the engine and rebuild it, all in about 90 minutes.   BIR is the fastest track in the country, so fast that the quarter mile has been reduced to 1000 feet to add additional stopping distances needed.  Interesting that the cars have reached the same speeds as they once did in the quarter mile, amazing.  I should have pictures for next week.

I'm hoping to get out again this weekend, the river continues to drop which really concentrates the fish.  I am bound an determined to find out where the walleyes are!  Maybe even try to get Harold some more catfish fillets.

Million Dollar Smile

Ben's First 17" River Smallmouth

With a number of things to catch up with around the house it was an easy decision to stay close to home and fish the river.  With the different motor on the jon boat, it's much more enjoyable to get around at a reasonable pace.  Actually I had fished both Saturday and Sunday afternoon however we start with the Sunday trip as the Saturday adventure was just a couple of old guys going out.  The Taylor's are my closest and longest friends since moving to Minnesota in 1976.  The patriarch of the family, Earl Taylor was one of my best fishing buddies.  Although no one can replace your own father, Earl came very close.  His two son's Mark and Jack represent my generation as we think alike, enjoy the same activities (including Easy Jesus), and have been friends for over 36 years.  Mark's son Matt and Jack's son Ben represent the 3rd generation of Taylor's that I call family.  Ben Taylor is 9 years old and turning into quite a fisherman.  Enough so that I never hesitate to use him as my repository for all those baits and fishing equipment that sit around simply collecting dust.  A couple years back I fished with my friend Eric and his 9 year old son Carter and was very impressed by his rod handling abilities, good enough for dad to let him use his G. Loomis rod.  Ben has those same qualities so a few weeks ago I ran across an excellent deal on a high quality Quantum rod/reel combination.  Picking it up for Ben, I gave it to him around his birthday, complete with line and a rod sock.  Ben had been asking about fishing on the River so on Sunday him and Jack met me at the pole barn as we headed to the neighbors landing.  The river can be somewhat difficult to fish.  The current is swift, boat control is limited as our strategy is to drive up as far as practical for the time we want to fish, then float back down casting lures into the shorelines, looking for active smallies, northern, or whatever may be hitting at the time.  A favorite lure is a squatty type crankbait that dives around 4 feet, in either a crayfish color or the ever successful Fire Tiger pattern.  Earlier in the week a trip to Fleet Farm found a bin of clearanced crankbaits and there were a few Matzuo Asai Shads, shallow water cranks in fire tiger for under $4.00.  Picking up a couple I knew these would be great for Ben, if he lost them, no big deal and yet they would be very effective.  Arriving about 3 miles up river and after getting everything ready, it was time to give Ben a lesson on casting...Stay out of the trees, hold your rod tip high, don't over cast and hit the rocks, keep a steady retrieve, often times the fish hit right at the boat.  It only took about 10 casts before I felt comfortable that he "gets it" and started fishing on my own.  Well it wasn't 10 minutes and a bass exploded out of the water with his bait firmly hooked in it's mouth.  Before we could even get the net out he lifted the fish over the boat gunnel and onto the floor.  I sort of winced but when your excited, getting the fish

A beautiful Golden Redhorse

in the boat is the most important aspect of fishing!  "So, I'm fishing for the first time in Uncle David's boat and the first time on the river. I'm fishing with the pole Uncle David gave me along with the lure he bought for me. Uncle David shows me how to fish this brand new experience and right away I catch my first small mouth and it's a beauty, 17 inches long!"  I'm not sure who was more excited me or Ben but I can definitely guarantee there isn't a smile that could compete with his.  After settling down we continued our float where we caught a few smaller fish before finishing the casting part of the trip in the Big Fish Eddy.  OK, I just made the name up but last week I pulled a 20 inch smallie out of that hole and Sunday saw me connect with a fish that appeared even larger.  Unfortunately she threw the hook before we could net it so it was time to put the casting gear away and head across the river to anchor and fish the bottom with night crawlers.   After re-rigging our poles and getting situated, I felt the first bite.  For river fishing like this it's almost mandatory to use circle hooks.  In Alaska all halibut fishing is done with circle hooks.  Basically the fish can swallow the bait but the hook does not catch until it's pulled back out to the corner of the mouth where it rotates and digs in. With the bottom feeders on the river, they work great, you let the fish take the bait then simply reel in and the fight is one.  Grabbing my reel and simply turning the crank, the fish was on.  Handing the pole off to Ben, he fought the fish while we got the net.  Being too big to hoist over the side of the boat, we landed this beautiful 5 pound golden redhorse.  Of course neither Ben nor Jack had ever seen one before so we took a few pictures and let it go.  They are really unique as we did get another one, 2 nice carp, and a 3 pound channel catfish.  5 fish in about an hour and all species Ben had never caught before.   About 7:30 we headed back to the shed with another great day on the river.  I do like the night crawler fishing, it's very relaxing and you never know what will show up at the end of the line.

