Good old mother nature made quite the mess out there yesterday. The wind was just howling out of the west north west. Buddy’s main road and north west road was holding up really nice with the snow just blowing across the road. On the other hand my road I made to my fish houses stated to catch snow. Then had a little traffic go down it which captured more snow then I drove through a couple times with the red baron trying to blow the snow off the road into the wind. I could not see half the time and would have to slow down which piled up more snow witch in turn captured even more snow . When I came off the lake last night my road was down to a one lane trail and I will have to cut a new one to the houses. Dan and Craig rolled in at 4 and I escorted them out there where Criag could not see and pulled his all wheel drive into a snow bank causing him to get stuck. He has some type of all wheel drive car. I pulled him out and got them checked into Montana. When I came back at dark they had missed one . I was surprised and ask what they were using. All they had were big golden shiners from superior. I’m going to pick them up some fatheads on my way out this morning. I just came back from the store and the red baron was acting up. Fills like some kind of miss with lack of power. That’s no good at all. Not sure what I’m going to do about it but have to address it before I put her to work. I said good bye to Jeff and shell chick yesterday morning .They had a grand time and it sure is/nice having family come up. Marty and Shell hung out all day as Marty helped me prep houses. I fished old Minnesota for about a hour last night before dark. Caught one walleye that would of been a keeper. I then missed two that got my minnow. I was set up with a rattling flyer and a dropper line with a green genze worm. Watching the vexlar a fish came charging up past my minnow and smashed the rattling flyer with no hooks. I set the hook from the excitement but with no treble hook on it I had no chance to catch him. I can not remember but some one had just ask me with that set up does a fish ever hit the flyer. The anwser is yes. At minus 20 this morning I will not be moving any houses until tomorrow when I plan to move three of the four. I really need the red baron running right. I did rent all 4 houses for the last weekend of walleye season.
Mother nature won the battle yesterday and kept me from taking a nap in old Minnesota. I do not think I will even attempt to take a nap today.
I also had a talk with Buddy about his road. He wants to keep it open but could use traffic and maybe a couple rentals to keep it maintained to his liking. I have all my houses rented on the 5,6,7th of march for a crappie hunt. I also have florida or old Minnesota rented next weekend the 27th 28th. Buddy said all his houses caught some crappies last weekend. For all you guys that missed the crappie boom here’s a chance to land a couple of these very elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies

Still no nap in old Minnesota? Spent part of the early afternoon putting a new starter in blue thunder. What should of taken 15 minutes turned into a bigger ordeal. Taking are time and not rushing we were able to improvise the problem and have blue thunder up and running again. How sweet it is. I then did some clean up work with blue thunder and enjoyed a glorious day out there. Marty followed me home with blue thunder to give a ride back out to old Minnesota where we had frozen pizzas purchased at Hillmens store. Geovontie bar pizza, Jeff said it was now his favorite bar pizza. The fishing was again outstanding last night as Marty and Shell had action all night on the rattle wheels. Marty landed three elusive upper red lake crappies and a 23 inch walleye over night. He released them all. They ate fish last night while we were having pizza. Dan and his dad roll in today around 2 and will be fishing Florida the next few days. Old Minnesota and Montana plus the cabin are all still open for the last weekend of walleye fishing? Its been a very strange year with a lot of my reservation coming just two or three days out. I’m excited to spend some time in old Minnesota the next few days and who knows maybe today I will get that nap. Only mother nature knows for sure

No Nap in old Minnesota yesterday as the day just got busy. Blue thunder let me down when I hit the key .She turned over coughed and sputtered and then nothing. Bad connection or the starter went out. Jeff and Marty got here going after I headed out on the lake. When Jeff turned her off by old Minnesota again it would not start .I was not dressed for working on it out side so blue thunder spent her first night on the lake and we will replace the starter on the lake today. Shell chick landed another elusive upper red lake crappie last night out of the hammers favorite hole . Duke was up to 15 crappies for the weekend and will be pulling out this morning. Marty and Shell moved over to Florida so they would be running on the same generator as old Minnesota. Had a lot of good reports from the wheel houses I talked to yesterday with many many walleyes caught. A lot of smaller fish under 14 inches. I’m looking for the smaller ones as that’s where the big pike and elusive upper red lake crappies like to hang out in my opinion. Brice made a small move yesterday while Goose stayed put where he was . I have to cut them a short trail this morning as the road I took them down is no longer plowed and not worth plowing. The wind did a 180 yesterday and with a little bit of snow at one time it was a white out for a while. Talked to Rob and his wife and they were happy with all the walleyes they caught but no elusive crappie as of yesterday afternoon. Minnesota did all right last night with quite a few 13 inch walleyes and the one crappie, that was the third night on that same spot. Once blue thunder is running I will do the cookie shuffle and move it just 15 yards or so as that s all it takes to get good fishing again. We will be fishing with Shell chick and Jeff again today and tonight and maybe just maybe I will get that nap on the top bunk in old Minnesota today.

