The hammer, the trooper. Yesterday morning needing the red baron and blue thunder on the lake I recruited the sweet hart to drive blue thunder out. She could relax in old Minnesota and watch a movie and do a little fishing while I moved Florida for Dave and his crew arriving later in the day. Dave rolled In around 2 and I checked them in and we headed off the lake as we had to be in Bemidji before 4 30. I forgot to hit the toggle switch for the heat on blue thunder and the hammer got a little cold driving in. The same thing happened to Andrew earlier this year when I had him bring blue thunder out on the ice. OOPS! I have to remember that when I let some one drive her. We arrived home fairly late and I was not able to go out and Check on Dave . I did shoot him a text and he said 2 perch and 2 scuffit walleyes. I just do not get it. Chuck and Kathy got there limit sunday a couple hours after dark and headed home. I moved florida just a bit beyond where randy did well friday and Saturday, and Chuck and Kathy did well the first night and the third night. Just like that and the area is fished out? Oh well the hammer did mark a couple of fish while I was working but did not land anything. Old minnesota had good fishing the first night and slower the second with fishing it during the day the third time not producing anything. Will see how Dave and the boys did this morning and maybe I will have to move even further with the houses for the up and coming final weekend of game fish. If the weather man is right it should be a glorious day on such a grand lake that as the old timer Dave said” It owes me nothing! nothing! The plans are to take my time and dig all 3 houses out of there icy tombs and stage them for the next big move. Florida will have to be moved again after Dave leaves tomorrow. Montana will be set up today then be moved after Rick leaves Friday morning. The hammer and I will be fishing old Minnesota off and on all week and will be moved on fresh ice before Friday, but I want to see what happens if its fished a couple more nights on the same spot. All them fish are becoming very elusive?

The old adage time flies by when your having fun could not be any truer. Just 7 days of the game fish season left. Wow where did it go? Man did the fishing flip flop from Friday to Saturday. North Dakota only landed the one 19 incher when I checked on them saturday morning. old Minnesota and florida had there keepers. Mike, Neil and Kayla had 7 .Mikes plan was to eat them all so they could try for a limit to take home. Randy and his crew in there wheel house did really well. It sounds like Randy is going to come up this summer and let me take him and his wife fishing in” Imagine That” our 20 foot tyee. The greek named the boat . Grandma use to say uuu EEEmadgen dat in that strong Swedish accent.

Lee and his crew in there wheel house did not do that great and moved down a little closer to where we were. They only had a little better fishing Saturday in to the evening . I plowed a spot for Matt, Jeromy and Matts dad and they did not do well at all Saturday night? Randy just 100 yards away did well all day into the evening. That’s twice this year that Randy as done real well and I’m thinking he may be one of them blessed fishermen that just has a nact for catching fish. I set up Chuck and Kathy to the east of us and they had there 6 by 8;30 pm and went to bed. Chucks son came up with his portable Saturday and they only scratched out 5 more fish un tell the called it a day. Chuck and Kathy got 2 yesterday morning and I will see how they did last night later today. That will be the third night on the same spot as he did not want to do a cookie shuffle and move 25 yards on to fresh ice. Lonnie and family with there wheel house went to where we had gotten a total of 14 elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies earlier in the year. When I talked to him they were moving as they had only landed two walleyes. I also talked to another guy that was fishing in the same area and he said they pounded the fish Friday but Saturday was not very good, No elusive upper red lake crappies. I did ask him if he caught any small walleye scufitts and he said they sure did? Adam landed on 5 keepers Friday night into Saturday morning and packed up to move out by us where they did real well just east of us with Justin landing a elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie sunday morning. Lonnie called sunday morning to say where they moved to was not that good and they only landed two keepers. He did say that quite a few elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies were caught in the area with a portable landing 15 or so? Turns out they new some one in a rental and fished by them so there families could hang out. Tammy, Tanner, Taylor and Randy tried in very shallow as I had a hunch a few weeks ago that that’s where the bigger fish are hanging out. They had action all weekend missing quite a few fish. Randy said there was no night bite at all. I expected that’s when it would of been the best. Stupid fish. They did take home 7 with 4 over 17. I would love to have all my houses in that area but its so close to shore fishermen think there getting ripped off when the road goes out 10 miles. If the fishing is good then you look like the hero but if its not there like why are all those houses out there? That happen earlier this year when I was out a mile and half and we had poor fishing.