19 inch Smallie

Going backwards for Saturday, my neighbor Tom and I spent a few hours on the river to check out to see if the fishing was as good as it was the week before.  The first thing we noticed was the river level had already dropped another foot or so, enough for us to pay more attention to where we were going.  With a couple extra hours to play with we headed upstream about 6 miles and started beyond where the Crow River meets the Mississippi.  Almost immediately Tom nails a nice 19 inch smallie, a great start to the trip.  We really like fishing those outside bends where the bank is quite steep and the river depth provides a nice continuing drop.  With new line on his reel, I think Tom had a lot more confidence and it shows with this fish.  As we drifted down the sky was getting darker and darker.  Looking at the weather map on the phone it was obvious we were going to get wet unless we thought of something fast. A glance at the County Hwy 12 bridge going across the Crow River, we arrived just in time to park underneath as the sky opened up.  I was a nice break, time for a beer and discuss the next strategy.  With the water down, what was looking good last week had changed significantly yet there were new area's becoming apparent.  Drifting down the north side of the River, we decided to try the south side but soon discovered a dramatic change in the water quality.  The Crow River enters the Mississippi River form the south and it is very dirty, chocolate colored from the farm areas it flows through.  With visibilities of less than 6 inches vs the north side at around 18 inches, it was apparent that the outflow of the Crow stayed on the south side for a number of miles before completely mixing with the Mississippi.  After 200 yards of drifting we headed back across the river for cleaner water.  We encountered many smaller bass this trip and Tom

Nice northern pike

did manage to get another fish over 16 inches but that's about it for size.  A number in the 12 inch range and even a few under 6 inches, regardless of size, those bass are pretty aggressive.  I did get a couple of northern again, including a nice 28 incher.  I'm surprised at how many of those snakes have graced my line these days.  We ended up at the Big Fish Eddy (see previous reference) where the previous week saw us hook up 4 smallies before leaving.  We did get some smaller fish again and I decided to try for walleyes while Tom casted for bass.  I tried a smaller sucker minnow on a 3 way rig and bottom bounced it for 50 yards down the current break in 10 - 12 feet of water.  No such luck.  After a few last casts we headed the boat down river to check out the Anoka Bridge as I had never been that far down river before.  It was interesting and it looked like there were a few potential fishing holes to try before the summer is done.  As we loaded the boat back up my tow vehicle, a 2008 Polaris Razor side by side had completely lost power in one cylinder.  Assuming it was a fuel issue, it was time to bring it in the shop for a tune up.  As we locked the last gate behind us, Tom, who is a superb mechanic, suggested that it sounded like an ignition problem to him.  After cleaning the boat and putting it away Tom left yet I couldn't help think about his diagnosis.  Pulling a spark plug wire on one side, the motor simply turned over.  Repeating on the other side and it started but only ran on that cylinder so I swapped the spark plugs and the problem followed.  Next I pull a plug from my Sportsman 800 ATV then replaced to assumed bad plug and voila, purred like a kitten.  New plugs were only $6.00 but it saved me from hauling it in and paying the minimum charges, I guess a nice trade.....fishing trips for engine advice.

