Fish Catching Travel

Fish Catching Travel

I actually woke up this morning not sore and tired.  It just takes a little longer to recover, but that is sure not going to stop me.  I have been trying to catch up on things, emails, messages, etc., and it is taking me a little longer than I thought.  I did want to post a few things I got from readers while I work on the wrap up of the big Canadian adventure.

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I got a message from Johnny Kerr, alias Kerr_Kidd on 2cool, and I wanted to share it with you.  Their trip was an adventure like ours, and the times we get to spend with family and friends on trips like this are invaluable and can never be replaced.

“I thought you might like to hear this Canadian fishing story. I hope you do.
A couple of years ago my grandad, my dad, my uncle and I went on a 7 day fly in trip in Canada, in the quetico wilderness. We flew into international falls, Minnesota and drove up to Atikokan canada from there, we contracted with a group called Canoe Canada. It was an amazing trip, I like to call it the trip of a lifetime.
I was fishing with my grandad this particular day, we’d been fishing together all day, only seeing my dad and uncle when we had lunch on one of the islands on our lake. I call it our lake because we were the only four souls on those waters for 7 whole days. This particular day I had been in the back of the boat all day running the motor and trying to fish, not the ideal set up but when you’re fishing with grandpa, whose passion in life is fishing, you deal with it. Well, about 45 minutes before sundown, grandpa said “hey Johnny, why don’t we switch and you can come up here and fish” so I did. We were mainly after smallies and walleye, this particular cove we were in we had some success with the smallies every morning and most evenings. I decided to throw a topwater lure, a zora spook. I cast out into the lillies hoping for that topwater explosion, I got it, right away. Reeled him in and found that he was a northern, about 12″. We weren’t interested in keeping or even touching a northern of that size so I decided to play with him in the water hoping he’d get off my spook and I wouldn’t have to touch him. Well, while I was letting him play in the water just outside of the boat I felt a big tug on my line, I looked down and hollered at grandpa to get the net, which made him chuckle because he had seen the size of fish I had caught. The large tug on my line turned out to be a MUCH larger northern taking bites out of the smaller one that I had caught. When I finally convinced grandpa we needed the net, he grabbed it and I pulled both fish around the 14′ aluminum boat we were in and right into the net. I think this is the point where the larger of the two realized something was not normal, and he spit the smaller fish out, to no avail though because he was already in the net. We brought them into the boat, I unhooked the smaller northern off the zora spook and turned him loose. Of course we kept the larger one for pictures and dinner that night. My grandpa could not believe the way it had happened, he told me that in his whole life of fishing he had never seen a fish caught that way.
We lost grandpa on Sept 14th, 2013. This story is one I will tell forever, with pride. My grandad was an amazing man and a great fisherman.
I hope you enjoyed the story, which is all 100% true!! I’d like to send you pictures of this fish but I don’t think I can do it in a private message, I’ll post it in the forum.
Thank you for your post and your time.
John”

“Dad, Uncle, Granddad, and Me.”

“Granddad Johnny, the best man I have ever known.”

“Granddad and I”

“Johnny with a nice smallmouth.”

These kinds of trips build bonds that last forever.  You can tell from Kerr_Kidd’s report how much the time with his Grandfather meant to him, and the memories he shared with Grandpa will carry him for his lifetime.  I am sure Grandpa would have kept up with us and we would have been better fishermen for knowing a man like him.  Thanks for the share Johnny.

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Todd (tmart on the Austin Bass Fishing website and my POC buddy)  sent me a note that he had kept up on the Canada trip.  He is headed to Louisiana for a little marsh fishing and I will be so interested in getting a report and some pictures.  I love the LA marsh, pull out the Strike King Redfish Magic and go to whacking them.  And of course add the old popping cork with a Gulp and you have it all covered.

He has also been doing a little bass fishing, a real fisherman takes what he can get.  My rule is if there is a puddle and one might be there, I hit it, as long as it might hold a fish.  Variety is the spice of life as far as catching fish goes, and while we all have our favorites, nothing like a little change of pace.

Probably one of those Austin bass who lives in a cool remodeled bass condo off Congress.

So good luck on the trip Todd.  The fishing should be great and lots of folks will be waiting to see the results, so keep us informed.

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As long as I am rambling there is one thing I wanted to comment on that happened on the Canada trip.  I have been making fun of Power Pole folks lately, especially bass boats with 2 of them.  Well that was topped by the 18 foot aluminum bass boat at the resort which had 2 big poles on it.  Now we use ours on the flats boat occasionally, and while it is a cool gadget, the best use I have found for it by far is holding the boat while I get the trailer.  It has just amazed me how quickly they have spread and have become as much a part of a boat as the locator.  Not only have those guys have done a great job of marketing, they make a great product that they stand behind.

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 I got this comment form Dale and wanted to share it with you.

“Enjoyed reading the fishing report every day-I went to Nestor Falls when I was 13 in June 1964 and remember fishing Crow Lake for smallies -your adventures brought back memories -caught a lot of smallies on crow along with a lot of bites from deer flys -bays on lake of the woods full of pike-walleye shore lunches -and still remember one big Muskie blowing up a Shakespeare mouse -good to see some old guys having some fun!!”

Thanks Dale, I am already wanting to go back.

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I also heard from Rusty, the Fayette County lake master.

“I will be praying for safe travel home for you guys.  It’s been great reading each day.  I’ve been going to Canada for 32years and cannot go this year.  Your posts made me feel like I was there with you.  Thanks for the thrill of “being there”.

Thanks for the prayer for the home trip.  Towing a boat that far is an adventure and at times it seemed like disaster was just a swerve away.

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I am working on a recap which I should have up tomorrow.  My granddaughter Mia is here and we tried to fish the pier at Coleto but the rains came.  The weather will straighten up the next couple of days so I hope to get her some fish.  And with a 4 y/o you need to get em fast!  Their attention span is short.  And with catching a fish she wants to see the alligators, and that should not be that hard to get done.

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Of course while I am gone someone gets bit by an alligator.  If you spend any time at the lake you know better than swimming not only at night, but anywhere above the bridge.  I have seen some real giants, and as far as I am concerned the lake is for fishing and not swimming.  But no matter what I would hope most of us would be smart enough to not swim in there at night.  You are nothing more than tasty topwater to a 10 foot+ gator.  And why that thing let go of him I will never know.

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I will try to catch up on lots of things the next couple of days, with the recap coming later today or tomorrow.  And thanks to all the folks who send us comments and pictures.  If feels good to know you are out there, so keep those cards and letters coming.  Keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Fish Catching Travel

Fish Catching Travel

Friday it was all over but the shouting.  We fished hard the last 2 weeks, harder than I have ever fished and that is saying something.  14 straight days, with the shortest being 4 hours and maybe one 6, the rest were out at 9 and in at 9.  We went fishing nuts, and my body is paying for it.

To finish up Thursday real quick, it was slow and the weather was not the best.  We bass fished and trolled for trout.  It kept raining and got cold and we decided to hit the most productive smallmouth place we had on Crow Lake.  We fished back into the cove on one side without a bite.  We fished the deeper side and Shoedog had a muskie hit but not hook up, the first time his whole trip he actually missed a big fish.

When we got to the back of the cove he caught a smallmouth so I put on a Rage Craw on a jig head and when I was reeling it back in a huge muskie boiled it at the boat.  We decided to motor back out and make one more drift in when I hooked a small muskie on a buzzbait but lost it.  Then a giant took a run at it and blew up but I did not hook up.  And then it was over.  That little smallmouth cove was full of muskies, probably eating smallies.

I want to remind you that it is illegal to pursue muskies before the opener.  We did not have to pursue them, it was the other way around.  The very bait Shoedog caught most of his muskies was the same one he threw for smallmouth and pike most of the week.  It would be impossible to not catch one if you cast enough.  Let me tell you, we did a little bit of casting, but I digress.  Here are a couple of pictures from the last couple of days that are not posted.

That was one big beaver dam.  They saw it the day before and water was running over so the beavers fixed it overnight.

It is so beautiful there, and quiet.

A fresh rock slide.

We did have several brushes with wildlife today, the first one was a momma otter and a baby.  They were messing around on the bank and headed to the water but saw us, turned around and headed the other way.  They are one neat creature.  There are so many things to see here and you never know when you will see them.  One of the places we heard about on Crow was The Meadow near Emme Bay.  We actually found it by accident, remember this is a big place.  We were quiet hoping to see some cool wildlife and we did see a deer.  I will always remember this as the most beautiful spot I never caught a fish.

“The Meadow.”  Possibly one of the coolest places I have ever fished.  We saw one deer there, to bad we did not catch a fish in there.

As we fished down this bank we came to a beaver hut, and is we caught a lot of fish off them, we moved in position for the perfect cast, and there she sat on the nest.  Loons can not walk worth a crap since there back legs are for swimming and not walking.  So they nest right on shore, and this was pretending we could not see her, but protecting her nest by laying all out.

That is a momma Loon protecting her nest.  One of those “if I lay real still they will not see me things.”

When we quit that day we saw Clyde fishing the resort cove so we stopped.  They had gone to get a part for the trailer from hell and when they got back John sat down for a minute.  Clyde did not have the heart to wake him up, and he was sleeping in the same place when we got to the cabin.  And as a side note the view from the porch was all outdoors.

This is what would happen to you if you ever sat down.  I never sat down.

Day 14

Today there was no problem with anyone getting up.  We all felt it, this is it, end of story.  Funny how after 14 grueling days all of us would have stayed if we could have.   This place is a fishing paradise, and whether you catch a big one or not, just the very anticipation of being on Lake of the Woods can not be beat.  The day was epic, but it was not the fishing and we will get to that later.

Shoedog and I started catching fish, and except for a couple of places, we caught fish all day.  There was a few nice smallies, and more little ones than we saw on the trip.  We caught pike off and on all day.  While some were ok, our expectations and goals were for a big pike.  We caught them on jerkbait, spinnerbait, and buzzbait.  It was one of those days where the fish just bit.

We caught lots bigger than this one, just a real great smallmouth area.

Most of the day it was small to medium pike and we found them from an inch deep to 15 feet.  Buzzbait and jerkbait were the ticket, but we just did not boat that last whooper.  Then I put the smallest one in the boat all trip.

I set the record on the last day for the smallest pike of trip.

For our final (almost) place we went back to where Shoedog caught his biggest pike.  We stopped the boat on the point and there was an Eagle in a tree with some kind of hawk or falcon harassing it.  We drifted past before I could get a picture and then he decided to fly right in front of us and land it a tree.  And there he sat, just to cool a bird.

They are usually wary and fly off.  This Eagle flew into the tree and landed right in front of us.

Eagles are all that.

We headed down the bank and I picked up a buzzbait and had a  big muskie follow it to the boat, again, for the umpteenth time without taking a swat at it.  As happened to me time and time again this trip they just did not get on.  Right before we left we talked to the some of the guys there for the muskie opener and they said the had a week with over 50 follows and only one taker.  Those big fish have a mind of their own.

Shoedog had a follow on the other side, but other than that we only put a couple of more pike in the boat.  So we decided to call it a trip in the big grass bed by the ramp.  So we buzzbaited through it and then I told the Shoedog to catch the last fish so I could take a picture, and it was over.

 The last fish of the trip.  How many did we catch as both boats in 2 weeks?  Literally hundreds and hundreds.

The following picture can not present the true condition of my hands.  Toothy fish, lots of trebles, thrashing pike, all of them a recipe for disaster and injury.  Other than Clyde’s little hooking episode there were no major human injuries.

My thumb and forefinger were tore up.  Everything you see on that finger is an open crack or cut.

We headed back to Musky Bay and the work began.  Boats to empty and straighten, lures to organize. (I just threw handfuls in a baggies for arranging when I get home.)  We got all the boat stuff done, covered it then on to the packing in the house.  Jake came up and welded the trailer fenders back on, if you remember they got taken off for the big tires, and the bearings and ……. tomorrow’s recap will cover all the Clyde stuff.  They even had car trouble on the way home, but they made it.

Jake welds Clyde’s fenders back on the trailer from hell.

So with both  boats basically ready to go, it was in the house to pack the rest and straighten the joint.  Clyde had some rib eye steaks that were as thick as a brick for the last meal.  Then it came, rain, big time.  When it came it got dark, pitch dark, and it started pouring and blowing, for probably an hour it came down like I have never seen it before.  Hail was mixed in and it was rushing down the road to the lake.  It was unbelievable, and it did it a couple of more times during the night.

Raining as hard as any of us had ever seen with a little hail thrown in.

When we got up the next morning the road was washed out.  There was no way it could be used, which meant that the guys on the waterfront cabins could not get up the hill and out, and the guys on the upper area could not get there boats in the water.

The next morning the road was trashed.

That was a huge canyon all the way down to the lake.

But between Paul and Jake, and the little bulldozer they have, I am sure the road was fixed immediately and everyone got to fish.  But it was impressive, it washed tons of gravel down that hill, and the water was still flowing when we left at 6 the next morning.

After pictures of the road it was time to leave.  Unfortunately some selfish callous fisherman had parked right in front of our rig.  Here it is 5:30 and we are ready to go and it looks like we can’t get out.  Bad enough we were leaving but if we had been fishing I would have really been irritated.  So we tried one way, and it wouldn’t work, so we tried another and we just squeezed out.  I would just like to say to them try to think about what you are doing, hard to imagine anyone that discourteous.

Then it was off right before 6, and before it was over we drove over 1000 miles in 18 hours to make it to our brother’s in Arkansas.  We got 6 hours of sleep, a quick breakfast with the parent’s, and it was on the road again.  9 hours later we are at Shoedog’s.  I transferred stuff from his boat and truck to my truck, and it was the last stretch.  3 hours later I was home, and it was all over.

This one was of the monumental fishing trips I have ever been on.  I was lucky to share it with 3 guys who went into a fishing frenzy on day 1 and were still consumed by it at the end of day 14.   14 days of up at 5:30 am, supper at 9 pm, bed at 11, and nothing but fishing in between.  It was not for the faint of heart, my body is in a state of shock right now, 3 days after my last cast.  So many things seen and done, some real unusual happenings, and those great Ontario big fish.  And Paul and all the extended family who live and work there run a first class operation, they will help however they can, and Paul wants you to catch fish.  I can not say enough about the hospitality, they were great.

It is not time to put this all to bed yet, and I will close it out tomorrow.  We took a few notes on the way home, and I want to review it all, get it in one place.  There is so much to tell about fishing there, and I can never do it justice.  And there are a few general things I need to tell you about if you want to ever take a trip like this. The place is massive, impressive, and imposing.  If a person is willing to work hard, and step out of his box, the fishing possibilities are endless, and the next big one is right around the corner.

So thanks for fishing with us, it was our pleasure!  Feeling like a tough guy?  Try 14 days of fishing madness out of Musky Bay if you are tough enough.  Keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

This is going to be a short report.  This is our last day and here in a little bit we are headed out to Lake of the Woods.  We will probably be able to fish until about 4 before we have to quit, come back and load up for the long drive home Saturday and Sunday.  I will have time to reflect on the whole thing then, but here is Thursday.

The weather report was awful so we decided to stay on Crow Lake.  We ended up catching a few bass, and other than that we did not see a muskie all day, which is real unusual.  But as we were fishing the last place, Shoedog had  a big hit, and he pulled off.  We were in the back end of a little cove, and he caught a smallmouth.

Sorry folks this as far as I got on Thursday story, Friday morning.  Everyone got up early and off we went for the last day.  Then it was pack, eat a last night steak dinner, and bed at 11.  We got up Saturday morning at 5 and it was off to stay at my parents in Arkansas  on the way home.  Now I am bone tired this morning (Sunday), it is 6:30 and we are up, after a 20 hour drive (over 1000 miles), it was brutal.  Now it will only be 11 hours to my house, 8 to the Shoedog’s.  I promise tomorrow I will tell Thursday and Friday’s story.

So thanks for following our trip, it was an epic adventure.  There are 3 more chapters coming before I put it to bed.  So off to my parents for breakfast, and then back on the road.  This gives a whole knew meaning to tired. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Day 12 af our marathon.  Over the years Clyde has people come on this trip and after a week of it they can not believe how much he fishes and they often never come back.  This time will be the all time record.  We fished again from 9 until 8.  My body is aching, my mind is numb, and I can not feel the keys with my fingers.  It is 6 am and of course I am the only one up, so I will get his done and then get them up.  If you ever want to come with us you better man up.  Up at 7, we have been eating a 10 at night, a few hours of sleep and here we go again.

Today we headed to Lake of the Woods.  Shoedog and I started in the Devils arm and we started catching fish.  And catch them we did, for 11 hours.  Today they bit.  I have been waiting for this day, and it was here.  The water temp has gone from 52 to we actually found 76 degree water and the bite was on, big time.

 They are all different, this one was long and skinny.

Today there were no “big” fish caught, though here big is a relative term.  We caught 15 or more in the first place, and it went from there.  Today was one of those days where they were hungry and on the chew.  It was by far our best numbers day.  Though before we left the Devils we heard an elk just scream across the mountains and hollows.  What a truly awesome addition to the trip.

The Shoedog with a nice run of the mill Lake of the Woods smallmouth.

The nextplace we fished was a long bank and it was easily 25 in the boat.  I threw grub some for smallmouth, it worked , but I got tired of the pike biting it off.  I mean those fish were flat out biting.

Love that buzzbait.

Most of the day Shoedog stayed with the Rapala jerkbait.  I threw the works at them.  Before the day was over I caught them on grub, crankbait, jerkbait, spinnerbait, and finally on buzzbait.  Around 6 to get out of the high wind we headed in to this long narrow cove and it was game on.  The bite I have waited for all week happened.  We did not catch the numbers we had caught earlier in the day but let me tell, if you like smashing strikes, I mean toilet flushed, buzzbait was the ticket.

When one smashes a buzzbait you know you had a bite.

While we were in there we heard the wolves howling.  What a day!

This one smoked the buzzbait and we thought he was a giant.  Nice when this size is just a good one.

They just kept coming all day.

With sun headed down the buzzbait bite was awesome.  There is nothing else to say about that.  Just reel it along and they would hit it about 15 feet off the bank and there was no missing them.

My best bite of the day.

Our hands were aching, backs stiff, but we fished on, and on, and on.  Finally about 8 we went to find them, no small feet on a lake with 65,000 miles of shoreline.  They also caught the shot out of them.  They stayed on the grub pattern most of the day and also reported huge numbers.  They also wanted to keep a few pike to take home.  These are perfect slot fish.

These are eaters.  They are perfect slot fish headed back to Arkansas with Clyde and John.

The one in Clyde’s hand was a real fattie, heavy for his length.  I guess when you have a nice smallmouth in your belly you can add a little weight.  It is eat or be eaten here, reminds me of the Gulf.  If you can live long enough you might get big.  With the winters here the fish are old, and with the protective limits they have a chance to grow.  It what’s make this place what it is.

The call of the loons and dead quite of this place.  Awesome.

Turtles, big deal?

So what is the big deal about a couple of turtles?  From Texas to Canada, and most places in between, in early spring this is a sign to get out the rod and hold on.  As the water temp warms when you see the turtles out in mass, the bite is on.  They were up and warming all over, and so were the fish.  We saw a bunch of snappers out yesterday, a sure sign you are about to hurt them.

So here I am, blind tired, feeling like 100 miles of bad road.  The wind is howling and it looks like rain.  Funny how as soon as we hit the water all will be forgotten, the aches will go away, and I will be able to feel my arms again.  It is now 7 and it is time for those panty waists to get their ass up, put on their big boy pants, and get on the water.  This will be our last full day, and it will be a long one and I can not wait.  I am not going to check the editing and spelling today, it is time to hit the road.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

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

Fish Catching Travel

The lake is coming up fast, the weather was beautiful, and we had a tough day.  We started trolling for walleye with John and Clyde and after an hour we called it quits.  Shoedog and I fished a couple of likely looking smallmouth coves without success.  Then we went to a small cove and what happened next says it all about my last couple of days.  I tossed a swim bait in a small pocket about 1 foot deep and big muskie charged out and smoked it,  I set the hook and it came off.  I reeled in and the hook had stuck in the body and he got off.  Shoedog made a cast and ………

The Shoedog strikes again.

We worked hard the rest of day.  We basically struggled, which means we only caught 30 or so small pike.  To bad none of them were picture fish.  There is no big story on our part.  We finally called it quits at 7:00.

One thing you do need to know, and if you are a hardcore fisherman you already know this, some days you can do no wrong, and some days it just is not happening.  The last couple of days I just can not get the big bite, and it is not for trying.  This is one of the greatest fishing destination on earth for freshwater, but it is no guarantee of success.  So even though we struggled today, our (my) turn will come again.  When we quit we stopped in a big weed bed for one last run and the pike were in there.  I managed to boat one ok fish out of our 6 bites.  We were physically beat.

When we got back John and Clyde had stayed out an hour and half after we did, and to illustrate my point, they caught a couple of the fish.   They also struggled all day, and then it happened.  They we so excited, and when we saw the pictures, so were we.

These are the kind of fish that make the long hours, money spent, and sheer physical effort this type of hardcore fishing trip entails, worth every stinking bit of work.  None of us are getting any younger, or prettier.  I am so tired right now, it is 5:30 am and they are still asleep but I can not sleep due to the anticipation of what the day will bring.  And when you look at these fish you will know why.

John with a huge lake trout.

They ended up running out of trolling motor and so they trolled one of Clyde’s places when John hooked this laker around 20 pounds on a Shad Rap.  He told Clyde it was a big fish and Clyde asked him why do you have so much line out?  He had the usual amount, this big fish was just ripping line off.  What a moose!

As the water temp warmed though out the day I kept throwing that buzzbait.  You all know that is one of my favorite baits, and I love to catch big fish on it.  I knew they would hit it, the water temp is rising fast, but we just did not get in the right place.

Clyde’s Big Brownie.  A massive 21 1/2″.

He tossed that double blade buzzbait in a big tree and this beast flushed it.  Those are the bites we all live for.  In the over 20 years of coming here, and a lifetime of fishing, this is the biggest brownie he has ever caught.  What a stinking fish this is.

But it did not stop there for Clyde  He got another big explosion and it was his biggest pike of the trip.

Clyde’s Biggest Pike Of The Trip.

So even though they struggled all day, they stuck with it, and they got their reward and it could not happen to 2 better friends.  Clyde and I have fished together for over 45 years (Now that is freakin’ scary).  From farm ponds to Belize, fishing has been our bond and this is why we do it.  I have known John for 35 years.  I lived and worked at his boat dock in Arkansas for 10 years.  I guided from the dock, and to live on that hill overlooking the lake was a time in my life when the fishing part of it was all good.  So to see them so excited was a thing of beauty.  All that sappy stuff aside, I intend to beat their a$$ like a yard dog today!

And here is a little practical information for you.  Last time we were here Clyde got a hook in his hand.  And that is easy around here, and I got it out using a method I read about, and boy does it work.  Watch closely, there may come a time when you need it.  Sure beats a trip to the ER or spending your day with a treble stuck in your hand because you just can’t stop fishing.  I am sure if those 2 bozos can make it work so can you

So in spite of the aches and pains, my hands are raw meat, my arms are numb things hanging from my shoulders, here I am awake and wanting those knuckleheads to get the heck up.  We only have 3 1/2 days to fish and time is wasting.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching  Travel

Well today we got lucky, sort of.  Sunday it rained, and I don’t mean a little, it basically poured all day and all night for 2 days.  The temperature dropped and it has been nothing short of ugly.  So why was that lucky?  We did not have the pressure to fish like everyone else who just got here, which is everyone at the resort who started their week.  They had to fish, and most of them did all day, and it was tough.

Finally about 4 I could not take it so I bullied the boys into going out for a few hours.  It was a steady rain, which about 2 hours later really started to pour, then the temp dropped, and it got downright ugly.  Shoedog and I did not have a bite.  The cold front had turned off the smallmouth.  I had a muskie follow right off the bat, then another a little later but neither of them ate.  As the termp dropped and it continued to get uglier we decided to troll back to the resort to try and catch a laker, and that didn’t work, but boy was I glad when we got back at 7.

Troy from Oklahoma is in the cabin next to us and he and Clyde have known each other from prior trips.  They fished in it all day.  His son said they pulled up on the first place yesterday morning and for the first 2 hours it was big smallmouth after big smallmouth, and then it quit.  It got tough, no surprise, and as it was his son’s first trip he got a little down.  We shared everything we knew, marked some places on the map, and filled them in on as much information as we could.

Clyde and John had no smallmouth luck but Clyde did have the big bite.  He tossed his jerkbait into a foot of water and there was a big flush and one of the biggest muskies of his life destroyed it.  He set the hook, and it went nuts, he fought it all the way to the boat and it was looking good.  John said it was the biggest fish he has ever seen.  He went to net her, she headed in, the jerkbait hooked on the net, he tried to scoop her, and she off she came.

John felt terrible but Clyde took it like the gentleman he is.  He told us it was in the moment, an epic strike and huge battle.  When it was all said and done they got a good look at her and she swam off unharmed and no worse for the wear.  He even got his bait back.  Folks that is what it is all about, it is in the doin’ and is the kind of moment that will live in both their memories for a lifetime.

So it is 5:30 in the morning and they are still sleeping.  My anticipation level is at an all time high.  It is clear and sunny and the temp is to hit 75, for the next 4 days.  The fishing is set to take off.  The cold fronts of the last 2 days are gone, and the real warming will begin.  The fish have been up and down, though we have caught some great ones, but this will push it to a near frenzy this week.  Today we are off to Lake of the Woods and the real pike hunt begins today.  Our real runs of action have been in the afternoons from 1 to 6 when the water warms and this is set to turn them on big time.

I figured out a way to download a few off Clyde’s camera and I thought you would like to see them.  I will try to add a few later.

Clyde and a flyrod smallmouth.

