Tha'ts A Big Boom!

Well, I've got some great news to report.  Due North Outdoors has been on the air exactly one year now, and it appears the show is here to stay.  Thanks to solid ratings on Fox Sports Minnesota and Fox Sports Wisconsin,  the show is going to continue, we hope, long-term. That means I need to thank all of our viewers, and of course, the folks who agree to be a part of our shows.  Just this past week, the Due North crew headed out to shoot new wraps (those are the bits where we're on camera talking )for the new shows, which start in just a few days.  We also shot new promos for the folks at Fox Sports North and Wisconsin.  Great to see so much promotion on the networks, especially during the highly-rated Twins games! I hope the Brewers can sneak into the playoffs too.  The more people who watch the networks, the more folks who tune in for Due North Outdoors.  We set up our giant boom, which allows Nick Clausen and Steve Plummer to shoot long, steady, sweeping shots.  Think of a boom as a luxury gear item for television folks like it.  The bottom line, that boom allows us to take some really pretty pictures.  We used a small prairie and also the Due North Triton as a backdrop.   The guys need three hours or so to set up the boom, then Laura and I get to work.  We shot most of the day and got the boom torn down and packed right at sunset.  A long day, but should make for pretty pictures, which we're kinda into as outdoor television storytellers. I'm off to a most unique spot this weekend. It's a favorite hideaway in Southern Minnesota.   Down on Winnebago Creek, a farming family bought up all the old farms in the valley.  They turned the milking parlour on one old farmstead into an apartment and offer it to fishermen and hunters.  As part of the deal, they allow access to their 3 miles of essentially private trout water. Buddies Aaron and Flyflicker will be fishing there all weekend.  I'll post an update next week!  Until then, keep watching Due North Outdoors and feel free to post your questions and pictures on the site! 

Mixed Nuts? Yep....

Maybe I'm getting old, but it seems people sometimes take this world for granted. Exactly why my recent fishing trip to meet Minnesota 's Mixed Nuts proved so profound. The Mixed Nuts takes a little explaining. Bear with me. The group's story starts a long time ago (40 + years ago). Five Minnesota buddies traveled and fished together up north. One year, Willard Eggan, one of the four, invited his son, Terry, to come along on the trip. As Terry tells it, he worried "about going fishing with a bunch of old farts". Terry thought he'd talk to his buddy, Lyle Hookom,  to see if he wanted to go along too. Lyle's response? "I don't want to go fishing with a bunch of old farts!". Long story short...Terry and Lyle went along with the older guys and had an absolute blast. Terry found he and his dad bonded and communicated more than ever before. Thereafter, Terry kinda vowed to keep the streak of trips with his dad and the "old guys" alive. Thirty years later, the Mixed Nuts are stronger than ever. Twice a year, the guys head North. In the spring, it's Ontario walleyes and smallies on houseboats. Each fall, the Nuts visit Leech Lake and Hiawatha Beach 's 8-bedroom cabin. The youngest guy on the fall trip was 27-years-old. The oldest? Let's just say, 90-plus years old (you're welcome Hawk). The guys fish, hang out around the campfire, play cards....all the regular stuff guys in Fish camp do. They there are the pirates..... Yes, pirates. See, when a Mixed Nut turns 80-years-old, he is absolved of his duties to cook and clean-up. But not before facing the Mixed Nuts' pirate tribunal. This year, Sven faced the rowdy crowd. After a few ARRRRghs, walking the plank, and taking a pirate cake to the face, Sven became a "KP-Free" man. Amazing when you consider Sven's spring trip with the Mixed Nuts.... They guys were fishing for a week off of housboats some 30 miles back in the Ontario bush.  One night, Sven awoke about 3 a.m. He wanted to close the window in his room, but didn't have the strength. Turns out the 80-year-old was having a major heart attack. Also turns out that the Mixed Nuts had purchased first responder equipment (oxygen, general first aid stuff, defibrillator) that goes along on every trip. That gear, along with the knowledge of two Mixed Nuts, Jack Hacking and Bill Nelson (one a former Eden Prairie Public Safety Chief and a North Memorial  medic), saved Sven's life.  They boated him out to a car which transported him  to a waiting ambulance, which zipped Sven down to the Town of Rainy River where he was stabilized, then moved across the border  to Baudette where a medical helicopter was waiting. Sven tells of asking the pilot where they were taking him. The pilot responded, "Fargo."  Sven said, "No way!  I want to go to Minneapolis"  Sven remembers the guy in the medic suit punching numbers on the calculator and  proclaiming, "A trip to Minneapolis will cost you $9,000".  Sven's responded, "Will you take a check or do I need cash?".   Ninety minutes later, the helicopter landed in Minneapolis and another Mixed Nut lived to see yet another Mixed Nuts fishing trip.  A great story with a great ending!  Anyways, after the pirate escapades, the guys ended up out front of the Hiawatha Beach cabin where they were obligated to burn nearly a cord-and-a-half of wood in just three evenings. Fish by day, cards and campfires by evening.  Hats off to the crew!  You guys were an absolute pleasure to fish with and I can't wait until your story hits the air sometime next spring!  

