well I hope everyone is enjoying some of the pictures of such a magical season on as Dave said” A GRAND LAKE! A GRAND LAKE! THAT OWES HIM NOTHING! NOTHING” It was full of emotion as he set there in in old Minnesota that evening jigging not being able to see as he had lost his vision from a stroke. He had a small resort on the other side of the river and use to have Viking players up from the Bud Grant days as he was a security guard for the team and tried to keep them out of trouble as he traveled with the team.
Ole, Marty and I spent Wednesday and part of Thursday fishing lake of the woods for pike out of warrod. We did see a 42 caught but we did not do well at all. We could of fished a lot harder but it was more about spending time together in the outdoors with good friends. Ole has a 20 pounder on his wall from low and a 25 pounder from red lake. He is now looking for a 30 pounder and knows that may never happen. He did have some bad news while we were fishing. Someone broke into his building in Alaska and stold his custom boat that he built that took him 3 summers. It had two Honda motors on it and was over 20 feet long. They also stold another Honda motor. They had some other stuff but it looked like they may of planned on coming back for it. They had to have a big truck and had to move a car, a wheeler and a 3 wheeler plus brake open two giant sliding doors. He hopes they find it as its a known boat in the area. He has such a great attitude. He is up set but is very thankful for his health and all the adventures he has lived and all the trophy’s he has taken fishing and hunting. He loves the big woods of northen Minnesota and will be back next fall to spend some time chasing his favorite critter the white tail deer.
Now for the fishing report here on the shore of upper red lake. Buddy hillmen was not letting wheel house off his access this weekend. The access is open but no wheel houses. marty and I escorted Ole out to the fish eye where we punch 4 holes for ole to fish. He fished out of his truck and threw in the towel at 7 30 or so with no elusive upper red lake crappies. Lon and his two boys stayed here on shore in the comfort of our 1 bedroom cabin. I gave them direction to the honey hole and they managed five elusive upper red lake crappies Thursday evening. From talking to him yesterday it sounded like they needed to go west just a bit. They enjoyed a late dinner Thursday night in the cabin, showered up and rested before heading out yesterday around 4 pm. Lon followed direction very well and took my advice and went a little further west where they landed on the mother load at dusk. It reminded Lon of the hey days as you could not run two lines at a time. They ended up pulling the plug at 8 30 pm with there limit of 30 fish to take home. The cabin is wide open if any fishermen want to make a last trip up. We were making ice last night as its 7 degrees this morning. The shore line should be in excellent condition. You can travel almost anywhere on the north shoe as long as you stay away from the pressure ridges. The mother load is out there and I have no problem at all pointing fishermen in the right direction. It would be nice if you play more catch and release but its not the end of the world if you take a few fish home as there are more then enough to share in my eyes. Kellie the hammer and I talked last night about taking old Minnesota back out for one more night? I’m thinking about it but its such a nice feeling having the houses just out from our property waiting for some warmer weather to melt all the snow so I can get them to shore. Plus I need to check the weather as the last thing I need is to be 8 miles out and deal with a march snow storm. We have caught enough fish for one season and had that magical moment less then a week ago. Next year, same time, same location the fish will be a little bit bigger and a little bit more educated.
Marty and I spent a better part of yesterday repairing the runner on florida as the welds failed and I lost a runner when I made the final turn towards our property. My welds lasted 10 years. When we built Florida and Montana we tried to build them to last at least 20 years. I expect they will last 30 with a little adjustments on the runners as my welding skills were not that good when I made the frames 10 years ago. We also have the materials ordered for our new addition next season North Dakota. Jake will be up mid April to start building it. Life is good and I thank god every day for such a wonderful wife and friends