Casey's catch of the day

All packed and ready to go...

2010-06-11T04:27:00.000-07:00

...on vacation! My family and Mitch's family are meeting at the Deckert's cabin on Boedigheimer lake in Ottertail county. It's 6:30 am now this friday morning. If I can get Lucas up going we'll be out of here by 7. Anita has been sick all week so Val and Genna will drive to Cambridge to help her and her family get organized while me and Lucas will get to the cabin well ahead of them and get settled in. Right now it's raining. Weather looks to be unsettled most of the time with temps in the mid-70s. Lot's of great fishing opportunities await!

Camping on the St. Croix

2010-06-09T02:40:00.001-07:00

November 21nd of 2009 Mitch my brother died of a heart attack. So last weekend my family and his family (Anita, Matthew, Aaron, Ryan) went to the St Croix river to spread his ashes on the river, which is what he wanted, and also do some camping way upriver in a very secluded area where Mitch loved to spend much of his time camping and fishing. For the spreading of the ashes, my mom and my brother Kurt met us at the landing before our departure to spread some ashes there. I think for the most part our acute mourning over Mitch is over, although I still have a difficult time knowing that Mitch is no longer with us. I miss him dearly!

Here's Mitch's ashes. It was very dense and kind of reminded me of dry concrete mix!

Here I am spreading Mitch's ashes...

And Genna...

And my brother Kurt...

After that we headed up the river several miles. Aaron was piloting Mitch's boat while towing a rubber raft with some camping gear on it, followed by my boat. That's Valerie looking on. Anita was taking handfuls of ashes and putting 'em in the river all along the way up...

Fishing-wise, it's unpressured up there so it's usually pretty good fishing. This time we didn't catch a single walleye though. We did some shore casting, but spent most of our time anchored up and casting out river rigs with a hunk of crawler on. Here's Lucas with a catfish...

Fish on!

Ryan and smallie...

Lucas and redhorse...

Here's Lucas during our catfish outing at night. He has a fish on here...

And this is what he caught...

My catfish...

Smallie cancer?

Ryan had on a huge smallie. I'm guessing it was at least 20". He battled it for 10 minutes then lost it by the boat! Man o man, was he upset!

Lucas battles one too, though not as big...

Here's a sheephead I caught...

Aaron caught this 20" smallie right in front of out camp working the current seam on a river rig and crawler...

Genna even went out with us. but she was more interested in reading her book. She did manage a couple fish though...

And she broke one of my rods too...

Lucas was very proud of this catfish he caught on shore just below camp. It was delicious!

Now it's time for the Nygren family vacation! Friday morning my family and Mitch's family are meeting at the Deckert's (friends from church) lake cabin in Ottertail county for a whole week of relaxation and fishing, hours and hours and hours of fishing! We will return the following saturday. There are plenty of good lakes around the area and I have researched some of them for walleyes, bass, norhterns, and panfish. Weather looks to be unsettled with rain and thunderstorms possible so we'll have to deal with all that, but still, I'm sure we'll still get in lot's of fishing and good times with family.

A Labor Day visit to the arboretum

2010-05-31T23:15:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful day, Memorial Day was, with sunny skies and low humidity, so me and my family visited the Minnesota Landscape arboretum. I injured my back earlier in the day and it proved to be quite tender while walking around. At the time of injury I wasn't doing anything too strenuous, just turned my torso a certain way while standing and POP! This same thing happens like every year, so it will probably take a week before it completely heals. So anyway,being early in the year yet the arboretum wasn't at peak color by any means, but there was enough color and texture there to make things interesting and did manage to take lots of pictures while I was there...

Valerie...

Genna...

And Lucas...

Fantastic week of fishing

2010-05-24T06:10:00.000-07:00

Monday morning the 17th of May I got up at 2:30 in the morning and started driving to Lake of the Woods for some walleye fishing. I met my buddy Jim Schwandt and his son Dallas up there. They have a cabin right on the lake about a mile from Morris Point; it has got to be one of the best spots to have a cabin...very close to good fishing, and you can't beat the lake view!

I did three days up there for opener last year and the fishing was amazing with several big walleyes caught.

With Jimbo, it's alway's vertical jigging with some slip bobbering thrown in. We always anchor up too. We never drift. Last year we had good luck vertical jigging and slip bobbering live and frozen spottail shiners, they weren't very big, about 1.5"-2" long, but they worked great. I was eager to give my new 9 foot Shimano Clarus jigging rod (with medium fast tip) a real workout too; I bought it last year specifically for vertical jigging those LOTW walleyes. The rod was coupled with my brand new Pfleuger President reel spooled with 8lb. Gamma copolymer and a short shank red/glow Fireball jig on the business end....Now I am ready to catch walleyes!

Monday me and Jim tried one spot in 17 FOW and caught some small walleyes which we didn't care for, so we tried 24 FOW and started catching some nicer fish in the 15-22" class then went in for dinner. For the evening Jim's son Dallas came with us. We anchored up shallow closer to the gap in 16 FOW to catch the walleyes as they moved shallower to feed at night, and we did good there. Dallas caught 23" and 25" walleyes on a slip bobber while me and Jim caught more in that 14-19" class vertical jigging.

The next day me and Jim (Dallas went home) tried a spot by Pine island where some boats were stacked up, but we didn't catch a thing. Jim heard of a spot four miles out in 28 FOW for a good mid-day bite, so we decided to give it a try. The walleyes were there, out in the middle of nowhere it seemed, and they were eager to bite.

At this point I was having a real tough time hooking up; plenty of bites, but few fish. I soon solved the problem. Here's the situation. With those LOTW walleyes you have to get you're presentation right on the bottom...I mean a half an inch! They don't want to chase anything, and they don't like a whole lot of movement either. What I would do is let it sit very close to the bottom for 30-45 seconds, then either shake the tip up and down or snap the tip once or twice, being careful not to get the jig up too high. Then when I got a bite I let 'em take it for quite some time. Like at least 30 seconds, and then when you thought you let 'em have it long enough, let 'em have it some more. The reason I struggled getting hookups was the minnows we were using this year were quite a bit longer than the ones we used last year, hence they didn't work well on the short shank fireball jig....I always seemed to set the hook too early. I decided try tie on a long shank hook then asked Jimbo how he hooked up his minnows; he taught me to go through the mouth out the gillplate and hook it transversely through the back. It looked really funky...
...but Jim always catches fish like crazy so I gave it a try, and instantly my hookups percentage increased! I also found that by loading the rod tip after getting a bite made the walleye more reluctant to let go, so that helped too. (I encountered yet another problem-line twist. It took me awhile to figure out that it was due to the newfangled way of hooking the minnow onto the jig. It helicoptored as it came up from the lake bottom. I had to tie on a barrel swivel followed by a 3 foot section of the Gamma then the jig and the line twist stopped.)

So anyway, we caught walleyes and saugers too, one after another for three hours in 28 FOW before the bite died down. We went in, had dinner and fished the shallow evening spot where we caught even more walleyes.

Jim went home wednesday morning and I fished by myself in my little red boat for the next two days. I discovered that by six in the afternoon the walleyes moved shallower, they came through in a wave at 18 FOW, then I would move up to 16 FOW once that things quieted down at 18 FOW. And that was the pattern for the rest of my trip up there...shallow for the morn, then deep, then shallow, then shallower. I used my GPS to get to established areas of active fish depending on time of day. Wednesday it was fairly quiet and I caught only 20 walleyes, one being 26" @ 18 FOW. Thursday I caught 42 walleyes, the most active spot being at 16 FOW from 7 to 8 pm. I figure that the four days I was up there we caught at least a couple hundred walleyes. They weren't as big as last year, probably due to the fact of a much earlier ice out this year, but many decent eater walleyes nonetheless.

Here's the pictures I took of the Lake of the Woods portion of my trip (I hit a lake on the way home for big bluegills that was dynamite, so there is much more to come!)

Walleyes look so cool close up!

These next three pictures are of the 26" walleye I caught. The first picture was all washed out so I did some photo editing to give it some color...

Perch eye...

By the way, the weather was beautiful all week long, with sunny to partly cloudy skies, and mild winds for the most part. You couldn't ask for more perfect weather; well, we could have benefited from a bit more wind though, to produce a "walleye chop", but regardless, the fishing was still really good. Just about the time the sun got close to the horizon the warm colors dancing on the water was just beyond description. These snapshots don't do it justice...

The plan was, I would fish monday through thursday at LOTW, and then hit a Bemidji area lake on the way home for some large panfish. Andy told me of a lake I should try, so I researched it and studied the lakemap and thought that I had a good chance of getting into some good fish.

I left the cabin around 5AM in the morn and arrived at the lake around 7ish. The lake was 4 miles long, and I thought I would to try the far end of the lake, thinking it would not be as pressured as the south end where the launch was. I got all four of my panfish rigs all ready to go and started searching. I started fishing a deep hole, but that didn't produce so I started working the shallows, starting out a couple hundred feet from shore and working my way in. I didn't get anything except a pike bite off and a perch, so I started working the shoreline, casting in with T.H.E. jig under a float.

After working the shoreline for fifteen minutes I made my way onto new ground. I cast toward shore and instantly my float pops. I set the hook and fish on. It was a huge bluegill over 9 inches long! Was it just a fluke? I casted out again and BAM! another big bluegill! Wow, I was amazed at how fat and tall these gills were. I continued to fish there catching at least twenty gills, not much under 9 inches with a couple close to the 10 inch mark. And the fought hard! I discovered they were concentrated in that one area relating to some emergent lily pads.

