Beaver – did you say beaver? 6/17/14.

Fish Catching Travel

I have to tell today’s story out of order.  What more can I say, the Shoedog is having the trip of a lifetime.  And today was no different.

We rounded this little point, where I caught 3 nice smallies in a minute, when we saw a big beaver about 30 yards from us.  He had a fresh branch with a bunch of big leaves on it that he was swimming to either his feeding station or back to the house.  When he saw us he went under towing his supper and we never thought a thing about it.  Shoedog was throwing a big Rapala DT10 when he screamed I have the biggest muskie in the world.  The fished rolled and it was a huge green thing.

He set the hook – and up came the beaver.  Now he is going what do I do.  The beaver is pulling and Shoedog is trying not to pull, and the struggle is on.  Luckily the crankbait is hooked on the branch so the beaver is pulling, the Shoedog is pulling, and neither one of them can figure out what to do.  Unfortunately I had grabbed the net and not the  camera.  At this point the beaver is probably wondering why, or who, is trying to take my supper.  Finally the bait pulled out and both the Shoedog and the beaver were left with a great story.

In my lifetime I have seen some great things in the outdoors, but that will go down as one of the great stories of all time.  Basically that beaver kicked the Shoedog’s ass.  This trip is building a lifetime of memories.

Why were we throwing crankbait?  Both boats headed to Steven’s Bay on Lake of the Woods to walleye fish.  It was tough and though we caught a few small ones  it was not happening.  The water was real off colored from the rain and I kept saying lets throw crankbait.  It ended up saving our day.  We caught fish, mostly bass and small walleyes until the Shoedog loads back and it was a big pike.

Shoedog with a pretty nice pike.  (Sorry about the glare.)

The fishing while not great, was consistent.  They we hit a shallow weedy bay and here we go again.  He thought he had some grass when the battle was on.  What I am going to do with him?

Like I said, when it is your turn it is your turn.

He has caught big fish when it was raining, sunny, hot, cold, early, late, and probably even in his dreams while we have been here.  And what is really unusual is we have not messed any of them up.  The margin for error is so small when you are catching big ones that any misstep can lead to disaster.  We have handled that part of it well.  When you are throwing crankbait for bass and something like that happens it can go wrong in a flash.

 The Strike King Red Eye Shad catches brownies.

The bass for the day were average fish.  As usual the Strike King Red Eye Shad will catch fish here.  And with the brown water it really helped.  To tell you what kind of day the Shoedog had when I caught a couple back to back he said if you catch another one I am switching.  Not a couple of casts later I lost one and he said I am staying with the crankbait, and it was a good thing he did.

Clyde also had a cool experience.  Before we quit walleye fishing for the day he had a bite on his Berkley Power Minnow and instead of a small walleye it was this one.

An epic battle.  Clyde caught this walleye fishing on his ultralight.

When I say things can go wrong when you are catching big fish, this was a perfect example.  He was using a very light action rod when this one ate that little bait.  It was an epic battle with multiple jumps but she did not get off.  So even though they had a tough day this made it all better.

We are seeing the Eagles on all the lakes we fished.  This nest was big enough to hold a party in.

A great view from his porch.

We have seen eagles, heard grouse, they saw a mink, deer, pelicans, gulls, otters, it is a paradise up here in the woods.  And it is amazing to see big trees growing right out of rocks.

Beautiful – but this granite is really hard as a rock.  Lower unit eating stuff.

So here it is, only 2 2/1 days left to fish.  Where has the time gone?  My body is feeling it.  My hands are so swollen I can barely type.  Getting my body going in the morning is like trying to start an old car.  So why aren’t those guys up yet.  Lets get going, time’s a wastin’.  So what great adventure lies ahead?  Who knows but there will surely be one.  Keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines