Long Overdue Update

Well, I find a need to post after a long absence. This is the first weekend in about a month that we haven't had a blizzard here in Boji Land. It has been another really weird spring.

I only got out once this winter ice fishing after having the crud for a month and the day after my only outing we had a blizzard, never got out again.

I spent some time on the Mighty Mississippi 10 days ago, with high school buddy Marvin Gilbert out of Clinton,IA. We fished pool 13 at Clinton one day and Pool 12 at Bellevue the next. Fishing sucked, Marv caught about a 12 inch walleye and lost a bigger fish. I think we saw 3 fish caught in two days. The water temp had dropped to 40 and the river was rising and the water looked like chocolate milk. Anyway, it was great to spend some time on soft water with Marv, in spite of the bite. Although it is a 6 hr drive from Spirit Lake, it was worth the drive.

Dianne and I bought a new (to us) 2013 Ford F-150 XLT Super Crew with 3.5l eco boost engine. I averaged almost 19 mpg on the trip to Clinton and back. It has all the bells and whistles, spending time with the owners manual learning all the stuff. It pulls the Ranger 619 like a dream.

We finally got the Ranger in the water yesterday. I put a Drotto on the winch stand a couple years ago and part of the release got bad. It was a manufacturer defect. I talked to the rep last winter and they are replacing it free of charge. GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE! The Drotto is a device that captures the bow eye when you drive the boat on the trailer. It really makes it safer loading the boat. I don't have to crawl over the bow and search for the trailer tongue with my feet, if I'm by myself and Dianne doesn't get her feet wet at some of the boat ramps now.

As long as i'm talking about after market boat stuff, I also put a set of EZEE STEPS on the trailer very nice getting in and out of the boat on dry land. I also put a BOWMOUNT LIFT on the Terrova, $350.00 add on instead of over $2000.00 for an Ulterra. I put the Terrova in the water after I launch the boat, lift it up with the device and away I go, get to the spot lower the Terrova and start fishing. I am getting to old to be up on a bouncing deck deploying and lifting the motor by hand. I also put i-Pilot link on the Terrova and I love it.

Well that is it for now. Oh, one other thing we still have up to 20 inches of ice on the Iowa Great Lakes right now. We used the one open boat ramp with a dock to do what we did yesterday. We may be ice fishing for the Walleye Opener on May 5th.

Later

Is this 1993 again? The rain just keeps coming!!!!

Man have we been getting rain and storms. We had another high wind and rain storm late this afternoon (maybe a small tornado) I had 3.5 inches of rain in the gauge by the end of the day.

Planned on trying to get some gills and yellow bass tomorrow but it is supposed to get back up in the 90's and remain there the rest of the week. Will have to go eaatrly and quit early.

Walleyes have been on fire this spring, primarily Silver Lake in Dickinson County, Little Spirit, and Round Lake in Minnesota. We tried Storm Lake about 10 days ago caught 3 but it hasn't been like last year.

I have added some stuff to the Ranger 619, finally bowing to age. I put some Ezee Steps on the trailer so I don't have to crawl over the Terrova get in and out on the ramp. I put a Drotto Automatic Boat Latch, I just drive the boat on the trailer up to this unit and it grabs the bow eye and Dianne just drives out. I then hook the strap up for trailering, I probably wouldn't have to but I do. Next I put a BowMount Lift on the Terrova, google it and take a look, $350.00 instead of $2500.00 for an Ulterra.  Last but not least, now that we can't trailer with the plug in the boat and it is a pain in the ass to crawl under the stern of the Ranger to put the plug in and take it out I put a FlowRite Remote Drain Plug in.

I see that next year to renew our Minnesota fishing license we are going to have to sign a document that we have read and understand all the stuff about invasive species. I don't know what the hell good they think that is going to do!! People can understand everything but if they don't abide by the rules it won't help and a few won't. The DNR in all states are doing this shit because of politics, it is too late, the invasive species are going to win. Mother Nature always wins!!!

I am outta here.

I'm Back!!

Its been a long long time since I have written an article hear, my apologies.

I launched the Ranger 619 a couple of weeks ago to make sure all is well after winter storage, and to a first run with  Minnkota i-pilot link I added to the system, it is awesome. I particularly like the "follow the contour feature", linked to a Lakemaster link compatible chip, I can run the cursor to a depth contour and the troll motor will follow that depth contour. More fishing, less manual boat control. It also has a feature called back track, that allows you to back track where you have been, without recording a dedicated track. It has spot lock that was on my i-pilot, and other features I have not discovered yet. This system Links to my Humminbird 998 SI. It should be an interesting summer.

I made a trip to Red Wing,MN with some friends last month for some early walleye fishing and it sucked. Too early.

