Walleye Fishing Trip That Wasn’t

It was back in 1978 when my Dad took me on my first Canadian walleye fishing trip. (My dad gave me an old truck along with the words, “Now that its yours don’t you wish you didn’t beat it so much when it was mine?” - Steve) A fly-in outpost camp around 1500 miles north of Chicago that to date, remains the best walleye and northern pike fishing I’ve ever done. We still tell the stories today. But that’s a subject for a different post.

We’ve been heading “up north” every year since then and 2009 was no exception. Our group has remained tight over the years and always a pleasure getting together for the trip. I couldn’t have been more pleased when Steve joined us 3 years ago. (Probably not as pleased as me though) He loves to fish just as much as I do (perhaps more if that’s possible). Enough rambling though.

Steve and I have decided to chronicle our trip this year. A diary of sorts if you will. We’ll be adding, editing, and “conversating” about the debacle that happened. We invite our readers to check back often as the story unfolds. I promise we’ll have you saying “HO JEEZ!” as often as we were.

The Walleye Fishing Trip That Wasn’t

Day 1 June 8th 2009

Steve, I, and my Dad, headed out from the Chicago area bright and early this morning for the first leg of our trip. Gear packed along with a whole lot of supplies and food for the group, including 1000 nightcrawlers. There were 7 of us this year. Our group meets on the first day on the north shore of Lake Superior in Two Harbors MN.

While rounding the tip of Lake Superior we saw what can only be described as the ultimate definition of optimism.. We saw guys in wet suits trying to surf in 40 degree water and 4 to 5 foot waves in Lake Superior.. I thought it was the funniest thing I ever saw.. It was until later that I realized that there are people, in MN, with wetsuits and surfboards, for just such occasions.. Like I said, optimism.

We take it easy driving, stopping when we need to stretch. Nothing worse than having to drive hard and be really tired at the start of the fishing trip. We met up at the hotel with the rest of the group mid afternoon. Cocktails, snacks laughing, pictures as we look forward to another year of great fishing.

Early evening 4 of us decide to walk over to Culvers for a bite to eat. My Dad stays behind because he’s not feeling particularly well so I told him I’d grab him something and bring it back to the room. When we get back, Dad is on the phone trying to arrange a flight out of Duluth back to Chicago. He’s a bladder cancer survivor (still cancer free) and had developed some problems relating to that, which needed medical attention.

After spending nearly an hour and a half convincing him that we needed to drive him back, because the earliest flight was a connecting one and didn’t leave till the following morning, we jumped back in the truck and headed back to Chicago. It was around 3:30 AM when we met my Mom at the emergency room to get him to “his” hospital and doctors. The whole time he was “urging” Steve and I to leave and get some sleep because we had a long drive ahead of us the next day. Remember, we had at least half the food and supplies with us for the entire group.

Once assured that he was fine and getting the care he needed, we headed to my house to take a nap. It was about 4:30 AM when we got there. “HO JEEZ”

Let me jump in here a moment to say that Joe and Dave are awesome. So awesome that I drove a total of 1,150(ish) miles just to get to “Chicago”.. I checked Google Maps and it said it should have only taken 120 miles to get from my house to Dave’s house.. Visions of Bugs Bunny, Albuquerque, and wrong turns spring to mind..

At this point we have driven about 1,000 miles in less than 24 hours just to have diner at Culver’s in Two Harbors.. I love Culver’s Butter Burgers, but that’s a bit of a stretch even for me.. Its not like is was Sonic.. I’m thinking that the fishing better rock at this point.. Oh, and that Joe is okay..

Day 2 June 9th 2009

After a couple hour nap, I started making phone calls. First to my Mom to make sure Dad was doing OK. He was and again I was told (in no uncertain terms ) go fishing. Then to the rest of the group to let them know we’d be getting started but meeting them at the outfitters tonight was most likely not going  to happen as was originally planned. Finally to the outfitters to let them know what was going on in order to reschedule our fly-out a couple of hours later. They were most accommodating.

