metro fishing in the tube

I got out for a little fishing this evening on a little lake close by my home. I went with the intention of trying to catch a true lunker bass. There is no boat launch so I inflated my float tube, grabbed some tackle and a couple rods and headed to the lake. There was ton of scum all over the water so i decided to tie on a Chatterbait. I was working the lily pads and right away I got a couple hits but was unable to connect. I worked my way around the shore to a shallow bay and I caught a big thick pike, I figure it was upper 20's. Unfortunately the dang thing slipped away while trying to get a picture. Oh well. A few casts later I caught another one, smaller, but I got a couple cool pics...




I continued to work the lily pads and scum but no bass. I decided to head to the other side of the lake where the shoreline looked deeper and clear of weeds. I didn't catch any bass right away, but took a few casts with my ultralight and Power Tube and caught a few panfish. Most of the pannies in this lake are stunted, and it is loaded with 'em....




I got tired of that and decided it was better to pursue bigger fish, maybe even a bigger northern. I worked the shore and caught a couple pocket bass, the biggest one slipped away. Yikes! That's twice now! Then it happened AGAIN! Got away! At least I got a picture of one of the dink bass...


I continued to work toward where I get off the lake. I took a cast toward the middle and BANG! Big fish on! It surfaced. It was a huge pike, much bigger than the other. I fought it for a few minutes, enjoying the battle, and got it on my lap. It was such a beast, very tall and very thick, no doubt from chowing on little sunnies. I didn't have a big enough ruler, so I measured it against my rod. When I got home I was surprised it was 31". I thought upper twenties, but I guess I was wrong. This one didn't get away either! Here's a couple photos I snapped...

Look at how massive this beast is!


I have discovered it is very difficult taking pictures of big fish in the tube by myself. No lunker bass this time, but that huge pike is one memorable fish!

CAMPING GLENDALOUGH STATE PARK

My report is a little bit late, and my pics are incomplete and not the best, but here it is nonetheless.

Me and my family did some camping over the Memorial Day weekend at Glendalough State Park. We have camped there a few times in the past, the panfishing can be great, it is quiet because of special regs on the lake we camp on (Annie Battle); no motor boats or electronics allowed. There are also special regs on fishing; bag limit of 5 on crappies and sunfish, all crappies under 11" and all pike and bass must be released. Glendalough State Park is one of those places that require alot of work. It has cart-in campsites and consequently much walking involved. For fishing I brought my boat minus the motor and I did alot of rowing!

Annie Battle has kicked out some great great panfish in the past, but unfortunately the fishing was disappointing on this particular outing. It seemed like everything was a couple weeks behind. The slab crappies were scarce in the reeds, the bluegills were few and average, and I still could not catch a walleye on that lake to save my life!

Wife Valerie and daughter Genna...


Lucas in tree...


Me and Lucas went out in the evening of the first night and tried for some walleyes by a stream inlet. We didn't catch any, but Lucas caught his favorite fish on a shiner...a 24" bowfin!


A small perch engulfs shiner minnow...


After dropping off Lucas I tried for some panfish. I caught a few slab crappies over 11"...


The next day the weather was nice and clear. It was post frontal so the winds were light out of the north to northeast, which isn't the best for bluegills on that lake. We had to work hard for our fish but we managed to get a few for our evening meal. Here's a few more photos...


Lucas and bass...


Genna and Lucas on the beach...


Slab!


Lucas gets a slab too...


Shorefishing...


Birdie in house...


The next day the weather seemed unstable and there were reports that heavy rain might occur, so we packed up early and hit the road. As I was rowing my boat back to laod it up I stopped at a stream outlet and casted a 2" Power Minnow and caught this 17.5" LM bass...


So anyway, that sums up the weekend. It was alot of work and not very relaxing for me; I felt like I got ran over by a truck for the next couple days! I'll be returning to Glendalough with Lucas for a father/son camping outing in about three weeks. Hopefully the panfish will be going strong by then.

