Busy Busy Busy! It took two days but all the houses are now on the lake. The few mishaps were to be expected but I guess it is like riding a bike. Dropped the front wheel of the red baron into the ice in 6 inches of water. The thing about it was I all ready had my route. But I wanted to see if it froze where I had cleared some of the snow that had drifted there? Had to have the hammer come down with Blue thunder and drive while I pulled her /him out. After I got Florida out there and checked one lite bulb had vibrated loose and was shattered on the carpet. North Dakota could of maybe came out a little easier but it was sitting in a small depression. Blue thunder never revved over 3500 rpm so no big deal there, Some times you have to give its a little power.
I had a taker on looking for a helper. He is showed up yesterday morning. I Real nice Kid. His name is Jim but he might end up with a nick name if he stays around to long. I put him on probation and told him we would be in training all day. Things went well and we came off the lake just at sunset..” A Tid Bit” He pounded on the fish the night before.
I did have a cancelation for one of our houses. Jan 6th ,7th for old Minnesota 2 double beds.
Today we have Cody and his buddies fishing in north Dakota for 2 nights and Jess and his crew in florida. A good friend Pat may also show up to do a little fishing and give me a helping hand if need be. Nice to have good friends. I will be pre fishing old Minnesota. Its something I do not do to often but Wayne is coming and he does not care. I don’t like fishing In a house before the customers arrive. Some time it does happen but I go out of my way to not let it happen. Funny
I’ll be touching base with Buddy Hillmen and get the scoop on vehicle traffic this morning. Gotta go its time to auger 9 holes and do a final prep before the guys arrive. Itching to get out there on a grand day on a “Grand lake that owes me nothing”

Wow where to begin. Cold, Cold, Cold! Mother nature reared her head and cost me a little Christmas/ start up money as most of my fishermen and friends bailed at the last minute. I can’t blame them ther’e no way I would be out there 28 below with out transportation and a warm cozyhouse. Looking back though the greek and I suffered the wrath of mother nature a few times over our hunting and fishing when we were younger. Getting older either your wiser or its just to much work. I did have 3 guys show up. Gus, Joe and Dan stayed down at the lake. Younger guys and very nice. They have a buddie that has a hard house out of jrs and since it was not out they did the portable thing. Friday they did not fair well but Joe said they had a Blast and found some fish saturday eve. when it was 20 below to boot. Dan and his group were going to stay on the river lot so I got that all plowed and then they canceled. I think they were able to get there ice castle towed out on the lake. Just as I expected the fishing reports were much better, but that should be expected when there’s well over 2000 fishermen on the lake. I did hook up with ty tish and did a short video with him. If I was computer savvy I could put a link on here. T TISH Outdoors on facebook. Great guy and I get a kick out of his reports. I gave the generators a good work out and got them dialed in a both ran the houses all weekend with a load on them in the elements with no issue. I had to go back to what worked last year a blanket tucked around them, exhaust down wind and The burg system thrown in the shed for now. I went out side at 2:30 am when it was 28 below and fired up blue thunder. I left it running until 730am. The red baron must have 2 weak batteries as she did not start. I guess it should be a he since its the red baron. I put the trickle charger on it and di d not try and start it until late in the afternoon yesterday when he fired right up. So I put 2 batteries are on the Bemidji list.
The good news is all our deluxe houses are full for the weekends of januray . Our 2 man North Carolina is not rented much but will becoming out of the woods today and be the first one on the lake 3 years in a row. Then it will be florida, montana, north Dakota and following up the rear our heaviest house old Minnesota. I’m going to have to pace my self the next few days as my mentor cousin Pete taught me do not be in a hurry, be patient. My back is also bothering me and I’m looking for a helper for the season. They will be fishing a lot in the evening and morning as they have to float around in the houses through out the winter. They do get weekends off though. If any one knows a young buck that would like that give me a call and we can talk. Some of the duties. Driving the red baron ,auguring, holes, cleaning and vacuuming houses. moving the houses etc. knowing how to operate a shovel is huge lol. That’s about it other then still farting around with the new facebook page. Cookie’s on Upper Red Lake I also will be talking to Buddy Hillmen later today. I expect 3/4 tons out by this Wednesday or Thursday but we will see what he has to say. I know he has rentals out and may have some houses still open the weekdays after christmas

