After our crazy adventure in the afternoon, Ken, George, and I headed to the three bays near Liz Lake portage. We started at the Southern most bay and worked our way North. George opted for a propeller topwater and got a hit on his first cast. It was a little bass that shook itself loose before he could get it to the boat. A few minutes later, Ken landed a 10″ walleye on his pinkish fluke. On my bubble gum fluke, I scored a nice 13″ smallie. The first keeper of the night. Species:... (more...)
Instead of spending our usual week up on the Gunflint Trail, we decided to do two four-day weekends this year. The first was on July 4th and our second was this past weekend. We drove up late Friday night, but I was too tired to get up Saturday morning to go fishing. Because we visited the Fisherman’s Picnic in Grand Marais, I didn’t get to wet a line until 4pm. It’s a crime, I know. While the family was swimming, I decided to trek over to the neighbor’s dock where there... (more...)
After an abysmal first day and second morning, Ken and I headed to Walleye Alley in the evening of day 2 to try our luck. I remembered a small bay with lily pads at the end of the alley that felt promising. We started down Walleye Alley and it was very windy. It was perfect conditions to drift with a lindy rig, but I didn’t have enough foresight to bring that set up. So Ken trolled while I cast with a bubble gum fluke. Casting was very difficult due to the windy conditions. My line was... (more...)
Last weekend, when I went fishing with my father-in-law (Ken), brother-in-law (George), and his friend (Greg), we all told our own fish stories. This one was particularly entertaining: Greg owns a cabin outside the Twin Cities metro area. He has a neighbor that routinely asks him about how he’s doing and what he uses when he’s fishing. Being a little annoyed at this, he created a special lure and put it in his tackle box, ready to take it out when the time was right. One day, he saw... (more...)
This past weekend, I had an opportunity to fish two different ice fishing tournaments. The problem was, they were at the same time. So I had to make a choice. I opted for the closer tournament that looked like it might have fewer people. Not to mention that it was for a good cause. The tournament I picked was the Holes for Heroes tournament on Medicine Lake in Plymouth. It was mainly a fundraiser for the Fishing for Life organization, but was also intended to highlight the armed forces and... (more...)
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...)
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: 6/6/2010 Time: 8:00-11:00am Body of water: White Bear Lake Location: White Bear Lake, MN Weather Conditions: overcast, windy My phone rang at 7am Sunday morning. “Hello, ” I said groggily, knowing full well who was on the other end. “Let’s go!” It was Mark. Saturday, after our outing, I asked him if he was going out Sunday. He said to have my phone close by. Frankly, I didn’t think he would go that morning. Saturday night I had gotten all my stuff ready... (more...)
I haven’t been able to get out on the ice in the past few weeks, so I haven’t had any ice fishing stories to tell. However, in talking with my buddy, Dan, he recalled an amazing story that happened to him and one of his friends while ice fishing in Northern Minnesota several years ago. Dan and some buddies were up in the Boundary Waters ice fishing. (For you non-Minnesotans, the lakes on the border between Minnesota and Canada are often referred to as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA).... (more...)
Welcome to 2010! The beginning of each year brings New Year’s resolutions. I’m not much for resolutions as they tend to become broken promises. However, goals are more realistic and give you something to strive for. Here are mine for 2010: Fish 40 days out of the year (28 in 2009) Have patience to try new lures and new techniques Start float tubing Catch an average of 1.5 fish per day (1.04 in 2009) Catch an 18″ Smallmouth Bass (2009 best: 15″) Catch an 18″ Largemouth... (more...)