This weekend's as busy as most have been.  Sunday is the annual St. Peter and Paul's Fall Fest in Independence, Wisconsin, my wife's home town.  With friends we haven't seen in a while it will be fun to get back and meet old friends.  As well we'll probably go and see my niece to celebrate her birthday as she's growing up too damn fast as well.  The colder summer has put the damper on my sweet corn however the pickles seem to be holding their own as I've made about 8 buckets so far.  It's almost time to start working on my wheel house and get it ready for the winter.  It needs to get the underside spray foamed for insulation, and I have a cupboard door to install taking advantage of a space that isn't being used.  Lac Seul is in 4 weeks, that will come up fast.  Oh well.

Double Header

20 inch smallie on the Mississippi River

With things finally settling down it was the perfect week to take advantage of the alignment of the stars and the moon to get some serious fishing in.  It's been about 2 months since I've had a decent fishing outing and it was time to break the long dry spell.  This week it was fortunate to be able to fish both the Mississippi River and Mille Lacs within 2 days of each other and both proved successful.  Sunday afternoon was the maiden voyage on the Mississippi River with my 14 foot jon boat equipped with a "new" 1999 Mercury 25 hp motor.  The boat was originally my brother-in-law's who passed away a few years ago.  Equipped with a 1976 15 hp Evinrude, before putting it on the river, I installed a Rock Hopper to protect the propeller from the shallow waters that occur once the river falls to it's normal summer flow.  Quite an ingenious device, it bolts onto the lower unit and although not too intrusive, it does create enough drag to slow the speed by a couple miles per hour.  With a current of around 3 mph and with another guy in the boat we could hit a whooping 12 mph going upriver.  Being a 1976, the 15 hp was the last year they used points for ignition and it was a hard starting at best.   Looking to add some power I ran across the 25 hp on Craigslist and picked it up last Monday. Accompanying me on the river was my neighbor Tom Olson, a bonafide river rat himself.  Launching at the neighbor's once in the water a couple of pulls and the motor started right up.  Knowing we might have to make adjustments, the first thing we noticed was the power.  The boat is rated for a 25 hp max and it sure liked it.  A mile into our trip up river we hit 18 mph and the front end was plowing which meant we needed to move the pin up which increased the trim providing more lift.  Moving it one hole up made a world of difference as we gained 2 mph and the boat handled fantastic.  With the logistics out of the way we continued our trek upriver, about 6 miles before we decided to start fishing.  This time of the year the water is perfect, high enough to go anywhere but not enough to flood into the trees.  Our plan was simple, drift down one side of the river, casting crank baits or a sucker minnows under a bobber until we reached our starting point, Blair's Landing, it would take about 3 hours.  With a favorite bait the Bomber Model A fire tiger crankbait, the 3 cast produced a 28 inch northern pike, a great start.  We generally practice catch and

My "new" 1999 25 hp Merc

release on the river unless of course we get a walleye so it went back in the water.  15 minutes later another northern pike hit the lure. Fishing the eddies formed by the current, rip rap along the river, under trees next to shore, and retaining walls at the river's edge,  the fishing was pretty good.  The first nice smallmouth bass came as my crankbait sat on the surface of the water while I needed a quick second to engage the reel.  A subtle slurp and the bait disappeared. Slow to react the fish really set the hook itself and the battle was on. 2 minutes later a 17 inch smallie was in the net, a nice first fish.  My friend Pete uses large live minnows under bobbers to fish trophy smallies so I had rigged a rod to try it.  Coming upon a retaining wall, I pitched a hooked sucker minnow under a bobber right next to the wall and as soon as it hit a huge swirl engulfed it.  One quick tug and she was gone as the line broke right at the slip knot bobber stop. Whatever it was, it was nice but that's about all I can say.  As we floated down a couple more strikes and near misses by large fish swirling at the boat we finally arrived across the river from the house. Having lost my prized fire tiger Bomber it was replaced with a crayfish colored duplicate.  A nice eddy sets up there as we started at the top of the hole.  Immediately I had a dandy fish on as Tom was starting to set his pole down when a nice fish hit his line.  His fish was gone as fast as it came yet I continued to fight what ended up in the net, a gorgeous 20 inch smallie.  Going back we nailed 2 more smallies out of that spot before moving on.  A couple more small fish hit before we packed it in.  One last piece of business, I headed the boat downstream for a top speed, 26 mph.  Although we were only out for about 4 hours it was very successful as I caught 2 nice northerns, had 3 nice fish swirl at the bait near the boat, a 17 and 20 inch smallie, as well Tom and I landed another 4 bass and had lost as many.  I did flood the motor trying to start it so it may take a few times to understand it's temperament.   Not bad for a Sunday afternoon and I'm looking forward to getting out within the next week.

Chuck's 12 inch walleye on lead core

On Tuesday was the annual trip with a good friend Chuck Teasley who now lives in Illinois across from St. Louis, MO.  Originally the plan is always the last Thursday in July but scheduling conflicts forced us to go a couple of days early.  As usual, Charlie meets me at the pole barn then we head north picking up bait, checking into Hotel Applen, then head out for a nice dinner.  Deciding to eat at the Spirit Lake Steakhouse in Wahkon, the evening was one of the nicest we've had all summer as we invited Bill and Kathy Lundeen to join us.  With dinner out of the way we headed back to Mark's place to check out a few of my Lac Seul videos before hitting the sack.  Morning arrived and although the forecast called for minor winds from the northwest, at 7:00 it was already starting to show signs of stronger winds to come.  After stopping for bait we launched on the west side to take advantage of the calmer side of the lake as it would be a good place to start what hasn't been too successful of a strategy these days.  Albert Einstein said it best "The definition of an insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"!  Well, I know that we are a few weeks behind as the walleye bite goes and one should be able to get fish on the flats with night crawler rigs this time of year.  Like the prior two times I fished Mille Lacs, the fish have to start responding to the pattern at some time.  So here we go again, Sherman's Flat, 7-Mile Flat, 9-Mile Flat, Sliver Flat, and not even a nibble.  You would have thought after 3 outings that something would hit but alas, I guess I'm insane.  We did each get a 12 inch walleye on lead core line just off of Sliver and although it's nice to see some smaller fish, we didn't even feel them on our lines.  Honestly, the 12 incher was my first walleye I have caught on Mille Lacs this year and for all practical purposes, it really didn't count.  With nothing happening off the deep flat areas, our next move was to try 5 Mile Gravel with lead core.  It's usually a better late summer spot and anything had to be better than our current strategy.

First official Mille Lacs Walleye, 27 incher

On the way south to 5 Mile one comes fairly close to 3 Mile Reef.  A favorite spot for fall trolling, it has a lot of small mouth bass and on a whim decided to try casting the top as the wind was perfect for a nice drift.  Chuck desperately wanted some fish to take home and with the new regulations on smallies, it should be easy to at least get a few for a fish fry.  After casting the full length of the reef we switch tactics and started trolling #5 crawfish colored Shad Raps.  I have a particular honey run that few if any utilize the series of humps that sometime contain fish.  Pulling the raps across the top of one of the 6 foot hump produced a nice hookup and the way it was running, it had to be a northern pike.  As I got closer to the boat it became obvious that this was no northern pike rather a huge walleye.  A walleye?!?!?, 6 feet of water at 1:30 in the afternoon on July 29th........really?  It was then we discovered that the landing net had been left in the back of the truck forcing Chuck to grab the fish with his hand.  Too big to grab behind the gills, he finally got both hands on it and brought her in.  Measured at 27 inches, she was fat and sassy, not like years past.  Snapping a few pictures we let her go, my first official walleye caught on Mille Lacs this year.  It's almost embarrassing to even admit it but what the heck, you can't hide the truth. Admittedly it was nice to see that I'm not completely jinxed and in fact after resetting the lines we trolled another 50 yards when another fish almost ripped the rod from my grip.  Chuck even noticed that the rod almost flew from my hands.  2 minutes later we hand landed another nice walleye, not a large as the first one but at 23 inches, nothing like keeping the streak going.  We did catch a few keeper small mouth bass and after a number of trolling runs and noticing the waves were now pushing 3 - 4 feet, it was time to leave.  It did remind me of the time my friend Tom Emmons and I arrived at 3-Mile in the middle of July on a calm afternoon and there were literally thousands of 18 - 22 inch walleyes cruising the top of the reef in 3 - 4 feet of water.  It was spectacular.  Like the previous weeks 26 inch walleye caught in the weeds by my neighbor Pete, maybe it's time to think outside the box.  Old habits sure can take a long time to die however. Pounding our way back to the west side of the lake we hit Indian Point and put a couple more smallies in the live well.  The last half hour was spent fishing the weed tops in Vineland Boy where Chuck did get a smaller northern pike before we decided to head back.  A quick stop at the Long Siding Bar and Grill for a burger, by 10:00 the fish were cleaned and Chuck was headed back up to Alexandria to finish the week with his family.  Chuck and I see each other about once a year and each time is like it was yesterday.  I'm glad we had a chance to get together again as we look forward to next year.

