Two Weeks and Counting

Being at a conference in Nashville since Monday, I finally got to post something.  Lot's of things are happening fast, the ice is slowly melting and by the looks of the Modis current satellite picture Mille Lacs is about 70% ice free while it looks like Leech is still struggling but it should be off by opener.  I have to admit that it seems as though the later the ice our, the better the fishing on Leech.  We will have to see how that goes but for the most part the walleyes will be quite shallow, which is nice.  Had the chance to get the Ranger 620FS out of storage last Friday.  Although she was in good shape, after getting her settled in the pole shed it was time to take a first look inside, and trust me, it wasn't pretty.  Apparently some mice had decided to shred up the paper towelling I had in the rear starboard storage area as well as the front port storage.  First opening the rear storage, what a mess as a whole roll of toweling was made into a mouse condo with a partial roll serving as it's toilet.  Other than the mess, it appears to be just cosmetic and got most of it cleaned.  Opening the left front compartment, the first thing I see is a mouse staring at me.  In a frantic attempt to make him pay for the mess that was in that compartment, it slipped away.  Frantically throwing stuff out to get an attempt at his life, no such luck as it was obvious it went down the drain hole in the corner.  Not even cleaning, a mouse trap baited with peanut butter was set and the compartment door closed, a look the next morning was successful as the score was now evened!  After 7 days of continual trapping opportunities it has appeared as though any resident mouse has been eliminated!  Now it's a matter of disinfecting everything, vacuuming, organizing my tackle and putting everything in it's place.  The Lowrance's have been installed and the latest and greatest software updates are loaded into each unit.  The electronics looks good but there is still a lot of cleaning and getting everything in order.

Okuma LOw Profile Line Counter Reel

Previous posts dealt with 2019 as a year to try out new strategies.  On our Leech Lake Fishing Opener one of my new strategies is to troll crankbaits along the shallow and rocky shorelines.  The usual procedure is to put on a #5 shad rap then put the lure in the water and put out about 8 passes of line out, hopefully about 100 feet or so.  What appeared this week in the mail box was a new Scheels sales flyer featuring a cool looking low profile line counter casting reel for trolling.   Usually line counter reels tend to be larger and more bulky however this reel looked like it would work pretty good.  There was a nice price on it in the flyer however it meant that a trip to St. Cloud, the closest Scheels store, would be needed.  Deciding to look online instead, and already sites reacting to the sale, I found it for $2.00 less and free delivery to the house.  It isn't that I would not enjoy a trip to Scheels, but the practical guy in me thinks, that would have cost at least $18 in gas so what the heck.  It will be delivered on Monday and I'll just take my favorite walleye trolling rig, throw on some 10 or 12 pound test monofilament line just in time for opener.  This way if one can establish a pattern, it will be a lot easier than guessing how much line one has behind the boat.  This should be a great rig for fall trolling on Mille Lacs or even getting those deeper diving lures down further than one can by casting.  Also I have the trolling app on my phone, you can easily look up a lure, with 10 pound test and 2 mph, it will tell you the depth the lure is running based on how much line one lets out.  It's a real nice app called the Precision Trolling.  Basically you buy the app and it updates the data when a new lure comes out.  Although the app is not free, the updates are. Now I just need to practice using my kicker motor more precisely!

Spring is definitely here with a lot of yard work to get caught up on.  Asparagus should be sprouting soon and our Texas ordered onions will show up next week.  It's supposed to snow tomorrow, if so it will not last for sure.

Easter Weekend

Beautiful Stream Caught Brown Trout

Time continues to fly like crazy, here it's another weekend coming up....Easter Weekend.  Today is Thursday, April 18 and it marks the 2 year anniversary of the passing of my mother, Betty Anderson.  It has changed our visiting habits as Easter was always a tradition we spent with my wife's uncle, we will still do that this weekend, however we will not drive down home to see mom.  It just makes you think about things.........oh well.  So in the fishing side of things, not much is happening except a lot of lakes around Minneapolis are ice free.  With only 3 weeks till opener, lets hope that old mother nature can put the ice melt on high and Leech will be ice free by May 10th.  We've had it really close a few time where we had to fish only certain spots as the ice was still filling up certain bays.  And who could not remember 2013's Team Walleye Leech Lake Opener when the ice never did go out and we ended up spreading Ron Edberg's ashes on the ice instead of fishing.  The forecast looks great for the next couple of weeks and with the warm sun and rain, I am sure things will be okay.  Actually the mid winter's heavy snow prevented as much ice as there could have been so it might not take too long.  I also think that a late ice out produces more fish as the male walleyes are quite shallow and the females may still be waiting to spawn. So earlier this week my good friend Mark Applen went with a friend of his down near Whitewater State Park, northeast of Rochester, MN to do some stream trout fishing with light tackle and spinners.  Telling Mark I needed a good picture for the blog, on Monday I got this text with a note that the fishing was fabulous.  I am glad that someone is at least getting out and wetting a line.  Embarrassingly I haven't been out since January 23rd of this year.  The heavy snows of February and March as well as my birthday put a damper on any practical fishing outings the last 3 months.  Of course this has left me posting my friends adventures but hey....at least someone is fishing!

Panther Remote Controlled Steering

So with Team Walleye's 46th Annual Leech Lake fishing opener in 3 weeks, it's probably a good idea to head up to Bill's and get my boat out of his pole shed.  That in itself is a long story but it definitely needs to happen this weekend.  There is a lot of things to do before taking her out on the water as she's been hibernating since October.  There are new software updates for all of the electronics on the boat, engines need to be started, especially the kicker as it hasn't been run for at least 9 months.  One of strategies that has proven to be successful is trolling #5 shad raps however it's taken a few years to get the hang of slow forward trolling with the 9.8hp kicker motor, especially now that I have the iTroll system for adjusting speed and the remote Panther T5 steering system, it is actually pretty nice.  My goal is to get more proficient with it and head to Lake Erie.  Putting in a plug for In Depth Outdoors, they had a great show on last week regarding fishing Lake Erie.  Actually one of their techniques was to use the front trolling motor running in the opposite direction of the kicker motor to help maintain a more constant speed.   I was on the forum, and actually asked the host, James Holst a question regarding this technique and he actually answered, that was pretty cool.  I recommend looking at all their recent shows, one of their recent ones was Lake Trout fishing in the fall on Lake Nipigon.  What was interesting is it was in the same area that I fished with back in the early 1970's with my friends the Tollefson's and the Semingson's.  That went back on the bucket list as well!

On Tuesday I pulled off my 54" front mounted snowblower attachment off the John Deere X734 lawn tractor.  The real purpose is to assure that the amount of accumulating snow is finished for the spring.  Now comes the hard part of cleaning the lower deck, sharpening the blades and getting everything properly greased then mounting it on the tractor.  It is on of these new...."simply drive on" attachment but after looking at the YouTube video, it doesn't look that easy.  Oh well it has to be done!

