Getting ready for ice fishing!

Portable Ice House Modifications on a budget...

I want to be more mobile on the ice this year, even when not using my snowmachine. I think I'll catch more fish if I try several spots in a day versus setting up and waiting for the fish. My answer is to stay really lightweight and better use my old flip style shelter. Above is a photo of what I came up with this fall.

The house is an old, very small Sportmax flip shack. It is extremely lightweight (about 20lbs). It is tiny and wouldn't hold up to to much banging around behind a snowmachine. I got it for $39.99 when Sportmax went out of business 10 years ago.


Modifications:

1. Snowflap extension. The front snowflap was too short. I attached some old fish house material (a friend’s house disintegrated) and attached it to the front flap to extend it. This helps keep the wind out (this house has no zipper door, so I can't bank it with snow). Cost: Negligible.

2. Reflective insulation. I installed an insulation layer (made from reflective insulation pockets in which my daughter’s medicine was mailed to us) on the ceiling of the house to help hold in some more heat. Just like Reflectix, but I got it for no $. Cost: Negligible

3. Pipe foam. I put some pipe foam on the bars of the house where my legs rest. Resting my knees on the metal (this house is a real coffin) made them cold. Cost: Negligible (had it left over from another project).

4. Canoe Chair. I took a canoe chair I had and strapped it to a cooler to make a chair. Cost: Negligible (I already use the chair in the canoe).

5. Cooler. The cooler is my storage locker. It holds nearly everything I'll need, including my flasher (the Showdown Troller is small enough to fit and is about the cheapest flasher you can buy new). I attached high-use items to the front. Cost: $20 for the cooler.

6. Rod Protectors. I took long plastic fluorescent light bulb protectors and modified them to slip over my rods. Used double faced velcro to hold them in place. Cost: $6

7. Metal washers. I attached a bunch of heavy washers to the bottom of the snow flap all around the house...helps hold them down to the ice in a wind. Cost: $3

8. Rod Holder. Took a U bolt and attached to the back of the sled, to the side. It will hold a rod when I am fishing with it. Cost: $3

9. Took an old Berkley rod rack I had in my garage and attached the bottom half to the sled. They will hold the rods as I move from spot to spot. Cost: $10

10. Foam Foot Pad. Took an old foam sleeping pad, cut it to size, and wrapped it in burlap (to make it anti-slip). Keeps feet off the ice and warmer. Cost: Negligible.

11. Drink holder. I installed a flip-down can holder, made of metal, it should hold up to the cold. Cost: $10.

House and Modification Costs...$92.

Too keep it light and pullable...I use the Nils 6" hand auger (I've pulled a 39" laker and a 41" pike out of a 6" hole before...not at the same time...the auger has a different design that really makes it easier to get through thick ice. I invested in the Showdown troller flasher/fishfinder this fall. Its size allows it to be stored in the cooler and it is the cheapest flasher I found. No idea how it will work, however. I mostly fish out of the way lakes for trout, so I suspect it will be fine.

Okay then, bring on the ice! Looking at the forecast, we should be hitting the ice by Thanksgiving.

Fall Fun

I took an enjoyable canoe trip last week. My Mother-In-Law, a.k.a MIL, and my Brother-In-Law, a.k.a. BIL, wanted to go on a trip after having to listen to me about all the adventures over the years. Mid-September was preferable in order to avoid the bugs and crowds of summer.

Sunday, September 12, 2010
After another fun evening provided by Chief MLB’s daughter getting married on Saturday, I awoke early and did the last of the packing. MIL and BIL had arrived in Duluth Friday night. We loaded up the gear and hit the road about 9:00 a.m. We cruised up to Ely, got fishing licenses, ate lunch, got the permit, and arrived at the landing for the tow boat right on time at 1:00 p.m. At some of our stops we heard about active bears in the area…people were being harassed in campsites and on portages. The wind was pouring down onto the tow boat dock as we loaded up the boat and tied the canoe on the boat rack. We had decided to take the three person canoe this trip. It was a rough ride down wind to the first portage, where we unloaded and made the first, short carry. The whipping wind and whitecaps convinced us to simply paddle around the corner and take the first campsite. It is a good one with a nice sitting rock and a kitchen right on the water. We were in the lee of the wind, so it was comfortable. Tents were set up, firewood was gathered, and dinner was prepared. We had wild rice cheese burgers and a noodle salad. BIL is a vegetarian, but the wild rice burgers from the Brew House are so good, I didn’t mind at all. We all turned in pretty early.

Monday, September 13, 2010
We weren’t early risers and we took our time packing up camp, having egg burritos and sausage for breakfast. After stashing the cooler in the woods, we headed east in the canoe, riding a strong tail wind. The MIL and BIL both learned the process of portaging rather quickly as we made five short carries. On the big lake, we rode some big rollers east out of the crowds of people on the portages. Once through the big narrows, we had the BWCA to ourselves. We took a good fall campsite that is big and spacious but protected from the chilly wind. We discovered that the site was frequented by a family of beavers thinning the birch grove behind the site. They had worn a deep path in the camp by continually pulling the tree limbs down to the water. The BIL and I got out in the canoe for a bit of fishing before supper, but only caught one northern pike and one smallmouth bass. The bass was a pretty nice one. On the menu for supper was a favorite-my homemade pesto with andouille sausage over bowtie noodles. In the middle of the night I awoke to the sounds of beavers dragging trees through camp.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010
It was sunny and breezy on Tuesday. We had oatmeal and bagels for breakfast, packed a day bag, and hit the water. The BIL caught a nice smallmouth bass right away, and then had a lake trout type strike over deep water, but didn’t hook up. Unfortunately, those were the highlights of the day’s fishing. We explored a ton of water, fished fast slow, shallow, deep, and everything in-between. Nothing was biting and the wind made boat control tough. We did see some new country, however, and it was a nice day. Back at camp, we took advantage of the sun shower and cleaned up. I lost a big fish fishing from shore when it broke the new $14.99 pole I had bought as a spare/shore rod for the trip. I guess I got what I paid for. We had red curry rice with foil chicken for supper. It was pretty spicy, but very good. We interrupted our listening to the Twins beat the Sox to hear a nearby pack of wolves howl for a good while.

Wednesday September 15, 2010
It was a cold, drippy morning as we ate pancakes under the tarp. We packed up a day bag and hit the bay behind camp to portage to a nearby lake. After the two portages, we were on the lake and jigging for lake trout. The MIL caught a nice eater right away and lost two other fish, so the action was better. We didn’t stay too long due to the nasty weather, and didn’t catch any more fish on the way back to camp. The rain let up late that afternoon and we enjoyed braised lake trout with red beans and rice for supper.

Thursday, September 16, 2010
It was cold, but calm and sunny morning. We decided to stay at our site another day and we packed the day pack. We trolled to a nearby portage and the MIL caught a smallmouth bass on the fancy lure she had picked out for herself at the bait shop. The portage landing was a sand beach and there were lots of moose tracks in the sand, which we followed for a bit, but didn’t spot a moose. The longer portage we were on was through the heart of the 1999 blowdown, and it was a bit like portaging through a prairie with really tall grass. We trolled the small lake at the end of the portage in the sun and calm winds, and the MIL and BIL caught three nice lake trout, which we stuck on the stringer and headed back to camp. The trout were cleaned and battered, then fried-absolutely delicious. A batch of au gratin potatoes accompanied the fish.

Friday, September 17, 2010
After a rainy night, we woke to a stiff west breeze and cloudy skies. We packed the gear and headed out into the waves, which, due the gusty, rather than steady, nature of the wind, were not too bad. We took a bit of time to check out the former island home of the Root Beer Lady and then proceeded west to the same campsite as night one. We strung up some lines and dried out the tents before setting them up. It was red curry peanut butter noodles for supper-a new recipe than might have been my favorite of the trip.

Saturday, September 18, 2010
The forecast called for a low of 28 degree on this morning, but it wasn’t quite that cold at our campsite. The wind was already blowing pretty well when we packed the gear and went to meet the tow boat. An old timer was our driver, and he shared a lot of the history of the lake where we stayed. Apparently his father had run a resort at the site of our mid-trip campsite. Pretty interesting. After getting the gear loaded in the truck at the landing we grabbed some French toast in Ely and then toured the Root Beer Lady museum and checked out some of the shops. It was an uneventful ride back to Duluth.