It's pickle time in the garden as we have started making the famous Bernie Konter's Fall Fest Pickles.  I have adapted his recipe for a 5 quart ice cream pail by filling it with long quarter sliced cucumbers, onion slices, and dill (all fresh from the garden).  Next comes the brine, 8 quarts of water, 1 cup of white vinegar, 1/2 cup of canning salt, a generous tablespoon of minced garlic (not dried), and about the same amount of pickling spice.  Mix it up and pour over the cucumbers.  Seal with the cover and in a week or so they'll be ready to munch on.  The blueberry crop at Blueberry Ridge in Eleva experienced a rough winter so the picking has not been very good. My raspberries are great and now that I planted a few different varieties, we are having berries from July 1st thru the end of September.  The plan is to try and get back on the river again on Sunday to take advantage of the existing river height as it's easier to fish right now.

Fishin' With Pete

Pete's 26 inch weed walleye

Ever grateful for being friends with my neighbor Pete Sipe, I am always looking for ways to repay him for his introduction to the current group of guys that fish Lac Seul.  Having lived down the street from me for over 22 years now I finally got him in my boat as we planned a Saturday afternoon Mille Lacs Lake  trip to see if the walleyes were cooperating.  Pete asked what to bring and after seeing his arsenal of fishing equipment I assured him that he just needs to bring himself, I'll supply everything else.   On the way up I suggested we stop for an ice cream cone at the Cenex station just south of Onamia, they're pretty good as well as reasonable.  Getting the cones while Pete put in about 12 gallons of gas in the boat on his credit card, that was awful nice of him, seeings who invited who.  After a quick stop at Bill's we finally launched to boat and headed for Roland's Flat.  20 minutes and we didn't mark a fish on the Lowrance, the next stop was a deeper underwater reef off of Sherman's point.  20 minutes and we didn't mark a fish on the Lowrance, the next stop was The Cut.  With the wind blowing pretty good from the south/southwest it was a perfect drift but after an hour we headed to 7-Mile.  It was pretty amazing that there wasn't a boat on the flat, a testament to the current attitude regarding the lake.  7-Mile is in my opinion the most popular structure in the summer to fish and for it to be 4:00 in the afternoon on a Saturday and not a boat in site, uffda is all I can say.  Moving to Sliver Flat to see if we could duplicate my friend Mark's previous weeks catch, nothing. Deciding to lead line the open basin area from Sliver Flat to the southeast tip of 8-Mile Flat, finally Pete saw his rod bend over.  We landed a nice fat 24 incher before resetting the lines and headed west.  Although the walleye hit soon after we started, another hour went by without another hit.  Packing up the rods we headed the boat to Vineland Bay with the plan to troll the weed tops for big northerns.  Setting up Pete with a 6 inch green tiger Rattlin Rouge, I put on a larger rattle bait and troll we did.  It wasn't long before rod bent over but as soon as it happened it was gone. Twenty minutes later Pete had a nice fish on and it was pretty exciting to see what it was knowing the size of bait he was pulling.   As the fish came to the boat it certainly didn't act like a northern and to our surprise it was a nice walleye.  Trolling 5 feet down, just touching the weed tops and we get a walleye, crazy.  Maybe I need to rethink my strategies!  With that fish being the last of the day it was Pete 2, Dave 0.  We ended the day driving up to Round Lake to see Bruce then over to the lake just east to meet up with our good friend Ricky Shermer and his crew.  It was a lot of fun despite the fact that once again I didn't catch a fish on Mille Lakes and having to drive 5 miles of dusty gravel roads to get to where Ricky was staying.  The good thing is the boat washes off but there is little I can do about the lack of fish on the end of my line, oh well it was fun.  Hating to admit I have yet to catch a fish on Mille Lacs this year, maybe the fall will bring a change.