After having unpacked things we weren’t going to need because for the first year since 1978 Dad wasn’t going, we headed out around 9:30 AM.

Here is where things get a little foggy for me.. I seem to remember waking up and getting in the truck.. Even driving through the construction in Rockford, again, but I don’t recall taking the only garlic we had for the whole trip out of the truck..

( Yeah… that kinda sorta would have been me. I didn’t realize that the box labeled “Island Spices” didn’t have all the spices in it and the box labeled “Dinner June 9th 2009″, one that I unpacked because we weren’t going to be there, had the rest. “HO JEEZ!”… Dave)

What I do remember is that we saw Wisconsin State Troopers in a 30 mile stretch North of Eau Claire both going up and coming down, and no where else, the day before.. I’m not saying that I would use that knowledge to gain an advantage while trying to cut time off of the trip.. BTW, anyone ever try to get a hotel room or buy beer in Thunder Bay, CA?? Dave has

Ahhhhh… Wisconsin… land of cheese. Both of us were pretty tired and I decided to loudly announce “CHEEZ” everytime I saw a billboard or sign for cheese. Didn’t take long for that to evolve into “HO JEEZ!” Actually, the evolution had started the night before as we tried to keep each other awake driving back.

Once we reached Duluth MN I decided to call the outfitters (cell service gets really sparce from here on in) and let them know that that we would not be there tonight but would make Thunder Bay Ontario. Let them know that we’d be leaving there at 5:00 AM to drive the last 3 hrs. Annette said that would be fine and would let the rest of the group know what was going on since they were still right out front because they locked their keys in the truck. Another story altogther.

Next stop to stretch our legs before the border crossing was to be Grand Marais MN because it’s last place with cell phone service until Thunder Bay so we could touch base with our families. Especially important for Steve.

I guess here is where I do some backfill on my drama.. My Mother-In-Law had been in and out of ICU for just over a month when we left for Canada the first time.. I wasn’t going to go, but my whole family told me to go, so I went.. But MIL was going in to surgery on this day, late, and there is really no way to talk with family once we get to the lake..

Once we hit Grand Marais I called my wife, no news yet.. And then I called my Sister-In-Law and left instructions that no matter what happened she was to call the outfitter and I would radio them every day to see if there was any news.. At this point MIL hadn’t been to surgery yet..

It should also be noted at this point that we are getting pretty goofy.. All the driving, lack of sleep, and Ho Jeez!!, was really getting to us..

One thing to take in to account when crossing the border these days is that Border Agents aren’t paid to have a sense of humor.. They want quick, accurate, and polite answers to their questions.. They deal with hundreds or thousands of people every day trying to cross the border, the last thing they need is a comedian.. So after driving about 2,000 miles, getting almost no sleep, and discovering the joy of answering Ho Jeez to nearly evey question, you can see where we might have an issue..

Border Agent: Your reason for visiting Canada??

Tired Dude: To fishnap your fishies and smuggle them back to the United States as political prisoners! (Ho Jeez)

Tired Dude 2: Political Asylum (Ho Jeez!)

Border Agent: Do you have any live bait??

Tired Dude: Wormies!

Border Agent: What is that bait packed in??

Tired Dude: Marajuana and Magic Mushroom compost! (Ho Jeez)

Border Agent: Do you have any firearms or handguns?

Tired Dude: Nope! Just a box of grenades in case the fishing is slow. (Ho Jeez!)

You can see where this is going.. We did that for more than an hour before we got to the border.. Then we had to try to clear our heads and talk straight when we got there.. Ho Jeez.. .. ..

We finally made it to the duty free right before the Pigeon River Border Crossing at 8:40 PM local time. Fill up with gas on the US side and hit the duty free for a couple of cases of beer. Duty free closed at 8:00 PM… NO BEER FOR YOU! (ho jeez).

There are days I’m glad I don’t drink.. After watching Dave cry in the parking lot this was one of them..

No worries. We’ll cross the border then it’s only about a 20 min drive into Thunder Bay. We’ll get a hotel room so we can get a bit of rest, and I’ll buy beer there.

