Get this party started!

It's that time of year again when we have to blow the dust off our boats and summer gear.  I have been anxiously waiting for the sound of snowmobiles to give way to the roar of outboard motors.  

Like most of us here in Minnesota, I use ice fishing as an outlet to pass the time between open water seasons.  I am fortunate enough to be able to ice fish a lot, but nothing compares to the feeling of standing on the deck of that Z 20 Ranger Boat.  Being that my boat is in Arkansas at the Ranger factory I was at the will of my friends.  Many thanks to Josh Braun, Josh Raw, and Jeff Z for being so willing to put up with me for a few days on the water. 

Josh Braun and Josh Raw arrived in Baudette Friday morning and I met them at the Birchdale boat ramp.  The anticipation of setting the hook on my first walleye or sturgeon of the season was overwhelming.  I couldn't hardly handle it.  I was gitty, like a little kid on his first day of school.  The conditions were fair to good for this time of year.  The wind was blowing about 10 mph, the sun was hiding, temps didn't break 35, and it snowed for about 6 hrs on us. 

Josh, Raw, and myself made the most of the chance at whacking down a 10 plus pound walleye.  Ok we didn't catch any 10 pounders but we did catch about 35 walleyes and really enjoyed our day on the Rainy River.  Raw was able to boat the first walleye, the most, and the biggest (28").  By the way Raw, I still owe you for all of the above.  I will catch up with you on that next year.

Friday night we made visits to the Muny, Wigwam, Sportsmans, and River Bend to take in a little of the local atmosphere.  Knowing we would have a big day on the water on Saturday we needed to get to bed and get some rest. 

Saturday I met Jeff Z , Jen, and Robot at Luckys' and once again we were off to the Birchdale access for some walleye and sturgeon action.  The weather had broke and the sun was out.  The walleye fishing was still a bit slow so come early afternoon we made the decision to sturgeon fish.  We boated five or six nice sturgeon and then headed back to town to get freshened up for the big Mardi Gras party at Sportsmans. 

After all the fishing and partying I was wiped out and knew I had a long drive home in the morning so we headed back to Baudette and crashed.  Was up early on Sunday and on my way home.  After beating the pavement for the better part of 5 hours I was glad to be home.