Electronics Mounts

Well, I'm considering a switch from Ram mounts to either Stabil or Cisco mounts, they are both the same price. Cisco looks to be a little more adjustable than Stabil but a little harder to remove the units from the boat than Stabil mounts. Both American made. I just can't get the Ram 1.5 inch locked down tight enough with these larger units ie:Humminbird 998csi. I used the shorter arm last summer and that was better but the unit still moved. Up front on the deck the Humminbird 788ci, seemed more solid but still moved some. I haven't convinced myself that spending a couple of hundred bucks for two new mounting systems is the way to go. Of course with what I have invested in electronics, that isn't much money to protect them.
I think the first order of business this spring is getting the in-hull puck transducer glassed in the hull. Then I will be able to get sonar readings on plane on the 998. I have never done this particular install before so I will go slow and get some help. I hope I can just sand the hull smooth by the live well and bilge pumps and not have to take the oil tank out and stand on my head to get the ducer glassed in the set back area of the Ranger 619!!
I need to get this done so I can fully learn the capabilities of the 998, DI,SI,Snap Shot etc. I only got to use it about 5 times last year do to that knee thing but will be out full bore this summer. (Hopefully)

Puter back up

Well, I had a little scare Wednesday. My laptop showed up with the Blue Screen of Death. I clicked on an email link I shouldn't have. I knew it was bad the instant I clicked on it. I don't know why I did that I normally don't open suspicious links and it was suspicious. Oh, well brain fart. I took it into town to the COMPUTER GUY (Steve Currell) and he had me up and running Thursday. Very good service and pleasant man. Give him a look if you need some computer work, small business or home. He is even a certified Apple guy.
Haven't been on the ice, still trying to heal up the problem on my heel. It is coming but I don't want to push it. Rick D is on LOW as I write this, hoping for some pictures today. He is fishing out of ARNESON'S ROCKY POINT RESORT. I have never been to that one but it looks good on their website.
 I am anxious to try the Blade Baits I bought from Dean's Tackle Box, they really look good. Later

Blades

I have been looking to try blade baits for some time now. I have a few Cicadas but today I ordered 4 different colors and 2 different weights,of the Tweener Series from deanstacklebox.com. Might try them on the ice if I get back out there this year, which I doubt. Should be interesting, I have had some success with the Cicada baits.
I see the population of icers has dropped dramatically since the warm up. I know they are still getting gills on West Okoboji as well as perch. Gills in the bays, perch on north end 18-20 ft of water as well as between Eagle Point and Gull Point. (Spencer Beach area)

Progress

Just saw Dr. Blankers. Cicatrix is healing nicely. Dressing now just some antibiotic cream and a band-aid, no longer need crutches unless I am going on a long hike. :-) 
I think I am probably done with ice fishing for the year, we will see. I don't plan on walking out anymore and I don't think the ice is going to get good enough to drive on.
I am now looking at a step system to get in and out of the boat when I launch and take out by myself. I have looked at EZEE Step, Bow-Step, EZ-Troll step and some others. I am also still considering putting a Boat Buddy to catch the bow eye when loading the boat at the boat ramp. I need to go online to some message boards and see what experience other folks have had with these items on Ranger 619s. If anybody reads this and has some experience to share please do.

Lowrance LCX25C

Well, the guy from Cedar Rapids decided not to buy the 25. It is still available for $475.00 but I just may keep it as a back-up. I can put it up front with no re-rigging other than buying a transducer adapter cable for the US2 transducer on the Terrova. Hmmmm, that would give me a big screen color sonar on the bow. Nah, I'd rather sell it.

Out of Action

Well, I'm out of action again, just for a little bit, hopefully. I developed a blood blister under the cicatrix on the foot on my bad leg. Dr Blankers debrided it yesterday, put me on an antibiotic and dressed it with a piece of silver antiseptic pad. I see him in a week. I redress the wound daily with a 1 centimeter piece of silver pad and 500mg X2 daily of Cephalexin. I need to make major effort to not get an infection in this and have it get in my knee replacement. Back on crutches as much as possible as well. Follow up appointment next Friday.
Son-of-a-Bitch, I'm getting tired of this!!!!!!!!!

Sad News in Boji Land

Just got the very sad news this morning that the Fishing Professor (Jim McDonell) passed away early this morning from a heart attack. He will be missed. He had guided in Boji Land forever. R-I-P Jim.

32nd Annual University of Okoboji Winter Games

Well, the Winter Games will be this weekend. Chilli Cookoff, BroomBall, Chocolate tasting, Flag Football, Boot Hockey and on and on. The activities on the ice have been moved on-shore, due to unsafe ice throughout the Iowa Great Lakes area.
I sincerely hope that someone doesn't try to drive their car, truck,snowmobile or atv out across one of the lakes. However, I imagine someone will get a snoot full of Barley Pop and give it a go. Just hope the rescue divers won't be necessary.
I have no personal fishing report as I haven't been on the ice for a week. Just too tough pulling the FishTrap by hand and the ice isn't thick enough for me to drive the truck out. I don't own a snowmobile or atv so I will wait. I know some of the guys are driving their vehicles on Little Emerson and North Bay on West Okoboji and Anglers Bay on Big Spirit but not me, yet! Stay Warm everyone.

7-Day Forecast for Latitude 43.39°N and Longitude 95.15°W (Elev. 1450 ft)

7-Day Forecast for Latitude 43.39°N and Longitude 95.15°W (Elev. 1450 ft)

Monday/Monday

I have no fishing reports to share with you this morning. I didn't get out at all this weekend. I took a drive around Big Spirit Saturday and there was a few guys out but not many. I did notice some pickups and SUVs on Anglers's Bay. Hmm, don't know if I'm ready for that or not.

Wow, the two football game yesterday were the most exciting I have seen in a long time! Should be a great Superbowl.

I am trying to sell my Lowrance LCX25C to a fellow from Cedar Rapids, should make a great unit for him or someone else. As I explained this past summer, I have switched to all Humminbird and couldn't be happier with the technology Humminbird has developed.

SNOW

Didn't go today, it snowed about 6 inches last night and today. With my quad tendon repair last summer and new knee the year before, it becomes problematic pulling that Fishtrap Pro on that snow. Just don't have the strength yet. I'm damn sure not driving the truck out there. I did see some pickups out on Miller's Bay Wednesday. Sheesh!!!
Tim M sent me a text that it was work getting out there and that the bite was slow. Just like soft water fishing weather fronts and the wind switches that come with them will shut the fish down. Barometric pressure rules!!
Probably won't get out tomorrow either, the wind is supposed to be 15-25 mph. Will have blowing snow for sure.

I lied

I lied, we went out this afternoon. Got out there about two and fished until about 4:30. It was a nice bite, I kept 14 gills and a crappie, Tim M kept a limit of 25. I had to sort quite a bit I wasn't catching as many big ones as Tim and he was only 20 ft from me. Funny how that works sometimes.
Red 1/84 jig and a waxy was the bait of choice, although I did catch some on a gold Custom Jigs n Spins Diamond  Head Jig and a waxy.
After the wind went down the cold wasn't bad at all.

Cancelled

Well, as you have probably guessed from the weather forecast I posted, we called the ice fishing off for the day. The projected forecast for the next several days may continue that cancellation. We might get 5 inches of snow between now and Friday. Bummer!!!!!

7-Day Forecast for Latitude 43.39°N and Longitude 95.15°W (Elev. 1450 ft)

7-Day Forecast for Latitude 43.39°N and Longitude 95.15°W (Elev. 1450 ft)

Double BRRRR

Well, right now it is -11 F with a windchill of -31. Waiting to hear from Tim M to see if he wants to head to the ice. I don't think I am up for it today. I will report later what the decision was and/or the bite if we go.

Just found out about a Humminbird Seminar at Soo Sports in Sioux Falls, SD, Feb 15,2012. I might go to that in order to get up to speed on my 998SI, that I didn't get much time on last summer.

Brrrrr

Well it supposed to warm up today. Tomorrow is another matter! I am scheduled to go icing tomorrow with Tim M but the high is supposed to be 3 F according to Weather Bug on my Blackberry. Oh, well if the wind stays down it won't be too bad. At least the lakes are making ice and we sure need that. At this stage of the game last winter we had 18 inches plus and were driving our trucks on BigSpirit. Right now, I am a little leery of walking too far out on Spirit. Okoboji the bays are fine. I don't know yet whether to hit Little Emerson again or try for some perch off Crandall's Beach on Big Spirit.                                            
I am anxious to try the new Shakespeare Ugly Stick light ice rods on deep perch. I have some Abu Garcia reels spooled with 4lb Berkley Vanish flourocarbon line, with some Genz Worms and Bro Bug Mud Bugs tied on.
Looks like we have a front moving in that may bring some nasty weather towards the end of the week. Stay warm everyone. Later

Dianne 5, Tim 2

Well, Dianne and I made it out on Little Emerson Bay, on West Okoboji yesterday and the bite was slow compared to the day before. We quit at noon and gave what fish she caught to Tim Milner. Dianne kicked my butt on her first outing on the ice with me this year. We saw plenty of big gills but I just couldn't get them to go. I did lose a pig of a gill at the hole. (you've heard that before I'm sure) I caught a small northern. That may have been part of the problem, we seemed to have northerns under us all morning. Bluegills are a little edgy with northerns in the neighborhood. :-)
Anyway, we had a good time and it was good to have my bride out on the ice.
I heard that two guys went through the ice up on Big Spirit Lake yesterday, don't know if it is true or not but it wouldn't surprise me. Some people just don't get it.

Little Emerson Bay Again

Little Emerson was the spot for me again today.  The bigger gills wanted Berkley Power Bait again. black or pink Atomic Mites, 2lb Berkley Vanish for line. I had a limit by two. Great day.
I had to stop at Fisherman's Factory Outlet after fishing. I picked up two Shakespeare Ugly Stick ultra lite rods and a Pfleuger Medalist fly reel for one of the rods, the other will have a spinning reel of some kind.
Tomorrow I'm taking my bride with for her first trip on the ice this season. She usually does well. I heard that someone went through the ice off Marble Beach on Big Spirit Lake, today. Man, I just don't get it, why do these guys take such risks, no damn perch or walleye or whatever is worth drowning!!!!

Good Day on Boji

Spent most of the day on Little Emerson Bay. It was productive. Kept 18 nice bluegills and 1 crappie. Could have kept a limit of 25 bluegills but upgraded. Almost all of the fish were caught on Berkley panfish plastic PowerBait. Jig of choice was either a Custom Jigs and Spins red Diamond Jig or Lindy gold Fat Boy, combined with either a black plastic or pink. Location was the west side of the bay.
There is a good 10-12 inches of ice in Little Emerson.

