Oh my gosh! What’s the old sayings. You should not be allowed to have this much fun? Laughter is the best medicine? Having good friends and or family is what’s life all about. I have been fishing most of my whole life. I started fishing in Colorado for trout in the streams and lakes of the rocky mountains. The first time I came to Waskish I was 6 years old and my dad brought us up here to see my grandma Olga. My first cast in the tamarac river I caught a 5 lb northen pike. Grandma is the one that gave me the nick name cookie and my dad hated it. He said no son of mine will be called cookie. Dad died in a car accident leaving Waskish after a hard day at the farm in 1978. My parents were divorced so I only got to spend a couple weeks a year with my dad and I be leave if that would not of happened I would of ended up raising my family in Bemidji working at his car lot just north of Bemidji. Dad would take me fishing on red lake and we would troll spinners. I would get sea sick and puke over the side of the boat . Dad loved it as they always bit when I was chumming. My mom remarried when I was 15 and moved me to Minnesota where I met my sweet heart Kellie the hammer. I met her on my 16th birthday and it was love at first sight. We raised our family in the forest lake area and would come visit grandma mostly on holidays when we had 3 day weekends such as the 4th of July etc. The greek and I became best friends when we met as he heard my step dad took me hunting and he wanted to learn how to hunt. We hunted up in swift west of Baudett and always stopped here to have lunch or dinner with grandma on our way up and on our way back home from hunting. Grandma nicked named Billy the greek because he turned her on to greek seasoning salt. Fast forward to this last weekend good friends, good food and fun times were had by all. I’m headed out on the lake yesterday morning to fish with Wayne and maybe get in a game or two of cribbage o before I get to work for the day. As I’m driving out I get a text from Wayne of a pic of a 14 1/2 inch crappie laying in a 14 inch frying pan and the caption says Why do they call them pan fish when there bigger then the pan . I arrive to old Minnesota and say. I want to take that same picture and I put the crappie in the pan where I take the pic. I bend down and pick up the pan and his fish does the crappie flop and goes head first right down the hole. A perfect one and a half gainer with hardly a splash. Oh my gosh it was so funny . I don’t know maybe you had to be there. It was so funny and what were the odds. I know my good buddy Jake possessed with upper red lake crappies would be proud on releasing such a trophy. Wayne headed home yesterday with his 3 walleyes and the crappie the hammer caught. I got to work on the lake about 10am . With Dan the carpet mans help we would be making a big move with Montana to put them in a new area that has not been fished. He was my helper as Marty has not made it back up yet. Some how in the process of moving I missed that I had not cinched the 2 hundred pound propane’s on the back of the house and one of them fell off during the move breaking the line and falling off the house. We dealt with that and I got them all set up in the new area I’m about to ruin by 2. I then headed back to eat lunch and dig North Dakota and North Carolina out for the big move. Old Minnesota and Florida will be dug out today and also be moved. If the weather man is right the wind is going to be brutal out there today with gust out of the nw at 26 mph. Where’s good help when you need it? Drive safe Marty and will see you when you arrive. Old Minnesota will be the next house moved as Rick arrives tomorrow at 10 am for two nights on such a grand lake. When I left the lake I stopped to check on Amy, Mel, Rob and Dan and they had 3 more walleyes in the bucket and were anticipating a good bite as the sun set on such a Grand lake. On a side note yesterdays sunrise was nothing short of spectacular

Dan Mel Amy and Rob rolled in Sunday afternoon just as I was finished moving and auguring out Montana. They are a great group and have been coming for years. Dan is my carpet man and we did some bartering as I would like to replace carpet in 3 of our 5 fish houses next spring. They are having some good yuks out there and missed a couple fish with in minutes of wetting there lines. Then Mel landed a elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. Again it was slow for the location were at. Its a fishy area but its time to find a new area too ruin. My good friend Wayne is also up. He is the person I acquired old Minnesota from and is still his house. He turned me on to ice fishing in style and spoiled me years ago fishing on chisgao down by forest lake. Before I fished in his house we always set on a bucket or fished out of a vehicle. He is also one of the three best fishermen I know. I have learned many sudel tricks from him. The greek is also one of the better fishermen I know. His secret is he never sets his pole down and is always jigging. His favorit jig is the white flu flu jig.
