Gettin' Fishy!

winter fishing debacle

2011-02-09T08:59:00.002-06:00

Did I mention I'm tired of winter? I'd love nothing more than to jump in the truck with Wahoo, drive south to the first open water we can cast in and re-aquaint myself with the fishes, any fish.... However, the early season in WI is a month and a half away and I guess I'll just have to suck it up. I'm not much for the winter fishing season in MN, especially with all this snow on the ground, getting around on the streams would be a chore and I'm a terrible midge fisherman anyway...

My love/hate relationship with winter/ice fishing has taken on more hate than love this winter. The fishing has been pretty poor, our usual harvest spot is overrun with micro perch and only when your willing to stay till 10pm is it worthwhile, to catch a couple crappies anyway. Last weekend 6 of us ventured to Mille Lacs for the one overnight weekend of the winter. My expectations were not high to say the least, it's that doldrums time of the season and I was just hoping for enough perch to bag and cook for Jennifer. We were greeting lakeside by pea soup fog, finding the shack was a total mess and eventually we had to run back to the lodge to get an escort. Once we found our shack we realized we had been stuck in the no man's land of shack placement, literally 1/2 mile from any structure and 1/4 mile from any humanity, thanks Hunters Resort for the shit sammy. Despite the shitty location, I had not lost hope, yet....

We pulled up the shacks on my utility trailer, which turned out to be another mistake. On our way to 3 mile bar I noticed the right rear wheel throwing up a ton of snow. I alerted Fred who was at the wheel and went out for an inspection... Sweet, broken leaf spring, that's a helluva good start. This group of 6 mustered just enough ingenuity to make a fix with load straps, chunks of 2x4's and lots of heavy lifting. Surprisingly we only had to make one more adjustment and we managed to get this thing home to the garage in one piece.

Tally for the weekend: 3 perch, 1 small eelpout. I could have done better at the park. or maybe even in the front yard for that matter. It is nice to get away but I think my overnight ice shack days are done, makes for a pretty expensive beer drinking outing.

Way to go Pack! Had to throw that in there, I barely made it home for kick off. The later stages of the game had me on pins and needles but Rogers found a way to win. Pretty exciting stuff for this packer fan.

The big Boat is gone and now in the hands of a nice fella from Perham MN. I'm turning my attention to finding a jon boat with a 20" transom, which will someday have a 30hp jet hanging off it. I think in the short term I'll add a small prop motor and am really getting excited about fishing the smaller waters and finding some virgin muskie spots on the upper croix/apple/zumbro and a couple other local waters. The small waters get ignored by most, but mostly because of the boat choice. I have realized a fancy big boat does not make a good angler and I think I can make more of my season with success on less pressured waters.

Gotta roll, go bait the squirrels who live in the eaves to come out so I can blast them, city style with sneaky high powered pellet gun shots out the window. little bastards are keeping me up at night. Urban Hunting at it's finest. might have to take a bunny or two as well, they have eaten my bridal veil bush down to the nubs...mmm bunny stew.

think warm thoughts.

BigPikeMike

winter! enough already....

2011-01-25T12:35:00.004-06:00

It's January 20something and winter is already grinding on my nerves. perhaps I'm not as hardy as I once was, in fact I know I'm not. I know about living in MN, one has to make an effort to get out and make the most of it. Aside from some limited ice fishing ( and limited success) I've been a bit of a shut in. Jennifer has been lobbying for XC skis, once I get the boat sold this week I'm going to surprise her with a trip to REI and some new boards.

On the boat, yes it's for sale and I've been fielding calls all day today. WTF you say? I am sad to admit it never even left the garage last summer, with my time in AK and a busy work schedule it just never happened. What boat fishing I did do was from my shitty 12' "little boat" and honestly I enjoy the skinny water opportunity it affords. It looks like the big boat will be gone by the weekend so I need to start thinking about it's replacement. I think when I get home from AK this summer I'll be investing in a jon and hopefully a 40 horse Jet outboard. While it's a pretty limiting rig, it would provide us with a kick ass rig that goes both down river and up, could be a big asset for fall muskie guiding in the north woods.

It looks like I got me a part time job! it's been a while since I've actually worked for someone other than myself but it's been a bit slow this winter and I like to work. I'll be doing a couple days a week for a glass guy I met with last night, does some interesting stuff and it's another skill I can add to my set.

Alaska has been on my mind alot lately and we'll be fishing off a new boat this year. Curtis had a number of good things fall into place last year (and a few bad things too) but overall was good enough to sell the Salmo and his sternpicker so he ordered up a custom bowpicker from Anchorage. It'll be a 34 foot diesel twin, 12 foot wide and flush decks. All this means big, fast, efficient and comfortable. At my request he added an gear locker outside the cabin so I don't have to slog in all my stink and fish slime and wet raingear. I'll be leaving MN around the first of June this summer, home end of July. I'm really excited because Jennifer is coming up for a couple weeks at the tail end of my trip. She's never been to Alaska and I'm hoping some of Cordova's charm rubs off on her. It's no secret I'd love to live there and could make a good living with fishing and my carpentry skills. Will I be able to convince her? Time will tell.

As you can tell this is hardly a fishing report and to a certain extent I feel like less than a fisherman sometimes. Jennifer has been complaining about the lack of flaky white fish in the freezer and I've been pretty inept at satisfying her craving for bluegills. I guess we'll have to have another slab of red salmon, rats!

VENISON RULES!

Those who know me know I'm not much of a carnivore, at least when it comes to beef. This was not a conscious decision, I just kinda quit eating red meat about 20 years ago. I think it was the weekly steaks my father prepared, regardless, it was off the menu for a long time. But alas, I have a new found love for Venison. Fred, Don Herschleb and I killed 4 deer this fall on Don's land and after much butchering/brat making and patty slapping we have a freezer full of delicious Venison. It's a nice feeling to know that these animals were harvested and cared for with much respect, fred was insistent on maintaining proper hanging temps so the end result was nothing short of spectacular. As it stands we now have a freezer full of venison and red salmon, so rewarding.

For those with I tunes check out Boot Liquor Radio. Not quite XM outlaw country but still enough to inspire me to crack a beer at 1:25 as I sit here and catch up with ya'all.

The picture up above is one my budding photographer of a bride took. It was a rock bar on Avalanche Creek in Glacier NP, the bar was covered in over 100 rock cairns made by visitors over time. very cool stuff, she never fails to impress me. Great wife, great teacher and good woman. Love you Jennifer.

I'm out, not for so long this time. I promise.

bigpike

a different kind of fishing trip

2010-07-24T11:07:00.005-05:00

It's been a crazy summer, in fact it's been unlike any I've had in years, or ever for that matter.

Now I can't say I haven't been spending time on the water. By all accounts less than most years but this has been a unique season to say the least. I had a great early trout guide season, a wonderful 5 day trip to the Brule and some, albeit limited personal fishing time. The big focus coming into June was Alaska.

The second week of June found me back in Cordova, Alaska. This time I was there with a different mission, no more house building I was going fishing! I was hired by longtime friend and commercial salmon fisherman Curt Herschleb. I was to be Curt's deckhand for the next 6 weeks or so, leaning the ropes of being a gill-netter and man was I stoked! People always seem to ask me if it was like the deadliest catch? Not hardly really, while we had some big seas for the most part the weather was shitty but manageable. There was one deadly side I can address, fatigue. The hardest work I've ever done was over those 6 weeks. Long hours with little or no sleep, adverse conditions and labor intensive work all added up to a couple worn out fisherman. It's pretty common for these guys to go 50-60 hours without sleep, remember it is only dark for maybe an hour a day that time of year, so your ability to stay up is falsely enhanced. We did that shit, 54 straight as I recall, fishing the heck out of the reds over in Main Bay, Prince William Sound. When your making money it's easier, we did OK in that department as well.

Despite the obvious fatigue, I had an extra boost due to the fact I'd never spent that much time on a boat, on the ocean mind you....All that which was eye candy to me, was old hat to most of the guys who fish. Whales are an obstacle to be avoided, killer whales especially. Sea lions are cool unless they are eating your fish, which is usually when you see them. Otters a-plenty, they are cool and don't eat your fish, good otters. We killed a lot of Salmon, not sure of the final poundage, but it was substantial. The primary target was Red's / Sockeye's, they fetch the best price at market and are fun to catch. The other salmon had their day, Chums in abundance at Esther Island and Pinks as the season wore down.

37 days on the boat is what I ended up with and it's true, pictures do not do Alaska justice. If you can, put Prince William Sound on your list of places to visit, it's just that cool. I have a lot of good friends there and Cordova has a place in my soul. I'll be going back next year but this time bringing my bride for a few weeks as well.

Oh ya, I almost forgot! I got to see the west this summer too! A few weeks ago I flew out to Sacramento to meet Jennifer, who was just finishing up school. We took the opportunity to put together a road trip from CA back to MN. I arrived a few days before the official end of school, which gave me an opportunity to learn a bit about striper fishing on the American River. This time of the year, the stripers start to show up in numbers, following the run of Shad. Numbers wise, it's not a huge fishery but gives the local anglers an opportunity at some pretty big fish. After about 3 days of wading and walking I did stick one, about a 20" fish or so. I had a couple other grabs and felt like I was fishing good water, despite my lack of knowledge on the area. A local shop helped out with some intel, albeit cryptic at best. Special thanks to Jimbo & Michelle, Jen's host's in Cali for the amazing gift of being able to stay, totally above and beyond the call of duty.

We waved goodbye to Sac town and headed north. Jennifer had never seen the Redwoods so we were off to Arcata and a drive up 101. Nor Cal is great, but there's so damn many people. We did our best to avoid the major crowds, got in an amazing 10 mile hike in Prairie Redwoods State Park and met a really great family camping there. Having decidied we were going to take the northern route, we headed out for Stevenson WA, on the Columbia, to visit Jen's brother Jeff and his family. Turned out it was his birthday, which provided an excuse to stay up till 2am and drink beer. A long drive up the Columbia, through Spokane and to Couer d'Alene Idaho for the night. From there we made our way to Montana, flanking the Clark Fork for quite some time. All I could do was look longingly at the river, it was drift boat water and we had neither the time or the money for a boat ride, so on the Glacier N.P. it was. Neither Jennifer or I had been to Glacier since we were kids and we both looked forward to the visit. We had no aspirations of going into the back country, but we packed bear spray anyway and stuck to the well used hikes for the most part. We were lucky enough to secure a good site for a couple days, I got to catch a couple Cutty's at Avalanche and Hidden lakes and the hiking was amazing. For those who've never been, go now. Glacier is pretty much out of actual glaciers, only 25 remain and most are only accessible from back country hikes. If you go, make sure to drive the going to the sun road, unless your like me and have vertigo, in that case have the wife drive! I made it 2/3 of the way up before succumbing to the panic. Jennifer on the other hand just cruised right up and kept trying to point out the bighorn sheep, panoramic views and the like. I kept my eyes glued to a map to occupy my brain. Funny thing is, it only bothers me in a vehicle. I could ride those rods on a bike or hike even, no issues. Put me behind the wheel and yikes! Vertigo aside, we loved Glacier and cant wait to visit again. Two long days on the road followed, with a night at Teddy Roosevelt N.P. in Medora, North Dakota and here we are, home again after 2 plus months away.

I missed my dog, I'm awful happy to have her back home. Elsie is 11, getting a little slow and had the great company of 3 young boys for a couple months. She was pretty worn out.

Record flooding in the area last week kept the trout streams in rough shape. I attempted to fish last night but the willow was still raging so I drove to the Rush for a look. The river looked terrible, scoured and lifeless even. I never bothered to wet a line, had a beer at streamside and cruised home. I just got a call from fellow wednesday nighter Rob George and he informed me the Willow River is back down and looking good, so I think I'll give it another shot this evening.

Hope Ya'll are having a good summer.

BigPikeMike

angling

2010-03-21T08:09:00.002-05:00

I do not mourn the end of winter and ice fishing, not at all.
For the most part, this winters fishing was pretty limited to a few trips to the park for pike and panfish and a handful of outings on Cedar lake in Mpls, trying in vain to ice a few walleyes. Winter leaves behind it some ugly stuff, especially in the city. A seasons worth of garbage and in my case, 2 five gallon pails of Elsie poop, which I had to clean up this morning, thank goodness it's 25 out and the little devils are frozen. It'll be nice in a few weeks when things start to green up and the memory of another winter (my 42nd) has faded.

Early season trout opened a couple weeks ago to low clear streams and a foot of snow on the ground. The warm temps of the last few weeks broke everything loose and all of the local streams got a good scouring. I had one nice evening on the willow prior to the deluge and landed 3, 2 browns and a rainbow. The previous years rainbow stockings have created a number of holdover fish that have escaped predators and hungry anglers alike and all of the sudden we have some fish in the 15-17" range. They don't fight for shit, but are fun to catch as they will take streamers alongside the browns.

This past wednesday saw the first installment of WNFC (Wednesday night fishing club). For those who don't know, I fish with pretty much the same fellas every wednesday and have for the past few years. It's a beautiful thing, all our gals now know that Wednesday's are off limits, boys night out. We meet at a secret location, OK not so secret but we have a private access parking area which is conducive to enjoying a few beers and even a bonfire now and then. Fishing this week was a little tough, the water was falling but still a little high and off color and very cold from the snow melt. We each landed a nice holdover rainbow, shared a stream beer and kicked off the season in style.

What's with all this bashing of my brother in arms Brad "the Afton Angler" Bohen? The poor fella's is being savaged and slandered by the fishing community at large, but mainly from a few folks, jealous of his success I suppose. He was axed from the MW fly show despite being a huge draw in his speaking engagements. The fly fishing community needs to grow up a little and accept the fact that there are NEW anglers out there, not the tired old lefty-holschlag-FFF-orvis hags who we all have seen and heard for years, do and say the same thing over and over and over again...the problem lies in that they cannot accept the fact that the industry as a whole is dying a slow death and needs to reinvent itself, new faces are and have to be part of the process, new products are now enough. So Brad is a shameless self promoter, big deal! Try being a guide, building a clientele and not ever doing a lick of marketing or promotion, does not work, in this business or any. I've known this dude for 30 years, fished with him in all reaches of this great land and to those who would dare to call Brad a poser, piss off. His angling skills (note angling, not just fly fishing) go beyond what most folks could ever hope to achieve. And really, don't you fools have anything better to do with your time than savage someone over the interweb....

Sunday morning and I'm off to make my wife some breakfast. till next time.

BigPikeMike

Rumors......

2009-12-16T12:57:00.002-06:00

Of my demise are greatly exaggerated.

In fact quite the opposite, while I've not been visiting the computer much, I have had a significant fall.

On a terrific early September day I married my best Gal Jennifer! We did the deed down at Vino in the Valley, near the shores of the Rush River. It was a smaller ceremony, just good friends and some family which was nice. We followed it up with a throwdown at Little Whiskey complete with campfire singalongs and the whole nine yards. Jennifer keeps suggesting we do it again, it was a day to remember!

There's been some fishing as well, some really amazing fishing to be quite frank...where do I start.

The Sturgeon season on the croix came and went pretty quickly, despite the addition of the C/R season on the tail end. The weather was just too damn nice and the water temps really didn't start to dive until the last week or so, when the fishing actually really picked up and got good. We never landed a 60"er this year, which was the minimum, but did get a couple 3-4 that were close. I only did a couple of trips due to the whole Coast Guard license controversy, more to come on that. Oh ya, on the sturgeon....."feel the power!" proclaimed another angler, a regular to my area...he cracked me up...

I had a kick ass trip to the upper Flambeau with Brad, Lucky Porter and Tom M. We pulled a long distance overnight float on some seldom fished water. The weather was out of this world for mid September and the muskies were seriously snapping. As I had declared this trip an MMA (mixed martial angling) adventure, I decided to huck a topraider (my one bait) around the landing area while waiting for the shuttle. Good thing I did, I raised 2-3 fish just within casting distance and it was determined game on! We got rolling and about 400 yards downriver located a nice hole to wade & cast to. After the pool had been beat to a froth with big flies, I chucked mr topraider in, from the anchored boat where I was enjoying a cold one....Big Wake, angry fish, Violent Strike! Damn near at the feet of Brad too, I better get outta the boat! Turned out to be a nice stout 40" river muskie and only the shape of things to come. All in all we landed 5, I got another 40" and lost a freak. Add to that a little after dark cat fishing with frogs and 35" channel cats and you've got a great trip. Oh, and we ate musky too, my first time. It was a 36" fish that lucky deep hooked on Ghost Lake, so it was legal, and tasty!

