It's January 20something and winter is already grinding on my nerves. perhaps I'm not as hardy as I once was, in fact I know I'm not. I know about living in MN, one has to make an effort to get out and make the most of it. Aside from some limited ice fishing ( and limited success) I've been a bit of a shut in. Jennifer has been lobbying for XC skis, once I get the boat sold this week I'm going to surprise her with a trip to REI and some new boards.
On the boat, yes it's for sale and I've been fielding calls all day today. WTF you say? I am sad to admit it never even left the garage last summer, with my time in AK and a busy work schedule it just never happened. What boat fishing I did do was from my shitty 12' "little boat" and honestly I enjoy the skinny water opportunity it affords. It looks like the big boat will be gone by the weekend so I need to start thinking about it's replacement. I think when I get home from AK this summer I'll be investing in a jon and hopefully a 40 horse Jet outboard. While it's a pretty limiting rig, it would provide us with a kick ass rig that goes both down river and up, could be a big asset for fall muskie guiding in the north woods.
It looks like I got me a part time job! it's been a while since I've actually worked for someone other than myself but it's been a bit slow this winter and I like to work. I'll be doing a couple days a week for a glass guy I met with last night, does some interesting stuff and it's another skill I can add to my set.
Alaska has been on my mind alot lately and we'll be fishing off a new boat this year. Curtis had a number of good things fall into place last year (and a few bad things too) but overall was good enough to sell the Salmo and his sternpicker so he ordered up a custom bowpicker from Anchorage. It'll be a 34 foot diesel twin, 12 foot wide and flush decks. All this means big, fast, efficient and comfortable. At my request he added an gear locker outside the cabin so I don't have to slog in all my stink and fish slime and wet raingear. I'll be leaving MN around the first of June this summer, home end of July. I'm really excited because Jennifer is coming up for a couple weeks at the tail end of my trip. She's never been to Alaska and I'm hoping some of Cordova's charm rubs off on her. It's no secret I'd love to live there and could make a good living with fishing and my carpentry skills. Will I be able to convince her? Time will tell.
As you can tell this is hardly a fishing report and to a certain extent I feel like less than a fisherman sometimes. Jennifer has been complaining about the lack of flaky white fish in the freezer and I've been pretty inept at satisfying her craving for bluegills. I guess we'll have to have another slab of red salmon, rats!
VENISON RULES!
Those who know me know I'm not much of a carnivore, at least when it comes to beef. This was not a conscious decision, I just kinda quit eating red meat about 20 years ago. I think it was the weekly steaks my father prepared, regardless, it was off the menu for a long time. But alas, I have a new found love for Venison. Fred, Don Herschleb and I killed 4 deer this fall on Don's land and after much butchering/brat making and patty slapping we have a freezer full of delicious Venison. It's a nice feeling to know that these animals were harvested and cared for with much respect, fred was insistent on maintaining proper hanging temps so the end result was nothing short of spectacular. As it stands we now have a freezer full of venison and red salmon, so rewarding.
For those with I tunes check out Boot Liquor Radio. Not quite XM outlaw country but still enough to inspire me to crack a beer at 1:25 as I sit here and catch up with ya'all.
The picture up above is one my budding photographer of a bride took. It was a rock bar on Avalanche Creek in Glacier NP, the bar was covered in over 100 rock cairns made by visitors over time. very cool stuff, she never fails to impress me. Great wife, great teacher and good woman. Love you Jennifer.
I'm out, not for so long this time. I promise.
bigpike
Showing posts with label wisconsin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wisconsin. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, August 24, 2009
miller time
Afternoon All!
The bugs seen in the image on the front page are the venerable White Miller. The millers are a lesser known hatch in our area, in fact good intel on them is hard to come by for the most part. With a little research yesterday, I did learn a little more about their life cycle, which I might add is quite interesting. All I know is trout love 'em and if you can find them, the action can be fast and furious. This image comes from "river X", those who know me or follow the flog know of "river X".
Last night the millers treated me right, I got my largest stream trout of the season (21" +) on a dry about 10pm or so, epic. and no you cant come with me next time, it's my river dammit!
Did I mention the big spiders were out? Ginormous wolf spiders inhabit the shorelines of river X, there on a mission to attack and kill any unfamiliar anglers who happen to stumble down there. Last night I counted a dozen or so of my minions, all guarding their nest's and ready to pounce on whomever I tell them to. Did I mention they were about 2.5 to 4" in diameter. I'll grab some more pic's on wednesday, but in the meanwhile I'll load an image from last year.
whew. nook burger hangover. Jen J and I went up the street to the original nook (saint paulites know the place), came home with intentions of making cookies and walking the dog but ended up on the couch snoozing at 7pm instead.
Back to blogging, 'er flogging as it were.
Whahoo & Robbie are up fishing with Brad for a couple days, muskies out of the drifter. Certainly a good time and as Brad told Robbie, bring your big boy pants....and maybe a change of underwear too.
For those of you not in the immediate know....I'm getting married in less than 2 weeks! I'm pretty stoked, really stoked in fact to be wed to my gal Jennifer. We've been together for quite some time now and I'm really looking forward to the wonderful and amazing things we're going to do together. She's something special that Jen J. The nuptials will take place on 9-5-09 down at Vino in the Valley, this sweet outdoor restaurant and vineyard down on the lower Rush River. Reception to follow in El Paso at Little Whisky. There'll be some beers, some live bluegrass jams and I'm guessing a trip to the El Paso Bar and Grill as well. And if this gal wasn't cool enough, she's camping out on her wedding night with a bunch of close friends. keeper...
Today I was on the Kinni with Les and his son Eric from Soiux Falls SD. Both Les and Eric were rookies, but dang eager rookies willing to soak up info and learn about this trout stream thing and all it involves. I explained a little about my "field trip and you might catch a fish" method and it hit home with both of them. It's so very refreshing once again, to have clients who understand and appreciate the life beyond the stream, and it's no wonder as Les and Eric were embarking on a father & son organic farm project together in SD. BRAVO! These are two fellas immersed in nature and working their butt's off at restoring Harmony within the soil they are working with. I cannot honestly think of a more humbling and rewarding work, and I'm guessing it's hard work. They are versed in many aspects out of the normal farming realm when it comes to how they plan to go about this work, not the least of which is the study of bio dynamic farming, of which Jen J has enlightened me on. google it to learn more, suffice it to say it is a holistic but yet simple and sensible way to grow crops. Oh, and the fishing was OK too. We'll be at it again tomorrow, refining what we learned today and adding some other techniques to the mix as well.
On that note, I'm out. I'm off to rally Jen for a dog walk and an early to bed as I'll be up at 5am again tomorrow.
reel good then.
BigPike
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Mid july Angling & guiding news
As I may have mentioned, Jennifer is gone till the 1st of August. Suffice it to say I have been fishing at a frenetic pace, here's what's been happening.
I should be posting daily I know, but between trying to hold down the fort, do my chores and keep a line wet I'm usually pretty crushed at days end. So we'll wrap up the last 5 days and lead out the next week or so, there's some cool shit on the horizon.
Last Friday was a muskie day! A day where another rod in the boat could have made it something really special. I wrote recently how I'm not a huge fan of "camping out" on a spot, but I broke a rule Friday evening and did just that. I got on the water about 5 and started on Beanies point, just south of the bridge. it's a spot I don't often see fish, but I know they are there so I regularly make a pass. Status Quo, no one home. Next stop was another insignificant spot on the MN shore, same sort of place with similar results. Things however were feeling very fishy, there was some weather moving in from the west causing regular changes in wind direction and speed, always a good thing. I made a move for Afton, there's no secret that the bar is lousy with fish and if a guy wants to get one it's worth some time to cover every inch, twice. That's just what I did. Straight away I contacted a nice fish, a long follow that terminated in an angry swirl at boat side. OK, their here and ready to play, despite the boat traffic and pontoon boat full of onlookers parked right on the captains chair. I put the viper to work, purposely fishing the opposite direction of what most anglers fish, as inside out as possible. Over the next hour or so I had another 4-5 follows and blowups, one really nice fish in particular. After an hour of this, BAM, FISH ON! & a nice one at that! She ate the viper about 40' out, maybe 25' from the pontoon of onlookers, and put on a great show for the other boaters. Several long runs and 3 jumps later I rolled her into the big net to whoops and hollers from the gawkers, pretty nice feeling and I was amped to get her picture and get after another one. She measured up about 47, although the pic has the tail cut off thanks to self photography. That makes 11 for me and 15 for the boat this year. Of my 11, only 1 was shorter than 40, with 2 over 46 so the average is good. The rest of the evening was pretty action packed but I never got hooks into another and wrapped up about 10:30 or so.
the following morning found me on the same spot, 4:45 am. Right off the bat I raised a couple, but they were lazy follows and far more negative than the previous evening. feeling good about another spot, I headed downriver to fish some points. Just north of Afton State park I raised what might be the biggest fish I've seen in years, well over 50" and stout. She tried to eat the viper at boat side and slapped the boat with her tail in the process, soaking me as well. It was pretty cool but she's gonna get caught, in due time. Nothing landed for the morning shift, but it had it's moments.
Sunday night Whahoo and I did the evening shift on the willow. We were in search of Hex, but they have been a total bust this season. No fish rising, no fish landed. I'll be giving it a rest for a bit.
Monday night found Fred and I back on the Rush in El Paso. He was feeling the need to camp out so that's what we did. We found some brookies on the dry flies and fished streamers after dark till about 11. No grabs on the big flies, but in our defence, it was DARK and really tough without having scoped out our beat in good light. It was nice to sit around the bonfire with a couple beers, need to do more of that.
Believe it or not, I pretty much took yesterday off, save for a couple casts in the morning on the Rush. I've got some work going at Fred's house to help him make it ready for sale. nice work between guide trips.
Today I'm back after the Muskies with my graphics guy Chris Boland and his buddy Jared. They are both St. Croix regulars, but just learning the muskie thing. We are going to have to fish hard today to get some action as we had a nice cold front come through last night. Tomorrow I'll be out with one of Turk's groups, fishing walleyes and smallies.
