A Broken Window, Rain, Mosquitoes, and a Musky!

If you have ever been on a Canadian fishing trip you know how bad the insects can become during the late spring and summer months of June, July, and August. Especially on the warm sunny days, the biting flies locate you on the lake as if you were a coordinate on their internal GPS units. As evening sets the mosquitoes can sometimes descend on you like a blanket of fog, to where there seems to be no escape. At times it can be quite annoying, but the beauty of this unspoiled wilderness and the quality of the fishing is what keeps us all coming back whenever we can.

It is here where this story begins, on Eagle Lake, Ontario, where my brothers, Kevin(Ronnie) and Keith (Hoy), brother-in-laws David (Hawk), Mike(Bob),and our good friend Will (Young Will) had ventured to South Shore Lodge. We arrived on a partly sunny Saturday afternoon, drove to the parking and launch area, loaded up the boats and headed to our camp. We fished that evening for a little while to get our feet wet (foreshadowing) and then turned in after a long day of traveling. We didn't know it, but it would be the last time that we would see the sun until the following Saturday morning. We awoke on Sunday morning to the clouds and rain that would be our new fishing companion for the rest of our stay. Good thing we packed our rain gear! We got our rain suits on and it seemed as though they stayed on the rest of the week.

All of us tried to do our best to fish as hard as we could but after a couple days of being pelted in the face by wind and rain, we decided that a deck of cards and a warm dry cabin (with food, beer and scotch) was a much better alternative. Even a shower didn't feel like a good idea after being in water all day. As we played cards with our fingertips looking like raisins, we noticed that the mosquitoes that were loving all the rain, were somehow entering the cabin. Every minute or so someone was slapping or swatting a Mosquito and watching it fall on the table in front of them. We drank and played cards for the rest of that evening. While we sat at the table, laughed and dealt the hands, one of us noticed, that a mosquito had landed on the picture window behind Bob. Without hesitation, Bob backhanded the window and it shattered into pieces. We first sat in disbelief over what we had just witnessed, but I will tell you that over the years we have had more fun ribbing Bob about the busted window than we could have ever imagined. With the window now open to the screen porch we figured that our mosquito problem would only get worse. It was then, as we cleaned up the glass, that we noticed that the floor boards in the kitchen had gaps in them and that was where our little bloodsucking friends were coming from.

We didn't catch too many fish that week and my brothers decided they wanted to try a Musky fly-in lake on Friday. A few of us didn't want to spend the extra money, so we decided to stay behind and continue to take our chances on Eagle. On Thursday afternoon another group in camp had told us that they had seen a big Northern Pike come up and follow their lures as they were fishing in Eldorado Bay. After listening to their story of the fish, I quickly surmised that it most likely was a Musky. Friday morning came and my brothers headed off on the float plane to Fisher lake. Bob, Young Will and I decided to head to Eldorado Bay. It would be a wise choice.

Upon entering the bay and setting up our drift over the weed bed, the three of us decided that we would give this area a little time, knowing that a good fish had been spotted here. About an hour or so later, Bob was reeling in a nice walleye that had nailed his daredevil spoon, when a big musky came right over the top of it and tried to grab it. It was the first musky that we had seen all week. It was about 9:00am now. We drifted across the bay numerous times and didn't see another musky. The rain had been on and off for the whole day but it was better than it had been most of the week. It was after 2:30pm now and Young Will decided to change baits again and try a Suick (perch color). I don't remember how many casts he had taken when he plopped the Suick right on top of a muskies head. Immediately as the bait hit the water it erupted into a full boil and the fish thrashed wildly and rolled many times. It was a long way from the boat and it took a while until Young Will was able to bring the fish boatside. I netted the fish weeds and all it measured around 44 inches long, but it was a big fat fish with a large girth.

I remember the feeling I had as captain of my boat, and how excited I was for my guest to have caught such a nice fish from our craft. It was a great feeling of accomplishment. To this day it is though I am standing there still, and I can see Young Will's lure flying through the air and landing on the water. The chaos and high fives that followed. I will never forget that moment. Young Will and I have remained good friends and tonight he is coming over to our house with his wife Krystn. I'm sure as we knock back a couple of Budweisers, eat some pizza, and share stories of our fishing trips past, present, and future, we will remember the real reason that we love to fish! It is the friendships we make, the laughs we share, the memories we take with us, that make each fishing trip a unique and worthwhile experience.

Bluegills and Iceholes!