The Apple River provided some late season action as well. Brad brought the boat down and we got on it 3 days straight in Nov. Only 1 landed but we saw 12-15 a day, chasing flies and occasionally taking a shot at them. We never did get the float down the tubing water, next year I guess.

The fall fly fishing was overall a bust, save for one crazy night with Fred, where I lost the biggest trout I've had one in the Midwest, the fabled 26"er I fear. I do enjoy hooking them and know it's all about the ride, but I wanted that fish. It was a full moon, 1 am or so....one good night and that was it. Good thing early season is just a few months away.

hey, just like that it's ice fishing time! Ingy and I got out last friday for the inaugural day and it wasn't too shabby! they cut the panfish limit in the county down to 10, mixed. So with a little sorting I had a nice bag of 11" crappies and 8-9" gills, made for a tasty dinner. I like to harvest panfish, they are delicious and somehow I don't mind picking through the little fella's, I'll keep going to get some meat in the freezer, if they make it that far. I've been out a couple times with the same results, but with a lack of pike however. Speaking of, I lived up to my namesake on friday with the biggest Pike I've landed in some time. Nice long, but extremely heavy 39" fish, Ingy's crusty scale said 13lbs, I say 16-17 easy. She'd have made 12-13 jars of pike, but I released her in hopes of seeing her hit 40" and 20lbs.

Here's a good pic of the monster Pike!

bigpikemike

miller time

2009-08-24T16:14:00.003-05:00

Afternoon All!

The bugs seen in the image on the front page are the venerable White Miller. The millers are a lesser known hatch in our area, in fact good intel on them is hard to come by for the most part. With a little research yesterday, I did learn a little more about their life cycle, which I might add is quite interesting. All I know is trout love 'em and if you can find them, the action can be fast and furious. This image comes from "river X", those who know me or follow the flog know of "river X".

Last night the millers treated me right, I got my largest stream trout of the season (21" +) on a dry about 10pm or so, epic. and no you cant come with me next time, it's my river dammit!

Did I mention the big spiders were out? Ginormous wolf spiders inhabit the shorelines of river X, there on a mission to attack and kill any unfamiliar anglers who happen to stumble down there. Last night I counted a dozen or so of my minions, all guarding their nest's and ready to pounce on whomever I tell them to. Did I mention they were about 2.5 to 4" in diameter. I'll grab some more pic's on wednesday, but in the meanwhile I'll load an image from last year.

whew. nook burger hangover. Jen J and I went up the street to the original nook (saint paulites know the place), came home with intentions of making cookies and walking the dog but ended up on the couch snoozing at 7pm instead.

Back to blogging, 'er flogging as it were.

Whahoo & Robbie are up fishing with Brad for a couple days, muskies out of the drifter. Certainly a good time and as Brad told Robbie, bring your big boy pants....and maybe a change of underwear too.

For those of you not in the immediate know....I'm getting married in less than 2 weeks! I'm pretty stoked, really stoked in fact to be wed to my gal Jennifer. We've been together for quite some time now and I'm really looking forward to the wonderful and amazing things we're going to do together. She's something special that Jen J. The nuptials will take place on 9-5-09 down at Vino in the Valley, this sweet outdoor restaurant and vineyard down on the lower Rush River. Reception to follow in El Paso at Little Whisky. There'll be some beers, some live bluegrass jams and I'm guessing a trip to the El Paso Bar and Grill as well. And if this gal wasn't cool enough, she's camping out on her wedding night with a bunch of close friends. keeper...

Today I was on the Kinni with Les and his son Eric from Soiux Falls SD. Both Les and Eric were rookies, but dang eager rookies willing to soak up info and learn about this trout stream thing and all it involves. I explained a little about my "field trip and you might catch a fish" method and it hit home with both of them. It's so very refreshing once again, to have clients who understand and appreciate the life beyond the stream, and it's no wonder as Les and Eric were embarking on a father & son organic farm project together in SD. BRAVO! These are two fellas immersed in nature and working their butt's off at restoring Harmony within the soil they are working with. I cannot honestly think of a more humbling and rewarding work, and I'm guessing it's hard work. They are versed in many aspects out of the normal farming realm when it comes to how they plan to go about this work, not the least of which is the study of bio dynamic farming, of which Jen J has enlightened me on. google it to learn more, suffice it to say it is a holistic but yet simple and sensible way to grow crops. Oh, and the fishing was OK too. We'll be at it again tomorrow, refining what we learned today and adding some other techniques to the mix as well.

On that note, I'm out. I'm off to rally Jen for a dog walk and an early to bed as I'll be up at 5am again tomorrow.

reel good then.

BigPike

Working backwards......

2009-08-23T12:04:00.003-05:00

Bad Bad blogger......

So, while Jennifer was away I helped myself to a full heaping of angling, roughly 37 days in a row. Suffice it to say I was tired, having piled that on top of work and guiding duties. It's all good though, not complaining and yes, she's been home now for a couple weeks and so ends the hitting streak.

That's how things go sometimes, a fella gets streaky and focused on the task at hand. Those 37 some odd days were filled with some serious and not so serious adventures. I'll do my best to re-cap the last couple blog free weeks.

Working backwards... Last week was all about the trout, in fact that sums up the last couple weeks as I've been laying off the muskies till this week. Tuesday and Wednesday I had the great pleasure of fishing with Mr. Jerry Shurson of the Twin Cities here. Jerry was just beginning his fly fishing career and had a decent base from his other angling experiences and a little smallie/fly fishing on the local rivers. Our goal was simple, get him up to speed on the ways of the local trout water, refine some techniques and catch some damn fish! Jerry was a quick study, perfected his roll cast straight away and proceeded to clean up on the local trout population. Once in a while you get a client who can really put 2 & 2 together, get a fish and see the direct results. Jerry was such a client. We fished the Kinni both days, had one good morning of Trico's and one day of tornadic mayhem. Jerry caught the smallest fish I have ever seen mouth hooked on a fly. Size 20 midge emerger > 1.25" longnose dace. see image, it's almost not believable but he did it. He gets the "dink" award, hands down. I'm very much looking forward to another day with Jerry, we got on really we'll and had a great time. Maybe the Brule in October for a weekend, lets do it Jerry! My other trips have gone pretty well. Had a nice outing on the Rush early last week, with a group of 4 retired gents and my guide buddy Mr Andy Roth. This was a few days before the recent deluge of water and the Rush was still low and clear, but fishing well. Caddis on the surface and nymphs were the ticket. You wont hear me talk much about specific patterns because for the most part, I don't adhere to any specific patterns. it's more of a "put it in the spot" approach, knowing that good presentation trumps the pattern details in most cases. I know I'd get a good argument from the fly techs but that's just the way I play it. So small buggy nymphs, hows that..... Like I said earlier, I've laid off the muskies for a couple weeks. My last good outing was with my muskie buddy Jeremy from lakeland. We got out on the front end of a wicked impending storm and right off the bat J stuck a 46.75 on a cowgirl. Not too much later he put another nice fish, 44", in the boat as well. That made 22 for the year in the boat, not great numbers but only one for under 40" and nine over 44". I'll take it.

I've got clearance to fish this evening and better go get the boat ready to go. More to come, I promise... see following fish porn.... bigpikemike

River Muskie!!!!!

2009-07-24T16:59:00.005-05:00

Good day all!

Here's a quick photo update of the weeks fishing.

Wednesday I had Dan Clayton and his nephew Lance Meister out for a full day of muskie fishing. We got started at 2 and by 2:30 we had a fish in the net! Dan hooked up and landed a super fat 44" muskie on a bulldog, over 40 f.o.w. This has been my strategy of late (deep water suspended fish) and it's paying off in spades. We contacted a couple other fish over the course of the day but none made it to the boat for a picture. Thanks so much Dan and Lance for a great outing, looking forward to sharing the boat with you come Sturgeon Season!

Thursday I had Rick Demarchis and his buddy/workmate Rod in the boat for a half day. Last year on the same trip Rick landed 2, so expectations were high, but we struggled and never managed to see a fish. The mid morning time period, which traditionally has been very good, has been slow. Prime time seems to be the mid afternoon then a lull leading into prime time at dark. They were good sports and understood that sometimes with muskies they bite and sometimes they are just not interested.

What a difference a day makes.....Today I had the pleasure of sharing the boat with Dan Patrick. Dan is a super avid angler, without the means of a boat. He does most of his fishing with a fly rod, from shore on local lakes, and does quite well at that. Today we were intent on catching him a muskie, make that two muskies! We got out at the crack o' dawn, raised a nice fish right off the bat, then the rains came. It poured buckets and hailed plenty as well, but we hunkered down in Afton State Park till it subsided, then the fun began. Our first stop after the thunder was a piece of structure I've been seeing alot of fish on and it didn't let us down. Dan hooked up on a scrappy 42" about 10am or so on a topraider at boatside. Not wanting to see this fish get off, I did the quick scoop and got him in the net in 10 seconds flat! After a couple pictures and high fives, we slid her back and said our thanks to the muskie gods. I said the pressure's off, lets go find another! We fished a couple other spots, made a trolling pass to take a lunch break and keeps baits wet and then headed off to another hot spot. About 2:30 or so his bulldog got inhaled by a fish, a BIG FISH, size LARGE! I knew right away he was into something special and sure as can be, this monster came barreling out of the water, did some crazy maneuvers but my net hands are too quick and she was ours! Both shaking, we got her untangled from the net/hooks etc and stared in awe. 49.5", lets call it 50 shall we? What a beast, great fighter for a big fish and oh so pretty! Another quick net scoop meant a safe and healthy fish on release, we admired her as she swam off, high fived once again and decided that's a good way to end an amazing day. Dan, you're a stud dude! That's big fish of the year and makes 20 river muskies in the boat for the season. Things are really starting to get hot and I aim to stay on this bite right up till the PMTT tourney rolls through in september. Wanna get a muskie, now's the time my friends.

Enough for now, I need a nap. Enjoy the images.

BigPikeMike!

St. Croix mixed bag reports

2009-07-18T07:50:00.002-05:00

Morning all....

The picture up above is Chris Boland with a pretty typical river pike we got Wednesday, trolling around the Kinni narrows. Chris and I bartered some kick ass graphics for my truck, for a full day with he and his bro' Jarrett. Both Chris and Jarrett were anglers of the mixed bag variety, perhaps more focused on the big nasties like sturgeon and cats. Muskies are as big and nasty as it gets and they were looking to add some skills in this realm, so I fished them hard, all day, in the wind and with a variety of conditions and techniques. The first half of the day yielded the pike and one good rip on the troll, but no muskies. We started looking forward to the prime time twilight hour and got ourselves in a spot I thought it could happen. Straight away we had a nice fish follow a topraider, take a couple swipes and vanish. Moments later Jarrett had a long range blowup, again, no hooks. We worked the area till we could see no more and called it a day. Thanks again guys, looking forward to sharing a boat for Cat's some night.

Thursday morning I worked with "the Turk", Charlie Geirke. Turk's a long time Croix guide and a damn fine angler. I help him out from time to time with group trips and it's always a pleasure. We had a group of fellas from the city, business/pleasure outing for a guy and his clients. These are great trips and involve fishing for anything that bites and better yet provides solid bragging rights. My boat was the muskie rig as usual, with 3 guys in the boat we were pretty much limited to trolling, but could have our 5 lines rolling so I was optimistic. We we trolled and trolled and trolled....boop diddly. After a bit I decided to pull the plug for an hour and follow the other rigs looking for smallies and walleyes. We were making ton's and catching little. Then the wind decided to dictate the rest of the day. Post lunch fishing was brutal. It was blowing 30 from the NW and getting around the big lake was tough and wet. We had a great time and my clients were patient but it was not a guides day to say the least. Looking forward to calmer days....

I'm off to work for a bit, then loading up the kayaks and heading over to El Paso for some fly angling and kayak scouting. more to come.

go fish!

BigPikeMike
MN & WI Fishing Guide

Mid july Angling & guiding news

2009-07-15T08:18:00.003-05:00

As I may have mentioned, Jennifer is gone till the 1st of August. Suffice it to say I have been fishing at a frenetic pace, here's what's been happening.

I should be posting daily I know, but between trying to hold down the fort, do my chores and keep a line wet I'm usually pretty crushed at days end. So we'll wrap up the last 5 days and lead out the next week or so, there's some cool shit on the horizon.

Last Friday was a muskie day! A day where another rod in the boat could have made it something really special. I wrote recently how I'm not a huge fan of "camping out" on a spot, but I broke a rule Friday evening and did just that. I got on the water about 5 and started on Beanies point, just south of the bridge. it's a spot I don't often see fish, but I know they are there so I regularly make a pass. Status Quo, no one home. Next stop was another insignificant spot on the MN shore, same sort of place with similar results. Things however were feeling very fishy, there was some weather moving in from the west causing regular changes in wind direction and speed, always a good thing. I made a move for Afton, there's no secret that the bar is lousy with fish and if a guy wants to get one it's worth some time to cover every inch, twice. That's just what I did. Straight away I contacted a nice fish, a long follow that terminated in an angry swirl at boat side. OK, their here and ready to play, despite the boat traffic and pontoon boat full of onlookers parked right on the captains chair. I put the viper to work, purposely fishing the opposite direction of what most anglers fish, as inside out as possible. Over the next hour or so I had another 4-5 follows and blowups, one really nice fish in particular. After an hour of this, BAM, FISH ON! & a nice one at that! She ate the viper about 40' out, maybe 25' from the pontoon of onlookers, and put on a great show for the other boaters. Several long runs and 3 jumps later I rolled her into the big net to whoops and hollers from the gawkers, pretty nice feeling and I was amped to get her picture and get after another one. She measured up about 47, although the pic has the tail cut off thanks to self photography. That makes 11 for me and 15 for the boat this year. Of my 11, only 1 was shorter than 40, with 2 over 46 so the average is good. The rest of the evening was pretty action packed but I never got hooks into another and wrapped up about 10:30 or so.

the following morning found me on the same spot, 4:45 am. Right off the bat I raised a couple, but they were lazy follows and far more negative than the previous evening. feeling good about another spot, I headed downriver to fish some points. Just north of Afton State park I raised what might be the biggest fish I've seen in years, well over 50" and stout. She tried to eat the viper at boat side and slapped the boat with her tail in the process, soaking me as well. It was pretty cool but she's gonna get caught, in due time. Nothing landed for the morning shift, but it had it's moments.

Sunday night Whahoo and I did the evening shift on the willow. We were in search of Hex, but they have been a total bust this season. No fish rising, no fish landed. I'll be giving it a rest for a bit.

Monday night found Fred and I back on the Rush in El Paso. He was feeling the need to camp out so that's what we did. We found some brookies on the dry flies and fished streamers after dark till about 11. No grabs on the big flies, but in our defence, it was DARK and really tough without having scoped out our beat in good light. It was nice to sit around the bonfire with a couple beers, need to do more of that.

Believe it or not, I pretty much took yesterday off, save for a couple casts in the morning on the Rush. I've got some work going at Fred's house to help him make it ready for sale. nice work between guide trips.

Today I'm back after the Muskies with my graphics guy Chris Boland and his buddy Jared. They are both St. Croix regulars, but just learning the muskie thing. We are going to have to fish hard today to get some action as we had a nice cold front come through last night. Tomorrow I'll be out with one of Turk's groups, fishing walleyes and smallies.

I'll follow up with a report and pics.

later,

BigPikeMike

current reports

2009-07-09T09:44:00.003-05:00

Howdy All!

Here's a quick and dirty recap of the last few days of action. The fishing has been all over the board, it's July so i guess it's to be expected.

The image above...KK with his first muskie of the season. We hooked up Sunday night about 7 or so, looking to get out and take advantage of the near full moon and end to the holiday festivities on the river. KK and I are partners in the PMTT muskie tourney this fall, so a little recon was necessary as well as early strategizing. Right out of the gate, first cast on first spot he hooked up on a sledge, but the muskie shoot him off. OK, good start to the evening. I'm guessing about 20 minutes later, he hooked up again near boat side, with a spunky 42" river muskie. This one stayed glued and we invited her in the boat for picture day. It was a good start to a near perfect night, despite the fact it was thee lone fish of the evening. Kraig's off to visit a buddy in AK this week, doing a little fishing and rafting, sounds like a good time.

Monday night I was off to the local stream to see about some late night fishing, and mostly have some piece and quiet. i got that all right, the fishing didn't happen and the bugs were a big no-show.