It was a good trip-very relaxed. I enjoyed seeing the BWCA through the eyes of a couple people who hadn’t experienced it before.

Nature Moment: On the far end of the portage we took on Thursday, several small trees were laying across the path. Their cracked trunks didn’t show any evidence of beaver teeth and it took me a second to figure how the trees were broken. When I saw scraped bark on the trees, I realized a bull moose was using the trees as a scratching post, trying to get the velvet off his antlers in anticipation of the fall rut.

Everyone Knows its Windy

Had a fun little camping trip this weekend. My folks arrived on Friday night and on Saturday morning we (my parents, my Wonderful Bride, and Super Kid) got the final gear packed and hit the road in two vehicles. We wound our way north and went to a Forest Service campground near Ely. The campground was fairly quiet and the sites were pretty nice. We got camp set up, had some lunch, and then hit the beach. The wind was blowing out of the south pretty strong, but it was warm and the swimming was nice. We relaxed in camp that afternoon and listened to the Twins game. After a supper of pesto noodles, mom, dad, and I took the canoe out for an evening spin. It was a pleasant night, but the fish were not found. We enjoyed a campfire and popcorn that night.

On Sunday we ate breakfast and then mom, dad, and I drove to a nearby BWCAW entry point for a day trip. We portaged the 3-person canoe and our fishing gear the 200 rods to the lake. The landing at the end of the portage was a quagmire of mud. There was only one way to get the canoe launched-we had to wade in the mud that was up to our thighs. It was again very windy, and we were confined to fishing the channel/river between a small lake and a big lake. Dad caught a walleye and a big crappie, but both flipped out of his hands before he got them on the stringer. The wind cut the trip short on a hot sunny day. We made the portage back to the truck and got back to camp around 2:30pm. We immediately gathered up my Wonderful Bride and Super Kid and hit the beach again. We had the place to ourselves as we washed the mud off. Listened to the Twins again and then had a supper of red beans and rice with sauteed Northern Waters Smokehaus Salamini and some fresh peppers from my mom's garden. We had a rousing game of 4-handed cribbage that night.

On Monday morning we woke to a small rain shower and got camp packed up. The sun came out and it was a hot day as we checked out another campground's sites on the way to Ely. In Ely we bought showers from an outfitter and then checked out the International Wolf Center, which was very nice. We ate lunch and then did some shopping. From there, the folks and family went back to Duluth and I headed up the back roads from Ely to International Falls for a work meeting. I checked out the sites in three more USFS campgrounds on the way.

Nature Moment: Our campsite was full of wildlife-squirrels, chipmunks, and voles. The squirrels in particular were interesting-one gathered pine cones from a nearby tree and buried them in a hole on the other side of camp continuously. Back and forth with a pine cone carried each return trip. Must have carried over a hundred pine cones over the course of the weekend.

The Annual Camp Sh*tstorm Canoe Trip was held from August 4 to August 12, 2010. A very fun trip.

August 4: I went and picked up the BWCAW permit after I dropped my Wonderful Bride and the Super Kid off at the airport shuttle. They were going to be visiting family in Pittsburgh while I was fishing. I procured the permit and then loaded up my gear in the truck and drove to the Smoked Fish Guy’s house. Fran Tarkington Fan had arrived a few days prior and we got busy packing the food and other gear. About 1pm, Swimming Turtle arrived on his own, and then Tick Check, Gatorade, Wear-Some-Shorts, and the Freshman arrived in the van. We finished packing and all three vehicles headed up the North Shore, picking our way through the construction and passing through some rain showers with strong winds. We pulled into the outfitter's lot at 5:30pm, loaded the tow boats, and got a ride to the big point. The wind and rain had disappeared and we got lucky and found the boy scout campsite with the beach was open. After getting the tents set up we had pre-made Italian sandwiches and Brewhouse beer for supper. We were able to see some northern lights that night.

August 5: The morning dawned with a stiff breeze from the northwest. We had egg burritos for breakfast and packed up camp. We crossed the whitecaps into Canada to the Quetico Park Ranger Station, where we waited in line behind a crew of teenage girls that were on a 30 day canoe trip. When they were done, we all got the full spiel from the Ranger that likes four things darker as she gets older (“not men, I’ll take any man I can get!”-the actual answer is bread, beer, chocolate, and coffee). She gave a flip chart show of Quetico Park rules and regulations, gave multiple sales pitches for Quetico merchandise, and reviewed some of the finer details of our planned route. When we got going again, the big bay was really roiled up by the wind. Undeterred, we pointed the bows at the whitecaps and pressed on to the first portage, which features a view of a large waterfall and a slippery, steep rock in the trail. We all made it to the next lake unscathed (Gatorade did make a slight wrong turn, but corrected himself before becoming lost) and we paddled on. Many of the campsite were taken as we battled the wind to the next portage, but once the carry was made, we had the lake to ourselves. We set up on a windblown island in an effort to stay cool on this warm day. Tick Check and Freshman managed to get a couple walleyes with minimal effort, so we had fish, steaks, green beans, fresh picked mushrooms, and a hearty red wine for supper. The wind died down that evening and we quickly learned the mosquitoes were out.

August 6: It was calm and sunny as we ate a quick breakfast of bagels and oatmeal. We cruised out of the lake and into its outlet river, which is noted for its waterfalls and rough portages. The paddling and carries were taxing in the warm weather. At one of the later portages, Fran Tarkington Fan got his rod out and managed to catch two bass on 1 cast (on a rapala with 2 sets of hooks). That afternoon we arrived at our destination lake and faced the reality of another five miles of paddling to get to a campsite that isn’t in the burn zone (the fire occurred about 15 years ago). Of course, there was a stiff wind in our faces. We mustered our energy and pressed on to the destination campsite, which was thankfully open. Everybody immediately stripped down and rinsed the day’s grime off in the lake. We got in a couple hours of fishing, during which supper was secured. Red beans and rice with andouille and walleye was on the menu. Mosquitoes were still plentiful.

August 7: The morning dawned calm and sunny. While enjoying the first cup of coffee, Tick Check and Wear-Some-Shorts noticed a small plume of smoke coming from a nearby island. They noticed that the island’s underbrush had recently burned, so they went to investigate. It was indeed a smoldering forest fire on the island. Using the rudimentary equipment available to them, they dumped a large amount of water on the fire. Returning to camp, they stated they should receive some sort of firefighting merit badge for their effort. Unfortunately for them, the rest of us could see smoke still rising from the island. The fire would just have to take its course. We all loaded up the canoes with fishing gear after breakfast and headed to the nearby narrows and it’s current. An eagle’s nest was discovered at the head of the narrows and the eagles followed us around while we fished. Surprisingly, after having much success at this spot in previous trips, there was only one walleye at the narrows-The Smoked Fish Guy caught a 27.5 inch fish. The rest of us only caught smallmouth bass and hammer handle northern pike. We tried many areas of the narrows, and finally found a few fish at the far end in deep water. After an incident with a snag that resulted in a broken fishing rod for Wear-Some-Shorts, he and I decided to head back to the main lake. It was a good decision-we got into the walleyes pretty heavy near a set of rocky islands. As the afternoon went on, the walleyes kept getting shallower and shallower until we were getting them on jigs cast onto a reef that topped out at just four feet. The fish were of a nice average size. Just before dark we check out a nearby shallow bay in an effort to catch some nice bass, but the walleyes dominated the catch in the bay as well. It was a very fun fishing day. Back at camp at dusk we discovered others also had done well with shallow water walleyes in the main body of the lake. It was Thai Curry Rice with walleye that evening-absolutely delicious-the Smoked Fish Guy is an unbelievable chef!