Also made a trip to the Missouri River at Chamberlain,SD last month and it was very slow as well, fish weren't ready to spawn at all.

I have been trying to get down to Storm Lake, IA for some early season jig pitching but haven't made it yet, maybe next week.

If you get a chance, head up to the state Fish Hatchery in Orleans and take a look at the walleye and huge muskie they have in the holding tanks.

Later All.

Mille Lacs Trip a success etal.

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

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

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

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

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

Here is the 27 inch Mille Lac walleye.

2013 Softwater Season

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hard Water Is Coming Hopefully

Well, I am going to put the boat away Oct 30th, time to start thinking about ice fishing. I hope it is more than thinking, after last year being a poor ice year here in Boji Land.
I need to clean the boat up, get all the gear out of it, put reels and rods away, get the engines winterized etc etc.
Oldest grandson Stefan is getting married the first weekend in November so I need to get this boat stuff done prior to that.
Fishing this fall has been hit and miss for us. Dianne and I were out yesterday on Big Spirit and pretty much blanked except for small perch and one small walleye. The lake was dead flat calm, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
We enjoyed the Blues Jam last week at the Pearson Lakes Art Center, they get better each time. The house band was great, missed Joe on lead guitar tho. A young man got up and sang some Sinatra and absolutely knocked the crowd out as did a gentleman that did some great country.
We are headed for Elk Horn, NE this Sunday for Caite, Sean and my birthday party. Caite was10 October 15th, Sean will be 21 the 23rd and I will be Medicare eligible on the 23rd as well. Whew what a deal Medicare!!!!!!
I'm out of here.

Zebra Mussels in Boji Land

The DNR reported today that zebra mussels have been found in Upper Gar Lake, this invasive species plus the two species of bighead and silver carp found before, does not bode well for the Iowa Great Lakes.

This and ThaT

Well, Labor Day has come and gone and thus so has summer in Boji Land. It is still unseasonably hot. Right now the Clay County Fair is in full swing and this weekend the Upper Great Plains Chapter of Muskies Inc, annual fall tournament will be held on the Iowa Great Lakes Chain of Lakes. Good luck to all who are participating. The tourists are pretty much gone, so we can now fish past 10 AM without getting buzzed by jet skis, water skiers etc. We had a pretty tragic summer with 4 drownings all but one alcohol related. Very sad.
We will be hitting the water this week or next in search of fall walleyes and perch. We had a pretty good bluegill and yellow bass bite a couple of weeks ago but it slowed down for us. We took brother-in-law Gary out when he was here for a day and blanked, couldn't find anything but little gills. I am losing my touch.
Already looking forward to our annual trip north with the Dicus's. Rick found a private cabin on Mille Lacs so we booked it last week:
Look Here:http://www.vrbo.com/280909
June seems a long way off but it will be upon us before we know it.
I am curious about this winter's ice fishing, after our warm winter last year.

More to Come

WE SCORED

Dianne and I got out last night and hammered 25 yellow bass so fast I couldn't believe it we were only out about an hour and half. We kept 25 caught probably 40. Went to the Marble Beach cleaning station and had them cleaned by dark. Nice mess O Fish to introduce to hot grease.
Isn't that just the way it goes, this is the bite I was trying to find last Saturday for the grandkids, too much boat traffic.

Time On The Water

I spent the afternoon on the water yesterday with Grandsons Stefan and Jesse and Stefan's fiance Claire. We braved the troubled waters of the two Bojis on a Saturday. Whew was that a ride. We put in at the Highway 9 Bridge boat ramp in Spirit Lake and ran all the way to Miller's Bay. The boat traffic and resulting boat chop was horrendous. Claire and I had the better of the ride, as we were in the Smooth Moves Seats, that take up a lot of the shock. I'm sure Claire probably wouldn't agree that we had the better of the ride. Stefan and Jesse had to put up with the jarring. Stefan noted that he thinks I drive the boat faster than I used to in those conditions. He is probably right. That is one problem with these seats they take up the wave shock so well that you have to be careful to not overdrive the conditions.
Anyway, Claire had never been on our waters, so she got a good taste of the best (the beauty of our Iowa Great Lakes) and the worst (boat traffic and boat chop, boat drivers that don't know the rules of the water).

The fishing was slow but we did manage to catch some bluegill and yellow bass and one nice sized sheephead. Way to go Jesse!! We fished Miller's Bay rocks, Eagle Point weeds and sand and drifted the Emerson Bay Bar. The wind and boat chop was problematic but the Minnkota Terrova i-pilot set in Spot-Lock did its usual amazing job. ie: no anchor was necessary. The no anchoring was particularly enjoyed by Stefan, because in the past he has been the designated anchor setter/puller

There is nothing I like better than having the grand kids in the boat with me for a day of fishing and now add Claire and it just doesn't get any better.