Tuesday proved to be another late night affair, this time with fellow guide and master angler Eddie Philpot. Jennifer asked me if he was "fast Eddie" and I informed her there's nothing fast about him....We ventured off to an east metro lake for some evening bass fishing with jitterbugs. I know I've bagged on bass before, but this is special, as Eddy would say. Something about a calm quiet night and top water is a draw. i could probably do pretty well on the fly rod, but I'm digging the old school casting setup and jitterbug. We fished from 10 till about 1:30 or so, landed 30 or more and a couple nice ones, including a solid 4.5-5lb'er that yours truly landed. good, good stuff. Thanks Eddy!

Last night was back to the stream, the Rush this time. We had notions of hanging out down around hwy 10 till late, looking for any hex that might straggle up the river from Lake Pepin. However, the lower river looked tough, at least from my perspective. I know it fishes well at times, but not last night. So we boogied up to El Paso and hung out up from the bridge. there were a hand full of trout working and Fred and I each got one, but it was slow. The late afternoon hatches seem to be a thing of June, and past us by. Trico's are just around the corner so there's hope for the dry fly crowd.

Whew.....You can tell Jennifer is gone eh. I'm still doing my best to keep up around the house and work when it's there, but I'll be on a continued angling tear over the next few weeks. stay tuned.

go!

BPM

sometimes I wonder

2009-07-04T10:35:00.003-05:00

Why is it that I am not just satisfied with chasing one fish or using one technique? Sometimes I think perhaps I'll give it a whirl, sell the big boat, get a drifter and dedicate myself to the fly. Or maybe, ditch the fly gear, become a dedicated psycho muskie angler and leave the buggy whips to the Amish...Hell no, here's why not! Variety!! I know full well the time and dedication it takes to fish at a high level, for one species and be consistent. So why not be a kick ass all around angler, proficient on multiple levels, for a variety of species? I like to compare it to my mountain bike riding days, I always wanted to be at least fast enough, particularly on the downhills to keep up where ever I may find myself riding, and I got to ride all over the country. Call it hanging with the locals or what have you, but I found it changes your experience if you have the ability. Angling is the same way for me. Should I find myself in Colorado or Kentucky, I want to at least be able to fish, enjoy the experience and feel like I'm in the game. That's why I do what I do. This week alone I fished 4 different bodies of water, flies, spinning and muskie tackle, caught all kinds of fish and never did the same thing twice.

Most recently, I went up to Bald Eagle last night to shake things up a little and quite frankly, get the stink back on. the River has been tough the last week or two, for me at least. I like to run up there when I need to put some fish in the boat and hone my lake skills for when I get an opportunity on another lake. From 4 till about 9 I pretty much camped out on a spot that I know is crawling with them. Aside from a troll around the island, I hunkered down and waited them out. Sure enough, I raised, missed or saw about a dozen fish. I landed 2 between 6 and 9, a low 40's and upper 30's. They were really liking the tip of the bar, but the bigger fish came in heavy cover near shore. I think I'm going to try to pull off a 3 legals in 3 lakes day here this week or next. Come up with a combo of 3 lakes (WB, BE and forest come to mind) and get as many as I can in a 24 hour period. sounds like it could make for some good footage as well.

Back to the hunkering down program last night. This is NOT something I would usually do, if ever on the river. That's one of the glaring differences between lakes and the river, if they are not on the spot, don't bother staying because they are off roaming, likely in the deep. I'll camp at Afton from time to time, but for the most part it's a run and gun situation. hunkering down sure paid off last night though. next time I'll hunker down with the fly rod and see what I can get moving.

It's the 4th of July. not planning on too much, maybe I'll sneak down the the old miss and try to catch a big cat.

be safe out there.

BigPikeMike

Weekend Fishing Report from Big Pike Mike

2009-06-29T10:14:00.004-05:00

Since our last episode.....

Rumors of big river muskies, walleye report and a smallie outing on the apple.

First off, a big thanks to my clients from last week. I hosted a group of Vet's and vet tech's put on by Phizer Chemicals. This is the 3rd year I've been involved and they are a great group, always have a good old time. Thanks Lori and thanks to the other guides who helped me out.

I didn't get in a whole lot of angling after Tuesday last week. Jennifer took off yesterday for 5 weeks, so we spent the week getting her ready and hanging out. She's off to school to be a Waldorf Teacher, you'll have to google if you want more intel. Despite the fact I didn't fish much, there were some fish caught I am told...

Rumor has it Fritzy landed a 46" muskie on the river, confirmed by Dave Hale, who happened to be right near him fishing walleyes. nice work Fritz, but I still got ya beat by an inch...I'm sure someone will stick a giant this summer, hope it's me, about sept 12th...

Whahoo and I pulled another epic outing yesterday on the apple. We sort of retraced the steps Brad and I laid last week, but fished a little more and explored quite a bit. The area around Little Falls, near Amery is really cool water. Lots of falls, pocket water and elevation. We didn't have any luck there, but really didn't explore beyond the trail heads or obvious fishing water. Looks like it gets pounded though. It's stocked trout water, and we saw them alright, but the water had to be in the upper 70's and the odds were not good. It'll bear some more exploring and even a kayak shot, I'm sure there are some far off stretches with big smallies and muskies.

Oh ya, big news of the morning was the bear we saw up north of Star Prairie. It was a momma and cub, loping across an open field. Pretty cool stuff, closer & closer to the metro.

Back to the fishing. After busting out of bathwater creek, we headed up to the dam at Black Brook to take a few muskie casts, nothing to be had. Next Stop, the restricted water above the Rivers Edge in Somerset, below the dam at RiverDale. We used to fish this as younger fellas and get walleyes and muskies from shore, but since 9-11, no more access to the shore spot can be found. So we snuck in, sort of. There's an obvious pull out on "C" above the tubers, we slid in for a closer look. Whahoo landed one smallie but that was it. It was pretty warm and not a ton of water to wrok with. Enough of that, off to the Flowage below the tubers. We got on the water about 9 and by noon had landed 30 or so, biggest about 18", but all scrappy. Whahoo tied this kick ass new streamer and they nearly destroyed it! We were right up by the tubing water and happened to have a nice chat with a friendly security guy, who also was an avid angler and traded some valuable intel, including the ability to take a boat out at the park, YEA! So the logistics are all figured out on that, next up is a full float of the tubing water!

This week I'll be guiding a bit, today in fact on the Rush for an afternoon half day. The weather is great so I'm looking forward to a good outing. I'll bet there will be a late night visit to the willow as well. I'll tell ya how it goes.

later,

BPM

Images from yesterday marathon

2009-06-24T10:16:00.003-05:00

Who is that guy?

2009-06-21T08:44:00.005-05:00

Someone tell the fella with the long hair and beard it's summer! Oh ya, that's me! Realizing the error of my ways, I did in fact clean up for summer and man did it feel good!

This last week was "Francis Week". I had my old friend and client Francis O'Neill here from VA. We fished wed-friday on the local streams, mainly the Rush and Kinni, but we did make a special trip to "Brookie Heaven", aka, Cady Creek. This was a special day for a couple of reasons. The Stream is not only loaded with Brookies, enthusiastic and lovely despite their stature, but it's also reminiscent of an english chalk stream of which Francis was familiar and very fond of. The banks were quite overgrown, providing much needed shade and cover for the little fella's. While this certainly made casting a bit more of a challenge, we were able to find some nice lanes for rolling hoppers, beetles and crickets over their heads and were rewarded for our efforts. I lost track after a while, but there were 20-25 that came to hand, all just stunning, and each seeminginly more beautiful than the last one. I really dont spend enough time on Cady, it's about 20 minutes past the Rush in Elmwood (UFO capital of WI), but worth the effort no doubt.

The Rush fished OK, there was a smattering of bugs from mid-morning to late afternoon, but we never hung till dark and waited for the Caddis to come out in full force. PMD's and emergers were working, as well as small slate caddis. Francis likes to switch things up on a regular basis, and that suits me just fine as I do to. What Francis lacks in mobility, he more than makes up for with casting prowess, he's got a serious cast and perfect presentation thanks to the sweetest light line cane rods I've seen or fished, what a joy to hold. I'm always sad to see him go, we've developed a terrific friendship over the last few years that I'm sure will last for many to come.

The rest of the weekend was light on angling, spent a bunch of time with my gal instead. Jennifer is off to Cali for 5 weeks, at school. Cool thing is she's living with Brad's folks in Sacramento, just a mile or two from her campus.

Speaking of B-rad, he made an appearance late monday afternoon, after dropping off a week long client from NYC at the airport. We moseyed over to the Willow for a late night attempt only to be denied. But considering it was 93, wet wading was the BEST place to be on earth that evening. Tuesday morning we got up at the crack of 8, and planned out another day of old school scouting and dead reckoning about western WI, warm water this time.

First up, The Apple River below the tubing crazed town of Somerset. We have a sweet little "in" on a chunk of basically private water, loaded with muskies and smallies, with the occasional walleye in the mix. A little boat ride, little wet wading and LOTS of smallies, up to 18" or so. All on big frog patterns normally tossed at Muskies, read BIG FLIES. Heavy current, big flies =10wt rods. The smallies were up to the task and bent the 10's like crazy! Looking for a change of venue, we packed up after 1pm or so and headed for Amery area, 30 miles upriver or so. After stopping to check out a couple bridges and available drift boat access, we headed up to the dam at Black Brook. There were a couple locals angling below the dam, and the vibe was weak so we dropped in up top and floated for a couple hours. No follows or fish, but amazing fly water so it's been added to the short list. Having run it's course, we stopped in Amery for gas and Beer and headed back to Somerset area, to have a look at the old landing on the croix, near the mouth of the apple. What an amazing place! Thousands and thousands of acres of water, woods, braids, bogs and who knows what other primordial creatures and features. However, no access for the boat but I'll be doing some scouting on the kayak that's for sure!
As if that was not enough! We decided to meet up with Eddy Philpot for some late night bassin' on Demontraville lake. We hit the water at 9:30 or so and had steady jitterbug action till we quit at 1:30. No real hogs, but some in the 4lb class.
All told, almost 20 hours on the job yesterday with some real excellent scouting accomplished. Look out tubers on the apple, I'm coming with big flies and bad intentions!

real good then!

BigPikeMike

muskies, trout and guiding reports

2009-06-15T07:44:00.003-05:00

A little about the weeks trips to get started.

Thursday I had the pleasure of hosting Joe Hackbarth, his son Tom and the senior member of the crew, Joe's father in-law Dan. We had a half day to try to figure out a program of muskies, maybe a walleye or bass and whatever we can find to tug. It was a glorious day out, light boat traffic and a nice reminder how great the Croix is on weekdays. Did I mention the glorious weather? The fishing was kinda slow, I know there were some walleyes to be had on a shoreline bite, but we conceded to try to catch another muskie for Tom. I love the mixed bag approach but it's a little challenging with only 1/2 day to work with. We did our best, had one good tug on a planer board & tail but that was it. I have a hard time pulling the plug on days like today, super great clients and nice weather make for enjoyable days, despite the slow angling.

Friday found me on the water again, this time with Jeff and Zach, couple more fellas in search of an enjoyable afternoon and couple of tugs. Jeff and Zach are business partners, Zach being in Chi-Town and Jeff here in Mpls. The goal of day is always fish, but we were on the post hangover 11-5 trip, so a couple more curve balls for finding muskies. Again, another perfect day and the cloud cover helped keep things a little cooler and even though I was wrong, I thought it would bring a good muskie. A couple minutes of practice with the gear and they were casting away. Jeff Raised a nice fish about 2pm or so but after not seeing much, we dragged a bit for eyes. The walleyes appear to either be in the summer holds or on the way. We marked alot of fish and got a couple off the break on the humps, maybe 25', the tops of the humps being 19' or so. I've seen fellas having action out there, either pulling cranks or dragging meat. We fished until 5 or so and pulled off some last minute heroics with a very nice 35" pike on the final trolling pass.

As always, I am humbled my the chance to show other folks the river and a good day of fishing, THANK YOU!!!!

Lets talk muskies for a while. The river muskies are starting to tick me off! I'm stuck at 3 for the season, 43 being the big fish so far. While we have been seeing fish, the hours have been adding up and I'm thinking more and more about a serious change in tactics. I've been reading up on open water muskies, and the St.Croix has plenty of open water, so that's going to be my focus, numbers be damned. I think that who ever is able to unlock the key of the open water bite is going to hold a special card in their deck. From all the data and articles I've been reading it seems that's where they are at most of the time, and with the increased pressure the river is seeing on the shallow weedy "community spots", this is becoming more and more evident. I don't believe for a second this is going to mean large numbers of fish, but I do think that it'll mean bigger fish, more frequently. So I'll take one for the team and keep on plugging away at this idea. more to come for sure.

Saturday was the metro muskie tourney, Googh and I had intentions of fishing, but the logistics of getting back to the weigh-in at the Maple Grove Gander Mtn were too much to bite off, so we fished it as spoilers for the rest of the muskie anglers out there. Right out of the gate we raised 2 fish, then proceeded to get spanked for the next 6 hours, nothing! About noon we wrapped it up and headed in. We picked up our respective families and made it picnic day instead. I was glad to get Jennifer in the boat, she does not spend enough time with me in that element and I like having her in the water with me, maybe she'll be better luck next time! I guess a 53" from Waconia won the event, I've been meaning to fish there but have yet to make it.

This week should be a hoot. Tomorrow I may do some exploring of the Apple River with Brad as he'll be down to pick up some clients on Wednesday. I've got Francis flying in tomorrow evening for 3-4 days of fishing. I intend to fish something different every outing, perhaps add Cady Creek to the mix for some brookie action. I'm hoping the weather cooperates with a little rain and cloud cover as well. I'll update midweek as I have a better idea where we'll be.

good luck, keep 'em wet.

BPM

Weekend report

2009-06-09T10:52:00.002-05:00

Ahhh, the rains finally came and none too soon. The local trout streams were looking pretty rough, but much improved after a couple days of nice rainfall. The effect this has on the fishing is dramatic to say the least, gets the bugs and fish all stirred up with the high water and then if your lucky enough to catch it on falling water levels your in for a treat!

That was the case yesterday with Mr Bob King from Chicago Ill. Bob was a client I met a couple years ago at the show in Chicago and he finally made it up here to sample the local opportunities. With the rain coming down steady on Monday, we set off for the Rush, knowing the river would be in better shape than the Kinni as the rush tends to drain faster and less violently that the other rivers in the area with Dams. The hunch paid off as the Rush looked and fished amazingly well! We fished between Martell and El Paso on one of my favorite stretches of Dry Fly Water. There was a complex hatch of hendricksons, olives, crane flies, midges and caddis and the strategy was to change often over the same fish and regularly show them something different. it paid off handsomely with Bob landing a dozen or more on the Dry Fly over the course of the mid afternoon. When the rains let up it really got going and we had a ball! Thanks Bob, and as always I am humbled to be your guide!

I've got a couple more gigs this week, thursday and friday on the St.Croix. Thursday Client is father son team of Joe and Tom Hackbarth of River Falls WI. Last year about the same time Tom had a stellar day with a mixed bag of smallies and a great 42" muskie to boot. We'll be chasing anything that swims and hopefully a repeat performance of last years outing!

I'll be fishing the metro muskie tourney this weekend, focusing on the Croix. We've been doing well enough lately to be confidant enough to at least make some contacts and if we're lucky, put a couple fish in the boat. This is leading up to the PMTT Pro Tourney I'll be fishing this fall on the river. Hopefully the local edge will help me out there and I can do well, but there's always a lot of great anglers participating.

More to come from the outings later this week!

BPM

What you see....

2009-06-07T15:07:00.002-05:00

First off some props to my clients from the week. Thanks go out to Duane and Tyson, visiting here from the bayou, Baton Rouge LA and Greg from Prior lake MN. As always I am humbled by the opportunity and look forward to fishing with you gents again soon!

Here's what you see when you keep your eyes open in the woods. The big moth is a Polyphemus Moth, a type of silk moth in the Giant moth family, clearly! This bugger was fresh to the world and not much of a flyer in the early morning chill. Polyphemus moth's are large, this guy was maybe 5" in diameter, but not as big as the Cecropia's which seem to happen a bit later in the summer. What a treat, and my clients enjoyed it as well, bonus nature experience.

