I had the opportunity to fish CasualBasser‘s favorite lake Tuesday night–in a kayak. The fine folks at HiTempo, the local Hobie dealer, let me try out two versions of their Hobie Mirage Pro Angler (review to come later). Being a pretty big lake, it was nice to be able to get around more than I would in my float tube. Unfortunately, it didn’t help me at all. It was an extremely slow night. I threw a Rage Tail and Condition Buzz buzzbait, both from my Mystery Tackle Box, a texas... (more...)
I had a chance to go out on my float tube for a few hours on Saturday morning. I hit a lake that I had never fished before, but have had my eye on it for a while. It is across the street from one of the lakes that I used to hit with Mark in our early days of fishing together. The lake is small, but deep. I rarely see boats at the public access and I think that’s because the more popular lake is across the street and the public access goes through about a 200 ft channel of lily pads. To... (more...)
Yesterday, I posted my first Avid Angler Challenge. It was a challenge that asked what 5 lures you would use if those were the only lures you could use for the rest of your life. When forming the challenge, I tried to structure it so it would be a challenge to me as well. The tough part for me is that I like to target multiple species. Most of the time I go after bass, but I also like to fish for walleye and muskie. I rarely fish anything but an inland lake. Here are my 5 lures in no particular... (more...)
The Avid Angler Challenge is a meme that issues a periodic challenge to frequent anglers. See the guidelines for how to answer the challenge. For my first challenge, I wanted to learn about lure choices. Why do fisherman use the lures they do? So here it is: If you could only use 5 lures for the rest of your life, which ones would you choose and why? Your answer should follow the following guidelines: A lure is anything that contains a hook, goes on a hook, or decorates a hook One color = one... (more...)
When I started my blog a little over 3 years ago, I did it to write about my fishing adventures. What I didn’t expect was the sense of community within the blogosphere and the support I’ve gotten from my fellow anglers, whether they blog themselves or not. In that spirit, I wanted to start a series of posts so that I could keep learning from my cohorts, but also so that beginning anglers can learn from all of us. On a periodic basis, I will issue a challenge. The challenge will have... (more...)
In today’s world of contextual advertising, web sites pick up on your hobbies and interests pretty quickly. Obviously, many of the ads that I see have to do with fishing. When I first saw the ads for the Mystery Tackle Box, it really didn’t peak my interest because it felt like a gimmick ad. One that was just trying to get you to click on it to bring you to a big box store site. But then I read an article on TechCrunch about the startup. It got me intrigued. I especially liked the... (more...)
This past weekend was our annual neighborhood camping trip. In previous years, boats were towed along, but this year, Mark was towing a camper and Steve was towing a trailer, so no boats could come. However, I brought my float tube and was able to get a few hours on the nearby lake by myself. Do to various goings on, I didn’t get on the lake until about 3:30. It had been sunny most of the day, so my plan was to look for fish in the lily pad field not far from the fishing pier. I put in... (more...)
The magic of technology today is that you can learn about a lot of things that traditional media might not tell you about, especially in sub-cultures. Even so, word of some things get around slower than others. While I was on Facebook this evening, The Argosgirl Chronicles shared a link to the Recycled Fish 24 Hour Fish-A-Thon. As a participant, you are expected to do three things: To fish for 24 hours straight, with a partner, and document your catches with a digital camera, then post them to... (more...)
As much as I would like to take MNAngler, Jr. out fishing more often, opportunities are few and far between. I bought him a new fishing rod a few weeks ago because last fall, he dropped his Spiderman rod and reel in the lake. Then the replacement Transformers rod and reel promptly broke. This time I invested in a beginner’s panfish fishing kit combo instead of a youth pole. Hopefully, it will hold up better, assuming MNAngler, Jr. can hold on to it. The rod is taller than he is, but judging... (more...)
When I was in Bend, OR for my family reunion last fall, I heard there was an Orvis store in town. While I’m not a fly fisherman, I was hoping I could get an idea of where a bass fisherman could wet a line. Besides, I can’t resist a fishing store. Mrs. MNAngler and my daughter came in to town with us and, of course, weren’t interested in fishing stuff, so they went their merry way and MNAngler, Jr. and I went to Orvis. A few minutes after arriving at the store, Mrs. MNAngler called... (more...)