I hate it when that happens.  Notice the no fenders?  Had to remove them earlier to get the new tires to fit and now the hub is trashed.

A really nice muskie.  It is amazing how different they all in body size, this one is a hoss.

Clyde’s biggest pike of the trip. 

Now that is a nice lake trout.

Another huge smallmouth.  We have put so many of these in the boat this week that they are starting to look normal.  Hard to believe.

Looking at these pictures gives you a real feel for what this area is all about, a nice variety of good fish.

I hear them moving around so I am going to sign off.  Everyone is up early with the anticipation and this may be the longest day of all.  I can feel it in my heart, we are going to kill em’.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Remember how I told you yesterday was awesome weather.  Well we got over that one.  Today it was cloudy and cold when we got up.  Everybody got up late today.  I was up at 6 and let them sleep until 8, until I finally made some noise.  We took it easy with a good breakfast and finally about 9:30 we headed out.  They decided to go over to Lake of the Woods and we stayed on Crow Lake.

Shoedog wanted to catch a lake trout trolling, he has missed and lost some, and today turned out no different.  We trolled here on Crow Lake from around 10 until 4:00 and only had one bite.  Unfortunately Shoedog lost it right by the boat.  So he still has not boated a trolled laker.  By then I was pretty well sick of it and it was clear it was not happening.  It didn’t help we were trolling in open water, the wind was blowing 25, and the temp was dropping fast.

So it was time to do something different.  We headed to a channel between a couple of islands to catch a bass and on about his fourth cast he got a bite.

These things just get in the way (I am so kidding) of the smallmouth fishing.  No wonder there were not bass in that cove.

At this point the weather was really deteriorating fast.  I had a small bass and another bigger one follow my jerkbait but that was my total for the day.  Now the wind is howling out of the north and it started to rain.  So we decided to fish just a little longer, and then we decided to quit.  And of course…….

There are trips when it is just your turn, and the Shoedog is having his this trip.

After this it started to pour and we called it a day as early as we have all week.  Unfortunately tomorrow is going to deteriorate to the low 50’s and rain all day.  We may finally get rained out.  And again I can not say enough how glad I am that we are here for 2 weeks.  This weather is crazy.  Yesterday 75, today 55, tomorrow 52, and according to the forecast starting Monday it will be in the mid 70’s for days.  The fishing has been good but it should really get better after this cold front passes.

Clyde an John headed over to Lake of the Woods and they had a so so day.  One thing about cold fronts, it hurts the fishing no matter the species you are fishing for or where you are fishing.  Clyde did happen to catch this nice walleye.

This is a nice walleye.

We had a few cool things happen this week.  A few days ago we had a muskie come for a bait and not take it.  It had a bright white plastic crappie twister hanging from his jaw.  Today Clyde and John were fishing  and had the same muskie follow a bait to the boat.   What are the odds?

Now that is cool, but what happened when Jeff caught the big one above tops it all.  Jeff had that fish come out of 1 foot of water and smoke that jerkbait.  When he got to the boat he went nuts like they do and made a big run.  There were a few loons there feeding on bait and when the muskie came back to the boat the loon was following him.  I mean that fish was fighting his butt off and that loon looked just like a penguin as he followed that muskie, under water, a foot or two from his tail as he struggled.  It was truly an outdoor happening we will probably never see again in our lives.

Tonight we will all get a good nights sleep.  If the it does not rain all day, which it is supposed to it will be back to Lake of the Woods for us.  We are happy nothing broke for Clyde today, and other than a few baits Shoedog and I have not had any.  These are big lakes and I think we saw 5 boats on Crow today, Clyde and John only say 2 on Lake of the Woods.  You have to exercise caution at all times, wear your lifejacket, and be prepared.  But that is what makes a trip like this what it is.  I love it.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

(Sorry for the late post – We did not get back to Muskie Bay until almost 10 and it was 11 before we hit the sack.)

The original plan was walleye trolling in the morning, then casting in the afternoon, until we saw the weather report.  It was supposed to be sunny, warm, and calm, and it was, all day.  The nicest day by far.  With that in mind Clyde said this is the day for Bear Bay.

Bear Bay is a small bay (lake) that is 20 miles above Sioux Narrows, I mean way out in the middle of nowhere by boat.  He has been telling us for years about this small isolated lake.  It is about half the size of Fayette county for you Texas folks.  It was supposed to be a 100 fish place, and while we only caught around 50 (not complaining) both boats easily caught 125 plus for the day.  It was one epic smallmouth lake.

Once we got to Sioux Narrows we stopped for gas and then the Clyde saga continued.  He felt a vibration on the trailer on the way, when he looked the new rim on the driver side, which was just put on,  all the lug nuts were spun almost off, the lugs were trashed, and the rim was wallowed out,  It was lucky he made it without the wheel falling off.  So he called Paul, the owner of Muskie Bay, who took the time to bring him a new trailer and take Clyde’s to get it fixed.  He is the salt of the earth and one of the really good guys.  No wonder Clyde has been coming for years.

We stopped at the government office, paid the launch fee, and off we went.

Sioux Narrows is one of the premier muskie fishing destinations in the world, and of course this is the drinking fountain.

We stayed close and fished, an hour later here came Clyde.  While we waited we fished.

My heaviest smallmouth of the trip.  This was a hoss anywhere in the world.