I'll follow up with a report and pics.
later,
BigPikeMike
I should be posting daily I know, but between trying to hold down the fort, do my chores and keep a line wet I'm usually pretty crushed at days end. So we'll wrap up the last 5 days and lead out the next week or so, there's some cool shit on the horizon.
Last Friday was a muskie day! A day where another rod in the boat could have made it something really special. I wrote recently how I'm not a huge fan of "camping out" on a spot, but I broke a rule Friday evening and did just that. I got on the water about 5 and started on Beanies point, just south of the bridge. it's a spot I don't often see fish, but I know they are there so I regularly make a pass. Status Quo, no one home. Next stop was another insignificant spot on the MN shore, same sort of place with similar results. Things however were feeling very fishy, there was some weather moving in from the west causing regular changes in wind direction and speed, always a good thing. I made a move for Afton, there's no secret that the bar is lousy with fish and if a guy wants to get one it's worth some time to cover every inch, twice. That's just what I did. Straight away I contacted a nice fish, a long follow that terminated in an angry swirl at boat side. OK, their here and ready to play, despite the boat traffic and pontoon boat full of onlookers parked right on the captains chair. I put the viper to work, purposely fishing the opposite direction of what most anglers fish, as inside out as possible. Over the next hour or so I had another 4-5 follows and blowups, one really nice fish in particular. After an hour of this, BAM, FISH ON! & a nice one at that! She ate the viper about 40' out, maybe 25' from the pontoon of onlookers, and put on a great show for the other boaters. Several long runs and 3 jumps later I rolled her into the big net to whoops and hollers from the gawkers, pretty nice feeling and I was amped to get her picture and get after another one. She measured up about 47, although the pic has the tail cut off thanks to self photography. That makes 11 for me and 15 for the boat this year. Of my 11, only 1 was shorter than 40, with 2 over 46 so the average is good. The rest of the evening was pretty action packed but I never got hooks into another and wrapped up about 10:30 or so.
the following morning found me on the same spot, 4:45 am. Right off the bat I raised a couple, but they were lazy follows and far more negative than the previous evening. feeling good about another spot, I headed downriver to fish some points. Just north of Afton State park I raised what might be the biggest fish I've seen in years, well over 50" and stout. She tried to eat the viper at boat side and slapped the boat with her tail in the process, soaking me as well. It was pretty cool but she's gonna get caught, in due time. Nothing landed for the morning shift, but it had it's moments.
Sunday night Whahoo and I did the evening shift on the willow. We were in search of Hex, but they have been a total bust this season. No fish rising, no fish landed. I'll be giving it a rest for a bit.
Monday night found Fred and I back on the Rush in El Paso. He was feeling the need to camp out so that's what we did. We found some brookies on the dry flies and fished streamers after dark till about 11. No grabs on the big flies, but in our defence, it was DARK and really tough without having scoped out our beat in good light. It was nice to sit around the bonfire with a couple beers, need to do more of that.
Believe it or not, I pretty much took yesterday off, save for a couple casts in the morning on the Rush. I've got some work going at Fred's house to help him make it ready for sale. nice work between guide trips.
Today I'm back after the Muskies with my graphics guy Chris Boland and his buddy Jared. They are both St. Croix regulars, but just learning the muskie thing. We are going to have to fish hard today to get some action as we had a nice cold front come through last night. Tomorrow I'll be out with one of Turk's groups, fishing walleyes and smallies.
I'll follow up with a report and pics.
later,
BigPikeMike
Thursday, July 9, 2009
current reports
Howdy All!
Here's a quick and dirty recap of the last few days of action. The fishing has been all over the board, it's July so i guess it's to be expected.
The image above...KK with his first muskie of the season. We hooked up Sunday night about 7 or so, looking to get out and take advantage of the near full moon and end to the holiday festivities on the river. KK and I are partners in the PMTT muskie tourney this fall, so a little recon was necessary as well as early strategizing. Right out of the gate, first cast on first spot he hooked up on a sledge, but the muskie shoot him off. OK, good start to the evening. I'm guessing about 20 minutes later, he hooked up again near boat side, with a spunky 42" river muskie. This one stayed glued and we invited her in the boat for picture day. It was a good start to a near perfect night, despite the fact it was thee lone fish of the evening. Kraig's off to visit a buddy in AK this week, doing a little fishing and rafting, sounds like a good time.
Monday night I was off to the local stream to see about some late night fishing, and mostly have some piece and quiet. i got that all right, the fishing didn't happen and the bugs were a big no-show.
Tuesday proved to be another late night affair, this time with fellow guide and master angler Eddie Philpot. Jennifer asked me if he was "fast Eddie" and I informed her there's nothing fast about him....We ventured off to an east metro lake for some evening bass fishing with jitterbugs. I know I've bagged on bass before, but this is special, as Eddy would say. Something about a calm quiet night and top water is a draw. i could probably do pretty well on the fly rod, but I'm digging the old school casting setup and jitterbug. We fished from 10 till about 1:30 or so, landed 30 or more and a couple nice ones, including a solid 4.5-5lb'er that yours truly landed. good, good stuff. Thanks Eddy!
Last night was back to the stream, the Rush this time. We had notions of hanging out down around hwy 10 till late, looking for any hex that might straggle up the river from Lake Pepin. However, the lower river looked tough, at least from my perspective. I know it fishes well at times, but not last night. So we boogied up to El Paso and hung out up from the bridge. there were a hand full of trout working and Fred and I each got one, but it was slow. The late afternoon hatches seem to be a thing of June, and past us by. Trico's are just around the corner so there's hope for the dry fly crowd.
Whew.....You can tell Jennifer is gone eh. I'm still doing my best to keep up around the house and work when it's there, but I'll be on a continued angling tear over the next few weeks. stay tuned.
go!
BPM
Here's a quick and dirty recap of the last few days of action. The fishing has been all over the board, it's July so i guess it's to be expected.
The image above...KK with his first muskie of the season. We hooked up Sunday night about 7 or so, looking to get out and take advantage of the near full moon and end to the holiday festivities on the river. KK and I are partners in the PMTT muskie tourney this fall, so a little recon was necessary as well as early strategizing. Right out of the gate, first cast on first spot he hooked up on a sledge, but the muskie shoot him off. OK, good start to the evening. I'm guessing about 20 minutes later, he hooked up again near boat side, with a spunky 42" river muskie. This one stayed glued and we invited her in the boat for picture day. It was a good start to a near perfect night, despite the fact it was thee lone fish of the evening. Kraig's off to visit a buddy in AK this week, doing a little fishing and rafting, sounds like a good time.
Monday night I was off to the local stream to see about some late night fishing, and mostly have some piece and quiet. i got that all right, the fishing didn't happen and the bugs were a big no-show.
Tuesday proved to be another late night affair, this time with fellow guide and master angler Eddie Philpot. Jennifer asked me if he was "fast Eddie" and I informed her there's nothing fast about him....We ventured off to an east metro lake for some evening bass fishing with jitterbugs. I know I've bagged on bass before, but this is special, as Eddy would say. Something about a calm quiet night and top water is a draw. i could probably do pretty well on the fly rod, but I'm digging the old school casting setup and jitterbug. We fished from 10 till about 1:30 or so, landed 30 or more and a couple nice ones, including a solid 4.5-5lb'er that yours truly landed. good, good stuff. Thanks Eddy!
Last night was back to the stream, the Rush this time. We had notions of hanging out down around hwy 10 till late, looking for any hex that might straggle up the river from Lake Pepin. However, the lower river looked tough, at least from my perspective. I know it fishes well at times, but not last night. So we boogied up to El Paso and hung out up from the bridge. there were a hand full of trout working and Fred and I each got one, but it was slow. The late afternoon hatches seem to be a thing of June, and past us by. Trico's are just around the corner so there's hope for the dry fly crowd.
Whew.....You can tell Jennifer is gone eh. I'm still doing my best to keep up around the house and work when it's there, but I'll be on a continued angling tear over the next few weeks. stay tuned.
go!
BPM
Monday, June 29, 2009
Weekend Fishing Report from Big Pike Mike
Since our last episode.....
Rumors of big river muskies, walleye report and a smallie outing on the apple.
First off, a big thanks to my clients from last week. I hosted a group of Vet's and vet tech's put on by Phizer Chemicals. This is the 3rd year I've been involved and they are a great group, always have a good old time. Thanks Lori and thanks to the other guides who helped me out.
I didn't get in a whole lot of angling after Tuesday last week. Jennifer took off yesterday for 5 weeks, so we spent the week getting her ready and hanging out. She's off to school to be a Waldorf Teacher, you'll have to google if you want more intel. Despite the fact I didn't fish much, there were some fish caught I am told...
Rumor has it Fritzy landed a 46" muskie on the river, confirmed by Dave Hale, who happened to be right near him fishing walleyes. nice work Fritz, but I still got ya beat by an inch...I'm sure someone will stick a giant this summer, hope it's me, about sept 12th...
Whahoo and I pulled another epic outing yesterday on the apple. We sort of retraced the steps Brad and I laid last week, but fished a little more and explored quite a bit. The area around Little Falls, near Amery is really cool water. Lots of falls, pocket water and elevation. We didn't have any luck there, but really didn't explore beyond the trail heads or obvious fishing water. Looks like it gets pounded though. It's stocked trout water, and we saw them alright, but the water had to be in the upper 70's and the odds were not good. It'll bear some more exploring and even a kayak shot, I'm sure there are some far off stretches with big smallies and muskies.
Oh ya, big news of the morning was the bear we saw up north of Star Prairie. It was a momma and cub, loping across an open field. Pretty cool stuff, closer & closer to the metro.
Back to the fishing. After busting out of bathwater creek, we headed up to the dam at Black Brook to take a few muskie casts, nothing to be had. Next Stop, the restricted water above the Rivers Edge in Somerset, below the dam at RiverDale. We used to fish this as younger fellas and get walleyes and muskies from shore, but since 9-11, no more access to the shore spot can be found. So we snuck in, sort of. There's an obvious pull out on "C" above the tubers, we slid in for a closer look. Whahoo landed one smallie but that was it. It was pretty warm and not a ton of water to wrok with. Enough of that, off to the Flowage below the tubers. We got on the water about 9 and by noon had landed 30 or so, biggest about 18", but all scrappy. Whahoo tied this kick ass new streamer and they nearly destroyed it! We were right up by the tubing water and happened to have a nice chat with a friendly security guy, who also was an avid angler and traded some valuable intel, including the ability to take a boat out at the park, YEA! So the logistics are all figured out on that, next up is a full float of the tubing water!