The Valhalla Inn is right off the highway in town and a pretty nice place so we stopped there. No Room For You! (HO JEEZ!) They sent us to another hotel a block away… a scary hotel! But as tired as we were it was clean so no matter. Depends on your definition of clean, and it only smelled a little bit after we opened the windows.. I told the clerk at the desk he could really make my day by directing me to the nearest beer store that was open (It’s now about 10:30 PM with the time change). I’m not used to getting laughed at hysterically when asking about where to buy beer…

“You’re in backwards Ontario ehh. All the beer stores close at 9:00 ehh.”

<sigh>

Oh well, some vodka, tonic, and a splash of Mountain Dew will work for tonight. Gotta hope the outfitter has beer on hand (they usually do) otherwise I’d be fishing beerless (HO JEEZ!).

You know, for a fishing story, we sure have said a lot without even getting to the fish yet..

Day3 June 10th 2009

The adventure picks up the next morning at 4am.. We had about 300km to go to get to the outfitter, and the plane was leaving at 9am so we had a lot of 2 lane road driving in bear and moose country to get done in a hurry.. The main reason we stopped in Thunder Bay was that we simply didn’t want to risk driving that late at night, tired, in moose country.. That would have been the perfect capper to an already less than perfect trip..

We hit Mattice Lake Outfitters around 8am.. The Iowa crew was already up and sitting around the office drinking coffee and waiting for the weather to clear so we could fly out..

(This is where the “beer” part enters the picture… again. They did indeed have plenty of beer on hand so I asked them to please grab 2 cases for me, which they were only too happy to do. While we were settling up with the outfitters and getting our fishing licenses, I told them to to add the cost of the beer to my bill. Wasn’t till I checked the receipt later that I found out it was $45 a case! Ho Jeez!)

As soon as the weather was good enough to fly, we jumped in the Otter and took off.. I love to fly.. I’m a member of the EAA and my dad owns 2 planes.. So when I opened my eyes and saw that there were trees higher than we were I just relied on the fact that Don was probably as excited to stay alive as I was and went back to sleep.. I have no idea if anyone else got nervous, but I was too tired to care..

Finally, touchdown at Short Lake and time to unload the plane and fish..

Usually unpacking is a calm, civil event, but I was so tired I just wanted to dump the gear and get in the boat.. Even if it was cold, and windy, and sort of raining.. I quickly dumped my gear in the room Dave and I were going to share, and then, in a fit of brilliance, I grabbed one of the spare mattress pads from one of the unused bunks.. The cabin we stay in sleeps 10, more if you prison bunk, but 10 is safe.. Since we were 4 guys short this year I decided to do my princess and the pea impersonation.. It was good..

Once the food was stashed, the gear in the rooms, thermals and rain gear put on, Dave and I agreed we were wasting too much time and just strung up one rod each, threw our tackle in the boat, and hit the water..

It was cold.. Not the coldest ever, but colder than I’m used to fishing in. The new thermals from Cabela’s, and the new Gor-Tex bibs worked out great for keeping everything warm but my fingers.. And that was survivable as long as I didn’t have to tie on any new leaders..

Ho Jeez!! It's a fish!!

Dave took us out to one of the always has fish spots on the lake, and start fishing.. After a couple of missed Walleye I finally had my draw set right and my jig tail on right, and we actually started catching fish.. Really, here’s proof!!

After we got back to the cabin I decided to take a short nap.. All that driving left me a wee bit tuckered out.. I missed dinner.. Slept right through it.. Woke up several hours later, ate a few cookies, went right back to bed and slept till about 6am on my princess bunk bed..

Day 4 June 11th 2009

With the issues at home we decided to call the base camp in the morning on the radio.. This is when we found out that Dave’s dad was doing fine, but my mother-in-law had passed away the night before.. It was not a complete surprise, but still not entirely expected either.. Dave asked about getting us flown back out of the lake so I could get home ASAP to be with my wife.. The next available plane would be early, 7am, the next morning..

