Hey Bill plans are set in motion. March 21 works on my end and I to will give away a day of fishing in my boat here on upper red lake. I should have most of the houses still on the lake plus the cabin that give us about 30 beds including the doubles. I will go 30 dollars a man per night for a place to stay. Depending on the lake conditions I should have the houses out far enough that a crappie or two may also be caught out of the houses. Travis has already committed to California and I will have to pencil Jake in a shack. Should be a great time. I did see two crappies caught last night one a bout 3 miles out the other just over 4 so there still out there you just need a army to find them. Maybe I can get Tyler from Bearpaw to step up and give away a day of fishing also, plus he loves chasing upper red lake crappies and is a drilling machine. 
If anyone is interested give me a call and we will pencil you in. There will be free Coneys as we search for the mother load.

Looking at the other web sites it looks like it’s not be but the fish. I always feel so bad when our fishermen do not do well. 
Kellie says its fishing and I’m too hard on myself? 
I can not dilly dally today as I have a ton of work to get done. At least 40 holes to auger and I still need to move Minnesota 3 miles out next to Idaho. Utah needs to be banked and all the houses need the propane checked. Nothing like loading up a couple of 100 pound propanes in the truck to get the morning started. 
With the temps at 27 this morning it will feel like spring. 
I have seen enough crappies caught this year that we are thinking about having some type of get together in march. With the red baron cutting a trail it will be a fun weekend looking for the mother load. We will get a hold of the Coney king and serve up Coneys as we pepper the lake. More details will follow as the plans are set in motion.

I hate to say but it has been on the slow side. Dan, Rob and Jeremy took off yesterday morning. Kirk, Joe and Bob were here one more night. They have consistently marked fish with very few caught. I did see Joe walk out of Idaho with a fish so I thought that was a good sign. 
I’m still waiting for the red baron and blue thunder blew a lower radiator hose and broke a plow spring. I have the hose and will be installing that a little later this morning. Montana is on a new spot, California is on a new spot Alaska is on a new spot, I will keep plugging away to get the other houses moved today and tomorrow. Having the red baron back sure would make it easier and I’m not sure how I managed with out it in the past. 
Let’s hope the bite picked up a bit last night and gets better all weekend.

Hey Duayne it was nice having your group and meeting your wife. I was really hoping they would tag into a big fish when you guys were fishing the portable. Not sure where the houses will be in two weeks as I’m still looking for great fishing instead of good fishing. 
I’m still waiting for the call from the tranny guy working on the red baron. Yesterday was another cold day and it is -17 as I type. I dug Montana out and took that out by Idaho, Florida, and New York. The fishing was a slow for Kirk and Joe but they are marking fish that are hugging the bottom. John, Rob and Jeremy are fishing next to Kirk and are having the same problem. A good fishy area with tight lipped fish. I can not believe a crappie has not been caught there as we have caught perch, walleye and pike. I will be dropping a line with them this morning before I go to work on the lake. 
Some guys were out of at the end of Agassiz road and said they caught 42 walleyes in less then 24 hours. You can bet Jeff will be putting a house close to that spot. 3 crappies were caught right next to one of his houses but he said I could not put a house there? What’s up with that? 
Westwind was busy yesterday moving houses and it was kinda funny as I was taking a house out 5 miles they were going the other way? It’s sure nice to see other outfitters or resorts doing there best. It also gives me a good clue that there not pounding them which means it’s just not me. In the other direction I really do not see what’s happening. I can only guess that they have good fishing as that’s where I have had some great fishing. With less then 3 weeks of open walleye fishing I will be again scouting to the north for the crappie mother load. There is so much area out there that has not seen a hole auger and it’s unbelievable. Sounds like Ole may be coming up today and picking up some springs for blue thunders Boss plow. I had Tony boy move some snow and one of the springs broke. 
The auger needs some attention today so I will work on that until it warms up a bit after I go wet a line with Kirk and Joe. Tony went down to the cities for a week so I’m on my own this week. I have become spoiled with the help but as I get older I have no choice if I want to keep moving houses the way I do. 
I hope to add a few more houses to the fleet next year but we will see. If you’re not dreaming you’re not living.

