Aaron Achtenberg, one of our talented photojournalists, once put it best. Being from North Dakota, he exclaimed out in a windy pheasant field, "I hate the wind." "I just get tired of all the darn wind..." I never really paid much attention to his words, until this past weekend....
Thursday, fishing buddy Wayne Smith and I headed up to Walker, the Due North Lund from Rapid Marine in tow.
Arriving at Tournament Headquarters
We were heading to Leech Lake to fish Muskies Inc.'s annual Frank Schneider Jr. tournament. I believe it's the biggest musky event in North America. This year, 507 anglers participated. Up there, we met up with fishing partners Chad Cedarstrand and Al Blomker.
Another Block Head....
Okay, back to the wind thing... For THREE days, the wind howled. I'm not talking a late summer breeze, but a full blown gale. Friday's blow beat us to a pulp. We wrestled honest four footers on Leech. At one point, we had a foot of water in the floor of the boat. The bilge ran much of the day. Wayne moved three fish in the first hour, then we didn't see much the rest of the day. Saturday, we moved over to Cass Lake where, once again, the wind beat us up. We moved fish, but never had one hook up. By Saturday night, we were ready to pack up! Sunday, we had wind again, but it laid down a bit in the morning, giving us a window to fish a few rock piles on Leech. 15 Minutes into our casting, Wayne yelled out, "I got it!" I looked back to see his rod doubled over. I dropped my rig, grabbed the net and scooped up his fish a few moments later.
47 1/4 on the board. Nice job Wayne!
A Beauty!
We snapped a couple quick pictures and his first "gal" swam away, an awfully chagrined look on her face. While that would be our only fish of the tournament, it put Wayne in 24th place out of 507 anglers. Not bad for his first fish!
I'm off to Canada this week for a three-story shoot up at Kabeelo Lodge. I'm dreaming of a pike the size of Wayne's musky. I'll keep you posted...