Another Storm

Snow Report Map From This Week's Storm

Well I warned my neighbor Todd.......don't take your curb markers out yet, we usually get dumped on in April but he didn't listen to me.  Starting on Wednesday and going to this morning, we definitely got dumped on!  Luckily everything is warm so the snow we did get was wet, slushy, and a lot of it melted.  They did get more to the north as there was colder weather just 50 miles away and it should bring the river back up again, we'll have to see.  Either way I did not remove my snow blower from the lawn tractor and that was a good thing as this snow is very heavy.  The blower attachment to my John Deere 728 does a fantastic job of clearing and what it didn't remove the sun will as we are predicting 60's by next Tuesday so this stuff won't last long.  I will need to head on up to Bill's place on Lake Mille Lacs and get my boat out of storage as opener is only 4 weeks away and there is a lot of work to be done to get everything ready.  Luckily we finally got our Team Walleye hats ordered and getting our signage done.  The lakes are still froze pretty tight up north but it won't take too much to clear them out as we are predicting rain next week.  In the meantime there has been a lot of thought about trying new things this year as well as utilizing the electronics a bit more intensively.  That is always a challenge but as they say, practice makes perfect.

Top Jig is Our Go To jig, Bottom is New Long Shanked Jig

There is a just released product that admittedly I am pretty excited about for this year.  In the past few weeks there has been a glimpse of some new strategies for walleye fishing in Canada this year, especially in the plastics, deep driving crank baits, and northern pike fishing areas.  Not to be outdone  Northland Tackle located in Bemidji, MN has introduced their new Long Shanked Fireball jig head.  The shank on the jig hook is at least 1/2 inch longer than the standard jig hooks we use and should work out much better for the jig and minnow combination that we normally fish.  While fishing Leech Lake for opener, we normally just take a standard short shafted jighead and hook the minnow through the lips then drift, dragging the jig along the bottom as we move.  The long shafted jig head is more suited for what is referred to as the "Canadian" style of hooking a minnow, basically one takes the hook and runs it through the mouth and out the gill.  Then you take the hook and embed it just by the dorsal fin of the minnow.  The problem is with larger minnows and the shorter shanked hooks, sometimes you can only get as far back as the back of the head.  One reason that is nice about having the hook back farther on the minnow is often a walleye will just grab half the minnow so with the hook back further one has a better chance of hooking the fish more quickly.  With that technique it isn't too unusual to catch 3 - 4 walleye on a single minnow which is nice as you spend more time catching and less time baiting your hook!  They had a 20% off sale earlier this week so I ordered enough for everyone, that is of course if they cough up some cash!  Bruce and Pete like gold so I got 25 of that color plus I like a chartreuse color so I ordered 25 of them plus as stated earlier, plastics might be the hot ticket this year so I bought 3 standup style jigs to try.  I can guarantee if it turns out to be the hot bait, I'll guarantee the price will reflect the success!

I have been looking at a jet boat for the River however will probably just get a new 25 hp outboard for my Jon Boat and be done with it.  There is some definite advantages as well as disadvantages with a standard propeller driven motor verses a Jet yet 95% of my river fishing will be just fine with the standard outboard.  Four weeks till the Minnesota Fishing Opener, I'm getting restless!

Signs of Spring

Galloway Park on the Mississippi River

Well, after a pretty hard winter, the month of March has brought what it normally does, warmer weather and snow melt.  This year saw an snowpack on the ground that was equivalent to the spring prior to the devastating floods of 1965.  There were some concerning flooding predictions this year as the first part of March saw a fairly rapid snow melt along with some local heavy rains.  Things settled down a bit with drier weather and freezing temperatures at night, it really slowed down the runoff.  The rivers have crested slightly above their flood stages and even though there are areas of concern, for the most part things are looking good as the rivers are starting to recede.   Behind the house the Mississippi has peaked and is going down.  Every 10 years or so it overflows into the neighbors pasture and into Galloway Park, just on the border of Champlin and Dayton, MN.  Stopping by this morning to snap this picture, although the water is still running across the road, if the projected rains forecasted for this weekend stay on the light side, it should still be headed back to normal.  With Temperatures scheduled to be in the 60's and  the below normal amount of ice on the lakes this year, ice out should be pretty much normal this year, no one was talking about this at the end of February, the predictions were a late ice out.  It is amazing how fast things can change this time of year as it looks like our Team Walleye 46th Annual Minnesota Fishing Opener will be just perfect.  Mark Mayerich has been working especially hard on this as we have lot's of things to do, organize the meals, bait, signs, new hats, it's not that easy, but it'll get done!

Picture Perfect Fish

A dream trip of mine is to try and schedule a trip to fish the Port Clinton Ohio area of Lake Erie in early April.  My friends Kevin and Ben Aiona headed there last Sunday as I was supposed to drop off some lures for him.  Unfortunately I never made it which was OK anyway, they had left by noon and when I did call them they were in Chicago already.  Ben has an 18 foot Ranger 618T with a 90 hp Mercury Tiller.  Maybe somewhat of a small boat but they managed.  On Monday night Ben sent me a picture of this beautiful and fat 27 inch walleye.  I sent this to my friends and we all agreed that the measuring stick they used must be wrong as that looks bigger than 27.  Apparently they got there, figured out a system however it took them almost all day to find clear water and when they did, they were able to catch 4 nice walleyes.  According to Ben the walleyes were in 40 feet of water suspended up around 20 feet deep.  Using well known trolling apps and line counter reels one can easily calculate how much line one needs out, at what speed to make a certain bait run in the strike zone of 20 feet.  His report yesterday was a little better as Kevin tested this at about the same time they caught the big on pictured at 4:00:  We are at 34 so far today.  All on Bandits, 75 to 100 feet back, 1.0 - 1.7 mph.  I would say 24 is our biggest and 20 is the smallest in the box.  It was a better bite his morning.  He sent me another picture and it looks like it was a little more rougher seas, as well the fish was smaller...maybe something for next week.

Walleye caught by the Wolf River Cam, Shiocton 2 Site

One of the things that is going are the Wolf River Camera's, underwater camera's on the Wolf River, northwest of Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin.  The cameras record the fish migration up the river to spawn and although many of the fish are suckers, there are quite a few walleyes and there was even a sturgeon that swam by today.  To the left is a screen shot of a nice walleye swimming by.  There has been some larger females however for the most part the majority of the walleyes have been the smaller males.  It's cool looking at these as one never knows what will swim by.  As well they often travel in small groups so if one swims by, chances are a couple more will follow.  The have 5 different areas along the river however it seems as though only Shiocton 1, Shiocton 2, and New London are operating.  Someone put a sinker in front of the New London camera as well I think the Shiocton 1 and 2 cameras are more active these days.  As the water gets warmer, more toward next week the migration will definitely pick up.  Maybe you will get to see that massive sturgeon swim by!