August 8: The next day after breakfast, Wear-Some-Shorts and I decided to do some exploring up-lake. We first hit the island spot again to jig up some walleyes, then we headed across to the entrance of another bay to a spot I had success at previously, but it held only one walleye. We then crossed to another bay’s entrance-a spot I hadn’t fished before. We had a lot of action at this location, getting a few walleyes, several bass, and many, many northern pike (nothing huge). We enjoyed a swim in the clear water of this bay and the Freshman and the Smoked Fish Guy pointed out a blueberry patch to us. We went back to the rocky islands near camp to secure fish for supper. Each canoe was charged with bringing home two fish. We quickly got our two fish at the reef and headed to camp. There we discovered that some canoes brought home a bit more than two fish, due to deeply hooked and bleeding catches. So the fish fry that night became an epic effort, with only buns and tartar sauce as a side dish. To top it off, a rain and wind storm came in just as the fish was being fried. We watched attentively as the gusts of wind fanned the fire on the island near us, quickly producing sizable flames. It didn’t rain enough to put it out, but the fire wasn’t big enough to jump to the mainland, either. Irregardless, the fish fry went on, and I am proud of the group in the fact that I can say no fish went to waste.

August 9: This day was a good one for me, as I was asked to fish with the Freshman. I really enjoy passing on my fishing knowledge, limited as it may be, to less experienced anglers. The Freshman didn’t have the best luck the day before, so he was excited when, after a breakfast of Quetico Supreme sandwiches, he quickly caught a nice walleye at the rocky island. Unfortunately, he had to watch me catch six fish to his one. So, before we moved onto another spot, I tweaked his spinner rig a little bit and taught him how to make sure his bait was near the bottom. He caught a walleye at a new spot on the main part of the lake, and when we discovered a big reef off an island nearby, he really turned his luck around, catching several more walleyes, including a 26” beauty-his biggest ever. We anchored up and jigged up several more walleyes, smallmouth bass, and northern pike on “Freshman’s Reef.” We also took a swim on a good jumping rock before heading back to camp. That evening it was one of our new favorite suppers-bowtie pasta in a sauce made from butter, aged gouda cheese, and parmesan cheese-fantastic. Stories of fishing success and fun from the others’ day on the lake abounded around the campfire that night. The bugs continued to be prolific in the evening.

August 10: We packed up camp and headed back up river this day (Happy Birthday, My Wonderful Bride!!). Each of us left a fishing rod rigged so we could test the pools below the rapids and waterfalls. After another windy crossing of the big lake, we caught some bass, walleye, and northerns below the first falls. Tick Check had the best luck (or is worst luck?) when he caught a big bass that somehow snapped off the tip of his fishing pole, and then he immediately caught another big bass that hit his dangling jig while he held the first bass for a photo. After the first portage we caught several nice walleyes in the hole below the next falls. This type of success continued as we headed upstream on a very warm, sunny day. When we finally reached our destination lake and campsite, we were all ready for a swim. We had a lot of laughs as we rigged up our life vests “Lt. Dan Diaper Style” and bobbed in the warm water. Swimming Turtle earned his nickname with his rendition of synchronized swimming. We squeezed in some evening fishing before a supper of “heavy” mashed potatoes (potatoes with dehydrated hamburger and vegetables) and fish. The highlight of the evening for me was watching Fran Tarkington Fan hook a decent smallmouth bass only to have it jump and throw the lure high in the air. When the tube jig hit the water again, it was immediately eaten by a much larger bass. This time, Fran Fan’s big fish didn’t get away.

August 11: The day started with an early morning downpour of rain, which caused some delay in breaking camp. Once the weather dissipated, the chore went quickly and we were on our way. We fished our way down the lake, but didn’t catch much until getting several bass and walleyes where the river comes into the lake. After the final portage of the trip back up the hill to the big bay, we all rigged up lake trout rigs hobnobbed together from our walleye tackle. The next couple hours were pretty surprising to say the least. The bay was unusually calm and all four canoes had good conditions to get the rigs to deep water as we crossed. Amazingly (for the dog days of August) we caught a total of 14 lake trout in the single crossing of the bay. Gatorade alone caught six on his “five of diamonds” spoon. We had trouble finding an open campsite at the big point near the tow boat landing, but eventually we settled on a very nice site with a pebble beach. After a swim, and a supper of baked lake trout and pesto noodles, we all went to the beach and took in the Persied Meteor Shower. We saw many shooting stars, plus there was a lightening show from a storm to the south and the northern lights were to the north. A fitting last night for a fun trip.

August 12: We got up early and quickly packed up camp and headed back to the big point. After a bit of a delay by the tow boat operators that were coordinating multiple groups, we all found our way back to the outfitters and our vehicles. After a stop for burgers and fries at a local restaurant, we all made our way back to Duluth and got the gear sorted out before saying our goodbyes and heading home. It was truly a great trip with good friends and good fishing. Thank you, Camp Sh*tstorm Crew.

Nature Moment: The walleyes on the lake we basecamped on are very unique in that they have several different distinct color patterns. Some are distinctly blue. Some are green. Some are the standard gold, and some are dark, almost black. I haven’t seen or heard of the green walleyes at any other lake, but another lake in the Quetico does have the blue version. Interestingly, the other lake with blue walleyes has very clear water and the lake we were on is very stained-so water clarity doesn’t seem to be a factor in the color of the fish.

Old Man River

I took an unforeseen bonus canoe trip down the local river again on Saturday. It was Chief Many Little Bottles' 50th Birthday and everyone has been so busy not much celebrating had gotten planned. On Friday afternoon, I struck a deal with my wonderful bride regarding parenting duties for Saturday, made some phone calls, and set up a river trip for Saturday. Chief MLB, Captain Karkov, and the Professor joined me for the float.

We met up in the morning and got my vehicle shuttled to the takeout. It was another beautiful, warm, sunny day. We floated the river, ran some rapids, and fished continuously. The river, once again, did not disappoint. We caught many smallmouth bass, a few northern pike, a couple walleyes, and a couple channel catfish. I caught four bass that were bigger than I had ever seen on the river before, and man do bass that are in current fight. There were a couple other anglers on the river, and even a big group of people camped on a grassy peninsula, but overall, the river was very quiet again. We stopped at a rocky spit near the takeout and shared a growler of Brewhouse Starfire Pale Ale-a great end to a great day in celebration of a great guy's 50th Birthday.

It started to rain just as we packed up the truck.

Nature Moment: This trip reminded my that this particular stretch of river has an unusually high population of bald eagles. They are often sitting in the trees overlooking the river, and because the river is small, narrow, and curvy, you often get very close to them before they fly off. Up close you realize how big and powerful they really are.

Rolling Down the River

Officer Friendly and I took a day trip down a local river on Monday. This trip has become an annual event sometime around the Fourth of July. In the morning, we shuttled Officer's car to the takeout point and then put the canoe in upstream. We floated down the river, casting a tiny torpedo and jigs as went. Officer caught several smallmouth bass on the surface bait. We anchored in a few deeper holes, catching several more bass. We ran a few small rapids and and pushed through some shallow riffles. We stopped for lunch at the pool beneath the biggest rapids. The best fishing was there-we caught bass as soon as we could get our line back in the water. The average size is small, but there were some decent ones mixed in. I did some experimenting with Gulp! Alive leeches versus real leeches. The Gulp! Alive did just as well as the real thing, even when just hanging below a bobber. This is the first time it has really worked well. The big issue is that it doesn't stay on the hook any better than real leeches, and the Gulp! Alive leeches are much more expensive. After eating sandwiches from Northern Waters Smokehaus, the world's greatest eatery (www.nwsmokehaus.com) we continued on our way, taking in a beautiful sunny day as we went. We caught many more bass, ran a few more rapids, and enjoyed the day. On the final hole before the takeout, I finally caught something other than a bass-a walleye and a channel catfish. Both fish came on Gulp! twister tails. On the final stretch of river it clouded over and began to rain. We re-shuttled the cars, loaded up the gear and headed home just before dusk. We covered just under six miles of river. Another very good trip.

Nature Moment: A mama merganser and her brood of ten ducklings met up with us on the first section of the river we paddled and basically followed us downriver for most of the trip. They would pass us when anchored to fish, and we would pass them when we shooting rapids or paddling through shallow sections. They kept going downstream when we reached the takeout. We also saw eagles and a hawk that had caught some type of rodent.