This week I'll be guiding a bit, today in fact on the Rush for an afternoon half day. The weather is great so I'm looking forward to a good outing. I'll bet there will be a late night visit to the willow as well. I'll tell ya how it goes.
later,
BPM
Rumors of big river muskies, walleye report and a smallie outing on the apple.
First off, a big thanks to my clients from last week. I hosted a group of Vet's and vet tech's put on by Phizer Chemicals. This is the 3rd year I've been involved and they are a great group, always have a good old time. Thanks Lori and thanks to the other guides who helped me out.
I didn't get in a whole lot of angling after Tuesday last week. Jennifer took off yesterday for 5 weeks, so we spent the week getting her ready and hanging out. She's off to school to be a Waldorf Teacher, you'll have to google if you want more intel. Despite the fact I didn't fish much, there were some fish caught I am told...
Rumor has it Fritzy landed a 46" muskie on the river, confirmed by Dave Hale, who happened to be right near him fishing walleyes. nice work Fritz, but I still got ya beat by an inch...I'm sure someone will stick a giant this summer, hope it's me, about sept 12th...
Whahoo and I pulled another epic outing yesterday on the apple. We sort of retraced the steps Brad and I laid last week, but fished a little more and explored quite a bit. The area around Little Falls, near Amery is really cool water. Lots of falls, pocket water and elevation. We didn't have any luck there, but really didn't explore beyond the trail heads or obvious fishing water. Looks like it gets pounded though. It's stocked trout water, and we saw them alright, but the water had to be in the upper 70's and the odds were not good. It'll bear some more exploring and even a kayak shot, I'm sure there are some far off stretches with big smallies and muskies.
Oh ya, big news of the morning was the bear we saw up north of Star Prairie. It was a momma and cub, loping across an open field. Pretty cool stuff, closer & closer to the metro.
Back to the fishing. After busting out of bathwater creek, we headed up to the dam at Black Brook to take a few muskie casts, nothing to be had. Next Stop, the restricted water above the Rivers Edge in Somerset, below the dam at RiverDale. We used to fish this as younger fellas and get walleyes and muskies from shore, but since 9-11, no more access to the shore spot can be found. So we snuck in, sort of. There's an obvious pull out on "C" above the tubers, we slid in for a closer look. Whahoo landed one smallie but that was it. It was pretty warm and not a ton of water to wrok with. Enough of that, off to the Flowage below the tubers. We got on the water about 9 and by noon had landed 30 or so, biggest about 18", but all scrappy. Whahoo tied this kick ass new streamer and they nearly destroyed it! We were right up by the tubing water and happened to have a nice chat with a friendly security guy, who also was an avid angler and traded some valuable intel, including the ability to take a boat out at the park, YEA! So the logistics are all figured out on that, next up is a full float of the tubing water!
This week I'll be guiding a bit, today in fact on the Rush for an afternoon half day. The weather is great so I'm looking forward to a good outing. I'll bet there will be a late night visit to the willow as well. I'll tell ya how it goes.
later,
BPM
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Who is that guy?
Someone tell the fella with the long hair and beard it's summer! Oh ya, that's me! Realizing the error of my ways, I did in fact clean up for summer and man did it feel good!
This last week was "Francis Week". I had my old friend and client Francis O'Neill here from VA. We fished wed-friday on the local streams, mainly the Rush and Kinni, but we did make a special trip to "Brookie Heaven", aka, Cady Creek. This was a special day for a couple of reasons. The Stream is not only loaded with Brookies, enthusiastic and lovely despite their stature, but it's also reminiscent of an english chalk stream of which Francis was familiar and very fond of. The banks were quite overgrown, providing much needed shade and cover for the little fella's. While this certainly made casting a bit more of a challenge, we were able to find some nice lanes for rolling hoppers, beetles and crickets over their heads and were rewarded for our efforts. I lost track after a while, but there were 20-25 that came to hand, all just stunning, and each seeminginly more beautiful than the last one. I really dont spend enough time on Cady, it's about 20 minutes past the Rush in Elmwood (UFO capital of WI), but worth the effort no doubt.
The Rush fished OK, there was a smattering of bugs from mid-morning to late afternoon, but we never hung till dark and waited for the Caddis to come out in full force. PMD's and emergers were working, as well as small slate caddis. Francis likes to switch things up on a regular basis, and that suits me just fine as I do to. What Francis lacks in mobility, he more than makes up for with casting prowess, he's got a serious cast and perfect presentation thanks to the sweetest light line cane rods I've seen or fished, what a joy to hold. I'm always sad to see him go, we've developed a terrific friendship over the last few years that I'm sure will last for many to come.
The rest of the weekend was light on angling, spent a bunch of time with my gal instead. Jennifer is off to Cali for 5 weeks, at school. Cool thing is she's living with Brad's folks in Sacramento, just a mile or two from her campus.
Speaking of B-rad, he made an appearance late monday afternoon, after dropping off a week long client from NYC at the airport. We moseyed over to the Willow for a late night attempt only to be denied. But considering it was 93, wet wading was the BEST place to be on earth that evening. Tuesday morning we got up at the crack of 8, and planned out another day of old school scouting and dead reckoning about western WI, warm water this time.
First up, The Apple River below the tubing crazed town of Somerset. We have a sweet little "in" on a chunk of basically private water, loaded with muskies and smallies, with the occasional walleye in the mix. A little boat ride, little wet wading and LOTS of smallies, up to 18" or so. All on big frog patterns normally tossed at Muskies, read BIG FLIES. Heavy current, big flies =10wt rods. The smallies were up to the task and bent the 10's like crazy! Looking for a change of venue, we packed up after 1pm or so and headed for Amery area, 30 miles upriver or so. After stopping to check out a couple bridges and available drift boat access, we headed up to the dam at Black Brook. There were a couple locals angling below the dam, and the vibe was weak so we dropped in up top and floated for a couple hours. No follows or fish, but amazing fly water so it's been added to the short list. Having run it's course, we stopped in Amery for gas and Beer and headed back to Somerset area, to have a look at the old landing on the croix, near the mouth of the apple. What an amazing place! Thousands and thousands of acres of water, woods, braids, bogs and who knows what other primordial creatures and features. However, no access for the boat but I'll be doing some scouting on the kayak that's for sure!
As if that was not enough! We decided to meet up with Eddy Philpot for some late night bassin' on Demontraville lake. We hit the water at 9:30 or so and had steady jitterbug action till we quit at 1:30. No real hogs, but some in the 4lb class.
All told, almost 20 hours on the job yesterday with some real excellent scouting accomplished. Look out tubers on the apple, I'm coming with big flies and bad intentions!
real good then!
BigPikeMike
This last week was "Francis Week". I had my old friend and client Francis O'Neill here from VA. We fished wed-friday on the local streams, mainly the Rush and Kinni, but we did make a special trip to "Brookie Heaven", aka, Cady Creek. This was a special day for a couple of reasons. The Stream is not only loaded with Brookies, enthusiastic and lovely despite their stature, but it's also reminiscent of an english chalk stream of which Francis was familiar and very fond of. The banks were quite overgrown, providing much needed shade and cover for the little fella's. While this certainly made casting a bit more of a challenge, we were able to find some nice lanes for rolling hoppers, beetles and crickets over their heads and were rewarded for our efforts. I lost track after a while, but there were 20-25 that came to hand, all just stunning, and each seeminginly more beautiful than the last one. I really dont spend enough time on Cady, it's about 20 minutes past the Rush in Elmwood (UFO capital of WI), but worth the effort no doubt.
The Rush fished OK, there was a smattering of bugs from mid-morning to late afternoon, but we never hung till dark and waited for the Caddis to come out in full force. PMD's and emergers were working, as well as small slate caddis. Francis likes to switch things up on a regular basis, and that suits me just fine as I do to. What Francis lacks in mobility, he more than makes up for with casting prowess, he's got a serious cast and perfect presentation thanks to the sweetest light line cane rods I've seen or fished, what a joy to hold. I'm always sad to see him go, we've developed a terrific friendship over the last few years that I'm sure will last for many to come.
The rest of the weekend was light on angling, spent a bunch of time with my gal instead. Jennifer is off to Cali for 5 weeks, at school. Cool thing is she's living with Brad's folks in Sacramento, just a mile or two from her campus.
Speaking of B-rad, he made an appearance late monday afternoon, after dropping off a week long client from NYC at the airport. We moseyed over to the Willow for a late night attempt only to be denied. But considering it was 93, wet wading was the BEST place to be on earth that evening. Tuesday morning we got up at the crack of 8, and planned out another day of old school scouting and dead reckoning about western WI, warm water this time.
First up, The Apple River below the tubing crazed town of Somerset. We have a sweet little "in" on a chunk of basically private water, loaded with muskies and smallies, with the occasional walleye in the mix. A little boat ride, little wet wading and LOTS of smallies, up to 18" or so. All on big frog patterns normally tossed at Muskies, read BIG FLIES. Heavy current, big flies =10wt rods. The smallies were up to the task and bent the 10's like crazy! Looking for a change of venue, we packed up after 1pm or so and headed for Amery area, 30 miles upriver or so. After stopping to check out a couple bridges and available drift boat access, we headed up to the dam at Black Brook. There were a couple locals angling below the dam, and the vibe was weak so we dropped in up top and floated for a couple hours. No follows or fish, but amazing fly water so it's been added to the short list. Having run it's course, we stopped in Amery for gas and Beer and headed back to Somerset area, to have a look at the old landing on the croix, near the mouth of the apple. What an amazing place! Thousands and thousands of acres of water, woods, braids, bogs and who knows what other primordial creatures and features. However, no access for the boat but I'll be doing some scouting on the kayak that's for sure!