Kellie the hammer, me and Wayne fished old Minnesota Sunday eve. The third night old Minnesota was fished? 3 bites with one keeper walleye landed. Wayne decided he wanted to stay again last night so yesterday instead of starting my migration to better fishing I again did the cookie shuffle and only moved Old Minnesota to the back side of Montana only a 100 yards away. The hammer and I would again be joining him for dinner and cards with a little fishing to boot. It did not take the hammer long to land her first fish of the night and she was giddy when she landed a elusive but still catchable upper red lake crappie. Wayne followed up with a swing and a miss and I landed a nice walleye keeper on a rattle wheel tipped with a fathead. Wayne followed that with another keeper shortly there after. A couple more misses ,a couple jigs missing there minnows while we were playing cards and the action was again done. Dan, Mel, Amy and Rob got another elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie and are going to stay one more night. They also have just a few walleyes with quite a few misses. Since there staying a third night I will be moving them today to new fishing grounds. Gene and Sue are coming down from lotw to fish in Florida this morning. Marty will be coming up later today and picking up a new used tire for the red baron as it has a flat from dry rot. The dodge prospector has a issue with the front end that needs to be looked at before it breaks. The bravado looks like it may have a leaking water pump and not a blown head gasket. Blue thunder is still the work horse of the fleet and I just love my trucks. I may of also over revved the crysler car yesterday and damaged the motor. Oops

Well what the heck was I thinking? Just like I have posted this past week. Buddy Hillmens snow bank to the south of his road has sank and is a truck/fish house eating machine. Randy pulled a guy out that tried to make it across Friday. At the same time Buddy Hillmen was just up the road pulling a truck and fish house out of the berm. Another truck with fish house in tow drives by Buddy and goes 50 yards up the road and tries to cross the berm in another spot and he also buries his rig? I’m cruising down the ice road to get home and here’s Marty sitting in the red baron and two guys are buried in the berm. There trying to dig out with a plastic shovel. I stop and they say what should we do your the expert?. The one guys feet are soaking wet as he is shoveling in 2 feet of slush and water. I explain we can tug the truck across but the fish house will have to be un hooked. After tugging the truck out onto Buddy Hillmens road. I explain there is no way I can pull that fish houses trough that slush puddle mess and they need to exit the lake from hillmens, go around and pull the house out from the way they came from. Here’ s where I ‘m not thinking. I say here take my tow strap? go around and hook the strap to the front of the house and spin it around . You can just drop my new strap off at hillmens store when your done. See ya strap as it was never returned wtf. was I thinking. I guess its just another lesson learned here on such a grand lake that owes me nothing.
Now for the long winded fishing report. I had Tyler, Reid and Riley checking out a area that was good last weekend, I had Matt and his kids in another wheel house in another spot, Keith was just to the north east of me in his wheel house, Boar rolled in late in his wheel house and set up somewhere. Marlo was in a completely different area. Saturday morning and the report from all was one fish two fish very slow.
Old Minnesota had a little better action after Marty and I did the cookie shuffle. Connie and Dave headed home with there 6 walleyes Sunday morning plus a couple elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. North Dakota had Jimmy and Tony’s kids. Brock, Luke, Lexi, Monica and Audrey. I checked on them a few times over the weekend and they were enjoying themselves. They ended up with about 12 keepers plus a couple they ate. I had to do the cookie shuffle for Tony and Jimmy Saturday morning as they had horrible fishing. Marty and I will no longer be fishing my houses prior to customers arrival. They did have better action and got there 6 walleyes. 2 the first day and 4 on the new spot plus another elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. Brett and his crew Rob, Jason, Dave and Andy fished portables through out the weekend and only landed 6 walleyes in the two houses Montana and north Carolina. They were both on fresh ice in what was a fishy area last week. Dave did land a Sucker of all things in Montana very weird. Saturday they fished portables and found 4 more elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies plus only 12 walleyes for the day and they moved around quite a bit.