Once things died down there I started working the shore again and found another active spot a hundred yards away with the same results, big, fat bluegills! I even popped a couple crappies, although they weren't too big. Again, the fish were relating to some emergent lily pads. That spot wasn't as good as the last, so I worked my way down some more and found an area, almost a small point, that held lots of big bluegills with some crappies mixed it. By this time the fish were active enough to take my tight line offerings of Charlie Brewer Slider tails. I caught a 10 inch bluegill at that spot too! I had a chance use my 9' Shimano Clarus rod with a Tica UL reel and it was a blast catching big gills on it. Very versatile rod.

After 2-3 hours of great panfishing they seemed to disappear from those spots. I tried a few other spots but couldn't connect. I had my fun with huge bluegills, now I wanted to find some slab crappies and was drawn to a little backwater bay that had some murky water. By now it's getting late in the day, probably five o'clock, and the sky is starting to darken with what, a storm? I started working the shore with the Slider, catching the occasional bull bluegill, when I cast parallel to the shore but out about 30-40 feet from shore...BAM! crappie! It wasn't a slab, but were they in here thick? I cast again BAM! another crappie. Now I know I am onto something. I cast to the same spot and continued to catch more crappies, but they were not big. I decided to switch up to a white 2" Berkley Power minnow to see if I could get some bigger ones to bite and sure enough on my first offering the crappie was bigger than any I caught thus far, about 10". The Power Minnow was the ticket to catching bigger crappies. So the crappie fishing was really good there catching one after another in the 10-11" class when I look back and see the clouds looking even more threatening. I got to nine crappies in my keeper basket and I decided to head back to the launch, even though there was still 2-3 hours of sunlight left. I didn't want to get caught on the lake in a lightning storm. It turns out those clouds were just that. No storm! DANG IT I missed out on some great crappie action, wondering how many monster crappies I COULD have caught! Oh well, it was still a magical day with all those big gills...

This pumkinseed was very colorful, large and tall!

T.H.E jig at work! It was the only one I had, the smallest made me thinks...

The variations of colors and patterns on all the bluegills I caught was very interesting. Check out the orange on the breast of this gill...

I love the green texture in the background here!

Crappie eye

10" monster bluegill! Never caught one that big on open water

Ryan catches a forty inch muskie!

2010-05-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

Even though it was the 2010 walleye opener I didn't want to fish today at all, but my nephew Ryan stayed over night and really wanted to get out fishing. I relented and reluctantly brought him along with Genna and Lucas to Lake Waconia. I was dang crabby all day long! I had been in contact with Mike Thompson and he said he would be out there in the pontoon with a bunch of GEM kids. We were fishing between the marina's, not catching much but some small panfish. We saw one dude had on a huge fish which turned out to be a muskie, quite large too.

Lucas and Ryan were not content with panfish, and wanted to go trolling for bigger game (we knew there was a possibility of a token muskie). So Lucas was using a Buzzbait and Ryan a Chatterbait. We were trolling along in front of the marina in about 12 FOW when something smacked Ryan's Chatterbait. It didn't take but a few seconds for me to realize it was a muskie! He fought it like a pro for close to ten minutes and we got it in. 40 inches. Well, it measured 39" but I forgot to pinch the tail! Lucas filmed with Ryan's camera, you can paste the link into your browser to see the vid. I'll warn you that the fish wasn't handled all that well with some squirming in the bottom of the boat plus a couple drops...ooops! We released her and she swam away relatively unharmed so that's good. Ryan was very proud of his muskie. I don't know what it is about my dead brother's kids....they always catch big fish!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9XCXm_jLVg

This next picture is from Lucas. He composed the elements and took the picture. I don't know what it's all about but it's pretty important to him so I had better post it!

getting things ready for opener week!

2010-05-12T03:31:00.000-07:00

The 2010 fishing opener is this saturday but I really don't have any plans to go out opener day. I used to do opener day up in Cambridge with Mitch. But now that the Lord has called him home I just don't have any desire to fish that day, at least not this year. I might go chase some panfish somewhere, but that's about it. Maybe next year I'll find a lake I can fish on the opener.

The real fun begins monday morning when I blast off for Lake of the Woods for a few days. I'll be meeting Jim Schwandt at his cabin right on the south shore of the lake. I'll definitely get my fill of walleye fishing up there. Right now weather looks to be favorable. The plan is, to head up there with my boat early monday morning, fish through thursday, then get up early on friday and hit a lake on the way home in the Bemidji area. I have a lake in mind that boasts trophy bluegills and crappies. I plan on exploring that lake and fishing it all day long. It looks to be a secluded lake with very very little lake shore property. So if I fish it on friday, my guess is that I'll pretty much have the lake all to myself. Plus, if the weather is warm all week, the panfish will probably be in the shallows.

However the fishing is though, I will cherish the friday when I fish that secluded lake surrounded by the beauty and quiet of God's creation. It should be a great week, and my camera will be working overtime to get some awesome pictures. Until then I am just getting all my stuff together and organized...

Cold damp weather...

2010-05-08T05:05:00.000-07:00

I knew I would be busy over the weekend, so I got out for a couple hours in my float tube after work today, friday. It was cool, cloudy, with showers here and there. The curly leaf pond weed on this lake is making it more and more difficult to fish...man, I hate that stuff!!! The fishing wasn't all that great either, the weeds making a good place for the fish to get snuggled in with the cool weather. I did coax a few hungry fish though, some anemic crappies, gills, perch, and tiny bass. Here's a couple decent gills I caught...

Saturday tubin' with MT

2010-05-04T04:26:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a very windy day and I didn't think I would get out fishin', but then, I like fishin' and found my way onto the water with Mike Thompson. We tried a lake about an hour north that he said had a reputation for some big panfish so we headed up there, put in our float tubes didn't catch anything except for a tiny bass I caught. We fished there for probably an hour and a half, but this lake wasn't going to put out anything for us.

Then I remembered talking to a friend just last week. He mentioned a small lake about a half hour from where we were that he said had some good panfish in it, so I talked MT into giving it a try. It was more of a pond than a lake, under 30 acres for sure, and curley leaf pond weed was growing like mad at our launch site. But once we got out a bit and off the weed edge I popped a couple crappies, then some gills, pretty nice ones too. We stayed the rest of the efternoon, catching lot's of crappies and bluegills tight lining, trolling in the tube, or vertical jigging plastics. Nothing huge, but not annoyingly small either. These fish were decent.

The size of the gills we caught, around the 8" mark with some a bit bigger...

Crappies ran between 9 and 10 inches. A couple might have exceeded the 10" mark.

MT's glow tubes really incited bites...

MT and his floating orange pumpkin...

Last gill of the day for me was this beautiful bluegill that checked in close to the 9" mark. It was getting dark so the picture didn't really capture the vivid colors...

MT walking up from the lake at the end of the day....

He reminds me of some sort of creature emerging from the primorial slime...

Good fishin' with Jeff...

2010-04-30T04:00:00.000-07:00

I got out on a little lake last night with Jeff a.k.a. Fishuhalik (Moniker from Fishing Minnesota) for a little fishing out of my canoe. The canoe deserves the name "Big Bertha" or "The Iron Maiden" because it weighs a ton and is a beast to handle! Fortunately, Val brought a little flatbed cart home from work so I could roll it to the launch site, since carrying this monster is out of the question! It worked really well.

Judging from weather reports earlier in the day, I thought we were going to be hampered by storms or be blown off the lake, but we were pleasantly surprised that conditions on the lake were quite perfect for our little outing. Jeff had never fished this lake before and was amazed by the size of the panfish being caught, with gills up to 8.5" and crappies up to 11". We pounded the fish, practically getting one on every cast. Jeff was using my new 5'6" St. Croix UL and having a blast with it. We started out using floats with plastics but soon took off the floats and just tightlined instead. Jeff even took a few crappies home to eat.

Here's some pictures I took...

Jeff and gill...

This is the skinniest crappie I have ever seen in my life! It needs to check into an eating disorder clinic immediately!

Pretty colors...

Here's three more pictures I took from a prior outing in my float tube.

More shore fishing with kids....

2010-04-18T10:32:00.001-07:00

I bought Genna, Lucas, and my nephew Ryan out for a little shore fishing last night. Action was non-stop with some nice gills and a couple decent crappies mixed in. I didn't get alot of pictures, you know how it is fishing with a bunch of kids trying to keep things going. Here's a few though...

The cold front didn't affect these fish!

2010-04-17T05:04:00.000-07:00

I had a half day of work friday and got off around 1:30 in the afternoon. A cold front came through the area yesterday and conditions were very breezy and temps about 10 degrees colder than the day before. I couldn't decide if I should go fishing in my float tube or forget about fishing and do something else....I thought the fishing would suck with the post-frontal conditions. Well, I decided to go fishing and I made the right choice. I was surprised that the panfish were very active and eager to bite anything that was put in front of them. I caught probably 75-80 fish in about two hours. Mostly gills but a few crappies mixed in.

I started off with a 1" Berkley micro tube. I also used Culprit paddletails...

Working the presentation about 18" under a float...

Lots of bluegills between 8 and 9 inches long....

