Just like that and another season is in the books. 79 days and nights on such a grand lake. Every year is different and again this year was different. With the late ice watching all the outfitters and resorts coming up with plan bees to accommodate there clients was very interesting. I had to start right in front of my place as that’s the only place I could find over 14 inches of ice. That shallow water bite can be fantastic and we did have a few nights of great fishing in 7 to 8 feet of water. Getting the houses out to buddy Hillmens highway was a challenge, but with my good friend Marty,s help we were able to improvise and get them over there with out going through Buddys southern berm. From there it was off to find the mother lode. Finding a good late night bite was brutal. Being we rent sleepers I would like the rattle wheels going off all night . We had some nights that the rattle wheels had to be pulled up but not what I have become accustomed to? I found some good fishy areas and the fish would refuse to bite? We slowly migrated out to deeper water driving over millions of fish to catch a few? The sunrises and sunsets never get old and again my phone is full of morning and evening pictures. The red barons v plow got a whole new face lift and was much needed as I demolished it last year chasing the very elusive but still catchable upper red lake crappie. Blue thunder two’s 2nd year on the lake and I could not be happier with its performance. What a great truck.” knock on wood” I expect to get a good ten more years out of her if not more. My good friend Wayne was able to come up every other weekend and we had some good laughs and epic cards games. Mother nature was very kind to us this year as every year is different. The houses flooded just about every ware we set up. Working on the lake everyday was a joy. there were a few cuss words now and then but that’s nothing new. I again met some great people that will or have become life long friends. My goal has always been to have repeat customers .That has worked out real fine as it sure is nice to see them year after year. I never stop learning new things on the lake and Buddy Hillmen taught me a few more things about running a ice road. Helping with Hillmens highway is a treat for me and its sure is nice being part of the team. I had a couple brain farts? One that really sticks out was when I pulled a truck out of the southern berm and then gave the guy my new tow strap and told him to drop it off at hillmens store when he was done with it. I learned a lesson there and will never offer my strap to another fishermen un less they ask. Marty has helped me two years in a row now and still has not experienced the wrath the red lake can produce. She sure can be a eye opener as Randy can attest to when we tried to get off the lake in a white out. We made the right decision and went back to the houses where we hunkered down. Wayne was totally amazed at the wife Kellie” the Hammer ” as she could come out to the houses day or night with all the confidence of a seasoned professional . My working vacation was just that as I went on the search for the mother load of the very elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. Randy and Tammy ended up getting 14 which was pretty darn good. All the houses managed to get a few here and there as I kept moving them . I never managed to land on the mother load like last year when the hammer and I got 27 in a hour and a half the last night old Minnesota was on the lake. Oh well there is always next year. This year I changed up gears and kept my mouth shut in preparation for my crappie hunt. The crew were all rolling in last Thursday and I did not want to be over whelmed with fishermen like last year. It could not of worked out better as the fishing was outstanding with over a hundred elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies caught and released to fight another year. Jake and Gabrial kept 4 for a meal. Ole kept 5 to take home. The hammer and I kept 7 total since the end of walleye season. Brady, Shawn, Wes, Joff kept a couple for a fish fry Saturday night. Florida, North Dakota and Montana all caught some elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies after dark which was great to see. Old Minnesota had Don and his buddy and even after moving it Saturday it still did not produce a elusive upper red lake crappie. Don did land a dandy pike on his rod and reel and that may of been the reason there were no elusive upper red lake crappies under the house. Adam / Ginger ended up with only 4 and is still looking for that wall hanger. Tim and his son Leon managed to get 11. The guys in the white ice castle got 6 after I talked to them and gave the suggestion to move. Randy fished the exact same holes he fished where they got the 14 and got skunked. It sounded like Buddy Hillmen found the mother load with some clients / friends and caught 70 while his other group got 45 Saturday into the evening. Yesterday morning I headed out to bring the fleet home. The timing could not of been any better and it is such a relief to have them home and on shore. I slept like a baby last night as all the worries associated with having the houses and fishermen out there were gone for another year. The liter I picked up last year has been nothing like this year. Thank you fishermen as the word has got out that it will not be tolerated. All the outfitters and resorts are on board and not afraid to make a phone call if need be. It may sound kinda of funny but I’m hoping I can spend a few more days out there in blue thunder policing the lake for liter. There is nothing worse then seeing that crap floating in the water and washing up on the beach. I huge thank you goes out to all my customers as with out you I would have nothing to write about . As Dave the old timer said it a GRAND LAKE AND It Owes Me NOTHING! NOTHING!