I have not been out that far .Buddy Hillmen measured 7 to 8 inches under the snow covered areas and 10 to 11 on clear ice. The huge wind put most of the snow on the shore line but there are areas that are snow covered out there. I expect the outfiiters /guides will start hauling skid houses sunday or monday .
Still working on the new face book page. I guess its a work in progress.
Yesterday after the bug blow for 30 or more house I spent 2 hours helping Buddy Hillmen clean up his landing. A good work out for blue thunder and the red baron. Had a little panic type attack as I was finishing with the v plow/red baron. It felt like I was over revving it and the tranny was slipping? Zoiks. I jumped out but everything looked good other then 5oo pounds of snow was stuck on the plow . I got her on the highway and everything shifted and felt fine so it must of been all that snow.
I then spent the next couple hours doing some work in old Minnesota and running my new generator from last year hooked up to the extra 5 gallon berg system? After 4 hours she stopped running? ERR. It fired right back up and I loosened the cap on the generator. I left it running and when I went down there at 8 pm it again was not running. Err again. Today I’m going to loosen the cap on the berg and again run it all day and night. If it dies again I will try raising the tank above the generator. If that does not work I may take it to acme and throw it through there window? just kidding but frustrating to say the least.
Put a new 32 inch tv in old Minnesota so that’s a nice upgrade. With this cold weather coming tonight and tomorrow the plan is to heat all the houses and make sure everything performs before there on the lake for the season. Were counting down the days and if everything goes as planned they will be coming out of the woods and onto the lake starting Monday morning. Then the real fun will begins as I come and go off this grand lake for the next 100 days or so.
I have heard of a few better fishing report from 2 very reliable friends? The first time I drop a line in, I will be in the comfort of old Minnesota if everything goes as planned.
Last night Westwind the premier resort on the shore of upper red lake had there customer appreciation. It was nice wishing a lot of locals merry Christmas and the drinks and appetizers were awesome. I have a couple friends and fishermen coming up to day brave the elements and do a little scouting for me to boot.

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Still trying to find my groove but had a pretty good day yesterday. I’m haunted with being a perfectionist so I fired up the heat in a florida and old Minnesota so I could give them another once over. Today I will do the same for the other 3 houses so there warm for tomorrows agenda. Man did the winds blow yesterday and accu weather is saying gust to 32 today. Zoiks is all I can say and happy the houses are still tuck in the woods at this time. 80 percent if not more of the snow on the lake is now on the shores of upper red lake. I expect there is some massive drifting around the stacked ice out there. sounds like a few fish are being caught but theres no way I would of wanted to be out there yesterday. Still trying to dial in our Cookie’s on upper red lake page so if you have time check it out and feel free to leave a comment so I can see if its working Thanks everyone and have a great day

I guess its the old adage careful want you wish for. We wanted cold and got -10 this morning. Mother nature reared her ugly side yesterday. The winds picked up out of the west and a few times it was white out conditions out there. From the looks of it winds out of the west and nw for the next 5 days at least. With the way the ice is building I expect I will be getting the houses on the lake with in the next 7 days. I guess I better put the golf clubs away. !0 below this morning and blue thunder clicked for just a sec and fired right up. The red baron also fired right up so those are good things for sure. I’ll be spending the day putting propane on all the houses, Old Minnesota, North Dakota, Florida, Montana and North Carolina. Still have openings in Jan. and Feb. has plenty of weekend dates open. I think I’m ready for all the hard work and Fun, Fun, Fun, on such a grand lake. I Know Wayne can not wait to play some poker in old Minnesota while on the lake and The hammer not only fishes well but is a darn good poker player. I’m looking forward to seeing my repeat customers and meeting new ones.
I also want to run the generators again and fire up number one and two augers.

Just like that and we now have ice here on the shores of upper red lake. I’ve walked out on the lake Friday to look at some ice that had piled up in front of our place. It in real shallow there and I should be able to plow right through it. With the snow that drifted around it was not frozen underneath at all. There is also quite a bit of it in front of Hillmen’s we will have to smash and move that asap as it will catch snow all year and just keep making a mess. Buddy has the road started and has been dragging it since Thursday. He all ready has it staked out quite a ways. I have not talked to him but I will assume wheelers will be aloud out this week. Adam was up yesterday with a few buddies and they only went home with 7 fish. I would guess there were 20 portables out there Saturday. Sounded like there were quite a few fishermen out of jrs. I stopped in westwind yesterday to check out the new bait shop. Wow its huge they sure know how to keep upgrading there resort. I guess that’s what makes them the premier resort here on the shores of upper red lake. Chris the owner of Rodgers also keeps upgrading and have put in a restraunt. I’m pretty sure they will be frying your catch and will be looking forward to having them cook up my catch .
Two of our trucks blue thunder and the red baron are ready to go once we can drive on the lake. Of course there are a few bugs to work out. I started blue thunder and moved it a half dozen times this summer. Fired up every time. 5 below Thursday morning hit the key and click nothing. Bad/dirty connection I would assume. We rewired the plow lights yesterday and I cleaned up the battery connections so we will see if that was the problem……….
I’ll be putting fresh propane’s on all the houses this week and getting them ready to come out of the woods. We have some guys coming for the cabin Friday, Saturday. I also expect Jake to be coming up with in the next ten days . With the cold weather sticking around were looking real good here on the shores of upper red lake.
I also have tried to create another face book page so check it out. cookies on upper red lake. Maybe this time it will work

