Blog Feed: Journal of a Minnesota Angler

Happy New Year! After getting home late from my neighborhood New Year’s Party, I had to take some time to wind down before going to bed, so I actually put some thought into my goals this year (unlike last year). I still have some carryover fro

Year in Review : 2012

Published on 2012-12-31 22:50:18

As usual, Lego League and the holidays kept me from thinking about fishing during the last few months of the year. Looking back at 2012 and the year, I did a lot more fishing than I expected and accomplished a number of my fishing goals for the year

Mystery Tackle Box #3

Published on 2012-10-31 20:23:26

This post is a review for the third Mystery Tackle Box I received in October, 2012. See my Mystery Tackle Box review post for a full review of the service. On this last day of October, I figured I better get my review of my October Mystery Tackle Bo

Avid Angler Challenge Answer – One Lure

Published on 2012-10-30 22:09:15

I guess I should be careful when I publish a post where I am required to publish a follow-up. A few weeks ago, I posted my second Avid Angler Challenge and promised my answer “in the next few days.” Obviously, that didn’t work out

Avid Angler Challenge – One Lure

Published on 2012-10-08 08:52:01

The Avid Angler Challenge is a meme that issues a periodic challenge to frequent anglers. See the guidelines for how to answer the challenge. In my first Avid Angler Challenge, I asked you to restrict yourself to five lures. Now I’m going to put the screws to you a little more, but ease up a [...]

In-Scent-ing Fish Strikes

Published on 2012-09-27 08:44:16

In my most recent Mystery Tackle Box, I received a package of 5″ Sick Sticks from PowerTeam Lures. In it, was a packet of “Hog Tonic,” basically a scent packet. The instructions told me to empty the scent packet of “garlic and amino acids” into the package, wait a few minutes, “then hang [...]

Relaxing Fall Morning

Published on 2012-09-24 13:58:04

When I woke up Sunday morning, I debated whether I should get up and go fishing, or enjoy the comfort of my bed. Given that fall arrived in Minnesota recently and temperatures weren’t going to get any warmer, I decided to go for it. One of the reasons I decided to get up was the [...]

Nemesis Lake

Published on 2012-09-21 09:46:23

Before George came into town, Greg and I had made an appointment to go fishing earlier this week. As a result, I got to go fishing twice in three days. In this outing, Greg and I decided to hit a lake in the East end of the Twin Cities. The bass are [...]

Long Afternoon

Published on 2012-09-19 11:33:08

George popped into town unexpectedly this weeekend to visit his mom and a few relatives. He was able to plan a fishing outing with Greg and Greg’s son and asked me if I wanted to tag along. Far be it for me to refuse fishing time, especially since I haven’t wet a line [...]

Review : Mystery Tackle Box #2

Published on 2012-09-18 09:20:28

This post is a review for the second Mystery Tackle Box I received in September, 2012. See my Mystery Tackle Box review post for a full review of the service. When I first registered for the Mystery Tackle Box with their super duper promo, I hadn’t intended to continue the service after the first month. [...]

Small Lake, Small Fish

Published on 2012-09-10 14:44:46

A week after my last float tube outing, I decided to head back out to the same lake. I wanted to try the other direction from the launch. The wind was blowing toward that shore, so that was a good sign. However, to force myself to cover more ground, I decided to [...]

Re-Review : Hobie Mirage Pro Angler

Published on 2012-09-04 11:00:10

Three years ago, almost to the day, I did a review on the Hobie Mirage Pro Angler. At the time, it had just been announced at ICAST 2009 and won an award for best new product. Last year, I was contacted by the marketing manager, Ron, at HiTempo, the local Hobie dealer to try out [...]

MNKayakAngler

Published on 2012-08-29 12:06:11

I had the opportunity to fish CasualBasser‘s favorite lake Tuesday night–in a kayak. The fine folks at HiTempo, the local Hobie dealer, let me try out two versions of their Hobie Mirage Pro Angler (review to come later). Being a pretty big lake, it was nice to be able to get around more than I [...]

Hunting in Lily Pad Forests

Published on 2012-08-28 09:46:50

I had a chance to go out on my float tube for a few hours on Saturday morning. I hit a lake that I had never fished before, but have had my eye on it for a while. It is across the street from one of the lakes that I used to hit [...]