Ole ,Marty and I are headed off to low to do some pike fishing tomorrow. Wish us luck

Trolling with old Minnesota? I told the hammer I will be moving old Minnesota on to fresh ice today. Tammy and Randy were up to 7 elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. Duke was up to 5. Another group got 3 last night out of the same hole. Other then that there were less then a dozen fishermen hunting for these very elusive fish. Yesterday on my working vacation I headed out on the lake with blue thunder.to bring the rest of the fleet down the mile road I made to get to the area I wanted to fish. The reflection of the sun causes the one side of the shacks to melt into the ice a bit. each house had to be broken loose but that was not a big deal. As it started to snow. Every thing went smooth and I had them all over there in short order. I then ask randy if he could give me a ride to shore to get the red baron as both trucks are required to prep areas. The snow had picked up quite a bit. It had to be coming down more then a inch a hour. When we arrived onto Hillmens highway it was a full blown white out. Realizing it was dangerous and impossible to see we quickly turned around and headed back where I would be taking a nap in old Minnesota while wetting a line. Duke and his buddy were going out searching for the mother load and stopped by but they said I was sleeping like a baby. I did not sleep long and the rattle wheel awoke me. A couple misses and another elusive yet all most catchable upper red lake crappie was lost at the hole. Educated another one. It was then time to get back to work. Once I arrived back to old minnesota with the hammer I got back to work prepping a new area for montana as Marty and his sweetie shell are headed up this morning. Once I had montana blocked banked and all set up I headed back for another evening of movie watching, cooking dinner and maybe catching a elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. When I stepped in the house the hammer was not happy as a fish got her new 6 dollar lure. She tried the rest of the evening to re catch that fish and get her lure back with no avail. Once marty arrives we will be heading out to augur out a couple holes in montana and I will sniff out a new spot for the hammer and I to enjoy another evening of fishing with friends on such a grand lake.

Some days things do not click as you would expect. Old Minnesota was the last house I had to dig out. I have a system that works pretty good as long as you do not try and take short cuts. I can uu bank which ever side I’m towing from and one side of the house. In a pinch I can hook up and give it a good jerk/tug and she will break loose. The better way is to jack up the end I’m towing from dig out a small opening over half way under both sides and stand a 2×4 on its edge on both sides. For some reason I guess I got lazy and only put a 2×4 under one side. As you lower the house back down it cause a titter todder effect and the weight of the house breaks the other end loose. Then its just back up, hook up the chains and off we go. Old Minnesota is our heaviest house but with this procedure she comes out of the hole pretty easy. When I’m working alone once I pull out I stop and go retrieve the blocks and any other things that may of gotten left under the house. I walk back chip out the blocks and turn around and to my surprise the snow packed around the rack for the propane holding tank has half way torn out of the wall and also ripped the bottom 2x4s off and there are the 100 lb tanks held up off the ice by the lines. I quickly turned off the propane and evaluated the situation. I was able to stack a few 2x4s underneath the tanks to take the pressure off the lines and remove the lines and tanks. It was a little tough lifting them straight up though as they are heavy. I was then able to repair the rack with a good old hammer and re install the tanks. No its not quite over though. As I said it was one of those days. I go to grab my phone and darn if I can not find it? After spending quite a bit of time looking for it in both trucks ,kicking the snow around and I just could not find it. What a crappy feeling when you loose your phone. back to the project at hand and off I went towing old Minnesota to its new area. I would come back for the red baron later in the day. Once I arrived to the new area I had to un hook the house and prep a area with blue thunder instead of the red barons v plow. Then back to retrieve old Minnesota and pull it in to its spot. As I was blocking it up joel came over to see if I needed a hand. I said no I got it but I could use a ride back to the red baron as I had forgotten to grab the auger. I had transferred it into the red baron after I had opened up the edge of Buddy hillmens highway Tuesday. It was caked with snow when I put it in there and I had planned on bringing it in the shop to dry it off . When we arrived joel called my phone but we could not here it ringing and it did not go to voice mail so I new it had to still be somewhere warm. Once back to old Minnesota we again rang my phone, still could not here it. I then walked in to old Minnesota and there it was laying on the bed. What a relief. I prepped the house for auguring the holes and warmed up the augur and luckily I started where two holes go side by side because as I finished the first hole Number two augur kept running at full speed. Trying to handle a raging auger with a 18 inch extension can be a handful. I was able to get it back down on the ice and let it start drilling the second hole so I could turn it off. Wow what a day. I then headed home to pack up our gear for a night of relaxation fishing with the hammer and preparing a nice meal. Cornish game hens, mixed veggies and pasta. We watched a couple movies, lost a few fish that I think may of been elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies? I think I fell a sleep around 10 pm . The rattle wheels went off every couple hours all night long with a couple misses and a couple walleye landed. While making coffee Thursday morning just as the sun was coming up and the hammer landed a elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. We had to pack it up soon after as I had some business in Bemidji. Tammy and Randy arrived out there yesterday afternoon as well as Duke last evening so I will see how they have done as I haul the rest of the fleet into the area. I’ll need both trucks out there again so I will see if Randy can give me a ride back to shore. Nothing is rented un till Monday but the hammer and I will be having dinner and movies out there every night all weekend long looking for the mother load