Most of you who know me are aware that I love NASCAR. Over the last 15 years or so I have followed the sport quite closely, almost to the point of being a little over the top. Yes! I fly the flags from my front porch and I've got the pictures of my favorite driver (#24 Jeff Gordon) hanging from our garage walls. Hats! There are more than I could possibly wear in a weeks time and of course there are the clothes to go along with it. Sweatshirts, t-shirts, pajama pants, even the dog has to wear a little something, and so Scruffy sports his #24 collar all year long. I told you I was a little over the top. My friends and I have been to Chicagoland Speedway numerous times since it opened and I understand and feel the need for speed! The engineering and development that goes into a race car is fascinating to me. A little change here, or a design change over there, pushes the racing engine to the brink of destruction, while it operates at optimum speed and horsepower. I can't wait for speed weeks! Last weekend, my son Bryan, and my brothers Kevin and Keith were able to squeeze in a little ice fishing on Channel Lake, in Antioch, IL. Upon our arrival we noticed that the snowmobile racing club was out on the lake, making their runs across the frozen surface and pushing their speeds to the maximum. We gathered our gear and headed across the lake. If you have ever played the video game Frogger, you will now understand what happened next. For the next 15 minutes or so we dodged our way between the snow sleds to reach our destination on the lake. The club was using the middle of the lake, so we thought once we made it to the other side, we would be out of the way. I drilled a few holes and set up our shanty and we began to search for some Bluegills. The early morning fog had now cleared and the sun began to shine upon the lake. This would be a nice afternoon for keeping warm but what about the fishing? We fished from hole to hole and didn't even get a nibble. As we continued searching for the Bluegills we noticed that the snowmobile club had now moved closer to where we had set up. Only about 30 feet away from us now, the "ice holes" were making their runs from just beyond where we were, down the lake and back. It was quite loud and the racing fuel now filled the winter air. Clouds started to roll back in and the wind picked up and we hadn't even caught a fish yet. The entire middle of the lake was empty of fisherman but these "ice holes" had decided that they would move right next to us to start their runs. They were so close to us, that in order to line up for each race they started to circle our shanty, gear, tip-ups etc. One of them even circled my brother Kevin who was sitting, fishing over a hole on a five gallon bucket. To say the least we were very annoyed by these "ice holes". I started to think about how rude people can be, and how it doesn't matter if it is Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter, there will always be a bunch of "ice holes" on the Chain-o-lakes who do not think about anyone but themselves. We held our ground and did not give in to the "ice holes", although I am sure that they thought we would move, and give them more of the lake to race on. I'm all for sharing the lake, and the fisherman had given them the entire middle of the lake to have their fun. Why did they have to come right next to us? Oh yeah, because they are "ice holes". Kevin went to check on another rod that he had propped up next to a hole. One of the "ice holes" who had circled our shanty had run it over with his sled. It was completely destroyed. The four of us continued fishing, although we wanted to drill some "ice holes". It was late in the afternoon now and we did manage to catch a few Bluegills in the last hour and a half to help ease the pain of the broken rod and reel. The fish began to take our ice jigs tipped with a wax worm, but the bite remained quite light and it was now almost dark. I think we managed to catch 13 in all. We gathered our gear, some intact, some broken, and headed back to our car. As always we had a good time, with many laughs and memories that will be forever etched in the back of our minds. I just didn't know that when I had left that morning I'd be complaining about there being too many "ice holes"

Support Your Local Tackle Shop......

Technology is constantly changing all around us, sometimes faster than we can blink. We are always searching for a new item to improve our way of life. With the Internet at our fingertips, we can purchase just about anything we want and have it delivered to our front door, many times at the same or less cost than heading to a retail store. But what if that was the only way we could purchase an item? For instance; You are traveling to work for a meeting, and you need to stop for a pack of gum, a pen, batteries, etc. A local store is always available to provide that last minute item to make our day a little brighter. What if they weren't there? With the economy the way it has been for the last 2 years, businesses are closing their doors at an alarming rate. Smaller retail shops are disappearing fast, and empty strip malls are almost everywhere. The bottom line is that we need those retailers to be there for us, for those last second items, and because of that, we frequent them quite often. Gas stations capitalized on this need, and began to sell almost anything, while we stop to fill our tanks. How many of you have seen the "Live Bait" signs that are hanging in many of our gas/convenience stations? Have you ever wondered about the consequences of purchasing your live bait from them? Well let me explain myself a little further. I have been on the water a few too many times when I didn't have the right color jig, the wrong size hook, or the wrong type of live bait. The boat next to us is catching fish after fish and we can't seem to get a hit on anything. After checking in at the local tackle shop and getting a few pointers from the store owner or employee it is almost always the ticket to improving the afternoon or next days catch! Your local tackle/bait retailer has the items you need to have a successful day of fishing. The best bait, lures, line, rods, reels, and most of all knowledge, are all a part of your local tackle/bait store. We as educated anglers must continue to support these local shops. If we purchase our live bait from gas stations (which are overpriced anyway) we are cutting into the livelihood of the local bait and tackle stores. When you put them out of business by not supporting their shops, you will no longer have that local knowledge, and superior products, that at times can be so critical for a great day on the water. Please remember this the next time you stop to get your live bait and remember to ask for the latest information on where to go, what's biting and what they're using. You'll be glad you did!