As if that was not enough! We decided to meet up with Eddy Philpot for some late night bassin' on Demontraville lake. We hit the water at 9:30 or so and had steady jitterbug action till we quit at 1:30. No real hogs, but some in the 4lb class.
All told, almost 20 hours on the job yesterday with some real excellent scouting accomplished. Look out tubers on the apple, I'm coming with big flies and bad intentions!
real good then!
BigPikeMike
Monday, June 15, 2009
muskies, trout and guiding reports
A little about the weeks trips to get started.
Thursday I had the pleasure of hosting Joe Hackbarth, his son Tom and the senior member of the crew, Joe's father in-law Dan. We had a half day to try to figure out a program of muskies, maybe a walleye or bass and whatever we can find to tug. It was a glorious day out, light boat traffic and a nice reminder how great the Croix is on weekdays. Did I mention the glorious weather? The fishing was kinda slow, I know there were some walleyes to be had on a shoreline bite, but we conceded to try to catch another muskie for Tom. I love the mixed bag approach but it's a little challenging with only 1/2 day to work with. We did our best, had one good tug on a planer board & tail but that was it. I have a hard time pulling the plug on days like today, super great clients and nice weather make for enjoyable days, despite the slow angling.
Friday found me on the water again, this time with Jeff and Zach, couple more fellas in search of an enjoyable afternoon and couple of tugs. Jeff and Zach are business partners, Zach being in Chi-Town and Jeff here in Mpls. The goal of day is always fish, but we were on the post hangover 11-5 trip, so a couple more curve balls for finding muskies. Again, another perfect day and the cloud cover helped keep things a little cooler and even though I was wrong, I thought it would bring a good muskie. A couple minutes of practice with the gear and they were casting away. Jeff Raised a nice fish about 2pm or so but after not seeing much, we dragged a bit for eyes. The walleyes appear to either be in the summer holds or on the way. We marked alot of fish and got a couple off the break on the humps, maybe 25', the tops of the humps being 19' or so. I've seen fellas having action out there, either pulling cranks or dragging meat. We fished until 5 or so and pulled off some last minute heroics with a very nice 35" pike on the final trolling pass.
As always, I am humbled my the chance to show other folks the river and a good day of fishing, THANK YOU!!!!
Lets talk muskies for a while. The river muskies are starting to tick me off! I'm stuck at 3 for the season, 43 being the big fish so far. While we have been seeing fish, the hours have been adding up and I'm thinking more and more about a serious change in tactics. I've been reading up on open water muskies, and the St.Croix has plenty of open water, so that's going to be my focus, numbers be damned. I think that who ever is able to unlock the key of the open water bite is going to hold a special card in their deck. From all the data and articles I've been reading it seems that's where they are at most of the time, and with the increased pressure the river is seeing on the shallow weedy "community spots", this is becoming more and more evident. I don't believe for a second this is going to mean large numbers of fish, but I do think that it'll mean bigger fish, more frequently. So I'll take one for the team and keep on plugging away at this idea. more to come for sure.
Saturday was the metro muskie tourney, Googh and I had intentions of fishing, but the logistics of getting back to the weigh-in at the Maple Grove Gander Mtn were too much to bite off, so we fished it as spoilers for the rest of the muskie anglers out there. Right out of the gate we raised 2 fish, then proceeded to get spanked for the next 6 hours, nothing! About noon we wrapped it up and headed in. We picked up our respective families and made it picnic day instead. I was glad to get Jennifer in the boat, she does not spend enough time with me in that element and I like having her in the water with me, maybe she'll be better luck next time! I guess a 53" from Waconia won the event, I've been meaning to fish there but have yet to make it.
This week should be a hoot. Tomorrow I may do some exploring of the Apple River with Brad as he'll be down to pick up some clients on Wednesday. I've got Francis flying in tomorrow evening for 3-4 days of fishing. I intend to fish something different every outing, perhaps add Cady Creek to the mix for some brookie action. I'm hoping the weather cooperates with a little rain and cloud cover as well. I'll update midweek as I have a better idea where we'll be.
good luck, keep 'em wet.
BPM
Thursday I had the pleasure of hosting Joe Hackbarth, his son Tom and the senior member of the crew, Joe's father in-law Dan. We had a half day to try to figure out a program of muskies, maybe a walleye or bass and whatever we can find to tug. It was a glorious day out, light boat traffic and a nice reminder how great the Croix is on weekdays. Did I mention the glorious weather? The fishing was kinda slow, I know there were some walleyes to be had on a shoreline bite, but we conceded to try to catch another muskie for Tom. I love the mixed bag approach but it's a little challenging with only 1/2 day to work with. We did our best, had one good tug on a planer board & tail but that was it. I have a hard time pulling the plug on days like today, super great clients and nice weather make for enjoyable days, despite the slow angling.
Friday found me on the water again, this time with Jeff and Zach, couple more fellas in search of an enjoyable afternoon and couple of tugs. Jeff and Zach are business partners, Zach being in Chi-Town and Jeff here in Mpls. The goal of day is always fish, but we were on the post hangover 11-5 trip, so a couple more curve balls for finding muskies. Again, another perfect day and the cloud cover helped keep things a little cooler and even though I was wrong, I thought it would bring a good muskie. A couple minutes of practice with the gear and they were casting away. Jeff Raised a nice fish about 2pm or so but after not seeing much, we dragged a bit for eyes. The walleyes appear to either be in the summer holds or on the way. We marked alot of fish and got a couple off the break on the humps, maybe 25', the tops of the humps being 19' or so. I've seen fellas having action out there, either pulling cranks or dragging meat. We fished until 5 or so and pulled off some last minute heroics with a very nice 35" pike on the final trolling pass.
As always, I am humbled my the chance to show other folks the river and a good day of fishing, THANK YOU!!!!
Lets talk muskies for a while. The river muskies are starting to tick me off! I'm stuck at 3 for the season, 43 being the big fish so far. While we have been seeing fish, the hours have been adding up and I'm thinking more and more about a serious change in tactics. I've been reading up on open water muskies, and the St.Croix has plenty of open water, so that's going to be my focus, numbers be damned. I think that who ever is able to unlock the key of the open water bite is going to hold a special card in their deck. From all the data and articles I've been reading it seems that's where they are at most of the time, and with the increased pressure the river is seeing on the shallow weedy "community spots", this is becoming more and more evident. I don't believe for a second this is going to mean large numbers of fish, but I do think that it'll mean bigger fish, more frequently. So I'll take one for the team and keep on plugging away at this idea. more to come for sure.
Saturday was the metro muskie tourney, Googh and I had intentions of fishing, but the logistics of getting back to the weigh-in at the Maple Grove Gander Mtn were too much to bite off, so we fished it as spoilers for the rest of the muskie anglers out there. Right out of the gate we raised 2 fish, then proceeded to get spanked for the next 6 hours, nothing! About noon we wrapped it up and headed in. We picked up our respective families and made it picnic day instead. I was glad to get Jennifer in the boat, she does not spend enough time with me in that element and I like having her in the water with me, maybe she'll be better luck next time! I guess a 53" from Waconia won the event, I've been meaning to fish there but have yet to make it.
This week should be a hoot. Tomorrow I may do some exploring of the Apple River with Brad as he'll be down to pick up some clients on Wednesday. I've got Francis flying in tomorrow evening for 3-4 days of fishing. I intend to fish something different every outing, perhaps add Cady Creek to the mix for some brookie action. I'm hoping the weather cooperates with a little rain and cloud cover as well. I'll update midweek as I have a better idea where we'll be.
good luck, keep 'em wet.
BPM
Friday, May 29, 2009
As seen on TV!
It's been a busy couple weeks, muskie opened and the trout fishing has been slowly improving as well. More on that later this afternoon.
Most importantly, check out this clip from a show I did with KSTP Television on wednesday, on "Twin Cities Live". We shot some footage in River Falls at the Kinni Creek Lodge and highlighted fly fishing as a "get out of town" adventure. It went really well and makes me one step closer to my own show, maybe the "Big Pike Mike Angling Hour"? It was fun, hope you enjoy it!
http://twincitieslive.com/article/stories/S951723.shtml?cat=11449
BPM
Most importantly, check out this clip from a show I did with KSTP Television on wednesday, on "Twin Cities Live". We shot some footage in River Falls at the Kinni Creek Lodge and highlighted fly fishing as a "get out of town" adventure. It went really well and makes me one step closer to my own show, maybe the "Big Pike Mike Angling Hour"? It was fun, hope you enjoy it!
http://twincitieslive.com/article/stories/S951723.shtml?cat=11449
BPM
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
in no particular order
Here's what's been happening on my side of the rod....in no particular order.
The picture there is Greg Powell of Austin TX with a bonus 40" Sturgeon we got yesterday fishing for eyes'. Interesting day to say the least, what's with the 97 degrees anyway? The Texans loved it, no humidity! Good lord. Aside from the Sturgeon, we managed a couple small Walleyes and missed our share too. Wahoo jumped in the boat from 5-8, we had a couple beers and caught a nice 20" eye for his fryer. release to the grease.
Overall the fishing has been off and I really can't put a finger on it. Clearly we need precipitation but beyond that the systems just seem less fishy. Trout fishing for example, has been really slow for myself and my regular comrades. I can think of one good morning I had a week or so ago where I landed 5, one nice one and had steady action. Most outings have been a bit of a struggle. However, we did completely change our program last time out and Wahoo got a nice 17" on golden rocks, nymphing as opposed to the venerable streamer. Seems the trout decided to act like trout and not pike as previous years. fair enough, we can adapt.
Speaking of adapting. The 14th Annual Hamroom Walleye tournament took place this last Saturday. Dude Hale walked away with the event, 28+ pounds and maybe 8 over second place team of Farr and Johnson. Ingy and I donned the "Gitmo Fish" orange jumpsuits and proceeded to spend all day battling the 30+ mph winds and finished seventh or so. We only weighed 4 and had a 22" but no consistent good bite. Dude was fishing within sight of us for most of the day, we knew something had to be up but I'm not one to crowd a fella, wasn't anyway. I am now.