Well it was back to work yesterday. Buddy Hillmen’s highway is again wide open 10 miles out after a day of dragging and plowing. I talked to Buddy briefly and he plans on pulling two more of his houses to shore as just like that and the phone calls have all most came to a end. I ‘m never ready to pull the plug when those beautiful elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies are starting to put on there feed bags. The best report I have heard so far is 22 fish landed by a group of 4. With one person landing on the honey hole and reeling in 14 of the 22. The area I just left had a little corner of around 20 acres that produced a few over the last two weeks. Remember a few? A few in fishing lingo is 12 to 16. Not the mother load by any means but just landing one of these very elusive fish you get the feeling you landed a trophy. And that my friends is a good feeling. Looking for them on the other hand can be a tremendous amount of work on such a big body of water. If you get just one there’s a reason he or she was there and as we all know crappies travel in schools? The crappie highway is still out there and still very active in my book. That’s where I’m headed.
Yesterday after plowing for two hours I was off to the area I have ruined, With the wheel houses I set up we managed to ruin at least 100 acres of 48,000. We did manage to get a 7 elusive upper red lake crappies though out the weekend. Plus numerous walleyes, perch and a couple big pike .
Buddy said he thinks some pike have moved in to the area he was working as the elusive upper red lake all of a sudden became very elusive? If anyone can find them again it would be Buddy. I tried to get a hold of Tyler from bear paw as he can also find these very elusive fish. No answer though? Glad it was not a emergency. Yesterday after taking care of the road I was off to start the manual labor of digging out the houses. Florida was only sitting on 19 inches of ice where I had it and the water had oozed out and made quite the mess of things. Montana and North Dakota were sitting on well over two feet of ice? Those three house are now staged for there next destination. I will be heading out to dig out old Minnesota later this morning. I did wet a line a couple times while I was out there yesterday. When I dropped a forage minnow tipped with a minnow a big wide red line came charging up from the depths only to hit the breaks three feet off the bottom and slowly drift back to the bottom. My first thought seeing such a wide line was here we go a elusive upper red lake crappie. I may never know what it was though as it took a couple more looks and then it was gone. I’ll drop a line when I first get out there this morning while I prep old Minnesota for its journey. Jake is pretty excited about getting up here on the 9th of march and is chomping at the bit. The passion he has for fishing is second to none , If he is not fishing he is watching fishing ,reading about fishing, talking about fishing, getting a fish tattoo, pretending he is fishing and in general wishing he was fishing. Tyler also has that passion and that’s all they do if hunt and fish. Buddy Hillmens another one, when the ice leaves the lake he will be heading to Alaska where he is going fishing. Its fishing for a living but its still fishing. Wayne is another. He is a little different though as he has caught so many fish it really does not matter its more about the relaxation it produces for him. Its just tranquil to him, it reminds him of all the time spent fishing with his dad. Now me I love the comradery of fishing, I want to fish with people and catch the biggest? Not the most just the biggest. I find it hard to fish by my self. All though once I get the line wet I’m fine . Taking out the boat by my self can be a chore ,but once I’m out there its very relaxing. Pre fishing for a guided trip ? I have been catching fish on this lake since I was 6 years old puking out the side of the boat with my dad egging me on. I still think he did it on purpose ? The greek was born to fish. If I could paint pictures one that stands out in my mind is a year I talked the greek into leaving his boat on the water un tell the last day possible. We had to pull a boat and a pontoon at the last minute as a big storm was coming with below zero temps to follow. I was standing at the end of the dock with the wind blowing 20 miles a hours out of the north east. With white caps in the back ground and that little boat bouncing off the dock the greek jumps in and was leaned over pulling the rip cord to start it. Giant snow flakes were going down his open collar with his jacket un zipped, waves splashing over the boat and he was right at home . Yes I would love to paint that picture. Where is the greek now? Spending time living on a boat in florida un tell he heads back to Alaska to do what? Time to get to work as I’m on a mission. The hammer wants to fish tonight and if any one can catch a elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie out of old minnesota it is her.