Randy and Tammy moved Saturday morning out further and did a little bit better, Keith moved out further and had a bucket full of small ones when I stopped in to see them Saturday eve. Tyler, Reid and Riley also moved out further and had way better fishing with a few perch mixed in and one a real hog pushing 14 inches. Tyler has a facebook page and we did a quick video while I was there. I saw Marlo leaving the lake Sunday and they had pretty good fishing where they were at. I called Matt Sunday as he was gone with the kids, they also had better fishing but nothing spectacular. I did look over when I was driving by and his kids were having a ball ice skating where I plowed them a rink.
All my houses did not do that well. The rattle wheels were pretty silent over the two nights .Not sure why there not biting at night?
We will reload today and start scouting for a new area to ruin

I guess all I can say is stupid fish. Making the rounds last night was again a little disappointing. My first stop was to see how Tyler and his two buddies were doing .They showed up with there wheel house and I set them up where Randy and Chuck pounded on them last weekend. They were marking fish but only had one keeper after 5 hours of fishing. My second stop was Brett and his crew in Montana and north Carolina on new fresh spots. Montana had gotten two and north Carolina nothing yet. They were having a big fish fry though as they had fished portables most of the day and had there 15 walleyes and 4 yes 4 elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. One which had came out of north Dakota Thursday night. I then got a call from Keith. They were trying a new spot and had also caught one elusive yet still catchable red lake crappie and one keeper walleye. My next stop was Tony and his crew. The 5 kids which I have not gotten there names yet had caught 4 fish with one being a smaller northern in North Dakota on its new spot. Tony and Jimmy the kids dads were fishing Florida. They had not caught a fish but they had been helping the kids and were just starting to really fish.. Connie and Dave were in old Minnesota after we had moved them onto fresh ice. Connie had landed a elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie and was quite excited. They had also landed a couple more walleyes and now had 5 in there bucket . Still not very good since they arrived Wednesday afternoon. I talked to Marlo and all though I do not know where he is fishing they had 6 in the bucket and there buddies in another wheel house also had some action. I did not get a chance to talk to Matt and his kids in there wheel house as they were trying a new area to the south west of me. Randy and Tammy’s wheel house looked very dark so I did not stop as I assumed they may of been sleeping. Boar and his buddies are also out there somewhere in there wheel houses and I will talk to them later today to see how they did over night. So over all my houses were not doing all that well. Marty and I will move Florida on the other side of north Dakota so Jimmy and Tony get a fresh spot for there second night. I will be moving Montana to a completely new area Sunday for Dan, Mel, Rob and Amy as it looks like I may of ruined another 10 acres of area. Who knows maybe I will get out there this morning and the rattle wheels have kept every one up all night as it has been known to happen in a sleeper.

Trying to beat mother nature at her own game. Knowing we had some high wind predicted for Wednesday marty and I busted butt Tuesday moving all the houses into position for the up and coming weekend. Time ,gas, and where and tare on blue thunder as I tried to make sure the plowed road into the area we are fishing was nice smooth ice with the berms all to the south. The generator box for north Dakota, florida and old Minnesota would be set up when Dave and Connie arrived Wednesday. Any object on the lake would be getting some drifting and I tried to plan for that with a nice wide trail/ice road.