Guiding has been a little slow too, which I completely understand but still don't like. Aside from the ability to make a living, the client interaction really is what it's all about. I dig people and always look forward to making a new Friend. It'll pick up soon and already is a little as I've been booking some trips over the last few days.
Musky opens this weekend, I'm deep in the pits of a bathroom remodel and am struggling with time, fishing vs. work. arrgghhh. I guess either is "dropping by the jobsite" but I like completing projects and the benefits of doing so. I usually fish with Googh, er Todd Hess, a musky wizard in his own right. Last opener I think we each got a 40ish incher as I recall. it was cold however and the current heat wave could really start things off with a bang, no high water either...guess I'll go for a couple hours anyway.
I'll be out over the next few days and get some more intel rolling, bye for now.
The picture there is Greg Powell of Austin TX with a bonus 40" Sturgeon we got yesterday fishing for eyes'. Interesting day to say the least, what's with the 97 degrees anyway? The Texans loved it, no humidity! Good lord. Aside from the Sturgeon, we managed a couple small Walleyes and missed our share too. Wahoo jumped in the boat from 5-8, we had a couple beers and caught a nice 20" eye for his fryer. release to the grease.
Overall the fishing has been off and I really can't put a finger on it. Clearly we need precipitation but beyond that the systems just seem less fishy. Trout fishing for example, has been really slow for myself and my regular comrades. I can think of one good morning I had a week or so ago where I landed 5, one nice one and had steady action. Most outings have been a bit of a struggle. However, we did completely change our program last time out and Wahoo got a nice 17" on golden rocks, nymphing as opposed to the venerable streamer. Seems the trout decided to act like trout and not pike as previous years. fair enough, we can adapt.
Speaking of adapting. The 14th Annual Hamroom Walleye tournament took place this last Saturday. Dude Hale walked away with the event, 28+ pounds and maybe 8 over second place team of Farr and Johnson. Ingy and I donned the "Gitmo Fish" orange jumpsuits and proceeded to spend all day battling the 30+ mph winds and finished seventh or so. We only weighed 4 and had a 22" but no consistent good bite. Dude was fishing within sight of us for most of the day, we knew something had to be up but I'm not one to crowd a fella, wasn't anyway. I am now.
Guiding has been a little slow too, which I completely understand but still don't like. Aside from the ability to make a living, the client interaction really is what it's all about. I dig people and always look forward to making a new Friend. It'll pick up soon and already is a little as I've been booking some trips over the last few days.
Musky opens this weekend, I'm deep in the pits of a bathroom remodel and am struggling with time, fishing vs. work. arrgghhh. I guess either is "dropping by the jobsite" but I like completing projects and the benefits of doing so. I usually fish with Googh, er Todd Hess, a musky wizard in his own right. Last opener I think we each got a 40ish incher as I recall. it was cold however and the current heat wave could really start things off with a bang, no high water either...guess I'll go for a couple hours anyway.
I'll be out over the next few days and get some more intel rolling, bye for now.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
snakefarm
Hello Y'all! I've Been back in MN for a couple of weeks now, getting myself adjusted to the pace of big city life again. For 3 months, I did little or no driving, watched little or no TV and spent even less time on the PC. Folks ask about the great time I had, but it didn't really involve the beauty of Alaska as much as the company of the people I was with. So ya, I had a GREAT time with my buddy Curt, his wife Alyssa and the girls, Serena Rose and Maggie. We worked our ever loving asses off for about 85 of the 90 days I was in town. It's a great place, everyone should go.
More on AK later, lets talk some fishing eh?
LOUSY! Despite what looks like great conditions, water levels and such, the fishing has been off, at least on the waters I've been fishing. The St. Croix opened up saturday to the usual fanfare, 75 boats jockeying for position in the channel and lots of reports of 14.5" short eyes. We fished hard all day and only got one for the box. We being Fred (aka creek warrior) and I. Thinking I'd do better on monday with less traffic and anglers about, I went and put another full day in searching, same results, one for the box. The males were still spewing milt, so I'm guessing the spawn just got over and the big girls will be strapping on the feed bag just in time for the HAMROOM in 2 weeks or so.
The trout scene has also been a little slow. Wednesday night fishing club convened last night with Robbie and Whahoo on board. I was the only guy to manage a fish, scrappy little 13" brown and that was it. So far this year I've got 10 I think, with one at 20" or so. I've not been on the kinni or the Rush but intend to here this coming week, hopefully with some clients. The guiding is starting out a little slower than I like, but frankly I expected it a little with the economy the way it is right now. Hopefully when schools out, folks will feel more compelled to keep their fishing business local and fish the area, as opposed to hitting the road to Montana.
I've kept my 09' rates the same as 08' and added a "kids fish free" component in order to get some family involvement this summer, lets spread the word and lets get out fishing!
In the meanwhile, still doing bathrooms and kitchens and I'm off to look at a job right now. more later with some recent images and more info!
cheers,
BPM
More on AK later, lets talk some fishing eh?
LOUSY! Despite what looks like great conditions, water levels and such, the fishing has been off, at least on the waters I've been fishing. The St. Croix opened up saturday to the usual fanfare, 75 boats jockeying for position in the channel and lots of reports of 14.5" short eyes. We fished hard all day and only got one for the box. We being Fred (aka creek warrior) and I. Thinking I'd do better on monday with less traffic and anglers about, I went and put another full day in searching, same results, one for the box. The males were still spewing milt, so I'm guessing the spawn just got over and the big girls will be strapping on the feed bag just in time for the HAMROOM in 2 weeks or so.
The trout scene has also been a little slow. Wednesday night fishing club convened last night with Robbie and Whahoo on board. I was the only guy to manage a fish, scrappy little 13" brown and that was it. So far this year I've got 10 I think, with one at 20" or so. I've not been on the kinni or the Rush but intend to here this coming week, hopefully with some clients. The guiding is starting out a little slower than I like, but frankly I expected it a little with the economy the way it is right now. Hopefully when schools out, folks will feel more compelled to keep their fishing business local and fish the area, as opposed to hitting the road to Montana.
I've kept my 09' rates the same as 08' and added a "kids fish free" component in order to get some family involvement this summer, lets spread the word and lets get out fishing!
In the meanwhile, still doing bathrooms and kitchens and I'm off to look at a job right now. more later with some recent images and more info!
cheers,
BPM
Saturday, January 10, 2009
January 10th.....
The passing of 8am or so marks another year under my belt. Yep, 41 years old today I am. I can remember sitting back in my late teens early twenties wondering where or what I'd be doing when I was 40...From where I sit, things are going pretty swell and 41 feels good.
A few weeks ago, just before Christmas I asked for Jennifer's hand in marriage and lucky for me she said yes! We are stoked to create a sweet life together, we've got some plans and both believe with hard work and some luck we'll be taken care of.
To celebrate the aforementioned accomplishments we are having a good old fashioned throw down tonight. Fish Taco's, corn chowder, keg o' summit and about 30 of our close friends and family should be coming by. Not to mention the fact that in a weeks time I'll be in Cordova AK for the remainder of the winter. I'm starting to get really excited about this trip, it's going to be a long time away no doubt, but we'll have some adventures and I'm really looking forward to working aboard Curt's boat. We've been talking some and it may turn into an annual event depending on how I do as a crew member. I'm guessing I'll do just fine.
I'll be posting from Alaska over the next couple of months,, maybe even a report on winter King fishing or at the very least some amazing images from one of the truly beautiful places on earth.
A few weeks ago, just before Christmas I asked for Jennifer's hand in marriage and lucky for me she said yes! We are stoked to create a sweet life together, we've got some plans and both believe with hard work and some luck we'll be taken care of.
To celebrate the aforementioned accomplishments we are having a good old fashioned throw down tonight. Fish Taco's, corn chowder, keg o' summit and about 30 of our close friends and family should be coming by. Not to mention the fact that in a weeks time I'll be in Cordova AK for the remainder of the winter. I'm starting to get really excited about this trip, it's going to be a long time away no doubt, but we'll have some adventures and I'm really looking forward to working aboard Curt's boat. We've been talking some and it may turn into an annual event depending on how I do as a crew member. I'm guessing I'll do just fine.
I'll be posting from Alaska over the next couple of months,, maybe even a report on winter King fishing or at the very least some amazing images from one of the truly beautiful places on earth.
Friday, December 12, 2008
regular "work"
Like most folks in my position, there's gotta be a regular job to pay the mortgage in the winter month's, and I've not yet given into the idea of moving somewhere's to guide year round quite yet. Maybe when I'm 50. So in the meanwhile, I'll continue on with working with my hands. I'm a handyman for all intents and purposes, although I prefer craftsman. I've learned enough over the years to be proficient at just about anything but haven't yet admitted to myself that it's what I should be doing. Having spent 9 years or so behind a desk, albeit in a very good working environment, I'm destined to carve out my own niche, win or lose. This work, like a lot of my guide gig's, comes word of mouth. It's nice when folks are pleased enough to recommend you to family or friends. I've been on a bathroom remodeling tear, Ben dubbed it "pimping the crapper", I think I need to turn that into a cable TV show.
Today I went to a funeral, for the father of my good friend Ingy. Ingy had the misfortune of finding his father dead in his easy chair on monday morning. In her rememberance of hre father, Ingy's sister told an interesting story about an old scottish tradition whereas when a person passes from this life, a window is opened to allow their essence/spirit to pass through. She thanked Ingy for opening the window for his father. I was pretty moved by this, Ingy is a pretty private guy and it was a nice little insight into his thoughts. Be well brother Ingy.
Plans are being laid for the Alaskan adventure, which is getting to be just around the corner. I must admit to being a bit nervous, despite having traveled well in my day, Ive never been away from home for such a long period of time. However much I miss my gal's, Jennifer & Elsie, I know it's an opportunity I can't miss. Curt is looking forward to the time together and thinks I'll work out well as a deck hand or tender captain, I think I'll do just fine and come back with all my fingers. The added bonus of winter king fishing near town will quell my hook and line jones....
really not much fishing to report and it looks like were going to get a full on freeze with subzero highs on monday and tuesday, I think I'll stay indoors.