Avid Angler Challenge Answer – Lure Limitation

Published on 2012-08-25 13:12:03

Yesterday, I posted my first Avid Angler Challenge. It was a challenge that asked what 5 lures you would use if those were the only lures you could use for the rest of your life. When forming the challenge, I tried to structure it so it would be a challenge to me as well. [...]

Avid Angler Challenge – Lure Limitation

Published on 2012-08-24 10:36:10

The Avid Angler Challenge is a meme that issues a periodic challenge to frequent anglers. See the guidelines for how to answer the challenge. For my first challenge, I wanted to learn about lure choices. Why do fisherman use the lures they do? So here it is: If you could only use 5 lures for [...]

Avid Angler Challenge

Published on 2012-08-23 10:37:43

When I started my blog a little over 3 years ago, I did it to write about my fishing adventures. What I didn’t expect was the sense of community within the blogosphere and the support I’ve gotten from my fellow anglers, whether they blog themselves or not. In that spirit, I wanted to start a [...]

Review : Mystery Tackle Box

Published on 2012-08-19 10:50:06

In today’s world of contextual advertising, web sites pick up on your hobbies and interests pretty quickly. Obviously, many of the ads that I see have to do with fishing. When I first saw the ads for the Mystery Tackle Box, it really didn’t peak my interest because it felt like a gimmick ad. [...]

The Right Color is Magic

Published on 2012-08-15 11:20:43

This past weekend was our annual neighborhood camping trip. In previous years, boats were towed along, but this year, Mark was towing a camper and Steve was towing a trailer, so no boats could come. However, I brought my float tube and was able to get a few hours on the nearby lake [...]

2012 Recycled Fish 24 Hour Fish-A-Thon

Published on 2012-08-08 22:53:32

The magic of technology today is that you can learn about a lot of things that traditional media might not tell you about, especially in sub-cultures. Even so, word of some things get around slower than others. While I was on Facebook this evening, The Argosgirl Chronicles shared a link to the Recycled Fish 24 [...]

MNAngler, Jr. and Crispy Fins

Published on 2012-08-06 14:35:18

As much as I would like to take MNAngler, Jr. out fishing more often, opportunities are few and far between. I bought him a new fishing rod a few weeks ago because last fall, he dropped his Spiderman rod and reel in the lake. Then the replacement Transformers rod and reel promptly broke. This [...]

Orvis Casting Course

Published on 2012-08-03 12:28:04

When I was in Bend, OR for my family reunion last fall, I heard there was an Orvis store in town. While I’m not a fly fisherman, I was hoping I could get an idea of where a bass fisherman could wet a line. Besides, I can’t resist a fishing store. Mrs. MNAngler and [...]

A River Adventure

Published on 2012-07-27 14:07:06

After our last adventure, George’s friend, Greg, and I decided we would get together again to puruse some fish. Greg works near the Mississippi River, so we thought we would try fishing the river. It was something neither of us had done and it would allow us to get started earlier. We [...]

Best Bucketmouth Day Ever

Published on 2012-07-23 14:39:10

Last Thursday night, I ran into my neighbor Mark while he was walking his dog. I asked him, jokingly, when we were going to go fishing next. He said he was going the next morning at 5am and that I was welcome to come along. Since there wasn’t much going on at [...]

Rainbow Trout Management

Published on 2012-07-17 14:51:58

On our way up to my father-in-law’s cabin, Mrs. MNAngler and I decided to look for the MN DNR Fishery that is on Hwy 61 on the North Shore of Lake Superior. We hadn’t been there in years and thought the kids might like it. We found it not far up the scenic [...]

Slump After the Rain

Published on 2012-07-16 17:22:54

On our last day, we had planned to get started on the caps for the roof, but the weather forecast was about 4 hours off. It wasn’t supposed to start raining until 1:00pm, but it started raining at 9:00am. That put a damper on roofing and fishing. It was a light rain, [...]

Trifecta!

Published on 2012-07-15 13:17:07

Later in the evening, Ken, George, and I headed out on the pontoon. One of our usual spots we hadn’t hit yet was the three bays between the Prune Lake and Liz Lake portages. We first started in the bay near Prune Lake. I started with a bubble gum fluke because I was after [...]