Spent some time talking to my son Joe yesterday. We got talking about some of the lake politics and what really goes on up here that I can not write about or choose not to. He suggested I write what ever I want on my web site since I have full control over it? I told Joe he should not put these kinds of ideas in my head. All though it would be fun I still think it would be a horrible idea and not benefit me in any way. In fact it may get me in to some trouble with plenty of dirty looks and I get enough of them all ready. 
I ‘am thinking about writing a tell all book that the kids can publish years down the road, the names would have to be changed to protect the guilty. Living here and being on the lake I see it all the good the bad and the ugly. I have some emails that are hard to believe and could also so put them in there. For now I will concentrate on taking care of my customers old and new and making sure they have an enjoyable time.

Wow it’s hard to believe that many days have gone by that I have worked on the lake. 
Today was cleaning day and meeting Kirk and Joe as they are here for a couple of days. They started off today in Florida and we will see how they do. 
John, Jeremy and Rob are watching the Super Bowl and fishing in Idaho and Bob and his crew are fishing in Alaska. 
The fishing was not too bad this weekend with everyone catching a fish or two or three. 
Old Minnesota had Dwayne his wife Sue there friends Deb and Dan and they had a hoot. The girls were new to ice fishing and want to come back next year. They were a very fun group to visit with as they were all a bout having a good time. They left the house in perfect shape as well as all of the other customers this week. Sure made it easier for me to clean things up and believe me I really appreciate it. 
Tom was here again with his brothers. Tom always seems so relaxed he is a MPLS police officer and on the bomb squad. They sure are a nice group of guys; they also had a fish fry while they were here. Not sure how many fish they caught as I missed them when they left this morning. 
Montana had caught 14 the night before Steve, Scott and Scott’s son arrived so I had high hopes. I also told them I would put the house on a fresh spot if the fishing was slow by Saturday. We moved Montana for them on Saturday and they managed to catch a few. 
Luke and Brad fished New York and got 5 keepers. 
Utah was a no show and not sure what was up with that. California had Al and his buddy they caught a few and headed home way early this morning. 
All in all it was a pretty good weekend. I will be moving houses starting tomorrow as I can not stand having the houses on the same spots. I sure like the area I have Florida, New York and Idaho and need the red baron home so I can cut a trail. 
Utah is at the end of the road nine miles out right on the edge of the reservation line. A few crappies have been caught out there but not what I was hoping for. I will stay focused on walleyes with the bonus crappie for now. 
After 46 days I am a little worn out and need a good day of rest. Making the rounds in the evening can take up to three hours sometimes and really stretches out the day. Mother Nature will throw a wrench in things if I let my guard down so I will try and stay on top of things as I never run out of things to do.