There's been a lot of fishing happening lately, as usual I'm mixing it up as only I seem to like to do. I've been out on Cedar lake in uptown a few times over the last couple weeks. I've been trying to locate a rock pile a scuba diver told me about, that he says is loaded with nice walleyes. I think I did find it and sure enough, got a few eye's but they were puny and not what I was after. The bonus 33" Tiger Musky however more than made up for the itty bitty walleyes. Got him on a jig & leech off the weed edge. The fellas in the rig next to me landed a 3 footer, which promptly ended up in the bottom of the canoe, flopping for 5 minutes till they could get a grip on the situation...not pretty and a dead musky, of that I am sure. On the paddle back across the lake, i came upon a solid 45" fish, hanging out over 35' of water, I was able to track him for 30 feet and got a real good look at it, giant Tiger!

My St. Croix induced tan is also taking shape. After catching a small musky on opener, I'd been blanked in 4 outings at least, maybe 25 hours total. In that time I'd been seeing fish, but not until mid week did I have success again. Wednesday I was alone, fishing bayport pool primarily and contacted 3 fish, had 2 good attacks but no hooks. Thursday the Gooch and I hit it and I made one pay. The viper strikes once again and this 43" fatty drank the kool-aid. I had missed a fish that seemed was solidly hook just an hour earlier. Add a couple more follows and it was a decent night, saw 5 landed one.

We are finally getting some much needed rain, the local streams look pretty rough although the kinni still seems to be fishing pretty well. The willow looked as if I'd never seen it, that is the bottom of holes I once thought had none. This rain should stir things up, especially if it comes as predicted tomorrow. I'll be on the Rush this week sometime, a little combo fishing/dinner/wedding planning trip to Vino in the valley with Jen J. I'll let y'all know how she looks.

some images from the week.

As seen on TV!

2009-05-29T07:39:00.002-05:00

It's been a busy couple weeks, muskie opened and the trout fishing has been slowly improving as well. More on that later this afternoon.

Most importantly, check out this clip from a show I did with KSTP Television on wednesday, on "Twin Cities Live". We shot some footage in River Falls at the Kinni Creek Lodge and highlighted fly fishing as a "get out of town" adventure. It went really well and makes me one step closer to my own show, maybe the "Big Pike Mike Angling Hour"? It was fun, hope you enjoy it!

http://twincitieslive.com/article/stories/S951723.shtml?cat=11449

BPM

in no particular order

2009-05-20T17:46:00.005-05:00

Here's what's been happening on my side of the rod....in no particular order.

The picture there is Greg Powell of Austin TX with a bonus 40" Sturgeon we got yesterday fishing for eyes'. Interesting day to say the least, what's with the 97 degrees anyway? The Texans loved it, no humidity! Good lord. Aside from the Sturgeon, we managed a couple small Walleyes and missed our share too. Wahoo jumped in the boat from 5-8, we had a couple beers and caught a nice 20" eye for his fryer. release to the grease.

Overall the fishing has been off and I really can't put a finger on it. Clearly we need precipitation but beyond that the systems just seem less fishy. Trout fishing for example, has been really slow for myself and my regular comrades. I can think of one good morning I had a week or so ago where I landed 5, one nice one and had steady action. Most outings have been a bit of a struggle. However, we did completely change our program last time out and Wahoo got a nice 17" on golden rocks, nymphing as opposed to the venerable streamer. Seems the trout decided to act like trout and not pike as previous years. fair enough, we can adapt.

Speaking of adapting. The 14th Annual Hamroom Walleye tournament took place this last Saturday. Dude Hale walked away with the event, 28+ pounds and maybe 8 over second place team of Farr and Johnson. Ingy and I donned the "Gitmo Fish" orange jumpsuits and proceeded to spend all day battling the 30+ mph winds and finished seventh or so. We only weighed 4 and had a 22" but no consistent good bite. Dude was fishing within sight of us for most of the day, we knew something had to be up but I'm not one to crowd a fella, wasn't anyway. I am now.

Guiding has been a little slow too, which I completely understand but still don't like. Aside from the ability to make a living, the client interaction really is what it's all about. I dig people and always look forward to making a new Friend. It'll pick up soon and already is a little as I've been booking some trips over the last few days.

Musky opens this weekend, I'm deep in the pits of a bathroom remodel and am struggling with time, fishing vs. work. arrgghhh. I guess either is "dropping by the jobsite" but I like completing projects and the benefits of doing so. I usually fish with Googh, er Todd Hess, a musky wizard in his own right. Last opener I think we each got a 40ish incher as I recall. it was cold however and the current heat wave could really start things off with a bang, no high water either...guess I'll go for a couple hours anyway.

I'll be out over the next few days and get some more intel rolling, bye for now.

eye candy

2009-05-07T11:39:00.004-05:00

here's some images from Alaska. it was cold.....

snakefarm

2009-05-07T08:05:00.002-05:00

Hello Y'all! I've Been back in MN for a couple of weeks now, getting myself adjusted to the pace of big city life again. For 3 months, I did little or no driving, watched little or no TV and spent even less time on the PC. Folks ask about the great time I had, but it didn't really involve the beauty of Alaska as much as the company of the people I was with. So ya, I had a GREAT time with my buddy Curt, his wife Alyssa and the girls, Serena Rose and Maggie. We worked our ever loving asses off for about 85 of the 90 days I was in town. It's a great place, everyone should go.

More on AK later, lets talk some fishing eh?

LOUSY! Despite what looks like great conditions, water levels and such, the fishing has been off, at least on the waters I've been fishing. The St. Croix opened up saturday to the usual fanfare, 75 boats jockeying for position in the channel and lots of reports of 14.5" short eyes. We fished hard all day and only got one for the box. We being Fred (aka creek warrior) and I. Thinking I'd do better on monday with less traffic and anglers about, I went and put another full day in searching, same results, one for the box. The males were still spewing milt, so I'm guessing the spawn just got over and the big girls will be strapping on the feed bag just in time for the HAMROOM in 2 weeks or so.

The trout scene has also been a little slow. Wednesday night fishing club convened last night with Robbie and Whahoo on board. I was the only guy to manage a fish, scrappy little 13" brown and that was it. So far this year I've got 10 I think, with one at 20" or so. I've not been on the kinni or the Rush but intend to here this coming week, hopefully with some clients. The guiding is starting out a little slower than I like, but frankly I expected it a little with the economy the way it is right now. Hopefully when schools out, folks will feel more compelled to keep their fishing business local and fish the area, as opposed to hitting the road to Montana.

I've kept my 09' rates the same as 08' and added a "kids fish free" component in order to get some family involvement this summer, lets spread the word and lets get out fishing!

In the meanwhile, still doing bathrooms and kitchens and I'm off to look at a job right now. more later with some recent images and more info!

cheers,

BPM

January 10th.....

2009-01-10T10:32:00.003-06:00

The passing of 8am or so marks another year under my belt. Yep, 41 years old today I am. I can remember sitting back in my late teens early twenties wondering where or what I'd be doing when I was 40...From where I sit, things are going pretty swell and 41 feels good.

A few weeks ago, just before Christmas I asked for Jennifer's hand in marriage and lucky for me she said yes! We are stoked to create a sweet life together, we've got some plans and both believe with hard work and some luck we'll be taken care of.

To celebrate the aforementioned accomplishments we are having a good old fashioned throw down tonight. Fish Taco's, corn chowder, keg o' summit and about 30 of our close friends and family should be coming by. Not to mention the fact that in a weeks time I'll be in Cordova AK for the remainder of the winter. I'm starting to get really excited about this trip, it's going to be a long time away no doubt, but we'll have some adventures and I'm really looking forward to working aboard Curt's boat. We've been talking some and it may turn into an annual event depending on how I do as a crew member. I'm guessing I'll do just fine.

I'll be posting from Alaska over the next couple of months,, maybe even a report on winter King fishing or at the very least some amazing images from one of the truly beautiful places on earth.

regular "work"

2008-12-12T21:08:00.004-06:00

Like most folks in my position, there's gotta be a regular job to pay the mortgage in the winter month's, and I've not yet given into the idea of moving somewhere's to guide year round quite yet. Maybe when I'm 50. So in the meanwhile, I'll continue on with working with my hands. I'm a handyman for all intents and purposes, although I prefer craftsman. I've learned enough over the years to be proficient at just about anything but haven't yet admitted to myself that it's what I should be doing. Having spent 9 years or so behind a desk, albeit in a very good working environment, I'm destined to carve out my own niche, win or lose. This work, like a lot of my guide gig's, comes word of mouth. It's nice when folks are pleased enough to recommend you to family or friends. I've been on a bathroom remodeling tear, Ben dubbed it "pimping the crapper", I think I need to turn that into a cable TV show.

Today I went to a funeral, for the father of my good friend Ingy. Ingy had the misfortune of finding his father dead in his easy chair on monday morning. In her rememberance of hre father, Ingy's sister told an interesting story about an old scottish tradition whereas when a person passes from this life, a window is opened to allow their essence/spirit to pass through. She thanked Ingy for opening the window for his father. I was pretty moved by this, Ingy is a pretty private guy and it was a nice little insight into his thoughts. Be well brother Ingy.

Plans are being laid for the Alaskan adventure, which is getting to be just around the corner. I must admit to being a bit nervous, despite having traveled well in my day, Ive never been away from home for such a long period of time. However much I miss my gal's, Jennifer & Elsie, I know it's an opportunity I can't miss. Curt is looking forward to the time together and thinks I'll work out well as a deck hand or tender captain, I think I'll do just fine and come back with all my fingers. The added bonus of winter king fishing near town will quell my hook and line jones....

really not much fishing to report and it looks like were going to get a full on freeze with subzero highs on monday and tuesday, I think I'll stay indoors.

bloody icehole

2008-12-08T14:48:00.003-06:00

Note to self, leave cell phone in truck when ice fishing. Yep, I dropped my phone down my ice hole yesterday, watched it most of the way to it's new home in 14' of willow river water. I was pissed of course, but I had to laugh after a while knowing it would give everyone else a good chuckle. I'll just add this to the list of items lost including keys, hats, many many sunglasses, fly boxes, tools and who knows what else. On the other hand, it was a pretty good year for catching who knows what. I seem to recall a tea-pot, muscle shirt (perforated 80's style), women's panties, numerous dock lines and a Ken doll, which I never actually got in the boat (he was tough!) but saw bobbing away, head up, steadfast...forgot my damn camera too, I laughed hysterically.

So I've finally got some pike on the brine. The pickling season has begun and the aroma of spices and vinegar will soon be permeating the house. The pike fishing was decent over the weekend, I think all told I got 8 flags, landed 3 and lost another at the hole. Saturday was brutal, 30mph winds and 10 degrees. My ice buster tip-ups were getting ice over and I missed a couple fish as a result, no flag action. The panfish bite is pretty good and the size seemed to be up a little as well. Fred joined me last night and iced some nice gills and a couple crappies, all of which are being pickled as well. I need a couple more nice pike to satisfy my obligations for Christmas gifts and such.

more to come.

few images

2008-12-03T11:47:00.000-06:00

Flags Down

2008-12-03T11:05:00.000-06:00

For many folks across the land, fall means harvest time and I'm no different. My thoughts turn from catch and release to release to the grease. While there's still good late fall musky fishing to be had among other things, locally my options are panfish and pike. Those of you who know me well enough, know I make a mean pickled pike. It's my grandfathers recipe and if the early ice pike cooperate, a dandy homemade x-mas gift, best I've had...seriously. So that's what's been happening. I did manage about a week or so of good walleye fishing on the St. Croix in early november. Oddly enough, it was a trolling bite on the shoreline breaks, not exactly a late season pattern on the river, and I never did find the fish deep in the usual haunts. Either way, harvested a couple limits and will be set for a month or two.

Client and good fishing buddy Jim Hirsch was back in town a couple weeks ago. He had a couple days of fishing with Brad on the Chippewa. He's a persistent sun of a gun and it paid off with a nice 38" muskie. It was the start of the cold stuff and most of the small bodies of water were getting iced over, but I had he and Dave on saturday, for something, open water somewhere....We'll we got totally stymied. Took a drive up to the apple to see about Riverdale Flowage, iced up. Drove over to Cedar lake thinking maybe we could troll? windy and partially iced up. Hmm, back to the croix? but these fellas want to cast a fly...Well needless to say, we ended up on pool 2 of the miss, trolling and enjoying a beer. total bust. that's late fall fishing for you.

So on comes the hard water. It set up really quickly, the state park already has a good 5-6" of nice ice. I've been out twice now and done as well as I expected. They cut the panfish limit back to 10 total, so a lot of sorting is required when they are going but it's fun. The terms of ice fishing are coming back to me..."Flags down, Shack back, crappis". I have a love-hate relationship with ice fishing. I adore eating panfish and pike, but the slog out, the shack back and just staring at the vex get old too fast. So far no Pike, although I did get a small largemouth on a tip-up.

So it looks pretty solid that I am going to Alaska for a few months starting in January sometime. A dear from from Hudson is a commercial fisherman in Cordova, been there for years and now has a family and a home that needs remodeling. If weather allows, I'll be joining Curt for the early part of the 2009 Halibut season in Prince William Sound as well. Curt's been on me for 20 years to come up and work and although the timing's not perfect (I'll miss my lady something fierce!) it's good in that I can make enough $$ too make it worthwhile, and one hell of an adventure. Cordova is an amazing place, no roads in and surrounded by mountains and glaciers. It's been years since I've been there so the opportunity is not to be missed. I'll return just in time for early trout season, sometime in april I suspect, all depends on the fishing.

Ben Fuego is off to Costa Rica this week on a "vendor trip", off shore billfishing at Crocodile bay. I remember those "vendor trips", nice little perk for having to sit behind a desk all day. There should be one a week.

Brad is coming down this weekend with Jen, not sure of his plans yet but I'm going to try to get him on the ice somewhere, if not just to have more suckers down for pike.

I'm off to clean the garage, wish me luck.

fall update

2008-10-13T19:53:00.000-05:00

I've no excuse, I've been a bad blogger. One of the things I pride myself on, is being outside and away from convenience of the computer. Do I wish I'd have had one as kid, no way! But as an adult, they are a necessary evil. Ya Ya I know, without one there would be no blog, no this no that, or means of communicating or sending your message or promoting your deal. I recognise the importance but am guilty of ignoring it anyway. perhaps there's something more to that, either way, I have been fishing, I mean fishing! In the northwoods, flyrods, big gear, big fish, full blown mixed martial angling.

I for one am really sad to see the trout season end. It was truly a great season for myself and some very wonderful clients along the way as well. I guided more on the stream than ever this year, that was a catalyst to spending more solo time or with wha or fred. We got pretty dialed in if I might say, and were able to stay on big fish pretty much all summer long. I was lucky enough to have a trip the last day of the season with a couple from Maiden Rock, we caught a few trout and planted a seed for next season.

What's this mixed martial angling BS he's got going anyway you ask? Well it goes like this. The crew I "train" with are some of the best anglers in all disciplines going. This exposure to high level angling puts a guy in a pretty good spot to be able to fish anywhere, anytime, for anything...cep't for widemouth bass that is, ahh maybe with a flyrod. These dudes, guys like Ben Fuego, B-rad, dude hale, eddy philpot, fred sparling, whahoo, fritzy, this list goes on but suffice it to say these are the best local anglers at what they do well, which is for a good plenty of them, everything. So we tie it all together, fly gear, big tackle, light tackle all done well. When visiting anglers talk about "picking the brain of the locals", we are the damn locals. So that's it, combined with the sheer volume of opportunity in this area we live that makes us want to do it all. One might say, it's hard to do it all and be proficient, more yet to be good at it all. Here's how I go about it. I pick my tool, based on season and the best opportunity at hand, generally involving the big fish of the desired species. It provides the chance for change, new techniques, learned skills and time on the water with good anglers and friends. We've got this crazy idea for a mixed martial angling world championships, more later on that.

Last weekend, I was up on Spider Lake with Brad and a crew of family, friends and clients. An amazing weekend of muskie fishing hosted at the Spider Lake Lodge, thanks to Brad and Jen for the hard work and out of this world food. We had some great clients and with some hard work and luck, everyone got a muskie, even you Jim....This New Yorker busted his ass on saturday, got schooled by a couple nice fish but was redeemed on sunday, thanks for the entertaining boat ride, hope to do it again.

I'll say this, I have been all over the sturgeon fishing this fall. So far on the season the boat's at 73 or so, give or take. Good numbers but even better big fish average and giant fish landed! For me, I've got 4 legals. two at 50", one at 54.5" and one just a hair short of 60", by far my biggest fresh water fish landed, had to be in the 60# range. Not only my success mind you, but at least 4 clients with their biggest fish ever and Ben Fuego's freakish 55.5". I'm going out tomorrow as well, for my last shot at targeting them this fall, the season is way too short. The DNR should just put a no kill limit on them, allow catch and release for a longer period of time. They are amazing fish, brute strength and stamina that shames any fish of comparable size.

