Journal of a Minnesota Angler

Days after getting back from the Gunflint Trail, I started to have withdrawal symptoms from not fishing. Going from fishing twice a day to not fishing at all can turn an avid angler crazy. I sent a text to Greg to see if he was up for fishing sometime soon and fortunately, he was. We rendezvoused on the Wed night of the hottest week of the summer. The few days leading up to the day were all in the 90s and Wed had a high of 94. I wasn’t sure how good the fishing would be, but I was going... (more...)

We had planned to end our week on the Gunflint Trail on Saturday afternoon. I had one more opportunity to wet a line before we left, so I took full advantage of it. I headed out to Kloek Channel and I started with a green texas-rigged worm. On one of the retrieves I had a follow that tried to hit the worm just as it was coming to the boat. It made a splash, but missed the lure. It looked to be about a 14-incher. On the next cast, I did get hit and it was a small smallie at 10″. After action... (more...)

Friday was fish fry day. We needed to land a few more fish because we let our two 17″ and 16″ go. The family thought I was premature, but I really wanted to let those big ones reproduce and breed smarter fish that can outsmart predators and get just as big. I had to have faith that we were good enough fishermen to feed our family. In the morning, I headed out to Voyager’s Bay on my own. Just as I arrived at the mouth of the bay, another boat was motoring past me into the bay.... (more...)

On a day ripe with American celebration, I hoped for fireworks both on and off the water. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. Thursday morning, July 4th, I found George on the three season porch as I was headed out to the boat. I asked him if he wanted to join me and he said yes. We headed out to Kloek Channel and were out for about an hour and a half. The only thing we were able to land was one 12-incher on a white super fluke. The funny thing was, it was a walleye. I felt a little... (more...)

After the great outing we had on Tuesday, I had high hopes for the rest of the week. On Wednesday morning, I headed out to Kloek Channel and landed a 12″ smallie on my second cast on a white super fluke. A few casts later, I hooked into another one but when it got near the boat, it spit out my hook and also left a trail of regurgitated crayfish behind. Near the end of the morning, I switched to a green wacky worm and tossed it near the opening of the channel where I once caught an 17-incher.... (more...)

By Tuesday night, Ken, George, and I had been on the water for a total of about 13 man-hours. The only good fish during that time was on my second cast of the week. The rest of the time was pretty dismal. We decided we would head out to Walleye Alley to see what we could stir up and George’s wife, April, decided to join us (just to be outside, not to fish). We started on the East end and as we approached, we saw two loons with their little baby. We were all enthralled with the little family,... (more...)

After landing the nice fish Saturday night, it got quiet. Real quiet. I opted to sleep in Sunday morning since I was exhausted from the trip up to the Gunflint Trail. The next available time I had to get out was Sunday night. Ken, George, and I hit the three bays near Liz Lake portage that have been productive for us in the past. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so this night. Ken and George each landed a small northern, but there was little other action for the night. George did, however, take... (more...)

I spent fourth of July week with Mrs. MNAngler’s family up at Ken’s cabin on the Gunflint Trail. Ken and George were both there and we did a lot of fishing. The week started out slow, but picked up enough for us to supply the fish fry planned for Friday night. Mrs. MNAngler, our two kids, and I arrived Saturday evening. After having a bite to eat, Ken suggested I take his boat out while he waited for George and his wife to arrive. I got out on the water at about 8:00pm and decided... (more...)