Today I went to a funeral, for the father of my good friend Ingy. Ingy had the misfortune of finding his father dead in his easy chair on monday morning. In her rememberance of hre father, Ingy's sister told an interesting story about an old scottish tradition whereas when a person passes from this life, a window is opened to allow their essence/spirit to pass through. She thanked Ingy for opening the window for his father. I was pretty moved by this, Ingy is a pretty private guy and it was a nice little insight into his thoughts. Be well brother Ingy.
Plans are being laid for the Alaskan adventure, which is getting to be just around the corner. I must admit to being a bit nervous, despite having traveled well in my day, Ive never been away from home for such a long period of time. However much I miss my gal's, Jennifer & Elsie, I know it's an opportunity I can't miss. Curt is looking forward to the time together and thinks I'll work out well as a deck hand or tender captain, I think I'll do just fine and come back with all my fingers. The added bonus of winter king fishing near town will quell my hook and line jones....
really not much fishing to report and it looks like were going to get a full on freeze with subzero highs on monday and tuesday, I think I'll stay indoors.
Monday, December 8, 2008
bloody icehole
Note to self, leave cell phone in truck when ice fishing. Yep, I dropped my phone down my ice hole yesterday, watched it most of the way to it's new home in 14' of willow river water. I was pissed of course, but I had to laugh after a while knowing it would give everyone else a good chuckle. I'll just add this to the list of items lost including keys, hats, many many sunglasses, fly boxes, tools and who knows what else. On the other hand, it was a pretty good year for catching who knows what. I seem to recall a tea-pot, muscle shirt (perforated 80's style), women's panties, numerous dock lines and a Ken doll, which I never actually got in the boat (he was tough!) but saw bobbing away, head up, steadfast...forgot my damn camera too, I laughed hysterically.
So I've finally got some pike on the brine. The pickling season has begun and the aroma of spices and vinegar will soon be permeating the house. The pike fishing was decent over the weekend, I think all told I got 8 flags, landed 3 and lost another at the hole. Saturday was brutal, 30mph winds and 10 degrees. My ice buster tip-ups were getting ice over and I missed a couple fish as a result, no flag action. The panfish bite is pretty good and the size seemed to be up a little as well. Fred joined me last night and iced some nice gills and a couple crappies, all of which are being pickled as well. I need a couple more nice pike to satisfy my obligations for Christmas gifts and such.
more to come.
So I've finally got some pike on the brine. The pickling season has begun and the aroma of spices and vinegar will soon be permeating the house. The pike fishing was decent over the weekend, I think all told I got 8 flags, landed 3 and lost another at the hole. Saturday was brutal, 30mph winds and 10 degrees. My ice buster tip-ups were getting ice over and I missed a couple fish as a result, no flag action. The panfish bite is pretty good and the size seemed to be up a little as well. Fred joined me last night and iced some nice gills and a couple crappies, all of which are being pickled as well. I need a couple more nice pike to satisfy my obligations for Christmas gifts and such.
more to come.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Flags Down
For many folks across the land, fall means harvest time and I'm no different. My thoughts turn from catch and release to release to the grease. While there's still good late fall musky fishing to be had among other things, locally my options are panfish and pike. Those of you who know me well enough, know I make a mean pickled pike. It's my grandfathers recipe and if the early ice pike cooperate, a dandy homemade x-mas gift, best I've had...seriously. So that's what's been happening. I did manage about a week or so of good walleye fishing on the St. Croix in early november. Oddly enough, it was a trolling bite on the shoreline breaks, not exactly a late season pattern on the river, and I never did find the fish deep in the usual haunts. Either way, harvested a couple limits and will be set for a month or two.
Client and good fishing buddy Jim Hirsch was back in town a couple weeks ago. He had a couple days of fishing with Brad on the Chippewa. He's a persistent sun of a gun and it paid off with a nice 38" muskie. It was the start of the cold stuff and most of the small bodies of water were getting iced over, but I had he and Dave on saturday, for something, open water somewhere....We'll we got totally stymied. Took a drive up to the apple to see about Riverdale Flowage, iced up. Drove over to Cedar lake thinking maybe we could troll? windy and partially iced up. Hmm, back to the croix? but these fellas want to cast a fly...Well needless to say, we ended up on pool 2 of the miss, trolling and enjoying a beer. total bust. that's late fall fishing for you.
So on comes the hard water. It set up really quickly, the state park already has a good 5-6" of nice ice. I've been out twice now and done as well as I expected. They cut the panfish limit back to 10 total, so a lot of sorting is required when they are going but it's fun. The terms of ice fishing are coming back to me..."Flags down, Shack back, crappis". I have a love-hate relationship with ice fishing. I adore eating panfish and pike, but the slog out, the shack back and just staring at the vex get old too fast. So far no Pike, although I did get a small largemouth on a tip-up.
So it looks pretty solid that I am going to Alaska for a few months starting in January sometime. A dear from from Hudson is a commercial fisherman in Cordova, been there for years and now has a family and a home that needs remodeling. If weather allows, I'll be joining Curt for the early part of the 2009 Halibut season in Prince William Sound as well. Curt's been on me for 20 years to come up and work and although the timing's not perfect (I'll miss my lady something fierce!) it's good in that I can make enough $$ too make it worthwhile, and one hell of an adventure. Cordova is an amazing place, no roads in and surrounded by mountains and glaciers. It's been years since I've been there so the opportunity is not to be missed. I'll return just in time for early trout season, sometime in april I suspect, all depends on the fishing.
Ben Fuego is off to Costa Rica this week on a "vendor trip", off shore billfishing at Crocodile bay. I remember those "vendor trips", nice little perk for having to sit behind a desk all day. There should be one a week.
Brad is coming down this weekend with Jen, not sure of his plans yet but I'm going to try to get him on the ice somewhere, if not just to have more suckers down for pike.
I'm off to clean the garage, wish me luck.
Client and good fishing buddy Jim Hirsch was back in town a couple weeks ago. He had a couple days of fishing with Brad on the Chippewa. He's a persistent sun of a gun and it paid off with a nice 38" muskie. It was the start of the cold stuff and most of the small bodies of water were getting iced over, but I had he and Dave on saturday, for something, open water somewhere....We'll we got totally stymied. Took a drive up to the apple to see about Riverdale Flowage, iced up. Drove over to Cedar lake thinking maybe we could troll? windy and partially iced up. Hmm, back to the croix? but these fellas want to cast a fly...Well needless to say, we ended up on pool 2 of the miss, trolling and enjoying a beer. total bust. that's late fall fishing for you.
So on comes the hard water. It set up really quickly, the state park already has a good 5-6" of nice ice. I've been out twice now and done as well as I expected. They cut the panfish limit back to 10 total, so a lot of sorting is required when they are going but it's fun. The terms of ice fishing are coming back to me..."Flags down, Shack back, crappis". I have a love-hate relationship with ice fishing. I adore eating panfish and pike, but the slog out, the shack back and just staring at the vex get old too fast. So far no Pike, although I did get a small largemouth on a tip-up.
So it looks pretty solid that I am going to Alaska for a few months starting in January sometime. A dear from from Hudson is a commercial fisherman in Cordova, been there for years and now has a family and a home that needs remodeling. If weather allows, I'll be joining Curt for the early part of the 2009 Halibut season in Prince William Sound as well. Curt's been on me for 20 years to come up and work and although the timing's not perfect (I'll miss my lady something fierce!) it's good in that I can make enough $$ too make it worthwhile, and one hell of an adventure. Cordova is an amazing place, no roads in and surrounded by mountains and glaciers. It's been years since I've been there so the opportunity is not to be missed. I'll return just in time for early trout season, sometime in april I suspect, all depends on the fishing.
Ben Fuego is off to Costa Rica this week on a "vendor trip", off shore billfishing at Crocodile bay. I remember those "vendor trips", nice little perk for having to sit behind a desk all day. There should be one a week.
Brad is coming down this weekend with Jen, not sure of his plans yet but I'm going to try to get him on the ice somewhere, if not just to have more suckers down for pike.
I'm off to clean the garage, wish me luck.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
arrrgghh
OK.....so my computer got rendered useless by a virus and I've been delinquent in getting it repaired, so here's my long lost update...There's been a lot of fishing going on and I'll do my best to remember it all...
Wednesday night Fishing Club: pretty much since spring my Bro's Whahoo, Fred aka "creek warrior" and I have been meeting every wednesday evening on a piece of local trout water to enjoy the fishing, a couple beers and get out of the house on a consistent night. It's been good for me as it's kept me in touch with what's happening on the river over the course of the entire summer. The fishing has remained quite good, we've been surprised by the life on the river during the warmer parts of the normal midsummer fishing lull. Most importantly to me, I think the guy's would agree, is the time shared with good friends doing what we love to do on a regular basis. For me, fishing and being on the water is my spiritual endeavor, it's where I find the time to process the greater decisions of life, fine tune my connection with nature and balance out all of the flotsam and jetsam that flows at us from all directions down the river of life... sounds cheesy perhaps, but only to those who don't take the time to slow down a little and feel the flow of the water.
I've been back to Lake Michigan since my last post. The fishing overall was kinda lousy, by our standards anyway. We struggled to find fish in the usual depths and situations and had to completely retool our delivery after the first evening out. The deal was this, consistent east winds had been blowing in the warm water from the Michigan side, therefore forcing us to fish depths we were not quite prepared for at this time of the year. Ideally we'd have been fishing 50 to 100 FOW, but conditions forced us out to 150 to 175 and our rigging was just not suited to working this strata. That said, we still found fish and as it seemed, did as good or better than any of the charters running 15 lines. Weird thing was, no 3 year old fish. they were either 18 lbs or 8...one coho as well which is a rarity for us in T'rivers. We decided that next year we'll do an extended late june trip of 4-5 days to take advantage of the strong mid depth King bite as well as the plentiful Steelhead which always help out in filling the bag limit.