Ben was up for the weekend and we put in a marathon, about 40 hours over four days fishing. The tally for the weekend (including ingy's fish and the kids I took sunday afternoon) was 32, for a total of 1300 or so inches, average length of 41" and an estimated weight of over 400lbs. My arms were sore from reeling in big fish, how can you not like this? Seriously? The pictures say it all.

enjoy the fall.

images to warm your heart

2008-09-22T19:27:00.000-05:00

Here's to a face only a mother could love, or anyone who loves to catch big fish......

arrrgghh

2008-08-28T18:51:00.000-05:00

OK.....so my computer got rendered useless by a virus and I've been delinquent in getting it repaired, so here's my long lost update...There's been a lot of fishing going on and I'll do my best to remember it all...

Wednesday night Fishing Club: pretty much since spring my Bro's Whahoo, Fred aka "creek warrior" and I have been meeting every wednesday evening on a piece of local trout water to enjoy the fishing, a couple beers and get out of the house on a consistent night. It's been good for me as it's kept me in touch with what's happening on the river over the course of the entire summer. The fishing has remained quite good, we've been surprised by the life on the river during the warmer parts of the normal midsummer fishing lull. Most importantly to me, I think the guy's would agree, is the time shared with good friends doing what we love to do on a regular basis. For me, fishing and being on the water is my spiritual endeavor, it's where I find the time to process the greater decisions of life, fine tune my connection with nature and balance out all of the flotsam and jetsam that flows at us from all directions down the river of life... sounds cheesy perhaps, but only to those who don't take the time to slow down a little and feel the flow of the water.

I've been back to Lake Michigan since my last post. The fishing overall was kinda lousy, by our standards anyway. We struggled to find fish in the usual depths and situations and had to completely retool our delivery after the first evening out. The deal was this, consistent east winds had been blowing in the warm water from the Michigan side, therefore forcing us to fish depths we were not quite prepared for at this time of the year. Ideally we'd have been fishing 50 to 100 FOW, but conditions forced us out to 150 to 175 and our rigging was just not suited to working this strata. That said, we still found fish and as it seemed, did as good or better than any of the charters running 15 lines. Weird thing was, no 3 year old fish. they were either 18 lbs or 8...one coho as well which is a rarity for us in T'rivers. We decided that next year we'll do an extended late june trip of 4-5 days to take advantage of the strong mid depth King bite as well as the plentiful Steelhead which always help out in filling the bag limit.

Muskies are still on a tear in the River. I get almost daily reports from the river rats on big fish and lots and lots of quality 40 to 48" fish. As for myself, the boat has been spending alot of time in the garage and in fact I noticed and had to fix a flat on the trailer this fine morning... All that changes tomorrow as I'll be heading out for the morning, all this muskie talk has me feeling a bit out of the loop and I need to be the one making the calls of good luck as opposed to always getting them.

Yesterday we had an epic float down the upper Apple. Brad came down with the drift boat and he, Whahoo and I floated about 15 miles above Star Prairie Wi. Rivers like the apple are the epitome of under fished and overlooked for freshwater angling, and it shows in the care given to the river, lack of access and overall availability of opportunity...Rest assured it's there, all a fella needs to do is get out with the proper craft and gear and explore. We've been talking about doing this section for some time and now we have. All in all it was a wonderful float but the amount of fishing water was limited overall. Smallies were plentiful as were the pike in areas with wood and depth, but the endless sand flats made the good habitat hard to find. In that stretch we found 2 good areas, separated by about 6 miles. Brad did most of the oar work, supplemented with ample amounts of the Dr's Cherry Schnapps. We did contact a few muskies, got maybe a dozen smallies, or should I say Whahoo did as i could not buy a fish to save my life. There's enough there to get me back in the fall, roll through with the Kayak and wade fish the good water.

There's much more to report and I'll do so tomorrow or saturday, getting the computer back and I've got gobs of great images to add as well....

get the hell out there and fish!

muskies En Fuego!

2008-07-29T06:58:00.000-05:00

So ya.....it's been a week or so since the last update, maybe a bit more in fact....There's been a bunch of fishing going down, but my computer came down with a virus and I'm having to add this report from my lovely Gal Jennifers, until I get de-bugged. What is their point anyway, worms, spam, virus etc....get a damn life hackers.

Lets see...I'll start with yesterdays action and work backwards.

I was on the River yesterday with Joe and Tom Hackbarth, father and son team from River Falls WI. It was to be the Croix mixed bag day, but we got a little sidetracked with MUSKIES! The muskie bite has been terrific in mid summer form so that was to be the focus till noontime lunch break. We started out with a couple trolling passes to see what and where, the first 2 passes nothing, and I could sense the need for a little action so I convinced them the 3rd pass was a charm and my gut told me to stick with it. It's a damn good thing because straightaway on pass 3 we stuck a fully airborne 44" stud of a muskie, Tom was on reel duty and within minutes and some struggle we got this very hot fish onboard. OK, enthusiasm levels sufficiently redlining now, high fives and pictures all around then came the real work. As happens, the fish just engulfed the bucktail and I had to do some minor surgery and get in the water with her to get this fabulous creature revived and swimming strong. Both Tom and Joe understood the importance of a clean and safe release so we took our time. after a nice ride along the boat, mouth agape, she was finally ready to go. We all felt great having not only netted her, but more importantly released her to fight again. Good job men! NO sooner had we gotten lines back in and just settled down from the excitement that was the first fish, WHAM! There's another! controlled chaos that is a muskie on a planer board. Same bait as last fish, Tom on the reel once again. Another great fish and great fight, but this one spared us the revival issues and came off just as I slid the net under her. 2 fish in 45 minutes, needless to say we were stoked! This one taped out at 42", not quite as heavy as #1, but really spunky as these 40ish fish seem to always be. So cool, Tom @ 15 gets his first two Muskies and I got to be a part of it....Love my job! Off we went to afton State Park for lunch and while the afternoon provided none of the excitement of the morning, we finished off the day in fine style; full and happy with memories of big green fish with teeth!

While were on the muskie talk....The Image on the top of the blog is of Rick Demarchis from the twin city area with one of his 2 muskies landed last wednesday morning. Rick was with a group from 3M and Excel Energy and the one guy in the bunch who had the desire to chase muskies that morning and it's a good thing! We started out doing a little trolling to get the feel and were seeing fish free swimming around as the sun started to heat up the water surface a little, so we dropped the trolling and picked up the top raiders. not 5 minutes into casting and Rick had a nice blowup only to be followed moments later my a nice 42" fish that gobbled a black TR. Nice start Rick, lets find more I said! We ended up going 2 for 6, with a nice spunky 37" fish trolling and as the time bell rang we lost a much bigger fish that we never saw. Rick was hooked and we're going to try to get out this week yet, perhaps tomorrow or thursday.

I have done a bit of trout fishing and did have one good night with Fred last saturday. We fished Hex but they were not responding to the dries so we switched back up to streamers and it's a good thing we did. I popped a nice 17" brown at about 10pm, Fred got a number of grabs and a couple nice big stream smallies to boot. About 10:30 or so he got broken off on 8lb and said "get in there, there's a big one about" so I did and Wham! the big whahoo muddler was clobbered by a 22" male, gorgeous fish, big kyper of a jaw and all colored up nicely. My big trout of the year to date. Brad is coming down for a funeral today so I think we'll be out this evening, barring any crazy storm action.

This weekend I'll be fishing with my good friend and Client Francis O'Neill from VA. He's flying in from the Oshkosh Airshow on saturday and we have 3 days of Muskie fishing in the Hayward area over the long weekend. I'm very much looking forward to seeing Francis again and getting him on the freshwater Tarpon...

More to come, here's some images from the week that was.

cheers,

BPM

Brule Update & Images

2008-07-15T12:05:00.000-05:00

Howdy All!

Here's what's been happening for the last week or so. I'm a little behind on the updates but I'll do my best to fill ya in.

On the Local Front: Still getting reports from the River about muskies, and lots of em. With the heat finally settling in and regular storm activity I would expect a terrific bite. Not sure why, but I'm just not super motivated to get in the boat right now, perhaps it's because my connection to the trout streams is so good right now, I'm hoping to maintain that groove. Cost of operation is a factor as well, it cost's about 50 bucks just to drop the boat in the water these days with gas and all....That said, I do have to get out there this week at some point, I have a couple day trips on the river next week to prepare for.

Wednesday of last week we finally got the shoot in with Dave Carlson from Eau Claire. We paddled the Kinni and fished a bit, but it was more a piece on Paige and the lodge etc etc. All in all it went well and despite dumping the canoe once, they managed to keep the camera dry thank goodness. It'll be on next Sunday as I recall and Dave wants to get another shoot or two in before the years end, for sure a Sturgeon show on the river come October.

Thursday afternoon found me at Brad's doorstep in Brule WI. The Hex have been starting to come off late and so a mission was in order. I cant believe I'm saying this, but I might be fished out for a day or two! Over the course of the 4 days, I fished an average of 15 hours per day, half of that in a canoe either on Big Lake or paddling the various stretches of river chasing resident browns. Thursday nights hex fishing was the most productive of the weekend, the hatch was moderate which I think helps because there were not as many naturals on the water to distract them. I got two about 18-19 or so and the other boats did about the same. What a trip Hex fishing is.....late nights, moonlight, skeets and big slurps all around you, it's hard where to figure out to cast first and easy to get lost in the moment. Hooking up once you get grabbed is another story, I think I went 0 for 17 before i finally figured out the no slack-sidearm hook set routine and was able to stick one good. I could see it being frustrating for some but the setting is just so perfect and fish in hand or not, still an amazing experience. One night out of the way, 3 more to go....

Friday was a bit of a leisure day at the club, we drank some beer and played bocce mostly until it was time to get ready for the evening festivities.. Fred arrived about 7 and sadly, brought a whopper of a thunderstorm along with him, rained us out good about the time we planned on hitting it. Worse yet the storm brought lingering high winds which would plague us for the next couple days. I went to bed early and the boys went to the Kro bar and hassled the cute bartender till 2am..

Saturday Fred and I got up early and did the Stones Bridge to Winni float. This has to be the nicest canoe float in WI, easy enough to fish most of the way from the boat and plenty of good water to stop and wade for a break. Fred got the trifecta, one of each resident species and I paddled most of the trip. A nice 30mph tailwind down big lake and we finished with enough time for a nap and retooling for the evening. Damn wind, the stuff usually lays down after a nice hot day but that was not the case, kept blowing s/sw all night and made the fishing a bit tough...understatement. There were a couple bugs coming off, but it was slim pickens and we packed it up earlier than usual, there's always tomorrow eh?

Having left the boats at the landing the night before, Fred and I mounted an early morning mission to Big Lake, looking for browns scrounging up wind blown hex from the night before. Not long after getting out, we had a nice little wind free window and cruised the lower end of the lake stalking risers. Having seen a nice rise 80 yards off, we stalked over there and got Fred into position for a cast and he made it count! Nice 18" brown, daylight hours on a BIG hex spinner pattern, it was perfect! That was the only fish we were able to get to go, so we headed downriver and made for the club, casting big dries along the way. We did get a couple more grabs but nothing in hand. After a short break and lunch, we rounded up Brian and Weston and made the float to the Ranger Station. This is an amazing stretch of streamer water so we changed gears and loaded up with big streamers. Brian and Weston were having luck picking fish off in the faster riffle sections where Fred and I focused on the deep slots and pools. The best action was lower, down towards the station in the deeper water. I hardly touched a fish all day but was super stoked to get a 19" out of a big deep sweeper log. It was probably the most beautiful Brown I have ever caught, buttery gold and red's with a million spots, the pic's hardly do it justice. He ate a medium sized whahoo streamer in natural and with a conehead. couple minutes later and we finished up, had some grub and rallied for the evening Hex battle. Sunday night hex hatch was enormous, so much so it made it really tough to get the fish to go with all the real things cluttering the water. Brian had some success and I hooked one good one but it was tough. Brad did get a terrific 13" brookie however, kinda saved the night.

if the Brule is not the best Brown Trout fishery in the country, I don't know what is. The sheer variety of fishing options and styles is amazing and I feel blessed to have it so close, and to have Brad on the river keeping a pulse for us all.

More to come, here's a few images from the weekend.

TV shoots, HEX and canoe ass.

2008-07-15T07:59:00.002-05:00

Hey Folks,

I just have a couple minutes to update and will add images from the weekend later. Was up on the Brule from Thursday to Monday, fished an average of about 15 hours per day and had an amazing time. I'll submit a full report and new images this afternoon so sit tight!

BigPikeMike

TV shoots, HEX and canoe ass.

2008-07-15T07:59:00.001-05:00

Quick Update

2008-07-08T17:41:00.000-05:00

On the local front....

The muskie bite is ON down at the river. I have been getting almost daily reports of fish up to 49" being caught and good numbers as well from the local muskie bros. I sadly, have nothing to add...been trout guiding so much that I've been reluctant to dig the boat out and I'd be lying if I said gas prices haven't effected that as well. However thursday night I'm going to make an effort with Fritzy and Fred and am hoping to contact some fish...

The Fly Fishing has been decent despite the mid summer warmth. Most of my trips have been in the morning so taking advantage of the first couple hours is pretty key. Today I had a wonderful crew, The Robeson Family from the Des Moines area. Well that is Dad and sons Wade and Justus. All have fished a little but this was their first fly fishing experience and all went well, the fish could have cooperated a bit more but everyone had some action and more importantly learned a bunch about the workings of the trout's world. Justus was 9 and did great on nymph fishing and missed a couple on the Dry Fly. I reassured him that a trout on a fly, any fly is a BIG DEAL and we had a great time trying. Kids can be hit or miss with interest and attention span, but he hung in there and was working till the last minute. I very much enjoyed my day, thanks guys!

Enough for now, believe it or not I'm heading back over to the valley tonight and again in the morning. Tomorrow is my show with Dave Carlson on the life of a guide....I better get one...

ciao,

BIGPIKEMIKE!

July 4th already?

2008-07-04T09:50:00.000-05:00

Good lord, where did the spring go? Seems like just a few weeks ago it was still shitty and snowing, then bang! summer time. I missed my spring steelhead trip to the Brule this year but I do know for sure that I'll be heading up sometime in the next couple weeks to fish Hex with Brad. Ben Fuego and his lovely wife MJ have been up at the Brule all week, I have yet to get a report from him but I'm guessing in true Ben fashion he creamed them on wolley buggars between Big Lake and Stones Bridge. Brad said the fishing has been off the charts, lots of bugs and the hex lingering around the corner.

It's been a busy work week for me, not so much guiding but I do have a couple items to touch on.

Last saturday I had a trip with Mark and Charlie from Burnsville. It was a 16th B-day gift from father to son, the kids got smarts, choosing fishing over the myriad of other options. We did a full day on the Kinni and ended up with a decent day overall. Strange weather made the fishing a bit odd. Neither fella had every fly fished so the morning was spent getting them up to speed, roll casting and mending mostly and with a little practice and lunch, we were ready to get serious for the afternoon shift. The Skies opened up and rudely dumped about 15 minutes of rain and hail on us, followed by a temp drop of about 20 degrees. All the hail stirred up the water a ton, but cleared briefly and we finally got Charlie into a birthday trout, a nice 14" on a sparkle caddis pupa, my standard go-to fly when times get tough. I was very encouraged by the Charlies enthusiasm, lets keep the youngsters on the water! Thanks Guys and lets fish again soon!

I made tracks to El Paso post haste for a nap and my all nighter expedition of the Rush with big flies. I made it till about 1am or so, with a little break and a chat/beers with some fellas from the Eau Claire/Chippewa Falls area. They were out for the late evening dry fly fiesta and had some success. I focused on the long deep frogwater sections that one would normally walk by during the daylight hours. I did get a 17" and a number of other mystery grabs but by 1am I was ready for a little bonfire and scotch. Fishing alone at night is creepy, fun but creepy. There was basically no moon and it's dark as hades in El Paso at night. The stars were amazing however and it felt good to get out of the city, albeit only an hour away, what a difference 50 miles makes.
Sunday night I headed over to the Willow for some late night action as well. Got on the water about 8 and tied up a #8 red humpy, "mr. do-it-all". I have to confess to ignoring the willow after about June 1st, and I could not recall the last time I caught a trout on a dry there. Didnt take long though, there was plenty happening bug wise and the humpy got creamed straight away. here's the kicker, I was sooooo off on my timing I think I went like 1 for 10, but I did hook and land a 17" smallie and about a 16" brown. Lost a nice one, maybe 19 or so. there were Caddis by the zillions, Golden stones the size of Chinook Transport helicopters and the odd hex, oh ya skeets and more skeets....