We put in at the government ramp.  We headed out across Whitefish Bay, into Yellow Girl Bay, (they are both huge) through a small channel into a smaller bay, and then through a real shallow channel into Bear Bay, which is a lake smaller than Fayette County.  (A reference for you Texans)  It really is a small lake, and it is astounding how deep it is.  Some of it was over 80 feet deep.

They went to the back and we started in the front and by time we met in the middle they had boated 25 and we were an easy dozen for a little over an hour.  Without some kind of counter it is almost impossible to keep track when you are catching the snot out of them.  It was so interesting how the fish were on the bank.  And I mean on the bank.  You had to put your bait in the first 6 inches to get bites.  It was topwater for them, jerk bait and plastics for us, though we caught some on topwater also.

Notice the bite mark on this girl, we caught several like that.

The Shoedog stayed with the jerkbait and caught them one after the other.  For the next 8 hours we stayed in Bear Bay and caught them.  I threw lots of stuff at them, mainly to give my hands a rest which are just tore to shreds right now.  It was smallmouth fishing at it’s finest.  A truly isolated place, as Shoedog said, it was the quietest place in the world, except for the drumming of the grouse.  The sounded like a low throated diesel engine.

The weather stayed fabulous all day, it actually got hot.

One of my bigger one of the day.  But how can you really tell when 90% of them were really nice big smallmouth.

One of Shoedog’s biggest for the day.  Notice more bite marks on this one.

The water warmed to 67 degrees in there.  I finally could not take it and picked up a buzzbait and caught this pike.

This picture does not do that fish justice.  It was my biggest so far.

When the one above got that buzzbait it was only 10 feet from the boat.  She absolutely blasted it, what a bite.  We tossed buzzbait for a while and caught another 8 or so before we met them.  They stayed with topwater all day and finally brought out their flyrods and they were smacking them on poppers.  As the fish were on the bank they knocked the crap out of them.  And let me tell you when the fish are this size they must have been something.  They fight so hard.

Finally about 7 we decided to make the 50 minute run back to the ramp.  It was awesome, dead calm and beautiful.  We followed the GPS track as we motored through some of the most beautiful country in the world.  Winding our way past hundreds of islands and reefs, the motor humming, hands aching, after one of the better days of smallmouth fishing of my life.  The fish in Bear Bay were not quite the size of Cedar Tree the other day, but they sure were willing.  It was an adventure and well worth the effort to get there.

 As soon as the beaver gets done munching on this it may block the small channel into the bay making it even tougher to get in there.

As soon as you see a big beaver house like this the anticipation rises, these holds lots of fish.  You can never tell whether it will be a muskie, pike, or smallmouth.  And how many years did it take to make this?

This has turned in to a real adventure.  The fishing has been great, and when it is in a place like this how could it get any better.  It is now 6 am Saturday morning as I write this.  The boys are all still snoring and I am surprised there is any paint left on the walls.

Unlike yesterday the weather will be crap today.  It is breezy and cold.  We probably should have been out there now, as it may deteriorate as the day goes on.  So I am not sure what is coming today.  Our best bet will probably be to launch at Muskie Bay and fish Crow Lake in case it gets to ugly.  The old saying in Texas is if you do not like the weather wait 5 minutes, well Texas has nothing on Canada.  The forecast is to not top 60 today, and it is supposed to be in the high 70’s 2 days from now.  But as all of us are experienced cold weather fishermen, we have the gear, and are just crazy enough to be out there in it.

I am still in search of a really big pike, and this week we will start keeping a few fish to take home.  We are halfway done and I am starting to feel the pressure, how can a week have gone by already.  Funny how even after a week when we are beat up and sore I am ready to do it all over again, bad weather or not.  So we shall see, as soon as I start making noise and wake those girls up, no offense to girls.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel.

I get lots of questions but the one I get the most is how hard is it to do a blog.  Well the first answer is it is hard when you have been fishing all day, you are tired and hungry, there is boat and tackle stuff to do, and you just want to hit the chair and do it tomorrow.  Last night was one of those times.  It was late by time we did all that and I just could not finish before I collapsed.

And to add to the confusion on a trip like this, no matter how tired I am, I wake up early.  It was after midnight last night when I finally hit the sack.  So here I am finishing last nights report at 5 am.  If you have read this drivel for a while I wrote a piece about how I must be crazy for this fishing.  Today is a perfect example.

One of the things that makes Canada a fishing paradise, besides the fishing, is the fact that it cracks daylight at 4:45 and stays fishable light until 9:30, awesome for a fishing lunatic like me.  But I have that internal fishing clock that wakes me at daylight.  So here I sit, the other 3 maniacs are snoring the siding of the walls and will be for the next 2 hours until I roust them.

To give you an example, we did not make the trip with John and Clyde last year so they brought another guy with them.  By time they got done with a week of it he said he would never come back with them.  Why?  Because he said he thought this was going to be a leisurely fishing trip.  He could not believe how hard and long they fished.  Well this will be day 7, and it will be another 10 – 12 hour day on the water with 7 more hard days to follow.  Want to come with us?  Put on your big boy pants and suck it up.   This is not your momma’s fishing trip.

So to finish yesterday’s report here are some of what I failed to finish.  When I say it was tough, it was not the fishing but the weather conditions, I mean it was ugly.  When we hit the water it was still raining and wind was blowing 20 – 30 out of the NW.   We could not get at the good fish we caught the day before so we had to explore.