As the walleye season whines down I will be moving all the houses at least one more time. Montana has Danny and his dad coming this week so I will be moving Montana twice. I’m going to try my hardest not to cut any more trails and will be running my houses up and down the road system I have created. The red baron and blue thunder have gotten another tough workout. Both trucks burned up a tank of gas yesterday cleaning up the mess mother nature left us. Which is fine and is to be expected. Its part of the job. The red barons cutting blade on the right side is gone? With out that blade I need to baby her the rest of the season as I will be damaging the mounting structure without that blade. She has been a great v plow and deserves some loving care. I will be doing the cookie shuffle with the houses as I reposition them on new ice, they may only be moved 30 feet as that’s all it takes if your on a fishy area. Bryce landed two elusive upper red lake crappies less then 40 feet where the hammer got her two and I got my one. Stopped to see Goose and Sandy last night and there house has been slow.50 feet away the other two wheel houses have had great fishing. Derrick an Drew had company as there buddies showed up with a wheel house and parked right where I was going to go? Then around 4 Jim another friend shows up with a fish in tow and driving a 2 ton dump truck. a 550 powerstroke wow what a truck. I’m not a ford fan but what a truck. Duke landed there 9 crappies 40 feet from where Minnesota was when Wayne was here. A very fishy area that’s for sure. I did notice that there is something different there but will keep that to my self. It will be interesting to see how Rob does as they set up on a different looking area and then his uncle showed up with a wheel house a couple hours later. The 16 inch crappie that Keith caught along with the other 3 are at least 1 mile if not two from where I’m at. Very interesting that’s for sure. They are set up in a isolated area that everyone out there just keeps on driving by. I have no interest in going there as its another two miles of plowing and not worth it. It will be a great area to search in march as we look for the mother load. Jake is coming march 5 6 7 with his family . His buddy Brady will also be coming up with a couple buddies. Lets hope mother nature is kind to us that weekend.
Shell chick and Jeff fished north Carolina last night and shell texted me a pic of the first elusive upper red lake caught out of that house. They move into Minnesota today for the next two nights and I will be taking a nap on the top bunk at some time in the next two days while the hammer visits her sissy. Marty and Shell headed to Montana after dinner last night, they have landed quite a few walleyes there and will be here two more nights. It was nice to see Tom’ Mike’ Leanord and meet Toms son Jack .They are fishing in Florida and have had outstanding fishing. Last year I had to cancel Toms trip as mother nature and a strangle hold on me. Life is so funny last year I was miserable trying to rescue the houses all season. This year has been a complete 180 and I’m so thankfull for friends and family. I think no I know grandma Olga would be very proud of us using the property to carry on her legacy and taking care of hunters and fishermen.

she never stops to amaze me. Last night the wind blew so hard I completely lost my new road as she was filled in this morning when I got out there. The fishing was extroidanary Tough word.
Duke landed 9 yes 9 elusive upper red lake crappies. Old Minnesota also landed 9 elusive upper red lake crappies. Florida got 3 that they let go to fight another day. Derrick and Drew ate 6 and released 3 crappies to fight another day. or educateded them. Marty and Shell chick, shell and Jeff, Kellie and I went to westwind for dinner. There special was a prime rib sandwich for 11 bucks and it was tasty. Best prime rib sandwich I ever had hands down.
Goose and his gang did real well for walleye but no crappies in there wheelhouses.. Mark and his buddy did ok and got 9 walleyes so far no crappies. Keith took good directions and landed a 16 inch elusive upper red lake crappie plus 3 more. Plus many many walleyes and two pike and a few perch. They landed on a very fishy area and I will keep a eye on that spot.
I spent the first 2 hours of the morning plowing out my drifted in road as the wind was just howling out there last night. I’m headed out now with blue thunder to do some clean up work. Have a grand day I know I will have a grand day on a grand lake that owes me nothing