One of the issues with going truly remote to fish is that you simply can’t leave when you want to.. It has to be scheduled and you are also at the whims of the weather.. In my case there was nothing to be done but wait.. And since we were already there, we went fishing.. But this time with a mission, we needed our limit ASAP because there was no way I was going to do this much driving, for this little fishing, and not take home a full limit of Walleye..

The fishing really was slow this year.. Ice out was 2 weeks late and we were right at pre-spawn or post-spawn.. Whichever it was, the fishing was just really slow.. But we did limit out, and Dave even caught a nice Northern, on a jig with a pink and white tail, that was every bit of 36″ and fat.. Unfortunately the whole day is sort of fuzzy for me.. Between the lack of sleep and he drama at home, I wasn’t as in to the fishing as I would normally be.. I’m pretty sure I even fell asleep in the boat a few times with my line in the water..

I’m hoping that we get the ‘real’ fishing report finished here in the next couple of days..

When we finally called it a day we had a nice fish fry and then spent the rest of the night playing Pitch..

Day 5 June 12th 2009

Up early to get ready for fly out.. The weather was closing in fast so we needed to be ready to go the moment that the otter arrived.. That left the cooking to the guys that were staying.. That in itself might have been worth the cost of the trip.. I’m sure that they know how to cook.. Just out of practice.. I saw burnt toast, burnt ham, and something that looked like poached eggs being served in bowls.. I decided that a bottle of water and some cheese and crackers would be enough to get us on the road..

I really hope they didn’t starve after we left..

The rest of the trip was just more driving.. 14 hours of it to reach Chicago.. Then a short sleep and another 2 hours to get home.. In all I drove 2,908 miles in 5 days to get about 10 hours of boat time fishing in Canada.. Next exactly the best trade off..

I do want to thank a few people though.. First I want to thank the fine state troopers in Wisconsin and Illinois.. They stayed out of our way and let us make some great time going up, coming back, going up again, and coming back again..

I really want to thank the awesome people at Mattice Lake Outfitters.. They really made a rough trip as easy as possible and were more than generous.. I was completely prepared to pay extra for the early flyout, but then not only didn’t charge us for that, they even gave us a partial credit for the days we didn’t get to fish.. How awesome is that?? We lef tthe money there as part of our deposit for next year.. If you are looking to do some fishing in Canada, and want to stay with a top shelf operation and do some great Walleye fishing, this is the place to go.. You won’t regret it..

I also need to thank Dave.. I don’t think either of us would have survived this week alone.. Between his dad and my mom we spent a lot of time locked in a truck together.. I’m not sure I could have done it with anyone else and not killed them..

Finally, if you made it this far, you are insane.. And I like insane people..

to be continued…

Fish-N-Fool Knot pt. 2

We just got back from what can only be described as a disastrous fishing trip, too much driving, too much drama, and tough fishing, but more on that later..

First I wanted to update a previous post about the Fish-N-Fool knot.. I had previously said that I thought that the knot was hard to tie.. After tieing it on for a few days to test it out, it has gotten easier to tie, but I still struggle with it.. My fingers simply don’t move like they used to.. It also didn’t help that we were wearing gloves in 45 degree rain all day.. Take gloves off to tie, but gloves back on to fish..

On the plus side, and this is a huge plus for me, it did give me my first ever gunshot line break.. Unfortunately it was on a tree 10 feet under water and not a giant Northern.. I’ve had knots fail before in hung up situations, but the Fish-N-Fool held tough until the 14 pound mono I was using simply exploded.. That was actually pretty cool..

I’ll continue to tie this knot this year, along with my favorite Palomar, but I see this knot moving higher up on my need to get better at tieing it list..

Can I go fishing yet?

Here we are, nearing the end of May, and I have yet to get a single line wet.. Between work, family drama, and work, I haven’t had the opportunity hit the water yet..

Fortunately, that is all about to change.. June 7th I head up to Dave’s, and then on the 8th we start driving north for our annual Canada Walleye trip.. 5 days on a lake, no phones, no roads, no electricity, no wives with honeydo lists.. Just fishing, food, and cigars..