Successful Sportshow

Well, Thursday's excursion with my friend Lory Brasel was extremely successful as measured by the fact that we stayed to just before closing time, about 4 1/2 hours.  Basically I bribed Lory to go to the show with free admission tickets, he drives, and I'll buy the first beers!  Arriving at the show around 4:30 the three goals we to first see Frankies, my boat dealer and discuss the need for a replacement motor on my jon boat.  Deb and Frankie were in Texas for the last month and they really take care of me well.  Second was to try and spend some quality time with the Lowrance people.  Usually at most shows the majority of the guys are field guys, basically we'll give you a great price but you need to work XX amount of hours at our sponsored events, however the Northwest Sportshow often has factor guys in the booth, a big upgrade.  The third thing I was looking for included possible northern Saskatchewan or the Northwest Territories to possibly fish large northern pike and pig lake trout.  Of course I would definitely include my friend Bruce as he has the transportation to get there!  The first stop was Frankies as I had a nice talk with both Frankie and Deb.  They are an amazing couple and after a few minutes we got down to business......I need a new 25 hp short shaft tiller for my boat.  We sort of decided that an Evinrude might be the best choice, I actually have a line on a Riverpro Jet boat, we'll have to see.  My next stop was the Lowrance booth as I had about 6 major issues to discuss.  My arrival at the booth found myself listening to a field guy try and help out a customer that wanted to connect both his regular transducer and this Minnkota trolling motor transducer to his main Lowrance unit.  After listening to the field guy search for adaptor cables and the like, I could not stand it anymore and told the guy that there was a much easier fix, simply buy a used HDS Gen 3 and mount it to the console then network to your "Main" unit in the front.  What they were discussing was complicated and starting to add the dollars up.  I told the guy in the end, he'd have a better system and the same amount of money invested without having to relay on a "cute" solution that isn't very versatile.  Well a real factory guy came by and heard my discussion and agreed with me which allowed me to quickly transition to my first issue which was the application of Genesis Live, a new program for the new depth finders like my HDS Carbons, that will actually draw a detailed map of the bottom contour as you travel across the water.  I have talked with some knowledgeable field guys in the past but this guy was amazing.  I can actually create maps as long as my transducer is reading the bottom,  Although the best speed is 20 mph max, at my cruising speed of 35 mph on Lac Seul I should have no issue!  Also it is recommended to just leave it on as I fish and move around with the trolling motor, it will record the bottom contours very accurately.  Great news and I cannot wait to try this in Canada.  My next question was my sonichub is a 2.0 and the new one is 2.1, what's the difference.  Apparently nobody knows! We talked about the release of their new trolling motor, I suspect I will have one as soon as they become available.

3.5 inch Swim Minnow in Reel Shad Color

One of the more interesting booths was the Pro Tour Baits, a guy from Rice Lake, Wisconsin who pours his own plastic baits. They remind me of the plastic baits I bought in Texas last year from  Lake Fork Tackle, they have a distinctive garlic based scent to the plastic however they have a more a focused selection for walleye fishing.  His display has a lot of bass type plastics and they are usually packaged in large quantities of 30 - 50 lures.  I discussed my strategies for fishing more plastics this year, especially at Lac Seul and asked what his recommendations were.  First on the topic of a lure, he had a 3.5 inch Swim Minnow that looked pretty good and as well this style of bait has been productive on our trips.  Secondly was the question of color.  The water is coffee colored so I always picked a highly visible color like chartreuse, yellow, or glow in the dark, however his suggestion was to go with dark or more natural colors.  Our go to live bait is the standard Rainbow Shiner which have a distinctive red, yellow, or blueish strip on their lateral line.  I ended up

Ned Rig With Flat to Sit on Bottom

with their Reel Shad color a standard dark top, whitish bottom with a gold strip, maybe it caught me more easily however I am excited to try this both on Leech as well as Lac Seul. The combination of color and scent might just be the ticket for the walleyes this year!  Another thing we looked at was the Ned Rig.  admittedly new to this term, they had a special jig head just for Ned Rigging.  So a Ned Rig is simply a lighter weight mushroom shaped jig head, usually 1/8 ounce or lighter, with a smaller piece of plastic threaded onto the jig head.  It really doesn't look like much yet the reports state it is a deadly combination for catching both bass and walleye.   Pro Tour had a standard mushroom jig head with a flat spot added to the bottom of the jig head at a 45 degree angle to the hook.  Basically the rig simply sits on the bottom with the plastic sitting up from the bottom and the fish simply swim by and smash it.  Well, we'll see about that!  Anyway after buying a nice bag of Swim Minnows he brought out the heavy artillery, his special molded jig heads and a special plastic to use in a "special" color.  Well nobody in their right mind could refuse that offer and we parted with another $9.00.  I am thinking that the points we fish on Lac Seul might be perfect for this type of rig, but I guess I am saying that for the new plastics and colors as well as the drop shotting strategy as well, oh, so many new things to try, so little time!

The third thing that was researched was lakes in northern Manitoba, Saskatchewan, or the Northwest Territories that one could fly to on your own and still fish.  Most of the resorts claim trophy Northern Pike, trophy Lake Trout and grayling fishing.  Because I would have to count on my friend Bruce to agree to fly to one of these places, there was a need to research the airstrip and  aviation gas (100 Octane) availability as well as access to the resorts.  Most were very helpful yet often warned that their runways were gravel based and the plane had to be set up for this.  Asking Bruce what this meant, basically gravel get's sucked into the prop doing damage to the leading edge.  There is a prop edge protector that is used in these situations that protects the prop from damage by the gravel, apparently Bruce doesn't have this.  Not that I am running this show, just a bystander gathering information but it is one of the destinations on my bucket list so we'll just have to see!  It was kind of fun, when you start throwing around terms that I have learned from Bruce, these guys treat you differently, that in itself is a lot of fun.  Last but not least, besides buying so new plastic lures the Sportshow is the time to renew the Outdoors News, a weekly publication of Minnesota related fishing and hunting news.  Also towards the end I was able to discuss the state of the flagpole that I have had in my yard for at least 20 years.  Uncommon USA, in Wilmar, MN made the telescoping flagpole and after the years mine was getting wore out.  I asked the guy about a slot that had developed in the bottom hole and he asked which direction it was, up or down.  After we discussed he offered a very good price to replace it, the pole was beefed up more since my original purchase as well it included both and American Flag as well as a Green Bay Packer flag.  I got it replaced last weekend and it looks great!

Northwest Sportshow

Sportshow from above

It's that time of year again to attend the Northwest Sportshow here at the Convention Center in Minneapolis.  It is one of the largest sportshow's in the Midwest and it is always a great time to get caught up on the latest and greatest as well, to get some of those year long nagging questions answered.  Almost everyone who is in the industry is there including the boat and motor manufacturers, bait and tackle manufacturers, resorts, vacation destinations, and pretty much anything you would be wanting for upcoming fishing season.  Frankie and Deb from Frankie's Bait and Marine are back from their late winter getaway in south Texas and I am anxious to talk about motor options for my river boat.  Lowrance electronic will be there and in fact one of the things they offer is Lowrance University, an hour long course specifically about their products and how to use them.....I have a ton of questions for them, especially after their recent announcement of the Lowrance trolling motor.  There has been a lot of changes in the industry lately, especially in consolidations of brands.  Alumacraft boats has been bought by BRP, of course Ranger Boats was purchased a few years ago by Johnny Morris's group, Bass Pro Shops, who last year has purchased Cabela's and continues to make changes.  All of these things contributes to new sets of paradigms the change the way the fishing industry presents itself.  Specifically I had a great conversation with a Lowrance guy at Cabela's a couple of weeks ago, which has me thinking about looking at the next level.  Garmin has really stepped up to the plate and it is exciting to see some of the new things they are offering and whether everyone else will follow suit. 

Shimano Calcutta Casting Reel

With it looking like I will have a lot more time this year to fish, one of the things on the agenda is to look for new adventures, maybe Canada, Central America, I don't know, something that I haven't tried yet.  The last couple of months found a couple of nice Berkley Lightning Spinning rods find a home in the shed.  One was for my friend Joe in Texas, one for catfishing on the river, as well a new crappie rod.  Unfortunately while in the shed I found a couple of older but still very functional Shimano Calcutta bait casting reels.  These are premium reels that were popular when the old Garcia Ambassadors and higher end casting reels became available.  Instead of a magnetic spool breaking system they have centrifugal weights that you slide in and out based on how much spool braking you prefer.  Today most casting reels tend to be low profile with magnet braking,  however these are still quite functional yet the problem is they are not mounted to anything.  Those Lightning Rods had some in the casting category and at $29 each would have been perfect.  Feeling guilty that they are simply sitting there without a home forces me to look at the show to see if there are any deals for  maybe a 6 1/2 foot medium heavy casting rod, something that can be kept pre rigged for catfishing on the river, dang that sounds like a great idea!  I continue to be in awe of the convenience of the whole thing. 