Headin Out To Little Emerson-West Okoboji

Well, I'm getting ready to meet Rick at 10:00. Right now the temp is -3 with windchill of -20. Hope it warms up. I am after bull bluegills this morning and crappie if they present themselves. I have been in contact with some guys on message boards regarding ice conditions on Big Spirit. Some of them are just bound and determined to go out up there. Very dangerous in my opinion. I am just not that mad at perch and walleye to risk drowning!!!
 I will report later on the bite.

Where is the ice?

Well ice fishing in the IGL has been interesting this year to say the least. We have relatively little good ice anywhere. I was going to go this morning with friend Rick, we decided wind gusting to 40 MPH and 9 degree temps was a little much. We are going to try again tomorrow.
I took a drive around this afternoon and Big Spirit is wide open where guys were fishing a few days ago. (Buffalo Run, Marble Beach) The bays on West Okoboji are fishable.
I have had pretty good fishing on Smith's Bay and Little Emerson. Small red Diamond Head jig and waxy or Fat Boy and waxy. Angler's Bay on Big Spirit has been hit or miss for me, few weeds this year  and the water has become murky.
With this cold weather we should finally get some good ice when and if the wind goes down and if we don't get a bunch of snow cover to insulate it.

Over for another year

Well, we took the boat in this morning for winterizing and storage. See ya next spring 619. Always kind of a let down to take her in.
Now it is respool ice fishing reels, gather all the jigs,spoons etc, fuel the Strikemaster etc. We put the Clam Guide in the back of the truck and the Fishtrap Pro in the back of the garage.
All in all not much to report for the results of this year as I was down all summer recuperating from the knee surgery in June. But I will be back.

BACK ON THE WATER AT LAST!!

Well, I'm back on the water. I have a little trouble getting in and out of the boat on dry land but not too bad. Dianne and I had granddaughter Caite out 2 weekends ago she caught 16 Yellow Bass and 3 gills we had a blast.
Spent some time getting to know the  Humminbird 998si, it is awesome but the learning curve is steep. I had a little problem with the Spot Lock feature on the MinnKota Terrova, turned out to be a low battery in the remote control. Weird.
Dianne and I were out yesterday for a couple of hours looking for perch lots of small ones and tons of yellow bass. I have not been catching many silver bass.

Doctor appointment today. Hopefully I will be good to go to start walking without the brace. I have about 125 degrees of flex in my knee now and the quad muscle is getting stronger.

I have purchased an extra power cord so I can sit in the house and learn the menus of the new Humminbird 998si, that I got to use one afternoon this summer. I am holding out hope that I will be back on the water late this fall. Deer hunting seems out of the question for this year.

Smoked some baby backs and almonds on the new Bradley smoker last week, yumm. Actually, my bride did it I am not getting around enough to do it. I barked orders from the sidelines. Next up a pork shoulder, chicken, more almonds, maybe a deer backstraps and some fish.

My Review of Bubba Pucks - Bradley Smoker Woodsaver

Originally submitted at Yardandpool.com

Bubba Pucks - Bradley Smoker WoodsaverThe Bubba Pucks, Bradley Smoker Woodsaver Bisquettes, are a must have if you are a Bradley Smoker owner. These are the original Bubba Pucks so don't be fooled by imitations. The Bubba Pucks are custom made for Bradley Smokers and will pay for themselves in ...

Bubba Pucks - Bradley Smoker Woodsaver

Bubba Pucks Work

By Speedy from Iowa on 8/10/2011

 

5out of 5

Pros: Easy To Use, Improves Grill Function

Describe Yourself: Occasional Griller

Great aftermarket addition to my Bradley Smoker. Works exactly as advertised.

(legalese)

onward and upward

Had doc appointment yesterday. Still limited to passive flexing of knee. (I am allowed to bend it but not straighten it by flexing quad) Maybe in 3 weeks.

Oops

Well, I have to report on the Mille Lacs trip. Dianne and I and Rick and Shirley Dicus arrived at Red Door Inn on 6/112/11, on 6/13/11 after a good day on the water, I slipped in the tub and blew out my left quadriceps tendon. Back home 14th, after a MRI at Aitkin,MN hospital. Appointment with Dr. Leupold at LRH on the 15th and surgery on the 16th. Home the 17th.
Surgery involved drilling holes in my patella (knee cap) and suturing the ends of the tendon to those holes. I can't straighten my leg, wife has to lift it and then we lock the brace straight. I can bend it on my own but not straighten. The tendon would tear loose from the kneecap. Anyway, I'm on the mend again. Hopefully, I am not out for the season. Maybe the club muskie tournament in September.
I absolutely love the Humminbird 998 with side scan, down imaging etc. I got to use it one day. I got it all installed the day before we left.

Well it has been a year since I have been here, lots of water under the bridge. I had the knee replacement last November 09 and have been getting the knee back in shape. I have about 120 deg bend back in it which is incredible, no pain except for my ankle a little bit. I have been back on the Bowflex, Healthrider and Bicycle. I am not all the way back but getting there. Most important, I am back on the water
My bride and I and the Dicuses finally made our trip to Red Door Resort on Mille Lacs, we had a ball, caught tons of walleyes, ate more than we should and generally had a good time. This was a trip that I won at the 08 fall muskie tournament, Rick Dicus did as well. I couldn't go last year because of surgery and Rick and Shirley couldn't go because of her surgery. The folks at Red Door were kind enough to let us put it off a year. If you want a class place to on Mille Lacs stay Red Door is the place.
We are going to book a week next summer.
Getting ready for a run to Oahe in 2 weeks to meet up with college buddy John Wrede and his wife Marjorie and renew acquaintance's with the Schurmanns.
We had the pleasure of having our youngest grandson with us for a week in June and looking forward to hosting granddaughter Caite in August.
Oh, I had a brain fart on Mille Lacs using the Minnkota PD to back up to get back in positition and didn't notice that the drift sock was caught in the prop, fried the main board. Now this gave me the opportunity to buy a Minnkota Terrova AP/US2/i-pilot. :-) I got the old one fixed and it is now for sale, as well as two Lowrance Sonars X-97 and X-87 and a Lowrance Global Map 3200. I have transducers, power cords all the stuff. Oh, the Minnkota has Co-pilot with two remotes. Shane Kendall at Great Lakes Marine in Spirit Lake, IA, handled everything for me, great place to do business if you are in the market. He has my old stuff at his shop for sale.
Well, I hope you are all a great summer. Tight lines and keep your hooks sharp.

Man, it has been a long time since I have blogged. Update, the Ranger hasn't been in the water this year. My last outing on the water was hard water, when I took an old friend ice fishing on Big Spirit Lake for perch. That was in February.
I underwent a tibial osteotomy, on my right leg (gunshot leg), April 27th, and have been healing up since. I had the surgery at Mayo in Rochester, MN and am under the care of Dr Morrey. The surgery was necessary preparation for a knee replacement. My right leg needed to be straightened before a knee replacement could be done. The hope is that the weight would be shifted enough to the outside of the knee, that I would get enough relief to put the knee replacement off for awhile. I don't think that is the case. I am putting some weight on it know with the aid of a leg brace. I have an appointment at Mayo 7-29-09, we shall see what is next.
So summer has been spent inside healing, I had a cast on until June and now the brace.
Fishing has been pretty good I am told. The muskie went nuts on Big Spirit a couple of weeks ago and some nice skies continue to be caught on Spirit and West Okoboji.
We have high hopes of getting up to Mille Lacs this fall with, with friends Rick and Shirley Dicus, but it depends on the leg, obviously.
So, it has been a real tame summer this year.
Hope anyone who is reading this has a good summer on the water, on Boji.
That is it from Boji Land for know.

Quick 2008 Recap and thoughts on the Fishing Industry

Well, I have really been gone a long time, haven't I. Last year was pretty uneventful. We did get to do a fair amount of local walleye and muskie fishing, with good success on walleye on Big Spirit and not so good on muskie. The walleye bite was good on Spirit most of the summer.
I only caught one muskie on West Okoboji, during the annual fall tournament, a nice fat 40 incher. I did not fish for muskie any other time.
To this date (1-13-2009) I have not been on the ice once. My knee is in need of surgical attention, so I can't walk out and the snow and temperature has been so severe I just haven't been in the mood. AGE? I do know the bite has been fantastic for perch on Big Spirit and gills and crappie are always a challenge.
I have been following the fishing industry this winter particularly tournaments. I see that FLW cancelled all the Redfish tournaments. The PWT is no more, to bad, this was kind of what everyone compared their tournaments to. (No disrespect to FLW intended) I know the major boat manufacturers have been pulling back as well as the major tackle companies ie:Pure Fishing etc.
I talked to a guy that just got back from the big Muskie Show in Chicago, he told me the vendor and consumer attendance was way down. He thought the bad weather might have affected it. My wife who was the Consumer Show Manager at Pure Fishing when she retired, tells me that shows normally have a better turn out when the weather is bad. I know I will think long and hard before I spend $25.00 on another muskie bait, I have more than I use now.
Anyway, last year was pretty uneventful, except for spending time on the water with my grandkids, that is always special.