Dock Surprise, The Sequel

Published on 2012-07-14 10:50:26

Thursday morning, Ken allowed us to sleep in and didn’t request that we be roofing until 8. We spent three hours on the roof and finished everything but the caps. Ken didn’t expect us to get nearly this far, so he was happy with our progress. At about 2:30, nothing much was happening, so [...]

Independence Day Skunk

Published on 2012-07-13 17:50:09

I found it amazing that I had been at my in-laws a little over 24 hours and already had a week tally of fish nearly in double digits. Fishing has been good there before, but not this good. I’m not sure if it was due to the fish, the weather, or the honing [...]

Walleye in the Bullseye

Published on 2012-07-12 22:22:44

After dinner, Ken, George, and I headed back out on the pontoon. With such success landing smallies, I decided it was time to try targeting a different species. Given my recent fun with lindy rigs, I was anxious to try to land a nice walleye with a similar technique on Ken’s lake. When I first started [...]

Working Up an Appetite

Published on 2012-07-11 22:43:54

After I had gotten back from float tubing, everyone was pretty much out of the water. Ken and George were now ready to take the pontoon out and hit some spots before dinner. We decided to Kloek channel because it had some shady areas for fish to hide from the cloudless sky. Having been [...]

Believe in the Pros

Published on 2012-07-10 23:04:20

The morning after we arrived, I got up at 7am to see if Ken wanted to head out for an hour or two. He said he couldn’t, but got his fishing boat setup for me to go on my own. I didn’t think I had much time, so I opted to stay close. I [...]

Dock Surprise

Published on 2012-07-09 21:38:11

My family and I headed to my in-laws’ cabin on the Gunflint Trail for July 4th week. It was a working vacation as we were helping my father-in-law put a new roof on his cabin as well as get some R&R. We drove up casually Monday afternoon and arrived a bit after 7pm. The [...]

Supplying a Fish Fry

Published on 2012-06-30 10:58:53

Last Saturday, during a neighborhood bonfire, Mark suggested we do a fish fry. I arrived late and by the time I got there, the plans were in full force. Mark, Steve, Rob, and I decided we would try to add to the fish fry by trying our luck Sunday morning. We made an appointment [...]

Introducing: A Fishing Journey

Published on 2012-06-26 21:25:26

If you’re a regular reader here, you know that my brother, Vince, lives in Boulder and is also an avid angler. Regular readers also know he is a much better fisherman than I am. Since my last year has been pretty sparse with posts, he helped me out by doing a guest post a few [...]

Happy Bloggaversary to Me

Published on 2012-06-24 08:44:30

So ends year #3. Since my last bloggaversary, my activity has slowed down due to my new job, but recently it’s been picking up again. I couldn’t believe I didn’t pick up a rod and reel until almost June this year, but since then I’ve been on 4 more outings (one hasn’t been posted yet). I’m [...]

Late Father’s Day Outing

Published on 2012-06-22 11:39:26

My brother-in-law, George, had planned to come in to town on Father’s Day weekend so that he, his childhood friend, Greg, our father-in-law, Ken, and myself could all go fishing on Greg’s boat. A few days before he was due to arrive, we found out George couldn’t get the time off he wanted, so [...]

Outing #3

Published on 2012-06-14 19:09:04

I was talking to my neighbor, Steve, last Saturday when he said he was going fishing the next day. I asked him if he wanted some company and while my other neighbor, Rob, was going to be on the boat, he kindly allowed me to tag along. We got on the lake at about 7:30am. [...]

Thank you!

Published on 2012-06-12 10:23:23

I wanted to take a moment to say, “Thank you,” because today, WordPress stats reported that I hit a traffic milestone. Nine days ago, Google Analytics reported the same milestone. When I started this blog a few years ago, a six figure pageview stat seemed an impossible achievement. Who would even care about my [...]

Maiden Voyage 2012

Published on 2012-06-04 10:35:56

I followed through with my resolution from a few days ago and returned to my first lake of the year with my float tube. I got on the water at about 9:30 and kicked my way down the shore to the right of the swimming beach. Mark and I had caught a few little bass [...]