Our snow is finally leaving us and the threat of flooding continues to be in the forecast.  Luckily it's been pretty dry and although it melts during the day, we have seen below freezing temperatures at night, mitigating the flooding risk somewhat.  Either way the sunshine and warmth really feel nice.  I am looking forward to maybe a last ice fishing outing before the ice finally goes out, that could easily take 6 weeks or more.  Here's hoping it will be out by May 10th, fishing opener in Minnesota.

Looking Forward to Soft Water

Leech Lake, Minnesota Fishing Opener

Last weeks post dealt with the boredom of the dang weather we have been having, the current fishing sales that were going on, and the strategies for the upcoming fishing season, which leads into the next discussion of when and where to use these new strategies.  Unfortunately this weeks post was to be about a bass fishing adventure with my friend Bruce Wiley.  He was going to pick me up in Dallas but that ended up getting cancelled.  The weather has been quite unsettled from Texas all the way to Minnesota so reality is we might still be there!  So what does the landscape for fishing trips look this year?  Of course our 46th Annual Leech Lake Opener starts on May 10th and we fish for 3 days before heading back home on Tuesday the 14th.  At last count we have a full house with 22 guys going again.  Leech Lake will have a new regulation this year, one can keep 4 fish which only 1 walleye can be over 20 inches.  Last years regulation was 4 fish however everything between 20 and 26 had to be released but you could keep 1 over 26 if so desired. That's a entirely different topic in itself and will be reserved for a future post!  This year I am going to try more plastics as well look for new areas to troll #5 shad raps in the 5 - 7 feet of water, as I am getting more proficient with my kicker motor. 
Right after that is usually our trip to the Canadian Fishing Opener at Lac Seul with Bruce and the crew of 6 guys.  I have sort of assumed I am going to be invited however admittedly I tend to have more anal planning needs than most people so truth be told, the invitation hasn't been formally announced.  Focusing on some newer locations as well as yet to be tried techniques, the only thing that would be of any concern is if the ice is off the lake by that time.  The forecast is looking more normal these days so it remains optimistic.  Another optimistic sign is the desire to catch and eat some northerns while at the camp at Lac Seul Outposts.  When the subject was breached regarding looking for a specific Northern Pike bite on Lac Seul, it was met with a stern "I'm not putting up with those bones!".  Assuring him of my filleting abilities and the fact that IMHO northern pike have more texture and flavor than walleyes, that pursuit is looking more possible.   Another thing that was found is a website hosted by Ontario, which has a general map of the province then the ability to zoom in to specific lakes or areas within a large lake, like Lac Seul.  In the final steps of zooming in the view turns to a satellite overlay of  the area.  What's nice about this is you can actually see any rapids that is associated with any rivers that dump into the lake, which by the way, are great areas to fish.  Also you can get a feel for whether area's are able to allow a boat to get through, potential weed and stump areas, which are all great pike habitat.  You can view that link  here.

Lac Seul NE Section

The third week in June has also been a weekend to spend at Lac Seul with the boys.  The fish are more scattered and deeper which might make some of those  strategies discussed last week, very deadly!  July has been a quiet month however this year he thought is to try and get out to Devil's Lake, North Dakota.  My friend Kevin Aiona and his son Ben are very good at fishing this lake and maybe they will let me join them.  The first week in August, at least for the last 2 years has been spent at the Fisherman's Cove on the opposite side of Lac Seul in the northwest corner.  That's been a fun place to fish yet there hasn't been any indication of a trip this year.  My I'm being over anxious so something might develop in the next week or so.  If not, August is prime time on the Mississippi River behind the house.  There is some work to do to get ready but it will be done by the August time frame!  The third week in September is usually our last trip for the year to Lac Seul Outpost.  By that time the new strategies should be ironed out and deemed successful or not.  This year it is rumored that our good friend Ricky Shermer is going with us.  That will be a blast for sure, that is if we can keep both of his feet on the ground!  Of course October would not be complete without trout fishing with Bill, although it's getting harder each year because of the non typical launch access, we'll figure it out.

There are a number of things on the bucket list for fishing.  My brother Steve and I have been talking about going to Portland, Oregon to visit his son, and maybe go halibut fishing off the coast.  Although not as big as in Alaska, it would still be worth trying it, along with maybe some other saltwater species.  The topic of fishing the big walleyes on Lake Erie is often mentioned.  The 620 Ranger would be a perfect boat for this and the thought of a stringer of ten pounders sounds pretty exciting.  It really isn't that far to drive and Kevin has been out there before, maybe he could come along and help guide us.  Green Bay is also becoming a destination for big walleye.  There is still a commitment to get to Dallas and fish bass with both Joe and Matt, we'll have to see how that develops this year.  The topic of one more trip to Alaska has come up and as well I might like to horn in on Gary Barneson's deal at Cobb Bay Resort on Sturgeon Lake, just east of Lac Seul. Oh, So many things so little time!

Time to Think About This Year's Strategies

Bass Pro Shop Logo

Bass Pro Shops bought Cabela's in September of 2017.  Bass Pro Shops always had a special place for a lot of us in the Midwest, probably because the closest store was either in Omaha or Chicago so it wasn't someplace you'd just hop in the car and go, yet their catalog was huge and was really catered to the southern fisherman.  However the catalog always had a good offering to us Midwest guys.  Admittedly it was a lot of fun when you had the chance to stop at a Bass Pro Shop store as they are generally quite large and have a huge selection of everything.  For some reason I felt that Cabela's had better clothing and as well I am not a big fan of logo's plastered all over their clothing as to me it looked cheap.  Usually the opportunity to visit a store came at the end of business trips, as stated the Denver, Colorado store, the Gurney Mills, Illinois store, or the one in Grapevine Texas, through the years I've become more open to their stuff and really like their socks and Redhead casual pants.  Well the Cabela's store, 6 miles from the house, has turned into a smaller Bass Pro Shop and most of the stuff that I enjoy are now available very close.  They have a real nice fishing sale that just ended on March 3 and it was definitely taken advantage of.  In the last couple of posts you can see that my collection of spinning rods increased by a couple.  Sunday was the last day and I had been thinking about plastics as most

A few of the Powerbait colors

were on sale.  Besides using plastic to break up the routines on Lac Seul, there has been a nagging thought about trying either power grubs or crayfish shaped plastics on the river for smallmouth bass.  The river runs pretty fast so it may prove to be a challenge however it might be alot of fun.  So with that in mind I added to my collection a few more colors of Berkley's PowerBait Pro Grubs.  Of course they do work pretty well on Lac Seul anyway but it will be interesting to see how well they perform on the Mississippi River this summer.  At Lac Seul, these 3 inch grubs are inserted on a 1/4 ounce jig with a wire keeper and worked along the bottom.  For the smallmouth it is recommended that you pair them with a lighter mushroom head jig, maybe 1/16 - 1/8 ounce weighted head.  Although that seems light, it just might be the thing to keep the jig out of the rocks along the bottom of the areas we fish.  Unfortunately you will have to wait at least 5 months before there will be any results of this strategy!  Admittedly it is fun shopping for this stuff.