Walleye Wonderland

Some odd circumstances resulted in my going on a neat canoe trip June 20-24. Chief Many Little Bottles learned he couldn't go on the first part of an 11-day trip with Lt. Dan, Cpt. Karkov, and the Farmer after it had already been set up. So he recruited me to accompany him to meet them (they found an able replacement) on their route.

We packed up on Friday night, I did some more packing on Saturday, and then we left Duluth early Sunday morning. We headed up to Ely, picked up the permit (which was once again very confusing), and then hit the water. We were able to use motors on the first 11 miles of the trip, which included two portages. We actually brought two 2-horse motors, because we brought an additional one for the other guys on the way back. We got some strange looks on the portages, as we were likely the first people to portage 2 motors but only one canoe in the BWCA. It was calm, pleasant day, and we made good time to the no-motor zone line. We stashed the motors and continued paddling. The next portage was a doozy-340 rods along a rushing river. At just over a mile, I was cursing the weight of my pack, but the portage is very flat and we made it eventually. After three more portages we came to the narrow, winding lake with plenty of current areas. We set up camp on a narrows at about 3:30pm. The spot was small, but good enough for two people and the shore fishing looked good. We threw out our lines and set camp. We had dirty rice with sauteed andioulle sausage for supper. Chief finally caught a rock bass and a small walleye at dusk, but that was all the fishing we had. The mosquitoes were out pretty thick.

On Monday morning we packed up the gear and headed north and west on to the bigger part of the lake. We went through a series of narrows with current, and we caught walleyes in most of them. Most of them were eaters, but Chief did get one about 22 inches. A few bass and small pike were thrown in for good measure. We looked at a number campsites on the way and they were either occupied or not up to our standards. We finally settled on a nice one on a small island-it had everything going for it except the nearby shoreline was likely too shallow for good shorefishing. Decent tent pads, nice kitchen, open and airy (but not too exposed). After we got set up, it started raining. We waited it out for a while, but since it wasn't thundering or anything, we eventually went fishing in the rain. We caught some decent bass in a nearby current area then started trolling leeches over rockpiles surrounding our island. The eater walleyes were there, and they were hungry. We quickly caught enough for supper plus a few more. Chief fried up the walleyes perfectly as always. We had stuffing with chorizo sausage as a side dish. Delicious. The rain let up as we were eating, but then the mosquitoes came out with a vengeance that night.

Tuesday dawned cloudy, but calm and not raining. We hit the water after breakfast and started trolling the rock piles again. We picked up a few walleyes here and there, and we discovered the site of a pre-BWCA regulations resort. We could see the old dock pilings in the clear water. We then trolled around some islands, where a Nature Moment occured (see below), which forced us to find another fishing spot. We discovered a sunken island and caught several walleyes on it-including a nice 23" fish. We wandered back to camp for lunch and soon we got a radio call from Lt. Dan. We directed the other group of guys to our location. After a hearty reunion, the guys got there tents set up and we headed out fishing again. Captain K and his bow man caught several walleyes, while the rest of us caught a few. Chief MLB caught a nice smallmouth bass. The wind had whipped up, preventing our return to the mid-lake reef. We enjoyed a great supper of smoked pork loin, sauerkraut, and au gratin potatoes. We listened to the Twins lose as we swatted bugs that night.

On Wednesday, we packed up camp after breakfast and then fished our way back up the lake in the direction we had come. Chief and I fished all the current areas as we went catching quite a few walleyes. Chief had a very large fish on for a while that fought more like a walleye than a pike or bass, but it threw hook before we could see it. We really got into the walleyes in the final current area, catching them as fast as we got our baits down at one point. We set up camp near the northern most portage which goes around a large waterfall/rapids area. We fished the pool below the falls, getting a few small walleyes. It was fried walleye and pesto noodles for supper. It was the consensus of the group that we prefer bowtie noodles over spaghetti for pesto. This is due to the fact it mixes with the pesto better. The skeeters were out again that night as we heard the Twins lose yet again. Lots of laughs around the fire, though.

On Thursday we packed up and started the trip out. We did the four portages, including the 340 rodder (which was easier for me due to food consumption and smarter packing), recovered the motors, and zipped out the last 11 miles. Saw a lot of people with a lot of gear on the lake and the portages. We ate supper at a local restaurant and headed home. Another good trip. When I got home I learned my Grandma was very ill. She passed away on Saturday night. She was a good grandma. I attended services on Monday and Tuesday and now am back at work.

Nature Moment: When Chief and I attempted to troll around some islands, we were suddenly and viciously attacked by an angry sea gull. Repeated strafing runs that were at most a couple feet over our heads convinced us to head for different structure.

Family Fun

We had a really enjoyable family camping trip this weekend. My wonderful bride, super kid, and the wonder dog headed north on Saturday morning and got to the campground before noon. We set up a nice looking camp with a great rain tarp and kitchen area. The girls decided to take an afternoon nap, so the wonder dog and I hit the lake for some fishing. The campground has a canoe dock, which made it easy to load the mutt into the canoe despite his hips. We fished our way down the lake and nailed nice 25" walleye on a wind-blown sunken island. None of his friends were around, and before long I got a radio call that the nap was over and the girls were ready for fun. I stashed the canoe and joined the group at camp. We did some bike riding and checked out the nearby outfitter/store. A family with 10 kids was camped across the road from us. Ages 2 to 15. They were actually pretty quiet, considering. We enjoyed happy hour while listening to the Twins win and then made pesto pasta for supper-fantastic. After super kid hit the hay we enjoyed popcorn while listening to my favorite podcast-Stuff You Missed in History Class.

On Sunday morning we made a big breakfast and then we all went for a canoe ride. The super kid enjoyed it, but I didn't get any fish to show her. We went back to camp for lunch, during which we heard a gunshot from somewhere in camp. The authorities were very soon addressing the situation at a site nearby, but there were no indications anything serious had occurred and the young people in the site were still there that afternoon. The girls took another nap that afternoon, so I got out fishing again, catching 3 decent smallmouth bass in about 2 hours of fishing. I just beat a rain shower back to camp. We enjoyed happy hour under the tarp and made hot dogs with cheesy rice for supper. My wonderful bride and super kid took a shower at the outfitter's that evening as I did the dishes and caught the Twins game on the radio.

After an uneventful night, we got up in the morning and made pancakes before packing up. It was a warm, sunny day. We did a review of all the campsites in the campground before heading out. We took the backroads to avoid the holiday traffic on the highway and rolled into town mid-afternoon. It was a very enjoyable trip.

Nature Moment: We were the lucky recipient of an inchworm hatching event in our camp. Little baby inchworms were falling out of the tree above our kitchen and actually piling up on the tarp-probably a couple hundred of them. Interesting.

No Trout for You!

It was a tough weekend of fishing May 21 to May 23. The Smoked Fish Guy, Officer Friendly, and I headed up the North Shore from town after work on Thursday, stopped for supper at the Gunflint Tavern and then went up the Trail. We camped in the lake parking lot that night.

On Friday morning we got an early start after making coffee and headed onto the lake on calm seas. I kept up in my solo canoe and we discovered our preferred campsite was occupied by Captain Karkov and his friends. We chatted for a minute and then moved onto another site, which is a decent one and it looked like it should have decent shore fishing. The biggest issue with the site is that wind can really howl through that part of the lake, trapping one in camp, particularly if you are in a solo canoe. No matter, it was a beautiful day. We set up camp and then headed out to fish. It was slow at first, and the Smoked Fish Guy and I got skunked, but Officer Friendly came through in the clutch, catching five lake trout right before supper. We enjoyed lake trout, steaks, mushrooms, and asparagus for supper. No bites from shore that evening.

On Saturday we had a big breakfast and headed out to fish on another nice day. The wind came up soon after I got on the lake, however, and I was forced to fish in the lee of several islands and caught only a couple smallish northern pike. I tried some shorefishing with a cisco with no luck and tried casting a rapala, which only resulted in a snag in a sunken tree which claimed the rapala. It was windy enough that afternoon that I couldn't safely return to camp, so I stopped at Captain Karkov's campsite and learned of the decent success they were having for both lake trout and walleyes from shore. They all were very relaxed and had custom made cedar stump drink holders. The wind calmed a bit after the visit and I fished my way back to camp, meeting up with Officer Friendly and the Smoked Fish Guy on the way and learned they had some success with lake trout, smallmouth bass, and a decent northern pike (31"). We enjoyed "Kek Burgers" for supper (lake trout bacon cheese burgers). Shorefishing resulted in three lines being sliced by a northern pike.