Ken, Tony boy, Chris and Leah also moved down by us to the north Friday. They had horrible fishing and moved to the other side of old Minnesota where they only landed 5 more fish Saturday. Mike, Neil and Kayla ate all 7 of there fish and went home with zero as they could not buy a fish Saturday night. Crazy. Dan and Adrea had good fishing all weekend in florida 200 feet away. Tony Boy helped me moved North Dakota over towards us for Mike and his crew and they were a 100 yards from Randy’s crew doing well and they hardly caught any thing. All though Mike did catch something lol. All and all not to bad of a weekend, spent some quality time with family, had a ton of fun and didn’t have to work to hard. Today its back to work as the hammer is going to drive the red baron out so I can have both trucks to move florida for Dave and his crew arriving later today. I did have four locals from blackduck fish florida yesterday into the evening where it was a little slow. Forth night on the same spot. Ron did land a elusive yet still catchable 15 inch upper red lake crappie his biggest ever and his first walleye through the ice. I was really hoping to see a few more elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies as I have shifted gears and am on the hunt for the mother load, with walleyes now the secondary fish. I have a huge area to shift all the houses to for the up and coming week. With two caught the mother load could be just a few 100 yards away. Right now my plans are to hunt them down and spend some quality time in old minneosta with the hammer. Jake and his crew will be up march 10th 11th as well as Don and his crew. They will all be bringing portables and enjoying there evenings relaxing in the house’s and who knows maybe even catching a few elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies out of the houses. It happened last year, there should be no reason we cant doing it again. I assume Buddy Hillmen will also have some houses available the next few weeks. The stores number is 218 647 8504. I’m never ready for the season to end as its so much fun and I so much enjoy working out there. As most of the resorts start pulling house off to the east,, there I am every year? towing houses to the northwest.

Another fun weekend is about to begin. With the hammers sister and two brothers coming up I will be prepping all the house’s for the weekend. Dan plays the guitar and sings will be entertaining us with some good old country music. I started a new road to the north and piled into some sheets of broken refrozen ice. I would assume its the table size sheets of ice Jon captured on his camera this last dec as it broke up and refroze. If it does not get smoother its going to be a little tougher banking the houses and I may have to use the red baron instead of blue thunder for banking. I like to bank the snow 2 to 3 feet high around the houses to keep any drafts from entering the houses. Its quite a lot more work but that’s what I like . Marty is home in the cites trying to find a new car for his wife after are car- bu- cue as wayne coined it. I guess you have to laugh and at least no one got hurt. I set up Chris and ken next to florida and the first 24 hours they only landed 5 walleyes . I talked to Ken last night and they were now over twenty fish so it has picked up a bit but they are biting very lite. a small bare hook and split shot on a dead stick has been about the only thing that has been working. I also had Gary and his wife Kay fishing in florida on the same spot for the 5th day in a row? While I was visiting during the bewitching hour Kay landed one nice keeper, missed two on the rattle wheel and Gary missed one on his bobber set up with his duck shaped jig stick. Kay had a bobber on the size of a quarter and I watched it go down two inches and it was still a swing and a miss as it seems they are just chomping down on the tail of the minnow. I mentioned to bear paw last week that I think the bigger fish are in close to shore and yesterday I had to rub my eyes as there’s 3 of his biggest houses out in front of my place and his, fishing the break line in 8 feet of water? Should be a great evening bite and early morning. Not sure about the day bite but it sure can not be any worse then 8 miles out. Wayne fished old Minnesota hard and had great action two nights in a row around midnight. Again the bite was extremely lite and if you jigged