Drop Shotting

One of the other things that has me thinking is a technique call "Drop Shotting".  Usually done for bass, it is reported that people catch a lot of walleyes on these rigs.  Often classified as a finesse rig, a strategic way to catch pressured fish, it may have some practicality on Lac Seul for walleyes when you are marking them on the graph yet they refuse to bite.  If one thinks about it when you fish a 1/4 ounce jig with a minnow it's usually on the bottom and fish either have to notice the jig movement or be looking down.  With the drop shot rig the hook is above the bottom, often 9 - 15 inches above the sinker, therefore any walleye cruising the bottom will see the bait at their level or slightly above, and we all know a walleye's eyes are basically on the top of their head, so it only makes sense.  The bait used in with this rig can be plastic, a live minnow, a leech, or crawler.  Hence forth the secondary reason to get some more PowerBait!   One can also buy special drop shot sinkers that will easily disengage when they get snagged up.  Dang it, I was just forced to stock up on these components as well, for no other reason other than to find out if this strategy will prove to be productive, I will even try it on Leech Lake for opener this year.  Here again open water is about 60 days away with opener in just 66 days.  Something tells me that my boat partners will be begging me to rig them up this year so I had better have enough for everyone.....dang it, looks like I will be waiting for the next sale to start.

Speaking of open water in 60 days, although it seems impossible looking out the window these days, a lot can change quickly this time of year.  This weekend weather report is that broken record we discussed last week.  A huge low pressure system will meet up with the colder air and even though we will be in the low 30's it is projected that it could dump up to 15 inches of wet snow on Saturday alone.  That would easily double the amount of water laying on the ground so it's apparent what the events of this weekend will be.  Gas up the John Deere and start moving that white stuff around!

Broken Record

Dire situation on Mille Lacs, Sunday Morning

Thinking about this weeks post forces me to look backwards at the one last week and decide what was the big event as this is Fishin' With Dave, not What the Heck is Dave Doing,  yet the current weather situation here in Minnesota has forced this to become exactly that.  Getting older doesn't help either yet much of my time has been spent removing snow or helping people.  As posted last week, normally this would be about our Perch Extravaganza experience but the heavy snows of the last month really put a damper on this and in fact although they had a record crowd  yet for this year hindsight is definitely 20/20.  Mille Lacs Lake has about 18 inches of snow on it, much of the snow is light and fluffy, the type that can really get blown around easily.  Saturday night was the backside of the storm and for Minnesota that usually means the counter clockwise rotation of the low pressure as it moves east, the winds roars out of the northwest as it is squeezed between the outgoing low and the incoming high pressure system that rotates clockwise, and blow it did.  We had winds Saturday night and into Sunday afternoon of over 45 mph, essentially blizzard conditions.  With the light snow it really drifted and if you were on Mille Lacs with a wheel house and didn't get off the lake before the big blow, you were stuck.  Apparently hundreds of wheel houses got drifted in and had to wait for the resort plows to get them out.  Check out this link for the story.  I guess 10 years ago we would have toughed it out as it would just be another story in our minds.  Today, Russ, Mark and myself look pretty dang smart for staying away.  I still missed the event but there will be next year!

Down the Road to the Pole Shed

So the title, Broken Record.  Many of you know exactly what that means yet others recognize the
phase but are not sure of it's origin.  In the 60's us kids used to play records, 45's (so named as they rotated at 45 RPM) and LP's (so named as they were Long Play albums with 10 - 15 songs).  Records had grooves with the music profile etched into those groves then a fine needle, usually made out of sapphire would travel in those grooves turning the mechanical bumps and valleys into music. Often times a record would get a scratch on it causing the needle to jump back to the previous groove and it would simply sit there and keep repeating itself until you bumped the needle to the next groove.  Well this weather is like a broken record!  Snow then cold, snow then cold.  As last week stated, and today being the last day of February, we have set the modern day record for the amount of snow and it shows.  Waking up yesterday there was another 2 inches of the fluffy stuff.  I decided to stop and take a picture, it was sort of pretty if one wasn't sick of dealing with this.  If you notice on the left side, which with a strong Northwest wind, would be the side where it drifts, the tops of the snow banks have been pushed back further into my yard to accommodate the next snow fall.  Interesting but March is usually our snowiest month.  The National Weather Service is already issuing it's flood predictions for this spring and depending on how fast it melts or how much snow and rain we get in the next 6 weeks will be a big determining factor.   One can usually figure on about the equivalent of an inch of rain in each 10 inches of snow.  With February's 30+ inches of snow there is a lot of water stored up in the Mississippi drainage area, it will definitely be interesting.  Floods tend to change the river quite a bit...some for the good, some for the bad.  At least it gives me a good reason to get in the boat and go exploring!

So I did do something fishing related this week, Cabela's is now owned by Bass Pro Shops and everything I like about Bass PRo is now at the Cabela's store just 6 miles form the house.  Two weeks ago the discussion was about a Berkley Lightning Rod, a very nice fishing rod on Sale for $29.95.  Although we are not going to Dallas, I still consider the rod/reel combination that was bought is still Joe's.  Thinking about maybe a heavier rig for catfishing, I did buy the 6'6" Medium Heavy 1 piece spinning rod with an appropriate matching reel to handle 12 pound test line, perfect for heavy sinker, cat fishing on the river.  It will also be a nice crankbait rod and my neighbor Todd will do a lot better with it.  Also it was time to renew my Navionic's chip that is in the GPS on the Ranger, it does an excellent job mapping Lac Seul.  The offer is the same as last year's....$100.00 to renew the yearly update subscription or $49.00 for a new chip with 1 year's updates included.........duh!  I already have buyers for the old chip if needed and if push comes to shove, it will be a good spare for the Jon Boat.  Either way you can't go wrong!  I did get to help my friend Bruce in Garrison and see Bill and his mother, both were a nice way to spend a Saturday.

When it Rains It Pours

This year's Extravaganza Logo

OK, maybe when it snows it really snows!!!  Events of the last few days have severely impacted the next few weeks plans and there is little I can do.  February has proven to be quite wintery this year, so much that as of today it has become the snowiest February on record.  Admittedly in the grand scheme of things, it's only since records have been kept, maybe the mid 1800's so maybe 150 years, however I guess what really counts is today, and we will surpass the old record of 26.5 inches of snow set in 1962.  Before this morning we were at 22.6 and I know we have had at least 9 inches at the National Weather Service so we are over 31 inches and this weekend could be another 10.  Admittedly this is one of the things that has put a damper on the planned activities for Saturday, Johnson's Portside Perch Extravaganza, held the last saturday in February at Hunter's Point Resort on the east side of Mille Lacs.  Usually there is Mark, Randy, Russ, Mike, and myself with our wheel houses grouped together were we enjoy some time together, we cook lunch before heading into Hunter's Point  to attend the door prize drawing, on where they give away about $100,000 worth of great stuff.  Well, beings somewhat disorganized and with probably 17 inches of snow on the ice, our routine of staying together is just not going to happen.  The last time we had this much snow on the ice, there was so much weight on the ice, large tracts of water came up onto the ice making it almost impossible to pack up.  Add that to a couple of different factors, Mark had carpal tunnel surgery a few weeks ago, as we have gotten older, fighting the snow isn't so much fun anymore, it just may be that instead of dragging our wheel houses up we might just attend the drawing.  Adding insult to injury and as mentioned earlier, Saturday could have big snows associated with it, maybe it would be a good year to skip, we will see on Saturday morning.  I can tell you that they are warning of the snow depth and the ban on Wheel Houses in the front area of the drawing area.  It's too bad as I suspect there could be a lot of money being spent on Custom plowing but that's not my call. 

