Journal of a Minnesota Angler

As I was tromping through the snow at 10:00pm (I’ll explain why in a minute), I was thinking about all the great adventures I had in 2010. And, naturally, I started to rank them in my head.

Some trips well exceeded my expectations, while others could have been much better. But I had fun on all of them. I’ve learned a lot this year and hope to apply those lessons not just in fishing, but in life.

So what follows is my top 5 adventures of 2010.

Honorable Mention : Winter storm of 2010
I started drafting this post a few weeks ago. I had already picked my top 5 adventures of 2010 and didn’t want to replace any of them. But the storm that hit the Twin Cities on December 11 was a doozy and worth a mention.

We got 17″ of snow in less than 24 hours. The snow and the subzero temperatures that followed caused a bunch of events around town to be cancelled and collapsed the Metrodome roof.

But it’s brought a white Christmas, memories of childhood winter wonderlands, and a throwback to outdoor football for the Minnesota Vikings. It was a bear to deal with, but fun at the same time.

#5 Lake Mille Lacs
Lake Mille Lacs is the biggest lake in Minnesota (Lake Superior not withstanding) and is legendary for its fishing. There have been scores of stories of fisherman catching dozens, and sometimes over 100, walleye in a day. I’ve lived in Minnesota for 4 decades, but had never gotten to fish Mille Lacs until this year.

I made the trip twice. Both were with Mark. On my first outing, I didn’t catch much, but did come home with a nice 17″ walleye. My second trip didn’t fare any better, but I was happy to make both trips. I hope to return more in the future to create my own legend.

#4 Hunt.Fish.Feed.
In February, while I was trying to build my follower-ship on Twitter, I randomly followed @ladysportsman who turned out to be Michelle Scheuermann of The Sportsman Channel. I got a DM from her within minutes telling me about an event coming to the Twin Cities the very next day. It was Hunt.Fish.Feed. It sounded like a really cool event and I had wanted to start doing some more volunteering, so I went. It was one of the best decisions of my life. Not only did I meet Michelle there, but also Jim Braaten of the Sportsman’s Blog (@jim7226) and Ben Gustafson of Ben G. Outdoors (@bengoutdoors).

It was great fun and I hope it returns in 2011 so I can help out again. The funny thing is, at the time, I was wanting to concentrate on following fishermen rather that generally outdoorsy types on Twitter, so I almost didn’t follow Michelle. I guess fate decided to step in.

#3 Gunflint Trail Walleye Lake
For years, a colleague of mine had been telling me about a lake on the Gunflint Trail that has awesome walleye fishing. He promised to bring me out there some day. For a couple of years, we were even on the Trail at the same time, but schedules never worked out.

This year, I decided that my father-in-law and I would have to make the trip. It was one of the funnest fishing experiences I have ever had. The walleye were biting every few minutes. And if they weren’t, there was usually something wrong with my bait. We didn’t come home with as many fish as we would have liked, but we definitely had fun. We’ll definitely be making the trip again next year.

#2 Boulder, CO
My brother and I are 8 years apart, so we’ve never had that much in common and have never been that close. But in the past few years, we’ve found a common interest in fishing (and the Vikings).

My brother has lived in Boulder, CO for 15 years, ever since he moved out there to go to college. Due to family obligations and financial constraints, I had never been able to visit him. I decided to make a concerted effort this year.

I spent a weekend out there with him and we had great fun. We fished (I caught my personal best largemouth in one outing), we talked, and I got to see him in his “natural habitat.” I hope to get out there again next year and maybe even make it an annual trip.

#1 Chickens
My greatest adventure this year has nothing to do with fishing. About 4 years ago, my wife said, rather matter-of-fact-ly, “I want to get chickens.” I thought she was joking. She wasn’t (although a few years later she claimed she was half-joking).

Four years later, we now have two chickens: Hazel and Midnight. This summer I built a chicken coop and fenced-in pen for them. With the exception of some subzero nights where we put them in the garage, they’ve been in their pen and coop all winter. Every morning I let them out of their coop and every night, I close it up to protect them from wandering predators. I was late closing them up one night and had to trudge through the snow at 10pm, which got me thinking about what an adventure it is to own chickens. Which then started me down the path of this post.

Chickens are incredibly fun to watch and amazingly entertaining. I could sit and watch them for hours. They each have their own personality and can make you laugh unexpectedly. Plus, you can’t beat farm fresh eggs. They definitely taste different than mass-produced grocery store eggs.

We’ll have Hazel and Midnight through next fall when their production slows and “retire them to the farm.” We’ll then get new chickens in the Spring of 2012.

  

In general, life is one grand adventure after another. Some are more exciting than others, some more memorable. This blog has been a great adventure in and of itself. I’ve met some great people and have had more readers than I ever expected. I’m looking forward to the adventures 2011 will bring.