While there we plan to shoot some videos, take a lot of pictures, and maybe even catch a fish or two.. Or twenty..

Plan your trip Local Radar Detailed Forecast

Knot Wars

I am the first to admint that I pretty much suck at tieing knots.. I never really got that part in Boy Scouts.. And I think that I have had more knots fail than line breaks.. I know, sadness abounds..

Fortunately for me the guys at North American Fisherman Magazine are running knot wars again this year.. Each week a new test is run between two knots to determine which is the strongest.. Last year the Palomar won the battle as the strongest knot on three types of line.. this year it has already been pushed aside by a new leading knot, the Fish N Fool.. Personally, the fool looks too complicated to tie in a boat with rough water, I’ll stick with the Palomar, its pretty hard to screw up..

Check out the Knot Wars videos at the NAFM website.

Trout Fishing Osprey Style

We are often reminded of the sheer power of nature. Unfortunately, sometimes that power delivers disastrous consequences. Sometimes we can tend to forget that nature provides us with an awesome beauty as well.

I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to some pretty amazing places. Fortunate to have fished is some rather remote wilderness areas. On once such wilderness fishing trip, I was able to watch a Bald Eagle soaring high above, dive and snatch a walleye of the top the lake, like it was a marshmallow, then streak back to its nest with the walleye gripped in its talons, where hungry eaglets were waiting to be fed. Truly an amazing thing to witness.

No one has to tell Miguel Lasa about the amazing beauty nature has to offer. Miguel is a wildlife and nature photographer. His work has been published on magazine covers and in books around the world and will definitely remind you of the genuine beauty that nature has to offer. For those of you interested in experiencing this first hand, there are some Photography Workshops available so be sure and check out the website.

The following link is to a slideshow of some of Miguel Lasa’s work… The Ospreys of Finland. For all of you fishermen out there, this is “real” trout fishing…

Trout Fishing Osprey Style

All Canada Show 2009

The All Canada Show moves from its first weekend just concluded in Minneapolis onto Chicago. It will be at the Pheasant Run Resort Mega Center in St Charles IL. from January 8th 2009 through January 11th 2009. Here are some future dates for the show…

January 16th - 18th 2009 St Louis, Missouri

January 19th - 21st 2009 Indianapolis, Indiana

January 23rd - 25th 2009 Milwaukee, Wisconsin

January 26th - 28th 2009 Madison, Wisconsin

January 29th - February 1st 2009 Green Bay Wisconsin

February 6th - 8th 2009 Des Moines, Iowa

February 9th - 11th 2009 Omaha Nebraska

For additional information on these locations you can visit the All Canada Show Website

For anyone in the Chicago area, The Loop 97.9 on your FM dial has been giving away free tickets to the event. Listening and calling in might score you some free tickets.

If you’re an angler who’s been considering, dreaming of, a Canadian fishing trip, the All Canada Show is a pretty good place to get lots of information on what type of trips are available. I know our group has found some great folks there. As a matter fact, this June we’ll be going back to one of them.

Happy fishing!

Dave

Bass will eat anything

21 years ago Joe Richardson went fishing at Lake Sam Rayburn and lost his class ring.

Two weeks ago the ring showed up in the belly of an 8 pound bass. Joe received a phone call from a fisherman that had caught the fish and wanted to return the ring to him.

Personally, I’m tempted to call shenanigans on this one. But who knows, stranger things have happened.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,461447,00.html

Fishing Barbless

For the last few years I’ve been fishing barbless. Dave introduced me to fishing this way on a trip to Short Lake near Armstrong Station, Ontario, and I haven’t looked back.

What is barbless fishing?

Barbed vs Barbless Hooks

Barbless fishing is exactly what it sounds like, fishing with hooks that don’t have barbs. In most cases we take a normal hook and carefully squeeze the barb with a pair of pliers until the tip of the barb touches the hook. Done carefully you can modify your favorite hooks quickly and easily to start barbless fishing right away. There are also several manufacturers starting to embrace barbless fishing.