Big Trout and a Reel From Grandpa....

So, last night was kind of a special night.  I snuck away from work mid-afternoon and headed south with fishing buddy,  J Flyflicker.  Trout season closes in a few weeks and we wanted to see if the early fall trout have moved back into their watery haunts now that stream temps are starting to drop.  Last night was special on several fronts.  First, Flyflicker's never seen a big trout out of my favorite trout haunt.  Secondly, I had my Grandfather's reel along.  Grandpa Sherck recently passed down the reel for my safekeeping.  Turns out that reel was his first back in the 20s or 30s....It's a piece of gear I will always cherish and I looked forward to fighting my first fish on that reel.  I had several trout come to my flies quickly.   After three or four fish in hand, I took a moment to thank Grandpa and then moved upstream to see how Flyflicker was handing the stream.  He was catching creek chubs on a Wooley Bugger.  He switched out to nymphs and we headed upstream to a couple of my favorite trouty haunts.   On his first cast into the quick stretch of water, his strike indicator twitched and we both saw the flash of a fish just below the surface.  Flyflicker quickly recast , only to see his indicator dive quickly.  He set the hook and a giant brown trout instantly broke the surface and jumped, body completely out of the water.  Flyflicker turned to me, looking like he had just seen a ghost and chirped out a few words unrepeatable here.  Can't blame him. It was the biggest trout either of us had seen this year. At best guess, 20 to 22 inches.  He turned back and fought the big brown back downstream.  The fish completely cleared the water a second time. Incredible to see. Finally, Flyflicker worked the big fish towards us.  I offered my ballcap to help corral the fish.  Flyflicker politely refused the hat and then, almost instantly, the fish slashed and broke free. We both watched in disbelief as the giant trout ducked back into the deep water.

Big Trout:  1
Flyflicker:   0

Flyflicker mumbled under his breath for a few moments, poured a handful of salt and pepper sunflower seeds into his mouth and sourly recast.  Instantly, his strike indicator twitched, he set the hook an a few seconds later, brought his first trout to hand.  Much, much smaller than the first fish, but still a great catch.  

Big Trout: 1
Flyflicker:  1

He cast a couple more times into the hole, without much action. Next cast, another solid fish hit.  He didn't stick around long and Flyflicker turned in frustration and asked, "what's up?"  "Nothing wrong", I said. "Sometimes the fish win..."

Big Trout:  2
Flyflicker:   1

The two of us gently waded upstream, just a few feet at a time, Flyflicker casting to fresh water as we slowly lost our light.  Just about 7:15 I spotted a nice fish and pointed it out to Flyflicker.   He didn't see it, but continued to cast.   A minute or so later, I continue upstream a bit and looked back as Flyflicker was twitching and jerking his rod like we was caught on the bottom.  That's about the time his line moved across the current and we both noticed a very solid brown trout on the end of his line.  After a very good fight,  Flyflicker wrestled the fish towards us and this time, I didin't give him the option.  I used my TFO hat to cradle the fish in the water.  Flyflicker gently removed the fly, we snapped a few, quick pictures, and the fish disappeared into the water.  Flyflicker grinned like a kid.... 

Big Trout:  2
Flyflicker:   2

 We soon lost our light to the cool fall night and found ourselves having a hard time trying to tie knots in the dark.  We quickly tied on "mousin' " flies and stronger line and wandered off into darkness in search of more big browns. Ever been "mousin' " ?  That's a story for another night......

How Big Was It?

