Journal of a Minnesota Angler

Fishing Jones celebrated the New Year by posting 5 steps to making your own rod tube: Go to hardware store. Buy PVC stuff. Glue PVC stuff together. Breathe in PVC Glue, depress nervous system. Adorn with accumulated stickers. Simple, yet effective. Time to take a trip to the hardware store. But I think I’ll replace step 4 with:     4. Spray paint. The smell of the spray paint will likely have the same effect as the PVC glue. I’ll also have to add:     4.a.... (more...)

Fellow anglers in the blogosphere have been commenting today and yesterday about the decision by BASS to eliminate the WBT. I completely agree with BassFishingDem in his feelings on the matter. I’m not a big fan of pro fishing tournaments because of the stress and pressure it puts on the fish in a lake. But I understand why it exists. It promotes our passion and helps develop technology to make us all better anglers. But it should also show that fishing isn’t just for men. Ladies... (more...)

So I got started on my 2010 goals early. I got a call from Mark yesterday afternoon. He, Rob, and Steve were headed out fishing. I wasn’t able to join them right away, but found them on the ice at about 4:30. Steve had bought a nice 6 man shelter over Christmas (the red one on the left), so we were in some pretty nice digs. The fishing holes in the shelters were all taken up by family members that joined the adventure, so I set up my pole on a pole holder on a bucket outside. It was only... (more...)

Welcome to 2010! The beginning of each year brings New Year’s resolutions. I’m not much for resolutions as they tend to become broken promises. However, goals are more realistic and give you something to strive for. Here are mine for 2010: Fish 40 days out of the year (28 in 2009) Have patience to try new lures and new techniques Start float tubing Catch an average of 1.5 fish per day (1.04 in 2009) Catch an 18″ Smallmouth Bass (2009 best: 15″) Catch an 18″ Largemouth... (more...)

Thanx to my diligence in using FishSwami this year, I have a summary of my fishing excursions for 2009. Here are the results: Days Fished: 28 Fish Caught: 29 Locations Fished: 7 Patterns Fished: 6 Most fish caught in one day: 3 on June 14th Northern Pike: 10 Smallmouth Bass: 9 Largemouth Bass: 7 Walleye: 1 Muskie: 0 These probably aren’t very impressive numbers to you hard-core anglers, but I’m happy with them. Of course I would have liked to catch more (and bigger) fish, but the best... (more...)

Last time we were on the ice, Mark talked about the best bite being the hour around sunrise and sunset. We talked about the next time going out at 2:30pm and staying til after dark. We got our chance last night. My brother is in town for Christmas, so he and another friend of his, also an avid angler, joined us. There were quite a few fishermen out yesterday (see left). It was a nice brisk day without much wind. A perfect day to go ice fishing. We set up camp not far from our last outing.... (more...)

The best part of this time of year is spending time with family and seeing the spirit of the season through children’s eyes. With all the commercialism around us, don’t lose sight of the important things in life. I would like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, or happy whatever holiday it is you celebrate. See you on the ice. Share this:FacebookTwitterRedditEmailLike this:Like Loading... Read More →

Our second day on the ice didn’t turn out as well as our first. We met at 6:30 as planned and were out on the lake from 7:00am to 10:30am and got completely skunked. When we first got on the lake, we set up near the same spot we caught the perch the day before. After nary a bite for about an hour and a half, we moved to the other side of the point. The only action was a tip up going off after we had moved, but the fish let go. We theorized it was a walleye that felt the line and dropped... (more...)

When I posted about ice fishing a couple of days ago, I didn’t think I’d be on a lake til at least the new year. But last night we had our neighborhood Christmas party and the topic of ice fishing came up. Several times, actually. It started when a mutual friend of a couple of neighbors was planning to go out in the morning. The two neighbors, Rob and Steve, decided they would go and invited me along. Unfortunately, Mark, my usual fishing buddy, had other commitments and couldn’t... (more...)

When you live in Minnesota, your fishing season is only half that of those in Southern states. That is, unless you are one of the many who turn the handicap into an asset. When the sun gets low in the sky and the weather gets cold, a transformation takes place. Liquid turns to solid and mere mortals can do the impossible. People just like you and me can walk on water. I speak, of course, of lakes turning to ice. And so begins the season of ice fishing. We’re firmly entrenched in the holiday... (more...)