Sunday dawned cloudy and windy again. We packed up camp and ate a leisurely breakfast, then snuck through some islands on our way back to the truck. I caught a northern pike and had a lake trout-like strike, but didn't connect. We loaded the truck as we observed a group of rookies being instructed by their group leader on the basics of getting into a canoe and paddling. I was surprised that one of his basic instructions wasn't "put on your life vest" considering the rookie status, the strong wind, and the cold May water. I guess I shouldn't be surprised anymore. We headed back down the Gunflint Trail and were disappointed that, once again, Huie's Taco House "Home of the Puff Taco" wasn't open for lunch. We had a pizza at Sven and Ole's instead. We rolled into home base late that afternoon.

So, another good trip, but fishing was disappointing for me again. Have I lost my touch? (Did I ever have a touch?)

Opening Weekend Blues

Opening weekend...a Minnesota holiday, a tradition that surpasses all others in the State. Opening weekend 2010. The last one I'll ever participate in?

This opening weekend started on Thursday for me. I had planned to go up on Friday morning, but a meeting on Thursday night up north got scheduled at the last minute, so I loaded up the truck and just went to my campsite after the meeting on Thursday. I ended up setting up camp on our favorite road accessible walleye shore fishing spot at 11pm in a 35 degree drizzle. It sounds worse than it was. The camping/fishing spot isn't a secret, so going up early assures me of getting the spot. Captain K and his girlfriend planned on joining me on Saturday.

So on Friday, we had the whole day to explore, just the Wonder Dog and I. It was rainy all day, but mostly just heavy drizzles. I broke out the GPS unit I had gotten for Christmas and taught myself to use it as we went. We bushwhacked to three different lakes that don't have a developed access, but the travel wasn't easy through the brush...portaging a canoe or even carrying fishing poles would be tough. The GPS unit worked great, but it turned out to be unnecessary on the way back to the truck...I discovered that the Wonder Dog actually does have a talent...he can track his own scent really well. Each time he led the way back to truck on exactly the route we took to get to the lakes. It cleared off that evening and it was a chilly night.

On Saturday, Opening Day, we got up early and drove to a designated stream trout lake. We got loaded up in the canoe and I noticed the Wonder Dog's hips were a bit sore and he barely made into the canoe on his own. He had been struggling all winter with his hips. We trolled down that lake with no bites and found the portage to the next lake over. We made the portage and this time the Wonder Dog really had a heckuva time getting into the canoe and I had trouble helping him because of the friendly people that were sharing the portage had placed their canoe in such a way that clogged the whole landing. So I moved a bit deeper at the landing and helped the dog into the canoe. It was at this time that I discovered by trusty, but well worn, rubber boots were leaking. Awesome. The water is still very cold, despite the early spring. I made one trolling pass around the entire lake and caught two decent lake trout. By the time I left the small lake there were over 10 other boats fishing the lake. Crowded by my standards. We portaged back to the other lake, and again struggle get loaded because a canoe was clogging the landing. This time we struggled enough that I was forced to come to a realization. This paddle across the lake to the truck was going to be the Wonder Dog's last canoe ride. Not of the day, but of his life. He just can't get in and out anymore. We then took a shore fishing tour of the area, catching absolutely no fish. That night back at camp, I made supper and started fishing for walleyes from shore. Three parties started down the trail from the road and turned around when they saw I was there. I expected Captain K and his date to arrive, but they didn't show. Later, another loud party came down the trail in an attempt to fish the spot. This party of two men and two small kids didn't turn around when they saw me. Their leader declared that he had fished this spot for a long time and he was fishing there that night. I said it was a small spot, my friends were on their way, but he decided to fish anyway. I said, okay then. I talked a bit with my new friends and the kids liked playing with the Wonder Dog. Captain K and his girlfriend finally showed up and they were forced to fish on the shallow, snaggy side of the point. The new friends left after a bit and we finally caught a few small walleyes on lighted bobbers after dark.

Sunday dawned bright and warm. I took down camp and headed out on another shore fishing tour. Nearly every one of my good spots had other people on them. I only fished two more spots and caught one lonely splake. It was then I said..."Why to do I go up north to fish on Opening Weekend?" A week after opener there is less people and the fishing is usually better. So that is my declaration...I won't go fishing on opener again. Well, maybe I will, but not until Sunday and then stay into the week for a bit. I made it back to Duluth mid afternoon and got unpacked.

The next trip is set for this weekend, Thursday night to Sunday, lake trout fishing with the Smoked Fish Guy and Officer Friendly. That will be the last camping trip until late June.

Nature Moment: As I paddled across the lake going back to the truck on Saturday, we were suddenly surrounded by a navy of otters. They bobbed up and down in the water and hissed and chirped at us, warning us off their territory. It is always fun to watch otters in the water, so sleek and smooth swimmers.

Spring? Fishing

My lovely bride and precious child went to the Cities for the weekend, so I decided to go camping up north. I managed to convince Officer Friendly and the Wonder Dog to join me. The forecast kept getting worse all week and when we hit the road after work on Friday, the snow was accumulating. We drove out of the snow at about Two Harbors and when we got to the secret drive to campsite on Random Rock Lake at about 7pm, it was just windy and cold. We set up a tarp and Officer Friendly set up her tent. As we ate smokehaus sandwiches for supper the snow began again in earnest. It accumulated to an inch or two, enough to collapse the tarp. We sat in the truck cab after that. We had hoped to listen to the Twins, but they were rained out. The Wonder Dog and I slept in the bed of the truck. His hips are bad enough now that I have to help him into the truck.

We woke up on Saturday to a cold wind but partly sunny skies. The snow was already melting. We took our time getting the canoe loaded up and eating breakfast, hoping that it would warm up a bit. We finally bit the bullet and hit the water. Once we got behind some points, it wasn't too cold. Wasn't warm, though. We initially fished where a small river flows into the lake, hoping the crappies would be stacked up in the current. They weren't. Nothing was in the current. We paddled further upstream, but our path was blocked by a big beaver dam. We turned around and fished some shallow bays. No fish. We then tried deeper water near an island. No crappies, but we did get two hammer handle pike. We tried some more points and bays and only had a couple sad little perch take the bait. We gave up about 4pm and went back to camp. It was nicer there out of the wind. We played catch with a football and then had Italian sausages for supper. Delicious. The temps dropped quickly, so we listened to the Twins in the cab of the truck.

Woke up on Sunday to frozen water bottles. It was chilly, but clear skies ensured it would be warming quickly. We packed up camp and hit the road. First we fished a non-designated lake that is stocked with brown trout. No bites. Next we fished two different streams for brook trout. One creek chub was our only bite. We then tried one more small stream for brook trout. It paid off-we caught several native brook trout. They are absolutely gorgeous fish. Officer Friendly caught one that was about 12 inches long, which is a really nice one for native brook trout in streams. After a bit we noticed that black flies (gnats) were hatching in the river right as we fished. We also noticed the fish were feeding on them. Finally we noticed the fish were so busy eating flies, they didn't want our worms any more. So we headed home, arriving without incident.

Nature Moment: Just after we left camp, Officer Friendly noticed a large bird sitting on a tree next to the road. It turned out to be a Goshawk, which are really cool birds that hunt in thick forests, expertly making tight maneuvers around the trees as they chase prey. Since they like the thick woods, we don't see them very often. This one hung out next the road for a while, so we got a rare good look at it.

Next weekend is walleye and lake trout opener, so I'll be heading up north again, this time fishing with Captain Karkov and his girlfriend.

Last Winter? Camping Trip

I went on my final winter camping trip of 2010 this past weekend. It was touch and go if we would even made the trip up north, as record breaking warm temperatures were threatening the ice. The Lone Chihuahua and Tangerine Boy arrived at my house from the Twin Cities Wednesday night and got some repacking done, told some stories, and hit the hay.