Crappies were ok. Largest was probably 10.5". Not very thick though...

These next four pictures I took of the same fish. Pretty cool me thinks!

Springtime slammin' with Crappie Keith

2010-04-14T05:25:00.000-07:00

I had a couple days off from work after working the weekend, so I paid a visit to Crappie Keith for two days of fishing. Keith lives about 2.5 hours north of the metro area in Palisade. Being just a few days after ice out on the lakes up there, it's traditionally a tough time of the year for fishing. Once the shallows warm up, then panfish are generally active in those areas, but things were too early and we knew fish would be tough to locate.

Monday morning we tried a proven spot of Keith's, but that didn't produce much except for a couple big perch and a couple slabs, so we decided to try another lake. It was quite a ways away, but Keith heard of a good bite there and we decided to drive the miles and give it a try. There was a small cove off the main lake, so we headed over to the cove and started killin' the crappies in the shallows, most fish between 9-11" with a few in the 12" class. The wind was key. If the wind died down, so did the bite. We tried a few other spots on that lake, but with little to show. The cove was where it was happening. It was absolutely crawling with crappies. Blueglls and LM bass also caught.

A good way to start the day with some big perch...

Keith get's a sumo too...

We caught a couple crappies too at that spot before we buzzed over to the other lake where we caught hundreds of crappies over the two days. Here's some more photos I took of my trip...

There were alot of bass in the shallows and were easy to catch. Here's the biggest I caught...

Crappie cancer?

T.H.E. jig strikes again!

CK living up to his name...

Here's a cool eagle's nest we found complete with a pair of eagles!

Another slab for the fry pan...

Here's two fish I snagged within about five minutes of each other!

I think I got the "Mike Thompson" method of self-portrait down...

Shore fishing with Genna and Lucas

2010-04-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

Despite trying to get things ready for a fishing trip up north tomorrow the kiddies were pressuring me to bring them out for a little fishing, so I brought them to a little lake for about an hour. The fish were active, and both caught fish. Lucas can cast, he can work the float and catch fish all on his own. Genna on the other hand is pretty much a novice when it comes to fishing so I had to teach her some basics and she still didn't really get it. Here's a few pictures I took...

Genna didn't want me to publish this picture. haha too bad Genna!

BIG BASS LUCAS!

This gill was a real metro lunker, about 9.25"

Green sunny. What a face Lucas!

Tomorrow I get up bright and early and visit Crappie Keith for a couple days of fishin'. I'll be bringing my boat for it's first outing this year. Weather looks to be a bit unstable with some wind and a possibility for showers and thunder. Yikes! Oh well, you know what they say, bad weather=good fishing.

First time out this spring

2010-04-09T04:14:00.000-07:00

I got a chance to get out for the first time this spring and do some tubin' on a local lake. I was anxious to try my new 6'5" Cabela's Prodigy ML panfish rod coupled with a Tica Cetus SS500 UL reel spooled up with 5lb Gamma Ice. It was funny, as I made my way to the launch area I found Andy there fishing away on shore. He said it had been slow. I decided to try the bay where I really pounded 'em last spring. The water was really low, probably down two feet from last year, and I had to work hard to get to that bay. I popped one gill around 9", but there wasn't much there except for a bunch of little gills and some dink bass. No crappies either.

I decided to make my way out onto the main lake. There was alot of algae up shallow...yuck! And that made fishing difficult, so I went out a bit deeper and sure enough, the crappies and gills were everywhere! There was quite a bit of movement on the surface from the fish underneath, and they were smackin' my float with vigor! I was getting fish on practically every cast using a Culprit paddletail about a foot under a float. Color didn't matter. Caught lots of gills, a couple in the 9" class, with plenty between 7.5" and 8.5". They looked healthy with bright colors, but the crappies were thin, with nothing much larger than 10".

My Cabela's Prodigy rod was awesome, it casted great with the Gamma line. The only thing that sucked was this terrible thumping and vibration I got when reeling in a fish. I figured it was the older Tica Cetus reel I had on. When I got home I tested it out and discovered it was the reel after all. I put on a Cabela's Fish Eagle UL and now it should work fine. I never was impressed by Tica reels, although lot's of people are. IMO the Cabela's UL Fish Eagle is the best reels for about $30.

I didn't get a whole lot of good pics, but here's a few from my outing...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCAS!!!

2010-03-04T06:38:00.000-08:00

My son Lucas is 10 years today...Happy Birthday Lucas! He doesn't do alot of ice fishing, so here's a picture from last year on Waconia. Check out the smug look on his face! Lucas' favorite fish is the bowfin, but he generally likes any fish that is big. He also likes to fish for panfish too. As long as they are biting, Lucas likes to fish.

February Grand Rapids report

2010-03-03T04:12:00.000-08:00

I got back on sunday (it's wednesday as I write my report) from my little fishing adventure in Grand Rapids. I was a tad bit weary after 30 hours of fishing in three days, but now feel up to the task of reporting my results.

Fist of all I didn't even know if my vehicle was going to make it up there. I have been loosing radiator fluid, and found out that my water pump was leaking like a sieve and was losing about a gallon a week...yikes! But I did make up and back without a disaster, so I thank the Lord for answering my prayers in that regard. Fishing buddy and friend Andy drove up seperately because he had to leave saturday afternoon, and I would stay until sunday late afternoon. I found a really cheap motel to stay in both days, so that helped out with the overall cost of the trip.

Weather-wise, we expected clear blue skies, high pressure, warm weather in the lower thirties for all three days, and virtually zero wind, and that is exactly how it was. Absolutely georgeous fishing weather! We stopped at the bait shop on the way to the lake and the report was that the fishing has been slow on our target lake, but I had a feeling we would do better than "slow". We got to the lake about 8:30 friday morning. It turned out that the lake was more snow-covered than I expected, and that would hamper our mobility. There was an unplowed, barely used road going out to the main basin, so that had us a little worried, especially since the road was a tad bit high by the landing, but we made it onto the lake ok. The snow depth was inconsistent, so we had to stick to the road otherwise we risked getting stuck. We were fortunate in there was another little used road that led to the area we wanted to fish. We even got stuck on a patch of ice, but got out of it. Whew! Our area of focus was a flat area in the 14-16 foot range. There was little evidence that others had hit the spot, so we were glad of that.

We started out deeper and I started drilling toward shore. We found some bluegills after some searching, so I drilled a bunch of holes in the general viscinity. My Strikemaster auger was not cooporative either. The throttle got stuck, so I had to drill holes unable to throttle down. Then, my pull rope decided to not go in the final 8-10 inches too, so I was not able to drill as much as I wanted to. I was beginning to wonder if my auger would just fail me completely! Fortunately the throttle cable was just frozen, because with the warming of the day it got "unstuck". The pull rope didn't get any worse either.

Andy found a good spot to set up his Eskimo Quickfish(3) on, and was onto some fish with very little moving around. With my fish-trap, I did alot more hole-hopping than Andy, but we probably both caught about as many fish. He caught some slab crappies along with a mess of decent bluegills, nothing huge though, except for a one-eyed gill he said was close to 10". The crappies were loners, coming about a foot off the bottom. Andy favored his Fiska's Balance loaded on both ends with spikes, or T.H.E. jig. He caught his crappies on T.H.E. jig.

I started out using the red-glow Fairy jig and the larger L.A. Atomic Stealth jig, both good producers on this lake in the past, but the panfish wanted nothing to do with those presentations. I also tried the Lindy Flyer jigging spoon, but no interest there either. So I decided to try a small #12 Fiska's Marmooska style jig in black with glow dots with a Gulp! waxie in either pink or red and the fish really took a liking to that. I also had pretty good luck on an olive colored Gill-Getter with glow green-bottom and Gulp! waxie threaded on. I caught my crappies on this presentation, as well as bluegills. So I pretty much stuck with those two presentations the whole three days, but did catch some fish on a #12 green-glow Diamond Jig too. Basically, the fish didn't want larger profile, so sticking to small stuff was key.

The bite started out slow on day one, and by the time Andy left saturday, the bite picked up with many active pods of fish that would charge my presentation. Now that's fun! I had to hole hop to keep on active schools.

Averall, the size of the bluegills were a bit disappointing for this lake on this particular trip, with the majority of the gills in the 7"-8" class. The 9-10" class were few and far between with no catches bigger that 9.75", which I caught at least a half dozen. Because of the snow cover we (I) stuck to the same general spot all three days. So I don't know if the smaller fish were just dominating the flat we were fishing with the larger ones relating elsewhere, or if the overall size-structure was down. I tend to think the former. I would classify the fishing as "good" not "great", but much better than I had produced down here in the metro area the past few weeks.

That's the report, now for the pictures. I have much to learn about taking fishing pictures, but am getting better and better. I have a difficult time keeping my ugly fingers out of the way. That, and holding the camera away from my body while holding the fish close to my mug and taking a pic that way. It's tough getting into the right position every time. For every picture posted on CCOTD, ther are about 5-6 that are poor quality.

Enjoy the pictures.

Time to get out of town...

2010-02-24T09:07:00.000-08:00

This year has been a real struggle to ice quality fish. Waconia has been slow, plus, one of my favorite little lakes close by my home has been taken over by dink perch! Other outings have been relatively fruitless. Yeah, sure, there are pathetic little fish I could take pics of and post, but why bother, really!