Spring Fling

Well, I'm back. Just spent a busy week with grandaughter Caite, at 5 years old she is now the captain of grandpa's boat. We didn't have much luck fishing but it was her first time out and we had trouble getting her to quit when it was time. (a very good sign). Oldest grandson Stefan graduated from high school, some emotion from grandpa at that function. It seems that it was only yesterday that I was putting him in the car seat and going to get a paper and a orange soda to share. He will be a freshman at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln next fall. I hope we can wet a line together this summer. Youngest grandson Jesse will be here in Bojiland with us this summer to do a little fishing or whatever.
I have only been on the water 2 times this spring, late ice out and busy. I did manage to catch 8 nice walleye from a friends dock on Big Spirit last week. Rockeroo and shiner did the trick. Muskie season opens Wednesday, hope to be out.
Memorial Day weekend is coming up and the annual Center Lake Drive, garage sale will be going on again. I hope to be in the boat with the grandkids to get away from that insanity.
Later

I AM BACK

Wow, it has been a long time since I last posted. My apologies.
Well, I had a great time deer hunting this year. Rick Dicus and I spent 5 days in Northern Minnesota in November as the guests of Kevin and Tom Ward at their cabin in the north woods. Rick and I had never hunted in the the north woods and while we didn't get a buck, we had a great time in the deer stands, just enjoying the peace and quiet. We could have shot does and small bucks but we were there for a trophy. Tom and Kevin were great hosts and we shared many a story and jokes abounded. The cabin has wood burning heat only and we had to bring in water, the outdoor biffy is fit for a king with electric heat lights etc. We ate very well of course. Again many thanks to Kevin and Tom for their hospitality.
In December Dianne and I met Rick and Shirley Dicus at Shirley's mothers ranch in western South Dakota to hunt antlerless deer only. I blew a shot on a big doe Mule Deer. I forgot to aim low on a severe downhill angle and shot over her. Rick and Jim Foster (Rick's brother-in-law)both scored the first day, Rick got his two does and Jim shot the big doe I missed. I was able to fill my tags the next day on a small whitetail doe and a whitetail button buck. I had them both down by 11am Sunday morning, then it was back to the house for dinner and then the butchering began. We had all five deer broken down and packed by 3 in the afternoon and Dianne and I were on the road by 4 pm. We got into Denison,IA about 6 Pm and met Pete Straub at his Denison Locker and dropped the meat off. Pete did a helluva job again this year on the sausage and sticks yum.
I put the Ranger away November 1, this year and went into mourning for a week.
Ice fishing has been a blast this year, as any of you have visited this blog before know, my bride loves to fish but had never ice fished. Well she retired from Pure Fishing a year ago in November and decided that she wanted to ice fish. We puchased a Fish Trap Guide and I have to tell you, she got right into it. The first fish she caught was a 13 inch crappie, then a 1lb bluegill and you know the rest of the story, she has been kicking my butt with some regularity. I love it, she gets so excited catching fish. We are sight fishing most of the time and it is really a blast, as you ice heads out there know.
I was on the lake this past week three days and did well all three days on Anglers Bay, Big Spirit Lake, IA.
The winter is getting kind of old but we still have ice fishing to fall back on. I am starting to get my equipment ready for summer. ie. respooling reels, sorting and getting things back in order, getting my components boxes ready, replacing hooks on crankbaits where needed etc etc. You should be doing this as well.
As some of you know I have been contributing some articles to "The Iowa Sportsman" magazine as well as "Family Fish and Game" formerly P2H. I encourage you to support these fine publications, they are all about hunting, fishing, camping and all things out of doors in Iowa and the midwest.
Keep your hooks sharp.

FALL FISHING AND WHERE THE HECK DID SUMMER GO

I mean wow! I can't believe I haven't posted since June, oh well. This summer was a little different, I fished no walleye tournaments and went on no out of state trips. I have my back stiffened a little bit about gas prices and decided I couldn't afford to go all over the place.

Fishing in Boji Land was excellent this summer, we did well in June on walleyes and August was dynamite for panfish. We cleaned up on bluegills and yellow bass. Yes, we now have yellow bass in the Iowa Great Lakes, I don't know how the hell they got there but they are there, throughout the Okoboji system, I haven't heard any reports of them in Big Spirit as of yet. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, yellows are supposed to be excellent tablefare. We have some in the freezer but haven't tried them yet.

I was able to spend some quality time on the water with my oldest and youngest grandsons this Memorial Day, and the oldest came up for Father's Day and went fishing with grandpa. He is a senior in high school this year, next year it will be work and off to college for him, so time on the water with grandpa will be rarer than it is now. I hope that won't be true but I fear it will be.

Muskie fishing has really heated up in the last couple of weeks. We had our 27th Annual Upper Great Plains Chapter Release Tournament last weekend and a record 32 releases were recorded, the winner had to catch 3 fish to win it and he was pushed really hard be another 3 fish catch. FANTASTIC!!!! I along with my partner Mark Mitchell blanked, I never even had a follow, oh well that is muskie fishing.

I am getting ready for deer season, I am lucky enough to be able to go to South Dakota and Minnesota this year deer hunting. November will be a busy month for me. I also have been getting the rods, shack, auger etc., ready for ice fishing. My bride informed me that since she has retired she wants to give ice fishing a try. I guess now we need a Fish Trap Guide and some warm clothing for her. OH NO NEW GEAR!!!!

Anyway that is a brief synopsis of what has been going on with me in Boji Land since June.

aaaaH Spring Fishin in Boji Land

Well spring has sprung and the fish are moving into their spring bite. I have been getting nice walleyes on Spirit in 8-12 ft of water, with a variety of techniques, live bait drifting, cranks trolling, slip bobbers etc. We saw a 50 inch muskie awhile back, she swam right along side the boat, just under the surface. The pan fish are on their beds in the shallows, on both Gar lakes, Minnewashta, and Center Lake. I have picked up a few in the reeds at Hale's Slough. I have only been muskie fishing once to no avail, but I saw a nice fat 37 incher caught last week in Anglers Bay. Muskie League for the Upper Great Plains Chapter of Muskies Inc. has started but no fish have been taken as of yet. I have spotty reports from Lake Sara in Minnesota. I am heading to Storm Lake tomorrow to check out a walleye bite rumor.

If you get a chance pick up a copy of The Iowa Sportsman magazine, I have an article published in the June issue. I had an article called "Seeking Dragons in Rodney's Bay" in the May issue of P2H(Permission to Hunt) and will have another one in the June or July issue of that same magazine. It is a kick to be published in print!!

Oh, by the way I have changed real estate companys, I am now affiliated with Walters Real Estate, 1013 Okoboji Ave., Milford, IA 51351. 712-338-4544. Give me a shout if you are interested in buying or selling real estate in BOJI LAND.

April musings

Well, I am back. I have the Ranger all ready to go and all the spring chores accomplished. We have the walleye opener here at the IGL this weekend, I am not going to be able to participate. I did get up on Little Spirit this week and caught a few eyes and a real nice Largemouth Bass. I look for the bite here to be tough this weekend we have a cold front sitting here now and the forecast is for rain, wind and thunderstorms, typical opener weather.
We have a debate right now in the IGL regarding putting limits on panfish. I support this idea, but many do not.
I had another article published in the May edition of P2H magazine, called "Seeking Dragons in Rodney's Bay". It is an article about muskie fishing on Lake of the Woods.
Short blog this month, I have business to attend to.

March Madness

Well, we are entering the time of year where I am torn between trying to get on the ice and getting the boat ready. I decided today to put the ice sticks away. I am going to get the Ranger out and get her ready for ice out and smallies. I need to change the oil in the cool hubs on the trailer, install a new actuator on the PANTHER LIFT,move the radio antennae, clean and wax the hull, put the electronics back in the boat, respool reels, clean rod eyes, change hooks on cranks that need them, clean reels and on and on.
I am going to try some Spiderwire Ultracast and Trilene Maxx this spring. The ultracast is supposed to be wind know free and I believe will probably be comparable or better than Power Pro. I will be using the Ultracast on muskie reels and linecounters. 65 and 80Lb test for muskies and 20Lb for line counters. I am very used to 10Lb fireline on my line counters so it should be interesting. I am really excited about the Berkely Flickershads for cranking!!!
Ice fishing has been good on the grade, you have to sort and the gill bite is still going on Little Millers Bay on West Okoboji. I took a drive around Big Spirit this morning and there was a pack of Fishtraps on Anglers Bay so something must be going on up there, probably crappie and gills.
Oh, by the way I am now a published author, I have an article in the March issue of THE IOWA SPORTSMAN magazine. The article is titled "ICING WALLEYE". You can pick a copy of the magazine up at Casey's stores, they are still free I believe.

Extended BRRRRRR

Well, I can no longer complain about no ice and too warm, it has been below zero at night for a couple weeks. We Have Ice. Although I must caution that there is no such thing as safe ice, it is always unsafe somewhere on the system.

I haven't been on the ice in Boji Land since I returned from Ballard's Resort on Lake of the Woods, January 27th. However, the reports I'm getting are that fishing sucks right now. I talked to Ryan Hale this week and he did get into the gills last weekend but they were only in his spot a day and a half.

The Lake of the Woods trip this year was great as always. The only difference this year;the walleyes were on a chew; we caught fish in numbers and size. I believe there were 32 anglers on the bus this year. This trip is sponsored by KMNS-AM62 and "Experience The Outdoors with Rick Dicus. I of course out fished Rick, but he was outdoors. Seriously, I don't know if I caught more than Rick and vice-versa, I don't keep count and neither does he, unless we are in a tournament. The only bet was on who caught the biggest and I think I won that with a nice fat 24 inch walleye. We also caught sauger and some nice perch. The only eelpout caught in our group of 6 was about a 10lb slime ball caught by John (the chessman) Torzon. I'm sure I butchered the spelling on that. Anyway we had a great time, great food, great fishing and great comaradrie.
The other anglers in our group were Wayne(POPS)Warren, Scott (Chopper) Miller from Z98FM out of Sioux City and Jim Nolton from Sioux City, we had a great time.
Oh, by the way I am finishing this on 2-14-07 and it was -15F this morning when I got up, man this is getting old. Anyway keep your line fresh and stay warm. SET THE HOOK!!!!

January Ice Fishing in Boji Land

Well, we finally got some ice, although until the last 2 days it has been iffy. We finally got below zero and have been below 32 degrees for a few days. Big Spirit is pretty much frozen over and West Okoboji is close. Boji has ice in all the bays now. I fished the 1st Annual Harbor View bluegill tournament last weekend and the only ice was Smith's Bay, North Bay and Little Emerson. Although, there was 10 inches of ice in Little Emerson. The tournament was blast and local guide Ryan Hale did an excellent job putting the tournament on.