We had Caite the little sister of the above named grandsons with us all week. She out fished grandpa and doesn't let me forget it. She had her first ride on the Queen II, successful, and her first ride on the roller coaster, not so successful. She whacked her nose on the safety bar and got a bloody nose. A trip to Treasure Village for a play, (Little Mermaid), movie, Fish Hatchery, Dickinson County Museum and last but not least a Nutty Bar after the Queen II, rounded out the week. Oh and many games of UNO with Ghee, must be mentioned!! We had beautiful weather all week for her visit.

Still Hot

Man has it been hot, in mid 90s constantly. I have moved from Big Spirit to West Okoboji. Spirit is a foul stinking algae bloom mess and the bite is off, for walleyes anyway.

We have been chasing bluegills on Boji and catching yellows for the most part. We catch four or five big gills on our main spots and then the yellows move in. This invasive species is everywhere. I am a little scared about this, I don't know if they are taking over bluegill habitat or what? I know there are still big schools of gills out there but now there seems to be a competitor for that habitat. Lucky the yellows are very good eating. The bite has been deep weeds with a bare hook and a piece of red worm or a pilkie and maggots.

I recieved a bunch of press via email regard Minnkota and Humminbirds new collaboration, more on that at a later date.

I had a great weekend. Old friends Joe Cuttell, Mike Buckley, Dave Chapman and Tim Horstman, got the Lakes Patrol Band back together. Spent Sunday afternoon listening to them play at the Ritz. Amazing how those guys can be so tight just playing together a couple times a year. Friday night Joe played with Bob Dorr and the Blue Band at a free concert on the green at the Amusement Park in Arnolds Park. Another amazing band that has been together for 31 years.Old rockers don't fade, they just get tighter and better. Joe and the boys will be back in August for the Blues RocknRoll Jam at the Pearson Lakes Art Center August 30th.

All for now stay cool.

Week of July 4

Man has it been hot. Dianne and I spent a day last week cleaning the boat from the Mille Lacs trip. Complete soapy hull wash down and scum remover with products by JJV'SBest. Worked really well. I filled both of the livewells with water and added a good 2qts of bleach to the large well and a quart to the small well,then ran the pumps for 5 minutes, this is to kill the larval stage of the Zebra Mussels (veligers). Checked for plants hanging from the trailer and motors and put the boat away for.another week.. Can't be too careful in protecting our lakes from Invasive Species. Mille Lacs has Eurasion Milfoil, Spiny Water Fleas and Zebra Mussels. Leaving the boat in the hot garage should put the coup de grace on the buggers.

I got on the water Monday with some guys from the fishing club. I was with Scott Berry in his boat on Big Spirit, it was really slow. I think we managed to catch 6 walleyes and maybe 4 perch. I had one Walleye that was 21 inches. Had lunch at the Triggs boat ramp and home before the heat was too bad.

Brother-in-law Gary Vos stayed with us last Saturday night. It is always good to talk fishing and hunting with Gary. We sent him home with a few trinkets from FFO.

I am going to try pulling spinners and Gulp with some new in-line weights that look like a little bait fish, I can hang a belly hook on the weight in case a fish takes a shot at the weight, should be interesting.

All for now stay cool everyone!!!!!!!

Mille Lacs

Dianne and I just got back from Reddoor Resort on Mille Lacs. We had a wonderful week inspite of a tree branch falling on the hood of the truck during a storm and denting the hood. At least it didn't hit the Ranger. :-) It rained and blew a couple of days as well.
However, we caught plenty of walleyes. Dianne caught her personal best Walleye of 26.75 inches and her personal best Smallmouth Bass of 18.5 inches. I put a 28.5 in the boat. We brought fish home and generally had a fine time with the Dicus's. Great food, great company etc. I did notice the bigger walleyes seemed to me to be skinny.
The Humminbird 998SI worked flawlessly and I got a chance to run the edges of the mudflats with side imaging to really put it through the paces. The technique that worked the best was #6 red hook, red or white bead, 10 foot lead and a large leech. We caught them on white Flicker Shads and 3 to 4 colors of lead core. We also caught some on Berkley's new Flicker Crawler rigs with #2 blades. The blades on these rigs are really nice.