Fortunately I will have some relief from the ice-fishing blues, because friday I hit the road for 3-day trip to Grand Rapids. Andy will be driving seperately, will fish with me friday and half of saturday before he returns. I'll stick around through sunday.

What can I expect? That's a tough call. Weather is forcast to be seasonably warm, with daytime highs around the freezing mark. But as I understand there might be some good 'ol high pressure lurking, which will make the bite a bit unpredictable. Hopefully I'll be able to catch some quality bluegills and crappies, and if things stabilize, I could get onto a really good panfish bite. I look forward to trying my new Ice-Stopper fairy jigs in glow red and the Lindy Flying Rattler jigging spoon. Weather will definitely favor outside fishing adventure.

I'll have my camera ready to go, so look forward to pictures and my report upon my return.

Casey

friday report

2010-02-07T05:01:00.000-08:00

I had the day off work friday so I headed to a small metro area lake that supposedly had some big gills in it. It was snowing lightly and the temps were in the upper twenties, so it was pleasant fishing weather. I dragged my stuff out there and drilled a bunch of holes covering deep to shallow. I found active gills in every hole, and they were easy to catch, the only problem was the size. Small, potato chip sunnies no bigger than the hand.

Well, after a couple hours of that game I decided to head to Waconia to see if I could vindicate my last three outings there. I tried a couple different spots, fishing in the weeds, without anything to show for it. So I decided to head to the Pillsbury Reef area, an area I had struggled in this year but had caught some quality panfish there last year. I found an area with some deep weeds and sure enough found some active bluegills. They were on the bottom, mixed in with the weeds, but were eager to bite my offering of an orange Berkley Fish Fry. It was a bit slow at first, but as it got closer to dusk they became much more active. I kept a couple close to the nine inch mark.

After the gills shut down, I decided to switch gears and try for crappies. I put on a red Glow Demon tipped with a Gulp! waxie; I managed a couple crappies this way. They were slow, coming off the bottom slowly sliding up to my offering. Here's one at 10.5".

not much happening...

2010-02-01T04:22:00.000-08:00

Since returning from Grand Rapids I have nothing noteworthy to report. Fishing has been very tough for me the last four or five outings, trying some new spots in the TC metro area, with only a few embarassingly small panfish.

Coming up: I am looking forward to a two day panfish trip to Ottertail county at the end of February, and then there is the late ice period in March when the bite should pick up. Between now and then I'll probably spend most of my time on local lakes trying to locate a decent bite.

GRAND RAPIDS REPORT

2010-01-13T05:00:00.001-08:00

I recently returned from Grand Rapids after four days of fishing for pannies, mostly targeting giant bluegills. Me and Andy stayed in a really nice clean resort cabin (Wildwood Resort) on Bass lake on thursday and friday ahead of the rest of the crowd...they arrived on saturday morning. We did all of our fishing on Bass lake.

We knew we were in for very cold weather for the first three days with temp highs barely getting above zero. It turned out that the first day we had the best fishing with overcast conditions. I also did really well on day two, but Andy didn't fare as well. Day three high pressure really affected the bite for me (Andy did better than me). And by day four the weather was actually back to respectable limits and found the fish a bit more cooperative.

We caught most of our fish in around 20 FOW. All in all I caught a few big gills close to the ten inch mark. I also registered a tie for my personal best bluegill that measured 10.5" We also found occasional slab crappies roaming the basin. I had the best luck on a Little Atom Atomic Stealth jig tipped with either Gulp! Alive waxies in red or spikes. Andy was hammering fish on a Fiskas jig with hooks coming out of either end and loaded with a couple spikes. Here's a bunch of pictures I took, so enjoy!

Andy nabs a big gill

Mike Thompson with some slabs!

Another beauty for Andy

Good crappie action for Bass lake

Here's my 10.5" bluegill. I wish I had taken more pictures.

Grand Rapids bound!

2010-01-07T02:12:00.000-08:00

I'm leaving this morning for a four day fishing trip to Grand Rapids. Me and Andy are heading up today (It's 4:14am now) with a group of about 12 to meet us up there on saturday morning. I expect less than favorable conditions today and tomorrow with highs expected just above zero with some wind forcast for today. We might try some different lakes besides Bass. I really want to give Little Bowstring a shot. My main focus will be panfish, especially big bluegills, but might try to ice some walleyes too.

Anyway, look for my report and pictures upon my return early next week.

A couple quick reports

2010-01-01T09:24:00.001-08:00

I visited the lake from my last report with Andy, hoping to cash in on some nice panfish once again, but this time the fish were very NEGATIVE! Very few fish caught, including the only keeper of the day, a nice bluegill over 8 inches. Beautiful fish.

I had to leave just at prime time, just as the sun was going down, in order to make it to a New Year's party. The panfish in that lake seem to be in that negative winter pattern and don't see myself going back there for quite some time. Amazing how fish patterns can change in a week.

This morning I scouted a local lake I have fished many times before. I caught a few keeper crappies, nothing huge, and lot's of small bluegills and lot's of dink perch. This lake is never the same year after year. Where you catch 'em one year, the next they are not there. And now there are tons of small dink gills and perch in spots where there were decent gills before minus the perch, probably in response to a huge LM bass die-off last winter. I couldn't find a single gill over 8"... I know they're in there though. I found the fish pretty aggressive in broad daylight...usually they are tight lipped during the day. Weird!

12-28 ice fishing

2009-12-27T13:05:00.000-08:00

Ice fishing if finally here! Actually I already went on a two day ice fishing trip to Big Sandy and another lake 3 weeks ago. That's the good news. The bad news is that I thought I had fresh batteries for my camera but discovered at the worst possible time that my charger didn't work, so my batteries were dead and I had to get another charger. Well, now I got my fresh batteries and am ready to go!

Big Sandy and the other lake produced a few nice fish, Big Sandy I caught some slab crappies, although it was a finesse situation and had to really work for them. On lake x the fish were even more tight lipped, but managed some crappies and a few gills. Others in our party fared better than me with a 10" gill and 13.5" crappie.

Let's fast forward to yesterday. I went to a metro area lake teamed up with Mike Thompson, hoping to ice some nice panfish. The weather was in the 20's, the lake had snow with a layer of slush under it, winds were light...a very delightful day to be on the ice. We drilled quite a few holes and we could not find any fish. I started drilling closer to the shore before I started connecting with the crappies, bluegills not far behind. They were fairly aggressive and liked my offering of Gulp! Minnow Fry. In fact, I didn't catch anything else on any other offerings, the Minnow Fry killed 'em! I ended up taking home a limit of crappies and about 10 gills although I certainly caught more than that. There are some bruiser gills in that lake....I caught a couple around 9".

sweet crappie in the hole...

a decent fish...

and another...

caught this little bass too...

Biggest crappie of the day around 11"

MITCH NYGREN JUNE 3rd 1960-NOVEMBER 21st 2009

2009-11-26T04:42:00.000-08:00

At 12:30 on Saturday morning of November 21st, my brother Mitch died of a heart attack in Cambridge Mn. He was 49 years old. He is survived by his wife Anita, and three boys, Matthew, Aaron, and Ryan.

It has been five days since Mitch's passing and I am still in shock. I would have posted this news earlier, but the truth of Mitch's death has just sort of sucked the life out of me and the things that were fun before have become dreary and joyless. By the grace of God I know that over time I will heal, but I will never forget my precious brother. I know with absolute certainty he is in Heaven in the very presence of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You see, Mitch died a Christian man.

Since I became a Christian in 2000, I had shared the gospel with him on a few occasions and his response was always one of cold indifference. He just didn't seem to have any interest in spiritual matters. I was worried about Mitch because he had smoked his whole life and I thought he would die from cancer as our father did over forty years ago. He tried to quit on many times, but could never do it.

In 2006 Mitch suffered a serious heart attack, and by God's mercy, he survived. He quit smoking for a few months afterward, but soon started up again, rolling his own cigarettes because he was usually too poor to buy packs from the store. Mitch always struggled with drinking, and seemed to go through cycles where he would quit, then start up again, quit, then start up again. His drinking caused problems in his family, but could not seem to quit.

Eight months ago, during one of those difficult periods in his life when he was drinking, he called me up out of the blue and told me he found salvation in Jesus Christ. WOW!!! The Lord had turned on the switch and Mitch understood the horrible spiritual predicament he was in; he was doomed to Hell for breaking God's laws, and Jesus Christ was the only way out. Mitch bowed to the Lordship of Christ, confessing he had not done very well running his own life. From that point on Mitch was a different man, a joy-filled and peaceful man. It was so obvious he was a believer just from talking to him. He loved Jesus. And the light of Christ manifested itself in very tangible and significant ways by his undying, self-sacrificial love for his family whom he had hurt many times with his drinking. I an absolutely certain Mitch is in Heaven right now in the presence of his Lord Jesus Christ.

The wake and funeral were on Tuesday, attended by well over a hundred wounded and teary-eyed family and friends. There were people there I had not seen for many, many years to say good-bye to Mitch. The death of Mitch is a stark reminder that we are all mortal. We are swallowed up by the fact that we shall all one day become a cold and lifeless corpse. I am so grateful that the gospel was proclaimed at Mitch's funeral, and it is my prayer that friends and relatives will think about their eventual demise and what awaits them on the other side of death. May the Lord cause the lost who attended Mitch's funeral to be "born-again", as He did to Mitch.

