Fish porn, fishing stories, fishing tips, and fishing equipment reviews. Have a seat. Stay awhile.


A sure sign
of a happy angler
is a screaming drag.

Gunflint Trail 2010: Days 7 & 8

Posted by MNAngler On September - 2 - 2010ADD COMMENTS
Gunflint Trail 2010: Days 7 & 8

My last two days on the Gunflint Trail were uneventful. It was hard to match day 6. I do have a story of note, though. On day 7, Ken brought me to three bays near the portage to Liz Lake in the afternoon. Ken hooked a small smallie, but lost it and I caught another 11″ smallie, both in the second bay. That evening, we tried to go after a school of fish we saw earlier in the week that I’ll tell you more about later. The next day, we returned again in the afternoon. In the first bay... (more...)

Best Walleye Fishing Day Ever

Posted by MNAngler On September - 1 - 20103 COMMENTS
Best Walleye Fishing Day Ever

Date: 8/26/2010 Time: 11:30am – 4:30pm Body of water: Undisclosed Location: Gunflint Trail, MN Weather Conditions: partly cloudy, West wind ~20mph For a couple of year’s now, I’ve been trying to get out to a lake that my friend and colleague, Harley, has been fishing for years. He almost always comes back with his daily limit of walleye from the lake. And last year, he landed a fish of a lifetime. We’ve tried to coordinate our trips so he could show me the ropes of the... (more...)

Gunflint Trail 2010: Days 2-5

Posted by MNAngler On August - 31 - 2010ADD COMMENTS
Gunflint Trail 2010: Days 2-5

When I started writing the drafts for my posts about my trip, I had intended to do a post for each day. As I was reading over them, I realized they were BOR-ing. They were uninteresting because there was no action. I  would be bored reading them, so you’d be snoring before you finished the first paragraphs. Therefore, I’m going to summarize the next 4 days of my trip into one sentence: I caught 5 smallies all under 12″ and a northern at 17″. Exciting, I know. I’ve... (more...)

Gunflint Trail 2010: Day 1

Posted by MNAngler On August - 30 - 2010ADD COMMENTS
Gunflint Trail 2010: Day 1

Date: 8/21/2010 Time: 3:30pm – 5:30pm Body of water: Poplar Lake Location: Gunflint Trail, MN Weather Conditions: sunny We drove up to my in-laws’ cabin late Friday night to avoid traffic. We didn’t get in until 2am Friday night, so Saturday morning, I decided not to get up early to hit the water. Besides, I didn’t know if my father-in-law, Ken, had a boat tied up to the dock and ready. It wasn’t until late afternoon that I would get a chance to get on the water. ... (more...)

Marginal Week of Fishing

Posted by MNAngler On August - 29 - 20101 COMMENT
Marginal Week of Fishing

I returned last night from our annual week-long trip to my in-laws cabin on the Gunflint Trail. I’ll be posting the events of the trip this week. Unfortunately, fishing wasn’t as good as it was last year, but I was also up there a month later. We only had one day where the fishing was better than marginal. All this summer I’ve been reading fishing reports from Sue Kerfoot, one of the lodge owners up there, and it’s been killing me not to be able to be there. And it... (more...)

Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway

Posted by MNAngler On August - 19 - 20101 COMMENT
Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway

If you’ve read any of my blog from last summer, you know that I spend a decent amount of time on the Gunflint Trail in Northern Minnesota. I found out this Spring that on October 16, 2009, the Gunflint Trail was named a National Scenic Byway by the Department of Transportation. Highway 61 on the North Shore, which runs from Duluth to the Canadian border is part of our drive to get to the Gunflint Trail. We take it from Duluth to Grand Marais and head up the Gunflint Trail from there. It... (more...)

One Who Truly Inspired

Posted by MNAngler On August - 16 - 20102 COMMENTS

I’ve written once before that as you go through life, you’ll meet hundreds, probably thousands, of people. But only a few will have an impact on your life. Most of us have a teacher that changed our life in some way. While I can’t say any one teacher changed my life, one had an impact. His name was Dr. Jon Barber. He was my high school advanced physics teacher. I found out this weekend that he passed away last week. What made Dr. Barber a good teacher was his humor and his... (more...)

Lessons Learned in a Short Outing

Posted by MNAngler On August - 15 - 20102 COMMENTS
Lessons Learned in a Short Outing

Date: 8/15/2010 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm Body of water: Lake Elmo Location: Lake Elmo, MN Weather Conditions: sunny and windy Our neighborhood camping trip was this weekend and I was hoping to do some float tubing on the lake at our campground, but circumstances prevented me from doing any. Instead, I was limited to only an hour of shore fishing just before we left. My wife dropped me off at the fishing pier while she and he kids went to the man-made lake on the grounds. Halfway down the walkway... (more...)

The Hazards of Discarded Fishing Line

Posted by MNAngler On August - 11 - 20107 COMMENTS
The Hazards of Discarded Fishing Line

A few weeks ago, Jim Braaten of the Sportsmans Blog posted a story about his buddy running across what appeared to be a bird of prey caught in some fishing line. I don’t think any of us would wantonly throw a tangle of fishing line in the water. But what we probably don’t think about is when we get a line caught in a tree, or stuck on a log. Instead of making an effort to get the lure unstuck, it’s much easier to just cut the line and retie. However, leaving a line dangling... (more...)

Crazy Like an Angler

Posted by MNAngler On August - 8 - 20103 COMMENTS
Crazy Like an Angler

Date: 8/7/2010 Time: 8:00am – 5:00pm Body of water: Lake Mille Lacs Location: Isle, MN Weather Conditions: overcast, windy It appears, that since I’ve become a true avid angler, I’ve lost my mind. Because no one in their right mind would willingly get up at 5:15am in the morning, let alone on a Saturday. But that’s indeed what I did. I got a call from Mark Friday and he asked if I wanted to go back to Lake Mille Lacs with him. I had been itching to get back since the Minnesota... (more...)

CURRENT MOON