I was left with this 22" SMALL FRY.. Nope not complaining....it put up a great fight and was contributed to a great day of fishing.

 

After he caught his big fish Mickey caght this 24" eye......WTG bud.

 

While fishing we had a couple of loons that stayed close to the boat for a long time. This was a fun afternoon.

 

Well I got mickey out fishing again and he used all his skill to catch this 27" beauty. He did a great job and got rewarded for his patience.

 

A Golf Weekend

Once in awhile fishing is not the activity of the moment, Damn I hate when that happens. On Friday I was selected to play in a charity eveny at the Mesabe CC, Hibbing Taconite sent 2 foursomes and I was in one of the groups. We played great and I hit the ball well, we were -9 and won the scramble event.

On the weekend I played in the Lou Barle event at Eagle Ridge, Saturday was a best ball and I shot a 78 my best round in the 3 years that I've played there. Rick Anderson and I went into Sunday with a 2 stroke lead and didn't play bad but not good enough, we lost the scramble part of the tourney and lost our event by 1 stroke and came in second. I made some bad mental mistakes but I guess you learn by making them, I hope. We got our money back in prize money so I guess it was successful.

I have to golf league tonite but I hope to fish Wednesday and Thursday, and hoping to get Mickey out tomorrow. Next week will be busy, Alyssa, D and the kids will be staying out at Bill's cabin on Big Sturgeon so I hope to get some family and fishing pics on line during the week.

Stay tunes for updates,

Steelheader

Been Fishing but Mayflies Have Slowed the Bite

I fished on Monday and Tuesday and caught a couple of fish the same old pics so I'll keep them. On both lakes I fished there were a ton of mayfly shins on the water so the fish are eating desert this week, crawlers and leeches will wait in the fishes eyes anyway. Fishing may be back to a good bite by the weekend I hope. It will be a busy weekend with DJ"'s Backwater festival in Cohasset and
I got roped into golfing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning. I hope to wet a line on Sunday evening so I don't forget how to fish...HEHE!!

I will have some Pictures of a cabin that is for rent on Big Sturgeon after the details are worked out so those looking for a vacation destination keep checking back for details.

Catch them if you can and enjoy the weather,

Steelheader

Today I fished a rock pile and found more fish but a little smaller in size than the fish the sand hump produced. This was the mold that the fish came out of today. All were about 19-22" and were aggressive.

 

All the smallies were dark colored and came from 15-22' of water.

 

Too big for dinner AGAIN!!

 

Thia was the biggest smallie that I took a picture of it was just under 4 pounds. I probably caught 6-8 total and by this last one my arm was toast.

 

I finally found a big fish, this one was 26".

 

After a great morning of fishing this and another boat got into my drift and aced me out of the rock pile I was fishing. I was leaving soon anyway but if you recognize this DICK slap him for me.

 

It was another great night of fishing big eyes, it's hard to tell but this one was 26". I was in the boat alone tonight so this was the best I could do. It may be awhile till I have another run of big fish like I had the last 2 nights.

 

THIS 24" WALLEYE DIDN'T WANT HIS PICTURE TAKEN, HE KEPT TRYING TO GET AWAY.

 

this is a nice 25" eye.

 

Can You Spell Lunker??

I keep telling Zach I’m a slow learner and I fish with him mostly for comic relief, he smiles and chuckles even though he knows it’s true. Tonight this slow learner had a bonus night of fishing…Thanks for the lessons Zach they finally sank in. Tonight we caught 11 eleven fish and 8 were over 20” with a 22”, two 24’s, a 26” and a 291/2” fish. Now this is what my memory recalls, sorry if I missed a few Z and Reed. The rest of you can look at the pictures and know that a lot of big fish were caught tonight. We did catch 3 fish under 17 inches and 2 fish over 26 inches so we could have taken home 5 fish…..HEHE…. We released them all, we were having too much fun among the 2 to 6 boats that were watching us and not even coming up with a bite. The bump we were fishing was about as big as my house lot…..25’ X 125’. I really don’t even think anybody else even noticed it.