The tournament was bluegill only with a 10 fish limit. I had a limit iced by 10 AM, but could only get 4 big gills to bite the remaining six fish were small. I had under 4 lbs, I think it was 3.8 Lbs and you need at least 4.6 to get in the money. My fishing partner Rick Dicus (Experience The Outdoors Radio KMNS AM) got 7th and tied for the biggest gill. Good job Rick. The results of the tournament are as follows:
Eric Goodale won the event with a 10 fish limit with the weight of 5.70#'s.Mike Wanser of Nebraska was a VERY close 2nd with a weight of 5.66#'s.3rd.Local hot stick Catland Landegent 5.28#'s4th.Local and fellow IGL's guide John Grosvenor 5.18#'s5th.Gene Weitzema of Sibley 5.16#'s6th.Local Derek Ter Wee 5.04#'s7th.Experience the Outdoors radio host Rick Dicus from Nebraska 4.90#'s8th.Howard "The Duck" from Illinios 4.86#'s9th.Chad Peterson 4.7#'s,very good showing in Chads first tourney10th.Blaine Fopma from S.D. 4.64#'s
Thanks to Ryan Hale for posting the above results at www.hawgz.com, please visit that website, it is a good one.
I also met Thomas Allen from The Iowa Sportsman's Magazine., Thomas is the Executive Field Editor for the magazine, more information and subscription info can be found at www.iowasportsman.com. Thomas is an avid muskie angler and hopefully a new member of the Upper Great Plains Chapter soon.
I was on the ice today and caught a few gills in Little Emerson, it was slow, however. I think the gills are a little tired of being hammered for a month. I talked to Rick and he told me there was a bunch of guys on Templar Point and McClelland's Beach. I think that is a little soon for as far out on the ice as he said they were. I will be getting a ice thickness report for Spirit soon.
January 25th will find Dicus and I on the ice at Lake of the Woods, the bite has been fantastic up there. I hope it won't be a you should have been here last week, deal when we get up there. I will give you a report when I get back.We are staying at the excellent Ballard's Resort again this year, where the service, food and accomadations are beyond compare.

Icing in Boji Land

Well, we have ice in Boji Land, kind of. We had about 6 inches on Big Spirit in Angler's Bay last week. However, with the rain this week I wouldn't trust it all. I have seen some guys on West Okoboji, in Smith's Bay and Emerson Bay, again I am not going to try it yet. I do think they are catching some gills. They were also getting some gills and a few perch on Anglers and at the grade. I had some luck with jumbo perch down at Trumbull lake 2 weeks ago, I tried it Tuesday and never caught one that I kept.
Bad news on Anglers Bay, the owner of Anglers Bay resort has roped off the access, so you can't walk on there. The access off the blacktop on the north side of Anglers now has a big gate. The only way on now is at Hale's Slough and that is a good mile from Anglers, I can't make that hike with my bum leg, so first ice fishing on Anglers is a thing of the past for me, I will have to wait until ice is thick enough to drive on with the truck or go on with Rick and his ATV; oh well.
Rick Dicus and I made a foray into South Dakota for muzzleloader season,you can shoot two does, either whitetail or mule deer. I had never hunted with a muzzleloader before and it is a blast. I purchased a Thompson Center Encore 50X209, and it is one sweet gun. I spent about 5 hours working up a load the gun liked and sighting it in and I am glad that I did. Rick and shot 2 mulies on Saturday at sundown. I shot a big mulie doe that was leading about 8 other deer and he shot the yearling right behind her. On Sunday, due to the good eyes of Rick, I was able to fill my tags with another mulie doe. Alas, Rick didn't get his second deer, we had a blast. Rick's grandson and his grandson's best friend were along for the hunt Saturday evening and they did a good job hiding and staying quiet, they will both be old enough to participate in the hunt in a few years. I think we are going out next year for the regular rifle season as well. Oh well, I will have to buy another barrel for the Thompson. By the way in muzzleloader season you aren't allowed to use telescopic sights, open sights only. My deer were taken at 40 yards and 86 yards respectively, according to my Nikon rangefinder.
That is it for now. Merry Christmas to all and a Happy and prosperous New Year.

BRRRRRRR

Well, it is cold this morning 4 degrees Farenheit. I haven't been fishing in over a month, I put the boat away in the middle of October and haven't even been shore fishing. I am getting reports from my sources that the walleyes and muskies have been on a chew. Nice fish being taken on all the lakes. Remember, muskie season closes on the Iowa Great Lakes tonight at midnight, the rest of the state remains open.
I will be taking a look around the area today to see if there is any ice on the bays, the wind dropped down last night so there might be some, I don't think it will hold though, the wind is supposed to blow again today. I will be giving ice reports as the season progresses.
I haven't done much hunting this season, ducks and geese a couple of times and pheasant an equal amount. I did hunt out of a lay out boat on Silver Lake, that is cool, you lay in the bottom of a really shallow but surpising stable lay out boat right in the middle of the decoy spread. You really get a different perspective.
I will be heading to South Dakota next week for the opener of muzzle loader deer season. I have never hunted deer with a smokepole and am looking forward to it. I purchased a Thompson Center Encore .50 Cal. It took me a while to work up a load that the gun likes but I got it done. This hunt is a kind of homecoming for me, I haven't been back to South Dakota deer hunting since my hunting accident 40 years ago. My wife Dianne is going along, we will be meeting Rick Dicus and his wife Shirley out there for the hunt.
Speaking of Dianne, she retired this month from Pure Fishing after 42 years of good work for a fine company. I am not letting her retire totally, I am putting her in charge of the basic house breaking of the lab puppy we are getting. I will keep you informed about how that project is progressing.
Any way right now other than preparing for the deer hunt, it is all about waiting for ice. I hope you ice heads have you reels spooled with fresh micro-ice, fireline, whatever, checked the plug and put fresh gas in the Strikemaster and checked your waypoints for your ice fishing spots. I see Vexilar has a new unit out this year, Clam has put black lining in the Fishtrap tents and much more new ice fishing stuff to be tried.
So much stuff so little time. Pray for ice.
Keep warm.

Muskies on Boji

The skies are moving on Boji. I got 4th in the Idso Muskie Fest this past weekend, by catching a 33 inch skie. Todd Schlenger won first with a wonderful 49 inch fish, Pete Hildreth won 2nd with a 45, Pete's partner caught a 35 for 3rd(sorry I can't remember your name) and my fish won 4th. Todd caught his 49 on a Wades's Wobbler, Pete a Bulldog, his partner as well. I caught mine Trolling with a Buck Perry Spoonplug. I use spoonplugs a lot, it has been a sleeper lure on Boji for years, some guys think they are too small. I see that Rollie and Helens Muskie Shop is carrying them in their catalog this year.
I also caught a 39 inch skie last thursday on Boji on a M&M Spinner bait in Smith's Bay. I caught her on a figure 8 right at the boat awesome! I tell ya there is nothing like catching a skie on a figure 8, the adrenalin rush is something!
I see a lot of boats fishing for bluegills in Smith's Bay right now. GOOD LUCK

Upcoming Elections

This post is not directly related to Fishin In Boji Land, because it isn't about what is biting, where the bite is or what techniques are working.

However, in a sense it is. I want to encourage all of you who honor me by reading my ramblings to vote next month. I don't care what your positition is, you should at least vote your conscience.
I for one am sick and tired of the environmental issues in the state of Iowa, being decided exclusively in Des Moines by the corporate agricultural lobby. I believe we need some level of local control on some of these issues. To date every time some science shows increasing pollution, the politicians call for another study. This stuff has been studied to death, the surest way to bury an issue is fund a new study.

I do believe that these issues will affect our fisheries and probably have already! I know that my beloved Iowa Great Lakes, in particular West Okoboji have algae blooms that I didn't see years ago.

So, whatever your position is on this issue, I encourage you to vote for the candidates that agree with your position. Take the time to read their positions and hold their feet to the fire if they won't answer the questions you have.

Well thats enough of that rant but this is becoming a big issue here in Boji Land.

Oh, the perch are biting on Spirit . The gills and perch are going on the weedlines in West Okoboji.
Later

I am back and I am late.

I have much to report since I last posted. The walleye fishing held up pretty good on Spirit most of the summer. I haven't been walleye fishing for about 3 weeks as I have switched into muskie mode. However, the last time out I did well in the basin with lead core and Salmo's. I couldn't seem to get much going on any bait except Salmo's.
Muskies are movin and I am pumped. I caught a 38 in. fish last Friday in the 26th Annual Release Tournament, hosted by my club, Upper Great Plains Chapter of Muskies Inc. That fish was big enough to get me 5th place. Shannon Green won the event with 2 fish a 46 and a 43, Ryan Troug, got 2nd with a 43, Leo Kofoot got 3rd with a 42 caught on Spirit and Wes Donaghue got 4th with a 39. It was a great tournament with 87 anglers participating, 11 reportable fish were caught. I need to thank all the sponsors and board members that made the event possible.

I am honored to be the president of the club this year, and in that capacity I would like to invite you all to fish in the Idso Muskie Fest, October 7th. You can pick up an application at Oh Shucks, the cost is $25.00. 1st place will be a Rod and Reel, we will be having a raffle and Brats and all the trimmings. Everyone meet at McKeen's in Spirit Lake for the awards, dinner etc. Dinner included in the entry fee. My friend Rick "EXPERIENCE THE OUTDOORS" Dicus will be fishing the event with me, I think I have ruined him by introducing him to Muskie fishing.

I hope you are all getting ready for ice fishing, deer hunting, pheasant, duck, whatever, and I hope you are successful.

Updates from Boji Land

Well, it has been over a month since the last post. I have been busy, the bite has been good and the weather great for fishing, most of the time. It seems that the wind in Boji Land is either flat calm or blowing 40 mph. Rick Dicus and I were out yesterday in 30 mph wind and scratched out 6 keeper walleyes on Big Spirit. Rick was humane and boat side released 2 of them.
The walleye bite on Spirit has been wonderful and has been on going for about a month. It started with a crankbait bite the 1st couple of weeks after opener and switch to a live bait bite in the basin since then. I fear that most of the keeper fish have been taken, it is getting harder to get a limit. There has been up to 70 boats day after day hammering them for a month, that has to impact the population. I am advocating a 5 fish limit keeping fish up to 15 inches and releasing everything from 15 inches to 19, and one over 20. I don't know if that will ever happen but I am hopeful.
Small mouth bass are going on Spirit also, fish the weeds. I have had some nice muskie follows but no hook-ups. I had one on in league, but she came off. I haven't heard of anyone tearing the skies up, they should go on a chew soon. I will be going to West Okoboji shortly to try for some big gills and will report. I hear of a perch bite on Spirit, in the weeds but the wind hasn't gone down enough for me to try my spots.
I am proud to report, that the Upper Great Plains Chapter of Muskies Inc, donated $$1000.00 to the Iowa Heritage Foundation, to help defray the cost of saving the Bullrushes on Big Spirit, the Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club donated a like amount. I would like to challenge any sportsman's clubs or organization members that might read this blog to do something. It is damn easy to gripe and complain about the environment and overdevelopment of precious wild places. I guess I am challenging you to put your money where your mouth is.
I will report later about gills and the muskie bite.
Keep your drags set loose!