Here are a few observations on my awesome brother Mitch, although not exhaustive...

Mitch was a simple man, a man who never desired great wealth or personal recognition. He never graduated from high school, so he spent his time going from one low paying job to the next. He never had a fancy house, car, boat, equipment, or clothes...that just wasn't Mitch.

Mitch was a complex man who had a lot more going on under the surface than he showed. I am certain he often wondered, as I did before I became a Christian, the true meaning and purpose of life.

Mitch was very family oriented. He loved family gatherings and game nights. Although he struggled with drinking, family was very important to him.

Mitch had a great love of the outdoors and fishing. He spent considerable time on the upper St. Croix river, camping with his family, fishing, and enjoying the solitude. He was a very accomplished fisherman.

Mitch was extremely intelligent, and any task he undertook, he did very well. He was a problem solver and strategic thinker who could fix just about anything that was broken.

Mitch also had a great sense of humor. He loved to say and do unusual things that would make people laugh. Even when life was tough, Mitch's kept seeing the humor in things nobody else could.

Mitch would help anyone in need, even in his drinking cycles he would help anyone who had a need.

Mitch was tough as nails. He had survived a lot of sorrow and pain in his life. He never complained about his situation. He just lived life on life's terms.

Mitch, I have cried many times just thinking about you over these past few days. I love you and will miss you dearly in this life, but praise the Lord that I will see you again in glory!

10/25 Minnetonka report

2009-10-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

I spent sunday evening fishing on Lake Minnetonka for walleyes, and found the bite starting to pick up pretty good. I caught about 6 walleyes, all were dinks except one at 17" but I'll bet the size will only improve from here on out. I had the best luck anchored up 16+FOW using a blue/glow lipstick-redtail minnow combo. The bigger walleye I got on a slip float. I had alot more bites but didn't connect. Seems you have to really let them take it a long time before setting the hook. Also caught one slab crappie and a rock bass. I don't have any pictures because I forgot my camera so that sucks, oh well. Next time I head out there I'll get some bigger minnows for the slip bobber.

Things will only get better for the next few weeks!

A minnetonka walleye

2009-10-17T05:51:00.000-07:00

I got out to Lake Minnetonka on thursday evening for some walleye fishing. It was overcast and drizzling with winds out of the east. I didn't fare very well. I caught one walleye, probably 14-15 inches on a jig/minnow combo.

I might make it out again tonight. With winds out of the south the bite might be pretty good but we'll see.

HUGE CATFISH!!!

2009-09-14T14:11:00.000-07:00

I had a couple hours to kill in the afternoon this monday so I headed to the Minnesota river to try to catch some walleyes. At the last minute I decided to bring my heavy gear and frozen shad just in case I wanted to try for catfish. Keep in mind that just last saturday I went fishing on the Minnesota with Lucas and my buddy Ben Newton and Ben connected with a 43" flathead. So I bought some minnows on the way, launched the boat, headed down the river and anchored up. I tried a couple different spots, either casting out a slip sinker rig or dropshot tipped with minnows but after an hour I got bored with that so I switched over to catfish. I took one of the shad, poked a few holes in it, attached it to a big circle hook, casted out, and about five minutes later I had a run on my line. I started reeling in. It was a decent fish but not huge. It turned out to be this sheepie, I didn't measure it but it must have been 24". Here it is in all it's glory...

Well, I decided to give it another try, so I put another chunk of shad on and casted out. About 5-10 minutes later I got another run. I let it have line then started reeling in. I feel the fish on and I'm thinking, "This is a pretty good fish. Must be a cat". I battled that fish for quite sometime before getting a good look at it. Sure enough, it's a huge cat! I'm by myself, and now I gotta figure out how to get this beast in on my own. I got it close to the boat, grabbed the inside of it's mouth, put the rod down and hoisted this river monster into the boat. I am awed by this catfish! I measured it at 44". I got a couple good pictures, although the tail is clipped just a bit, but not bad for being by myself. Take a look...

ODDS AND ENDS AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER 2009

2009-09-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

Wow have I slacked off on the blog! I'll have to make an effort to get back on track, especially since the fishing should be picking up in the fall.

I have taken some good pictures over the past month, so instead of doing a separate post for each outing I thought I would just compile them all together.

Here's my good buddy Jim from church with a big slab crappie @ 13.5" caught on Green lake in Kandiohi county...

A chunky pumpkinseed from the same lake...

Green lake bluegill...

Me and Lucas went to the Mississippi river by Dayton. We anchored and caught some fish. Here's a smallie...

And a redhorse...

Scott Cullen catches a sunny from lake Minnetonka...

Me, my family, and my brother's family did some camping on the St Croix river over the Labor day weekend and caught lots of fish.

Me and a smallie...

The release...

Lucas gets one

My brother Mitch's kid aaron is quite the fisherman. Here he is with a smallie...

And a walleye...

We were fishing for cats one night. It was slow so Aaron decided to soak a crawler. About 10 minutes later he gets this 42" sturgeon on his line. He fought it for at least 15 minutes on medium spinning gear and 8 lb. test. Good job Ryan!

Check out the expressions on Lucas and Ryan's faces!!

Smallmouth...

I caught this monster redhorse @ 26"...

Lucas holding the redhorse...

Here's another big red I caught on the river, close to the same size as the other one I caught...

I have saved the best for last! My buddy Ben Newton caught this last night on the Minnesota river. His personal best @ 43". What a beast!!!

Lot's of great fishing opportunities coming up for me including a three day outing at Lake of the Woods at the end of September with Jim Schwandt. I plan on spending less time on Minnetonka this fall fishing for walleyes and more time fishing the Minnesota river. There are also some opportunities to fish pool 4 on the Mississippi river for panfish in october. And of course, I can always hit up "hawg lake" for bass to enter into the bass derby.

I look at my blog entries and I certainly need to improve chronicling events and people involved in a more thorough manner, taking alot more pictures. Hopefully things will come together and I'll have some great entries!

Saturday Morning Lunker...

2009-07-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

I got up before dawn on saturday morning and did some bass fishing during prime time in the float tube. This is the first time I hit this lake in the morning so I was curious as to how well I would do. This time I brought my neighbor Phillip. Phillip is 14 years old, and I usually see him shore fishing the lake where I go tubing. He asked me about my tube and how much it cost, so I know he wanted one. Well, yesterday Phillip and his dad showed up at my door; apparently they found a float tube at the Bargain Cove at Cabala'a and they wanted to know how much to inflate it and some other details on tubing. So I went over to their house and looked it over. It was a Trout Unlimited Kanabec model, bigger than my Fish Cat but lighter. So I told him I would bring him out for his maiden voyage in the morning if he was willing to get up that early. His dad didn't think he would get up, but when I dropped by his house in the morning he was ready to go. We got to the lake and there is a breeze out of the west, a little choppy in spots, but not terrible. Here's Phillip in his new tube...

I brought a couple rods as I usually do, one rigged with a Ribbit frog the other had a black spinnerbait. About ten or fifteen minutes into our outing I cast to a little pocket of pads and this lunker slams into my frog. 19.5" long. I forgot to get a weight on it before releasing it but looked to be over four pounds for sure. Phillip snapped some photos. There were two photos I liked so I'll post both...

I had a couple more huge bass attempt to take my spinnerbait, but didn't connect, but I know they were bigguns! I caught only one other small bass and Phillip didn't catch any, but at least he can get out and catch some lunkers on his own now. That bass I caught might just catapult me into first place in the Bass Derby! We'll see...

Lotus lake bassin' with Kyle

2009-07-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

I took a detour from my usual thursday evening fishing routine and did some bass fishing with my friend Kyle, who really knows how to fish. He has had success on Lotus lake catching 5lb bass in the past, so I met up with him at the launch with his bass boat. It's been awhile since I fished out of a boat! We started out fishing some deeper structure using Carolina rigs. He caught a couple small bass and while I was distracted with something I got a decent bass on my Hoochie Coochie swim shad. When I got it in it was 17", but very gaunt looking...you know, big head, no body. Plus it swallowed the hook. It wasn't bleeding, so I cut the hook off and let it go for it's best chance of survival. I didn't get a picture of it though, oh well. We tried shore fishing, casting to outside weed edges. Kyle had a huge hit, a quality fish no doubt, but when he set the hook his line got tangled on something and broke the line and no fish! We buzzed over to another shoreline, Kyle caught a couple more pocket bass. I was casting a black spinnerbait with a big colorado blade, slowly reeling it in when a big bass smacked it. It measured 18" and at least this one looked healthy...

We fished a little bit more but didn't get much else so we called it a night. I was hoping to get a bass bigger that 18" because that would put me in first place in the bass derby, maybe next time! I didn't even get a picture of Kyle, but hopefully I'll get a picture of him next week when we get out float tubin' where he has a reasonable chance to catch a real lunker!

Tubin' and Bassin' with Mike Thompson

2009-07-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

Me and Mike got out last night for some float tubin' hoping to get onto some more huge bass. The weather was warm, but the winds were a little stronger than we thought they would be. I tried the Hoochie Coochie swim shad, but didn't get any hits on it so I pretty much stuck with my trusty Ribbit High Floater frog after that.We split up working different parts of the lake, both working slop and pads. I found myself in an open area with slop all around. I started to get a few hits on the frog too but could not connect. Dang, some were pretty big fish too. So I decided to downsize to the smaller profile frog and decided I had to let them take it more. Immediately I got a 14" bass...