One of the things about Lake of the Woods is with all the islands it is hard to differentiate between a cove and a channel between a couple of islands.  Our track on the GPS was still there from last trip and we headed to an area out of the wind.  It was a huge cove, so big when we put the trolling motor down and went to casting.  We did not pick it back up for 5 hours, and that is one cove.  It was big.

If you are a hard core fisherman you know that one of the toughest times is after a big cold front where it blows off and is clear and cold.  The fishing usually sucks right?  Today that was not what happened.  As it cleared off the sun came out and that actually started to warm the water, and shallow they went.  Both boats found them really shallow and as the afternoon wore on, the bigger fish started showing.  Some really large pike were in 1 foot water around weeds.  All I can say is look out this afternoon, it could be ugly.

Folks that is a good largemouth where ever you are fishing.

We were pretty excited when Shoedog whacked this one.  Then he caught another, and then I lost the big one.  The one I messed up on by lifting it in the boat was a whole lot bigger than this one.  It was like all the bass up here, a flat out toad.  We will be stopping there later today when it really warms up.  Like I told the Shoedog, all this way and here we are catching largemouth.  Crazy.

I did want to show you just a few pictures of what Lake of the Woods looks like.

If you see this, cast that jerkbait in front of it and hold on.

There are beavers here and some of those houses are decades old and really huge, and so are the beavers.  We saw one last night out on the bank and at first we both thought it was a small bear cub.  There things are huge.  And the cover usually extends way out from the house and you can never tell what may lurk in the logs scattering the bottom, we have taken some good fish out of them.

To go along with the beaver houses there are trees in the water everywhere.

You just never know what will come out of the tress like this.  Maybe bass, pike, muskie, and even crappie.  With all these toothy critters it must be tough being a crappie!

A cool water fall, to bad the picture does not due it justice.

There was quite a bit of water running in the lake, which was just a little cooler than the lake.  When I say it poured, trust me it was tough.  But the good thing is later today when it warms it will bring those big pike seriously shallow, and the anticipation is what wakes me up so dam early.

I wanted you to see this, a cove.

Now in some places this would be a small lake.  The reason I wanted you to see this is it was actually one arm of 4, in one cove.  This cove took us 5 hours to fish and we did not get it all done.  So what is the big deal?  This is just a SPECK on the Lake of the Woods map.  This is one big mofo.

The rocky points are beautiful.

The running joke around here is the answer to the question – where did you catch that fish?  And the answer is – that rocky point with trees on it.  One thing that makes Lake of the Woods so spectacular is a point like this may have 3 foot of water on it, or 60+.  This is one deep lake.  You have to be real careful, and the GPS mapping is invaluable.  While it will let you get away with running some, you have to be cautious every second.  There are rock reefs, underwater islands, and points that may or may not be visible.  Countless lower units are trashed here every year.  And that could lead to a long night before anyone finds you.  And even if they did the mosquitoes will have drained you dry of blood.  They can be vicious.  Good thing I brought a couple of buffs, they work great for the sun, and sure do help keeping those little blood sucking beasts from eating you alive.

Here is a perfect example of what I am talking about.

This is a channel marker on what poses as the main channel.  There are a few of these, very few, but they help you get around.  Notice it is siting on a small island or reef.  They are everywhere and here by the thousands.  But with a good GPS and card you can get around.  A word to the wise, after running up the channel if you want to fish a likely looking spot off the channel, idle in.  You never know when there may be a rock reef 3 foot deep, in the middle of 60 foot of water, or near the mouth of a cove, or even in the cove.  The good thing is at times they hold fish.  I would not want to scare you, you just have to be careful.  I would suggest if you ever want to come here have Paul from Muskie Bay Resort guide you for a day in your boat.  Tell him besides catching a few fish you want to make a long run to get a track.  Believe me you do not have to run far, from there you could not fish the water off that track in a decade.  I know I keep saying it but this place is a monster.  You think Falcon, Amistad, Bull Shoals are big?  They would be nothing but a fly speck if you placed them in Lake of the Woods.

So what next?  First I am going to put line on a few reels and organize tackle.  Then I will start some bacon, that will get those panty waists up.  Then the plan is back to Lake of the Woods for a morning of walleye trolling.  We will actually do that until noon, and then it will be another 8 hours of casting till you drop.  Saturday is still up in the air as the weather may be bad.  But since we are on Crow Lake we can always sneak out there if even for a little while and catch some bass or lake trout.  Man I love this place.

Clyde has been telling me about this other smallmouth lake that it even better than the one we went to the other day, which is downright scary.  He brags about catching well over a hundred fish on topwater.  Now you know how fisherman are, sure you did.  Well last year John and his friend followed Clyde there, you actually get to it off Lake of the Woods and pass through 2 more lakes to get there.  John said before the morning was out they just quit counting at 75, and continued to put them in the boat the rest of the day.  This is a fishing paradise.  Hell, the day we do that I will probably wake up at 3 am!

Today I am going to catch that big pike if it kills me. I want one pushing 30, if my arms fall off so be it.  I want a monster.  With 8 days left to fish I should get the job done.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

(I know the editing and spelling on some of these posts is not up to my usual poor standards.  Sorry, but you just have to get over it.)

Good Luck and Tight Lines