I knew the wind was howling out of the south and I expected some snow to be drifting across Buddy Hillmens plowed road but most just sliding across the smooth ice heading north. With the plow down I clipped the edges of the snow drifts and let the wind take it away. Arriving at our turn and darn even with all the snow built up on the east side and nearly none on the west side the snow was still building up . Oh well so much for that plan. Every ware you disturbed the snow the rest of the day was going to catch more snow. We headed down the trail to augur out a couple holes in florida so marty could relax and fish while kellie and I were in Bemidji. We set up the generator box and extension cords and powered up all three house’s. I plowed away the major drifts around the three houses pushing all the snow to the east of the houses. I checked on dave and sarah in montana and marked th etrail with tree branches to prepare for whiteout condition. Heading to shore around 12;30 to meet Coonie and Dave from Ill. and that crazy mother nature had done a complete flip flop and was now howling out of the north west? Didn’t see that coming. Now all that snow that had been swept to the north was coming back in force across the road the other way. Plus now it started to snow and it was a wet heavey snow to boot. I again dropped the straight blade on blue thunder and clipped the edges of the drifts to let mother nature carry the snow to the south. The berm has now collected quite a bit of snow. Busting through that berm is no longer a option and any fishermen that tries will be getting towed from the same way the came from or doing a lot of digging so bring a number two shovel if you decide to save 10 dollars to access the north side. I greeted Dave and Connie at Hillmens where they got there pass for 4 days and bait. Heading back out to old minnesota and the wind and snow were starting to create white out conditions just like I expected. After checking them in and going over a few rules I stopped to check in on dave and sarah and told them I would be gone the rest of the day and marty would be fishing in florida if any thing came up while I was gone. I was a little concerned or should I say a lot as Marty would be heading back out in the worst of it after he gathered his gear and I don’t think he has experienced what mother nature had in order. I did have him call me when he arrived and just as I again expected it was a eye opener for Marty.
Arriving back home around 8 pm I headed out to check on every one and see if marty caught a couple fish. first stop was at Montana where the fishing report was not what I expected. Slow with only a couple big perch and one walleye caught. Sarah said when the wind would lighten up they would get a couple nibbles through out the day. I was excited to see how Connie and Dave were doing in old Minnesota as I expected they would have a couple fresh walleyes on the ice. To my surprise they had only landed one little scuffit walleye and lost one on a rattle wheel that broke the line. They also had caught one nice perch and had a few nibbles through out the day. Oh well I guess if we catch them all there will not be any left. I then went over to check on Marty and see how he did. He had the best action and had two nice keepers and yes. One elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. He told me the bite was so very light that if the line moved across the hole you tried to set the hook as they were not even pulling the rattle wheel line down. Marty does not use any electronics as he is kinda old school like me. All though I do use a vexlar when the hammer is not fishing with me. Oh forgot to mention the new generator stopped running for no apparent reason again and I call will be made To acme in Bemidji and a little bithing will be in order as I again demand a new unit as that piece is a lemon as far as I’m concerned. They can not blame the cold as it was above 32 degrees. Buddy’s road was in pretty good shape but the red baron will be hitting the lake this morning to give the newly re built v-plow a good work out and a taste of what she was built for. Brett and his crew roll inn around 10am today.

Well we’ve been busy the last couple days. Marty rolled in late Monday night with his young neighbor Dylan in tow. I had a list of things we needed done before we pulled the houses onto the lake for the up and coming season. I did have a few fishermen here and with there portables in tow they all seemed to find a few fish. Andy and his crew camped with there ice castle on the river and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Kyle and his crew were in the cabin. I set two of them up to fish north Carolina but they never did make it out there. Yesterday was the big moving day as we broke all the houses loose and headed on to the lake. Do to the ice condition this year I had no choice but to start out in front of my place just off the last break in 8 to 9 feet of water. There should be no reason we will not catch fish there with most coming after dark. I augured a few test holes and found 13 inch of ice close to shore. I then started walking to the west auguring holes every 25 steps. Checking the ice with a tape measure I was a little disappointed to find 11 inches not 50 feet from 13 inches . The next 6 holes all showed 10 inches. We are just not having the super cold weather that makes ice. Every year is different and this year is no exception. Last year we were driving 6 miles out at this time with well over 20 inches of ice. Right now as it stands I will have to stick it out close to shore un tell the ice conditions improve .When the time is right I will head north and get all the houses on to buddy hillmens road. The lake has been a very busy place the last couple days as all the outfitters and resorts are trying to get houses out to fishable waters. Last I heard Hillmens would only be allowing 16 foot and under ice houses on to the lake towed by wheelers and side by sides. I have no idea what westwind is allowing at this time. Eva and Matt will be fishing our new house North Dakota starting today. They are here for two days and then the house is open Saturday. They will be the first to land a fish in our newest addition. I had Marty and Dylan in montana last night so will see how they did later this morning . Rick and his crew roll in for Minnesota Friday, Cory and his family also arrive for florida. Mitch cancelled montana and Travis and his wife will be using it Friday night. Pat will be bedding down in north carolina Saturday eve. Its nice to be on the lake . She’s a grand lake and as David the old timer up here told me its a grand lake and it owes us nothing.