Officer Friendly arrived at 6:00am the next day and we took off for the Gunflint Trail. After a couple stops we arrived at our destination lake. There was absolutely no snow in the woods. It was 50 degrees and windy. The ice had pulled away from the landing enough that we couldn't get on the ice pack. I wandered around and finally found a spot in the shadow of the shore that we could use to get in the lake. We made the decision to just camp in the parking lot instead of going onto the lake to find a campsite. I didn't want to walk 3 miles only to find out that we couldn't find a spot to access the shoreline to camp. We hit the ice to fish near the parking lot. The ice was still about 20 inches thick and fairly solid, but it was shrinking and it was water logged. We checked out some points and islands and managed to land four lake trout between us and Officer Friendly caught a bonus whitefish. We set up camp on a warm evening and enjoyed venison steaks and mushrooms.

On Friday morning we ate breakfast and were about to hit the lake when a busload of high school seniors arrived. 57 kids were planning on camping on the lake. The max group size is 9 in the BWCA, but that didn't seem to bother the leaders. They were head south, so we headed north. After about a two mile walk, we discovered that open water and bad ice in a couple narrows was preventing us from accessing desirable trout water. We were forced to fish in areas that weren't near really deep water (areas with access to deep water is generally better for lake trout). After a bit, Tangerine Boy and the Lone Chihuahua gave up and headed back to deeper water near the landing. Officer Friendly and I stuck it out in the shallow area, fighting off the cold, gray, windy day. It paid off. We each caught several trout, including 2 26 inch and 1 25 inch fish. We wandered back to the main lake and found that our associates had caught nothing. Just after we arrived, however, Tangerine Boy caught a nice trout on a tip-up. I jigged up another trout just before we called it a day. It was corned beef and cabbage for supper-a wonderful meal provided to us by a co-worker.

On Saturday, after a cold night, we all headed back to the hole that Officer Friendly and I had done so well in the day before. We set up Tangerine Boy and the Lone Chihuahua on our holes and Officer Friendly and I went to a new area to fish. I immediately hit a hot streak-jigging up four nice trout in the first 1/2 hour. As I was fighting the last fish, a nice 25 incher, my tip-up went off, and after landing the trout on the jig rod, I went and caught the one on the tip-up too. It was lucky streak. It slowed after that, so we entertained ourselves on the cold, sunny, and windy day by playing on the clear, slippery ice surface. Throwing a frisbee disc on the bare ice meant it would go forever before stopping. We also used our safety picks and ski poles to propel our sleds down the ice. The Lone Chihuahua also played a game where he let his chair blow away down the lake and he chased it for a long time before catching it. The rest of us declined to play that game. The Lone Chihuahua finally caught another trout that afternoon, but that was it. We went back to the main lake for the 5:00 bite and it again paid off, with the Lone Chihuahua and I each jigging up nice trout. Supper was the world famous Tangerine Boy's wife's secret family recipe chili. Delicious.

On Sunday, the Lone Chihuahua and Tangerine Boy packed up and headed home. Officer Friendly and I fished near the landing for a couple hours and she caught 2 more trout. We packed up at noon and hit the road, stopping for lunch at the Gunflint Tavern. It was a good trip to end the year, even though we we unable to reach our original destination.

Nature Moment: On the way north at the beginning of the trip we spotted a lone wolf along the highway. It was in the same area as we saw a wolf two weeks ago.

Trout on the Beach

It was another trip up north this past weekend. The Lieutenant met me at my house at 6am on Thursday. We hitched the snowmachine trailer up to my truck and headed up the North Shore. It is interesting to drive Highway 61 during this time of year. The North Shore is home to a very large population of wintering whitetail deer due to the south facing slope of the hills lining Lake Superior (the south slope gets more winter sun than other areas). As winter begins to fade into spring, melting snow begins to reveal all the deer carcasses along the roadway. There are hundreds of them. Often, when melting conditions are right, the snow under the carcass won't melt and the carcass will be perched up on a snow podium well above the ground. We call the perched carcasses "deersicles." Deersicles attract all kinds of critters, including ravens, coyotes, and bald eagles. On Thursday morning we even saw a timber wolf at a carcass.

We cruised up the Gunflint Trail to our destination lake. We unloaded the snow machines, hitched up the Otter Sleds with our gear in them, and took off down the lake. It was sunny and it was already getting warm as we made our way to our campsite. It was well above freezing as we set up the winter tent and wood stove, organized our gear, and headed out to a proven fishing spot. No fish house or heaters were needed-instead sunglasses and sunscreen were employed. The Lieutenant caught a few small lake trout and one decent one that afternoon and I caught one trout and lost a couple more. We were surprised to see several other anglers on the lake-we had always found the lake to be very quiet in the past. That night we ate wild rice and trout chowder and enjoyed "fire brick ginger cookies," a winter camping staple.

On Friday it was warm again, although a brisk wind cooled things a bit. It was a fast lake trout bite all day. Lieutenant caught several lake trout and I caught eleven. Most of them were on the small side, but I did get a 27 inch fish that was very heavy for its length. Later in the afternoon, I set the hook on a bigger fish. It immediately peeled off nearly all of the line on my reel and the battle was on. After a bit I started to finally gain some line, but soon felt the hook pop free. Aargh. But wait-I still had him...that was odd. I continued the fight, which didn't feel quite normal...the fish felt weird. I got the fish up to the hole and saw it was a dandy...30 to 32 inches, I am guessing. I also saw the cause of the mysterious fight. The lake trout was no longer hooked. The hook had popped free as I had thought, but somehow the hook and line worked together in a veritable lasso to rope the fish around the dorsal fin. I tried to get the fish up the hole tail first, but it slipped out of the "lasso" and swam away. Shucky darn, I said (or words to that effect). Still, it was a good day of fishing. Some of the fish came on my Windlass tip-up, which is always fun. The Windlass is a tip-up that uses a wind sail to jig the bait automatically. It doesn't get a ton of use because it has to be above freezing and windy, but not too windy, to use it. So using it is a treat. It was a warm evening outside as we enjoyed jalapeno brats and sauerkraut for supper.

On Saturday we went back to the hot spot, which broke my general rule of not fishing in the same spot two days in a row for lake trout. I should have listened to myself. It started out pretty well with a nice fish on a tip-up for me and the Lieutenant hooking, but eventually losing a big fish. It shut down after that. I didn't get any more fish and the Lieutenant only caught a few smaller ones. It was another sunny and warm day. Chicken and Dumplings for supper. Lots of people on the ice again today.

Sunday dawned very warm. Concern about deteriorating snow conditions encouraged us to leave right after packing up. Our concern proved to be true as we were forced to cross some bad ice near the open water of a creek mouth and then the bad snow was causing our snowmachines to not cool properly. We made it back to the truck safely however, and, after a Gunflint Tavern lunch, we got back to Duluth by mid-afternoon.

All-in-all, it was another good trip with good fishing part of the time, and slow fishing part of the time, which is fairly typical. Being able to use the snowmachines up north may be done for the year unless some new snow falls. I'll take one more trip in a couple weeks in which I hope to walk a bit into the BWCA. After that, I'll be looking forward to the canoeing season.

Nature Moment: Friday morning, as we were getting settled over a favorite spot, a chorus of howling wolves let their nearby presence known. They were quite close and quite loud.

Ouch!

It was a beautiful weekend in every way this weekend, except one. Someone forgot to tell the lake trout to bite. Or maybe there weren't any trout in the lake we were fishing.

Officer Friendly showed up at my house at 5am on Friday. We got the truck loaded up, hitched the snow machine trailer, and took off for the Gunflint Trail. After encouraging a cow moose that was licking road salt to get out of way, we got to the lake landing at about 8:30am loaded up the otter sled and took off down the lake. After about 6.5 miles we arrived at a very nice winter camping spot on an island. What makes a good winter camping spot is a site that is low to the water with lots of brush blocking the wind. Pretty much exactly the opposite of what you want in a summer camping spot.