Only 10 nights left of the 2015 game fish season makes it bitter sweet for me. My plans at this time are to soak in every day and really enjoy the rest of the season. I have had a blast this year and love working on the lake the season is just to short and had flown by in a blurr.
Yesterday was another great day on such a grand lake. After checking in on Angie and Dennis I cut a new road to the houses with the red baron. She took a beating and at one point I could tell something was dragging. Upon further investigation the right side of the v plow had broken part of the scraper and the edge was digging into the ice. I will see what I can improvise this morning and go from there. Dennis commented when I was cutting the new road that every time he had a fish looking I would come by and chase it away OOPS. After discovering my broken plow I headed home to get blue thunder and move north Carolina and clean up all the road system with the straight blade. Once that was finished I stopped by too say hello to Dan from outdoor authority, He has also had a good season and such a nice guy. He said they had caught quite a few crappies a week ago but it had slowed down? I have a sneaky suspition where they went but getting there would be a problem until the walleye season ends then its game on for two weeks at least as I vacation on the lake with the hammer. Jake will be up to pop a hundred holes looking for the mother load and staying in his favorite house Montana. Angie and Dennis have had a grand time and were going to go have fresh fish at westwind the premier resort on the shores of upper red lake. . Tony and Katrina fished in his portable last night and it will be interesting to see how they did. Tony will help me this morning as I move Minnesota and Florida onto fresh ice for the weekend. Marty has Montana for the next 4 days and shell chick has north Carolina Friday Saturday and old Minnesota Sunday and Monday. I still have old Minnesota and the cabin open next weekend. One more plug if your looking for a gift for the honey bunny stop by Sandy’s shop on the edge of town. Its always nice to bring a gift home to the sweety pie even if its a loacaly grown bag of wild rice. have fun this weekend and by all means be safe out there

2 inches of snow turned into 2 feet atleast in some spots. Hit the lake at 9am with blue thunders plow breaking the trail to reopen Buddy Hillmen’s road. Less then a mile into it and I thought how nice it was to be part of Hillmen’s operation. I was also surprised how much snow was on the road. As I cut in the first pass Buddy and Kelly his mechanic and helper v-plowed the first section 1 1/2 miles. Once I got to the end of the road I turned around and again cleared snow from the north side of the road. The timing could not of been any better as I finished, Buddy showed up to start v-plowing while I cut the edge to the northwest road. I then got a hold of Tony to have him go get the red baron while I opened the road system I made to get to my houses. Plenty of snow had accumulated around the houses and I spent the next two hours cleaning up around the houses and my road as Tony helped with the v-plow on the main roads. By 1pm the main road was free and clear with just a few areas to clean up with blue thunder and her straight blade.
I then checked Dennis and Angie into Minnesota where Angie would be getting her first walleye through the ice. They are from Nebraska, I will be able to spend a little time with them today as yesterday was very busy day into the evening. I did not go out last night as driving on the roads with the snow blowing only collects more snow. Plus Tony is right next door in florida. I did talk to Angie on the phone and she got her first walleye last night a 14 1/2 incher. She also said they kept missing fish? I talked to Tony this morning and he said they would be needing more minnows and they missed a lot of fish over night? Could some of them be the elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie’s? Tony and Katrina have landed three so far. In the last week I have missed numerous fish as well as Wayne, Marty, Kellie the” hammer” and I. I just talked to Dennis and they landed two 13 1/2 inch elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. They released the crappies to fight another day or edchacated them. Sweet!!! They also landed a few walleyes over night. 18 below this morning time to baby the trucks during this cold spell. Al though I would like to get North Carolina moved at some point today.

With Marty’s help we moved old Minnesota on a new spot Monday as Wayne decided to stay another day. That ment another day of visitting with my dear friend and spending time fishing, laughing ,playing cards, and eating. I decided a home made pizza would work for dinner. Marty and I moved Florida and Montana as well on to fresh spots. We buttoned up all the work by 430 and met at old Minnesota for another fun night . Kellie my honey bun” the hammer” showed up as well . It started off very slow and I commented I may of made a mistake in our new location as I pre paired the home made pizza. Then just like that it was fish on , we had a triple on the rattle wheels . Marty was on fire and landed a 20 incher hand over hand on 6 # line that wayne had tied onto the rattle wheel line. Not sure why he had so much line on there as when you brought it up you lost site of all the line. It did not hinder Marty though at one point he had a 18 incher in his hand and reached over to grab my fishing rod as it was tipping towards the hole. Kellie was also on fire landing a couple fish in a row .I have no idea how many fish we caught , We kept one for Marty to take home and have with his wife for dinner. Tony and his 5 year old daughter Katreana called around 10 pm to say they were on the lake and I was off to meet them and escort them to florida. About 11 pm Tony walked over to Minnesota to show us the two fish Katreana landed a fat 14 and a 13 elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie . Tony also said they had landed 8 walleye in the first hour of fishing. Kellie headed home about the time Tony showed up and I ended up spending the night on the lake. I talked to two gentlemen pulling on the lake Monday morning and they were up to 9 crappies, I read they ended up with 20? Yesterday the snow started around noon as we pulled off the lake. I had no plans to venture out . Tony called around three to tell me they retrieved the fishing rod they lost earlier in the day and it had a 38 inch pike on the end of it. He sent me a pic and its almost as tall as Katreana. My observation from the past seems to be true as that’s 2 big pike that have been landed ,with to many small walleyes to count, plus a couple line breakers and hook benders. I also talked to Rodger to say good by and there spot produced 18 walleye the first day and puttered out after that with very slow fishing for them the rest of the weekend. Cliff’s spot also burned out and he said it was just dead after Friday. Counting the two fish wayne took home and one Marty kept we harvested 6 walleyes 4 perch and 3 crappies while catching to many fish to count. Fun, Fun Fun.