Minnetonka outing

I was going to go to Waconia for a little fishing after work today chasing walleyes, but the guys at Wayzata Bait said walleyes were being caught on main lake structure of Minnetonka in 18-19 FOW. Minnetonka is never an easy lake to crack for walleyes, at least for me, but I decided to give it a try anyway. Winds were light out of the north and it was an absolutely beautiful night to be on the lake! I started jigging with a Northland Fireball jig and fathead and popped this little bass right away...


Followed by this rather small crappie...


I also caught a 2lb. northern but didn't get a picture, figuring I would probably get something bigger. I didn't. So I fished around quite a bit more trying some different presentations...vertical jigging, casting a Shad Rap, and Lindy rigging, but couldn't catch anything; I wasn't even marking any fish on my graph in that 18-19 foot range. Probably should have gone to Waconia!!! Fishing this area of Tonka in the late summer and fall always produces a few slab crappies, so I decided to put away the walleye gear and chase crappies on the deep weed edge. I know that this area of the lake can produce some monster slabs; I have never caught a crappie over 13.5", so I was looking to do better than that. I anchored up in about 13 to 15 FOW and casted my Culprit paddletail and started catching quite a few crappies. Unfortunately no monsters were caught, but many in the 8-9" class, and also 2-3 in the 10-11" class. Here's one of the bigger ones...


It was getting dark and they suddenly shut down. I probably could have caught more with a glow Power Minnow but decided to go in. Not the greatest outing, (not the greatest fishy pics either) but at least I didn't get skunked!


Next on the fishing agenda is a family camping trip at Glendalough State Park for the Memorial Day weekend. The weather looks like it's going to behave so I anticipate some excellent fishing. Hopefully I'll have lots of pictures to post. See ya then.

chasing pannies with Andy

I caught up with Andy today to do some fishing for panfish. I knew the winds would be strong and they sure were! We headed out about 8am to a small lake west of the metro area to try locating some big crappies. We launched and fished for various spots for an hour or so but we couldn't locate a single crappie. I know they are there because I caught them there a couple weeks ago. All we could find were dink sunfish and a couple bite offs, probably from pike. Lot's of good cabbage in the lake so I'll bet they are in there somewhere.

Good thing we had a plan B. We packed up and headed into the metro area and launched the boat. The shallows were clear, which usually doesn't help the fishing out there. I caught a nice bluegill right away...


After that we couldn't find concentrations of bluegills or crappies, just one here one there. We fished the shoreline a bit then it started to get overcast and that turned the fish on! We started catching crappies and bluegills in one spot so we anchored up. We caught lots of crappies and were able to keep enough 10" ones for Andy to eat. Baits used were Culprit Paddletails, 2" Power Minnows, Power Tubes, and Micro Shads. I was free lining and Andy used a float. Fish were aggressive and would hit just about anything.

Here's some pictures I took of out outing...

Crappie...


Andy get's one...


Gill...


I got one too...


Reeling one in...


Check out the stretchmarks on this pregnant mama...




Andy catches another one. This one has a funky tail!




Pretty colors on this one...


Andy will be having fish for dinner pretty soon!

Hot bite on Lake of the Woods

I just spent the last three days walleye fishing on Lake of the Woods (monday, tuesday, wednesday...I got back today which is thursday).

I'll get to the fishing in a little bit.

My buddy Jim Schwandt recently purchased a cabin right there on the lake and invited me up for a few days. The cabin is called "Seafood Lodge" and the idea is that they are fixing the place up and will either rent the place out or have paying clients stay there enjoying the fishing via Jim's expertise. Here's the Lodge...


Jim's and his buddy Dale were up there since opener getting things ready for some clients due up this summer. Jim really knows haw to fish and is a genuine character!!! Here's a picture of Jim chewing on some eggs...


Dale is handy with stuff. Unfortunately, he was working on a chimney and fell off the roof. The good news is that he didn't get hurt too bad. Just twisted his ankle and bruised his elbow. And here's Dale...


Jim's son Dallas was also there. You'll see him in upcoming pictures.

The fishing was excellent and I caught some quality fish. I kept track of all the walleyes over 20". Here's how it breaks down...

21"=1
22"=2
24"=1
25"=3
27"=1
28"=1

I can't tell you how many walleyes I caught under the 20" mark, but I am sure it was between 40 and 50.

