Journal of a Minnesota Angler

I had a lot of trouble with the title of this post. It could have been one of many: Float Tube-tastic Jig and Pig Magic Slump Squashed A Plethora of Firsts Fish Porn Galore But ultimately, I kept with the theme of my previous posts. Date: 7/31/2010 Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm Body of water: Tiger Cat Flowage Location: Hayward, MN Weather Conditions: clear After a good morning and afternoon of fishing, I didn’t know how it could get better, but it did. While we were out on the boat with my... (more...)

Date: 7/31/2010 Time: 4:00pm – 6:00pm Body of water: Tiger Cat Flowage Location: Hayward, MN Weather Conditions: partly cloudy In my last post, you read that we had quit our morning fishing to have lunch and to get our bass boat in the water. The closest boat launch is really close to the cabin, but it puts into another lake in our chain of lakes, so we have to drive the boat through the channel to get back to our dock. I’m usually the one to drive the boat, but since my brother doesn’t... (more...)

Date: 7/31/2010 Time: 7:30am – 11:00am Body of water: Tiger Cat Flowage Location: Hayward, MN Weather Conditions: partly cloudy After my initial success from the night before, I had high hopes the next morning. I woke up at 7:30am and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I decided to get up. My brother repaired my scum frog before we went to bed, so I cast with that for about a half hour with no bite when my brother came down to the dock. We decided to take my dad’s canoe out on the... (more...)

Date: 7/30/2010 Time: 6:00pm – 7:00pm Body of water: Tiger Cat Flowage Location: Hayward, MN Weather Conditions: partly cloudy As I mentioned in my last post, my brother is in town. He’s here because my aunt, uncle, and cousin from Canada, and cousin from California are visiting. As part of the visit, we all went to my dad’s cabin in Northwest Wisconsin. The family got there first and when I arrived, the first thing I noticed was that lily pads had grown not more than 10 feet... (more...)

As planned, we left Hayward after lunch, so I only got to fish for a little bit this morning. I was on the dock by 6:30 and went in at 8:00 for breakfast. I threw an orange/brown spinnerbait, chartreuse spinnerbait, green/black beetle spinner (which was too light to cast), scum frog, bubble gum fluke, blue booyah jig and pig, large green mimic minnow swimbait (the head was too big and kept bringing in weeds), white pearl fluke, and white spinnerbait. Nothing induced a strike despite the fact... (more...)

Here was my day in a nutshell: got up, fished, ate breakfast, went to town, ate lunch, fished, took down a tree, fished, started up our boat (that had been dormant for two years), fished, ate dinner, and fished. All in all, I probably fished for about 9 hours today. In the morning, from about 7-9am, I threw a bubble gum fluke, white spinnerbait, blue Booyah jig with blue speckled Zoom chunk, texas rigged Slurpie worm, scum frog, and mimic minnow swimbait with spinner. I only got hit once, but it... (more...)

The day is almost upon us–finally. The Minnesota Bass Opener is this Saturday. Ironically, I’ll be in Hayward, WI where the bass season is open for catch and release, but not for harvest. However, I won’t be spending the entire Memorial Weekend in Hayward and look forward to hitting some local lakes with some bass busters on Monday. I’ll be mostly shore-bound this weekend and will be limited to hitting the shallows. But there should still be bass hanging around the shore.... (more...)

When you live in Minnesota, your fishing season is only half that of those in Southern states. That is, unless you are one of the many who turn the handicap into an asset. When the sun gets low in the sky and the weather gets cold, a transformation takes place. Liquid turns to solid and mere mortals can do the impossible. People just like you and me can walk on water. I speak, of course, of lakes turning to ice. And so begins the season of ice fishing. We’re firmly entrenched in the holiday... (more...)

40.5" muskie Species: Muskie Size: 40.5″ Lure used: sucker with quick strike rig Date: 10/18/2008 Time: 10am-2pm Body of water: Lost Land Lake Location: Hayward, WI Weather Conditions: overcast and windy I thought I would start this blog with the biggest fish of my life. It was in Mid-October last year. My buddy, Dan, had been up in Hayward most of the summer doing a bunch of muskie fishing. We had talked about fishing together, but it wasn’t until October that we were able... (more...)