My Kind Of Monday...

Fishtales...They're neverending. I fished on Monday with an old fishing buddy, Don Sonsalla and his grandson, Grant. This year, the guys wanted to zip up to Mille Lacs and hopefully catch a few slot walleyes. We drove up in heavy rain and actually spent the first hour sitting in the Blue Goose, sippin' coffee while the lightining crashed and rain poured. Eventually, the storms slid just south and we zipped out onto a glass-calm Mille Lacs. We could see plenty of walleyes on the electronics, but getting them to bite post-front was another issue. We only got one fish dragging spinners. The good news? Grant had mentioned that he had never caught a smallmouth bass,so we packed up and changed our approach. We zipped up the lake to a favorite rock pile and I had the guys start throwing slip bobbers and, Don and Grant's Keeperssure enough, they seemed to do the trick. Grant landed several smallmouth bass and Don nabbed a few walleyes too. I was playing around and pitched a jig up and bang! For a bit of time, I actually thought I might have a new state record. No scale in the boat. We eventually ended our day and I pulled the fish from the livewell back at the launch hoping someone there had a scale. No luck. A few measurements and we sent the giant smallmouth swimming away. It was sure something to experience. Based on measurements, it appeared the fish was somewhere between 6 1/2 and 7 lbs.

Just EnCase You're Wondering....

My Milk Crate

So, I'm not easily impressed by a lot of the fishing gadgets out there.   I suppose that's one reason I've been content to store all my muskie baits in milk crates over the years.  Heck, the

My 141418D

crates have handles and lots of space to hang baits. Can't beat it, right?  Well, local muskie angler Bob Schmitt changed my mind a few weeks back.  He's got a small business up and running called Just Encase and he's building some of the coolest muskie storage systems I've

The Drawer

seen.  I don't normally talk about a too many products, but Bob's stuff is great.   His boxes come in every shape and size and are made out of clear polycarbonate plastic.  Seems like Bob thought of a lot of smart features too.  Each box has a built-in combination lock and The Combination Lock a cable system for ropin' down your box so no one can grab it and go.  I also love the built-in drawer.  I don't like having five boxes of muskie gear. I use a limited number of baits and I 'em all in one box.  Now I can throw my pliers, split rings and leaders all in one box and hit the road.  Oh, and my milk crates were never deep enough for my longest baits.  The new box is.  Nice work Bob!  Check out his gear at Justencase.com  

 PS:  I've now got a couple of milk crates for sale...

She's Heatin' Up....

Well, it's official.  My favorite stretch of Mississippi River is starting to heat up.  How do I know?  Simple.  The smallmouth bass are starting to really bite.   Wednesday, I had a chance to row a few hours for a fellow flycaster and first-timer on the Monticello stretch of river.  Walt Larsen showed up right on time,  7 wt. rod in hand, and took the bow seat.  Mitch Petrie, who, of course, is our company president, tucked away in the stern seat with a couple of spinning rods and we oared away from shore and I pointed the old Clackacraft downstream.    I had noticed a few risers at the boat launch, but the fishing was slow the first hour.  Walt through a beautiful cast into good transition water and *Bang*, first fish on.  He wrestled a feistly two-pound Walt, the "Catfish King"channel cat to the net.  Certainly fun to catch on the fly rod.  The fly?  A tequilliey, which is one of our "go to" subsurface flies.  For the next half hour, Mitch Tequilley (No one actually knows how to spell this fly's name)and I thought Walt was to become the "Catfish King" of Monticello.  Geez....  No more bites.  Then, about 4 pm,  the fish turned on.   Walt poked several nice smallies on block head poppers, which may now have a new nickname. Walt labeled the little guys "Sponge Bobs".  Might just stick.  Mitch caught a few nice fish too.  In fact, I noticed something unusual in the mouth of one of Mitch's second fish when I netted it.  A few moments later, Mitch popped out the hook See the mouse? and exclaimed, "What the heck is that?"  Sure enough, the bass had plucked a field mouse or mole off the bank, I'm guessing within 12 or so hours of our catchin' him.  There's something to be learned from that fish.   It's proof that bass like to attack big, big targets, especially in low light conditions when they're feeding patterns are at their peak.  Exactly why I normally like to be on the river at sunrise or just after sunset;  A time when critters like mice and squirrels find themselves in water and open for attack.  In all, a great day to be on the river!   We broke one rod, landed more than a dozen quality fish and beat the impending dark skies and rain by a good 20 minutes.   As always, Thanks to Paul Hansen of Sporting Life Travel, who supplies the Clackacraft Drift Boat.  Be sure to check out his website at: www.sportinglifetravel.com.   By the way, rumor has it Paul will be offering a new Mississippi River smallmouth adventure trip any day now... Stay tuned for more details....