the minnow at all they were gone like a rocket. He did get to go home with three quality fish. We had a hoot as he was here 5 days and is one of my best friends. The hammer raked in a bundle of ones playing poker and yesterday morning Wayne and I had a couple great games of texas hold em. Fun Fun Fun. I was also able to put him to work as he helped detail the houses. He even washed the picture windows. We also added a couple more trinkets to the walls of old Minnesota and montana. Jeff is bringing up a new furnace for montana as after 10 solid years the Orbis went kapoot. A brand new empire 35000 btu . I think its a little over board but that’s what the gas man recommended for the square footage. Its going take up a little floor space and a shelf will have to be moved. Florida and old Minnesota will also be getting up graded in the near future. Lee will be arriving with two young guys in his wheel house and I will be plowing him a spot well off the beaten path into a completely un fished area. Randy and Tammy are also coming up. Randy talked about setting up close to shore but with the wife’s family coming up I hope they set up out by us so they can enjoy the music and company of the hammers family. My old helper and muscle Tony boy is also coming up with his wife and will be bunking with Ken. It will be good to see him as its been a while. I expect shell chick will be making French dips as she does every year and it is one of my favorite sandwiches. I also hope to do a little tip up fishing with Jeff as we target a few big pike. All the houses will be set up on fresh ice and no matter how they do I will not be moving any houses if the fishing is not good. Since north Carolina is not rented I’m going to set it up in a completely different area miles away from the other houses and see what happens there. I also have to remember to put on the extension on my augur as I measured 29 inches of ice where were at and with the houses blocked up I just made it through last time I augured. Moving onto that broken ice and it could be a lot thicker. Should be a great time this weekend and such a grand lake.

The elusive yet still catchable upper red lake walleye? Yes you read that right.The walleye fishing this year has not been any thing like I expected. I’ve pretty much done what I have done every year but for some reason this year the bite has been much tougher. No matter how bad the bite is here on upper red lake some one is always hammering them? Makes you wonder if a some of them reports are fiction? How many times I have heard we caught 50 we caught a 100 in two days. I have been doing this for 13 years, I pretty much move my house’s at least once or even twice a week all year long. Lets just say once a week. 5 houses 10 weeks. That’s 50 spots and that’s way on the low side. 13 years that’s 650 spots if I’m doing the math right. Andy and Andy had a weekend where they figured they caught 75 fish. There’s been some 50 fish weekends for sure. 100 fish in two nights on the same spot I don’t think has ever happened in one of our houses since the crappie days. As my good buddy Wayne always says if we caught them all there would not be any left. Mother nature always steps in, be it summer, winter, spring or fall. Its fishing not catching. If you think about it were catching a fish out of a 8 inch hole on how many acres. Its amazing we even catch one fish. Now for a report. Jason and his wife were in florida Sunday, Monday on a new spot . They only caught a couple fish the first day. They did eat a couple for dinner . The second night the rattle wheels went crazy around midnight and Jason got up and landed numerous fish. Wayne, Kellie the hammer and I fished old Minnesota and only caught a few fish, better then the old spot but not what I expected. The second night and the rattles wheels kept Wayne awake from midnight tell 1 30 am in old Minnesota. Last night we had dinner out there and prime time, the bewitching hour we never landed a fish? Montana on a new spot had Jim and Dave. They had limited action ,I moved then to florida yesterday and they had much better fishing and that would of been the third night on the same spot? North Dakota had Luke, Kevin, Tina and Kristy. They caught fish with a couple bigger pike on tip ups plus one of the girls landed a 36 inch pike on her rod and reel. Yesterday I spent part of the day finishing up plowing hillmens highway. I