Month: July 2013

Signs of Obsessive Fishing Compulsive Disorder

I found this on a message board, and while not all apply to me currently, well there have been times in my life when I could have put a checkmark by all Do you have Obsessive Fishing Compulsive Disorder [OFCD]?  Here are the top 20 signs to look for: Your Facebook profile picture is you holding a fish. The first selection criteria for home purchase or rental is the perfect and permanent spot for the boat and trailer. You think about fishing every five minutes or less. You have a closet full of logo shirts, sweatshirts and hats with your favorite fishing and boat brands. If you live north of the 41st parallel, you own a winter version of that wardrobe with ice fishing brands, too. Regardless of the climate that you live in, your jacket has a boat brand logo on it. You match your truck to your boat and trailer. You have bins and bins (and tubs and tubs) of crankbaits–and still buy more. You speak in code. For example: “We put the beat on some slabs yesterday.” Your friends understand your code. Your spouse’s friends don’t. If you are single you’re not sure the right person is worth giving up time on the water. Vacation days are for fishing, as are holidays, weekends, and when one lives in close proximity to a great fishery, the time...

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Quick Trip to the North Woods

I have been threatening to take Savannah camping for two years now,  we finally made it happen.  We made it to our campsite, a semi-remote  lake in Paul Bunyan State Forest in the early afternoon, and had the boat launched by two.  I have been to this lake before, and I consider the fishing on this lake to be fair, with good numbers of largemouth prowling deep weedlines.  The scenery is what really gets me coming to the lake to this lake, there are no cabins on the lake, the only residents are a nest full of screeching ospreys and a pair of loons.   We managed a half dozen or so largies, and Savannah had fun at the access, alternating between feeding and catching the bluegills residing there.   Our plans for a campfire were ruined by a small, but very violent thunderstorm that moved in and dumped about two inches of rain in 15 minutes.  The tent shook, partly caved in from wind, and started to leak!  Remember, Savannah had never been camping before. She was pretty scared, but she hung in there OK.  Even though it was probably the worst weather I’ve ever experienced while camping, we managed to come out of the ordeal unscathed, with just a few damp things, and were treated to a rainbow as a reward for putting up with the storm. The next day found us doing some lake...

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Dream trip to Seychelles, or “How to set the hook on a big fish”

Click the link below to be blown away by some guys that really know how to put the screws to some big fish with the fly rod!  All of us that chase bass and muskies with a fly should take notes on how these guys set the hook.  Even if it results in a broken rod, like what happened to one of the anglers.     <iframe src=”http://player.vimeo.com/video/70032997?portrait=0&amp;color=e80303” width=”400″ height=”300″ frameborder=”0″ webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen...

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Back on the Mississippi

Finally, the river has come back into shape.  Although when I checked my records I see it was actually later than this last year before we could get after the brown bass on the river.  I headed up to my preferred high water launch site this weekend and was greeted by hoard of mosquitos the likes of which would rival anything in Alaska.  Luckily I had everything pretty much ready to go and was soon headed up river.  I hit a few key spots on the run up to Monticello, but mostly just enjoyed the ride.  Fishing pressure overall was pretty light, and I was able to fish everywhere I wanted. And the smallies were goin’!   Numbers were good, size was great, and fish were caught on a variety of presentation.  As far as flies go, I didn’t have much action on poppers [which is odd, conditions were seemingly perfect for popper fishing], but got a few on Stay Hungry Streamers, the biggest measured an honest 19 and 15/16″ long.  Spinnerbaits, soft plastics and crankbaits were all eaten by the brownies on a regular basis, although the highlight of the day may have been when a big channel cat absolutely destroyed a spinnerbait right next to shore.  Here is an example of the flies I used.  Feel free to contact me for tying instructions, or check with a fly shop that sells Umpqua FliesLots of good...

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River too high?? Don’t forget the lakes!

Small Tiger Muskie Mason Johnston from Shawnee, KS Yeah, yeah, the rivers have been too high.  The Mississippi has been flowing at over 20,000, the St Croix over 10,000, even the Rum has been approaching 5,000 CFS.  No one loves river fishing as much as me, and I will always take water that is a little too high over water a little too low. Current water levels are just not doable though–fish could still be caught-I’ve done it-but the dynamic of the fishing changes a lot and there are serious safety concerns.  Last year it was well into July before the Miss was really fishable, this year it looks like we have about another week before the river will be at a fishable, albeit high, level. Looking forward to lots of good days in the weeks to come. Local Largemouths [and largemouth enthusiasts!] are enjoying the fact that lake levels are on the rise, and huge numbers are possible.  A trip with two guys on Monday produced around 30 largemouth, and a trip last week with a friend saw numbers approaching 50.  Of course there’s always a few pike in the mix, maybe a muskie, and I’ve always got an eye out for big panfish.  On Monday we found some full sized gills [8″+] still hanging around beds.  These provided an interesting diversion, and I was really wishing for a...

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