News from Okoboji

Well Kid's Fish Day went swimmingly, as they say. We had around 150 kids, the weather was fine and a good time was had by all.
The fishing in Boji Land has been excellent, I have been killing the Silver Bass on a White X-Rap. One addition, I have been putting a red Daichii treble hook on all by crankbaits, jerk baits etc. I started doing this last year with noticeable results. I change the belly hook only. The silvers went from hitting the tail hook to slamming the red Daichii after I switched it out.
The walleye opener was fantastic Scott and I caught over 40 walleyes on Saturday nite and kept 2 limits, almost all of the fish were legals. We did it pulling white #5 Shad Raps in about 7-8 feet of water.
Scott, Rick and I just got back from a trip to Chamberlain,SD, last week and we did well. Although, they had to take me back to town about noon, I came down with the flu. What a bummer. The PWT was there for the Super Pro Tournament that Bob Probst Jr. won. Scott, and I had a chance to talk to Junior at FFO in Spirit Lake before he left and he was pretty confident. The Missouri River is practically his home water.
Well that is it for now I have to call Lowrance to help me solve a little problem with my LCX 25C. If you see me on the water give me a yell. I am running a Ranger 619, Black and Gold with walk thru windshield.
See you on the water.

Kid's Fish Day

Hey! Just a reminder that the Kid's Fish Day is the this Saturday April 22. The event starts at 1PM and continues until 4. The Upper Great Plains Chapter of Muskies Inc. , in partnership with the Sunrise Kiwanis Club of Spirit Lake, IA, is putting it on. I encourage you to get there early the first 100 kids are going to get a t-shirt. There will also be hotdogs, chips and soda available after the kids go through the stations. All kids from 6-12 need to be accompanied by an adult.
The kids will learn about tying knots, boat safety, wildlife art, baits and tackle, live bait, casting, fish identification, and the DNR will have an officer on hand to talk about game laws etc. See you there.

Hot New Live Bait

I am looking out my office window early this morning and we and it is snowing, AGAIN! Oh well it is March in Iowa.
I got a tip yesterday on a bait that has been hammering pan fish in Boji Land, it is may fly larvae. There have been some guys here from Wisconsin and Michigan, that have been cleaning up using this bait. I think you can get it at Oh Shuck's in Milford. I need to let Harlan at 4 Seasons know about this bait.
That is it, just a short note this morning. You folks better start getting your boats ready for soft water I know I am.

Boji Land Ice

Well, the ice is becoming unsafe very rapidly. I believe there is still plenty of ice if you can get to it, the ice around shore is becoming unsafe. I was out Friday from 10 AM until about 5 PM. I was up at the grade on Big Spirit, the ice was very weak at the shoreline when out and very thin when I came off. I talked to Rick Dicus this afternoon, he was going out Saturday, until the guy ahead of him went in up to his knees just off shore. I believe my ice fishing is done for the season, it isn't worth it.
I am going to call Odegaard Marine and tell them to get the Ranger out, I am going to pick it up in a week or so.
GO HAWKS, what an exciting game this afternoon. Iowa Hawkeyes win the Big Ten conference championship tournament. That's the way it should be the number 1 and 2 seeds getting together at the end.

Muskie Seminar-Kids Fishing Day

I am pleased to announce a couple of events that are scheduled for Boji Land, and sponsored by the Upper Great Plains Chapter of Muskies Inc. The club is sponsoring seminar entitled Muskies In The Milfoil, the seminar is March 25th, it is free and open to the public. The seminar will be held at the Okoboji Elementary School Gymnasium, 708 M Ave., Milford, IA. This seminar is being put on by Kevin Dickinson a noted Minnesota Muskie guide, Kevin is an experienced weed fisherman and will share his expertise with us.
The Kids Fish Day is tentatively scheduled for April 22nd, it will be held at the State Fish Hatchery, located at the Ishmus in Orleans, IA. The event is co-sponsored by the Upper Great Plains Chapter of Muskies Inc. and the Sunrise Kiwanis Club of Spirit Lake, IA. I will have more details as they unfold.
Well, it rained hard last night and the temps are supposed to be in the 40s and 50s for a few days, with more rain and snow forecast for this weekend. I really don't like what this weather does to the ice. I may be done ice fishing for this season. Time to get the Ranger out and get her ready for soft water. Dicus and I did a little ice fishing last week-end and I must say it sucked!

Lincoln Walleye Expo Seminar

Well the Walleye Expo Seminar that Rick Dicus and I presented last weekend was a success! We gave three presentations over the weekend and all three had standing room only! Our presentation focused on sonar only, if you want GPS mapping etc., you need to attend one of Doc Samson's fine seminars.
Our presentation is of actual photographs of my Lowrance X-25s' screen while we are on the waters of West and East Okoboji and Big Spirit. Our primary focus is to give you a feeling for what fish and bait fish look like, weeds, structure, edges between hard and soft bottoms, rocks, etc. We know what the schools of fish on the screen are because we dropped an Aqua-Vu down and looked. We had some very good interaction with the audience and if any of the audience is reading this thanks for your participation.
I would like to thank Greg Janajeck the head guy for his hospitality. I met Al Patterson from ReelBait Tackle and he has some exciting new colors coming out this year in his Walleye Flasher Jigs, as well as his jigging spoons. The Walleye Flasher Jig has become my go to jig in Boji Land. I also was able to share info with many of the guys from the Nebraska Walleye Assn, what a fine bunch of anglers!
Rick and I again thank all of you who attended and participated in the seminar.
I am getting reports of a pretty good crappie and bluegill bite up on Angler's Bay. Harlan Herbst from 4 Seasons Bait and Tackle called me yesterday and had some success up there. He said the bite was early from sun up to about noon.
Anyway that is it from Boji Land. Keep your hooks sharp.

Ice'n Boji Land and other stuff.

Well again I have been away too long. I have finally carved out some time to do a little blogging. Here goes.

My ice fishing this winter has not been as I would like it to be. We have had suspect ice all winter and I have been unable to get out as often as I would like. I have only been on West Okoboji twice, didn't do much the first time and the second time Rick Dicus and I caught some nice gills and a few perch off Pocahantas point. Boji didn't freeze clear across until this week and it is not very good. Boji had been open from Pocahantas Point, north almost to Omaha Point and east into Given's Point in Smith's Bay. The only real good ice is in the bays, Emerson, Millers, Smiths and North Bay. The fishing has been spotty, you can get them but you have to work. There has been some very nice walleye caught.

Big Spirit is where I have concentrated this winter, primarily because the perch seem to have made somewhat of a comeback. Rick Dicus, Tim Milner and I have caught some nice perch up to 12 inches. However, you can only get a couple when they come in, they are gone so quick I can't believe it. We just can't seem to be able to keep them in the hole. Tim has caught some nice walleyes right at dark on the north end. The perch are off Buffalo Run in 22 feet and at the south end west of the pump house. I believe the pump house bite has stopped as has the Buffalo Run bite. Rick and I were out last weekend, I caught one nice 10 incher right away and that was it, I never had another fish on the Vexilar and Rick never saw a fish on the Aqua-View. We made 4 or 5 moves and it didn't matter.

The highlight of my winter fishing, is the trip I took to Lake of the Woods. The trip was sponsored by Clear Channel Radio, KMNS, Sioux City. Experience The Outdoors with Rick Dicus put it together. Rick and I shared a shack along with Steve Zant and Mike Luff from Wakefield, NE. The walleye fishing was sloooow. We did manage to catch 12-15 keepers per day along with a few perch. It was slow but some of the 80 some folks on the trip never caught a fish. I was given the nickname Tullibee Tim by my shack mates. I developed an absolutely world class knack for catching the dreaded Tullibee. Of course, Dicus doesn't want me to mention his skill at eelpout angling. Rick prefers to call them Burbot, that sounds better to him than eelpout.

Anyway if you get a chance to do that trip, do it it is a really lazy way to ice fish. Ballard's Resort sends a bus to pick you up and then they do everything. The hospitality at Ballard's is second to none, the food is fantastic and the guides friendly and knowledgeable. I would highly recommend the trip. I had never ridden in a Bombardier half-track that is fun. The guides took us out about 8 miles on Big Traverse Bay, left us with minnows, the shacks were already warm, they bring you a big lunch about noon and come and pick you up about 5 in afternoon. Then it is back to the resort for some supper. Of course in the morning you are treated to a breakfast buffet! Really great.

Rick Dicus and I will be presenting a seminar on sonar at the Nebraska Walleye Expo, Feb, 24-25 and 26, in Lincoln, Nebraska. We will be talking about setup, structure, reading weeds, contours and bottom composition transitions. We will not be talking about GPS mapping. To get that you will need to go to one of Doc Samson's very fine seminars. The information will be primarily aimed at the novice, you pro's might pick up few tips as well.

Well that is it for now, see you on the water.

Fishing Report

Well, the fishing is getting a little better. This past weekend my partner in crime, Rick Dicus, and I took to the ice. It was pretty slow on Saturday and Sunday, I could only manage small fish, Rick picked up a nice bluegill and a 16 inch walleye on Angler's Bay.
Yesterday, Dec. 21st, I started out slowly, in fact I got skunked on Smith's Bay on Boji, I moved to Big Spirit about noon and the fun started. I fished some waypoints on Angler's Bay, and caught 3 of the biggest gills I have ever seen and numerous smaller gills. I also got some perch, in fact I kept 5, the biggest was about 10 inches the others about 8 inches.
The ice on Smith's Bay was about 11 inches. The ice on Angler's is about 8 inches.
Merry Christmas to one and all and maybe we will see you on the ice.

Ice'n Boji Land

Well, this past weekend through Monday, Rick Dicus and I went on a search for good ice and keeper fish in Boji Land, both were hard to find. Saturday we went to Silver Lake west of Ayrshire, IA, it was so windy we came back to Spirit Lake and fished the boat ramp pond at Templar Park. Between the 2 of use we caught about 50 small bluegills and a few small crappies no keepers. Sunday we made the run back to Silver, the ice was about 5 inches thick and very slushy on top. Two guys walked across from the east boat ramp to where we were just west of the dam, so the ice was thick enough to hold them all the way across in that area. I wouldn't have tried it. Anyway, we both caught a couple of 10 inch perch and a walleye about the same length. As you can see pretty slow for an entire afternoon. Monday, we started at the Miller's Bay canals where there is ample ice, just small gills and an occasional small crappie, moved to the bay on the grade at Big Spirit, 4 inches of iffy ice and small, small perch. I did catch one that was about 7 inches.
There are reports of some keeper perch on Anglers Bay, but the ice is not good enough for my taste. I have heard reports of several anglers going through the ice around the lakes area. No drownings.
Be careful out there. The long cold snap has given some a false sense of security. It snowed about 8 inches on top of that first ice, that snow has insulated the ice well, as a consequence the lakes aren't making ice very fast.