Bruce's Monster 32" Walleye

Most of my good friends are very familiar with the blog as well as my love of fishing so they often send me pictures of the fish they catch. Sometimes to simply let me know they are having fun but often it's to show that they can catch the nice fish as well.  Last week a picture came over the phone from my good friend Bruce Thackray, a fellow transformer manufacturing colleague.  Bruce takes a trip to the Boundary Waters area every year with his family in July as we have discussed how much he enjoys Northern Minnesota.  Being from the Chicago area means he deserves some crap about fishing as we only see each other about  3 times a year at our Transformer Association meetings and trade association shows like the Coil Winding Show in Chicago.  Promising not to mention the lake he caught this pig at,  it was near the Gunflint Trail in about 12 - 17 feet of water when she hit.  Caught on a night crawler rig it was almost too big to fit in the net.  Bruce took the measurements and they were quite impressive....32 inch length and 18 inch girth with an estimate of around 13 pounds it's a once in a lifetime fish.  Bruce let the fish go and is already planning on getting a replica.  Suggesting Artistic Angler's out of Duluth Minnesota, they do an excellent job on walleyes and have a best collection of mount styles on the market today.  What's nice is that you tell them where you caught the fish and they understand the coloring and will match it perfectly.  It's definitely going to look good in his den and he can dream about that fish still swimming around, waiting for the next crawler rig to come by.

With the Mississippi River finally retreating from what has seemed to be a continual flood stage, I have been looking to replace the outboard motor on my john boat.  It currently has a 1976 15 hp Evinrude and although it runs OK, she's pretty slow.  Often my neighbor Lory goes with and traveling upstream yields about 12 mph.  As well, it can be cold blooded so it takes a while to get warmed up.  With the boat being rated for 25 hp, I've been looking on Craigslist for a reasonable replacement.  Not interested in anything older than a 1978 or something more than the whole boat is worth, it's pretty hard to find something in the middle.  I finally saw a 1999 25 hp short shaft Mercury in St. Cloud however by the time I called it was gone.  Oh well, I'd just keep looking.  Upon returning on Friday I got a message "if you are still interested in the motor the other guy fell through and I still have it".  A quick call verified a time to drive up to check it out and on Monday I had it in the back of my truck.  Double checking with my neighbor Blair to make sure his landing was still available the plan is to take it out on the river either Friday or Sunday.  It started on the first pull so it should work pretty good.  Saturday is filled with blueberry picking in Eleva, a farewell party of my wife's aunt, a birthday party for our niece, and the Fagerland reunion.   It's going to be impossible to hit everyone so we'll see who wins out.

Back From Boston

View from our table in Portsmouth, NH

Last week’s plan to get out on the lake didn't work out very well.  My pending trip to Boston on Monday morning left a lot of holes to be filled I n a very short time.  Mark Applen was up at Mille Lacs on Saturday and I knew I should have taken the afternoon off but with a ton of things to do, it didn't work out.  Just my luck he texted me with his mid-afternoon report, 5 walleyes with 1 keeper, fat and sassy on night crawlers out on the flats.  Well, what can you do?  With important meetings coming up I needed some new clothes, something I do about once every 2 years.   Shopping is easy for me as long as I am doing it, tan or brown colored Dockers, a blue or white shirt and I’m done.  My 4 year old belt looked pretty rugged so I bought one as well forgetting you need to buy one 2 inches longer than your waist size.  That’s what I did on Sunday, return it for a 40".  I was thinking about heading out for a little fishing on Sunday but with no one around to go, I decided to just keep moving down my things to do list.  I do have to tell you the garden is coming along well and the raspberries are in full season.  I've got a pretty good handle on the weeds this year however I'm afraid the 12 inches of rain we got in June has taken out my 2 mature Fireside Apple trees.  One is completely gone and the other isn't looking so good.  At first I thought that my initial orchard spray burned the trees but I had a hard time believing it.   Saturday morning's garden show on WCCO confirmed the worst, the wet spring was really hard on the trees.