Wednesday night fishing club! Well sort of, this week it was Whahoo and I as Robbie and his lady had themselves a baby on monday (Congrats Rob!) We hung around and drank a couple summits and came up with a game plan, which consisted of hex or as I called Wha's white flies "moth patterns", what an exciting Way to fish! BUT, the fishing was pretty slow overall, there was a pretty stiff breeze and high pressure so for some reason they were just not snapping. We had intentions to fish till 12 or so, but cut it short at 11. Whahoo did the most AMAZING thing I have seen with a flyrod in years. He picked off a 18" fish that we had seen chasing bugs, in less than a foot of water, completely slack and gin clear. He fooled this critter with the moth and a twitched retrieve on a short line. I only know a couple fella's who coulda pulled that off, really really tricky move. wow! As for me, I got a couple grabs on a hex and sadly had one break me off on 4x, looked like a good fish for sure...next time.

lastly, had an amazing day yesterday with Jurgen and Katarina from Hammond WI. They had been in the area (from Germany) for about 8 years now and had decided this was the week they get out and explore the area. Both were complete rookies and ya coulda fooled me, nary an hour of instruction and they were both into fish. We had success on caddis and beatis emergers mostly, in the faster riffles. What a fun couple and I think they are hooked on the whole fishing, woods, water thing. Thanks so much and I'm looking forward to late July's outing with you again!

Gotta run, Jennifer's heading out for a month to Sacramento Ca for school and we have a bunch to do in getting her ready. I'll miss her something fierce but I'll get my 28 days in a row of fishing in to fill the time....

Hasta Luego.

BPM

weekend update & BPM email.....

2008-06-24T17:35:00.000-05:00

First up, my email from bigpikemike.com has been non functional for a while now. It appears we just got it rectified so if you have been trying to send an email to that address and it got bumped back, please send again~! enough of that, on with the fishing reports.

Friday 6/20: I spent the evening with Greg from Osceola WI on the mighty Kinni. Greg had purchased a fly rod some 10 years ago and it was finally time to give it a shot! Better late than never I say. We got a late afternoon start and headed waaaay down river past all the other anglers, maybe 2.5 miles or so to a spot I particularly like at dark. Having never fished before Greg was quick to pick up the idea of a simple roll cast and mending and lo & behold, his 3rd drift or so and he got a nice little brown! With some work and time, Greg got himself a few more trout and really got a nice feel for the rod and mending in particular. There was a wide variety of bugs coming off, little olives, caddis, stones, brown drakes and lastly the sulphers, which attracted a crowd at dark. Most of my guiding is morning oriented, so it was nice to get out in the evening this time. Thanks Greg and good luck!

Speaking on the Kinni...Jennifer and I made our first kayak trip of the season on saturday and had a great time. I've always been into the kayaks and am slowly warming her up to the idea that maybe we should buy a second boat and do it more often. The Kinni is a perfect first experience, just enough challenges to keep a beginner on their toes and I really enjoy the middle section of river from a scouting standpoint. After kayaking we made our way to Little Whisky to camp and fish a little around the property. Oh ya, we grilled out some Salmon from last weekend which was just fabulous! Anyway, I got in just a few minutes of fishing, mostly probing the depths with streamers and actually did really well, especially as dark rolled around. I pulled a 17 & 20" out of the same hole on a big muddler, got me thinking hmmmm....what if a fella started at 9 and fished till 3am or something crazy. Well I'm going to try to do just that this weekend. I'm guiding saturday and reckon I'll head to little whisky and fish streamers till all hours...anyone wanna join me?

Lastly, Fritzy and I were chasing muskies on a good report from Swervy. We made a bee line to the Kinni area and despite seeing a bunch of fish, just could not get one to eat. We fished hard till almost 11pm and I'll be doing the same tonight with Rodger Bradford, we'll see how long I can keep him interested. RB's been muskie fishing with me a half dozen times now and has yet to boat a muskie, although he's had some good bites and follows. Might have to throw for smallies to get a tug and then switch up to the big girls. I'm going to be throwing big flies on a sweet new 10wt courtesy of master builder Tom Schenk of Holcombe WI. I'll post a late night report if I'm not too stunned...

See ya soon!

BigPikeMike

the week that was....

2008-06-20T07:26:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been a helluva week of angling, this boy has been all over the board...Lets re-cap it shall we?

Thursday 6-12: Fished the mighty Kinni with Leo and Janet from Rockford Ill. We met them in Chicago at the Fly Show and they came up for a long weekend to explore our area. Sadly, the water was still high and in fact, rose about 4" in the 5 or so hours we fished. Needless to say the fishing was tough although Janet managed a nice little brown nymphing out of the current areas. Sometimes the timing is just tough and with all the rain we've had we're pretty lucky compared to some folks.
Friday 6-13: More high water, this time with a group on the Croix. My boat was the smallie rig and good thing because the smallies are biting well on the croix. We fished south of Afton mostly, pitching tubes and spinner baits into the trees and dock areas. We did find numbers but no slobs, save for Steve's 16" on a pepper tube. Thanks for a fun day guys, hope you had a nice outing!
Saturday & Sunday: DOS RIOS! Friday I left immediately for Dos Rios WI for the first salmon trip of the year. Got in late, slept a couple hours and was ready for the first light bite...which never came. Here was the deal, the twin rivers had dumped an enormous amount of mud and sediment in the lake, in the early a.m. we had no clue as to the depth of breadth of the mudline and this turned out to be the key for the weekend. Once the sun came up and we found the edge, we lit them up! The mud from the rivers, including the Manitowak was out to 125 to 175fow, maybe 4-6 miles off shore. We found a really solid edge of blue water vs. mud and worked the edge hard and started picking up fish almost immediately. Spoons on stealth leadcore rigs and clean lines were the keys as usual and saturdays box was the biggest at the cleaning station. So much so that the local charter guys cornered Ben for the details on what we were doing out there. Our trolling program is tough for them to match for a number of reasons, namely speed and style of gear. it's tough for the charters to run stealth gear, IE: put it down efficiently and keep it at the right speed. Our ability to change quick, check speed and move quietly is what keeps us on the top of the heap at the end of the day. Needless to say saturday we were off the water @ 10:30 with 8 in the box (5 four year old kings and some nice steelies inc a 32"). Overall we went 17 for 25, released a bunch of 2-5lb lakers and a couple smaller silver-fish too. Ben's got himself a new fillet knife, looks like some damn Ninja tool, he cuts, I pack....After a nap and re-grouping we gave the afternoon a shot, but storms in the area picked up the wind from the SE and that's bad in Dos Rios, we got blown off the water and had to settle for the sunday morning troll instead.
Sunday morning we found the same program, but the ever changing mudline challenged us just a bit more and we had to work till 1 or so to fill our box. Not as many big kings on sunday, but lots of nice fish and fewer lakers, although we did kill one for the smoker.
As fun as this is, the drive over and back, plus the bodily wear and tear means I am stunned for a couple days afterwards (sorry Jennifer!) It's tough fishing but soooo worth it!

Monday 6-16: Today was my favorite kind of trip on the Croix, the mixed bag day! Fished with Max and Taylor Kearns of the St Croix Valley. We started out focusing on smallies to get on the board, feel some tugs and get a feel for the high water, which had gone up 2' over the weekend! We found smallies in the usual places, tight to shore, rocks and sand etc. having had our fill of smallies and a sweet lunch break at Afton State Park, we decided to fill the remainder of the day with Muskies and Walleyes. Headed up to Afton to cast for a bit, neither fella had boated a musky so despite the mid-afternoon timing we donned bucktails and topraiders and gave it a go. From his "Bill Dance" seated position up front, Max almost instantly had a follow on the TR and the fish was hot, so we stayed in the area and hunted for a couple more. Mind you. 1:30 in the afternoon here....Well 15 minutes or so and 25 casts later Max hooked up at boat side on the same TR. The fish exploded out of nowhere and grabbed the bait, Max put the Almighty wood to him and it was game on. He was able to keep the beast close at hand and it was in the net in less than 15 seconds. Not the epic lengthy battle but rather the boat side meltdown and chaos of a musky on a short line. Good Work! High fives all around! Remember, this was from a seated position, I'll have to try that...stealth.. So we got our muskie, then decided to roll for some walleyes out in the main lake. Dealing with a 15mph north wind, we set up on the humps and did manage to get a couple but kept none for the box, just a nice way to round out the day. 5 species, mixed bag and a heckuva good day!

As if that's not enough!
In doing some recon for tonight's trip, I went to the Kinni last night with Ingy. It was his first time with a fly rod in a couple summers but he did just fine. We hiked a long way down, which is the norm for me, escape the hoards....Despite the sporadic bug activity which included Stoneflies of all things, fishing was pretty tough. I mostly fished a caddis just as a searching pattern, pitching to cover and small slots. got a number of grabs but I'll be damned if I didn't got skunked. Tough one for the Guide to admit but it happens. However I learned enough to be fully ready for tonight's action, busting out the big stimulator's to get their attention, especially as dark rolls around. I'll have a report later this evening, including pics from the previous weeks action!

Jennifer and I are going to kayak the kinni tomorrow and have a nice camp out in El Paso, very much looking forward to an evening away with my lady!

more to come, stay tuned!

weekend at hand

2008-06-12T10:24:00.000-05:00

Greetings All.....

It's been a pretty slow week fishing wise for me, with all the rain we've been having the streams have been on a regular pattern of flood or near flood conditions since last week. Nothing like what SW WI has been seeing but enough to make the fishing very tough. Fortunately our waters drain pretty quickly and my favorite fishing is generally on falling water so here's to hoping next week is dry and calm...

This weekend marks the first of what should be 3 trips to Dos Rios (Two Rivers, WI) salmon fishing with my bro Ben Hayes. This is almost always the highlight of the summers fishing and over the past 4 or 5 years we have dialed in a system which always seems to put us at the top of the heap at the cleaning station. We definitely do it differently than most of the others out there, clean lines and a stealth approach are our keys. T'rivers is the shit, the last crappy fishing village in WI. There are no harbor side condo's, just the old mills and seagull marina to welcome you back in after your day. We generally target kings and steelhead, although we do get the occasional brown and coho. We'll miss the friday night sunset bite but have all day saturday and sunday to fill a box. I'll have images and the box score on monday.

Walleye fishing on the croix has slowed with the water levels going through the roof. Fish are scattered from 6 to 30' over a variety of bottom terrain. I'll be out tomorrow with a large group and hopefully we'll find enough to make it interesting. This afternoon finds me on the Kinni with 2 clients, water is high and off color so I reckon we'll bust out the streamers and try to coax some fish into chasing. It's an overlooked tactic on the Kinni, we'll see what happens!

Good luck & Peace.....

BigPikeMike

rain

2008-06-06T16:49:00.000-05:00

It's looking bleak for a while, local streams are blown out and we're in a pattern that looks to hold for a while. I'm starting on my ark.......

Trilliums

2008-06-03T17:58:00.000-05:00

There's a particular spot on the Rush, upstream of Stonehammer Rd where the canopy is high and the wildflowers cover the rolling ground like a carpet of color. Wild Geranium, Phlox and Trillium dominate along with a host of others of which I don't know the name. Most were in shades of purple it seemed, even the Trillium which were starting to lose their milky white to the summer season. It's my favorite spot on the Rush, Francis and I visited twice during our days together. I'd like to think it's as much to enjoy the flowers as catch a few fish.

As a client, Francis reminded me of why I love to guide as I do. Each outing has it's challenges, having been a frequent client of guides in many different places for many different species, Francis embraced the challenge that is the spring creek trout and sporting a beautiful cane rod, proceeded to master the techniques needed to fool these wary creatures. Not to say there weren't moments of trial, maybe 10 flies in 30 minutes trying to match or even come close to the variety of bugs available on the water. At any time there was nothing at all, or a mixed bag of Hendricksons, Sulphers, midges, caddis of several varieties and even the odd crane fly. Despite a bum knee, Francis indulged my insistence at covering a little more ground in the interest of not only seeing more water, but enjoying the scenery and finding that perfect spot to enjoy lunch and reflect upon the day.

Overall, the fishing last week was good. The timing of the hatches varied from day to day but the advantage of having 4 days was that there's a good chance to be around when something does decide to happen. I was lucky enough to get out on Monday with another great client, Seth from Stillwater. He was new to trout fishing (save for an adventure on the North Island of New Zealand) and with a little coaching on his cast and mending, took to it just great and had a terrific morning of angling. After parting ways with Seth, I dragged the boat to the river and chased muskies for a couple hours. Fritzy and I did manage to raise a few fish but no takers. Water temp was upper 60's and had actually gone up from the weekends rains. I'll be back at them here this weekend sometime and have a trip friday for the croix mixed bag. Look for more updates in the next couple days.

bigpikemike

Francis & Me

2008-05-30T17:04:00.000-05:00

Images from my 4 days with Mr. Francis O'Neill. More to come on Francis and the week we had.

Reports for the week

2008-05-29T08:37:00.001-05:00

Hey All,

I've had the pleasure of fishing with Mr. Francis O'Neill from VA all this week. So far the fishing has been very good and today we are off to try to time the late morning olive hatch, with the overcast skies and mist I'm expecting to have another terrific day. Tuesday we spent the day on the Kinni, the morning was a little slow but having patience with the bugs always pays off and we had a terrific finish about 6pm, with Caddis like crazy and very agreeable fish. Yesterday was a little different, the am was slow on the Rush, mostly nymphing to try to locate some active fish and again, wait out the bugs. We had a nice noontime flurry with Caddis in El Paso however and today we're going to fish the Rush again and with this weather I expect a good day. I'll add some images and a more detailed report upon the conclusion of the week.

Good fishing to all!

BigPikeMike

muskie opener on the River

2008-05-26T08:13:00.000-05:00

Finally, a sign of summer. Muskie fishing opened on the St. Croix saturday morning to bright skies and lots of mid day wind. I Met "the Gooch" aka Todd Hess @ 5 am and we made our way to a few of the favored early season spots. Early season can be tricky for river muskies, with the high water and current that remains, the fish act a little and sometimes alot differently. That's one of the challenges of the river I love, the less predictable nature of the fish, as opposed to say Bald Eagle or White Bear where they tend to set up in more predictable patterns. I think lake fisherman struggle with the River a bit because of the ever changing nature of the water. I've been fortunate to have spent an enormous amount of time patterning these fish and have a pretty good bead on where they go and why. Part of my goal has always been to seek out the "B" spots. Everyone knows the community holes (afton, Kinni etc etc) but the trick is to fish the backups, and lots of em. The new anglers to the river tend to gravitate to the known spots, but rest assured there are muskies roaming just about every stretch of the river from Stillwater to Prescott. Trolling helps to locate some likely areas and perhaps a fish or two to target but my preference is always to cast. So How'd we do? Well Gooch got things started with a slender but scrappy 41" down at the Kinni, ate a swim bait on a figure 8, which is a rarity on the river. I got myself a nice fat 42" up on the WI shore, trolling a bucktail, a new Maina cowgirl type in funky colors. We did raise a couple others and in keeping with my namesake, I got myself a nice BIG PIKE. I shoulda whacked it, good pickling size at about 32" or so. There's more and more anglers targeting the Croix for muskies, the word kinda got out. I think it's got HUGE fish potential, there's just so much forage and space for them to roam, someones going to get a superfish this summer I bet. My personal biggest was a 51.5" from 2006, but there's been lots of 46-50" class fish seen and caught. Fished yesterday afternoon in and around the passing storms, nada. I thought it was going to be dynamite, playing the weather and all.

This week I'll be guiding trout all week, have a client flying in from the east coast for 3 days. I think we'll mix it up some both on start times and locations. Maybe I'll even talk him into a boat outing if he's game. weather looks good, fishing should be terrific!

have a great week all.

BPM

8th best!