New Ice Report

Just found out this morning that there is about 3 inches of ice in Millers Bay canals. I don't know how the fishing will be in there this winter, they were dredging it out last summer. I don't know if there will be enough weeds to hold gills and crappie. I will report.
I believe there will be enough ice this weekend for Anglers Bay on Big Spirit and the foot bridge bay on the grade at Big Spirit.
It is -12 this morning in Spirit Lake, IA.

The Ice Is Back

Well, we finally have ice at the Iowa Great Lakes. I took a drive around the area yesterday and talked to one hardy soul at the Templar Park boat ramp inlet, he said that where he was fishing it was about an inch and a half thick. I stepped back off the ice. All appears to be frozen except the main basin on West Okoboji. The problem is there is about 4-5 inches of snow on top of the ice that is insulating it and hampering making ice. The surface is slushy. Most of the smaller water froze last Tuesday night.
I have not been fishing, but I have been hunting. Phil King his brother Paul and I have had a couple of really nice goose shoots, getting our limit of 6 the last time out as well as three bonus Drake Mallards. We got into them last week the day before the storm that shut down South Dakota. The mallards where northern ducks, big with bright orange feet any yellow bills. We had our geese by 10:30 A.M.. We then spent about 2 hours just calling geese to our decoys, man is that a sight, at one time we had about 75-80 birds landing in the decoys they were all around us. Quite a sight.
I talked to Rick Dicus, EXPERIENCE THE OUTDOORS RADIO, and Harlan Herbst at 4 Seasons Bait and Tackle, Seney, IA. Rick as you know was my Trap Attack partner 2 years ago and he is fired up to get on the ice, as am I. Harlan has all your ice fishing needs at his shop.
Anyway that is what is going on up here. I am hunkered down waiting for safe ice. It is -8 F this morning in Spirit Lake, IA. Later

Fall musings

Well I haven't been here for 2 months, my bad. This fall was pretty uneventful, I didn't fish as often as I would have liked but I did get out.
The fall muskie tournaments went well with plenty of fish caught and released. We had an excellent turn out for the 25 anniversary of the annual tournament and the Idso Muskie Fest went well. I finally caught a muskie about 3 weeks ago. A nice healthy 33 inch fish, caught on a Salmo in 2 feet of water on Big Spirit. I went out the next week with friends Scott Bringle and Dennis Heidebrink and had 3 follows. This was the most action I had all year.
I caught some nice keeper walleyes on Spirit, on a slipbobber,1/16th ounce jig and a minnow, 8-12 feet of water around weed clumps that were still green. I have also been catching some nice eyes casting from shore.
I put the Ranger away 2 weeks ago and have been kind moping around since then. I have done a little pheasant hunting and will be going duck and goose hunting Friday the 18th. I am hoping that Rick Dicus will be able to get up here to go along.
I guess that as far as fishing goes now I am waiting for hard water. I have the Strikemaster and Fishtrap ready to go! The Vexilar's battery is charged and the reels have fresh line. I don't think it will be too long now,the temp this AM was 15 degrees.

Winnibigoshish

Well, Dianne and I are back from Big Winnie. Man did we have a good time, weather was perfect except for the last day. We were forced off the water x's 2 by lightning not much fun.
We stayed at Williams Narrows Resort on Cutfoot Sioux, what a beautiful place and the hospitality of Joyce, Jerry, Joe, Bev, etal was marvelous. The resort is 372 miles from our house. The only bummer of the trip was the price of gas, the highest we found was $3.29/gal at Deer River, MN and the cheapest was $2.69 in Sauk Center on the way back.
Now to the fishing. The fishing was wonderful, the catching was so-so. Everyone was commenting on how slow the fishing was. I caught some nice fish one 24 inch and one 23 inch, of course those have to be released as the slot is to release everything between 17 and 26, that makes it rough, but it is supposed to be good for the fishery. We did have one meal of fish as planned and brought nine home, 7 walleye and 2 northern. I just couldn't get much going on live bait, you had to work real subtle breaks and with the wind I just had trouble controlling the big Ranger on those breaks, the backtrollers had more success. We did catch some fish drifting with a crawler and Phelps Floater, in fact the 23 came on that. Our best pattern was trolling #5 White Shad Raps in 8-12 feet of water along the north shore right west of the Gap. We lost 3 big fish and some smaller ones, they just weren't hammering the bait. Dianne kicked my you know what she caught most of the fish trolling. It was one of those deals same bait, same amount of line out etc and one rod outproduces the other.
As I mentioned earlier the weather was great except for that last day. We were on the water by 7:30 AM and the first storm came through about nine. We hightailed it back to the cabin and went out about an hour and a half later. We made one pull through our area and heard thunder, we were going to make one more pull, but thought better of it and left. I am sure glad we had the speed of the Ranger and 200HP Mercury Optimax available, because we wouldn't have made it back with out the speed. We stayed in after that, it rained over an inch in an hour, I had a wet boat when we got back to Spirit Lake.
This was my first outing with my new Lowrance LCX 25C and Navionics Hotmaps Premium North mapping chip. Man what a unit, the difference the color makes is significant. I recorded a couple of trolling runs on a chip, and that is really cool, you can see the sonar log as well as your path on the map, so you can get a better feel for the structure. I took the chip out brought it in the house and played it on the Lowrance Sonar Viewer in MapCreate 6. Really nice! I really like the capabilities of the unit, but of course I am a technology freak. I am going to get Doc Samson's second video, and learn more.
I am now preparing for the 25th Annual Release Tournament of Upper Great Plains Chapter of Muskies Inc. , I haven't been muskie fishing for over a month, so I have no clue as to what is going on out there. I am going to prefish tomorrow and Thursday. Later

Grandsons are cool

Well we just spent a wonderful week last week with our oldest grandson Stefan. He is now 16 and growing up so fast it is incredible. We spent some time on the water, of course (2 1/2) days to be exact. We caught some nice bluegills and had an excellent silver bass bite one afternoon. Stef out fished me of course.
Wednesday nite was Muskie League nite, and Stefan and I started on Eagle Point casting to a fish that I know is there, but she wouldn't show. I was proud of Stefan's casting ability, he did well for just learning how to cast baitcast equipment that week. It was raining pretty hard so we started trolling Depth Raiders in Emerson Bay, moved to Sunset and ended up in Smith's Bay, all to no avail. Randy Pritts won over $700.00 with a 40 inch muskie. Stefan enjoyed himself as did I. With the water temps starting to drop the skies should go on a tear soon.
Don't forget the 25th Anniversary Upper Great Plains Fall Release Tournament, Sept 16-18. The cost is $30.00 if you enter this week $35.00 after that. You get 3 meals BBQ ribs Friday nite, Chicken and biscuits Saturday, and brats on Sunday afternoon. Hell that is worth the cost of admission. There will be a lot of baits, rods nets on the raffle table as well as door prizes.
We are also giving away some fishing trips this year to Canada and Minnesota.
I haven't been up there but I am hearing rumors of a walleye bite starting up on Big Spirit, pull plugs in the basin on the edge of the break. The smallmouth bass are on a tear in Okoboji as well as the bull bluegills and perch.
Keep your hooks sharp and your line fresh.

Bluegills

Well, I was out yesterday with Dianne and grandson Stefan, bluegill fishing and it was tough. We fished Emerson and Eagle point with limited success. I wanted to drift the weeds in Emerson, however, the wind laid down and we couldn't drift effectively. We anchored in a spot that Rick Dicus and I had good luck on and caught nothing. We finally ended up in Haywards Bay about a boat length from a friend of ours, he was nailing nice gills and Stefan caught some nice ones. Dianne and I didn't have the touch. Stefan thinks it is cool to catch more fish than grandpa and so does grandpa.
We are going out later in the day today, my friend said the real bite starts around 6:00 PM, yesterday we quit early we had been out since 7:00 AM and the sun had us pretty worn out.

Late summer report

Hello one and all. I must again apologize for the tardiness of my reports. Here is a synopsis of what has been going on in BojiLand since my last post 7-11-2005.
Muskie fishing for me has been a joke, I haven't even had a follow this summer. I did have a very vicious strike on Eagle Point on West Okoboji 2 weeks ago during league but that has been it. I must admit that I have only been muskie fishing this summer on league nites and no one is getting an action on those nights. I know some of the guys have been doing well but not me. I know of one fish on Big Spirit that is in the 55 inch plus range that several of the Upper Great Plains Chapter members have seen but I have not seen her. No one caught a legal fish during the moonlight madness tournament August 6-7th, 4 sublegals were caught. I would like to remind all of you of the 25th Annual Fall Release Tournament September 16-18. This being our 25 th anniversary, we are going to have some awesome door prizes and raffle items, including about 4 fishing trips to Canada and Minnesota, rods, reels, nets, hookouts, Knipex bolt cutters, and many many baits. Your entry fee of $35.00 gets you 3 meals that is worth the price of admission. Friday nite's meal is Barbecue Ribs by the Blau brothers, don't miss that one.
My walleye fishing around here has been so-so. I did manage to catch a 27 incher on Big Spirit, July 16th as well as two 18's but that is the best day I have had. Dianne and I went to Lake Sharpe the week of Aug 1st. I hooked on to the Ranger and picked her up at the Sioux Falls airport on Monday the 1st (she was returning from the bushmaster Classic) and we headed for Chamberlain, SD. We had excellent fishing on Sharpe in spite of the 100 degree heat. We had our limits caught by noon all three days. We caught all of our fish trolling crankshaft on lead core line in 35-40 feet of water.
I have been having sporadic success fishing bull blacklist in West Okoboji. Some days you just hammer them and the next you have to scratch for them. The later was the case yesterday, Rick Dicus and I went out and scrapped up 14 of them but they were nice ones. Dicus did most of the catching yesterday, not me. In fact, we were anchored in 22 feet of water and he was casting a pilkie with a couple of maggots and catching the bulls as he reeled it in. I never caught a one doing that, I just didn't have the touch yesterday. I did, however, have the touch on Wednesday, when the catching was done mostly by yours truly. It is funny how that goes, 2 people in the boat doing the same thing and one guy gets them and the other doesn't. Strange, but I am sure all of you have experienced this as well.
Today Dianne and I got to Sioux City to pick up our oldest Grandson Stefan. Stef will be with us a week and we will do some fishing. Stefan is almost 16 and has his learners permit for driving. He will want to drive granpa's truck, but he also asked if I was going to teach him how to operate the Ranger. I told him of course, right after he learns how to back the boat trailer down the ramp. We will work on that. Stefan is also going to fish Muskie League with me Wednesday nite, he is looking forward to that I think as he has never fished in tournament, but has watched me at weigh-ins in tournaments I have fished.
perch fishing has been slow on Big Spirit but some nice fish are being taken on the deep weedlines on West Okoboji. Dicus and I started yesterday on Spirit but could not even mark anything in the basin. I believe the perch are in the weeds and we didn't feel like going in the weeds and grinding it out. We moved to Okoboji as reported above.
Dianne and I will be going to Winnibigosh the first week and September and I will report to you about that outing. After all even though Winni is several hours from here I get to define the boundaries of Boji Land, because this is my Blog. So Boji Land is where ever I am fishing!
LATER