Muskies are still on a tear in the River. I get almost daily reports from the river rats on big fish and lots and lots of quality 40 to 48" fish. As for myself, the boat has been spending alot of time in the garage and in fact I noticed and had to fix a flat on the trailer this fine morning... All that changes tomorrow as I'll be heading out for the morning, all this muskie talk has me feeling a bit out of the loop and I need to be the one making the calls of good luck as opposed to always getting them.
Yesterday we had an epic float down the upper Apple. Brad came down with the drift boat and he, Whahoo and I floated about 15 miles above Star Prairie Wi. Rivers like the apple are the epitome of under fished and overlooked for freshwater angling, and it shows in the care given to the river, lack of access and overall availability of opportunity...Rest assured it's there, all a fella needs to do is get out with the proper craft and gear and explore. We've been talking about doing this section for some time and now we have. All in all it was a wonderful float but the amount of fishing water was limited overall. Smallies were plentiful as were the pike in areas with wood and depth, but the endless sand flats made the good habitat hard to find. In that stretch we found 2 good areas, separated by about 6 miles. Brad did most of the oar work, supplemented with ample amounts of the Dr's Cherry Schnapps. We did contact a few muskies, got maybe a dozen smallies, or should I say Whahoo did as i could not buy a fish to save my life. There's enough there to get me back in the fall, roll through with the Kayak and wade fish the good water.
There's much more to report and I'll do so tomorrow or saturday, getting the computer back and I've got gobs of great images to add as well....
get the hell out there and fish!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
muskies En Fuego!
So ya.....it's been a week or so since the last update, maybe a bit more in fact....There's been a bunch of fishing going down, but my computer came down with a virus and I'm having to add this report from my lovely Gal Jennifers, until I get de-bugged. What is their point anyway, worms, spam, virus etc....get a damn life hackers.
Lets see...I'll start with yesterdays action and work backwards.
I was on the River yesterday with Joe and Tom Hackbarth, father and son team from River Falls WI. It was to be the Croix mixed bag day, but we got a little sidetracked with MUSKIES! The muskie bite has been terrific in mid summer form so that was to be the focus till noontime lunch break. We started out with a couple trolling passes to see what and where, the first 2 passes nothing, and I could sense the need for a little action so I convinced them the 3rd pass was a charm and my gut told me to stick with it. It's a damn good thing because straightaway on pass 3 we stuck a fully airborne 44" stud of a muskie, Tom was on reel duty and within minutes and some struggle we got this very hot fish onboard. OK, enthusiasm levels sufficiently redlining now, high fives and pictures all around then came the real work. As happens, the fish just engulfed the bucktail and I had to do some minor surgery and get in the water with her to get this fabulous creature revived and swimming strong. Both Tom and Joe understood the importance of a clean and safe release so we took our time. after a nice ride along the boat, mouth agape, she was finally ready to go. We all felt great having not only netted her, but more importantly released her to fight again. Good job men! NO sooner had we gotten lines back in and just settled down from the excitement that was the first fish, WHAM! There's another! controlled chaos that is a muskie on a planer board. Same bait as last fish, Tom on the reel once again. Another great fish and great fight, but this one spared us the revival issues and came off just as I slid the net under her. 2 fish in 45 minutes, needless to say we were stoked! This one taped out at 42", not quite as heavy as #1, but really spunky as these 40ish fish seem to always be. So cool, Tom @ 15 gets his first two Muskies and I got to be a part of it....Love my job! Off we went to afton State Park for lunch and while the afternoon provided none of the excitement of the morning, we finished off the day in fine style; full and happy with memories of big green fish with teeth!
While were on the muskie talk....The Image on the top of the blog is of Rick Demarchis from the twin city area with one of his 2 muskies landed last wednesday morning. Rick was with a group from 3M and Excel Energy and the one guy in the bunch who had the desire to chase muskies that morning and it's a good thing! We started out doing a little trolling to get the feel and were seeing fish free swimming around as the sun started to heat up the water surface a little, so we dropped the trolling and picked up the top raiders. not 5 minutes into casting and Rick had a nice blowup only to be followed moments later my a nice 42" fish that gobbled a black TR. Nice start Rick, lets find more I said! We ended up going 2 for 6, with a nice spunky 37" fish trolling and as the time bell rang we lost a much bigger fish that we never saw. Rick was hooked and we're going to try to get out this week yet, perhaps tomorrow or thursday.
I have done a bit of trout fishing and did have one good night with Fred last saturday. We fished Hex but they were not responding to the dries so we switched back up to streamers and it's a good thing we did. I popped a nice 17" brown at about 10pm, Fred got a number of grabs and a couple nice big stream smallies to boot. About 10:30 or so he got broken off on 8lb and said "get in there, there's a big one about" so I did and Wham! the big whahoo muddler was clobbered by a 22" male, gorgeous fish, big kyper of a jaw and all colored up nicely. My big trout of the year to date. Brad is coming down for a funeral today so I think we'll be out this evening, barring any crazy storm action.
This weekend I'll be fishing with my good friend and Client Francis O'Neill from VA. He's flying in from the Oshkosh Airshow on saturday and we have 3 days of Muskie fishing in the Hayward area over the long weekend. I'm very much looking forward to seeing Francis again and getting him on the freshwater Tarpon...
More to come, here's some images from the week that was.
cheers,
BPM
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Brule Update & Images
Howdy All!
Here's what's been happening for the last week or so. I'm a little behind on the updates but I'll do my best to fill ya in.
On the Local Front: Still getting reports from the River about muskies, and lots of em. With the heat finally settling in and regular storm activity I would expect a terrific bite. Not sure why, but I'm just not super motivated to get in the boat right now, perhaps it's because my connection to the trout streams is so good right now, I'm hoping to maintain that groove. Cost of operation is a factor as well, it cost's about 50 bucks just to drop the boat in the water these days with gas and all....That said, I do have to get out there this week at some point, I have a couple day trips on the river next week to prepare for.
Wednesday of last week we finally got the shoot in with Dave Carlson from Eau Claire. We paddled the Kinni and fished a bit, but it was more a piece on Paige and the lodge etc etc. All in all it went well and despite dumping the canoe once, they managed to keep the camera dry thank goodness. It'll be on next Sunday as I recall and Dave wants to get another shoot or two in before the years end, for sure a Sturgeon show on the river come October.
Thursday afternoon found me at Brad's doorstep in Brule WI. The Hex have been starting to come off late and so a mission was in order. I cant believe I'm saying this, but I might be fished out for a day or two! Over the course of the 4 days, I fished an average of 15 hours per day, half of that in a canoe either on Big Lake or paddling the various stretches of river chasing resident browns. Thursday nights hex fishing was the most productive of the weekend, the hatch was moderate which I think helps because there were not as many naturals on the water to distract them. I got two about 18-19 or so and the other boats did about the same. What a trip Hex fishing is.....late nights, moonlight, skeets and big slurps all around you, it's hard where to figure out to cast first and easy to get lost in the moment. Hooking up once you get grabbed is another story, I think I went 0 for 17 before i finally figured out the no slack-sidearm hook set routine and was able to stick one good. I could see it being frustrating for some but the setting is just so perfect and fish in hand or not, still an amazing experience. One night out of the way, 3 more to go....
Friday was a bit of a leisure day at the club, we drank some beer and played bocce mostly until it was time to get ready for the evening festivities.. Fred arrived about 7 and sadly, brought a whopper of a thunderstorm along with him, rained us out good about the time we planned on hitting it. Worse yet the storm brought lingering high winds which would plague us for the next couple days. I went to bed early and the boys went to the Kro bar and hassled the cute bartender till 2am..
Saturday Fred and I got up early and did the Stones Bridge to Winni float. This has to be the nicest canoe float in WI, easy enough to fish most of the way from the boat and plenty of good water to stop and wade for a break. Fred got the trifecta, one of each resident species and I paddled most of the trip. A nice 30mph tailwind down big lake and we finished with enough time for a nap and retooling for the evening. Damn wind, the stuff usually lays down after a nice hot day but that was not the case, kept blowing s/sw all night and made the fishing a bit tough...understatement. There were a couple bugs coming off, but it was slim pickens and we packed it up earlier than usual, there's always tomorrow eh?
Having left the boats at the landing the night before, Fred and I mounted an early morning mission to Big Lake, looking for browns scrounging up wind blown hex from the night before. Not long after getting out, we had a nice little wind free window and cruised the lower end of the lake stalking risers. Having seen a nice rise 80 yards off, we stalked over there and got Fred into position for a cast and he made it count! Nice 18" brown, daylight hours on a BIG hex spinner pattern, it was perfect! That was the only fish we were able to get to go, so we headed downriver and made for the club, casting big dries along the way. We did get a couple more grabs but nothing in hand. After a short break and lunch, we rounded up Brian and Weston and made the float to the Ranger Station. This is an amazing stretch of streamer water so we changed gears and loaded up with big streamers. Brian and Weston were having luck picking fish off in the faster riffle sections where Fred and I focused on the deep slots and pools. The best action was lower, down towards the station in the deeper water. I hardly touched a fish all day but was super stoked to get a 19" out of a big deep sweeper log. It was probably the most beautiful Brown I have ever caught, buttery gold and red's with a million spots, the pic's hardly do it justice. He ate a medium sized whahoo streamer in natural and with a conehead. couple minutes later and we finished up, had some grub and rallied for the evening Hex battle. Sunday night hex hatch was enormous, so much so it made it really tough to get the fish to go with all the real things cluttering the water. Brian had some success and I hooked one good one but it was tough. Brad did get a terrific 13" brookie however, kinda saved the night.
if the Brule is not the best Brown Trout fishery in the country, I don't know what is. The sheer variety of fishing options and styles is amazing and I feel blessed to have it so close, and to have Brad on the river keeping a pulse for us all.
More to come, here's a few images from the weekend.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Quick Update
On the local front....
The muskie bite is ON down at the river. I have been getting almost daily reports of fish up to 49" being caught and good numbers as well from the local muskie bros. I sadly, have nothing to add...been trout guiding so much that I've been reluctant to dig the boat out and I'd be lying if I said gas prices haven't effected that as well. However thursday night I'm going to make an effort with Fritzy and Fred and am hoping to contact some fish...