We set up camp and headed out to fish. It was beautiful warm and sunny day with hardly any wind. I dropped Officer Friendly off on a point extending from an island and then proceeded on to fish a point across the lake. Before I even got settled, I got a radio call that Officer Friendly had already caught a nice lake trout on a tip-up. A promising start. I missed one fish on the point and decided to move to a more prominent point. I heard from Officer Friendly that another fish had hit but it didn't make it up the hole. I caught nothing in my new spot and late in the afternoon I started to pack my gear when Officer Friendly called again-a big fish was hooked and a battle was underway. A short time later she called again and said the fish had spit the hook. She was very excited and said it was the biggest fish she had ever seen and that she had fought it "for 2 and a half, 3..." I couldn't believe it. She had fought a fish for 2 and a half hours?!!...she finished her sentence..."2 and a half, 3 minutes." Now, I am sure the fish was a very nice one, but I have witnessed people fight lake trout for 25, 30, 35 minutes before while ice fishing, so her assessment of the length of the battle was a humorous one. The big one that got away was the last bite of the day. We had a supper of jalapeno brats and sauerkraut.

On Saturday we headed out again, with Officer Friendly hitting the same point as the day before and I headed to a prominent point in the middle of the lake. I had a hit right away and missed the fish, and then didn't have any action for two hours. It was another sunny, warm, and calm day. I began trolling from spot to spot, drilling holes and looking for fish. I finally parked in front of a steep cliff and hooked a nice fish and, after a bit of a tussle, there was a funny pop at the end of the line and the fish was gone. I reeled up and discovered my snap swivel had broken. Aargh! Equipment failure haunts me. I re-rigged and soon caught a nice lake trout, but it definitely was smaller than the one I had lost. I met up with Officer Friendly late that afternoon and discovered she hadn't had a bite all day. Not good. We had tortilla soup for supper and listened to the trivia show on the radio.

We fished until 1pm on Sunday and only had 1 very small lake trout to show for it. It was another beautiful day. We packed up the gear and headed back to the landing that afternoon. It was an uneventful ride back to Duluth, other than one moment when the sun was in my eyes while driving and I said "if a deer jumped out in front of us right now, I'd never see it." And of course literally 1 second later a deer did jump out in front of us and I had to plant the brakes to avoid it.

It was a tough fishing trip. With the good weather I couldn't help but think if we had picked a better lake we would have caught more fish. I had been on the lake before without much luck, but others I had been with had good success. I must say I won't be going back to that lake for a while.

Nature Moment: On our way out fishing on Sunday morning, we noticed a large flock of ravens on the ice in front of us. Seconds later we saw two wolves running away from us towards shore. We stopped at the site and discovered a fresh deer kill. During the night the wolves had forced the doe onto the lake and brought her down on the ice. The snow at the kill site showed the evidence of a mighty struggle and the ultimate demise of the deer. The two wolves had already eaten much of the deer. We motored on to our fishing spot, but continued to watch the kill site. The highlight was when the wolves came back to the scene after we left. The ravens and an eagle had arrived back on the kill before the wolves, but when the wolves came back, they charged at all the birds and ran around, scaring them all off. A third wolf tried to come in for a bite at one point, but the two wolves ran it off rather than share. Quite soon thereafter the wolves split the deer into two pieces and drug them off into the woods, leaving only some hair behind. The whole experience was very interesting.

Another Trout Trip

It was time for another lake trout fishing/winter camping adventure this weekend. Being a government lackey, I had Monday off, so the Smoked Fish Guy and I left early Saturday morning and headed north. We settled in at the same campsite as two weeks ago, so setting up camp was a snap and we headed on to the lake and were fishing by 11:00 a.m. It was a mostly sunny day with very little wind, so we checked out a few fishing spots and fished outside the portable ice house some. I ended up getting three nice lake trout that afternoon. The Smoked Fish Guy was denied any fish, although he did have one on for a bit. We cruised back to camp that evening and the Smoke Fish Guy made an incredible supper of smoked pork ribs. Very good. We listened to the local station's Saturday night trivia show and turned in.

On Sunday we were forced to go to the north side of the lake in order to escape the predicted 20mph north winds. When we got set up the wind was still out of the west, however, and we connected with lake trout right away. I caught four and the Smoked Fish Guy caught two. Late in the morning the wind suddenly shifted to the north and it began snowing in earnest. The fish shut down. We never had a bite after the weather changed. Why do lake trout 30 feet down under 24 inches of ice care what the weather is? The snow and wind obliterated our sled trail in, so it was more of a slog getting back to camp that evening. It was Italian Sausages with roasted peppers, fried onions, and pepperchini's for supper that night.

On Monday the wind was still very strong out of the north and it was snowing off and on. We fished until noon and never had a bite. After getting camp packed up we headed down the road to Duluth.

Notes: I am not one to to this very often, but people should be aware that they should never buy any ice fishing gear from Clam. Wow. They might as well call it the "Clam Disposable Fishhouse." One time use only. Half the stitches pulled out, the zipper broke, the materials was wearing to the point of needing duct tape in spots, the top hub bent, and finally the material tore from one of the side, rendering it useless. I had bought the Clam Expedition on Dec. 15th and used it a total of 9 days. I'll be on the phone with them today.

Next camping trip is already coming up this weekend, as my lovely wife and child are visiting friends out of town.

Nature Moment: Heading back down the Gunflint Trail on Monday afternoon, a bull moose crossed in front of the truck and then hung out for a while just off the road, pausing conveniently for photos. Moose populations are decreasing in NE MN, but this one looked healthy.

Trout Below Zero

My first winter camping adventure of 2010 was held this weekend. Of course when I could finally make it up north, the temperatures went south. The sun was out and the winds were calm most of the weekend, though, so it was actually pretty comfortable.

Lows were well below zero in Duluth on Friday morning when my friend Officer Friendly arrived at my house in Duluth. We packed the truck and hit the road at about 6:30am. We headed northeast via the North Shore Drive and then headed inland on the Gunflint Trail. We pulled into our destination lake's public access at about 10:30am. We set up the canvas tent and wood stove in a clearing well off of the parking lot and headed out to fish on a cold but clear and calm day. We could see anglers already set up on the spot we had picked out on the map and we could see a lone angler well down the lake, but they were only other people on the lake that day. We walked a little ways to an island with a steep drop off, got the portable tent set up and started fishing about 1pm. Officer Friendly had never ice fished for lake trout before, so I provided some basic instruction and we fished side for the afternoon. The fish were fairly cooperative...I had three bites on my tube jig and landed two nice lake trout, including one that was unusually dark colored. Officer Friendly didn't have a bite. We were checked by the Conservation Officer, who reported others were having slow fishing. We walked back to the tent under a beautiful sunset to the west and a beautiful moon rise to the east. We fired up the wood stove and enjoyed Italian sausages with fried onions and roasted red peppers for supper.

It was another chilly morning on Saturday, but we both reported sleeping well overnight. We hit the trail and headed back to the same fishing spot. It was another bright sunny day that was a bit breezy, but still comfortable. How was the fishing? We got skunked. But, I wouldn't say the fishing was bad. Between the two of us we had eight fish hooked and headed up to the hole, but not one of those fish hit the top of the ice. 0 for 8. Ouch. Lake trout squirm off the hook better than other fish, but Saturday was humbling. We enjoyed chicken and rice hotdish and the local radio station's trivia show that night.