said goodbye to Kevin and his crew and Jason and his wife. I spent part of the day just hanging out with wayne and not moving any thing. I got a little rest and may of found my second wind. Today its back to the grind as I plan on again having all 5 houses on fresh ice. Shell chick and Jeff roll in tomorrow for old Minnesota and Dan and Andrea are in florida. Mike and Neil are in Montana Friday and Mike and his crew are in north Dakota. North Carolina is open but I will still be moving that house as it was fished two day last weekend. I did set up a wheel house in the area where Goose was and they caught a few with a 36 inch pike on a rod and reel at 10 o’clock pm. Crazy pike. Rodger and Rich showed up Monday night and have only caught one walleye and one pike in there personal hard house. Oh well its called fishing not catching. I will attempt to catch a few elusive yet still catchable walleyes starting tomorrow

Some highlights and some not so highlights of the weekend. First thing I’m looking for my second wind. Thursday I was out on the lake working by my self. I hit a wall about 4pm and wanted to call it a night but knowing we had some cold weather coming Friday morning I kept grinding and got north Dakota moved , blocked, banked before the sun went down. Friday morning would just leave florida to be moved before Leroy and the gangs arrival. Marty rolled back in to town with is wife and father around 11am and would help me prep florida after he got his wife Shelly and dad Les all set up. While we were moving florida Goose called and said swing over for a French dip. One of my favorite sandwiches. I told them I would be over shortly. Not only did they have a French dip but Mellisa, Bryces wife had a fresh piece of apple pie for me and man was that delicious. Thanks guys as that hit the spot. I then gave a couple guys a quick tug as they had gotten stuck with there wheel house. By then Marty had Florida buttoned up and all the houses were ready for the weekend. I forgot to mention with the temps and wind it was absolutely brutal out there and I had to where a face mask as the wind chill had to be -30.

The fishing reports that evening were not to good with only a few fish caught. A lot of fish marked but they refused to bite. Boar rolled in around 9pm and I v plowed him a spot north east of the area I was fishing then a couple guys waved me down and wanted me to cut them a trail to there house as there buddy showed up with a van. I cut them a trail and they offered me a 20. They scraped another 20 together and commented the casino took a chunk of there change on the way up. I never did see how they did as they were just south west of us. Goose and his crew did pretty good and went for a fish fry Saturday afternoon. Boar had 4 Saturday morning as well as north Dakota. Florida had only 3. Mike and his wife in north Carolina did the best of the houses and landed one small but still catchable elusive upper red lake crappie and they did go home with there nine. Old Minnesota and montana just plain stunk. Bradly and the crew in North Dakota did land a 36 inch pike and a 20 inch walleye on a sucker minnow and tip up. They also managed to catch enough fish for 6 to go to west winds for a fish fry saturday eve. Heading off the lake Saturday eve around midnight and again my new generator was not running. I think I’m going to take it to acme this week and throw it through there picture window. A trip to shore to get our back up which is so heavy I had to have wayne in old Minnesota come help me. I get back out there and even though I had it running a month ago to get familiar with it we get it unloaded and it refuses to start. Ok plan B fire up the new one again and this time it fires right up and again runs all night with no issues? Sunday morning and Marty wife’s car will not start. We set it up with a torpedo and blankets to warm the engine and unplug the power to montana as the torpedo needs power to run the blower. Marty and I are over moving Florida and North Dakota to a new area as I have not ruined but destroyed the area were fishing. Next thing you know the front clip of Shelly’s car is on fire. The generator had ran out of gas and with out the blower running on the torpedo she got hot and burst in to flames . Wayne ran over and with the fire extinguisher from Montana and was able to put it out. Her car needs to be towed off the lake this morning.

