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: 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...)
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...)
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...)
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...)
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...)
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...)
After an amazing Saturday (morning, afternoon, and evening), I was looking forward to an hour or two Sunday before we had to leave. But alas, it was not meant to be. I woke up a little after 8:00 and my brother was already on the lake in the canoe. My brother came back when he saw me and asked if I wanted to go out for a while. I had a couple of things to do, but my son wanted to go. The two of them were out for about a half hour and when they came back, my brother calmly said he wanted a picture... (more...)
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...)