Great Advice!

It's probably good as I need to take care of some stuff around home anyway.  The other issue that has been changed is my trip to see my friends Matt Davis and Joe Stanfield, my plan to meet my other friend Bruce near Dallas and fly back to Minneapolis with him.  Bruce was planning on a week's getaway from this God Awful snow in South Texas, I'd meet him in Dallas spending a few days bass fishing before heading back through Springfield, Missouri then back to Crystal Airport.  Well last night Bruce's traveling partner and wife slipped on the ice shattering her wrist.  A couple hour surgery and the followup appointment has put that trip on hold, which is fine, I have my own issues as well.  It's too bad as I get really into the planning aspect of this, even bought Joe an new fishing rod, some plastic worms, and terminal tackle, I told Bruce that we will just have to fly down on our own sometime and test that southern Texas hospitality!  I did drive up to see my friend Bill Lundeen last Saturday and picked up my ice fishing equipment that I loaned him of a guide trip he had.  Bill is still going to guide on Lake Mille Lacs this summer so I threatened him I would buy this shirt for him!  I guess if you have ever guided people fishing you would understand what this means!  So Bill calls me, as a couple of weeks ago he asked me to pick up a Live Trap special at Fleet Farm, I did.  Where did you set the traps?......Sorry they are still in my pole shed, CRS dang it!!  He laughed and maybe if I go to the drawing on Saturday I could drop them off, we'll see.   With the current issues at home I don't know when I will get out next, all that can be said for certain is the John Deere with the snowblower attachment will get plenty of use these next few days!

Middle of February

Tulibee's

The snow just keeps piling up as we have just moved into the 4th snowiest February on record with in excess of 20 inches for the month and it's only the middle of February.  As stated last week, the snow has really put the damper on fishing, not that I don't think about it yet the amount of snow on Lake Mille Lacs is restricting travel to plowed roads and no "off road" travel is suggested at all.  Last weekend I ran up to my friend, Bill Lundeen, former owner of Lundeen's Tackle Castle.  Our relationship is built on our love for fishing and not just another customer.  Admittedly that's how it started!  Bill still is doing some guide work and this time of year, there is usually a large corporate event that entails snowmobiling, ice fishing, whatever trips your fancy up north.  We talked about how interesting it is, some of these guys are from the southern United States, and really never get to experience snow.  Well the snow came just in time for these guys as the snowmobile trails around Mille Lacs are in excellent shape but the lake offers some challenges as there is about 12 inches covering the ice.  Nevertheless they rent like 3 ice houses from Mac's Twin Bay Resort and Bill is the guide in charge of helping the rookies out, showing them how to operate everything.  As well, I dropped off my portable Eskimo Pop Up  Insulated Ice Shelter, my FL28 depth finder, a Marcum underwater camera, and a couple of portable Propane heaters to keep everything warm.  I have become so dependent on my Vexilar FL28, I could probably fish without it however what would be the point as it makes everything much more enjoyable.  The guest's look at this and more than likely think it's crazy yet it is amazing to watch.  The tulibee's were biting and they are fun to watch on the Vexilar as these fish tend to chase the bait quite a distance vertically.  They had a few walleyes on but the tulibee's were the star of the show.  Bill likes to smoke them as they are a type of whitefish.  Admittedly I like to catch them as they are quite active on the depth finder and they put up a good fight.  As well, I like them pickled, they are like pickled herring and are pretty good, that is if I can get either Mark Applen to make it or at least give me his recipe!  This weekend might be a great time to go pick up my equipment and head out on one of the plowed roads for some ice fishing.  I guess we'll have to see how it goes.

Soft Sided Worm Binder

Although things might change, I am still getting ready for the Texas Bass Fishing adventure on
March 8th.  One of the things that needed to be done was to organize the collection of wacky worm components that has been accumulated.  Keeping it all in one place and to have everything at your fingertips, a quick trip to Cabela's and they had the perfect item, a soft sided, medium sized worm binder, perfect!  It has about 12 ziplock plastic "pages" to store your worms, a series of pockets on the inside of the covers to put your hooks in, it will fit nice in my suitcase and will allow myself to have everything at my fingertips.  Originally the plan was to simply take a few things with but not now!  It wasn't too expensive either, under $20.00.  The next thing that needs to be addressed is an adequate spinning combo for Bruce.  Something like a fairly stiff Medium action 6'6" 1 piece rod with a nice reel that will handle 10 pound monofilament line, maybe a 3000 or 3500 series reel.  Cabela's had some really nice deals on Black Friday weekend, some $70 Pflueger's for $34.99, it was a heck of a deal and I got 2 but now maybe I should have bought an extra, seems like there is always a need for another reel!  Today that same reel is sale priced at $49.99.   As I always say............Oh Well!  I have been telling Bruce how much fun wacky worming for bass is, simply cast the worm out, it is heavy enough to slowly sink on it's own and when you see the line take off, set the hook and hang on!  I guess one just has to experience it yourself!

Having things to do today, I am finishing up the post later.  Last year we were having trouble with my main starting/electronics battery in the Ranger boat.  It is a series 31 AGM and has performed well up until last summer where it would only last a few hours before one had to jump it with a trolling motor battery.  Last fall I traded the battery in for a new one, it only had 39 months on it yet the warranty was for 36 months...not much one could do.  Well the Interstate guy took my battery from the dealer, checked it out and said it was fine.  I suspect something is wrong with my onboard charger and will have to look at this more closely when the snow finally leaves us.  Today I picked up my old "good" battery and brought up my 25 hp Mercury that is one my Jon Boat which is used on the river.  Deciding it could use a good tuneup and carb cleaning.  Almost back to work and the mechanic called me, the bottom cylinder is scored and it's really not worth fixing.  Well, that changes things and I will be making a decision on my river boat soon as it definitely needs a new or different motor.  My age has me thinking of electric start this time.  It sure would be nice!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

Snow plowing in Minnesota

Oh, the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we've no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Boy this could not be more true than is has been this week! On Tuesday we had about 4 inches then after an evening of reprieve another 4 to 6 inches is expected today.  The cold air will rush in for the weekend before more snow is forecasted for next week.  All this has put a damper on the original plans to head up to Mille Lacs for an evening of fishing as it will take them at least a few days to deal with the snow in getting the roads back open and ready for the wheel houses.  Besides the snow we will be just on the edge of a blizzard warning  so there is no reason to push things.  Besides watching a rather boring Superbowl at our neighbors house, we did head to Eau Claire to have lunch with my niece's daughter who is going to school in Eau Claire.  Although I did not get a chance to stop at Scheels, it was fun to see her as we ended up at the Olive Garden.  This is the week that I usually am in Anaheim, California however this year did not work out very well.  Talking to a friend he said it was cold, in the low 60's there........heck, based on last weeks temperatures, 60 degrees would be 90 degrees warmer than last Wednesday morning's temperature of -30, personally it could not have been that bad!  This last weekend it warmed up and gave a chance to deal with some maintenance issues like changing the oil on the Honda generator.  I am pretty sure that the manual suggests changing oil every 100 hours yet because it runs on ECO mode most of the time, with little load attached, as well the oil used is a Mobil 1, 5W-30, fully synthetic, extended range oil so realistically there is close to 300 hours on the oil before it's changed.  Actually the oil isn't too dirty and it uses only 13.5 ounces of oil per change so it isn't too hard to do.  The other issue that been keeping me busy is cleaning and restocking the Salem as we get ready for the Perch Extravaganza at the end of the month. Things like getting the propane tanks filled, the inside dried out, the cupboards restocked, and the stuffed reorganized and put away.  One thing was to get a propane torch for the tool box.  It was -22 below when we packed the Salem up at Red a couple of weeks ago and when we tried to raise the house up to pin the axles, the cold weather had stiffened the grease in the axles enough to prevent them from moving, which they usually do by their shear weight.  Marked asked me for a propane torch to heat the grease however a simple pulling on the spring allowed it to get back in place.  Nevertheless I figured it would be good to have a torch in the house so we are ready for most any emergency.