It was a very tough weekend to say the least. I do believe all things happen for a reason, I’m just not sure why sometimes. I will be heading out shortly to retrieve shell’s car and then have old Minnesota and montana will have to be moved, plus Hillmens Highway has 5 inches of powdered snow to remove. Just another busy day on such a grand lake

Wow looking at the calender and the walleye fishing is winding down. 17 days that’s all that left. This weekend is going to be a grind. Andrew, Dan and Luke headed home with there nine and ate a few fish so that was a good thing. Trevor and Stu had much better fishing last night and had a few in the bucket with two dandy perch to boot. I on the other hand I had another busy but satisfying day on the lake. I checked on Preston in his giant ice castle . They had slow fishing but Preston did land a trophy. A elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie and is going to get it mounted. Well over 16 inches. Goose and the gang are up and I plowed a area for them .I was wrong about cross country travel to a point as the goose off roaded to his spot. Bryce on the other hand pulled in just at sunset and attempted to make a loop around off the path I plowed and last I saw was digging out his shovel. The goose said he lives for this and loves the adventure so I headed home with out giving them a tug. I on the other hand spent a little time in ‘old Minnesota detailing it for the up and coming weekend for Wayne. Old Minnesota came from Milac’s back in the crappie day and is Wayne’s baby. All though Kellie the hammer and I love it and is our favorite house. I did plow a couple off shoots for wheel houses to give them a couple options. Then there are a few roads that were made after the big blow sunday, monday to retrieve houses. I found a spot to set up north Carolina as Mike is bringing his own generator. I then moved north Dakota on to its new spot. Blue thunders power steering belt is worn out and it has been a bear banking houses with the crusted snow pack. I need to move and bank florida this morning then she can be addressed. Knock on wood. I have been leaving blue thunder out on the lake where she feels right at home as I need both trucks out there so that’s the best way without my good friend and helper Marty. He should roll in some time today with his wife and dad for a little r@r and fishing. Sunday 3 of the houses are re rented so more then likely they will all have to be moved on to fresh ice as I can not stand checking in new customers in to a pre fished house unless the fishing had been fantastic. The third night never seems good ? All though for some goofy reason I have seen the fourth night have good to better then good fishing. I will never figure that out. Kevin and his crew have north Dakota Sunday, Monday and are bringing there own generator so I will have to prep a new location for them. My good friends and hunting buddies will be also coming Sunday for north Carolina. Jason and his gal will be coming for Florida.. Then Monday Dave is coming for Florida and Jason and Whitney will move into Montana so both those will have to be reset. Tuesday and Wednesday we will regroup as we again have a full house starting Thursday. Looking back through out the season so far it has been a bit of a grind trying to find great fishing and I would not change it for the world as I just Love be out there on such a grand lake

Well what can I say I guess I worked Andrew, Danny and Luke to hard. There plan was to hit some way points that Jake sent them. The fishing for them in the new spot we set up produced 14 fish and two fishing rods down the holes with one retrieved and one gone to the fish gods. A wheel house moved in just to the south of them around 6pm and they had not caught a fish all night. After checking in on them I was off to finish up a little more plowing on hillmens highway. Once that was done it was back to shore too gather a few more supply’s and head back out to move old Minnesota down by montana for the up and coming weekend. I arrived back out to North Dakota and the boys were having a beer and all still in there pajama bottoms. I guess it was just to cold for them to hit any of those way points. Oh well at least they are having a grand time on a grand lake. I headed over to old Minnesota and started the process of digging her out. About 50 feet away another wheel house was set up next to old minnesota. every thing went well as I worked up a good sweat, its hard work but so enjoyable being out in the fresh air . I had the perfect plan after getting old Minnesota set up and checking in Stu and Trevor into florida, Kellie the hammer and I would be having a nice dinner and fishing in old Minnesota. Arriving back to Minnesota around 5pm we were unpacking when a truck pulls up. It was the guys fishing next to old Minnesota in its old spot. They had caught nothing and said they watched me move and wonder if the dog always ran behind me when I towed houses. They assumed I knew where the fish were as they also had caught nothing. I guess I was caught by surprise as one of them called me the fish guy? and I must know where there biting .Would it be ok if they moved down and fished in between old Minnesota and florida. I guess after busting butt all day. Working on the lake 43 straight days I told them to stick it out for the evening as old Minnesota had caught fish there in the evening and if they had bad fishing there was all sorts of areas to move to. I would rather if they would not move down by me. I have always looked at all the fishermen out there as potential customers. In hind site they caught me at the wrong time as I was trying to get the hammer and I set up for the evening. I will see how they did today and if they decide they want to move I can cut them a trail with the v plow. Now for the horrible fishing report. The hammer marked a couple fish and I lost one small scuffit at the hole. We had a supreme dinner, watched a movie and relaxed. I did not climb up on the top bunk of old Minnesota as I know I would of fallen a sleep right away, as I love taking a nap up there. We headed in with a quick stop at florida and north Dakota where the fishing was poor with a few lookers and no takers. Today I plan on taking north Carolina to a completely different area. Wayne will be using old minnesota this weekend and we will talk about moving old Minnesota after he fishes a day or two. Florida and north Dakota will also have to be moved and reset up for the up and coming weekend.

