It's A Wrap

                                  

This was the way Matt and I wrapped up our 08/09 ice fishing season.  There was no better way to finish off a great winter.  I wanted to go out like a lion!  Our trip to Camp Manitou really allowed us to do that.  I can now focus on open water boat fishing.         

We worked hard for the trout we caught but when you did hook up it was all worth it.  As you can see these trout were very large and made for a great fight.  We also did catch some walleyes, or gravel lizards if you are Jay Moore! 

Stay tuned I will be posting pics and stories from some of the up coming open water activities.  If you are looking to get out on open water and catch some fish feel free to contact me.  The river fishing will be fantastic the next few weeks and the panfishing will get going soon!   

I Think I am In Heaven...catching donkeys!

                   

Matt R and I had a great day on the ice today at Camp Manitou.  Our mission for this trip was to get Matt his first lake trout through the ice; mission accomplished.  After catching his first trout ever ice fishing he followed it up with two more.  I didn't think I would ever be able to get him off the ice tonight. 

As you can see catching one of these elusive trout through the ice puts a smile on your face that does not wear off.

This is what it looks like when you hook up on a donkey!  It takes a 42" ice rod to even stand a chance against them.  Lake trout seem to go where they want when they want; and all you can do is hold on. 

Matt was on fire today.  Every time I would get comfortable I would hear him yelling, "Fish On!".  Kept me on my toes.

I was also able to get in on some of the action and catch a nice donkey!  I was the king of the multi-species today.

I was busy chasing smallmouth; my true love and passion!  The lake trout are one of a kind but there is just something cool about catching giant smallmouth through the ice.  I got into some real dandies today. 

As you can see we had a bit of snow here today but it didn't last to long.  The snow and clouds really turned the fish on from yesterday. 

The best part about this whole story is that I get to wake up tomorrow and do it all over again!  Keep your eyes here for more pics and stories tomorrow night. 

It's what i do

It feels so good to be back on open water in the boat!  I was joined by a few good friends today to hit the mighty Mississippi River out of a boat.  Yes, it is finally here; open water season.  It came in with a bang when I started this 55 degree March day with this dandy catfish.  I wasn't in the water for 5 minutes and I was doing battle with a giant fish.  What more could I ask for?! 

We went on to catch about 50 sauger and a few walleyes.  This is Chuck displaying a few fish.  As Gunner would say, "it's what I do!".  It really made for a great day on the water in a boat!  

As you can imagine the water is very cold this time of year.  Here is great proof, all day long we had ice sheets flowing past our boat.  It would come over the damn in huge sheets.  I happened to snap this pretty cool photo as some floated by right as the sun was going down behind the damn.  I am headed to Canada on Wednesday to do one last bit of ice fishing.  I should have lots of great photos and stories when I return.  We are going to be catching 20 plus pound trout, 10 plus pound walleyes, and 3 pound smallmouth.  Could it get much better for the final hurray on a great 08-09' ice fishing season.    

Broke Down...

                                 

I am sure you are asking why the title of this post is broke down?!

I recently got the opportunity to travel to the UP to snowmobile with a few friends.  On the first day of the trip we rode about 100 miles and in the process Jordan blew up his belt in the middle of Lake Gogebic with no spare. He was the first one broke down and was not prepared. We are 40 miles from where we started, 10 miles out in the middle of a lake and it is getting dark. Not where you want to be when you blow a belt. When I say blow I mean he totally shredded this thing and it wrapped all up in his secondary clutch making a huge mess.

Hard to see here but his clutch was wrapped up in a mess and had belt stuck between the sheaves. Not a good thing.

Jordan dug at the wrapped belt with no success, we eventually towed him to shore to find tools. Fortunately for us we were able to find an ice fisherman that was a mechanic; he had tools and fixed him up. He borrowed a belt from another machine and nursed it back to the casino.

This was our only stop before we were already towing Jordan's Arctic Cat back to shore to be worked on.

The next day brought great riding conditions but we really didn't get started until 11:30 because we had to drive to Eagle River Wisc in the morning to get Jordan a new belt.  Once we got going it was a great day of riding.

This was our first stop of the day and it was in Kenton at a great little bar where we stopped for lunch, played a little pool, and chatted with the locals.  After leaving the lodge we headed for Bruce's Crossing. 

Talk about small town and a slow way of life.  Welcome to Kenton Michigan.  The owner told us that her payment was $286 a month!!  I mean seriously that is insane.

We never did see a bar with anything but snowmobiles in it.  Maybe they just shut down in the summer?  They really depend on the snow and the snowmobilers up there.  It was fun to see and to ride through all these small fun towns. 

This was the last photo we took before Jordan was broke down again.  After about 100 miles of riding hard on day two Jordan once again was broke down.  This time it was his secondary clutch sheaves blew apart.  The bolts that hold them together just broke off.  I think he is a little hard on his machine and the throttle.  So once again we were towing him back to get worked on.  After getting him back and doing a bit more examining we realized there was no fixing it.  He needed to get a new clutch.  So we packed up the next morning and headed home.  I never had one bit of problem and have to say that the couple hundred miles we did get in were a blast and a good break from the frozen lakes.