Its Been A Summer

Summer is disappearing much too fast.  Before I know it I will be back on the hard water ice fishing.  But before it goes away I have to take a minute to reflect on the summer of 2019 and all the great days on the water.  

I once again fished the Champions Tour by Classic Bass here in MN this summer, and we have one regular season event remaining on Lake Pokegama in Grand Rapids MN.  We started off on Le Homme Dieu in Alexandria back in June and I was able to get out of there with a 3rd place showing.  

From there we went onto Leech Lake for the 2nd event.  We had some interesting weather, but I was once again able to get out of there with another 3rd place showing.  

I caught most my fish on Leech on a KVD Sexy Frog.  Black or any dark color seemed to work best for me.  

The 3rd stop was at Lake Vermilion in northern MN where I expected the smallmouth to dominate and thought I would be in good hands.  It turned out to be my toughest event of the season and finished in 7th.  The bite the day of the event was much tougher then I had expected it to be.  

This was one of the better ones I caught the day of the tournament but unfornately I didn't catch enough of these guys to win.  Between these events has been lots of good outings with great clients and friends.  

The next few weeks will make or break if I am able to win back to back Angler of the Year award and how the Champions Tour championship will shake out.  

Can't Stop, Won't Stop! Ice Fishing Is in Full Swing

With the cold weather having set in, we have gotten a great start on the ice season.  The ice fishing started right after Thanksgiving and it has not let up.  It has been one of the best early ice season's I can remember in the 20 plus years I have been guiding.  

We have been ice fishing on Lake of The Woods, but will soon be fishing on Lake Waconia, and Lake Minnetonka. The ice on Lake of The Woods has been great and we are seeing ice thickness on the lake side in the 14-17" range.  

When we first arrived at the end of Nov we had 6-9" of ice and the big fish bite was great.  We also found lots of numbers of fish.  In the last few weeks we have moved out into some new areas and still have been able to catch some walleyes in the 26-28" range.  As we ventured further out we got away from all the people and had no problem finding lots of gravel lizards that want' to cooperate.  We have been fishing 24-28' of water as of the last week.  

I have been jigging with the new Phantom Lures Tilly #5 and #7 have been my go to sizes.  For jigging this bait, I am running a 36" Thorne rod with a Shimano 1000 Stradic spooled with 10lb power pro with a 8 or 10 fluorocarbon leader.  I like to put a small swivel between my braid and my leader.  Usually about a 2' leader is all I run for this application.  When I am not jigging, I am running a dead stick Thorne rod with a plain #2 glow gamakatsu octopus hook.  I am tipping the hook with a rainbow or a golden shiner.   

In the coming weeks we will be venturing more and more into the Ontario side of the lake in search of crappies, perch, and walleyes.  The MN side should continue to be good fishing for the next few weeks as well.  If you are looking to go on the adventure of a life time, please feel free to contact me.  I have been leading adventures and making memories the last few weeks and everyone has really enjoyed themselves.  

Lake Mille Lacs Smallmouth Guided Trips

If you are looking to come up or get out this spring/summer and fish smallmouth on the famous lake Mille Lacs, I am now taking bookings for May into late June.  The first week of June is already booked except one day. Still have a few days open if you would like to get a day on the water booked for giant Lake Mille Lacs Smallmouth.  

All gear is provided.  $500 for a full day for 2 guests.  

Another Winter Has Come And Gone

The 2017/18 ice fishing season came in hot and heavy right out of the gates in early December.  I actaully did my first day of ice fishing this year on Nov 11th in Saskatchwan on lake of the prairies.  It was the earliest I have ever been on the ice and we managed to catch a few walleyes and perch for a fish fry.  

I followed that trip up with an early run to Lake of the Woods the first week of December and the walleye fishing did not disappoint.  We managed great #'s of fish with some good qaulity mixed in as well.  Even managed to catch my fisrt sturgeon through the ice.  Shortly after hooking it I knew I was in for a battle, probably took me 20 minutes to land it, and it eventually came up a 9" hole.  

We spent the Christmas holiday's at Lake of the Woods with a group of about 12 of us.  The fishing was once again great jigging in 22-25' with gold, red, and glow baits.  

Got to finish off the season with a great trip to the northwest angle filled with lots of walleyes, crappies, and laughs.