Yesterday I hit the lake a little earlier then usual as I wanted to do some fishing. After seeing how Jake and Andrew did I headed to New York. I got my first line down with the good old genz worm then set my old electric jig stick up with a smaller sized demon. After 15 minutes I marked a fish in the one corner but he did not hang around long. I then started the car thinking that may trigger a bite. Jake pulled in with his pick up and came into the house. While talking too him about our game plan I noticed my jig stick with the spring bobber was pegged? 
When I reached down and set the hook I looked at Jake and said were not landing this fish. I quickly started peeling out the 4 lb line and handed the rod to Jake and said get all the line out. Running 4 lb line through the fingers I had no real plan. He stopped just for a second as I pulled in line to see if I could make him come my way. With that little resistance he took off like a rocket. Jake did what he could do and followed the fish with the rod tip going towards the hole until the line was to taunt and snap he was gone. Got the heart pumping but I new from the get go that fish was taking my jig. Fun Fun Fun 
While Jake and his brother went looking for a hot bite I met Tonyboy to finish moving houses and prepping for the weekend. It did not take them long to find some fish in closer to shore. Just over a mile out they found a day bite and managed to have two keepers a couple of misses and a couple to big. We then hooked up for lunch and they all helped me move Utah all the way out to the end of the road. Utah is now almost to the reservation line 9 miles out and Jake and Andrew were spending the night out there. 
We then got road passes at Hillmens and went in search of the elusive upper red lake crappie. I was amazed at how many fish we marked and managed to lose one fish and lip another. After two hours in a portable we threw in the towel and my vision of a bucket of crappies never materialized. Oh well we will get them next time as there are roads right to where we fished last year and had such great success. 
After coming home for dinner I ran out to check on Jeff and his family fishing Montana. Kim, Zack and Tyler were having a good day and had 5 keepers and had released another 6. Jeff said they never had any runs but one fish here and one fish there were starting to add up. When I checked with them they had been fishing from around noon tell I stopped by at 7 pm. 
With Idaho still open it will become a house for other customers to try through out the weekend. I thought about offering it last minute for free. But have decided if it’s not rented all our other customers can have free use of it this weekend. Should be a fun weekend all the houses are in fishy areas lets hope they bite.

Making the rounds last night was a little better then the last two nights. I usually do not blame the weather for the bite. About the time you blame the weather you here that someone hammered them. Talk to Pete and he said they had 7 in the bucket after getting none the day before. Westwind was shuffling some fishermen around and I had all my fishermen fishing in anyone of my houses trying to find some active fish. 
It was nice to see a couple of fish taken in every house. Florida had 3 keepers, Utah had 3 keepers, Tony tried a new spot and got two, the girls had just started fishing in California. .Lee and Chris landed a 32 inch pike before dark. 
The next two days will be spent scouting and moving houses for the up and coming weekend. Jake and Andrew will be up this morning and will try a few areas. They sure would like to tag into a crappie or two as well as me. 
I will be hitting the lake this morning around 7:30 to say good bye to lee and Chris. It sure was nice having them up and visiting with them. I hope to go to the boundary waters with them next fall. They also want to come up in March and have me make them smothered burritos. I’m all for that and I hope that works out. I will be making them in three weeks for Bob and Jackie. Slow cooked in old Minnesota all day the aroma will drive Bob crazy. 
Mike and his wife have had the worst fishing in Idaho. I sure hope when I head out there this morning they finally got some action. Yesterday we had a little more trouble with the generator and spent another hour taking it a part and getting all the oil out of the filter. What a mess not good when the generator tips over and runs on its side.

Well, it’s been an interesting year to say the least. 
Last night Kellie and I spent part of the evening fishing and having dinner with Lee and Chris in old Minnesota. They have become great friends and lee is a hoot with his acting background. We have already made plans to go to his Mystery Cafe Theatre this spring. I highly recommend going to one of there shows as I have always enjoyed dinner theatre and plays. 
After dinner I had a call from Mike in Idaho  it seems they were having generator trouble. I left Kellie with Chris and Lee and raced out to Idaho to find oil all over the top of the unit  Dale and his wife were in Florida and had his own generator so he was fine. I brought the unit home and went to work cleaning up the mess as oil was in the cylinder and carb. Were not sure what happen but I was able to clean it out, change the oil, reinstall the carb and get her going again. It seems it some how ended up on its side Mike in Idaho was not happy and felt Dale had caused the problem. I guess we will never know what happened but its up and running and that’s all that matters. 
All 5 sleepers have had horrible fishing? Idaho, Florida were on fresh spots. Minnesota and Montana were only fished last weekend with good results so we wanted to see if good fishing would continue. California did yield a couple of fish Sunday eve but nothing to brag about. 
Steve, Zack, Gene had a pike under there hard house that they had on twice. Steve decided to tie a chisel on a rope and drop it under the house the next time that pike marked on the vex. 
8:30 pm they marked the fish and dropped the chisel. The pike took off and on its way took the jig and minnow in the far corner of the house .There was no way of stopping it as it spooled out the line until it broke. 
The young guys in Utah had car trouble and we spent a little time getting there vehicle running yesterday. They also had poor fishing. I all most want to blame the weather on this one as you would think 5 houses someone would catch some fish. Tony scouted a new area last night and only marked 2 fish. He felt one may have been a crappie? All the houses were seeing some fish but they were tight to the bottom and had no intention on taking any of there offerings. 
The little red truck that could lost a bearing coming off the lake yesterday. We got lucky as it did not break the serpentine belt but needs to get a new part 60 miles away. 
The red baron is at the tranny shop and we hope to have it back by the weekend. The cold weather has taken its toll on the equipment but that’s the nature of the beast and you just deal with it. It makes it quite the challenge but very rewarding .You have to be a janitor, mechanic, truck driver, plower, guide, labor, carpenter, electrician, fishermen, gas man for the heaters, and whatever I’m forgetting. Time to go check my fishermen as it looks like it could be a beautiful sunrise.