About five minutes later I tossed my frog to an area I had a good hit on earlier and a big bass smacked it! It was pulling my tube around and I'm thinkin' "Here we go again...big bass!" I got it in and it was a 19" LM bass. I weighed it on my digital scale, but it said it weighed a little over 2 lbs and I'm thinking, "That can't be right". So I put the bass on my metal stringer and headed over to Mike Thompson for photos, who was quite a ways away. As I was approaching, Mike was tossing a frog when he got a big fish on which he thought was a state record bass! But it turned out to be only a big fat northern...

The catch...

And the release...

Here's the 19" bass I caught...

When I got home I was examining my scale when I discovered it was on the metric system, Measuring in kilo's I believe...so that's why the bass only weighed what I thought was a couple pounds!

Right now I am in second place in the Bass Derby. The result on my outing means I get to cull a smaller bass, getting darn close to first place. Wow! This year has been the best bass fishing I have ever had. I never really targeted 'em too much before, but I gotta admit seeing those big ol' lunker bass is pretty cool! This year is far from over, and I truly believe when it is all said and done I'll have a 5lb. average.

HUGE TOAD SLAMS MY FROG!!!

2009-07-16T18:36:00.000-07:00

I went out to a lake tonight to see if I could catch a lunker bass or two for the bass derby. For presentations, I limited myself to the Hoochie Coochie swim shad, senkos, and the Ribbit high floater plastic frog. It was really windy and actually chilly as I set out in my float tube. The strong NW winds made it difficult to fish with the few plastics I brought. Plus, it being post-frontal, the bass were not active at all. I had a couple puny hits on my frog in about an hour and a half. I knew I got out there a little too early, as there was still an hour to go until prime time. I was not too hopeful of catching anything and was getting bored, so I decided I would head in for the night, passing up prime time. Well, the winds started dying down a little bit and I was getting closer to the landing, taking a few casts here and there with the plastic frog when all of the sudden this huge freakin' toad slams the frog! Immediately I knew this was no ordinary bass because it was fighting like crazy and pulling me around in circles!!! After it tired out some the head popped out of the water and I just about had a heart attack! This bass is truly amazing! I got it close to the tube and grabbed it by it's gaping jaws with a vice like grip before it got away and pulled it out of the water to get a better look. It had a huge gut. I was thinking this one was five pounds easy. Heart thumping, I realized I had to get a measurement, a weight, and some pictures of this brute bass before letting it go. There were a couple asian guys on the shore, and they witnessed the whole thing, so I put the bass on a metal stringer and headed toward them and asked if they would take some pictures, and so they did. It measured 20.25" and weighed 5lbs 11oz on my digital scale. After catching this monster I didn't see the need to fish any more so I went home. Enjoy the pics of this impressive bass...

Mike Thompson bags a pig!

2009-07-12T14:10:00.000-07:00

Me and Mike Thompson got out for some bass fishing last night in our float tubes. I was using a plastic frog the most and Mike was using a jig/craw combo. The fishing was really slow at first and we were wondering if we were ever going to get into some fish. We caught only three bass in a couple hours. Well, as it neared that golden half hour before sundown we moved to a different section of the lake and started to pop a few bass. Nothing huge though. I caught one @ 17", with lots of smaller ones mixed in. I was using the trusty frog and Mike switched up to a Senko. Bass were getting very active and I had a huge blow up on my frog. The bass was a monster, but simply didn't get the thing in it's mouth. It was getting darker and darker and we worked our way in to the landing area. I was out of the water and Mike was just about forty feet away taking a few last casts when suddenly Mike gets onto a big bass. He got it in and by his measuring stick he said it was 19.25". It was really chubby, so I weighed it on my scale I happened to bring with and it weighed up at 5lbs 1 ounce. Good job there Mikey. Enjoy the pictures...

Mississippi River outing July 3rd

2009-07-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

Casey's Catch Of The Day is up and running, and I have to play a little "catch up". Mike Thompson came over last night after fishing and he showed me how he makes posts on his blog, so thanks Michael! Now I'll be able to make post's faster than ever! This post is basically a tutorial, Michael showing me all his little tricks. I'm sure he wants me to get last night fishing outing up ASAP because he slammed a huge LM bass and I have the best pictures. So after I finish with this, I'll work on that as a "posting refresher".

Me and Lucas got out to the Mississippi River the third of July. I caught one 17" smallie and Lucas caught a bunch of rough fish.

Me with a good smallie!

baby cat

nice kitty

seize the carp

CCOTD experiencing technical difficulties!

2009-07-07T05:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted lately, but I have been beset by a problem in loading pics onto my blog. My pictures always come up large on the blog, and only half the picture lengthwise shows. This is even after I reduce the pixel count in the photo editing software and/or (trying different things!) reducing the size on Photobucket. This all started when I tried to update the PES, which failed, so I had to uninstall and then reload it onto my computer.

So if anyone has a method that works, specifically for blogs, I would be interested in hearing it.

casey.nygren@parknicollet.com

952-237-3358 (c)

Thanks, Casey

Nygren summer vacation 2009

2009-07-04T07:25:00.000-07:00

This post is waaaaayy long overdue. We went on vacation almost a month ago!!! Just playing catch-up.

Anyway, Me, Valerie, Genna, Lucas, My mom, and Ryan my 11 year old nephew, spent the week up in the Cross lake area of Minnesota on Pine lake the third week of June. Thanks to my good friend Dan Beck, he allowed us to stay at his cabin for free. We used his pontoon for fishing on Pine, and we also explored a few area lakes too. Pine lake is shallow, clear, and weedy. There are panfish, pike, and LM bass, even walleye on Pine, but size structure isn't the greatest. The weather was fantastic with temps in the low eighties. There wasn't a single day that was overpowered by the wind. Just lot's of fishing, relaxing, and more fishing! I was up at 4:30-5am every morning so I could get out for the prime time bite. My target fish was LM bass, and I did get into a few nice ones.

Here's some pictures of our week up north...

Beautiful bluegill...

Pine lake gave up lot's of pike, but all we caught were these little hammer handles...

Ryan and crappie...

Here's an 18" bass I caught in the lily pads...

And this was in it's throat. That would be a crappie tail!

Small perch, big appetite!

My daughter Genna, who doesn't like to fish...

My 81 year old mom...

She is still catching fish!

My wife Valerie. She fishes, but not very much!

Ryan catches a bowfin...

I caught one too...

Lucas "peeing a bluegill"...

Double slimers...

And again...

Here's some of the nice bass we caught...

Lucas nabs a big bass...

Bucketmouth @ 18.25"

And another @ 18.25"

And another bass, this bass was smaller though...

Lucas and a bass..

That is a pike on a crankbait hooked on Ryan's crotch area! Don't try this at home!

Lucas and a sunny off the dock...

Ryan and the only decent pike of the whole trip. One decent pike...weird!

Rocky the bass...

I caught this smallie too, only one of the trip...

FISHING AND CAMPING AT GLENDALOUGH STATE PARK

2009-06-18T18:22:00.000-07:00

Me and Lucas headed out for a three day fishing and camping trip at Glendalough State Park in Ottertail county. We launched my canoe, as it is a "carry in" only site. The first day was the best, fishing-wise and weather-wise. There was a moderate southeast wind and we caught quite a few bluegills in the 9" class tight against the reeds. The next day I awoke to the sound of wind and it was quite overcast with rain not far behind....not good for fishing in a canoe. We did get out and managed a few fish. We also tried some shore fishing spots and caught some bass. Overall the weather pretty much sucked the second and third day with lots of rain and wind, which kept us from getting out. All in all it was still fun, albeit much work because it was a cart-in camping site. Here's some pictures I took of our trip.

This was the biggest gill of the trip @ 9.5"

Lucas is "peeing a bluegill"

And after the peeing is completed!

Pretty colors...

Lucas nails a bass...

...and a crappie...

Lot's of these 9 inch gills in this lake...

I caught a crappie too....

Catching fish off the pier...

It wasn't the most successful trip with all the rain and wind, but at least we didn't get skunked.

The next outing is a big one. Me and my family will be staying at a friends cabin in the Cross Lake area for an entire week. I'll be fishing a few lakes in the area. I look forward to catching more bass to enter into the bass derby. Hopefully I'll get two more so I'll have my five to enter, then I can cull as necessary. Until then, see you next time!

BIG bass!!!

2009-06-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

It's been two weeks since my last post. I got out fishing a couple times between then and now...last thursday on Minnetonka didn't produce even a single fish. Then on saturday I got out with Mike Thompson and fished a couple lakes. We caught a few fish, including some decent gills, but we didn't exactly have a banner day. I was apathetic about the whole thing and didn't even post pics!

Anyway, I went out tonight to the same lake I went to two weeks ago (see prior post) hoping to connect with some bass in the float tube, and connect I did! I was fishing the slop using a Chatterbait and fluke. I had a hit on the fluke but didn't connect and the Chatterbait wasn't really doing anything so I tied on one of those pre-rigged plastic frogs and bang! Big fish on! I knew it was hefty by the way it was pulling me around in the tube. I got it in and it's this huge 'ol bass. It measured 21" long! Check out this slob!