2008-05-19T16:51:00.000-05:00

Hey, nothing wrong with 8th best walleye angler on the river, not when the field was a stacked as it was. The Hamroom was tough for most teams, but the Farr/Johnson team found the hot bite. Ingy and I struggled to find cooperative fish, it was not the kind of day when you could pick up one here and there to fill a nice box. The trick was as always, find that hot bite area and stick on it like white on rice, which is what the winners did. They were in sight of us almost the whole day but we never picked up on the action. Still had a great day and saw some familiar faces, but I will add the weigh in seemed somewhat lackluster, maybe it was just me and my 8th place bag...

The trout fishing continues to be off the charts, I can say I have caught more and bigger fish this year than any of the previous I can recall. Time on the water certainly helps, but the overall numbers and scale are amazing. Fished with Fred last night, he was wishing he'd have stayed home I think. the tally for Fred, 3 lost streamers and nary a grab. While he was re-tying at his favorite hole, I slid in and coaxed out yet another 20" trout. I felt bad for a couple minutes but heck, opportunity knocks! I think this year I can say I've got about 8 fish at or above 20" and a huge number of 17-20" fish. average size for the spring is about 18" I'd say. Who needs Chile, I've got the willow.

Here's a little excerpt from an email I got from a client...

I have met a few nasty people who chase salmonids, but not very many of them. For the most part, the rhythm of the rise, and the purl of the water, seem to have calmed fishers down, so that their lives are perhaps a bit less frenetic than they would otherwise be.

amen to that.

peace.

hamroom 2008

2008-05-15T15:45:00.000-05:00

Ahh, Hamroom time. when a fellas thoughts drift towards well, drifting a crawler in search of that Ham winning walleye. While there's certainly a little of cash at stake, it's the ability to claim the title of "HamRoom Champion" we're all chasing. After all, winning the Ham allows you to lay claim to being the best walleye fisherman on the river, at least until the River Rat.

A lot has changed in the 8-9 years I've been fishing the Ham. Most notably the boats. Seems back in the day, a Klund style "redboat" was the norm, these days there's gotta be three quarters of a million worth of rigs involved with the 30 or so boats. gotta admit, it pays to be fast sometimes. No more shotgun start by dave, in the boat launch parking lot. Kortum may not even have brought an implement of sheephead destruction last year, in the old days watch out if you were a drum, ya mighta got sawed or squirted with axle grease...dude must be getting all serious with him.

The Ham is a helluva lotta fun. Most of the participants are high school bro's and a few stragglers too and it's a good chance to catch up a little and walk tall if you get a nice box.

Good Luck saturday fella's, your gonna need it because BigPikeMike's got em dead to rights.

Cheers!

little of this, little of that...

2008-05-14T17:27:00.000-05:00

Howdy All!

This week has been pretty good fishing wise so far. Went out on the Croix monday afternoon, they lifted the no-wake so that made getting to spots more fun and guilt free as well. I was doing a little recon for the upcoming HamRoom this saturday and did manage to find a couple fish and gathered what I think should be enough info to get us in the money again this year. Ingy and I almost won the damn thing last year, couple 4oz off the leaders and dammed if we didn't have a BIG fish shake off about 3pm, we're guessing it was in the 28" range...not this year my friends. As for Monday, I got 3 that I kept, another 6-8 shorts and one 24.5" that I released with instructions to stay put till saturday. Did a little of everything, rigged, trolled and cast all with success. The fishing was really good in fact. The high water has me compelled to cast husky jerks in the old weeds and wood on the shore where permitting. There were walleyes to be had in 2-6', but the real treat were the bonus smallies. I got a 19 & 21", only to be bested by Fritzy who boated a 22", which I got a great pic of, the scale in my boat said 6lbs and I'm guessing it was all that. what a freak.

Fished the Willow last night and ran into fellow willow wizard Rob George. Rob was out earlier than I, right when the front was coming through, prime time and he did well. I got an 18" shortly after we got going, but only a couple grabs after that. He got a couple more and missed a bunch. The woods are getting green, jungle like even and the lower willow is a bit like a throw back in time. maybe that's why I like it so much.

Was thinking while fishing last night, how fortunate I've been to be present for a bunch of buddies "big fish" moment. here's a short list. Ben sorry if I missed your Rock Bass.

Fred Sparling: St Croix Walleye, 30" and well over 10lbs. November in maybe 99?

Kraig Klund: Winni Muskie, 54" and 45lbs or so. super freak, only fish we touched all weeked.

Kris Klund: 22" smallie, Monday afternoon on the river. made my 21" look small

Ingy: Several. Largemouth Bass, through the ice on the willow, 22" or so? Pike @ the park, 40" and 18lbs or so, good story to go along with that one, another time though.

Ben Hayes: 20lb steelhead, lake MI, Two Rivers WI. Last summer? the trips all blend together, either way it was a solid 40" trout.

that's the short list but you get the picture...thanks fella's.

here's some pics from the week, enjoy.

bigpikemike

El Paso

2008-05-11T12:22:00.000-05:00

Some images from the past couple days

all sorts of stuff

2008-05-09T18:13:00.000-05:00

The other day I heard something funny, a wife laughing back at her husband for his claim of "fishing hard" on WI trout opener, the thought! I fish hard, get dog tired then do it again. fish hard....

Here's what's happening in my neck of the woods.

heard some reliable reports about the croix, high water or not they have to be eating somewhere. what I heard was kinni decent as well as a couple other spots. However bro fritzy did get a monster sheepie, 18lbs! looked like a damn ocean fish! I'll try it sunday night if time allows.

Hamroom! the ham is just around the corner, did I mention Ingy and I are going to win it this year?

Trout stuff: had 2 terrific fella's from Louisiana today, we fished hard. BUT, the caddis and trout become cooperative and turned into an outstanding day of fishing. Joey and David fished hard too, Joey even treated himself to a five minute snooze after lunch, nice work.. Caddis coparadun's, bigger than usual did the trick, but at one point you could do no wrong, I'm sure they are still coming off.

Tomorrow I'm on the Rush with Brent Paulson, local angler out to pick up a few new tricks. weather looks like some rain perhaps but conditions are ripe for a nice hatch of bugs.

fish hard!

I missed the opener....

2008-05-08T17:08:00.000-05:00

ya well, I worked and as it turned out, I didn't miss much. The Croix is amazingly high with a current moving over 3mph in the channel and sparse reports from the bro's on success. I'm guessing the walleyes are up shallow somewhere and out of the heavy current, we tried that a little last night (Ingy and I) and got 1 17"er dragging crawlers in between the islands in the channel area. the good thing was, my impeller repair worked flawlessly! Thanks be to Fred for helping make that happen. I'm amazed at the equipment I own, yamaha makes some fine machines, start first time every time, despite the use and abuse....I'm going to miss the MN opener as well, but no surprise there I usually don't go anyway. As of now, doing a bit of prep work for the next couple days of guiding, ie rounding up gear, making delicious lunches and thinking of stories in case the fishing is lousy...

Speaking of lousy. Until the past few days the weather kept the fishing spotty on the local rivers. Monday I was down in El Paso about 3 or so, got a nice 16" brown on my third drift, skating a caddis about, there were a few bugs here and there but too early for much activity. However, the woods were a carpet of trillium's and other woodland flowers so I kinda got caught up in that instead. made a poor decision and ran for the willow @ last call only to be foiled by high water and nearly impossible fishing. Elsie's getting over her bout with Lymes, so she finally made it out with me and will be along the next couple of days as well.

have not been to the Brule yet, although a report from B-rad says the fishing is terrific. Not sure when I'll be off there, maybe end of next week. Ben and I are also getting an early start on T'river's salmon fishing this year, with early reports of numbers and size, in early may! we're meeting the weekend after memorial, damn that's a fun trip and we have all new gear! Tekota's and new rods thanks to Ben as well as his ever changing scheme of gear and technique, we kick some serious behind at the cleaning station...

tomorrow on the Kinni and saturday it'll be the Rush, oh ya, sunday back on the kinni for a group casti9ng session... more to come...

week in review

2008-04-26T17:40:00.000-05:00

Wow, logged lots of wader time fishing this week with 4 trips and plenty of "mike time" as well. Here's the play by play starting from last Saturday.

A week ago was the Annual Rush River Cleanup day and despite the cold morning temps, turnout was terrific! I'm guessing a hundred or more concerned folks showed up to pitch in and picked up an amazing amount of junk. Thanks to Sara for organizing and Josh for putting together all the grub, bravo.

Sunday it was my pleasure to fish with David and Kathy Cooper of Plymouth MN. David was doing the fishing and Kathy was along to enjoy the stream and catch up on some valuable Oprah reading. We had a good morning, the fishing was a little slow but David did manage to hook up but was kind enough to release him from a distance...

Tuesday I fished with Mr Bob Webb from Chicago area. Bob was getting back into Fly Fishing and since he had just retired, was eager to pick up a few new tricks so he could make the most of his newly found free time. We went to El Paso and were out pretty early, thinking we'd nymph and streamer fish till we had some bug activity. The fish were active all morning and about 10:30 or so the Olives started coming off. Bob landed his first fish on a dry fly, then another, then another.....It was a terrific hour or so of action and he and I had a great time. We broke for lunch and had a few more hours to fish as well. Thanks Bob, what a nice time and I hope to see you soon.

Wed and Thursday I had the great pleasure of fishing with a couple of real characters and outstanding guys, Michael and Bruce Ratner of NYC. Despite their being rooted in the big city, these guys had some serious skills and unending enthusiasm for the game. We fished the Kinni wednesday, but the 80 degree temps and lack of any bug activity made the fishing pretty tough, we did get a number to play along on the BWO emergers but there was no dry fly fishing to speak of, which was really what we were after. Thursday came and brought rain and wind, temps in the 50's. We met up with Mr Steve Born of Madison and the Ratners cousin Mark from Chicago at El Paso, 8:30 or so. Was looking like a potential washout but we gutted out the rain and were rewarded with an late afternoon olive hatch to satisfy the dry fly fiends. Spirits rose with the emerging bugs and everyone got fish, I spent much of the afternoon with Mark, picking off nice fish in a slackwater rock garden area, his delivery was terrific and he was rewarded with several nice fish in a tricky situation...Then there's Bruce, who busted out the spinning rod, spin and fly float and proceeded to catch fish after fish in a big slack flat, on a variety of bobber trailing flies, most notably the propeller bugger. So much for delicate presentation...it was hilarious. Dinner at Huggies followed, steaks ribs and all the good meats and drinks, thanks guys and particularly Steve for putting this trip together, I had an amazing time!

last but not least, the willow is on fire, just in time for a week off it seems. Fished yesterday morning and afternoon with Fred and while we didnt light them up, we did manage a couple nice fish, including a pretty 20" female on a yellow madonna. This morning was a whole 'nother story. I had never experienced a day such as this, fly fishing ANYWHERE. all I can say is I was stunned, here's the final tally....
1 @ 20.5"
1@ 19.5"
3@ 18" (on 3 consecutive drifts!)
2@17"
2@ 16"
3@15"
not to mention, I hooked up and lost another 6 or so and had about 15 other grabs. all told it could have been a 20 fish day, with all big fish. I could not believe it, shitty snowing sideways and they were just committing suicide...Was wrapping up about 10 or so, ran into Whahoo and got him all fired up, he managed a nice solid 18"er as well as a couple other big grabs. I hope these fish make it through the onslaught of the opener next weekend....damn, I'm still shaking. I'll be back on in the am...

BPM

last child in the woods

2008-04-16T17:12:00.000-05:00

Where are all the fishing punks these days?

Last child in the woods is the title of a book I just picked up. (Richard Louv) I'm not too far along, but the gist of it is this. "Nature deficit disorder" is an affliction that rages amongst our nations kids and could (in my opinion) be one of the root causes for all the issues, perceived or real, that kids today face. Here's the old "when I was a lad" part, but all true....We grubbed around in the woods and creeks and fields at will, exploring, learning and just being grubby kids. I cant really recall the last time I saw kids grubbing at the trout stream or the state park, on their own, unstructured and in nature. My own buddies with kids claim it's just not safe these days, bullshit I say. there were just as many weirdo's when we were kids, but the current state of media and availability of information means we just know more about them now. I think what it's really about is parents structuring their lives so that the kids are 100% occupied and that in turn frees the parents up to do their shopping or coffee or whatever. to hell with soccer and camp, take the little rats camping and turn them loose with a few essential grubbing items and show them what the natural world is all about.

true guide story. Last summer I had a bunch of great trips, but the most enjoyable was a father and his 2 sons age 9-13 or so. Dad was an accomplished fly angler and there was a tricky trico hatch going on, so I turned him loose and took the youngsters grubbing. We discovered a ton of crayfish and sculpins amongst the bottom critters, made a big rock pen and had an old fashioned crayfish rodeo and hoedown! Every once in a while we'd cast to a nearby trout, but for the most part were absorbed in our crayfish rodeo. I had more fun that day, they were stoked, dad was stoked and we learned a lot more then just how to trick a 12" trout on a #20 dry fly.

Get outside for crying out loud

end of rant

River of Spotted Cow....or the delinquent blogger

2008-04-13T20:49:00.001-05:00

Ya ya, that's me...been a pretty lousy week for fishing, the rain and snow left me bummed and the river's over their banks. The walleye bite has slowed some on pool two I understand, but frankly I've not been since the cold snap. However.....

I got a chance to fish SW WI last weekend as well as help with a massive tree planting project on the West Fork fork of the Kickapoo River, the family farm of Paul and Bernie Hayes. They are the parents of fellow angler and good pal Ben, the guy who taught me all I know about great lakes angling. We were fortunate to have great weather last saturday and the rain sunday held off till we were done and ready to fish, speaking of....

What an amazing area, every time I'm there I'm really in awe of the amount of water and lack of anglers for the most part. We fished the Bad Axe out of Viroqua and the west fork on the Hayes property. The Bad Axe was tough, we had high skies and warming temps and I'll be damned if a 3wt felt foriegn in my hands after chucking big flies and sinking lines all spring. Ben managed one decent fish and lost another, I reckon I got one as well. Pretty river, looked to be heavily impacted by last summers flooding though. The west fork is amazing to me, every hole beckons you to the next, "c-mon it says, there's another sweet hole just up the bend", a fella could get caught up in that and I did. We fished streamers, small leeches and buggars on saturday night and got about 20 in an hour or so. They were fiesty 11-15" browns and a number of brookies as well, they seemed to be in pods at places.

Saturday night was Bowling and Spotted Cow night at the lanes in Westby. Lo and behold who should stumble in but Dan Boggs from Janesville WI. Dan is the president of the Blackhawk WI TU chapter (of which Paul Hayes is a member long standing) and he joined us for bowling and even volunteered to help with some planting the next day in exchange for a TU donation and a couch to crash on. Thanks D! As an added bonus, Dan and I got out on the same west fork beat, this time with larger muddlers and had similar sucess. it was great to fish with Dan again and I look forward to my next visit to the area, what a place!

High waters look to be the norm, although I did see the kinni and rush were dropping pretty steadily after the storm on the 11th. The willow is blown wide open, it's got a huge drainage and lots of lowland topography so I expect it'll be a couple days till we can get out there again. I'll be focusing quite a bit of attention on the Rush and Kinni for the next couple weeks with some trips on the books, looking forward to nice weather and good fishing.

Hot tip of the week: crappies on lake Mallillue (sp?) around the dam from shore and by boat. good reports of numbers and some slabs to be had as well. may try to get out this week and stock up for crappie tacos!

my good fortune

2008-04-01T16:30:00.000-05:00

Greetings ~

this will be a quick one as I'm off to meet Mr. Walleye @ hidden falls in just a bit.

I Had the good fortune of fishing with Wahoo aka Chris Adams on Sunday evening. We both grew up on the stream it seems and are part of a network of high school buddies that still meet up to chase trout and drink a beer or three. My real good fortune was this, Wahoo ties some seriously evil muddlers, the finest big trout flies I've seen. just the right mix of ingredients and variations in color and size, I managed to talk him out of a couple for the evening and contracted him to tie me up a dozen for our fishing thursday morning. I was down to a couple that were so beat up, they were more like kruddlers. so timing was very good. The weather was nice, although on the front end of the storm that we got yesterday, so falling temps and change in pressure, usually means good fishing for all species. We pretty much took turns on each nice piece of water and chatted a bit, but at some point decided to bee line it to the lower reaches after that one big bite...Took a while and some change in color and tactics but we each managed one nice fish, Wahoo a 17" female on a nondiscript black wolley bugger and I plucked a 18-19" or so on a black wahoo conehead muddler variation. Both fish came later in the evening, after 6, which was a change from the usual 3-5 bite and color, black, another change from the whites and naturals we seem to rely on during off color water times. Things should only get better, I'll get more in depth on technique on my next post. The things we do locally can and do work on any trout water you may be on, regardless of where it is. big trout eat big prey period, no go get em!

the latest....