Immediately when I got there I was drafted into "chimney repair duty", so I didn't get out fishing until early monday afternoon. I went out with Jim and Dale in a rental boat (Jim rents his boats from various resorts). We were slip bobbering and vertical jigging in about 19' FOW using shiners and frozen shiners. I was using a wide gap short shank Fireball jig in either gold, chartreuse, or glow pink. Winds were fairly mild out of the SE.

Good news and bad news.

The good news?

On this first outing I caught my biggest walleye @ 28". I also caught a 25", a 24", 2@22" and a 21". These are nice fish!!! I didn't catch a single fish under the slot.

The bad news?

Well, the first walleye I popped was the 28 incher and I couldn't locate my camera! Jim took a picture of that and the 25 incher with his Blackberry, and right now I am waiting for the pictures so I can put 'em up. So we fished and Dale and Jim caught some eater walleyes. Dale caught a hog @ 26" too. No pic. He kept the bonus pike....


When I got back to the cabin I searched all my stuff. Couldn't find it. So I went back to the boat, searched again, and found it in my tackle bag which was in the boat! Yikes...I thought I forgot it at home!

UPDATE: Here's the photo of the 28" walleye Jim took on his Blackberry. Nice picture!


Later that evening we met up with Jim's son Dallas and went out fishing with him and Jim. I didn't do as well as my first time out but Jim and Dallas put the hurt on the fish with lots of eaters. Jim caught this 27" walleye. The other guy is Dallas...




Jim also got this sumo perch @ 13"!


I got a perch too, but it was probably only 11"...


Here's some pics of the stringer of fish we brought in that night...



The next morning I wanted too get out fishing really bad but Jim and Dale were busy with stuff for quite awhile. Me and Jim Finally got out late morning for about an hour but didn't catch much. We went back to the cabin and Jim told me I could take the boat out myself so I did. it was overcast and the winds were strong out of the SE. I was vertical jigging shiners and frozen shiners. The first walleye I got was this 27" beast...


Not long after that I caught this one @ 25"...


And then ANOTHER one @ 25"! (These pictures are not the best. I had a tripod in a wavy boat on a windy lake and I wanted to release the fish ASAP)


I caught a few more fish in that amazing couple hours but didn't keep anything. I got out with Jim for the evening and caught more walleyes. Once again they were very active and willing to bite. Here's a big fat northern Jim caught. It was 38". It looked really beat up like it got ran over by a boat or something....


The next day the winds were screaming out of the SE. You can't fish on LOTW with winds like that. Fortunately, Jim knows many of the resort owners around the area so he worked out a deal so I could go fishing that day. He brought me over to Wheeler's Point Resort on the Rainy River about 11am on wednesday for some dock fishing. Jim was busy with various tasks so he just dropped me off and checked in with me every now and then. Like I said, the winds were nasty, blasting me head on! Here's how things looked at the end of one of the docks...


I also had to deal with a strong current to boot. First I tried dropshotting with no success. Then a three-way rig...nada. Threw a crank too with no hits. Jigging didn't work either. I decided to try lindy rigging. I put on a three foot snell with floater bead and heavy 1 oz. bell sinker. On the business end I put a live shiner. I casted out and slowly dragged it back. After a couple casts bang! Fish on! Walleye, about 17"...


(Notice the blurry spot on the right side of the picture. It shows up on the rest of the pictures. Apparently the lens on the camera has a spot on it and didn't notice it until uploading images. Talk about disappointing!)

Well once I got dialed in on something that worked, I continued to pound the walleyes on the dock. You really had to pay attention while dragging the Lindy Rig because there was alot of hangups on the bottom and the bite was very, very subtle. I fished there for seven hours that day putting up with rain and fierce winds, but it was worth it because I caught between 30 to 40 walleyes, all males. Many misses too. Nothing bigger that 18", but nothing smaller that 15" either. All caught and released. Here's a look at my catch...






Anyway, this morning the winds were now raging out of the NW. Frontal passage had occurred, and there was ice and snow outside. Fishing was done and time to go home. Jim is the nicest guy and he said I could use his cabin any time I want, as long as it's not being used. Pretty cool deal!

I'll leave you with a beautiful sunrise...


And a stunning sunset...