After my heart stabilized I took a few more casts with the frog, almost in the same spot, and slam! Another bass, this one was 18". I didn't get a photo because it slipped out of my butterfingers before I got a picture. I caught a few more bass too, a couple on the Chatterbait and a couple on a white spinnerbait, nothing huge but fun nonetheless. Anyway, that's my report for tonight.

Lot's of good fishing action coming up. Next week me and Lucas are doing a three day camping outing on Annie Battle Lake, hoping to get onto some huge bluegills. Then my family are heading up to the Cross lake area for a week vacation. We'll be staying at a friend's cabin on Pine lake. There probably isn't a whole lot in that lake (probably some good fish though) but I'm hoping to get out and try some of the other lakes in the area. Look for my reports when I return.

metro fishing in the tube

2009-05-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-28T03:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-22T03:03:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-15T14:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-14T17:54:00.000-07:00

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...

Walleye Opener day 2009

2009-05-10T03:08:00.000-07:00

Me and my brother Mitch hit a local lake in Cambridge for the walleye opener yesterday. His two sons Aaron and Ryan also joined us. The weather was typical for the opener...chilly, overcast, some wind, and a little precipitation. We caught a few walleyes along with the usual token bass and northerns. Mitch was Lindy rigging and I pretty much was jigging plastics. Most of out fish came on top of a shallow mid-lake flat in less than 10' feet of water. The walleyes we caught were eater size, not too big. Largest was about 17-18". Here's some pictures I took of our outing....

Mitch catches the first walleye...

LM bass...

My first walleye of 2009...hope they get bigger!

Big slimer....

Sunfish used to be pretty small in this lake but Mitch says they are getting bigger...

Ryan bags a bass...

Another walleye I caught....

Mitch and a good eater...

Another bass...

Ryan catches a slimer too...

That sums up Opener Day 2009. Sure was fun and enjoyable!

My next outing will be a big one...three days on famous Lake of the Woods. I'll be staying at the small resort cabin of my friend from church Jim Schwandt. I might even bring my float tube!

Minnesota Opener Eve

2009-05-08T02:50:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe opener is tomorrow! I am going up to My brother Mitch's place in Cambridge tonight. We'll be getting up very early saturday morning and hitting a local lake up there for some walleyes. It looks like the weather will be typical Opener nasty with temps in the 50's, overcast, rain showers, and gusty NW winds. Lot's of things to do before leaving. I took all of opener week off work, so there will be lots of fishing. Here's how the rest of the weeks is shaping up...

Saturday Fannie lake with Mitch.

Sunday is Mother's Day....no fishing.

Monday I drive to Lake Of The Woods. I'll be leaving the cities @ 4am for a 10am ETA.

Thursday I head back to the cities. No fishing in the evening.

Friday morning I will be fishing somewhere, I just haven't figured out where yet.

Saturday or Sunday I'll probably get Lucas out for some fishing somewhere.

Should be a great week with great fishing. I'll report back with pictures.

5/5 exploring new ground

2009-05-06T03:59:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was the second of my time back days from working the weekend, so I decided to get up real early again and head west and try some new lakes. The day started out overcast and already the wind was making it's presence known out of the south. I knew I was in for a windy day. The first lake I went to was a small lake that had a reputation for monster crappies. So I launched and headed to the north end. I was greeted by this goose perched on a beaver's house, obviously suffering from illusions of grandeur...

I started out in the shallows where I didn't get much action except for this puny sunfish. Looks like something tried to take a bite out of it....

As I was moving to the front of the boat, I accidentially stepped on the rod tip of my Shimano Convergence and snapped it off!

It looks like an easy repair and probably cost under $10, so no big deal really, but serves as a reminder to be careful!

So anyway I tried deeper and started finding active sunnies and white crappies at about 8.5 feet of water. Sunnies were all small. No monster crappies either. Largest was about 11" long. You could actually vertical jig for them. Power tubes did the trick. Here's a few fish...

After fishing there for about three hours I decided to pack it up and explore another lake, a bigger lake further west. I don't doubt that big crappies were in that first lake I fished, I just wanted to survey and get a feel for those new lakes and determine whether I would ever go back. On the way to lake #2 I passed by this tiny lake about 50 acres max. that had a public access. I thought about going there instead of the bigger lake because of the wind. Sometimes the smaller unknown lakes are real gems! But I decided to pass it by and perhaps hit it on the way back if things didn't work out at the other lake. When I got there the winds were barreling out of the south into the north shore. I launched my boat but soon realized the folly of trying to fish there, so I loaded my boat and headed back to that small lake. As I headed to the north side I soon discovered it had a deep 20' plus hole in it. That was a good sign! I tried in a small shallow bay, nothing, and was beginning to wonder if there were any fish in there. Then I went out a little deeper and finally caught a fish, a small bass. Note the cleaved tail...

So there were fish in the lake after all! I couldn't catch anything more out deeper so I started to work the shoreline. In one spot I caught a couple small gills and a white crappie....

I also caught another bass, 2-3 lbs out a little deeper...

I worked along the shore and didn't catch anything else, but at least I took the time to try something new and found some fish! After fishing that lake I checked the DNR report and discovered that it is subject to frequent winterkills, which affects the size of the fish in there.

After fishing there for about an hour and a half and not too impressed with the fishing, I decided to load the boat and try yet another small lake just a couple miles down the road. It was probably two hundred acres. The launch was "rustic" with no dock. I launched and headed to the north side when suddenly, bang! Smack! Grind! I hit a bunch of rocks! My motor still worked but I wasn't happy because this area of rocks was not marked. I fished the north side. It was really shallow with no weeds really. And there were carp jumping all over the place. Didn't catch a thing so I wanted to try along the north shore outside the bay. I headed out, carefully this time, but still managed to find the shallow rocks, which seemed to be over quite a broad area. At this point I was fed up with that lake, loaded up and went home.

I will definitely try lake #1 again. I will try lake #2 when conditions allow. There are supposed to be big gills in there. Lake #3 is a maybe. Maybe I'll fish there again. Sometimes you can't tell if the lake is any good from one visit. Lake #4? I am still mad at that lake! I doubt very much I will return!!!

5/4 fishing report

2009-05-04T18:22:00.000-07:00

I had today off work so I got up really early and went fishing with Andy. The weather was warm and had been warm over the weekend, so I expected some good fishing. We went to Pelican lake and tried where I had some success over a week ago, but boy the fish were scarce. We didn't get skunked; we caught a handful of pathetic-sized panfish, but the numbers were much lower than I expected. There was a lot of curly leaf pondweed sprouting that kept the fish hidden. After fishing a few shorelines and about three hours, we decided to pack up and head to Dutch lake, hoping to cash in on some better action. Well sadly, things weren't a whole lot better there. We caught more fish, with a few pocket bass mixed in, but once again, the fish were marginal at best. I did have a good time fishing with Andy though. Here's a few pictures of our outing...

Small LM bass...

The wookie bags a crappie...

Crappie on a Culprit paddletail...

the tripod

2009-04-27T06:03:00.001-07:00

Check out this tripod that was in our closet for oh, probably a million years. Valerie told me of it; I didn't even know we had it. This is really going to help me when I am fishing alone in taking pictures of me posing with bigger fish.

4/25 Saturday outing with Lucas

2009-04-26T05:32:00.000-07:00

Me and Lucas went out for a little bit of fishing saturday. Being that a cold front just passed by I wasn't sure we would catch anything, but it didn't feel wickedly cold so I thought our chances of catching something were pretty good. I decided to try Lake Sarah first and our results were disappointing...all we caught was runty little bluegills. Lucas did catch this small LM bass...

Sad, but Sarah does not seem to have the size quality fish in it as it did a few years ago, although I am sure there are some good ones in there.

So after fishing Sarah for an hour we went to Dutch hoping to find the nice bluegills in the shallows. We found fish but most were crappies, with nothing bigger that 9.5". Lucas caught a couple gills and this small perch. He likes perch so I took a picture...

Along with those fish we also caught several largemouth bass, nothing big, but entertaining for Lucas. So we fished for a couple hours and kept enough crappies for a meal. It shouldn't take long before the gills come shallow em masse!

First outing in my boat for 2009

2009-04-24T04:10:00.000-07:00

I finally got out in the the boat for the first time this year and did some fishing on Pelican lake in Wright county. The temps were in the 80's and the wind was screaming out of the south. The parking lot was a zoo!!! I wanted to get away from the crowds so I made my way over to a spot after studying a map of the lake, fishing the wind blown shoreline. There was only one other boat there so I started fishing quite a bit away from them. My target species were bluegills and crappies; I selected Pelican because of the potential for bonus bass. Well, five seconds after my first cast This 4lb Largemouth bass pounced on my Culprit paddletail....

The wind really kept me from moving around. The best I could do was move to a spot, anchor, fish, pull up and move to a new spot! I caught a few bluegills doing this, biggest being about 8.5". Here's one I caught...

While fishing for the gills, this big gater came along and nabbed my tiny jig. Just under 31"...

About 6 o'clock I decided to head back toward the landing. I knew I would be battling some huge waves in my tiny boat and the going would be slow. Took me quite awhile to get back. I didn't want to go in so I fished inside the bay for awhile. I didn't catch anything there so I moved outside of the bay a bit where there were a bunch of boats catching chip crappies. I decided to join them and see if upsizing my presentation would get me any nice fish. Didn't happen. The biggest I caught was this one, probably 10"...

