The end of September

The summer has once again flown by. I will always remember this summer for the odd fish patterns and weather. It wasn't always cooperative, and neither were the fish. I will also remember my accomplishments with the two tournament wins on Minnetonka and Whitefish.

I have been drawn to be in the 2005 Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship on July 17-24, 2005. I'll be fishing for $50,000! It's great news, considering I was one of 141 people chosen for the top 35 spots.

The end of September brought great walleye fishing on the weed lines. Two nights in a row I caught over 20 walleyes with numerous fish in the 18"-23" range. Now that we're well into October and the hunting season the bite has slowed for me. My time is obviously split between fishing and hunting this time of year, leaning more towards hunting. The last time I was out fishing was on Sunday the 17th, and it snowed. We boated one small muskie and one 3 lb. largemouth. With better weather forecasted I may get out one last time, but it's not looking good since I am selling my boat.

 I am also going to be busy with my girlfriend Joni. She and I have a lot planned before ice fishing guide trips get rolling.

With that said, I would like to invite everyone to try and get their ice trips booked now. The window of opportunity is small, and the days are numbered. I have about half (or more) of my winter booked. It should be a good ice fishing season with multiple year classes of walleyes in Waconia now maturing. So go ahead and e-mail me or call and I will set-up the most phenomenal ice fishing experience of your life!

If you're looking for muskies

If you're looking for muskies, now is the time of year to be out fishing for them. The reports of 50 plus inch fish just keep coming. I was out at six o'clock this morning chasing the elusive muskie on a guide trip. The wind was blowing pretty hard out of the south so I stuck to the south shore, north side of the island, and Wagner's bay. We tried everything from topwater to buck-tails with no luck. I think the changing weather this morning hurt us.

The best bite has seemed to be from 5 p.m. until dark during the last few weeks. Stick to the weed edges and reefs. Throw a black buck-tail or a topwater right before dark and you will raise some fish.

For those of you that know Matt Oscarson, I have to add that he caught a 40 plus pound (he claims) muskie on Tuesday night while trolling a spinnerbait but lost it after breaking the net. Congrats to Matt, and good luck to all!

What can I say...

This has been the weirdest summer when it comes to weather that I have ever experienced. One day it's 80 degrees and the next night it's frost. The fishing has been tough statewide the last few weeks. I just wish we could get some stable weather so I could get two or three good days in a row. Well, I have determined that is not going to happen so I just sneak out when I can.

Started on the west side on Coney Island

Started on the west side on Coney Island flippin' in about 13 feet of water on the edge of a milfoil turn. Only about three casts into the evening and I see a muskie swimming right in front of the boat. I throw my bass jig on 50 pound spiderwire out in the general direction, and WHAM, she hits it. I battled it to the boat a few quick pictures and I sent her on her way. It was 39 inches and about 17 pounds. The bass bite was tough. I continued to flip deep with no success so I tried a few shallow spots and only caught small ones. I will try and get out after them again this week and next and I will keep you posted. I am also going to try and get all the new pictures from the summer up.

The turnover is coming so get out and fish as much as you can in the next three weeks. The muskies are going crazy on all the milfoil reefs. Lots of reports of sightings and hook-ups. The walleye bites should pick up on the outside milfoil edges. I would run a 6-8 foot leader with either a crawler or a minnow on it and run up and down those good outside edges. If they won't go on that, slow down and vertical jig them with a jig and minnow. If you catch one stay in the area...others are close by feeding.

I spent Aug. 14-17 up on Lake Vermillion with Dave, his wife Susan and Joni. The weather was pretty nice but the bite was a little tough. I focused my time chasing smallmouth bass. The fish were a little hard to locate. I caught some on Storm Rattlin' Chug Bugs and some on Rapala Jointed Shad-Raps. Our best fish came the last day on chug bugs with the biggest going 19 inches and Joni with two 17 inchers. I was able to catch one muskie that went about 40 inches. Caught a few smallmouth on green tubes and also a few pike so all in all it was a success.

We did not catch a single walleye. One of the lodge guides was out six hours and only caught two keeper walleyes. So we didn't bother trying to catch any. Thought we would catch a couple while throwing crankbaits but had no such luck.