 Mitch with another beauty

 

Whadda Walleye in the Wind

I have a confession to make.  I hate wind.  Okay, that's not exactly accurate.  I really hate the wind.  I never used to notice big gusts when I was younger, but it seems now, I can't stand really windy days on the water.  Saturday morning, Buddy Brandon Murphy and I got a chance to get away from the kids (we both have six-month-old sons at home) and fish for a few hours.   This wasn't one of those all-day trip.  More of a grab a dozen shiners, and go for two hours sorta thing.   Brandon and I dropped the 2009 Triton Allure in about 9 a.m. on Clearwater lake, which hides 45 minutes north and west of the Twin Cities.   I knew it was to be a windy day on the water, but I had no idea we'd get our tails absolutely handed to us.   Holding a boat on just the right break in 30 mph wind takes a lot of focus.  I don't have the kicker on the Triton yet, so the job proved a little "iffy", although the bow-mounted Terrova did a pretty good job, considering....  We rigged up this way;  I sat in back, boat pointed into the wind, and ran the trolling motor footpad with my hands, jogging back and forth in the waves and wind.   We sat on a sharp break about 20 upwind feet from an island of cattails, waves crashing hard against us.  It felt more like a Mille Lacs trip.  I chose that exact spot because that was about the only place we had marked fish the entire morning.  Using Lindy Rigs with chartreuse weights, we drifted spottail shiners through the rough water.  I was first to hook up and land a couple of smaller walleyes in 17 feet of water.  Tough to reel and land fish while keeping the boat from spinning in the wind and crashing into the island.  Kinda intense.  Turns out the pike were biting too.  A few minutes later, we drifted up into 12 feet of water and Brandon instantly hooked up.  He didn't seem terribly excited as he reeled.  I jumped up and  clicked on the auto pilot as soon as I saw Brandon's rod.  That poor St. Croix was bent in two.   I grabbed a net and just a few moments later, a beautiful walleye rolled next to the boat.  She came willingly to the net and we popped the hook out of her mouth.  What a way to wrap up our morning.  I rested the fish in the livewell and we zipped back to the launch to grab Brandon's camera and click off a few quick pictures before Brandon released the big female.   It's always a great feeling to see a fish like that drfit back into the depths.  Maybe the wind's not such a bad thing after all..... 

The 2009 Opener In The Books...

Just like that, it's over.  I can't believe it.  I'm one of those fishermen who dream of the walleye opener weeks before the big day actually happens.  I sit around spinning new line onto reels, cleaing and organizing tackle boxes and dreaming of what opening morning might be like.   Somehow, reality never seems to live up to my expectations.   It all started Friday afternoon.  I picked up the new boat just a few minutes before Crystal Pierz closed for the afternoon. The folks in the shop were nice enough to crank away on the Triton and get it in "fishable" order for the weekend.  I am most appreciative for that.  I'm also excited as heck about the 2009 boat.  Triton again will be a sponsor of Due North Outdoors and I'll be fishing out of a 2009 Triton Allure 192.  It's the same model of boat I ran last year.  A great fishing boat with a few "extras" for the rest of the family.  This year's Allure is deep red with silver highlights.  On the back, a 175 Suzuki four-stroke, which I've heard nothing but great things about.  I hooked up the boat,  packed in Katie and little Brady and we all headed north towards Gull Lake.  I was unusually excited for the opener this year, because the last four or five years, I've been on the road shooting opener stories.  Not this year.  See, I consider Gull my "home water".  Our family has a cabin up there and we've been regulars up there since  the 1970s. Saturday morning, I popped out of bed about 7:30 and grabbed the binoculars and scanned the lake.  Pockets of boats peppered the lake.   Even a few boats  right out front of the cabin.    Standing on the dock on opening morning is one of the single, best feelings I have each season.   I was itching to get out on the water, but spent an hour rigging up the boat and loading it with all my gear.  I finally dropped the Allure in about lunchtime and Dad and I fished just an hour before he had to get back to the cabin to get cookin'.  I spent the afternoon visiting a half a dozen of my favorite walleye haunts.  I stuck to a jig tipped with a spottail shiner. First stop? Sandy Point.   Water temp?  49 degrees.  No walleyes.   Second stop, Booming out Bay. One pike.  The Hayfield?  No fish.  Back to Sandy Point.  One nice pike.  Squaw Point.  Nothing.  Wilson's Bay, a few pike.  I went "oh-for" on opening day with the walleyes.  Most other anglers I talked to had little luck finding the walleyes.  I ran into fishing buddy Walleye Dan after lunch and he, of course,  had fine luck, boating half a dozen walleyes before lunchtime  I vowed to get even with the walleyes on Sunday.   The highlight of the day had to be the Big Green Egg.  Dad bought one of these smokers a few weeks back and he spent the afternoon cooking ribs.  Let me tell you, his ribs will make you forget all about the fish fry.  I wonder if this might be the start of a new opening day tradition.   Belly full and livewell empty, I vowed to get even with the walleyes Sunday morning.  I only had a few hours to fish, and wasn't exactly confident when I poppud out of bed Sunday morning and immediately noticed the bright sun and lack of wind.  Not exactly prime walleye weather.  I zipped up to Booming out Bay and started dragging around a Lindy Rig and minnow.  Slow, slow, slow.  I popped a couple of small pike and missed a few fish and suddenly found myself a little bit frustrated.  Yes, walleyes on Gull can be tought to track down, but rarely on opening Day!  I decided to change up my attack.  I dropped the Lindy Rig and tied on a giant spinner in my favorite color (tequilla sunrise).  I zipped along the weedlines in about 15 feet of water at 1.5 mph and just like that, bang. bang. bang.  I started pulling walleyes out of the same water I had just fished with the "rigs".  Go figure.  On opener I live by a simple rule: fish slow and slower.   Sunday, the walleyes proved that rules are, in fact, meant to be broken.