My good friend Wayne decided to stay for the final evening sunday night. After 3 nights of horrible fishing I suggested I move old Minnesota to the corner where we have found a few crappies the last 10 days. He was like for get that its to much work just leave it here. The hammer and I would be joining him for another evning of fishing, card playing, dinner,music and just having fun. With 6 lines down and the hammer working her vexlar a few fish showed off the bottom but it was again terrible fishing. I had a tip up set with a sucker for all most a day and then switched to a huge golden shiner and never had a flag. Around 10 pm it started to snow and the hammer had to work in the morning so we called it a night. I was driving the red baron while kellie was driving her trail blazer. Not a mile in to the trip off the lake and its was a full blown blizzard. With the way my plow lights are aimed and the giant snow flakes It was like driving with your high beams on in a snow storm. I could not see 2 feet in front of me. Keeping to the northern edge of hillmens highway just out my drivers window with the window down we made our way home. I tried crossing over to the southern edge thinking I could see the snow bank better? Nope with the way the snow was drifting at a angle you could not see that edge at all. After a very slow ride I called kellie and told her to come up a long side of me to see if that would help. I then tried with my lights off? Nope no good. We them finished our trip home side by side. The hammer was again a trooper. Its amazing how much comfortable she has become on the lake considering years ago she was all most petrified to even ride on a lake. The 10 mile trip took us close to a hour to get home and I’m not kidding we pulled into the drive way and the snow quit? Monday morning and there was not a stitch of snow on either vechicle. Mean while back in old Minnesota while we were driving away the crazy fish decided they were hungry. Using the golden shiners that the Goose had left us Wayne caught fish after fish for over 3 hours. Just like that he got his final 3 for the season. He also had two line snappers. He said once the snow stopped the wind came out of the nw like a freight train and the fish kept biting. Every time he tried to lay down the rattle wheel would go off. Then he could not sleep as with the high winds the window screen was banging ,the stove pipe was making all sorts of crazy sounds and the wind was that whistling sound . When he did get to sleep around 5am once the wind laid down he got a few hours of sleep. he awoke around 10am when I arrived. About two hours later he realized his fishing pole was gone? To funny. He thinks he remembers a splashing sound and he looked around and fell back a sleep.
We only got a quick 1/2 inch of snow but with them high winds there’s plenty of plowing to do the next couple of days as we re clear Hillmens highway. The one nice thing is the snow was a very light fluffy snow in stead of a warm wet type. I have 4 foot drifts around the houses but its not a huge deal as the snow is very light and moves out of the way pretty easy at this time. The plan today will be to move all the drifts away from the house’s and start getting them out of there nest as Buddy hillmen call them. Then a big move as I start my journey looking for the mother load of the elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. At this time all the houses are wide open and un rented un tell the 10th of march. I should have them all set and ready to fish by the weekend in traditional crappie grounds. Once old Minnesota is set the hammer and I will be spending quite a bit of time out there the next 10 days as that is my vacation again this year. Yes its a working vacation but still its a vacation

This may be a little long so bear with me. Just like that and the game fish season has came to a end. One big thanks goes out to all my customers again this year. Thank you and I hope to see you again next year. Mother nature was a little kinder to us this year when it came to the weather. 13 years of doing this and every year is different. The biggest snow fall so far was maybe 5 inches. I would guess we have had a total of 15 inches for the season so far. The first year I was up here and there was no snow on the lake most of the season. Two years ago and it seemed like it was 20 below every day with 3 feet of snow.