Sunday was again sunny, but a cold wind was cruising out of the northwest. We drilled some holes off a point near the landing, but discovered our depth map was way off and what was shown as 40 feet deep was 12 feet. We switched to a flat off of a rocky reef I had spotted in the summer. We had immediate action as I got a nice trout all the way to the hole only to have it wrap up on depthfinder transducer and escape. Not a good start. Soon after that I watched a fish on the depthfinder that chased my jig all over the place but refused to hit it hard enough to hook up. In a last ditch effort I put down a minnow on a plain hook and put a bobber on. The fish refused to hit that as well. After a bit, I reeled up the minnow as fast as I could so I could switch back to the jig. As the speeding minnow neared the bottom of the ice, I watched a trout swim up to the minnow with unbelievable speed and hit it. This time it hooked up and after a run back to the bottom, I finally landed the nice laker, breaking the bad luck streak. Now the mission was to get Officer Friendly a first winter lake trout. When a mark showed up on the depth finder and my friend dropped a spoon down to it, the fish swam up and nailed it. After a decent fight I looked down the hole with much anticipation to land the fish and discovered it was a northern pike. Unbelievable. We stuck with it, though, and just after noon a fish hit my bait and stole my minnow. My friend reeled up to the spot and fish hit the spoon and hooked up. After a bit of a tussle, I looked down the hole to see a nice laker (I of course immediately said "Oh no, it's another northern," which Officer Friendly did not find humorous). We were about to the land the fish when it made another run. Suddenly my friend said, "Oh no" and I looked up to discover the line had become hopelessly tangled on the reel. Again, unbelievable. Thankfully, the fish wasn't strong enough to break the line, and we were able to pull the laker in by hand. It was another nice one. With that accomplished, we filleted the two trout and packed up. We broke camp and uneventfully headed back to Duluth. Another fun trip.

My next trip won't be until mid-February...watch for another trip report after that.

Canadian Sunsets

The Arrowhead Angler kicked off the lake trout ice fishing season with a trip north of the border. Saturday morning the Lieutenant, Chief MLB, and I loaded up my truck, hitched up the snowmachine trailer, and headed north through International Falls to the border station in Fort Frances, Ontario. We were lucky enough to undergo a major search of the truck and its contents courtesy of the Canadian authorities. After a discussion about how much beer a "growler" contains and how we should have been more specific about exactly how much beer and booze we had along (even the little bottle someone didn't want to mention because it was a birthday gift for someone), we were sent on our way. We wound our way for about another hour through Ontario, we arrived at the small lodge on the shore of a very large and island studded lake. We got our things into our unit and headed out fishing. A quick snowmachine ride got us to a promising spot and we started fishing on an unseasonably warm afternoon. No houses or heaters were needed all afternoon. I had the hot hole, getting a small trout right away and then a nice 28" laker a bit later. Chief MLB got a nice fish, and the Lieutenant also had some action. Towards evening I set the hook on another nice fish (I was actually standing 20 feet away from my hole attending to another matter when the fish hit). After a pretty good battle I saw a very nice trout below the hole, but it was oddly hooked in the side of the face, and I couldn't get the nose started up the hole. After a while of trying, the line snapped...it must have been wearing on the side of the hole. Shucks. It was still a good day. We headed back to the lodge at sundown and had grilled trout for supper.

On Sunday it was still quite warm out as we headed east on the lake too a new spot. The temperature was dropping and the wind was picking up, so I set my portable house on a steep sloping shoreline. As I sat down and started jigging, I heard a noise outside the house and looked up to see my tip-up flag was up. The noise I heard was the whirring of the reel on the tip-up as the fish peeled off line at a high rate of speed. By the time I reeled up my jig and got out to the tip-up, all the line was off the reel and just the knot held the line to the tip-up. I assumed the fish had broke the line, but he was still on as I began hand-lining the fish up to the hole. After a pretty good fight, another 28" lake trout was on the ice. Soon after I jigged up a nice 25" lake trout, but that was it for me the rest of the day. The other guys also had tougher days, with the Lieutenant getting just one small fish and Chief MLB getting skunked. Blame it on the changing weather-the temps were dropping all day. It was nachos and chili-cheese dogs for supper.

Monday dawned a bit colder and we did some exploratory hole-drilling before spreading out to fish in a deep northern bay of the lake. I missed a fish as soon as I dropped my jig down the hole, and then I didn't have any action until later in the afternoon when the sun came out and jigged outside in a deeper hole. That resulted in a small lake trout, my only catch of the day until an eelpout hit just before packing up. Lieutenant and Chief MLB fared better...the Lieutenant caught a couple real nice trout and lost a big one as well. Chief MLB had good action, getting several smaller trout. Venison stew was waiting for us in the crockpot when we got back to the lodge.

Tuesday we went back to the spot we had tried on Saturday afternoon, and Chief MLB continued to have good luck, getting a couple nice trout and losing a bigger one at the hole. I caught a small trout, and it was the Lieutenant's turn to get skunked. We quit fishing at noon, packed up the truck, made it through US Customs without incident and I rolled into the garage at about 7pm.

I enjoyed the trip thoroughly...the lodging wasn't fancy but was close to good fishing and the price was right. The lake had quite a few other anglers on it, but was so big and full of good trout structure that people could really spread out. The fishing wasn't spectacular, but was certainly adequate and we each had our shots at big fish.

Next trip will be this weekend to a more local lake that the DNR stocked lake trout in a few years ago. We'll see if they survived. Unless another snowstorm hits and I have to stay home and shovel.

Nature Moment: Near an exposed rock near the lake shore adjacent to my fishing spot was an unusual hole in the ice. The snow was packed down around it. I decided it was likely an access hole for otters. Later I saw an otter running in that area, which seemed to confirm my hypothesis. I wonder how often the otters have to use the hole in order to keep it open all winter?

Lake of the Woods Walleyes

After what was a slow holiday season as far as fishing has been concerned, a friend and I headed west to Lake of the Woods, Minnesota. We left on Sunday morning and drove four hours to Zippel Bay on the massive lake's south side. Lake of the Woods and the surrounding area is very interesting geologically...it sits at the cross roads of the flat, boggy prairie and the rocky Canadian Shield. The south portion of the lake, most of which is in Minnesota, is an open, relatively shallow sand flat. The northern portion is deep, rocky, and full of islands. Zippel Bay is a narrow river-like bay, and the Zippel Bay Resort is located well back from the main portion of Lake of the Woods.

We checked in at the Resort's office and learned they had put us in Sleeper House #224. The attendant pointed out where the house was located on a large map that showed an actual grid system of plowed roads on the ice of the main lake. After we settled up ($114 per person for 2 nights), we drove down the landing to ice road on the bay. We wound our way up down Zippel Bay, crossed a sand bar and went onto Lake of Woods. It was an impressive scene...thousands of ice fishing shacks of every make, model, and quality stretched to both the east and west horizons. The northern horizon was a frozen, snow covered lake as far as the eye could see.

We followed the street signs on the road system to "Bobber Street" and took a left, eventually finding the Sleeper Fishhouse labled #224. It was a solidly built house that was about 7' x 12'. It had two beds that folded down from the walls, six already opened fishing holes, a stove top, a heater, a table, and a propane light. Outside there was an outhouse-like structure with a bucket and some garbage bags. Thankfully, a toilet seat was kept inside the fishing house to keep it warm. The house was a respectable distance away from other houses.

We got our lines set up in 24 feet of water and settled in. It took a little while to get going, but we eventually caught several walleye and sauger (a slightly smaller, but just as tasty walleye cousin). Some of the fish were quite small, but we caught some nice eaters up to 16". After dark, I caught a good sized eelpout (burbot), which my friend had never seen before. He wasn't impressed. Overall the fishing was little slower than expected. After a fish supper we turned in, leaving one line down on a rattle reel.

Monday was a sunny, warm day and the fishing was pretty fast for an hour or so right away in the morning, but they were mostly small. We took a drive out and about that afternoon, checking out all the different kind of fishhouse set ups and noting the big spray foam igloo that the Resort keeps on the lake. It has a bar and grill inside. That evening the fishing picked up again. After supper, well after dark, I was jigging on the bottom and noticed a wide mark on my depthfinder, well off the bottom. I reeled up to the spot and got bit right away. After a short tussle and a battle to free the 4lb test from the depthfinder transducer, I pulled up a large walleye. It measured out at 26.5". Probably 6 or 7 pounds. One of the nicer walleyes I've ever caught. A few minutes later another mark came in 10 feet off the bottom and struck my lure. My line snapped immediately. The other fish must have nicked the line somehow. Aargh. That was the last bite of the night.

On Tuesday, we had another pretty good bite in the morning, and my buddy caught a 17.5" walleye, which was a good addition to the pile of fish we were taking home. The trip home was uneventful. I got the fish cleaned and in the freezer (just for you, mom).

It was a fun and interesting trip. Now this weekend I am headed north of the border with two friends to get started on the lake trout season in Canada.