That makes a lot of sense so if I fish with you two days and I do the work of half a man. I might land one or two.
Leave the cold weather at home.
I will let you know if we need anything midweek.
Hers a break down of all the houses did on the new fishing spots this last weekend.
Florida. Mark and Sandy rolled in Thursday afternoon and it was nice being able to visit with them off an on all weekend. They have been great customers over the years and had some sad news as Mark’s fishing buddy passed away. The fishing started off real good with them landing a dozen fish the first day , They were having a little trouble getting a couple for a fish fry at Westwind though. They did manage to get a couple of keepers and were delighted to have Westwind cook them to perfection.
Idaho. I feel bad for these guys while Mark and Sandy had good fishing they had horrible fishing. A bad spot I guess as they were less then 200 feet from Florida. Will get them next time Ken
Montana and old Minnesota had a blast with Jill, Sandy, Kirk, two kids Grandpa Willard, Uncle Glen and Jeff with his ice castle. They caught fish all weekend and ate like kings and queens. Not sure how many fish they took home but they sure had a good time and sandy will be back in a couple of weeks with another group.
California also did decent and I let the guys use New York. They caught 4 keepers out of New York and marked a ton of fish that would not bite.
Sergio, Allen and the other guys used Utah and had the cabin. Sergio landed a pike just under 40 inches on a tip up and with no gaff outside he had to reach down the hole and grab it. They released the fish in the house and the fishing just died after that.
Alaska was just rented for the day on Saturday. They landed a keeper right away .They also had two hard houses with them. I never got to see them as the pulled out that evening so not sure how they did. I was able to have a bloody Mary with them and man was that good. They had like 4 or five girls with them and had quite the spread of food. They also had a girl that was a game warden that was very nice and I wish her all the luck with her job.
I also punched a spot for Steve and his crew of four they had pretty good fishing until last night when a big pike decided to camp under there house. They were eating fish when I stopped by last night and will be pulling out today
Ryan and his buddies are in Utah and only caught one fish when I talked to them last night. Rob and his crew are in Montana and got a keeper right when they arrived. Lee and Chris also checked in yesterday and landed a keeper right away. Lee also had a mishap and when he leaned on the table it broke and he landed on Chris’s lap. Too funny but he was ok. Kellie and I will be having dinner with them tonight in old Minnesota.
Update on the red baron. Ken the transmission guy told me to drive the snot out of it but that did not work out as it would not even go into gear Saturday morning. After warming it up for over an hour it did go into gear but cutting a new trail was working the motor too hard and it does not make sense to beat on the truck so it is out of commission at this time. I hope to have it at the tranny shop by noon today.
As always the best fishing seemed to be the first day of arrival and tapered off after that. All the houses will be moved this week with some moved twice as we have guest through out the week. Tony boy is doing a great job helping me out. We may have to add another few states /fish houses next year so he can make a bigger pay check.