2009-FavoriteCatches
2009 brought about a season of firsts for me. Although I am weathered by angling and 2010 marks my 30th season I am still catching new species of fish and finding new ways to catch the old species of fish. Fishing is still a constant challenge that I welcome regularly. Whether it be getting to [...]
Angling for our Native Lake Sturgeon
Lake Sturgeon are classified as rare species by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Lake Sturgeon, Acipenser fulvescens, are of special concern to the MDNR however not to the federal level. Nationally these fish are caught in the northern states. Traditionally this species was a food base for Native Americans living in the river woodlands. [...]
2009-07-03_RootRiver
I shook the stick earlier this week by finally catching a Longnose Gar. I have had the stick before and am aware that once its gone good things can happen. With that I have never caught a Sturgeon. It has been something of my imagination for nearly 20 seasons. Today I set out to conquer [...]
2009-06-30_ProjectGetOutdoors
Every Tuesday I volunteer at Winona’s Maplewood Townhomes. It is called Project Get Outdoors and we cater to all youths. Today was my program day and we were set to go fishing in the backwaters. Many of my kids had never fished before. We started with how to cast and bait a hook and [...]
2009-06-29_mississippiriver
Today Chad and I were host to master anglers Andy Geving and Andy Nordquist. Geving holds the current world record for Golden Redhorse of which he caught out of the Root River a few years ago. We set out to our backwaters current for several species, Shortnose and Longnose Gar and Sauger. Nordquist [...]
2009-06-23_MississippiRiver
Today I began my hunt for Hexagenia Limbata mayflies on the Mississippi River. I have reports that the hatch has begun in the northern reaches of the river nearer to Brainerd. Mayfly hatches typically begin upstream and hatch in succession down the river like falling dominos. I have a control site at Prairie [...]
2009-06-22_That dang stick….
The sturgeon are still jumping however there were less today in the sweltering heat. Chad talked me into getting on the water at Bass Camp with his success in landing a Sturgeon in the morning. We cooked through six dozen nightcrawlers in a few short hours. I got skunked. Chad caught the Channel Cat, in [...]
2009-06-19_That dang stick….
The Mississippi River sturgeon are active. They are busy porpoising and breaking drum anglers lines. Thankfully, they take the time to give me the fin when they break. Being sturgeon, they like to jump, these particular sturgeon jump like porpoise when a standing wave rolls from the dam gates over them. I counted [...]
2009-06-14_MoneyCreek
I have a bike that I can ride to the creek instead of driving my car. Today I chose to take it up over the freeway ridge and down into the valley on the south side of it in order to hit a section of creek that is rarely fished. The drive took me 45 [...]
2009-06-01_MoneyCreek
I got out to scout a bit today finding a creek that had no paths on the edges of the water and no other anglers about.
2009-05-30_PickwickCreek
Stino and I decided to get out while we could and we didn’t tell our girlfriends. We opted for the 10 – minute drive to Pickwick Creek to get the fishing in before it gets dug up by Trout Unlimited. The creek is slated to get “habitat improvement” for the introduced exotic Brown Trout. [...]
2009-05-28_MississippiRiver, That Dang Stick…
That Dang stick. Chad Wenzel and I headed to Bass Camp on the Whitman Dam on the Mississippi River to chase fish. We were not after anything specific save the rewards of trying to catch fish. We blew a tire on the boat trailer on Highway 61 on our way to the boat [...]
2009-05-26_MississippiRiver, That Dang Stick….
Chad and I hit the backwaters wing dams in search of Walleyes. Chad found them to be hitting green twister tails where the shiners were visible, I caught nothing.
2009-05-23_SouthBranchWhitewaterRiver
We met on the side of the road where the gravel starts. We headed down the trail into the valley. The road was bumpy however in great shape. The only concern was if it rain would we be able to get out. The sky was overcast. Linda and I decided to walk downstream while [...]
2009-05-22_SouthBranchWhitewaterRiver
I had planned to meet my friends Linda and Lisa at Elba this evening for an evening of Brown Trout angling on the South Branch Whitewater River. We accessed at Lloyd’s Pasture and worked our way upstream from the camper park. There were not a lot of bugs flying around however the Browns were busy [...]
2009-05-18_BackcountryCreek
I had to walk the dogs as they were going crazy in the house. I decided to take them to the forest for a romp while I could hunt mushrooms. We headed down into Filmore County to get on a piece of state forest. There is a trout stream on this patch of [...]