Oysters ready to be shucked

At 7:00 on Monday morning the plane left for Boston with me on it, a 3 hour flight to meet my Eastern Sales Manager, Scott and call on customers.  Our first appointment on Monday at 2:00 so we stopped at Portsmouth (pronounced Port Smith) to have lunch.  With seafood abound we headed to find a place on the harbor to eat and their fresh broiled haddock was to die for.  Once done with our meetings we headed to Burlington, Vermont,  a place I’ve never been.  It was a fabulous drive as we finished that meeting then went back to Boston.  After arriving back our destination was downtown Boston to the Union Oyster House for some raw oysters and clams as an appetizer.  The Union Oyster House is the oldest continuous operating restaurant in the United States as it started serving in 1826.  The original soapstone bar where they crack open the oysters is still there, no worse for the wear.  After sucking down a couple dozen delicious and fresh oysters along with a couple dozen raw clams we moved on to the Chart House, a great on the wharf eating establishment.  Wednesday evening was already planned, my good friend Pablo Nayardy would pick me up and head over to his favorite place, the  Blue Ginger, started by an award winning chef, Ming Tsai.  Along with a great meal I got to ride in Pablo’s new 2005 Bentley GT as well, learn about his new acquisition, a vineyard in Hungary. For dessert we had a glass of the wine he is planning on making there, Tokaji Aszu or as he calls it, nectar if the kings.  It was a pretty incredible evening.  Returning to the hotel about 8:00 I had asked Scott if he had found his way up to Gloucester to see the Crow’s Nest where they filmed some of the Perfect Storm.  Only 20 minutes away we decided to take

Long Liner out of Gloucester

that off his bucket list as I've been there before.  It’s much like a tavern back home in Eleva, full of interesting characters with a few tourist (like us) that straggle in every once in a while.  After helping a Viet Nam veteran up to his room above we returned to find a guy sitting there with rubber fishing boots on.  Striking up a conversation it turned out to be a fascinating rest of the evening.  Leaving their port in St. Augustine, Florida, they work their way up following the fish be it tuna, swordfish, dolphin (Mai Mai) or sharks.  As the Gulf Stream moves the warmer waters north the fish follow and they are right behind.   Their boat is known as a long liners as they set out as much as 40 miles of line containing as many as 1500 hooks baited with squid.   The stories of his working on the boat, a 65 footer, and the excitement could have kept me there all night.  Unfortunately we did have to work the next day so we headed out but not before he invited us to see the boat and grab some swordfish bills he had sawed off for souvenirs.  Stating he preserves them by letting the red ants clean up the skin then soaking in a bath of bleach and Dawn soap.  Unfortunately they stunk pretty bad so we stopped at a Seven Eleven and bought some salt before putting them in my bathtub and salting them down.  It did help a little and not one to give up I repackaged them and checked them in.  Note, I am writing this on the plane ride back so well see if the TSA let them through.  If nothing else they’ll make a great conversation piece if I can get the smell out of them. Note: They did not show up with my baggage however as I questioned the person at the help desk at baggage claim, out came the box!

Unfortunately this is the week that I was supposed to go out to Lake Oahe with my friend Russ and Mark.  I was impossible to reschedule my Boston trip so I am curious how they did.  On the other hand my friend Bruce officially extended my invitation to fish Lac Seul again with him and Pete during the week after Labor Day so I’m pretty excited.  I might even bring my boat this time.  The plan is to finally get to Mille Lacs on Saturday to try my luck, it will be nice to get out.