So, I've been busy the last few hours scrubbing out the Due North Triton Allure.   On hands and knees, scrub brush in hand, I "swabbed the deck" as they say.  Oh, and did I mention I had a wide smile the entire time?   Last Thursday, I zipped up 371 and pulled into Northern Lights Casino to gear up for Muskie Mania, a bigtime fishing tournament all about raising money for Muskies Inc., a group dedicated to furthering muskie fishing here in Minnesota.  At the pairings party Thursday night, I had a chance to see a lot of old friends, and also meet a new one;  Dave Bretschneider,  a first-time muskie fisherman and the guy who helped provide all the spirits for the post-tournament dinners and parties.   Dave and I hit Cass Lake shortly before 7 a.m. Thursday morning and fished, almost exclusively, an older muskie bait called a Boogerman.  The topwater bait has a big blade on top that gurgles on the water, creating a lot of noise and moving a lot of water.  Think washing machine.  The real secret to the bait though is that the blade also dings against the lead body everytime it spins. Boogerman's create a terrible sound, something I can't really handle, but more importantly, the fish can't handle, so they just eat it.  That's the theory anyway.  Dave and I chose to fish shallow water and reeds near drop-offs.  By noon first morning, we had seen four or five fish, but no hook-ups.  A little bit of a bummer considering we watched two boats near us land two big muskies.   Dave and I moved on to fish a flat with reeds, but no deep water nearby.  I wondered if we were quite in the right spot.  Not much wind, heavy gray skies, light rain falling.  I was about to move to new water when I heard, in a fairly high-pitched voice, "I think I have one on!"  "I have one on!"  I turned just in time to see a tail fin go down and Dave's rod bend over.  He lifted the rod tip, set the hook and began a battle I won't ever forget.  I hadn't seen the fish, but it sure looked like a nice one considering the bend in the rod and the look on Dave's face.  I was about to tell Dave to drop his rod tip when the giant fish broke the surface of the water and completely cleared it!  Jump number one and fish still on!   About five seconds later, the fish launched again, completely clearing the water!  Absolutely awsome stuff to watch.  The fish made a run straight out and it looked like the drag on Dave's reel was too tight because the fish didn't take line out.   Instead, Dave pointed his rod right at the fish and I figured this was the end of the game.  The fish didn't pull too hard and another thirty seconds later, she drifted into our net and I started snapping pictures of Dave with his fish of a lifetime. She measured out at 47 inches. Actually, I could have probably gotten 47 1/2 inches, but kept measurements fairly quick so we could get that fish back in the water. Girth measured out at 21 inches.   I figure the fish was right at 25 pounds or so.   Dave gently laid the fish back in the water and held her upright as she got her bearings back.  About two minutes later,  she got her energy back and slowly  drifted off with a rather embarrassed look on her face.    Dave's look was just a bit different that day.   See it in the picture? Dave's big fish would be our only muskie on day #1.  Day number two, we saw a few fish, but only hooked up with one muskie.  I lost her in deep water after just a couple seconds.  I'm guessing a quick head shake and the fish was gone.  We did manage to catch a couple of snappy largemouth bass and a few nice northern pike.  It was great to share the lake that second day with Travis Frank, who recently signed on with our little production company.  We consider Travis the Official Guide of Due North Outdoors.   As Dave and I zipped back into the launch, the sun setting off to our west, Dave and I made a promise to each other.   We'll be fishing partners for Muskie Mania 2009.  In fact, we already have our baits for next year's event picked out.  Ever heard of a Barry White?  If not, watch out!  Barry's coming.....He's coming.   

Luck or Draw...?

Okay. So, here's a question.  Is fishing about good luck or skill or a strange combination of both?  I don't quite know how to answer that one, but it sure seems like every time I fish with Dave Genz, the fish sure seem to chew up our lines.  Does that mean Dave's lucky or good? Keep reading.  For those of you who might not know, Dave is known in the outdoor world as "Mr. Ice Fishing".  He literally changed the sport with his creations over the years. The Genz family was first to creat  portable ice fishing shelters. Dave was one of the first guys to use electronics on the ice.  He also introduced us all to a little bugger called a Eurolarvae.   Funny, but Dave and I always seem to end up fishing together on ice. We vowed to change that in 2008 and a few nights ago made good on our promise. . We fished the ol' Miss above Clearwater.  The river is Dave's stomping ground in the summer months.  His bait of choice has always been a jig and minnow.  Not just any minnow, but Redtails.  Redtails Dave catches, one at a time. Yep, Dave wanders into small streams and fishes, with rod and hook,  for all his minnows.   Seems to be a good recipe.   We caught more smallmouth bass than two guys could count, a few nice cats and I even managed to scrounge up a pike in the 34 inch range.  Oh, did I mention Dave's walleyes too?  I always seem to catch fish when I'm with Dave.  Makes me wonder if luck has much to do with Dave's fishing prowess......

In other news....Was back up on the Mississippi shooting a story on Kayak fishing last week as well.  I paddled the river with Jack Olson of Crow Wing Kayaks.   Fishing was a little slow, but  we managed to wrestle a few nice smallmouth into the boats.  Kayak fishing takes a little practice. First, you're constantly moving. You learn to paddle into position and fish before getting twisted around.  Also, hook sets at water level are a little different. It's pretty easy to yank the bait out of mouths at such a low angle.   The plus side?  You're so close to the fish, it changes the entire experience. For the record, Jack's foster daughter landed big fish of the week.  Way to go Sally!   Watch for the story on the kayaks down the road on Due North Outdoors!  Up next, we're headed north to Leech Lake to do a little fishing with the "Mixed Nuts".  A bunch of folks who've fished together for 30-plus years.  All I can tell you is this group is quite a television story in the making.  Then I'll be fishing the Muskie Mania event up in central Minnesota.  I'll try and post a few pictures later this week!