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Man oh man that was a lot of work. I did not sleep good Thursday night thinking about what I was going to do. It all worked out in the long run though. Nothing broken and no stitches just a lot of hard work. I got out on the lake at the crack of dawn as planned. I was surprised to see 3 wheel houses just behind the houses. Not that I care but one could of plugged right in to my generator he was so close. Imagine there surprise when they came out of there shack and north Dakota and Montana were gone. Both houses were taken up the road to the new area I would be ruining. I mean fishing. I then cut a new trail hooked up north Dakota and off I went. Don and his crew would be bringing there own generator so that meant I could cover a little more ice and spread out a bit more then usual. Once north Dakota was completely prepped holes augured ,house banked,etc I was off to do the same with montana. again same procedure . By then I had worked up a good sweat at it always amazes me that working in the cold you can sweat so much. Old Minnesota was next on the list. I had a completely different area picked for Minnesota. Glen and Sue had a group of friends from Minnesota outdoorsman with wheel houses that would be fishing by them. The area I picked Marlo had done well last week and Lonnie had one of two good nights Monday and Tuesday. Glen and Sue had to wait a bit as they arrived while I was still towing old Minnesota. In between these moves I had checked in Don and his crew in north Dakota and Doug and his crew in montana. After getting every one settled in it was off to get the things I left behind ,blocks that needed to be chiseled out of the ice, boxes for generator, gas can etc. By then blue thunder was running on fumes and pushing 4 pm I headed to shore . Florida and north Carolina would have to wait un tell Saturday which worked out fine as they were not arriving un tell Saturday. Saturday morning upper red lake showed a little of her ugly side as the wind was howling out of the south, I got a call from Glen around 5am the new generator had stopped running EEERRR. I quick trip out there in my tennis shoe was not the best idea as I took the bravado. Luckily I was able to power though the drifts and deal with the generator issue. Not quite sure what happen but oil was good and she fired right back up. With snow drifting across the berm I would be plowing while I attempted moving florida and north Carolina to new fishing grounds. Plus old minnesota’s spot was a strike out and I promised Glen I would also move them to better fishing once the other two houses were set up. My good friend Randy who was out fishing with his family was nice enough to come help me move old Minnesota and prep florida . and north caroilina. Thanks buddy. All that worked payed off and all the houses started catching a few fish Friday evening. Making the rounds Friday night I was able to swing in to Randy’s shack and play a game of cribbage with him and Chuck. They had got the 6 in the area I had sent them and had moved to a new location looking for better fishing. My new friends Tim ,lance and kimmy also had good fishing when I stopped in to see them. We are all going to go to church this morning as I ask david if he would play his saw fro them. It sure was nice seeing all the houses catching a few fish again as last weekend was brutal to say the least. I have a nice break coming this week with only one house rented starting Monday to Dave and Sarah . Bob and his crew are here another day in florida and from the looks of it I will not have to offer them a new location. This has been a crazy 72 hours and I hope to watch a little of the Denver game today. Well its time to hit the lake .I want to top off the generators and catch the sunrise on such a grand lake.