Getting all the houses ready for the final weekend was a little hectic as Rick and Yobee pulled out Friday morning . They fished Montana for two days and did fairly well. Thursday I checked Casey and his crew into North Dakota and Tim and Bradon in to Florida. Wayne also rolled in for old Minnesota late Thursday night. Friday morning after saying good bye to Rick and Bradon Wayne detailed Montana for me while I prepped her for a short move. Chris would be arriving later in the day. Chris won a free night I gave away on Minnesota Outdoorsman MNO. They have a winter and summer fishing contest every year . Its free to sign up as long as you post 10 times in a certain amount of time. I will be signing up for there summer contest as last year I tied for biggest fish and won 40 dollars worth of cabellas gift cards. I also had a few wheel houses coming out to the area I was fishing. My hope was to find a few more elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. The area had all ready produced a few in the last 10 days. I set up Goose, Bryce and Gary to the east of us right in line with the few that had been caught. Old Minnesota and North Dakota were also in line while florida and montana were to the south west a bit. Chuck and Kathy set up real close to where they had good fishing last weekend. Preston with his 30 foot ice castle set up just to the west of where florida had such good fishing last sunday and Monday. 3 wheel house set up just west of where we got 2 elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies last sunday and they were the big winners landing five for the weekend. Lonnie was just south of them and they also had a group of 3 wheel houses and landed 2. For some crazy reason that little area has produced every single one with none coming south or north 50 yards away.
Florida had good fishing all three days. They were fishing very small jigs tipped with fatheads a inch off the bottom. Montana with Paul, Chris, Danial and Heather just to the west of florida had so so fishing but they were having a good time. North Dakota caught walleyes the whole weekend While the hammer, Wayne and I struggled to land a fish all weekend. Wayne did have a nice run Friday afternoon when he landed a 22 and two 16s in a matter of 5 minutes.
Wayne loves small planes and Jrs corner was having there second annual fly in so we drove down there Saturday to check it out. I never new Wayne new so much about small planes but it turns out he was full of knowledge. I on the other hand. I know nothing about them. I would highly recommend checking it out next year as all those different colored planes sitting on the white back ground of the lake were quite the sight. Looking in them up close I was surprised how small the seating is. It was also cool to watch them land one after the other and taxi into position. I wished we would of stayed longer to watch then take off and I hope next year we can do that. Very cool.
Goose, Gary and Bryce did not do that well where they were at .Goose’s house did the best of the 3. I did see where Bryce landed a elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie to the area they moved to sunday for there last night on the lake.