I guess that accu weather is struggling with getting there prediction right. Yesterday when I hit the lake with the red baron the winds had finally diminished. I dropped the vplow and off I went throwing snow to the south. When I got to the end of the road I cut a new trail to florida so Russell and Gary could get back on the road. We said our goodbyes and they were taking home there 6 fish. back on Hillmens highway for more plowing. That crazy 454 gets horrible gas mileage. It was burning about a 1/4 tank every 16 miles that’s about 5 miles to the gallon. Granted I’m plowing snow. My third trip out and Andrew called with his buddies Dan and Luke. perfect I had Andrew stop by the house and get blue thunder as I would be needed both trucks on the lake. I forgot to tell Andrew to hit the toggle switch for the heater and he had a nice cold ride 8 miles out. When they arrive I then recruited Luke to become the designated v plow driver and I gave him a little training as we headed back to shore for more gas. Coming back on the lake and it was Luke’s turn to clip along throwing snow to the south. Once we arrived back to the houses I used the red baron to cut a couple path to north Dakota and old Minnesota I then turned Luke loose to continue v plowing as I recruited the other two to help move north dakota and florida. I have my procedures and with a little orders we had both houses on the main road in no time. Luke arrived back with the red baron and I cut a hole new trail all the way out to montana . A little time making the new road and again with there help we took both houses down the new road in a fishy area to ruin. I had them all set up and fishing by 3 pm and finished the night prepping florida for today. I headed back on the lake around 8pm and they had enough fish for a meal and also caught a couple scufits. I totally forgot to tell them that’s a good sign for the elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie? I have just a little more v plowing to do on Buddy Hillmens highway this morning and again she is in great shape. It just amazes me how nice of a road Buddy makes. I have a passion for golf,billards,and working on the lake taking care of customers. Buddy has a passion for making his road and you sure can tell by the time he puts in to it. Its a pleasure to be part of such a long tradition. The red baron has two mounts for the v plow and I think I need to take out the pins and raise the back as the tip of the plow is not quite touching the ice. I will have to wait for Marty to return as the new modification made you need a second person to hook it backup. Off road travel is now a thing of the past in my eyes. As the snow has crusted over trucks with wheel houses are defiantly going to have more trouble going off road. There is a secret to traveling with them but its a secret . If you have a wheel house I would plan on tracking down a v plow or straight blade to cut you a path. Also leave the plastic shovel at home and bring a number 2 spade shovel. It gets old picking up broken plastic shovels. Yesterday was another grand day on such a grand lake . The sun was shining all day and you could see for miles. With snow plumes to the west, east, and south all the operations spent the day opening up all the roads. Today I plan on digging old Minnesota and north Carolina out and getting them into new areas to ruin. Stu and his crew have florida rented today and tomorrow. That means Friday I will have to put florida on a fresh spot for Leroy and family. They have been coming for quite a few years and rented the cabin the first time I met them .