Yesterday was spent getting all the houses augured out for Bruce and his crew of 12 that were stopping by to fish from 1 to 5;30 pm. they would be fishing 4 of the 5 houses and this would give me a idea of how cooperative the fish would be? I hate to say it but it was not pretty. I always try and have the houses on fresh ice for the customers arriving on Fridays as they have made plans well in advance. If I’m in a fishy area it may only be a 50 yard move but its still clean and unfished. Its hard to say no when some one wants to fish Thursday and I thought what the heck it would tell me a lot. Bruce and his crew have done this before and it was not a issue. Every year is different .I was so upset about the out come of there fishing yesterday that I wanted to move the houses last night. I think its un safe and unwise to move houses and work out there at night especially with out a helper. Unless its a emergency . I have moved a house at night so it can be done but again I would rather be working in the day light. Montana and North Dakota will be moving this morning at the crack of dawn. Followed by old Minnesota and north Carolina with florida bringing up the rear. I not sure if I can get them all moved and 3 of the five augured and prepped but I’am about to give it the old collage try as both the areas I have the houses are not even worth ruining. There’s a good chance a customer or two may have to wait if they show up before 2 . I guess that’s why we have a 2pm check in to give me time to make moves. The other problem is this is going to be a bigger move so you loose a lot of time traveling and prepping the new areas. The good thing is I have a plan. I have done this before when I have had a turn over on a sunday so it can be done. The one good thing is all the houses were wiped down and prepped last night so that will save a little bit of time. I also like to tow the houses nice and slow . I have seen other outfitters flying down the road with houses in tow. I just can not do it. I would guess our houses are pressing 6000 lbs. If for some reason I have to come to a stop the house would smash into the truck as they do not stop on a dime. I have learned this the hard way and its not pretty. I smashed montana the second year we had it and had to use a handy man jack and 2x4s on the floor to push the wall and counter back into place. I also had the greek tow montana the first year when we were bringing the houses to shore. The greek hit the gas when he came up the landing, then hit the breaks and the house just kept on coming and smashed into the truck. The tire on the rear helped but not much.
I did have a couple wheel houses set up yesterday in new uncharted waters and they did well so that makes me feel better then going to a area with a lot of lookers and sniffers. It will be interesting to see how Randy and his buddy did last night. I hope they call me because I will be way to busy to stop in and talk to them. Same with Ken and his crew as they were also checking out a area for me to ruin. Looking at the weather forecast it looks like I will be working in all most ideal conditions. I will take a moment when the sunrises to soak it all in on such a grand lake that owes me nothing as that old timer Dave told me years ago. Should be a fun day wish me luck

Two days of grinding and last night I was beat. Having a cold has not helped. I hit the sack at 8pm as Brian and Stacy in old Minnesota said he would gas up the generator. At this time both have been running well with there blankets.
Jake arrived Tuesday and got his cold weather gear on and hit the lake looking for the mother load. Brian and Stacy tagged along. Jake found a spot that they were marking fish and saw a walleye and spot tail shiners on a camera. That was good enough for me and I started digging North Dakota and Montana out of there holes . While Jake headed off looking for another area to ruin, I plowed into the spot and hustled to get north Dakota set up for Leroy and his crew. After getting them set up I was off to retrieve montana as they would be together for the up and coming weekend. I then headed over to north Carolina and got her out of its perch. My arms were like rubber by then chopping out all the frozen blocks and shoveling all the snow. Around 4 pm I was headed out to see Lonnie in his wheel house when I realized I had pool? I turned around made a quick stop to check on Leroy and his crew and headed home. Jake would check on them later in the eve and top off the generator for the night. The last I heard Leroy and his crew had 4 in the bucket. Tuesday was one of those days where you just soaked in the beauty of red lake .With the sun shining brightly all day you could see for miles on a crisp minus 2 day with no wind.