I set Randy, Tammy and Randy’s dad up where we landed the 16 eluisive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies weeks ago Randy’s dad Rich did land one late Friday afternoon but that was it. That area is also a little fishy and I think Randy said they ended up catching 14 walleyes for the weekend. Randy said he will be back for our crappie get together on the 11th of march. As far as I know at this time Buddy Hillmens Highway will be open and he will have a few rentals out there as will I. Tyler at bear paw is also chasing the elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies this year and has some type of guiding deal going on. If you want to increase your odds of finding a few you could also give him a call. Carson, Franks nephew found 14 this past weekend. I also talked to a wheel house that landed 10. Casey on his hunt landed a total of 7 for the weekend. I will be moving all the houses this week a little closer to shore as I’m out over 9 miles at this time. I will be working on the lake every day ,but there will be quite a bit of r and r in old minnesota as its has been a long season

Crazy Fish is all I can say. When I arrived out to Florida the boys had kept 7 nice keepers over night. I had to ask Dave in Florida a favor? If he would give me a ride to shore to get the red baron. It was snowing like a banshee. I did not see that coming. Accu weather said flurries. Heading in and it was coming down so hard you could not even see the southern berm? Then just like that heading back out and the snow tapered off with a cool north breeze. I dropped a line in old Minnesota while I made my plan and darn if I did not get a nice keeper on a new pinkish rattling flyer at 10 30 am. The hammers dinner. Digging out Montana and north Dakota went real well and are now staged for the next move. After the hammer and I had dinner in old Minnesota last night I will be moving old Minnesota today. I wanted to see if the fishing could or would get better? We were set up at the bewitching hour and had a nice run of keeper perch landing 5 as the sun went down. Then one small scuffitt walleye and not another bite. The hammer did mark a couple fish but would not bite? We headed in around 8pm. A quick stop at Florida and the guys hammered the fish just after dark. They even landed two pike a 30 and 40 after the sun set. A wheel house set up to the south west of us and I heard they had 5 before dark. A very fishy area to end the game fish season. How sweet is that. I was hoping to see at least a couple more elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies in the area so I could fine tune where they may be hiding. Kimmy Joy and Tim also rolled in with there wheel house around 7pm and I set them up right in line where the two elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies were caught sunday morning and sunday evening. So far we have only caught 16 for the season out of the houses and every single one has been at the crack of dawn or just after sunset? At this time I must have 3 square miles of un fished area to try and find them. The red baron will be getting a good workout as I plow every which way I want? I guess I will be the rouge plower. Tyler was out there yesterday looking for a few fish and said he augured 140 holes and only found one elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. He also said I was real close to where we pounded them years ago when I introduced him to Spence as his gps said Spence and cookie. I remember the first time I met him and his dad. Spencer was playing high school hockey . Now he is out of collage and a full time guide all over the Midwest. Tyler and him have become very good friends.
I have a couple wheel houses coming up this weekend and will be plowing them a few trails looking for the mother load. Casey in North Dakota is going to pound the ice looking for the elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie and be using the house as a home base? This is not the first time I have heard this and once they check in its like you know its kinda cold out and were awful comfortable right here so we will see. Maybe if I pay them as scouts? I’m going to set up Tammy and Randy where we got the 14 elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies earlier this year. There is a wheel house in the area and he came back after taking his grandson home. I did talk to him and he is having action with quite a few small scuffit walleyes? Again a very fishy area. Florida had such good fishing I would like to leave it where its at but I can not have it set up the way I like if its not on fresh ice so it will be moved today once the boys leave. Rick King is coming up today and I’m still not sure what house I want him in. Even though it will just be him I will more then likely have to move it Friday morning . I can tell him not to fish it hard but that does not make a whole lot of sense lol. I want all the houses on fresh ice for the final game fish season so that will be the plan.
All the house will be moved after sunday even though none are rented un tell our crappie get together on the 11th and 12th of march. I will be vacationing out there looking for the mother load enjoying all the comforts of home in our favorite house old Minnesota. Any fishermen out there looking for a little more fishing time give me a shout. Who knows,last year we had some magical moments after the game fish season ended. I would love to see that happen again

The hammer, the trooper. Yesterday morning needing the red baron and blue thunder on the lake I recruited the sweet hart to drive blue thunder out. She could relax in old Minnesota and watch a movie and do a little fishing while I moved Florida for Dave and his crew arriving later in the day. Dave rolled In around 2 and I checked them in and we headed off the lake as we had to be in Bemidji before 4 30. I forgot to hit the toggle switch for the heat on blue thunder and the hammer got a little cold driving in. The same thing happened to Andrew earlier this year when I had him bring blue thunder out on the ice. OOPS! I have to remember that when I let some one drive her. We arrived home fairly late and I was not able to go out and Check on Dave . I did shoot him a text and he said 2 perch and 2 scuffit walleyes. I just do not get it. Chuck and Kathy got there limit sunday a couple hours after dark and headed home. I moved florida just a bit beyond where randy did well friday and Saturday, and Chuck and Kathy did well the first night and the third night. Just like that and the area is fished out? Oh well the hammer did mark a couple of fish while I was working but did not land anything. Old minnesota had good fishing the first night and slower the second with fishing it during the day the third time not producing anything. Will see how Dave and the boys did this morning and maybe I will have to move even further with the houses for the up and coming final weekend of game fish. If the weather man is right it should be a glorious day on such a grand lake that as the old timer Dave said” It owes me nothing! nothing! The plans are to take my time and dig all 3 houses out of there icy tombs and stage them for the next big move. Florida will have to be moved again after Dave leaves tomorrow. Montana will be set up today then be moved after Rick leaves Friday morning. The hammer and I will be fishing old Minnesota off and on all week and will be moved on fresh ice before Friday, but I want to see what happens if its fished a couple more nights on the same spot. All them fish are becoming very elusive?

