Well, the dock held. That's good news....
Big Rollers for Gull Lake!
Long ago Dad taught me to rope up the boat between corners of the dock so it can move freely in big waves. The real plus? The boat never touches the dock, avoiding any dock rash. When the wind howls like it did this weekend, it's nice to know the boat's properly tied up, although I laid in bed Friday night worried my 1/2 inch dock ropes might snap from all the pressure. At one point I snuck a peek about 3 am just to make sure the boat hadn't washed up on the beach. I woke Saturday morning to find the boat weathers the "inland gale" just fine. As I idled out through the waves at 6 am, I was amazed at the wind. Howling out of the north. Chattering on the rough water. Darn cold too for mid-May. I fished a few of my normal spots and found spot-tail shiners on a Lindy rig was the ticket. Didn't find fish very shallow, although I had a tough time controlling the boat in those spots. I brought plenty of walleyes to hand, even though I couldn't feel 'em biting out in that wind. You'd just kinda feel the wind pushing your rod around (and whistling through the guides) and then notice a bit of extra weight. I'd set the hook and fish on.... Ha. Not really normal, but effective.
"Eater" Walleyes
The big highlight of opener this year was son Brady's first fishing trip. Although we had to wait out the cold and wind Saturday, we finally got on the water Sunday. 
"Jonesin' " to Fish
I figured we'd go out and hit a few crappies and call it a trip in an hour. In the morning, we hit a small pond connected to Gull Lake where we found the water temp 9 degrees warmer than the main lake. We fished in there a bit looking for shallow crappies. About 20 minutes in, Brady's bobber disappeared and I helped him set the hook. He proceeded to reel in a heavy fish on his UL rod. At one point, the darn tip of that rod was just about touching the handle as the fish about pulled Brady out of the boat. Ha. First fish of the trip. Nice bass Brady!
We have to throw that back! Bass season isn't open yet! We zipped home in rough water to grab a little lunch. After, Brady asked if we could fish again. Mom gave us the okay so Brady and I headed up the lake to the smaller series of lakes on Upper Gull. We snuck down to a favorite panfish spot and Brady caught more fish than we could count.
After about an hour of that, we took a cruise and Brady assumed his new favorite position in the boat. He likes to stand on the rod locker, inbetween the windshield and watch the world roll by. Not a bad place to be.
Brady's Catch...
As we all drove home last night, Mom asked Brady if he'd like to stop and get dinner. In a slightly pouty voice, Brady responded, "No Mamma, I don't wanna eat dinner." "I wanna go fishing."
Goal accomplished...