It is picking up a bit

Well, I finally caught some keeper walleyes on Big Spirit. Friday we caught a nineteen and Saturday I caught an eighteen and a twenty-seven incher! We caught probably only 10 short fish but we only fished in the afternoon until about six. Man is it hot out there even with 20 MPH winds. I am hoping the larger fish in the basin are about to go on a tear.
I don't know what to think, most anglers are of the opinion that the larger fish are all gone, I am not so sure. However, I do think that a slot where you would release everything between say 15 and 22 inches might help. I bet you would only have to do that for a few years and the numbers of nice fish would be back. I don't know I am not a fisheries biologist but it might bear some looking into.
You know I bet some of you are asking why I never seem to report about West and East Okoboji, it is because I haven't been on that water since before Memorial Day. I just am not going to put up with the boat traffic hassle until I start muskie fishing at day break until about 9 or 10 AM. In my opinion it isn't worth the aggravation, I know there are some nice bluegill and crappie being caught as always. I have not heard many walleye reports. I know the muskie guys are catching a few in the weeds. You can always get something going on west if you are willing to bounce around in the boat chop.
I have friends who are going out to South Dakota from time to time and the report is that Oahe is back. If you are diehard "eye" chasers you already know that.
I talked to Shannon Green yesterday and he and Randy Meyers had a good trip to Lake Of The Woods. They caught 14 muskies and really had good walleye fishing as well. The crew that I go to Lake Of The Woods with left last Thursday, I was unable to attend this year.
Well that's it for know. Keep your hooks sharp!!

Fishing is slow.

Hello all, I have again been remiss in my reporting. I have not been out very much as of late and when I have been I catch numbers of walleyes on Big Spirit but very few legal fish. I know some of you are getting them but not me.
We had muskie league last nite and no fish where caught and no follows where reported. Dianne and I tried Reed's Run and the cabbage beds in Anglers Bay, all to no avail. It has really been dead. Hopefully the muskie will go on a bite soon. The guys from the muskie club left for Lake Of The Woods this morning. This is the first year in 6 that I haven't gone, I am not in a good mood!
I talked to Steve Smith, Marketing Director for Ranger Boats, last week. Steve told me to look for a major announcement coming soon regarding the 620. Ranger has made some changes, to the hull and some Hi-tech stuff as well. I am not at liberty to share these changes at this time.
I had a good conversation about a week ago with my high school chum Marv Gilbert, he said he has been doing fairly well on the river when he is able to get out. I need to make a trip to Clinton and do a little fishing again with Marv, it has been about 7 years since I was last over there to fish with Marv and Bill. Anyway that is about it for now. I am still trying to get to the Missouri but haven't gone yet.

Fishin Boji is Sloooow

Well it has been awhile since my last entry. Fishin has been slow, in the Iowa Great Lakes area, at least for me. While it has been easy to catch numbers of short walleyes, the keepers are coming harder. I would think the fish would go on a chew soon.
Rick Dicus and I have been to southern Minnesota recently and have had mixed success. We are catching some nice walleyes up to 25 inches but it is hit and miss, we get them one day and the next day nada.
This past Sunday my wife Dianne and I went up to Big Spirit and of course she kicked my you know what. We both caught one keeper, mine was just 14 inches and hers was 25 inches. Way cool, I love it when she catches a nice fish.
The muskie fishing has been spotty, I haven't hooked up yet and have had only one follow. I have only been out twice though. I know some of the guys that are out quite a bit a catching some fish. Dianne and I saw two legals caught and kept on Sunday and there was a 52 inch, 41 lb ski caught last week in front of Reed's Run by a walleye angler trolling. Oh, well that is the way it goes, I have been hunting for a 50 plus fish for years now, to no avail. Someday!!
The panfisherman have been doing well all over the Iowa Great Lakes.
What a blessing they finally found the Hellmers boy, who drowned last fall in that dock barge accident. I hope the family finally gets some closure.

Boji Update

Walleye fishing has been slow, in the last two trips to Big Spirit, I have caught many fish and only 4 keepers. Dicus and I caught 3 keepers a week ago. Scott Berry and I caught about 25 fish on Monday of this week and had one 18 inch fish and a 17 inch smallie. However, on late Monday afternoon the muskies went nuts in shallow water. I netted a 40 for Mark Mitchell and he caught two more after I left. I had 3 skies to the boat in 2 casts. The first muskie came in hot and took a swing at my bucktail, missed and took off. On the next cast 45 plus came lazily to the boat with a small male by her side. They weren't interested in eating, the spent about 30 seconds behind the boat near the big engine and then lazily swam off.
Rick Dicus and I are going to a small prairie lake in Minnesota this morning, walleye fishing, I will report later.

I'M BAAAACK

Well it has been awhile. I have been lackadaisical in my posting on BojiLand.
The walleye opener was a bust for Scott Berry and myself, what with a lightning storm coming through every 15 minutes, cold and wind it was tough. We didn't even go out at midnite this year, too many storms in the area. We finally got out Sat AM, and pulled cranks on leadcore at the north end of Boji, Egralharve, Emerson, nothing. We made a decision to move to the first basin north of the narrows, there we contacted probably 30 walleyes Saturday afternoon. Water temp on East was 63 as opposed to 53 on West. The best lure was a Ripstick, in a purple back chartreuse side, white belly pattern, we also caught a few on Baby Thunder Sticks. Sunday we tried the deep water in Browns Bay on West Okoboji and caught one smallie.
Yesterday, Dianne and I went to Big Spirit, it was her first outing of the year, we had a blast. I didn't keep and accurate count but I lost count at 28 walleyes. We caught 3 keepers. I caught a 32 inch muskie, too bad season is not open, I would have had my first report of the season for the club. We caught them on 5Ft leaders, bare red #2 hook, 4-6 ft lead and a green bead, with a No-Snagg sinker, and a minnow or leech, in 10-17 Ft of water. It was a beautiful day for a change, light wind (just enough) although it was a little chilly.

Clear Lake Muskie

Well the Heartland Chapter's annual muskie tournament is over. Mark and I blanked on tournament day but we sure got cold. Man was it windy and cold. We caught 2 sub-legals and lost a big one on Friday trolling, but the tournament was Saturday. We actually were trying to pick up a few walleyes on Friday, when the muskies hit. The best area was from the fish hatchery east to the DOCK restaurant. The winning fish was caught west of that on Fishermans Reef, a nice 42 incher I believe it was. We had a great time and the Heartland Chapter did an excellent job, I believe Chris McCabe told me they had 62 fishermen this year, their largest turn out ever.
I am now getting ready for the walleye opener here at the Iowa Great Lakes. My friend Scott Berry and I will be hitting West Okoboji first fishing out of his 2050 Skeeter and then if that doesn't pan out we will move to Big Spirit and fish out of my Ranger 619. His boat is in the hoist so we won't have to fuss with taking his out etc.
The weather is supposed to warm up into the 70's this weekend, that will be heaven. The low here last night was 28. WOW

Heartland Muskie

I have nothing to report about the Iowa Great Lakes, I haven't been able to get out for a week. I believe the bass have slowed down some. I know they are still getting crappie in the canals and off the grade but that has also slowed due to the cold rainy weather. BIG NEWS I failed to report that the spillway on Big Spirit is running, good news for fishing in East Lake where the spillway runs into East, walleye, silvers etc.
Well, I am off to Clear Lake, IA Friday, for the Heartland Chapter of Muskies Inc.'s annual Dale Ahrendt Muskie Spring Tune-Up. If you are a muskie hound I would encourage you to enter the tournament. It costs $25.00 and you get at least that much back in food. You can sign up at tournament headquarters "The Other Place" 200 Highway 18 West, Clear Lake, IA Friday night, or you can sign up at the boat ramp at McIntosh Park Saturday morning. The Heartland Chapter always has good food, a ton of door prizes and raffle items. I will report on Monday.
Of course you all know that the walleye opener is the following weekend, May 7th. I would encourage one and all to sign up for a chance at a $10,000.00 tagged walleye, all proceeds going to Easter Seals of course.

Boji Update

Well the tempo is picking up in the Iowa Great Lakes Region (Boji Land). Last weekend there was a bass tournament on Okoboji and on Spirit. The smallie bite continues to be hot for us. I took a drive around Big Spirit last Saturday and not one boat was on our spot or any spot like we were fishing. I didn't go to the weigh-in so I don't know how they did. Mark Mitchell and I took a run at both Big Spirit and West Okoboji last week and did well. The bass we caught on boji were not as big as the bass on Spirit. I believe the water temperature is the reason, Big Spirit was about 56-58 and West Okoboji was 48-51. The big females are up shallow on Spirit and not on Boji. The water temps are going to take a plunge tomorrow nite, lows expected to be in low 30's brr.
Rick Dicus, Harlan Herbst and I took another run at Silver Lake Sunday, it sucked. We got on the water at 8 AM in fog so thick you could hardly see the buoys at the boat ramp. After a little confusion until we found the point to follow, we pitched jigs from the southeast corner to Trapper Bay, Harlan caught one sheephead on a deadstick and crawler, and Rick and I missed one each. The walleye definitely were negative. Water temp warmed to 58 in the afternoon, still nothing. Rick caught a 13 incher on a Flasher Jig in the afternoon, and I got bit off by a Northern and that was it. Harlan got antsy about 3:30 so we quit, mistake. Leif from Hartley was just putting in when we took out, he said he killed them from 4:00 until dark on Saturday. Oh well, we had a good time anyway.
I talked to my good friend Scott Berry yesterday. He is just back from a GNWC tournament out on Lake Sharpe in South Dakota. He and his partner Curt had to fish in 35 MPH winds during the tournament, but they did fill a limit, good enough for 13th place just out of the money.