It has been really cold!!!

After this weekend the phase of cold weather should be behind us.  Besides snow removal, I'd like to get up to my friend Bill Lundeen's, he has a guide trip next week and I always let him use some of my equipment.  There is a Sports Show in St. Cloud this weekend, I always enjoy going to them.  One interesting thing that happened while blowing snow with my John Deere lawn tractor is that something punctured the plastic window in the door of the cab.  Deciding to try this clear Flex Tape to repair it I brought it to work and went to the local Walmart and found a roll for about $13.00.  Admittedly that stuff is crazy.  The goofy guy on Television cuts a small boat in half then uses it to hold it together then takes it out on the water.  Well, I believe it now as the warning inside the roll says: Test in an inconspicuous place before using.  Tape is not intended to remove cleanly.  May damage surface during attempt to remove.  Well, they are not kidding!  It is truly amazing how strong that stuff is and my first attempt didn't sit right and I was able to get it off but just barely!  The window is good for the rest of the winter but just in case I called my John Deere dealer on getting a replacement door.  After a day he calls back, says that I might as well call their supplier direct and deal with them.  He gave me the part number, the 1-800 number, and the price, $30.00 for a replacement panel.  Heck that is a pretty reasonable price so I called an ordered one figuring the repaired one will be okay till the end of the season and it can be dealt with when it's warmer out!!!.  The other thing I am working on is my trip to Dallas on March 8th.  Locating all of my bass tackle isn't easy in the cold and I have my boat stored up north so that's out of the question.  I have found most of the stuff and

Wacky Worm Setup

only need to get a new O ring tool which isn't much.  When fishing Joe's tanks are bait of choice is the sinking plastic worm, rigged Wacky style.  Basically an O ring put in the middle of the worm then a hook goes under the O ring.  It is quite deadly and luckily on February 15th Cabela's/Bass Pro has their O ring tool on sale for $5.00, cheap enough!  I have enough time to secure everything I need as our friend Matt has already sent pictures of a recent bass outing that was met with some success.  In another month it will be even warmer and the bass should be biting better.  It was a fabulous time last spring when we fished Joe's Tank's and it will be nice to see those guys again and fish bass, Texas Style!  As mentioned before, our plans are to still stop at the Bass Pro Shop headquarters in Springfield, Missouri and see the Wildlife Museum, apparently the largest in the world.  The only problem Bruce is worried about is if his plane can safely fly back with all of the new stuff we buy!  I don't think that will be a problem but one never knows!

Frosty on Red, a Synopsis of the Season

Sunday Morning Outside Temperature!

This weekend marked the last trip to Red Lake and JR's for the year.  Mr. Applen decided to join myself as the end strategy was to pull my Salem home for the year.  Typically there is a group of us who pull up our wheel houses to Red Lake the minute one is allowed to travel on the ice with single axle wheel houses and half ton pickup trucks.  That has been as early as the Friday after Thanksgiving however generally occurs around the middle of December as was the case this year when we arrived on December 14th.  Both Mark and myself had issues that first weekend which forced us to pull our house back home and get repaired as normally we leave them right at JR's till the end.  Last weekend was JR's annual Redfest, an unusual fishing contest done inside his bar and it is quite slick.  $5.00 a ticket, it is put in a bucket then drawn later.  If your name is drawn that gives you the opportunity to draw out of another bucket which has all sorts o
f fishing scenario's and instant prizes.  Say you draw a ticket and it says 8#9 ounce walleye, you can decide to keep it and enter it into the contest or throw it back which allows your name to go back into the main bucket to possibly be drawn again.  Usually buying 4 tickets my name was drawn and it was for $20, essentially I got my money back.  It's always a good chance to meet people you haven't seen since the last Redfest and this year was no exception, especially seeing Brice and his dad John.  This year is was exceptionally cold as we arrived on Friday afternoon, it was -10F.  We asked JR to plow us a spot, he accommodated us and a few of his friends near the southern rock pile in 10 feet of water.  It is really nice to have a plowed spot and not have to cross country it through uncharted snowdrifts and ice chunks.  It is really easy to simply back in and set it up, as well tearing down is a lot easier as well.  No worries about getting stuck.  Although this might sound crazy both Mark and I determined ot have a JR's walleye lunch and brought some frozen walleye from home to assure a meal as the bite has been tough on Red this year.  By Saturday morning we had 3 nicer walleyes Mark decided to keep for a relative of his.  Saturday evening I got a nice one on a rattle reel but other than that it was a pretty slow bite.  Did I mention it was cold?  Sunday morning about 4:20 one of the rattle reels went off.  Mark was sound asleep so I got up to attend to that line.  I knew it was going to

Jack Nicholson at His Finest!

get cold however looking at the clock, it was -28.5F outside.  Uffda.  I did set the hook on a nice fish but just like that the hook broke off the line.  One of my goals was to change up the line on each of my Rattle Reels, hoping to go to a heavier line and of course newer as the old stuff was getting brittle.  I didn't make it that far on that specific rattle reel.  I did go outside to finish some business and dang, it was cold! It reminded me of the picture of Jack Nicholson in the movie, The Shining, where he ends up in the end.  Luckily the house is pretty warm and we had plenty of propane to sustain us through the weekend. It wouldn't take very long to look like the picture in this weather!  Because Mark and I have the exact same wheel house, a Salem 8X20RD Ice Cabin, we make a good team as each knows exactly what needs to be done to get it ready for the road.  2 hours later we were back at JR's where Mark cleaned our last fish and we filled up on Coffee and said good bye to JR and Adam.

Sunday Morning Sunrise at -26F

As stated Red Lake wasn't necessarily a bust this year however the fishing was difficult.  As stated in a previous post, the test nets set out to evaluate the walleye population was a twice as high as Lake of the Woods, an incredible amount of walleyes.  It is my opinion that these fish were very well fed and we are seeing the top of the cycle where there is abundant bait fish therefore the fish have plenty to eat.  This was obvious by the marks we saw on our flashers, through the last 4 trips we saw plenty of evidence on our depth finders that the fish were there, just not hungary,  Maybe next year this will change and so will the bite.  I still enjoy going up to JR's and truthfully we caught fish every time and had at least 1 meal each trip, as well brought fish home.  Never getting  up with the sun much, this weekend was an exception  as I did get an opportunity to get a nice sunrise picture looking to the Southeast from our camp on the ice.  The day progressed as we stopped at one of our favorite places to eat breakfast, The Woodsman Cafe in Remer, Minnesota.  They even have Gluten Free Bread for me!  They make an honest homemade corned beef hash that is to die for!

