Fishing with T-Rig (.com)

These are a few of the dandies from tonight.  Sean, Travis, Joe, and myself spent the evening jerking a few of Bemidji areas finest BBJP's.  These perch were in the 13" range.  Make sure to check back tomorrow, it will bring more great stories and pictures of trophy bluegills and perch.     

Update on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 at 9:14PM by Matt Peters

This afternoon we went out in search of some BIG gills and as you can see we had some success.   Thanks to Travis Frank I was able to ice a few big gills.  Check back often to see what tomorrow will bring.  With four days to go I can promise you there will be more fish like this one to see.  Until then tight lines and good luck.

All Hail Travis' BBJPs

T-Rig with some BBJP's from last night on Waconia.  Now those are what I call perch.  These fish were huge and they were just two of many that were caught by Trophy Encounters guide Travis Frank.   I look forward to getting in on some of this action maybe as early as tomorrow.  If you our anyone you know is looking to catch some jumbo perch or big panfish drop Travis an e-mail  (maybe not on Waconia). 

Recent Action

Matt Rauenhorst with a Red Lake slab from this past weekend. 

Back from 11 days at Upper Red Lake with a few fish stories to share. 

The action started off good with Dan Precht and his brother-in-law Keith catching their 20 before heading home.  On Monday the 6th Theo, Phil, and Jim arrived after fishing for two days they headed home with about 20-24 red lake slabs.  But then the bite started to slow and I mean sloooowwww. 

Bill Miller and Steve Yetzer arrived late Tuesday and left out Thursday with a total catch of around 10.  I was able to catch enough to have one nice big fish fry why they were up.  At the same time they were up so was Mark Raveling and Gary Lake.  First evening they were able to put about 7 in the pail.  The second was only one and the third evening they got skunked.  

Bill, Steve, Mark , and Gary had all safely headed home.  Friday brought new hope.  We moved some houses and we were excited about our new spot.  I had Matt Rauenhorst's group along with Theo and company back for the weekend.  Don't let me forget to mention Seth who I work with at Pro Fish was up for the better half of the week also.  Getting set-up on Friday I was feeling good about our chances.   Only a few hours into the BS'ing and I was able to leap over two men, one bucket, and who knows whatever else to dive and catch a rod going for the hole.  At the end of that rod (which wasn't my fishing rod) was a very nice Northern Pike.  After a long battle and a few near misses at landing it I was able to bring the beast up the hole.  Come the first evening we only caught a few fish between all of us  and we had lost the wind in our sails.  Not to be let down we headed for West Winds to take in the action.  A few cocktails, stories, and tongue lashings and we were heading back to the fish house for some Texas Hold'Em.  The boys proceeded to feel bad for me and let me win some of my gas money for the week.  Thanks fellas.  All in all it was a success.  The crappie fishing got to be a little tough but the walleyes, perch, and pike provided some excitement.  

Matt R's group finished their weekend with 10 slabs and felt pretty good about their efforts.  In the next few weeks we will be heading to Red again at least twice.  So if you are looking to get one last ice fishing trip in this winter drop me a line.  Until we have another adventure good luck and tight lines.         

FISH ON

Home from my first big Red Lake trip with lots of good stories and some elusive Red Lake SLABS.  My good friend Theo hired me for the weekend to show some friends of his a Red Lake trip to remember.  DJ, Todd, and Jim arrived on Friday morning after their seven hour tour trying to find Upper Red lake and using all of their On Star minutes, visiting the not so friendly town of Red Lake, and a small spat with Red Bull.  Hey guys, I told you Red Lake - not (vodka) Red Bull. 

Once they finally arrived at camp Theo and I proceeded to show them what FISH-ON means, and boy did we catch some fish on Friday.  After they were all settled in with some lines down we played a few games of Hold'em and all they did was take my money.  They weren't kidding when they said the rich get richer  (DJ).   Friday night was pretty low key with Jim trying to heave and ho DJ's truck across the lake.  Up early on Saturday, the boys wanted to catch a little breakfast at West Winds.  I had already told them numerous times it was too early and they would be closed.  Well, guess what? They were closed.  So instead, with some quick goat thinking, I cleaned up some fresh crappies and fried them up.  I couldn't have done it with out the 104 oz's of Bubba love.  With a good base and some more fish to be caught, everyone got real serious for about two or three hours, and once again they were ready to go to West Winds and eat.   We had an early exit due to the smart mouth of Theo's brother Phil.  Everyone accomplished what they came for (a good time).

After DJ, Phil, Mark, Andy, and Jim bedded down for the evening Theo, Todd, and I stayed up telling Bubba keg stories until we couldn't take it any longer.  And trust me, even Bubba had had enough at this time of night.   With one of my strongest performances out of the way, I could focus on catching more Red Lake slabs.  Sunday morning we got up and made the decision to clean up and try to get an early start on the drive home.  We finished the trip with some where in the neighborhood of 35-40 Red Lake slabs. 

We were also very successfull at catching lots of nice walleyes that we had to send back down the hole for one more winter.  The walleyes will bite anything and everything.  A few of the walleyes weren't so nice, as you can see in this picture.  This will go down as my all time smallest walleye that I have ever caught.  I actually caught it on a Northland forage minnow jigging with a full minnow on it.  Thanks for the great times and trip, fellas.  I can't wait till we can do it again.  Until then FISH-ON and tight lines. 

Matt