Big Spirit Bass Are Hot

Hello, all. I was able to get on the water Thursday afternoon with my good friend Mark Mitchell and after a good deal of searching we found the spot on the spot totally opposite of what we expected. We were looking for early season smallies on the rocks in the sun and they weren't there, they were in what little bits of weeds we could find. What a blast! We caught smallies, largemouth and silvers. The bait was either a medium size Rapala Husky Jerk or a Rapala DT6 both in Silver Minnow color. We did catch a few on Frenzies but the Husky Jerk was the best. What a blast, beautiful day on the water.
Again I was amazed by the Optima's. We got on the water about 2:30 and came off at 7:00, I plugged the charger in and went about the usual after trip boat chores and the green lights came on about 30 minutes later, granted the wind wasn't howling so I didn't have to run the trolling motor on high, but that is still pretty impressive to me. Later

First Soft Water Outing Of The Season

Well, I finally was able to put the Ranger in the water and do a little walleye fishing this past weekend. Here is what went down. Sunday, Rick and I fished Silver Lake in Dickinson County to no avail, I lost one fish and Rick landed a 10 incher. A real disappointing trip, because the reports had been excellent. Evidently the bite had switched to evening because there were 5 guys in belly boats and an equal number in waders just west of the boat ramp when we came in Sunday night. BRRR, the water temp was 49.4.
Monday April 6th, we packed up and went to Storm Lake in Buena Vista County, and man am I glad we did. We caught 12 walleyes and kept 8 between 15 and 17 inches. We just couldn't get that last fish for 3 limits. Rick Dicus (Experience The Outdoors) and Harlan Herbst, (4 Seasons Bait and Tackle, Seney, IA), were in the boat with me. The pattern was Walleye Flasher Jigs and a minnow in 5-2 feet of water. It also seemed to help if you had a piece of Berkley Power Grub on the jig as well. The walleyes were really biting short, you had to feed it back to them if you felt them, it didn't help to have a stinger on, they ignored the offering completely if a stinger was added to the jig.
I was really impressed with the performance of my Optima batteries, the 3 D31M batteries had plenty of power to push the 74lb thrust trolling motor and run the live well, bait well, and all the electronics all day long both days. It takes about half the time to recharge them that it takes to charge the wet cells. I think I have convinced Rick to give them a try, I know he has ordered one to replace his cranking battery that was dead this spring. Anyway the the first trip of the year was a lot of fun with friends, with the bonus of catching a few fish.

Softwater!!!

Well, the ice is gone. West Okoboji went Wednesday morning, we had rain overnite and high winds. In fact, the wind is still blowing pretty hard. I backed the Ranger down the boat ramp on Tuesday and started both the engines and let them run for about 10 minutes to burn the fogging oil out of them. Everything is working fine, the tires on the trailer needed a little air but that is to be expected. I hope to get out Sunday with Rick Dicus for a little walleye fishing either on Storm Lake in Buena Vista County or Silver Lake here in Dickinson County.
I must be honest with you, the way the damn gas prices are going through the roof I don't know if I am going to go anywhere this year that is a long drive. I can't bear the thought of helping those bastards get another record profit. (Oil Companies) Oh well, enough of that rant.
I heard a report today that the smallies are starting to go on big Spirit, there is a report that someone caught and killed for a mount a 6lb smallmouth.
I will report how we do on Sunday.

Linn Grove

I went down to Linn Grove this morning to check out the walleye bite. To make a short story short, I didn't get a bite. I cast jigs for 3 hours and never got a sniff. I talked to a fellow there that had one nice eye about 26", he caught it deadsticking a minnnow in the boil hole. I suspect the bite is probably in the afternoon but I had to get back to the lakes. I talked to Harlan at Four Seasons Bait and Tackle, Seney, IA, on the way down to Linn Grove and he had down real well last week. If you are ever down Seney way and need bait and tackle stop and see Harlan, he will give you the straight news on the bite and he has great products in his store. I did some ice fishing with him this winter and he cooks a great hot dog.

Old Man Winter Ain't Done Yet

Well, I am up to my you no what in snow. We got 10 inches Friday. Wow! It seems like softwater fishing is getting farther away not closer, all the lakes refroze.
We had the board meeting of Upper Great Plains Chapter of Muskies Inc. last Thursday. If anyone that happens to take a look at this blog is interested in some really nice trips for 2006, make a mark on your calendars for Sept 16-18, 2005, the date of our Annual Release Tournament. We are planning to have 6 trips to give away some as raffle items, some just as drawings. The trips will be to Lake of The Woods, Leech, Mille Lacs, Vermillion, Cass and Lake Shelbyville in Ill. So, if you want to win a cool trip for next year I encourage you to come fish our 25 Anniversary Release Tournament. Sept 16-18.
I am finishing this entry on Monday the 21st. I took a drive around the area today to check out the lake conditions. Big Spirit is about 75% out, East Okoboji is out from Parks Marina to the Narrows and West Okoboji has a long way to go. I hear the eyes are hitting at the dam down at Linn Grove, might be worth the effort to burn a little fuel and give it a try.
My friend, Scott, from Rockford, Ill. stopped by today, always good to see him this time of the year it means the winter is about over. Scott and I will be fishing in the Great Walleye Weekend in the Iowa Great Lakes again this year. I hope I can stay awake this year while I am driving the boat on a trolling run!! Later

Cool GPS Info

Hey, how is everyone in Boji Land. I found a cool place to learn about GPS signal degradation and how the government might screw with the signal. You have to go to the US Coast Guard auxillary website and click on Navigation Center, then Click on Boating Laws and Regulations and then click on Nav Rules. You will then be able to select GPS or DGPS on the left hand menu. I don't know how many of you are into that kind of technical stuff but if you are, this place has some interesting stuff.
So if you want to take you knowledge about what the heck your Lowrance or whatever you use is doing, this website might give you some insight.
I haven't been fishing, but there are still some folks sitting on the ice in some of the bays on West Okoboji and still some people on the ice at grade on the north end of Big Spirit. I was in Oh Shucks yesterday and a fellow brought in a pail full of gills but he was pretty closed mouth about where he had been fishing.
Rick and I are still trying to put together a trip to Chamberlain, I think the fish have been going out there at least that is the report on Walleye Central. I need to make a chip from MapCreate 6 for the area, I can't find the one I made last year, I must have loaned it to someone.

News from Okoboji

Well, I did well at the Muskie Banquet Raffle. I won a Triple D crankbait, some fuel treatment and a $10.00 gift certificate to Rollie and Helens Muskie Shop. This weekend is the Muskie Expo in the Twin Cities, did not attend this year. Scott B is picking me up a Pink Rad Dog and a Northern Pike pattern Phantom. I think I am getting as many muskie baits as I have walleye baits. I am nuts!!
Rick Dicus had me on his radio show today (Experience The Outdoors). The discussion today was rods, reels, line etc. for bass, walleye and muskie, Rick was pleased with the show.
I still haven't put the boat in water anywhere. I heard a rumor that Silver Lake at Lake Park, IA was open, Dianne and I drove over there this morning. The rumor is false, although I suspect some folks are catching some walleyes from shore by the aerator.
I still haven't received my promo kit from Optima Batteries so that I can take some pix and write the testimonial. I think I am going to do that from the river, maybe I could have a nice eye in the picture.

Walleye, Muskie and getting ready.

This post is titled as such because I just tried to post and got a cannot find this page message bummer.
Anyway, I haven't posted for a week. I am in the middle of being between ice fishing and softwater fishing. I have been busy respooling reels, cleaning rod eyes etc. I am replacing the belly hooks on my crankbaits with red Daiichi hooks, I am sharpening hooks on muskie baits, building new muskie leaders etc. It is a time of transition. The lakes around here are still socked in with ice, but there is water standing on top of the ice in the afternoon and all the permanent shacks are gone. You can feel the pace of nature quickening, geese are moving, I saw a big swan this morning, it is just plain time for change.
I will be pulling the Ranger out in the driveway tomorrow, if it gets as warm as forecast. I will be cleaning her up inside and out, getting the contents of the hatches organized, checking trailer tire pressure, making sure all the electronics work etc. etc. I am then hoping to go either to Red Wing, Minnesota and the Mississippi or to Chamberlain,SD and the Missouri to do some walleye fishing and give the boat her spring shake down cruise. I need to run some carbon guard through the 200 Optimax as a preventative and just generally shake the cobwebs out of her. I am also anxious to see how the new Optima batteries work. I also need to take some pictures with Optima signage on the boat and write that testimonial to fulfill my contract with Optima.
Tonight, Dianne and I are going to the awards banquet of The Upper Great Plains Chapter of Muskies Inc, she and I are both on the board of directors. I was elected Regional Vice President for our chapter last year, I am humbled by the trust the club puts in me.
If any of you readers are interested in muskie fishing please go to our website for more information. www.muskieclub.com. We have 3 major tournaments per year and muskie league every other Wednesday night after work. It is a great time and a neat way to learn more about muskie fishing.

Muskie Club

Well it has been a week since I have written anything on this blog, primarily because I am in the middle of nothing to do. I am probably done ice fishing for the year. Therefore, it is now time to get ready for softwater fishing.
I have been busy replacing the belly hooks on my crankbaits with red daiichi hooks. I am sharpening the hooks on musky baits, respooling reels and generally organizing my stuff. If you an obsessed angler like I am you have lots of stuff.
Tomorrow, if it gets as warm as is forecast I am going to pull the Ranger out in the driveway and clean her up and get things organized in the hatches, check the tire pressures on the trailer, hook up all the electronics to make sure all the connections are good, clean any corroded connections and tighten them and on and on.
Tonight is the Upper Great Plains Chapter of Muskies Inc., awards banquet, Dianne and I will be attending for a sumptuous prime rib dinner and to hopefully win some raffle items. I am the Regional Vice President of the Upper Great Plains Chapter, I am humbled the rest of the board elected me to the position last year. I would encourage anyone reading this blog to get in touch with us if you are interested in learning about muskie fishing, our club welcomes all new members. We have 3 major club tournaments each year on the Iowa Great Lakes Chain of lakes and muskie league every other Wednesday of the month after the opener. You can see our schedule and join at our website www.muskieclub.com, please contact us if you are interested.
Right now I am pumped about the walleye opener and the muskie opener. I will be fishing the walleye opener with my good friend from Illinois, Scott Berry. Scott suggested we tag team them this year, using his Skeeter 2050 on West Okoboji and my Ranger 619 on Big Spirit, sounds like a plan.
I will report later how we did in the raffle drawing tonight, I will probably just be donating to the cause of Muskies Inc. That is the plan anyway. Later