Getting the house parked at home, there is a lot to do to make the necessary repairs, to restock the cupboards, and give it a general cleaning.  As I write this, the cold weather has followed us down as it was -29 this morning in the truck as I drove to work.  The warmth is predicted to return on Saturday with a forecasted high of around 40, that will be nice to thaw everything out before it starts to cool off again.  There are lots of things going on in the next month, I'd like to make it up to Mille Lacs once before the Perch Extravaganza, Bruce asked me to fly back with him in his airplane from South Padre Island in Texas, so I might just meet him in Dallas, visit Joe and Matt before flying back.  I'd like to go find some nice crappies soon.  This winter is certainly moving fast!

Something different

Bill's First Introduction.

With the wheel house still parked at JR's and some family stuff to do last weekend it was pretty quiet around the fishing front lately.  That will change as Mark Applen and I are heading up to Red Lake for our last fishing trip of the year to Red, which will result in pulling it home then spending some time on Mille Lacs Lake in February.  One of the things that I have come to learn to enjoy is a nice whiskey.  Traditionally beer was the beverage of choice when I was young, Walter's Beer happened to be my favorite.  Brewed in Eau Claire Wisconsin it was a popular local beer, especially with some of the guys I worked for when I was young and helping Bud Tollefson and Ronnie Petersen to whitewash barns on the weekends.  Walters was a full bodied beer but met its demise when the light beer craze pretty much wiped out most of the traditional style German beers.  From there I followed my mentor in life, Vic Wenaas as he always drank brandy, and it became my choice of refreshments for many years.  Today I really don't drink very much beer, actually liking a good glass of dry red wine, and have started to enjoy the taste of various whiskeys these days.  My fiend Mark Applen started this business with his choice of beverage, Maker's Mark Bourbon.  It's not bad and Mark has gained his own notoriety as Maker's Mark himself!  I do not like a lot of that burn offered by the standard types that are better mixed with something to tame them down with.  Yet over the years and with the help of some good friends like Bill Dull, of California fame, or Matt Davis, from Texas I have learned that there are a lot of good stuff out there, deserving of a simple glass of Ice mixed with a dash of time.  Bill and I had spent some time in Savannah a few months ago and he introduced me to a California based whiskey, a smooth blend of Bourbon, Rye, and American Whiskey called St. George Breaking and Entering.  It is quite nice however difficult at best to find in Minnesota. After getting back from Savannah I found it on line and picked up a bottle for myself and my friend JR at JR's Corner Access.  He absolutely loved it and I suspect that he would be really hard pressed to find this around St. Cloud, MN.  Bill Dull and I have a common thread via our Taiwanese business Partner, Axis, whom we have been doing business with since 1998 and as well, Axis bought the company he was working for, Triad, is Perris, California.  Bill has always been a friend as we typically meet a couple times a year, once at the Medical Device

Angel's Envy is as it says!

and Manufacturing  (MD & M) in Anaheim.  It appears as though I will not be attending that event this year as seeing all my industry friends had been a staple for the last 10 years.  Bill and I usually catch dinner one of those nights and this is where he tends to surprise me with his new discoveries.  I would say that we both have the same tastes and it's always an adventure being with him.  A couple of weeks ago he sent me this belated Christmas present, a bottle of Angel's Envy, Caribbean Rum barrel finished Rye Whiskey.  I have to admit it is pretty incredible stuff, as I opened it an took a whiff, it smelled as though someone inserted a caramel apple in the bottle.  It is incredibly smooth and with that heavy base of caramel mixed with spices ( Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves) and a nutty base, it is very hard to describe.  All of these flavors are not added rather the result of the proper distillation and knowledgeable use of the proper wood barrels to age the liquor.  It's truly hard to believe but I guess one has to try it to realize how well made this stuff is.  Checking on line as it is a very limited release product, the dang stuff is $80.00 a bottle.  Well, this is typical of my friend Bill as a few years ago we had dinner and insisted on buying me a bottle of a nice red wine he liked, Quintessa Cabernet Sauvignon.  It was absolutely amazing but also about $150 a bottle in the stores.  I guess you get what you pay for and hanging with Bill is a lot of fun but it can also be very expensive!!! Never the less it's a great learning experience and hopefully I will get to see him again soon as I really don't mind being spoiled by him!

 As stated earlier, my good friend from Garland Texas has graced my palate with a nice smooth Whiskey from Fort Worth Texas called TX.  It is quite nice and a lot more reasonably priced than the stuff Bill gets me tied up with!  Nevertheless he definitely keeps my cabinet well stocked as it is only available  in Texas, Louisiana and it's starting to make it's way up north.  It been awarded the best American Whiskey with a double gold award, and well deserved.  One interesting aspect it the cork cap that they use on the bottle.  It's best described by their story on their website:   First, we select the leather. In the beginning, most of our leathers were re-purposed from boots donated by some of our friends in the community and by visitors to the distillery. Now we primarily use leather pieces from the best boot and saddle makers. We acquire exotic skins and different colors of leather from those extra pieces that the boot and saddle makers can no longer use. Next, we use unique tools to punch out a circle of leather. We then measure the thickness of the leather to determine which cork size to use. Then we hammer a custom-made wood ring over the leather to secure it to the cork. Finally, we add very small pins for reinforcement. Every resulting bottle cap is a unique example of fine Western craftsmanship – just like our whiskey. Stop by the distillery and swap stories with us – maybe even bring your own boots for topping off a bottle of F&R spirits; we’d love to make you a part of our history. It is actually quite interesting as each cap is unique in its own way and definitely represents the state where it derives from, Texas as this is where many of the great and classic cowboy boot manufacturers are located. 

Auchentoshan Three Woods.

Finally not forgetting an experience in Savannah with the new owners of my business, especially David Ashton, an industry consultant who is from Scotland.  During an event in Savannah we stopped at a Scottish Pub called Molly MacPherson's.  Being of Scottish descent, David decided to treat us to a single malt scotch of his liking.  It was Auchentoshan Three Woods Single Malt Lowland style scotch, one that did not exhibit that traditional smokiness associated with Scotch Whiskey's.  The Three Woods title comes from the fact that it is cured in 3 different wood barrels, first in used American oak bourbon barrels, then it is transferred to a used Spanish Sherry wine barrel before finished in a different sherry wine barrel.  Again incredibly smooth, flavorful and with no burn, it's a perfect after dinner treat.  Of course I had never heard of this and definitely found it in the Minneapolis area.  It is a little on the expensive side however their American Oak brand is almost as good, 100% cured in used American Oak barrels it is more reasonably priced and one can overlook that extra Sherry barrelled cure for $30 less!  Admittedly it's been and interesting year learning about different types of Whiskey's especially breaking the old assumptions of what was called whiskey, Jack Daniels, Windsor, Canadian Club, and Seagrams..........all needed Coca Cola or Seven Up to make them palatable!  Here's hoping the fish are biting on Red as many of the ice houses have left the lake which means less traffic and maybe a better bite.  A friend Chris Worms called me earlier this week stating he was going to JR's this weekend and it would be nice to see him again as the last time was at Lac Seul Outposts, on the 2018 Ontario Fishing Opener.