The old adage time flies by when your having fun could not be any truer. Just 7 days of the game fish season left. Wow where did it go? Man did the fishing flip flop from Friday to Saturday. North Dakota only landed the one 19 incher when I checked on them saturday morning. old Minnesota and florida had there keepers. Mike, Neil and Kayla had 7 .Mikes plan was to eat them all so they could try for a limit to take home. Randy and his crew in there wheel house did really well. It sounds like Randy is going to come up this summer and let me take him and his wife fishing in” Imagine That” our 20 foot tyee. The greek named the boat . Grandma use to say uuu EEEmadgen dat in that strong Swedish accent.

Lee and his crew in there wheel house did not do that great and moved down a little closer to where we were. They only had a little better fishing Saturday in to the evening . I plowed a spot for Matt, Jeromy and Matts dad and they did not do well at all Saturday night? Randy just 100 yards away did well all day into the evening. That’s twice this year that Randy as done real well and I’m thinking he may be one of them blessed fishermen that just has a nact for catching fish. I set up Chuck and Kathy to the east of us and they had there 6 by 8;30 pm and went to bed. Chucks son came up with his portable Saturday and they only scratched out 5 more fish un tell the called it a day. Chuck and Kathy got 2 yesterday morning and I will see how they did last night later today. That will be the third night on the same spot as he did not want to do a cookie shuffle and move 25 yards on to fresh ice. Lonnie and family with there wheel house went to where we had gotten a total of 14 elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies earlier in the year. When I talked to him they were moving as they had only landed two walleyes. I also talked to another guy that was fishing in the same area and he said they pounded the fish Friday but Saturday was not very good, No elusive upper red lake crappies. I did ask him if he caught any small walleye scufitts and he said they sure did? Adam landed on 5 keepers Friday night into Saturday morning and packed up to move out by us where they did real well just east of us with Justin landing a elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie sunday morning. Lonnie called sunday morning to say where they moved to was not that good and they only landed two keepers. He did say that quite a few elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies were caught in the area with a portable landing 15 or so? Turns out they new some one in a rental and fished by them so there families could hang out. Tammy, Tanner, Taylor and Randy tried in very shallow as I had a hunch a few weeks ago that that’s where the bigger fish are hanging out. They had action all weekend missing quite a few fish. Randy said there was no night bite at all. I expected that’s when it would of been the best. Stupid fish. They did take home 7 with 4 over 17. I would love to have all my houses in that area but its so close to shore fishermen think there getting ripped off when the road goes out 10 miles. If the fishing is good then you look like the hero but if its not there like why are all those houses out there? That happen earlier this year when I was out a mile and half and we had poor fishing.

Ken, Tony boy, Chris and Leah also moved down by us to the north Friday. They had horrible fishing and moved to the other side of old Minnesota where they only landed 5 more fish Saturday. Mike, Neil and Kayla ate all 7 of there fish and went home with zero as they could not buy a fish Saturday night. Crazy. Dan and Adrea had good fishing all weekend in florida 200 feet away. Tony Boy helped me moved North Dakota over towards us for Mike and his crew and they were a 100 yards from Randy’s crew doing well and they hardly caught any thing. All though Mike did catch something lol. All and all not to bad of a weekend, spent some quality time with family, had a ton of fun and didn’t have to work to hard. Today its back to work as the hammer is going to drive the red baron out so I can have both trucks to move florida for Dave and his crew arriving later today. I did have four locals from blackduck fish florida yesterday into the evening where it was a little slow. Forth night on the same spot. Ron did land a elusive yet still catchable 15 inch upper red lake crappie his biggest ever and his first walleye through the ice. I was really hoping to see a few more elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies as I have shifted gears and am on the hunt for the mother load, with walleyes now the secondary fish. I have a huge area to shift all the houses to for the up and coming week. With two caught the mother load could be just a few 100 yards away. Right now my plans are to hunt them down and spend some quality time in old minneosta with the hammer. Jake and his crew will be up march 10th 11th as well as Don and his crew. They will all be bringing portables and enjoying there evenings relaxing in the house’s and who knows maybe even catching a few elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies out of the houses. It happened last year, there should be no reason we cant doing it again. I assume Buddy Hillmen will also have some houses available the next few weeks. The stores number is 218 647 8504. I’m never ready for the season to end as its so much fun and I so much enjoy working out there. As most of the resorts start pulling house off to the east,, there I am every year? towing houses to the northwest.

