Fast and Furious in the Northwoods

Crappie fishing has been excellent during June on northwoods area lakes. Cooler than usual nights and bright, cloudless days have pushed crappies, gills and bass off spawning beds, forcing fishermen to spend more time looking for active fish in weeds.

By mid-June crappies lost interest in minnows, as is usually the case, and have been chasing plastics. Clouds and light wind are fisherman's most welcome when jigging for hungry, post spawn fish.

I was treated to a small surprise this morning when retrieving my minnow bucket. A fawn had curled up for a rest under our dock, no doubt while mom was out searching for breakfast. Less than two feet apart, we startled one another.

Daughter Emily is headed this way from Kansas City the second week of July. Her timing might be perfect for peak fishing as the lakes are running two to three weeks late due to delayed ice out. However, swimming will likely be a bit on the chilly side.

We are headed out tomorrow looking for smallmouth action on a big lake. We should do well provided we get some cloud cover.

Time to Go Fishing

After a career that started in 1969,  I will officially retire this week. I'll be saying goodbye to the great Allied 100 team above and making many changes. Having moved to the North Woods more than ten years ago, Diane and I have had time to find many good fishing lakes. Starting this weekend, we hope to start finding many more.

The boat is in the shop, but should be ready today. After the coldest, snowiest spring on record, the weather is about to break in our favor. The fish will soon be heading to the banks for late spawn.

We won't  fish every single day. There are plenty of other projects to keep us busy. But it's nice to know we could if we wanted to.

The poles have been re-spooled. The tackle boxes have been re-organized. The motor has new plugs. It's time to go! Watch this blog for frequent fishing reports.

Enough Already!

It's April 18, 2013. Last year at this time the dock was in. The boat was out of storage. The snow and ice was long gone. This year, it's still snowing and the ice on our small lake is still close to three feet thick. Our ten day forecast does not have temps rising above the mid forties. It all likelihood, there will still be ice on the lakes come May 4.

Migrating birds are arriving but have little open water. Animals are coming out of hibernation, but struggling to find food. Our bird and deer feeders are overrun with critters.

Sadly, one critter, my guess a rabbit, decided the cedar beards of my garage would do for dinner. I found extensive damage to the bottom of the warm, wet boards on the south face.  Hopefully deer stink spray will discourage further gnawing until repairs are made later this spring.

People up north are suffering severe cabin fever. Few are willing to debate global warming.

The Love Shack has a Rough Night

I discovered last night why our canvas ice fish hut is portable and no one leaves them out over night.

Since my knee is in need of replacement, I decided to leave our portable ice fishing shelter. the Love Shack, out for a few weeks instead of trying to pull it up the steep rise behind our house. After three weeks of sitting there looking good and cozy, an Alberta Clipper came through and rolled it end over end, scattering the seats, scoops and hand axe into deep drifts. I rescued the shelter and pulled it to the bank.

There is a serious flaw with design of this hut. Folded down to escape the wind, the plastic base will fill with snow. Folded up, the canvas is sure to catch the wind and blow down.  I see an opportunity to improve this design and sell an improved weather safe, drift -proof hut. Anyone? I'll take 10%.

My wife of 44 years tolerates my silly joke about the Love Shack. Huddled inside in three layers of cloths around a propane heater, plucking tiny fish from ice water, we are not likely to have a Cialis moment.

Steelhead Fishing By Friend Mark

All of my fishing is done on calm area lakes these days. But during my youth my friend Mark and I waded Ferson's creeks in search of bass hiding under bank bushes, or in the Fox River, then so polluted we knew not to keep the ones that glowed in the dark.

Mark today lives in the Pacific northwest and has moved upscale with his techniques. I thought you would enjoy his report from last week...

I left Sunday morning around 0730. My friend Gary was coming from Seattle, trailer in tow. We converged in Aberdeen, WA, about 2 hours north of here, and spent a few hours there with cameras wandering alleys and streets in a town “untouched by prosperity.” It’s a blue collar working class industrial logging and wood processing place. I’ve driven through it dozens of times but never stopped. It’s a wonderfully awful place. We plan to go back and spend a couple of days devoted to photos. Two hours further north put us on the Hoh River in Minnie Pedersen campground: maybe 15 sites, with amenities consisting of an outhouse, fire pit, and a picnic table. We had plenty of water onboard and a generator for 110 VAC. We brought a bunch of firewood, but evenings were rainy and not conducive to campfire sitting – only 2 fires in 5 nights. To gauge our level of sophistication, here is our DVD selection: 2001-A Space Odyssey, Apocalypse Now, The Bank Dick, and a Three Stooges Compilation. Eh??

Monday we drove the access road and bank fished. At a favorite spot called Morgan’s Crossing (for unknown reasons) I caught a fish is less than an hour. It was a 14-15 pound hen, native fish (not hatchery), that hammered my fly and nearly took the rod out of my hands when she struck. The Dean River fish was probably 18-20 pounds for comparison. It took 5-10 min to bring her into the shallows. No jumps out of water, she just hunkered down in the current like a Chinook salmon. When I moved her inland, I tail-grabbed her and extracted the barbless hook from her jaw. She’s now back out there somewhere.

Tues we put in pontoon boats on the upper river. We floated about 8 miles to take out on a gravel bar near camp. The river level was low, below average, and parts of the float were treacherous. On the upper section we had to negotiate numerous exposed boulders/rocks that would cause serious damage to a boat and to an oarsman. Near the bottom end, the river split in two channels. The right was minimal water and un-floatable, the left looked better. But as I came around a corner I could see that downed trees were completely blocking the channel. I got out in time to avoid a disaster, warned my friend of trouble, and schlepped my boat around the obstruction.  

Weds we did some more bank fishing in the morning, and spent the afternoon with cameras. Thurs was a camera day.

New Propane Powered Auger Rates a Wow!

After ten years my old Jiffy would no longer start. Eager to get out on the ice, I popped over to the local bait store to buy a new one. Luckily, the young salesperson recommended the Jiffy Pro 4. This uses the 1 quart propane tank. Also, luckily they were out of the 8 inch units, so I opted for the 9 inch. Turns out size does indeed make a difference.

The lone drawback to the new Jiffy Pro 4 is its weight. It is very heavy. You won't want to carry it far. Plan on using your sled or driving to your location.

Count on this!

One of my partner's tasks onboard the boat is to maintain our fish count. We seldom keep a lot of fish, but it is always fun to know how we are doing. It also helps us avoid making a mistake and keeping more than a limit. Diane wears a counter like the one above around here neck.

Most days I out catch Diane by a few, buy not always. The count helps me realize when she is doing something right. I am not shy about switching to her tactics.