The Summer Madness Begins

The madness of the crowds will begin this weekend. The annual neighborhood garage sale is on again. Mike,Susan and Caite are coming for the fun. Dianne will be working Saturday and Sunday morning, so she will miss the Garage Sale fun. :-(.  I think there will be smoked drummies and a fish fry in the offing.
We managed to get on the water Monday for about 4 hours. We quit one fish short of the 6 fish limit. We ended up catching 11 total. 2 short fish that went back and 4 slot fish that went back. All fish coming on an orange Gum Drop floater jigs with a stinger and a leech.Rig was fished off a bottom bouncer and a 4ft lead. I guess I did catch one on a crawler. Orange is not usually a good color for me on Big Spirit but it was Monday.
I am finally getting some time on the Humminbird 998si, it is an awesome tool.

GRRRRR

Got to whine a little. I have spent an average of an hour and half, four days this week talking to support technicians trying to figure out an issue on my brand new notebook computer. Man I hate it when stuff doesn't work properly. Oh well, they are calling me back tomorrow to see if the fix the tech did today has stuck.It is kind of cool and kind of creepy when the tech takes over your computer and you see the cursor on the screen start moving, seemingly on its own. Will see in the morning when I start the  puter up, if the fix is still working.

Dianne and I got out on Big Spirit yesterday, tried to fish, difficult, wind 20mph with gusts to 35. Rockin and Rollin!!! Managed a pretty good northern and had another good fish come off. We were only out about 2 hours. Wind beat us up and we came in. I must be getting too old for those conditions. I used to relish the challenge of being able to fish and produce in that kind of wind.

Walleye Opener/Not In Attendance

All the reports from around the area, indicate that the walleye opener was a huge success. They had about 600 more entrants than last year. Amazing what a crack at 30 Grand will do for the sign-up. Apparently the bite was really good on Big Spirit. Bare hook an a crawler, trolling cranks, casting cranks, pitching jigs, you name it.

I did not participate. Dianne and I were privileged to attend our oldest Grandson Stefan's graduation from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Wow, where does the time go. He graduated with Distinction, majoring in Mathematics, BS in Education and Human Services. Hope I got that right.

We enjoyed a fabulous lunch at Lazlo's in Lincoln, with Stefan and his fiancee Clair.,Dad,mom and sister Mike,Susan and Caitlin Elser. Grandpa John and Grandma Maxine Elser. Great Day!!

Time Well Spent (on the water)

Well, my bride and I took a little excursion on West Okoboji to test the new upgrade I downloaded to the Humminbird 998csi. Everything worked as advertised (whew) I am not sure I like them taking the Auto Sensitivity from the side imaging . But, you need to tweak it constantly anyway, so I guess it is all right. It looks like I am going to like the new waypoint, route,track management window. Looks complicated but will work through it. I used the Snapshot for the first time. I ran to my waypoint marking the Ice Truck in Smith's Bay and after about 20 minutes, I was able to get a pretty good sideimaging picture and recorded it on a chip. It isn't as good an image as Rick Dicus got so I will try to get a better angle the next time.
Didn't do any fishing to speak of, spent all my time learning the new electronics.
Well, I lied we pulled cranks for about 45 minutes in Upper Gar and Minnewashta, nothing caught.

Humminbird Downloads

I put the latest updates in the 788 and the 998, anxious to get on the water and see what the changes are. I don't know if I like the fact that they removed the Auto Sensitivity mode in the  SI modes of the 998. I will like the Waypoint Point management capability in the 998. I printed out a 40 page manual for it, so I may have to take the the liking it back. :-)
Got back from Elkhorn late Friday night after our babysitting for Caite duty, while Mike and Sue took grandson Jesse to Iowa State and University of Nebraska-Lincoln for the tours. Jesse has a big decision to make as to his choice of Universities. He will do well wherever he goes.
We head back down their Friday to watch Caite again while mom and dad go to the dinner for Stefan who will be graduating as a High Scholar.  He graduates Saturday. Man where the hell does the time go!!!!

Humminbird Seminar

Attended the Humminbird factory rep seminar, held at Great Lakes Marine in Spirit Lake, IA, yesterday. Well worth the time. I learned some new things and affirmed some things I was a little hazy about. Very well presented. Kudos to Shane and the staff at Great Lakes Marine!!!

Rick Dicus and I took a little road trip to Lost Island down by Ruthven today. Brr man it was cold, damp and windy. Fishing was very slow, I managed one Northern and missed another bite, Rick boated 2 fish, one was a keeper and had two nice ones come off. We were pulling Flicker Shads to start with and then switched to spinners and 4 inch "Gulp" crawlers. The people using live bait were doing better but not much. Water temp was 50.4 F, wind NW 15-25 MPH switching to NE later in the day, air temp never got higher than 48 F. I had a blast it was really good to be back out there after some time off from the action, the last 2 1/2 seasons.  Gotta love anytime on the water.