Yesterday morning heading out to meet Jake and it had done a complete flip flop, Cloudy ,snow flurries and a little wind it was a struggle to see with every thing so white. After checking in with Lonnie and his poor fishing report I was off to meet Jake and do some scouting with him to find a new area for old Minnesota, florida and north carolina . Oh Lonnie’s buddy 30 yards away did real well. Figure that one out. The first area we tried had fish and I measured 15 inches of ice. I did not expect that and thought for sure I would see 18? We again marked fish that refused to bite. The second area we tried was a little closer to the main road and again marked fish with no bites? Very frustrating to say the least. Jake headed off to North Dakota to finish off the trim work and add a few more touches to the house while I headed off to old Minnesota to talk to Brian and Stacy and come up with my plan for the rest of the day. Stacy caught a 24 inch pike while I was having a cup of coffee with them so in my eyes the area is still a fishy area. Jake would be heading home with his 3 fish while Brian would become my helper as we moved old Minnesota to give them a fresh spot to fish last night. I also got florida set up on fresh ice. Then it was off to check out buddies road as Jake said it looked like buddy was expending further out. The road now goes out 6.3 miles with cones set up some where around 4 or 5 miles as the road heals from a couple cracks. I then talked to Buddy as a wheel house coming from the south busted through the berm to the south. He hit some slush and barely made it through. Again I can not stress this enough. If you want to fish north of Hillmens road pay the 10 dollars to use his road. Once it cracks under that snow which it is doing. It happens every year and this year is no different The berm will sink and it will become a 3 foot slush hole and you will be getting tugged out from the way you came from.

Well today there will be a little venting and a little whining?
I ‘m basically doing the same things I have been doing for 13 years, I can be a little super stiches and maybe the 13 years is effecting the good fishing? We have been a little handcuffed with the goofy ice conditions this year. Yesterday I did measure 18 1/2 inches where old Minnesota is sitting so that was nice to see. Saturday when I was scouting for a new location Buddy Hillmen ask me not to plow any roads as he is still worried about cracks coming across his road from the weight of the snow berms. He said with the minimal snow I would be able to pull the houses right through it? I gave it a try and it worked fine. Years ago while towing our Alaska house I attempted the same thing only I drove into a little more snow, When I tried to power through it I broke a right front axel in blue thunder one, Since then I have always plowed a road before I pull me houses into areas. I will never forget that snapping sound as it was very distinct. After 13 years I learned something new from Buddy but I still would rather plow a road before I bring my houses into there spots. I guess that’s why I have been called a rouge plower at times. Oh well.
I ‘am also frustrated with the stitches I got last Friday in baudett. He should of flipped over my hand and gave it at least another stich as it is split open on the inside and I have had my two fingers taped together to let it heal. I told him I work with my hands so that’s why I had it stitched instead of taping them together. Oh well! I can’t stand needles and I do not have the time to go get another stich or two.
I have had Scott and Trent in montana for two nights. Scott is either Cory or Abbys dad. They have caught a couple fish but I sure am disappointed with the fishing there. Steve Chris and Brett have been in north Dakota for two nights and have also not done that well. They also fished a little bit in north Carolina and old Minnesota yesterday and snagged one out of north carolina. Last night they did have a 4 pounder in there bucket and a couple others plus Steve ate a couple fish. Josh and his cousin have been in florida for two nights. Again not fast and furious but they have scratched out a couple. Brian and Stacy checked into old Minnesota last night and while I was visiting. Stacy lost what we assume was her first ever walleye as they are from Kentuky.
Yesterday time was spent working on augurs as number 1 and number 2 gave me trouble the last two days. The blanket worked good on my old eu2000 but my brand new one stopped running again a few times in the last 24 hours errrr. Trying to keep everything running in this super cold weather is a grind. I got the Chrysler car running again. The bravado is eating antifreeze and may have a head gasket going out. The prospector needs another can of stop leak for the heater core and should cure the problem. The red baron needs the batteries charged if it sits for more then a couple days so I would guess it needs two new batteries? plus I have new injectors for it. But it has been to cold to even mess with them and I still do not need it on the lake for a few more days. It runs fine but has a high rpm miss that just bugs me after spending 500 dollars getting it tuned up last year. I have never changed injectors but it sounds like its pretty simple. Its sure is a challenge keeping everything running with this cold snap Fun Fun Fun as it does keep me hopping. I also put a new box fan in old Minnesota 17 dollars and it quits working 3 weeks into the season. What the f. Sorry about the venting. The great news is Jake is 2 hours from arriving and will be scouting for a couple new location for better fishing . Marty went home with a cold last friday and I hope he is ok as I have not heard from him. He has a few health issues that he has to deal with but Loves being here working on the lake. Just like me. That must be why we get along so well.