Mille Lacs Trip a success etal.

Well, we returned from our annual trip to Mille Lacs unscathed this time, whew!!! We had a great time with friends Rick and Shirley Dicus and had a wonderful reconnection with high school buddy and college roommate Mike Newton and his wife Kathy.

This year we stayed at a private cabin that Rick found on vrbo.com, located on the east side of Mille Lacs it was really a nice place. We  hope to stay there again next year.

The walleye bite was great biggest that I caught was 27 inches. We caught many over the slot not many under the slot and damn few in the slot. The 4 of use did manage to fill our 2 apiece bag and possession limits. So we had a nice meal and some to bring home.

We found the best presentation was a Slick Stick bottom bouncer, 8 ft leader small hook and a leech. We caught a few on crawlers. I tried pulling Flicker Shads on lead core the first day and Dianne caught a nice 25 incher.

The bite in Boji Land according to reports I have been getting since we got back has been great, particularly Big Spirit for walleyes. I haven't been out since we got back so no personal experience. So far my claim to fame in Boji Land is a 45 inch muskie I caught in East Okoboji last month.
The Ranger is running great after I put new plugs in. I also just put in a new cranking battery to the replace the 9 year old Optima D31M, I am still running the Optimas for the 24 volt Minnkota Terrova. Optimas are an awesome battery. I switched to a Sears Diehard Platinum Plus, only because they were on sale online, I would have stuck with Optima otherwise. The Sears Diehard Platinum Plus AGM batteries are highly regarded as well.

Here is the 27 inch Mille Lac walleye.

2013 Softwater Season

Well the ice went out late this year and the walleye opener weather sucked but we are finally fishing out of a boat. I haven't made it out but 2 times so far with mixed results one outing on Lost Island 3 weeks ago and a night outing on Big Spirit this past Monday night 5-13. We caught fish both times but no limits. Big Spirit is a nite bite right now.
The invasive species issue it heating up here in Boji Land. The DNR has identified Zebra Mussels in East Okoboji, so the entire lower chain of the Iowa Great Lakes are in play. They have netted both Bighead and Silver carp in the lower chain and Silver Carp in Big Spirit. No Eurasian Milfoil yet. Please drain bilges and livewells and don't empty minnow buckets in the lakes!!!!!!!!!! Also hot power wash when switching from the lower chain to Spirit or wait a week before going out.The DNR biologists say that the carp can't reproduce in lakes, that they need running water ie:rivers, to reproduce. It has been my experience that mother nature always finds a way!!!!
I've been busy upgrading some things in the Ranger 619, I ditched the Ram electronics mount on the dash it simply won't hold the Humminbird 998 c/si up in rough water, I put a Cisco mount in, now no problems. I just ordered a new Uniden VHF Marine radio yesterday, the 15 year old Raymarine finally went bust. I put it in new in the 1998 Ranger 681 we had, so it did major duty. The microphone is unfixable finally. I have fixed and put it back together a few times, no fix this time and no replacement. Probably spark plugs next. Ah, boats, a hole in the water that you pour money into but a person knows the deal going in.
Getting ready for our annual trip to Lac Mille Lacs. The trip should be interesting this year bag and possession limits on walleye are now 2 each and the slot is release everything 18in or less and 20in or more, with one over 28 in the bag. So only fish you can keep are between 18 and 20 inches. The walleye population really tanked up there. Last year Dianne caught a 28.5 that was really skinny, it probably weighed only 6 lbs should have been 8. The forage base evidently crashed. It is what it is, we don't go up there to fill the freezer anyway. May have to concentrate on smallmouth an muskie.
Later

Well ice is here, I'm not on it.

Ice is here but I've not been out. I can't walk with the continuing sore on my foot that started a year ago and the ice isn't thick enough for truck traffic yet. The reports I am hearing are that it is pretty slow right now, after a burst of activity early. I see some small S-10 sized pick-ups on Big Spirit and the same in Millers Bay on Okoboji. I may get out this weekend with Rick Dicus, he has an ATV all set up and the ice is plenty thick for that. It is raining right now, turning to ice and snow later. So we will wait and see how the weather shapes up for the weekend.

Have signed the lease for our private cabin on Mille Lacs for the June trip with the Dicuses, really looking forward to that trip. Hope to get up in western Minnesota or eastern South Dakota with friends from Rapid City, SD (the Wredes).

Well, I am officially an old shit, I bought my lifetime fishing license yesterday. Social Security and Medicare didn't seem like I was an old shit this does. :-)

I am headed back up to Mayo 1-22-13. I am having a vascular study of my legs and a motion analysis of my walking. The doctor said last month that it looked to him like my shoe insert may not be relieving the pressure on the ulcer site in the arch of my foot. That might be why it isn't healing. Anyway life goes on.