Fall is in the air that’s for sure. Fall fishing for me here on upper red lake has not been the great fishing you always here about. I guess I have to think about pulling the boat and getting here put away for the year. I have been bow hunting this year after skipping a couple years here and there. I was treated to a rare occasion as this weekend I had 3 of my best friends here. The greek came up for a couple days. He moved to Alaska a few years back and started a new business. If you ever want to go to Alaska near Homer give me a shout as he is a outstanding host. From here he is headed to Florida where him and his sweet pie spend the next 5 months living on a 30 boat he purchased last year. Bob and the greek were high school friends and I have known them both for 39 years. Bob will be up for deer hunting next weekend as we prepped our hunting spots this weekend. Wayne comes up just about every other weekend. I have known him since the mid 80s when I painted cars. He is one of the best fishermen I know. He’s not into hunting but loves to fish. We also play a lot of cards when he comes up. He is also the one that helps me find all the trinkets for the fish houses to doll them up as he has a great eye. He could be a excellent picker that’s for sure.
I had two good nights hunting out of my new used ground blind that the greek gave me this weekend. There’s good sign where I’m hunting so time will tell as I try and stick one with my recurve bow. The reservation books are starting to fill up which is always a relief. Having return customers has always been my goal so looking forward of seeing some of them again this year.

Well it was great to have family up this past weekend. My Sister Lavon, her friend Cindy, my nephew Larry jr. and my niece Karmon arrived Wednesday evening. We did get out for a bit Thursday but it was a tough bite with only landing 4 fish in a couple hours. My brother and his friend Shannon arrived thursday late afternoon. After dinner us guys went for a ride so I could go over the boat with warren as I had to work Friday and he could take the boat out. They ended up trolling spinners in 7 feet of water and kept 8 fish. Saturday was a bit windy but we trolled for big pike for a bit and landed one smaller pike. Saturday eve we attempted to get out . With the winds out of the west just over 10 mph it was a little rough out there and we gave up after a bit. The guys in the grey cabin only ended up with 7 fish for the weekend. So to sum it up the bite was a little tough. We did manage to have a great fish fry but know one went home sunday with fish.

Ii did get out Tuesday Aug. 2nd for a bit. Trolling for pike was on the agenda. In my haste setting up I forgot to snap the clasp on my leader. Wouldn.t you know it I got a strike and it was goodbye to my favorite trolling lure for pike. At 35 dollars it will be a while before I order a new one as if I go on there site I.m sure I will order a few lures.
I did see two guys trolling spinners for walleye and got a nice keeper in 6 feet of water. I also talked too a local that did real well down by the popples trolling spinner baits in 6 feet of water. It looks like the winds may make fishing tough the next few days

Well another weekend has came and gone and its back to the grind today. Our friends Wayne came up for a little fishing as well as our friend Boar. Paul, Nik and Nate were in the grey cabin for the weekend. They arrived Friday evening and the hammer checked them in while I was still at work. They got the boat launched and got out for a bit where they landed 2. Adam called out of the blue friday eve. and wanted to know if he could come up with Justin and pitch a tent down at the lake. They rolled in around 10 30pm. Wayne, Boar and I headed on the lake about 730 am as I wanted to troll for a big pike for a fishing contest I’m in. We made 1 1 mile pass with 3 lures out and nothing. The wind was blowing pretty good out of the south . Off we headed to one of my go to spots this time of year. We all decided a dollar for the first fish, a dollar for the biggest fish, and a dollar for the most fish. The first drift and it was fish on for Boar. A nice keeper walleye was in the live well. Wayne got snagged and broke his line. the second drift and again Wayne snagged his line again. The third drift and again wayne got snagged while I put a fish in the box. There were lots of yucks as we made drift after drift landing a fish here and there. We had our 3 over 17 in the live well and a couple under when wayne landed a nice fish well over 17. Because we had our three over wayne threw it back before measuring it. It was to funny as we agreed it was not measured and did not count as the biggest fish. Wayne got on fire and took the lead with most fish at 11. I ended up with 9 and Boar ended up with 7? I had took a pic of my biggest over 17 on the measuring board for the contest I’m in and through it in the box. When we pulled off the lake we had our twelve with boar winning first fish, wayne winning most fish. We decided that the biggest was a tie for wayne and boar at 18 1/4 inches. Later in the day Boar was looking at our pics and took a closer look at my fish for the contest and it turned out It was 18 3/8th. I won the biggest fish after all. Man did we have some good laughs. Paul ,Nik and Nate ended up with 10 fish and were happy. Justin and Adam/Ginger did not do well and only landed a couple smaller fish. We did a fish fry Saturday eve, and all ate like kings. Sunday boar had to hit the road so wayne and I headed out and placed the same bet. Wayne landed the first fish, the biggest fish and the most fish. I on the other hand could not buy a fish and at one point got snagged 4 times in a row and all 4 times broke off my gear. Wayne ended up with 9 fish and we kept 3 . I did have a fish all most to the boat when it got off and again we had some good yuks about that. As of now the cabins are wide open this up and coming weekend. Ted and his crew come up on the 11th and my sister and nephew are coming up on the 10th for a little r@r