I really don't like pictures on bigger fish laying on side. One thing I have to set up in my boat is some sort of system so I can take pictures of me holding the fish when I am fishing alone. I am looking at the music stand in my basement right now and thinking of the possibilities...

Tubing after work 4/16/09

2009-04-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

Did some float tubing today on the same lake I have been slaughtering crappies and gills on. I found a few fish outside of the bay but nothing noteworthy. The bay is still holding crappies, but the numbers were way down. I was able to scratch out enough for a meal though. The first crappie I popped was this 11.5" mule...

The bluegills were on a tear though, biting aggressively. I decided to upsize to a Culprit paddletail and that seemed to bring in some bigger bluegills. Caught many in the 8-8.5" class like this one...

Also caught this bull @ 9"...

4/13/09 spring metro fishing with Lucas

2009-04-14T04:01:00.000-07:00

I got Lucas out for some fishing for the first time this year on my honey hole lake. Fish were active and we caught lots of nice crappies and bluegills...

pelican lake vacation june 14-21 2008

2008-06-22T05:12:00.000-07:00

For our vacation this year my family went to Pelican lake by Orr Minnesota for some fishing and relaxation. We went for a whole week. I brought my mom along too. She is 79 years old and still fishes!
Here's a snapshot of all of us....

We arrived on saturday, and after we got unloaded I was sitting around the fire ring by our cabin with my family when I got a very pleasant surprise. My brother pulled up with his family into our cabin driveway! Apparently Mitch had planned to surprise me for a couple months. Mitch, his wife Anita, and sons Matthew, Aaron, and Ryan just showed up!
Here's a picture of their family. The kid on the left with the brown shirt is a friend of Aaron's. Nicklaus ...

The next day me and Mitch went out casting shorelines in the morning and I caught this huge pumpkinseed on an x-rap, it was just a hair under the 10" mark!

That same day Aaron caught this 19" bucketmouth and 29" northern...

We soon figured out that northerns and LM bass were easy to catch. The crappies, bluegills, and perch were plentiful, not huge, but ok. Smallies were hard to come by though. We only caught a few including this 19" pig caught by Matt...

We caught alot of nice fish that week. Here is a taste of the action...
My mom gets a sunny

Here's a bucketmouth I caught. I caught many between 16.5 and 17.5".

Here's a couple bass my son Lucas caught right off the dock. 16.5 and 17.5. These bass were in the tiny cove behind him on the first picture. He was obsessed with catching 'em. I didn't think he would but he caught the first using a Chatterbait and the second using a Skitter Pop. You should have heard him scream when he got "fish on"!!!

I brought Ryan and Lucas out trolling for northerns in the bay one day when the weather was kinda icky. They must have caught 15 pike in just a couple hours. Here's a picture of two they caught at exactly the same time...

Here's Lucas with a 29" pike. Again he was screaming his head off!!!

Ryan with a gator...

Here's me with a largemouth just under 19"...

Another bucketmouth by your's truly...

And another...

Mitch get's one on a Skitter-Pop...

Me and a big nort...

13" crappie...

Aaron with a small smallie...

Workin' the shoreline....

Another slab crappie...

Mom and a crappie...

They don't call it Pelican lake for nothing!

A very unflattering picture of my butt. Mitch took it while I was messing with a 28" slimer...

A very small smallie I caught...

Lucas with a perch. He was very proud if it...

And a crappie...

And a gator...
Lucas and a micro-bass...

Me and Valerie...

Matt fishin'...

And Nicklaus too...

It wasn't all about fishing (well almost) I even did some tubing!

Annie Battle lake action 5/19-22/2008

2008-05-23T05:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got back from from my camping/fishing trip @ Glendalough State Park. The fishing for crappies was excellent, the fishing for bluegills was pathetic. I tried for walleyes ana stream outlet, but didn't catch any. I was camping and fishing the west shore, and what really increased the bluegill bite was the wind blowing into the shore. Monday and thursday the winds were favorable and the bluegill bite was on. Tuesday/wednesday saw north to northwest winds post-frontal conditions which really slowed the bluegill action. East to southeast winds are best, which is what happened on monday and thursday.

Ready to go monday morning...

The campsite is carry-in only. Two trips to get my stuff to my campsite...
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Arriving at campsite...

My campsite is right by the lake. This is the view about 50 feet away. The lake is down a small bluff. I kept my canoe, float tube, ant other things right at lakeside...

Here's a view of my campsite from a trail that goes around the lake...

The campgrounds are a beautiful...

The best fishing I found was in the reeds. They were right in front of my campsite and extended a couple hundred yards along the shoreline...

I decided to fish in the canoe first. So I anchored in front of some reeds ans started fishing. First fish of the trip was this small bass. They were everywhere! I didn't catch any big ones, though I heard there are some monsters in there...

Here's the first crappie. Most crappies were 11-12" fish. This one was close to 12", they were spawning and very easy to catch. 11" minimum and five per day limit on the crappies. Most I caught were realeased...

Another slab...

Crappie eye...

On my second trip out in the canoe, I fell out of it!!! Fortunately it didn't capsize, and the only thing I lost was my favorite baseball cap. Here's a pic of my clothes drying...

I didn't want to mess with the canoe anymore, so I used my float tube for the rest of the trip...

Here's a bluegill. The size of these gills were small compared to my two trips there. Still early. In a couple weeks the bigger ones will be in. I hear you can catch 'em up to a pound...

A hybrid...

Another gill...

Pumpkinseed mouth...

Typical of the size of the crappies. Didn't catch any bigger that 12"...

A nice male...

Some ready to be cleaned...

My new camera is waterproof, so I took some pictures underwater of the spawning crappies. Got some video too, and I'll post those as soon as I figure out how to do that...

upcoming camping and fishing trip 5/19-22

2008-05-17T05:04:00.000-07:00

Monday I blast off to Glendalough State Park in Ottertail county (by Fergus Falls). My campsite is right on Annie Battle lake, which is a heritage fishery; they don't allow motors of any kind or any electronic devices on the lake. Consequently, there are some big panfish in there, as well as walleye, bass (too early for that though) and northerns. Me and my family have camped there the last two Memorial Day weekends. It's a pretty cool place. I'll be spending three nights there, fishing and camping. My primary means of fishing will be either by canoe or float tube. There is an inlet from another lake close by so I might shore fish that at night for walleyes. Right now the crappies are coming up into the shallows, but I don't know about the bluegills. I may have to fish a little deeper to get them. I also want to drag a lindy rig behind my float tube and see if I can pick up some walleyes that way. The weather outlook is looking favorable, so it should be a great time, enjoying the Lord and His creation in peace and solitude.

odds and ends 5-16-2008

2008-05-16T08:28:00.001-07:00

Here's an assortment of pictures I took that are worthy of posting...
Opener morning 2008...

Alpine garden...

Fannie lake bass...

Tulip from the garden...

My son Lucas...

Opener 2008 walleyes. My brother's son Aaron holding the stringer...

Mother's day flower basket...

Must be one of the "ends" I was talking about. How did that get in here!!!

My mom with her bird...

A big ol' rock mitch found. He thinks it might be an agate...

More metro panfish 5-16-08

2008-05-16T08:06:00.001-07:00

Got out for a bit this morning for some fishing. Went to the same lake hoping to find those nice gills. They were a little bigger than my last 2 outings, and more active, but not the size they were 2 years ago. Here's a sample of today's catch...

Pretty crappie...

sunny

Check out this big ol' golden shiner I caught!

Cool crappie eye...

Biggest sunny of the day

The crappies in this lake are getting bigger. There should be some good slab fishing in a year or two.

more metro action 5-14-2008

2008-05-15T04:10:00.000-07:00

Went to the same lake again, this time I fared a little better on the bluegills. Still not the size I got the last couple years, probably a little early. Here's today's catch...

Nice crappie. Check out my halo!
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Another small bass. Should be good bass fishin' there in a few years...

Respectable bluegill...

Close-up

Here's a hybrid, which I don't remember ever catching any on that lake...

Next opportunity to get out will either be tonight on Minnetonka walleye fishing, or tomorrow morning, destination unknown.

Metro Fishing report 5/13/08

2008-05-14T03:55:00.000-07:00

Went out last night for some fishing. Went to a metro area lake that had produced some nice gills and crappies in the past. Key is to go in the spring. Went there a couple weeks ago, fished the shallows and nothing. Last night fared better. They seem to be in the shallows, but no bruiser gills. But then I only fished for an hour and a half. Here's a look...

Lots of these 9" crappies...

Here's a Small sunny. Didn't catch any big ones today...

Here's the biggest of the outing @ 11"...

There's alot of these "Micro-Bass" in there. They are bigger than they were a couple years ago.

Here's a sunny that is barely a keeper...

Here's what I brought home for dinner

first post in "Casey's catch of the day"...

2008-05-13T03:33:00.000-07:00

Here's my first ever post on this blog. Last week I bought a new camera, and ever since I have been trying to figure out how things work on the camera, and here @ Blogspot. I took these pics over a week ago, so here goes...

This is my ten year old daughter Genna. She usually likes to make funny faces for the camera...

This is my eight year old son Lucas. Who has much suceeded in making a funny face for the camera!

And here is my very first fish picture for this blog using new camera. It is a terrible picture, but I am improving. It will never make the cover of a magazine.

More later...

2008-04-26T18:04:00.000-07:00