Another fun weekend is about to begin. With the hammers sister and two brothers coming up I will be prepping all the house’s for the weekend. Dan plays the guitar and sings will be entertaining us with some good old country music. I started a new road to the north and piled into some sheets of broken refrozen ice. I would assume its the table size sheets of ice Jon captured on his camera this last dec as it broke up and refroze. If it does not get smoother its going to be a little tougher banking the houses and I may have to use the red baron instead of blue thunder for banking. I like to bank the snow 2 to 3 feet high around the houses to keep any drafts from entering the houses. Its quite a lot more work but that’s what I like . Marty is home in the cites trying to find a new car for his wife after are car- bu- cue as wayne coined it. I guess you have to laugh and at least no one got hurt. I set up Chris and ken next to florida and the first 24 hours they only landed 5 walleyes . I talked to Ken last night and they were now over twenty fish so it has picked up a bit but they are biting very lite. a small bare hook and split shot on a dead stick has been about the only thing that has been working. I also had Gary and his wife Kay fishing in florida on the same spot for the 5th day in a row? While I was visiting during the bewitching hour Kay landed one nice keeper, missed two on the rattle wheel and Gary missed one on his bobber set up with his duck shaped jig stick. Kay had a bobber on the size of a quarter and I watched it go down two inches and it was still a swing and a miss as it seems they are just chomping down on the tail of the minnow. I mentioned to bear paw last week that I think the bigger fish are in close to shore and yesterday I had to rub my eyes as there’s 3 of his biggest houses out in front of my place and his, fishing the break line in 8 feet of water? Should be a great evening bite and early morning. Not sure about the day bite but it sure can not be any worse then 8 miles out. Wayne fished old Minnesota hard and had great action two nights in a row around midnight. Again the bite was extremely lite and if you jigged the minnow at all they were gone like a rocket. He did get to go home with three quality fish. We had a hoot as he was here 5 days and is one of my best friends. The hammer raked in a bundle of ones playing poker and yesterday morning Wayne and I had a couple great games of texas hold em. Fun Fun Fun. I was also able to put him to work as he helped detail the houses. He even washed the picture windows. We also added a couple more trinkets to the walls of old Minnesota and montana. Jeff is bringing up a new furnace for montana as after 10 solid years the Orbis went kapoot. A brand new empire 35000 btu . I think its a little over board but that’s what the gas man recommended for the square footage. Its going take up a little floor space and a shelf will have to be moved. Florida and old Minnesota will also be getting up graded in the near future. Lee will be arriving with two young guys in his wheel house and I will be plowing him a spot well off the beaten path into a completely un fished area. Randy and Tammy are also coming up. Randy talked about setting up close to shore but with the wife’s family coming up I hope they set up out by us so they can enjoy the music and company of the hammers family. My old helper and muscle Tony boy is also coming up with his wife and will be bunking with Ken. It will be good to see him as its been a while. I expect shell chick will be making French dips as she does every year and it is one of my favorite sandwiches. I also hope to do a little tip up fishing with Jeff as we target a few big pike. All the houses will be set up on fresh ice and no matter how they do I will not be moving any houses if the fishing is not good. Since north Carolina is not rented I’m going to set it up in a completely different area miles away from the other houses and see what happens there. I also have to remember to put on the extension on my augur as I measured 29 inches of ice where were at and with the houses blocked up I just made it through last time I augured. Moving onto that broken ice and it could be a lot thicker. Should be a great time this weekend and such a grand lake.