Just as I figured the roads on the lake were quite drifted. The nice thing about Buddy Hillmens’ highway as even though the snow had drifted there were still areas of bare ice and as long as you go slow even in blizzard conditions you can navigate your way off the lake. I talked to Buddy before I hit the lake with blue thunder .He told me to start on the north side and cut a new edge all the way to the end of the road. I got on the lake only to be greeted with high winds out of the northwest. With some lite snow coming down on top of the 3 to 5 we got she was blowing across the lake pretty good. I don’t quite understand where it all comes from. You would think the way it was howling it would all be blown away in no time but it just keeps coming and coming from the north west. Time I got to the end of the road and turned around the edges I had created were all ready catching snow. I headed back towards shore with a quick stop to check in on Russle and his dad in florida. The easiest thing to do was cross country to the house from the eastern side as the well maintained wide road I had made was pretty much full of snow. Stepping in to the house I from out of that extreme weather and it was just like stepping in to florida 70 degrees and no wind. They only had one keeper? Wow that surprised me as bobby joe and Darrel had left early in the am and had caught there limits less then 200 feet away. I was in a hurry and told them I would be back later. getting back on Buddy Hillmen’s highway and pretty much all the work I had done was now filled with more snow so I basically started over only heading east. Once to the end again I turned around and back I went for my third trip. I was clipping along pretty good letting the wind take some of the snow to the south .Another trip to the end and back and half way back I find my square shovel. It had magically fell off the truck. The next trip back I again stopped in at florida but this time I decided to plow into my old road bed. I new I had lost it but had to check it out . Once there a quick look at the box and generator and the extension cord coming out of the box had frozen into the puddle of water created from the exhaust. A little chiseling , repositioning the box and I walked over to old Minnesota. The weight of all the snow from drifting causes water to some how rise out of the holes and oozes out from under the house where it freezes like hot lava and somehow rises above the ice sheet. There under all that fresh ice is my extension cord. Frozen at least 10 feet under two inches of ice I would not be saving that and will have to roll it up hang it on a stick and come back and retrieve it in march when every thing starts to melt. Another quick stop in florida and still no more fish. I spent a few minutes giving them a couple tips,lures and tricks of the trade and off I went again. I met Buddy hillmen v plowing on the way in and his helper Kelly with the straight blade. What a mess as I think the winds had picked up. I was out of gas and needed to get to town to pick up the red baron so off the lake I came. Arriving back home around 5pm I had to put the v plow back on. With Barnys new design It changed the way the plow lifts and I struggled getting it back on. What I could do I my own in the past now I need a second person. Chandler was nice enough to help me and after a couple different atemps we got her back on. I was eager to get back out there and give her a test. buddy and Kelly had called it quits and open up only half the road as I think the winds had picked up when that stupid weather man kept saying on the radio all day the winds would be diminishing. Who makes up these weather reports? I gave the red baron a good work out on the way out and every thing performed just like it was designed. A third stop at florida and it was nice to see some more fish lying on the ice. My tips , tricks and lures had done the trick or the fish decided to swim under the house. Another short visit and off I went to get home for a nice dinner with the hammer and rest up for another day of plowing? Not sure what the plans will be today as the stupid weather says high winds for a third straight day. I hate to cut a new trail to the houses as the drifting will just fill it in. I will have to base my decision when I arrive out there as Russell and his dad are in a car, Andrew Jakes brother will be arriving some time today for north Dakota. Jake said they will help move the house but with the extreme weather not sure if that going to happen today. I also rented florida tomorrow? I may get the chance to see if the house can catch any fish on the fifth night on the same spot. Making any new roads to the houses will only fill in as fast as you make them. Mother nature is the real boss and winner out there and no matter how hard you try she is in control. I plan on hitting the lake at first light this morning and we will go from there. As Dave the old timer said . ITS A GRAND LAKE AND IT OWES ME NOTHING, NOTHING

