Journal of a Minnesota Angler

Forgive me, fellow anglers, for I have sinned. It’s been 2 weeks since my last blog post and fishing hasn’t even crossed my mind. Since my last post just before Thanksgiving, I’ve been wholly preoccupied with Legos. That might sound strange, but let me explain. I’m the coach of an all girls Lego League team made up of 4th and 5th grade girls, which includes my 9 year-old daughter. Our competition is coming up this Saturday, so in the past two weeks, I’ve had at... (more...)

A few weeks ago, I got an email from my brother, who is also an avid angler. It was about the time I wrote the Fitovers sunglass review and he remarked that I was really getting desperate for things to blog about. He said I needed to go fishing more. Of course, he was right. The problem, though, was that October was a really horrible month for weather in Minnesota. It rained something like 23 out of 31 days. And the nice days had to be spent either working my day job or raking wet leaves. Time... (more...)

The results are in. And nobody was voted off! After letting our Northern simmer and stew in pickling brine for the minimum 8 days (we were impatient), we finally got to try some. They turned out great! The taste and texture was just like pickled herring. The difference was that our pickled Northern, especially in the smaller pint jars, was a bit more sour than store bought pickled herring. My stomach wasn’t used to it, so I couldn’t eat too much in one sitting–even though... (more...)

I know you’re as anxious to hear how our pickled Northern turned out as I am to try them. I’ve got a few more days to wait, but in the meantime, here’s the Pickled Northern recipe all in one place (click on the step link to see my result): Pickled Northern Step 1: Cut 60 to 75 bite size pieces of fish One cup of non-iodized salt to 1 gallon jar 1/2 full of water Add fish until jar is full Let stand for 48 hours Step 2: Pour off salt water, rinse Soak fish in white vinegar for 24... (more...)

I felt my blog was gaining enough steam that it deserved a domain of its very own. So I registered for one and moved my wordpress installation this week. As a result, if you’re subscribed to my blog through Google reader, you may have noticed a redistribution of some old posts. Please be assured that I didn’t repost them, but that Google reader picked them up again after my update. I apologize if there was any confusion. Please update your subscription to follow my new domain: www.journalofamnangler.com.... (more...)

As if the Hobie Mirage Pro Angler wasn’t cool enough, Hobie recently announced an electric motor that mounts in the MirageDrive well. The motor will work in any of the Hobie kayaks that have MirageDrive and also comes with mounting hardware to fit the Hobie Twist and Stow rudder mechanism. So it works with all Hobie kayaks. This post is a faux review since I haven’t seen the motor in person, or used it yet. This is more an article of impressions. But I thought you might want to know... (more...)

After soaking our Northern Pike for 24 hours, we were now ready to finish the recipe. My wife did step 3 without me: Boil together for 5 minutes the following ingredients: 1 1/2 cup of sugar 3 cups of white vinegar 4 bay leafs 1 tsp whole all spice 3 tsp mustard seed 1 1/2 tsp whole black pepper 6 to 7 red peppers or whole chili peppers Let cool at room temp – Make sure the brine is cooled down before adding items below or your meat will not be firm !!!!! She made two versions: one spicy... (more...)

Forty-eight hours after step 1 of our Pickled Northern Pike recipe, we moved on to step 2: Pour off salt water, rinse Soak fish in white vinegar for 24 hours Drain vinegar off – discard The fish had changed color due to the brine soak. It was a little more translucent. Rinsed and ready for vinegar. Extreme close-up! Fish chunks in their vinegar bath. Until tomorrow… Share this:FacebookTwitterRedditEmailLike this:Like Loading... Read More →

I’ve never been a big fan of Northern Pike. I’m not really a catch-and-release fisherman (except when it comes to muskie), so I like to eat what I catch. But Northern aren’t what I would call a delicacy. Their many, many tiny bones and fishy smell make them one of the less desirable species I like to put on the table. But recently, I heard about pickling them. As an adult, I became a fan of pickled herring during the holidays, so pickled Northern Pike sounded like a natural... (more...)

The scene opens with a view of the lake. A dock is in the foreground, a full moon shining brightly in the night sky. The reflection of the moon paints a path to the dock, empty except for a bench made for two. The sound of a crackling fire can be heard somewhere nearby. The camera pans to the left to find a bonfire on the shore. Two young kids sit enjoying the fire with their parents and grandparents. “Tells us the story again, grandpa,” the young girl exclaims. “Yeah, tell... (more...)