Time for bed, I should have done this tomorrow but was too pumped for bed. Hoping everyone has a fishing day like that…..At least once a year, every fisherman deserves it.

May your day come soon,

Steelheader

Damn it stop flipping around, Zach got to slap alot of things tonight, he started with his locator, then his Honda, and if he could have reached Jenny and Tom they would have been backhanded also. The last 2 trolled close enough to the marker buoy to snag it. Z was actually calm about it......Almost!! HEHE!!

 

Zach started the big fish parade with this 24"+ fish that weighed almost 6 pounds. The weight was near the 29" fish he caught last night, this one was a fatty.

 

This was the start of a good ....GREAT....evening of fishing for me. A 20"+ fish got me on the board and it got better from here.

 

The fishing wasn't fast but the results were fantastic, look at this 26" eye.

 

Reed holds up a nice 20" fish here, he had the same problem I had last night. It takes awhile to get the hang of longlining, WTG Reed you caught on faster than I did.

 

Well it took me awhile to get the hang of longline rigging with worms but I found my big fish for the year. Look at this 29 1/2" beauty, it was just over 8 pounds...Thank-you very much for the lessons Zach, they paid off!! This is the last picture I took but we caught other very nice fish this evening.

 

Cade Wants To Be Captain

Last night I took my grandson Cade out fishing, 20 minutes after we got on the water I heard Poppy I think we should do this and that. The fish weren't biting so boredom set in early for Caders and I had more good advice than I could process. I had to explain to him about the captain of the boat which didn't impress him at all. He said he could tell me what to do and maybe we could catch some fish...HEHE. Then I had to explain why we couldn't anchor in 75' of water, my answer wasn't very good I guess. Anyway David came and got him about an hour later, he had had enough of Poppy being captain.

Lyss you should take a minute to tell Griffin about the captain of the boat....HMMMM.

Anyway after Cade left I watched Zach catch fish and he did a good job of it. Take a look at the 29' fish he caught, a real beauty.

Later got to go fishing again....DAMN,
Steelheader

Zach has the touch for the big fish this year...great 29" eye.

 

A Fishing Week with Friends and Family

I promised you some pictures from my Winnie week, well I think I did a GOOD JOB!! You can judge for yourself after you read about the fishing marathon. Wednesday was a set-up disaster starting with a power outage at the resort and trying to find a level spot for the fish house. I finally got out fishing about 2 PM, after bouncing around different spots I found a 26” eye at Stoney Point. In the next 2 days we had to let go 2 fish for every 1 we caught, needless to say the big ones were biting. We had fish both Wednesday and Thursday evening and ate till all were full.

Bruce showed up Thursday night so Friday Zach, Bakes Bill, Bruce and I went to Red lake for the day. It was by far one of the strangest days ever, Red Lake was as flat as a mirror and the fish were biting in 4-6’ of water. Each boat caught 20-40 walleyes and 4 crappies each, and most crappie were caught on crank baits. Everyone fried in the 80+ degree day with no wind to cool you off.

Saturday on Winnie was almost as flat as Red lake was the day before so the walleyes were hard to come by but those caught were all over 20”, after running to different spots we decided to do some serious drinking. Dave, Bakes and Zach tented that night and Bruce and I went back to Red Lake on Sunday and had a great time. Monday and Tuesday were clean up time and I fished Little Winnie each day between thunder storms and downpours…..I was dumb enough on Monday evening to fish for 2 hours in a steady rain, guess I had to get the most out of my last day.

I can say that I had a great time, and the people and family I fished with made it a very special time. I will do it again if I can get the vacation I need to enjoy the fishing, friendship, and weather.

I hope all can enjoy fishing with family and friends,

Steelheader

Here Bakes holds a fish that will fit under the slot.....Called supper.

Thursday was a good day for Winnie walleyes.

 

The Side Lake Stud showing off a Winnie eye.

 

We were fishing Third River when this pair of loons came out of the reeds and scurried their chick away from my boat.

 

Zach is admiring David's fishing rod, without his eyes closed he was impressed. He rarely messes up a photo OP.