Yesterday was not a day to be on the lake. Marty and I headed out around 8am to gas up the generators and say goodbye to all our customers from the weekend. I had a sneaky suspicion some would all ready be gone with this major weather system blowing in . We met Tanner and his crew coming off the lake and said our goodbyes. I never got to spend much time with them this weekend so only remember Amanda and brads name the other two I forgot. They had the worst of the fishing in north Dakota but did catch enough for a fish fry and said they were taking some home. Tanner also said they would be back next year for sure. That’s always nice to hear. We also met Bobby joe and Darrel on the road as they were headed to westwind for breakfast. Kellie the hammer and I spent a couple hours Saturday night visiting them and doing a little fishing. When we arrived they had 3 in the bucket. I got the hammer set up and Bobby s rattle wheel went off. She set the hook and got a nice keeper. The hammer lost one at the hole a short time later . Then Bobby had two misses on the same rattle wheel, they sure seemed to like that corner of the house. I stopped in to check on Rolly and Kevin if Florida. They were eating some fresh fish. Kevin said they had caught a few and had enough action to keep them entertained through out the weekend.. Andy an dandy had the best fishing of the 5 houses they figured they landed 20 even though they had a parade of trucks driving by them part of the day. They hooked up with there buddy Sam Saturday and spent the night in his wheel house on a way point from last year. I’m not a huge be leaver in way points out there as the fish move so much with the lack of structure. There are patterns out there and I spose certain areas can be good year to year. They ended up with only 3 fish and no elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. Oh Rolly did land a nice 14 1/2 Saturday morning. I stopped and talked to a wheel house that had set up just north of florida. They did not do well at all. I also stopped and talked to Boar as I had picked a spot for him. They had pretty good fishing and caught some nice ones and took home 12 nice keepers. We had a couple good laughs about a shovel. I found a shovel he left on the lake weeks ago ,when he ask me if I had found a shovel I said yes I did but he would have to buy a new one as this one has become part of cookies operation. I ask him if he would also pick me up a spade shovel and I would reimburse him this weekend for both. Saturday morning when I stopped to get my shovel I left in a hurry to say good bye to Rick, Matt and Mike. I got a text from boar a bit later that he had found a shovel and it now had became part of his operation. he is coming up again next weekend with a group of 4 h kids so the pressure is on to find him a good spot. Marty and I worked on detailing the houses as the weather quickly started turning for the worse. We had a couple small mishaps that were again to funny. I had a dandy perch laying on the ice in front of florida, when Marty rolled up with the vacuum he made it into a pancake with blue thunder as he did not see it there. Then when is was vacuuming Florida the extension hose fell in the hole and he sucked up a pint or two of water through the vacuum. Coming off the lake a 11am and the north west winds with the snow had started drifting across the roads and things were getting real ugly out there real quick. I would be making another trip out there when Russel and his dad arrived for florida later in the day. They rolled in around 230 and heading out it has become a whole new world out there. I got them checked in and told them they would be hunkering down and do not venture out , I also talked to Bobby and Darrel and left them a spare generator in case any problems developed as I would not be coming back on to the lake in less it was a emergency. The road I made to the houses is completely gone and I imagine it will be easier to cut a new trail then open up the old one which is a shame as I had put quite a bit of time in making it nice and wide with only a big berm on one side. In hind site I should of built the berm on the eastern side and not the west. The way it was blowing it may of not even made a difference. It only made sense to have the berm on that side as all the houses were to the east of the road. I’m not sure what Buddy’s plans will be reopening the road but do know that we have a big work out coming for blue thunder and the red baron. The red baron is still in Kellier but is spose to be done today. 800 hundred dollars worth of work as Barny is reengineering the whole thing and beefing it up . He said with the design the way it was if I ever hit something to hard I would rip the plow right off the front frame horns. With the new design maybe it will be bullet proof. I expect not as the conditions are just so extreme out there. Marty will not be back un tell Friday as he will be bringing his wife up for a weekend of fishing in Montana. Since Montana was only fished 1 day I plan on leaving it where it is and just moving all the drifted snow away from it. I would like to have north Dakota on fresh ice some time before Andrew arrives tomorrow. Old Minnesota needs to be on a new spot by Wednesday and the rest of the fleet by Friday. It should all work out but there is a lot of plowing to do once this wind settles down. I have my eye on a whole new area so we will also see how that pans out through out the week. Randy and Tammy set up right on the spot there were last weekend and did terrible I know I’m not going there