Local lake visited

On 7/16 T-Don and I visited a local lake. I was amazed how high the water was. The Hmong put a dent in the white bass while we waded cheek deep and managed a walleye and a catfish on streamers.

Cat!

At least somebody was getting it done out there.

High water trout.

I fished a small creek (western part of the state) since the rest of the area was blown out due to high water. Dries were out of the question, but a small beadhead dropper turned the trick on a dozen browns. This crick (to remain unnamed) is amazing...it averages about 8' wide and it is a virtual trout factory. Thanks Ron.

River Small Mouth...tough to beat.

Brought to you courtesy of Brother Bill and T-Don. (A lethal duo even if they weren't related)
You can check out a few photos of this trip at Brother Bills Gallery

Back Home

Headed back to Northern MN for the 4th. Caught a few walleyes on hex's, hung some lakers on the down riggers, and attempted to catch a few more lake trout at the mouth of a river that flows into Lake Superior. My bro K and I strung up the rods and tied on our streamers only to met by warmwater species. Actually I got blanked, but K landed two smallmouth and a very nice pike. Considering the surface temp of the greatest of great lakes was only 48 degrees, it didn't make a lot of sense.

Hex'n Walleyes

...nice pike

Fish on.

Fish in...

Why catch and release is a good deal...

Compare the dates & spots

Hex'n

Multiple missions have been launched to my home water in search of big browns feasting on Hexagenia Limbata. The bugs are there, but due to high/discolored water, the fish don't seem to be getting into a steady feed. I caught a couple 13" fish the first two times out, hooked and lost a pig on the second night out (Cursed Audibly!) and on the night JP and Todd joined me managed a nice 19" (ok 18.5") brown purely out of luck...just drifting a likely lie with little advanced notice that the fish was looking up. I'm using a new camera that is waterproof and small and I'm still getting used to it. I shot a few underwater shots of flies and I've attached them here. I went out again last night and saw a few of the big hex mayflies but no fish of size eating them. Luckily I managed 1/2 dozen bows and browns on 22 BWO's before calling it a night at 10 pm.

High Water Tinkering

A couple weeks ago I decided to add aluminum boat guides on my trailer. With scrap aluminum I had stashed in my garage, two 67 cent PVC caps, a hack saw, drill, wrench and a file here is what I came up with:



Two nights ago I realized that I needed a rowing seat in my boat. It had to be movable so I could use it on the side of the back seat to run the motor, on the center of the rear seat to row, or on the center of the middle seat to row. I started with a foam back sling style seat, but bagged that idea after realizing my sewing machine didn't like trying to push thread through 1" webbing, 1"of foam and two layers of nylon.
I opted for power tool and the results look promising....formed dowel seat with a rope sling back support. Two pins hold it in place.