I dropped the ball yesterday morning. Time I got out to the houses Kevin and Rolly had rolled out. I did get a message from them and they said they had a great time and landed two elusive but still catchable 15 inch upper red lake crappies. I stopped at Florida to see Jennifer and John but it looked like they were still a sleep. Checking on them a bit later and they were gone. I ‘m waiting to here back from them to see how they did the second night. When I stopped in Saturday morning they were both sitting and fishing in the same spots set up the same way with John in his pajama bottoms and slippers the night before. It was like they never went to bed. John left me a couple new rod and reels Thanks again John. Old Minnesota got fished hard since Thursday. With the hammer working her magic and releasing that many fish I be leave the spot is burned out. Cusin petes theory is the fish leave a scent when there caught and released and effect the fishing. Minnesota will be moved today as it is spose to be another glorious day. It would be nice to get Montana and Florida also moved and set up as there is a chance of 3 to 6 inches of snow coming are way tomorrow. I have at least 1 mile of road I made to get to my houses and that will have to be plowed after the storm and wind. Sounds like Tony and his daughter will be up tomorrow and staying in Florida for 2 nights. We had a killer roast and venison dinner last night in old Minnesota. As Wayne would also say wacking. Its nice making a killer dinner on the ice as the food always taste better when your camping. Marty and Wayne will be heading home today. Marty and his wife Shelly will be back Friday as well as the hammers sister shell chick and her crew. Depending on if kellie and I fish this week Minnesota may have to get moved twice this week. Tony will help me move florida before they leave on Thursday so I have the house on fresh ice for Tom on friday. Minnesota is still open for the weekend at this time. Cliff has done real well all season in the spot he is fishing and yesterday I plowed out to him as his son was coming up with a wheel house. I also have to stop in and say good bye to Rodger, They were happy with where there fishing and this will be there last trip for the season so I expect Buddy Hillmen will be pulling there skid house to shore before the snow if possible. Wow only 14 nights left for the 2015 game fish season not sure where the time has gone but I can say we have had a grand time on a grand lake so far this season and as Dave told me it owes us NOTHING!!!

Just a tad more fun. Yesterday was a glorious day here on upper red lake. Checking in with John and Jennifer in Montana and everything was good as they had action on and off all night. Rolly and Kevin also had action and they were also good. I then spent some time in old Minnesota visiting Marty and Wayne and playing a few more games of texas hold em. We came back to shore around 1 so the guys could take showers and we could go clean our fish for dinner. 3 walleyes 6 perch and two crappies were just enough for another great fish fry at jrs. I knew Wayne would like the way they pre pair the fish as he likes a very light batter.
I on the other hand I like a heavier batter with a bite and like westwinds but trying to be a good host was my mission. We arrived back to old minnsota for some more fishing and cards where Kellie the hammer went to work landing and missing fish for the next 3 hours. Wayne fished that same hole hard with limited success while we were not there and could not be leave Kellie was on fire again. She did lose quite a few fish that may of been the elusive upper red lake crappies. She headed home at 10 while I stayed out with the guys where I landed a elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. Cliff ask me to plow a spot for his son coming up so will take care of that on my way out to say goodbye to our guests. It’s my turn to make dinner and we will be having beef and venison roast cooking in the oven in Minnesota all day. As Wayne would say YUMMY. I will detail the houses and shut them down for the week. Minnesota is open next weekend and Minnesota and Montana are open the last weekend of game fish. I’ll maintain the houses after the season ends for a week or two as I vacation on the ice, watching a few movies, playing some cribbage with Kellie and having her give me a couple tips on catching fish