The Fly Fishing has been decent despite the mid summer warmth. Most of my trips have been in the morning so taking advantage of the first couple hours is pretty key. Today I had a wonderful crew, The Robeson Family from the Des Moines area. Well that is Dad and sons Wade and Justus. All have fished a little but this was their first fly fishing experience and all went well, the fish could have cooperated a bit more but everyone had some action and more importantly learned a bunch about the workings of the trout's world. Justus was 9 and did great on nymph fishing and missed a couple on the Dry Fly. I reassured him that a trout on a fly, any fly is a BIG DEAL and we had a great time trying. Kids can be hit or miss with interest and attention span, but he hung in there and was working till the last minute. I very much enjoyed my day, thanks guys!
Enough for now, believe it or not I'm heading back over to the valley tonight and again in the morning. Tomorrow is my show with Dave Carlson on the life of a guide....I better get one...
ciao,
BIGPIKEMIKE!
The muskie bite is ON down at the river. I have been getting almost daily reports of fish up to 49" being caught and good numbers as well from the local muskie bros. I sadly, have nothing to add...been trout guiding so much that I've been reluctant to dig the boat out and I'd be lying if I said gas prices haven't effected that as well. However thursday night I'm going to make an effort with Fritzy and Fred and am hoping to contact some fish...
The Fly Fishing has been decent despite the mid summer warmth. Most of my trips have been in the morning so taking advantage of the first couple hours is pretty key. Today I had a wonderful crew, The Robeson Family from the Des Moines area. Well that is Dad and sons Wade and Justus. All have fished a little but this was their first fly fishing experience and all went well, the fish could have cooperated a bit more but everyone had some action and more importantly learned a bunch about the workings of the trout's world. Justus was 9 and did great on nymph fishing and missed a couple on the Dry Fly. I reassured him that a trout on a fly, any fly is a BIG DEAL and we had a great time trying. Kids can be hit or miss with interest and attention span, but he hung in there and was working till the last minute. I very much enjoyed my day, thanks guys!
Enough for now, believe it or not I'm heading back over to the valley tonight and again in the morning. Tomorrow is my show with Dave Carlson on the life of a guide....I better get one...
ciao,
BIGPIKEMIKE!
Friday, July 4, 2008
July 4th already?
Good lord, where did the spring go? Seems like just a few weeks ago it was still shitty and snowing, then bang! summer time. I missed my spring steelhead trip to the Brule this year but I do know for sure that I'll be heading up sometime in the next couple weeks to fish Hex with Brad. Ben Fuego and his lovely wife MJ have been up at the Brule all week, I have yet to get a report from him but I'm guessing in true Ben fashion he creamed them on wolley buggars between Big Lake and Stones Bridge. Brad said the fishing has been off the charts, lots of bugs and the hex lingering around the corner.
It's been a busy work week for me, not so much guiding but I do have a couple items to touch on.
Last saturday I had a trip with Mark and Charlie from Burnsville. It was a 16th B-day gift from father to son, the kids got smarts, choosing fishing over the myriad of other options. We did a full day on the Kinni and ended up with a decent day overall. Strange weather made the fishing a bit odd. Neither fella had every fly fished so the morning was spent getting them up to speed, roll casting and mending mostly and with a little practice and lunch, we were ready to get serious for the afternoon shift. The Skies opened up and rudely dumped about 15 minutes of rain and hail on us, followed by a temp drop of about 20 degrees. All the hail stirred up the water a ton, but cleared briefly and we finally got Charlie into a birthday trout, a nice 14" on a sparkle caddis pupa, my standard go-to fly when times get tough. I was very encouraged by the Charlies enthusiasm, lets keep the youngsters on the water! Thanks Guys and lets fish again soon!
I made tracks to El Paso post haste for a nap and my all nighter expedition of the Rush with big flies. I made it till about 1am or so, with a little break and a chat/beers with some fellas from the Eau Claire/Chippewa Falls area. They were out for the late evening dry fly fiesta and had some success. I focused on the long deep frogwater sections that one would normally walk by during the daylight hours. I did get a 17" and a number of other mystery grabs but by 1am I was ready for a little bonfire and scotch. Fishing alone at night is creepy, fun but creepy. There was basically no moon and it's dark as hades in El Paso at night. The stars were amazing however and it felt good to get out of the city, albeit only an hour away, what a difference 50 miles makes.
Sunday night I headed over to the Willow for some late night action as well. Got on the water about 8 and tied up a #8 red humpy, "mr. do-it-all". I have to confess to ignoring the willow after about June 1st, and I could not recall the last time I caught a trout on a dry there. Didnt take long though, there was plenty happening bug wise and the humpy got creamed straight away. here's the kicker, I was sooooo off on my timing I think I went like 1 for 10, but I did hook and land a 17" smallie and about a 16" brown. Lost a nice one, maybe 19 or so. there were Caddis by the zillions, Golden stones the size of Chinook Transport helicopters and the odd hex, oh ya skeets and more skeets....
Wednesday night fishing club! Well sort of, this week it was Whahoo and I as Robbie and his lady had themselves a baby on monday (Congrats Rob!) We hung around and drank a couple summits and came up with a game plan, which consisted of hex or as I called Wha's white flies "moth patterns", what an exciting Way to fish! BUT, the fishing was pretty slow overall, there was a pretty stiff breeze and high pressure so for some reason they were just not snapping. We had intentions to fish till 12 or so, but cut it short at 11. Whahoo did the most AMAZING thing I have seen with a flyrod in years. He picked off a 18" fish that we had seen chasing bugs, in less than a foot of water, completely slack and gin clear. He fooled this critter with the moth and a twitched retrieve on a short line. I only know a couple fella's who coulda pulled that off, really really tricky move. wow! As for me, I got a couple grabs on a hex and sadly had one break me off on 4x, looked like a good fish for sure...next time.
lastly, had an amazing day yesterday with Jurgen and Katarina from Hammond WI. They had been in the area (from Germany) for about 8 years now and had decided this was the week they get out and explore the area. Both were complete rookies and ya coulda fooled me, nary an hour of instruction and they were both into fish. We had success on caddis and beatis emergers mostly, in the faster riffles. What a fun couple and I think they are hooked on the whole fishing, woods, water thing. Thanks so much and I'm looking forward to late July's outing with you again!
Gotta run, Jennifer's heading out for a month to Sacramento Ca for school and we have a bunch to do in getting her ready. I'll miss her something fierce but I'll get my 28 days in a row of fishing in to fill the time....
Hasta Luego.
BPM
It's been a busy work week for me, not so much guiding but I do have a couple items to touch on.
Last saturday I had a trip with Mark and Charlie from Burnsville. It was a 16th B-day gift from father to son, the kids got smarts, choosing fishing over the myriad of other options. We did a full day on the Kinni and ended up with a decent day overall. Strange weather made the fishing a bit odd. Neither fella had every fly fished so the morning was spent getting them up to speed, roll casting and mending mostly and with a little practice and lunch, we were ready to get serious for the afternoon shift. The Skies opened up and rudely dumped about 15 minutes of rain and hail on us, followed by a temp drop of about 20 degrees. All the hail stirred up the water a ton, but cleared briefly and we finally got Charlie into a birthday trout, a nice 14" on a sparkle caddis pupa, my standard go-to fly when times get tough. I was very encouraged by the Charlies enthusiasm, lets keep the youngsters on the water! Thanks Guys and lets fish again soon!
I made tracks to El Paso post haste for a nap and my all nighter expedition of the Rush with big flies. I made it till about 1am or so, with a little break and a chat/beers with some fellas from the Eau Claire/Chippewa Falls area. They were out for the late evening dry fly fiesta and had some success. I focused on the long deep frogwater sections that one would normally walk by during the daylight hours. I did get a 17" and a number of other mystery grabs but by 1am I was ready for a little bonfire and scotch. Fishing alone at night is creepy, fun but creepy. There was basically no moon and it's dark as hades in El Paso at night. The stars were amazing however and it felt good to get out of the city, albeit only an hour away, what a difference 50 miles makes.
Sunday night I headed over to the Willow for some late night action as well. Got on the water about 8 and tied up a #8 red humpy, "mr. do-it-all". I have to confess to ignoring the willow after about June 1st, and I could not recall the last time I caught a trout on a dry there. Didnt take long though, there was plenty happening bug wise and the humpy got creamed straight away. here's the kicker, I was sooooo off on my timing I think I went like 1 for 10, but I did hook and land a 17" smallie and about a 16" brown. Lost a nice one, maybe 19 or so. there were Caddis by the zillions, Golden stones the size of Chinook Transport helicopters and the odd hex, oh ya skeets and more skeets....
Wednesday night fishing club! Well sort of, this week it was Whahoo and I as Robbie and his lady had themselves a baby on monday (Congrats Rob!) We hung around and drank a couple summits and came up with a game plan, which consisted of hex or as I called Wha's white flies "moth patterns", what an exciting Way to fish! BUT, the fishing was pretty slow overall, there was a pretty stiff breeze and high pressure so for some reason they were just not snapping. We had intentions to fish till 12 or so, but cut it short at 11. Whahoo did the most AMAZING thing I have seen with a flyrod in years. He picked off a 18" fish that we had seen chasing bugs, in less than a foot of water, completely slack and gin clear. He fooled this critter with the moth and a twitched retrieve on a short line. I only know a couple fella's who coulda pulled that off, really really tricky move. wow! As for me, I got a couple grabs on a hex and sadly had one break me off on 4x, looked like a good fish for sure...next time.
lastly, had an amazing day yesterday with Jurgen and Katarina from Hammond WI. They had been in the area (from Germany) for about 8 years now and had decided this was the week they get out and explore the area. Both were complete rookies and ya coulda fooled me, nary an hour of instruction and they were both into fish. We had success on caddis and beatis emergers mostly, in the faster riffles. What a fun couple and I think they are hooked on the whole fishing, woods, water thing. Thanks so much and I'm looking forward to late July's outing with you again!
Gotta run, Jennifer's heading out for a month to Sacramento Ca for school and we have a bunch to do in getting her ready. I'll miss her something fierce but I'll get my 28 days in a row of fishing in to fill the time....
Hasta Luego.
BPM
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