Why Fish Barbless?

There are many reasons to consider fishing barbless. And for the sport fisherman practicing CPR there are very few reasons to not fish barbless.

It’s better for the fish

Fishing barbless makes hook removal easier on the fish. Most hook ups leave you with a hook that is right on the lip and easy to remove. But we have all had that aggressive, larger, fish gulp your lure all the way to it’s belly. Or that smaller fish biting off more than he can chew and have the hook come out in a strange location, near an eye or similar place. This is when barbless hooks really shine. It’s easier to remove the hook and does far less damage to the fish in the process.

Then you have the fly fishing for certain types of trout that really need to be handled with care. When you fish them barbless you don’t even need to touch them to remove the hook. Even better for the fish.

It’s better for you

Ever get a hook jammed in your thumb trying to unhook a fish? How about sit on a hook in the boat? There are only two kinds of fishermen, those that have been hooked, and those that are about to be hooked.

With a barbless hook you no longer have to try some trick to remove the hook. Or make a long drive to the ER, and heaven forbid getting deep hooked out in the wilderness. A barbless hook comes out just about as easily as it went in.

Even better that saving a thumb though is the easy release. When fishing particularly slimy fish like Northern there is nothing worse that losing control of the fish and getting covered in slime and having it all over the bottom of your boat. With a barbless hook all you need to do is reach out with your hook pliers and give the hook a little shake. Instant release without even taking the fish out of the water.

Better Hook Ups

Yes, I said it, better hook ups with fish. All things being equal, it takes less pressure to push a barbless hook through the lip of a fish than it does to push a barb through. Instead of ripping the hook out of the fishes mouth trying to drive the barb through, you can hit just a little softer and sink the hook right in.

Fishing barbless is an easy transition for most fishmen. The only thing that you need to change with your technique is to keep constant pressure on the line. You don’t need to drag the fish to the boat, but you do need to keep your line tight the entire time you are reeling in. Any slack at all and you stand a real chance of losing your fish.

Will you miss more fish? Probably. Is it a better way to fish for the sport fisherman? I think so. So start mashing those hooks and taking better care of the fish out there. Who knows, the thumb you save may be your own.

Welcome to Lunker Links

Lunker Links is a project Dave and I have had on the back burner for quite some time now. We both love to fish and this site idea seemed a natural fit for that.

We intend to build one of the best fishing directories on the web. Along with the directory will be our Lunker Blog with articles, pictures, and video about our fishing adventures and information that we think may just help a few fishermen, and women, have a little more fun.

The Directory:

This will be a paid directory very soon. Since we research and review every single website submitted, we have decided to charge a minimal fee for this. First, it helps us pay for our time and probably more importantly, it keeps the spammers from flooding us with hundreds, and thousands, of junk websites that would never get accepted anyway. Those of you that run open directories understand this spam very well.

We intend to do something a little different with our featured links. Since we review every site that is submitted we have decided that people that register for a Featured Link will get their site review published in our blog. On top of that, we will also be adding a non-expiring regular link to that category that their Featured Link is in. I think it’s a great deal for anyone looking to promote their website.

Regular Links:

Featured Links aren’t for everyone. For those people we offer up “regular” links. These links are held to the same standard as our Featured Links, so don’t expect to get those spammy affiliate sites listed.

For now Regular Links are free. This will change soon, but we decided that as a Christmas gift to our readers and fellow fishermen we would leave them free for now. We will announce when this is going to change. But expect it to be around the 1st of the year.

Articles:

We are also offering an article section. If you write articles for your website and want to share them with the readers here, simply sign up for an account and submit it. Each article will be reviewed just like our link submissions are. And for now they are free!

Guest Bloggers:

We love guest bloggers. Not only do they hep take some of the workload off of us, it’s always great to hear a different voice once in a while.

That about covers it. Dave and I are looking forward to seeing how our little community develops. But right now I need to get back to work and finish setting up the rest of the website.