2008-03-29T07:50:00.000-05:00

Couple of things of note...My email on Bigpikemike.com has not been working for a while it seems, but appears to be up and running now. Apologies to anyone who has tried to contact me via the site and got bounced back, if I can retrieve that data, I'll shoot you a reply as soon as I can.

Here's the latest on what's been happening close to home.

Pool 2 shore bite has been going strong, walleyes and smallies being caught below the ford dam on both sides of the river. Fish are relating to the current but time is best spent fishing off current area's looking for resting/feeding fish. I may head down this morning if I can get my home chores done.

On the trout front, fish are definitely waking up with the warmer terms. Fished the willow Thursday night with my buddy Fred and for once this season, got the best of him. The water levels are up and a little off color, just right really for swinging big flies. Water temp was hovering around 40 or so, and there's still some snow to melt in the woods so it might be a couple weeks till we see a spike in temp. Thursday night we focused again on the slower, wider tail outs and flats where we have been having luck in the past week. I hooked up early and landed a tough 15" brown in a long thigh deep run, swinging down and across with little or no stripping, just swing and let the current do the work. Be sure to allow the fly to "hang" below you on a tight line for a few seconds before you retrieve or reposition, this time of the year I find they like this presentation and tend to grab it when you least expect. I got a couple more nice grabs a few minutes later but the big payback came just before dark. Fishing a hole known to give up some nice fish, I picked up a 19-20" male on a 3" natural/brown lead eye bunny leech (see header photo). This time of year they fight like crazy and this fish gave me all I could handle in the fast water and the 6wt. couple of photo's to admire him by and off he went. I'll add some images of flies for my next post and Fred ordered some new flies to test from Schmidts in MI, looking forward to seeing what he bought.

I'll be on the Kinni Tuesday with Dave Carlson of Northland Adventures TV show(http://www.northlandadventures.com/), we'll be paddling and fishing the Kinni for an upcoming episode. This will be my first outing with Dave and first time on the Kinni for me this year, but the weather looks good and I anticipate some bug activity and hopefully we can get some fish and put together an interesting program. Dave is very conservation minded and I'll be sure to fill his head with TGFL thoughts and ideas. Look for this in the coming weeks.

It's Brule opener as well this morning, good luck to all that are up there and send me some reports. It'll be a couple weeks for me but I cant wait, the Brule is truly my favorite place on earth.

peace.

TU monthly meeting

2008-03-26T18:55:00.000-05:00

Howdy!

I had a good night last night, but I wasnt on the water. I was given an opportunity to address the folks from TC Trout Unlimited at the REI in Bloomington for their monthly meeting. Although it was last minute, no way am I going pass up an chance for an audiance to hear about what's happening with TGFL. Things are progressing pretty rapidly in fact! We're in process of setting up with the state and both the website and newsletter are in process as well. Thanks to Steve Carlton for having me and to the folks who made it out. I appreciated the support and the good Q/A aftewards. Although the whole principal of what we stand for is and seems pretty simple, I think we have all been conditioned to believe the "fishing's always better somewhere else". The experiences I have had locally rival any I've had abroad and although the scenery might not be as spectacular, there's always something to be enjoyed and remembered. Like most things, it is what you make of it.

no fishing today, although I tried. Truck died on the way to the ford dam to fish with my buddy Ingy, looks like I need a new fuel pump, damn.... Last check Ingy had a couple bites but no walters landed.

Brule opener is this weekend, but my most recent report was the river was iced up from about Culhane on down, and I think I'll give it a week or two. Sounds like there's still plenty of deep snow in the woods to contend with as well. Snowshoes and waders anyone?

more to come, stay tuned eh!

Rush River Clean up Day

2008-03-21T09:01:00.000-05:00

Good Morning Fellow Anglers....

Mark your calendar for the 2008 Rush River Cleanup day! Saturday April 19, 8am at the Rush River Rod and Gun Club on Highway 72, east of Ellsworth. Contact Sarah Sanford @ rushclean2006@yahoo.com if you have questions or ideas, or just show up, grab a bag and start picken! It's a great opportunity to make an amazing stream that much better, get involved!

Locally, the water levels are rising and most of the streams will be high and off color. I was at Kinni Creek Lodge yesterday working on the fly shop and the kinni looked rough, not overly high but chocolate milk like in consistency. The willow was also high (up a foot since tuesday) and not quite as murky but difficult fishing.

Regarding Kinni Creek and the shop. We are adding a number of things this year. Rods and reels from Temple Fork Outfitters and Flies from Montana Fly Co. The bugs from MFC are amazing and most of the patterns we'll stock will be geared to the Kinni and the Rush with lots of seasonal patterns to boot. Stop in when your in town and say hi to Paige and myself. We also have a complete line of leaders/tippet and fly lines. With the lack of shopping opportunity locally, this could be a great stream side stop to pick up some last minute items and some of the cool "tech nymphs" from Montana Fly.

The next couple days could find me shore fishing @ Pool 2 again. I might even drag the 7wt down and with a little patience, catch a walleye on a streamer..or not.

Peace,

BIGPIKEMIKE

Land of Plenty

2008-03-20T08:27:00.000-05:00

One of the beautiful things about living in the Upper Midwest is the sheer variety of local angling opportunities available, particularly in the spring time. I've always considered myself a "seasonal angling specialist" and like to think I have a knack for seeking out the sweet bite close at hand, this week has been no exception. Tuesday on the trout stream and Wednesday catching shore walleyes below the ford dam.

Tuesday afternoon I found myself on the local trout stream with my good friend Fred Sparling. After the wet cold snow of Monday I honestly had low expectations, fearing the cold influx of snow would drop the stream temps enough to put the fish down, but as usually happens, they have to eat at some point and the key is being there when they do. This day was no different. We fished a couple hours with no action, plying some of the usual tricks we employ at this time of year but could not solve the puzzle...After some discussion on fly patterns and likely fish position we switched gears and we're rewarded with a nice bite over the course of a couple hours. Here's what we found....The increased volume and color of the river affords the trout an opportunity to roam a bit more from their usual woody haunts, today the hot ticket was flats and slower tail outs of larger pools. The first couple came from a 2' gravel flat, dead center of the river adjacent to a larger pool where we usually find them hunkered down. Fred got on board first with a nice 17" brown that snapped up a "whahoo muddler". Having seen his success I got energized, switched up flies and sure enough got tagged by a stout 15" in the same type of water. A pattern emerged and we focused our time on this type of water, rewarded well I might add. We finished the day off with a couple more @ 15" & 17" respectively and I had a losing battle with a tank that had my 7wt doubled over, felt like a brule steelhead to be honest and although I never got a definitive look, I'd easily say it was in the 20-24" class...

Yesterday afternoon the tele rings with my buddy Ingy on the other end proclaiming "they're here". They being pre spawn walleyes that stack up below the ford dam in st paul. I rallied some gear and the dog and got my ass down there. Nothing like catching 20"+ walleyes in the shadow of the city! This is a consistent and strong bite till the spawn ends and a great way to get out for a couple hours close to home....

here's a couple pics of the action. Think globally, fish locally!

Midwest Fly Fishing Show

2008-03-17T12:33:00.000-05:00

Whew! What a weekend!
As some of you know, this past weekend was Tom Helgeson's annual Midwest Fly Fishing show in Bloomington MN. I have a booth at the show with Paige Olson from Kinni Creek Lodge, thanks to all who stopped by for a chat and goll darnit, pick up the tele and lets get that trip booked! April is looking to be a busy month so the sooner you can secure your day, the better.

Overall the show was terrific! Attendance was great and people were both engaged and interested in what we have to offer from a guiding standpoint. This year, I'm going to be trying a couple different approaches, most notably the 2 day booking. I'm currently offering 20% off a consecutive days booking. The ability to get out on consecutive days is a great idea for a couple reasons, the most important being the ability to see and experience a full days cycle of life on the river. That first day is instruction and observation, day 2 is about implementation of what we learned on day 1. I don't care how good an angler you are, time on the water, that is regular time on the water is what separates the folks who have success on a consistent basis.

The other idea is this. Brad Bohen and I are going to be putting up a sizable outfitter style wall tent at the property in El Paso, WI. The Little Whisky Trout Camp! We will offer a true "fishing camp" experience for our clients, complete with 2 days of guiding, lodging in the wall tent and food. Waking up stream side is an experience that no one should miss and this will present a great opportunity to enjoy a campout with your buddies and truly get tuned in. It'll also be a great place to host outings for your club or clients with Brad and I serving your needs as guides/cooks and dispensers of BS and perhaps a little whisky to boot! Stay tuned for more info, we're hoping to have it in place mid may for summer bookings.

As usual, this year I hosted a saturday evening party at my place in St. Paul. Thanks to all the fine folks who came over and helped drink up the Two Hearted Ale, but a huge thanks to the boys from Chasin' Steel for bringing over there strings and entertaining the crew with a couple hours of fine bluegrass picking. Dave Blackburn and my lady Jen J got in on the jam as well, it was something else! I'll try to load up some video edits here shortly! thanks again guys and we hope to have you back soon!

it's currently 36 and snowing, calling for 3-5 inches tonight but tomorrow will find me on the water from mid afternoon till dark. I'll post a new report tomorrow evening.

cheers!

sunday afternoon

2008-03-10T20:10:00.000-05:00

welcome.....

ya know, it's funny. As I'm wandering down the stream on a Sunday afternoon I have all these terrific thoughts on what to spew about in my blog, but I sit down to write and poof... Need to bring a note pad. Anyway, this early season mission consisted of a couple elements most notably tree climbing. It's a neat time of the year, low clear water and no leaves means presents a good opportunity to scout out a couple favorite holes from a more arboreal perspective. and so I did. Brad and I have played this game before on the Rush, tree scouting and casting director but I did a solo mission seeing as it was mid day and I'd already fished the holes a bit. You can learn some interesting things from this view. I was looking for structural elements more or less, bottom contour, undercuts and the like. I was surprised to see a 30-40 foot long submerged tree in one of my spots, that explains a few lost fish but now I know a little more on how to position myself and play the fish to stay out of the snag..

I was also trying out a new line. I normally fish a 15 foot type 2 sinking line on a 6wt in the early season but I opted for a 30 foot type 3, on my old 5wt croix. nice medium action rod, although a little too light to pick up a lot of submerged line, more reason to strip it all the way in.
Likes: line sank like a rock and was in the strike zone faster from point of impact, and stayed longer on a swing and downstream hang. it did well in the cold, air temps around 30 or so and being new, plenty slick.
Dislikes: Need to throw a 6 or 7wt, preferably a 10 footer. Line sank so fast, mending beyond initial impact was minimal. seemed to hit with a thud, felt like I was beating the water to a froth.

I did manage to get one grab...In the early season I dig deep in the fly well and try out some things I may not fish in may and beyond. This outing was sculpins, olive and brown mostly and fished deep and slow...seemed like a good plan with the cold water and all..Granted it was mid day but still? 10 trips to the fly box later I finally relented, out came a big nasty. This big nasty is a seasoned double muddler, in a pretty sky blue/tan and silver. New, this fly was 5" or better but now at prime fighting weight it's about 4, a little sparse as well. Nonetheless, it's swimming just right and hanging in the zone like a champ. One the third or forth drift, whap, then nothing. Sometimes it's all about one big bite, and going with what got you there....

church....

2008-03-05T18:33:00.000-06:00

I attended church yesterday. one of my choosing another out of respect for some close friends, the Kalmon Family of Hudson WI. The service was to honor the passing of a terrific man, great father, grandfather and and fellow angler, Dennis Kalmon. Dennis had been battling cancer for 5 years, but the aggressive nature of the disease finally took him last weekend. His sons are all good fishing buddies and close friends, and the service was almost an impromptu class reunion in itself. Had a great opportunity to visit with some of my closest friends and fellow anglers, and even caught up on a hot bite or two....He'll be missed on opening day, in the hudson channel drifting nightcrawlers for opening day eye's....

After the ceremony and quick lunch, I attended MY church, the willow river in Hudson. feeling the need to examine my own mortality, the mortality of my father who also struggles with cancer and just life changing so fast these days a couple hours at the alter seemed appropriate. As usual the river rarely lets me down. despite the less than stellar temps, frozen guides and cold feet, I managed to bank one nice brown of about 17" on a deep dredged strip leech...Having admired him for a moment, I thought of Dennis Kalmon, his journey and ties to the natural world..I wished my little brown buddy a good day and headed home to warm feet and a cold PBR...godspeed Dennis.

gear drift.....

2008-03-02T10:38:00.000-06:00

Tis the spring time ritual, rounding up the gear from last fall's "rode hard, put away wet routine"...at least this year I managed to hang up the waders proper although I believe the neoprenes left me wet on the last trip to the Brule last fall, more aquaseal and bike patches. I'm not sure about you, but I dont trust a fella who's gear is 100% in place, right and tight. no sir, part of the fun is in the hunt..

Elsie and I did get out yesterday for a couple hours. I wet a line, however I find my first couple days out, on any water, are more about the hike, scouting new structure and reacquainting myself with the water and the walk. Chatted with a couple other anglers, Dustin and his bro from Hastings, younger fellas, slinging fire tiger raps, looking strangely like my buddies & I growing up near the river...The river looked about the same, not much color and with all the snow, still a little chilly. lots of interesting ice on overhangs and snags and more cars than I think I have ever seen in the general area, for any opener. It's 27 degrees @ 11 am, heading to 35? Might head back out and give another, or try to get a handle on the gear drift issue...

early season opener is here

2008-03-01T08:50:00.000-06:00

Well the early season opens today in WI, to a chilly reception however....As of 9am it's 13 degree's but at least it's nice and sunny. Brad of the Brule is sipping coffee downstairs and conjuring up some wicked early season streamers, my request of a couple chartruece double muddlers, possibly the deadliest big brown streamers I've used. Not quite time to toss them yet but I'm guessing we'll head out today at some point to walk the stream and reaquaint ourselves with moving water again....

We had a terrific meeting with Paige of the Kinni and Brian our wizard designer to discuss the TGFL strategy for the upcoming season. First up will be a TGFL newsletter which we'll have available at the upcoming show in Mpls in a couple weeks. Send me off an email if you'd like to get on the mailing list. This morning we are off to meet with Tom Helgeson from Midwest Fly Fishing magazine to talk a little more about the direction and what we can and will present at the Show. My discussions with my industry connections have been nothing but positive and momentum is building for our movement. This should be a very exciting season, check back later for a quick stream view report and images of the ohh so deadly Double Muddler.....

think Globally, Fish Locally!

2008-02-24T13:04:00.000-06:00

This is a topic you'll be hearing about plenty in the future.

Think Globally, Fish Locally (TGFL from here on out) is something I've been thinking about and working on for some time now. the idea behind TGFL is pretty simple really, to help promote the unique local (wherever you call local) angling opportunities and to see what sort of awareness and motivation we can bring to the idea of supporting your local fishing economy. As well as and maybe more importantly lessening the effects that all the focus on adventure travel has on the fisheries, the local business's and the "carbon footprint" it leaves when you fly 7000 miles to chase trout or any other species for that matter. By no means is this going to have negative connotations, no bashing of individuals or groups who either travel or arrange such gigs, but rather to seek out the adventures available in your own back yard and how to more effectively be a good steward to the environment and the local revenue stream.

See http://www.thinkgloballyfishlocally.com/ in the coming weeks for useful links, information on our group and how to help. This is something everyone who values our waters should be interested and involved in.

to heck with winter.....

2008-02-24T12:36:00.000-06:00

Spring is just around the corner, so I've been told.

Winter fishing just doesn't do it for me. I enjoy the early ice but beyond the need to fill the freezer with tasty bluegills and make as much pickled pike as I can, I cant be bothered anymore once february rolls around. bigger and better things await once the ice begins to melt.

this is where you'll find current reports from both my client outings and my personal adventures...as well as a fair amount of chatter from the local fishing scene, upcoming events and the usual rant and rail on things important to me.

My partner Brad Bohen and I are teaching a number of schools this summer in the woods of northern WI and on the Rush River at Little Whisky Fly Fishing Camp...See sidebar for dates and shoot me an emial for more details. I'm also teaching 4 -1/2 day schools on the Kinni with Kinni Creek bed and breakfast starting in april. see www.kinnicreek.com for more details.

More to come, WI early season is just a few days away!