Journal of a Minnesota Angler

After getting back from successful outings in Boulder, I was psyched to find some small lakes or ponds in The Cities to use my float tube on. I spent a goodly amount of time last week doing research and trying to decide where to go for a short outing during the weekend. Since I had an appointment in the Western suburbs late Sunday morning, I thought I would look for a lake in the area. I found a small lake that would work nicely. My appointment was at 11:30 so I took my time and got on the lake... (more...)

I was scheduled to leave Boulder Monday evening, so my brother and I had the morning and afternoon to hit the big bass lake (that is, lake with big bass, not a large bass lake) my brother mentioned my first day there. I spent part of the morning packing and my brother respooled the rod and reel I used the other day with fluorocarbon since I had so much trouble with the mono that was on it. As I mentioned in my previous post, we had a 1/4 mile walk to the lake. We parked on the side of the road next... (more...)

On day two of my trip to Boulder, my brother wanted to take me trout fishing since I had never been. I’ve never really fly fished, so he brought me to a lake in the mountains where I could use a spinning reel to try my luck. We had ventured up mid-morning, so we couldn’t find a parking spot at the foot of our hiking trail to the lake. We unloaded our gear and my brother parked his car down the road and walked back up to where I was waiting from him. Just as we were getting stuff on... (more...)

My brother moved to Boulder, Colorado about 15 years ago. In all those years, my wife and I have talked about visiting him, but either time or money has gotten in the way. This year, we decided that if I went on my own, both the time and the money would be less of an issue. I was able to make my first trip to Boulder for my first visit to my brother’s place this past weekend. As my regular readers know, my brother is a bigger (and better) fisherman than I. So, of course, we would have to... (more...)

Date: 9/12/2010 Time: 11:00am-noon Body of water: Lake Demontreville Location: Lake Elmo, MN Weather Conditions: few clouds, light wind I went fishing this last weekend and have been debating with myself whether or not to write a post about it because 1) I wasn’t out for very long, b) I got skunked, and 3) I’m embarrassed about something that happened. But the point of this blog is to journal my adventures so that you can learn from my mistakes. So I told myself to “suck it up,... (more...)

When I was up at my in-laws’ cabin, Ken and I found what could only be described as a fish highway. On one of our less successful outings, we were off the shore of one of the islands and started to head home, when we saw a couple of fish on the fish finder. As those fish moved across the screen, more fish appeared, then more, and then even more. There were at least 6 fish on the screen all the way back across the main part of the lake. Most of them were all hovering at 30-40 ft in 50-60... (more...)

To swivel or not to swivel That is the question Whether ’tis safer to tie a lure directly And get a more realistic action Or tie on a swivel And thereby, easily switch them. For convenience. To save time. Ok, so I’m no Shakespeare, but I do wonder about whether or not I should be using a swivel with a clip. I’ve been using swivel clips for years. For me, someone with limited resources and a wife that doesn’t understand having multiple rod and reels at the ready, I cannot... (more...)

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...)

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...)