Couldn’t Let MN-NonAngler Continue into June

Published on 2012-06-01 23:39:17

After going out to dinner with my family last night and thinking about my post, I decided that I couldn’t let it get into June without wetting a line. When we got home, we took care of a couple of yard items and with about an hour of daylight left, I decided some time [...]

MN-NonAngler

Published on 2012-05-31 08:03:42

It’s the last day of May and it bothers me that I didn’t publish a single post in April. So I definitely couldn’t let another whole month go without a post. The problem is, I haven’t touched a rod since before ice-out, which was super early this year. The last time I [...]

Early Easter

Published on 2012-03-27 13:14:55

With ice out having already occurred on many nearby lakes, you’d think I’d be out on the water tickling my angler itch. Unfortunately, life gets in the way. But to keep at least one or two of the 3 or so regular readers I have left, I want to try to keep posting regularly, even [...]

A Record Spring

Published on 2012-03-21 07:39:54

Just to show how crazy this Spring has been, the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office posted the records we have broken (so far) since March 10. In the last 11 days, we’ve broken 8 record highs and 6 maximum lows. And technically, it was still winter as today is the first day of Spring. [...]

Ice Out Watch 2012

Published on 2012-03-18 09:50:00

It’s that time of year again. The DMZ of fishing seasons, if you will. You can’t be on the ice to ice fish and you can’t be on the lakes because there isn’t enough open water. This year is a little more unusual than previous years. We’ve broken 6 record highs in the [...]

Ice Fishing Get-Together

Published on 2012-03-01 20:22:20

Guess what? You won’t believe it. I actually went fishing this weekend! I attended the 4th Annual Meister’s Ice Fishing Get-Together on Saturday that went from 10am-2pm. Meister’s is a local bar and grill. It was the same get-together I attended last year with my neighbors. This year was vastly different [...]

Minnesota Non-Winter

Published on 2012-02-19 10:38:20

It’s been a crazy winter, or non-winter as the case may be, in Minnesota this year. Unlike last year when we had storm after storm and subzero temps, this year has been mild beyond belief with virtually no snow. Here is how the Minnesota DNR Climatology Office ranks this year’s Twin Cities’ meteorological winter (December-February): Warmest Avg. [...]

Help with Blog Contest

Published on 2012-01-10 21:16:57

I read on the Outdoor Blogger Network that 5.11 Tactical is holding an adventure contest. Yes, the page says the deadline was Jan 9, but OBN assures me I have until Friday morning, Jan 13. The main rule says, “We want to hear about your outdoor adventures – this can be anything related to your [...]

Minnesota BassProShops? Not.

Published on 2012-01-05 22:17:25

Last May, I wrote an open letter to BassProShops asking them to open a store in Minnesota. In my idyllic mind, I saw my post collecting thousands of signatures (i.e. comments) to start a grass roots effort that ultimately brought BassProShops to Minnesota. Well, that didn’t happen. Frankly, I was surprised there wasn’t more interest. [...]

Goals for 2012

Published on 2012-01-01 19:48:12

Happy New Year! I haven’t had all that much time to think about what I want to accomplish this year fishing-wise. The Lego League season and holiday season has kept my mind too occupied. So I’m going to cheat a little. Because I did so poorly in my goals from 2011, I’m going [...]

Year in Review : 2011

Published on 2011-12-31 11:52:30

If you were to judge my year simply on the goals at the beginning of the year, you would say that it was a dismal failure. I accomplished none of my fishing goals, only one of my blogging goals–barely (doubled blog traffic, accomplished yesterday), and only one of my online presence goals (1000 Twitter [...]

Wind Fishing

Published on 2011-12-30 21:43:22

Surprise! I’m writing a post! Better yet. I went fishing! Yes, after four months of not touching a rod (except to put them away for the winter), I actually got out and baited a hook. Vince was in town for Christmas and we hit the ice the day after the holiday. It was [...]

Fall Fishing in Colorado

Published on 2011-11-03 08:50:22

The title of this post might lead you regular readers to think that I made it back to Boulder to fish with my brother. No such luck. As you know, I’ve been a bit preoccupied as of late. So in order to save you from another exciting post about Lego League, my [...]

LEGO Fishing

Published on 2011-10-31 09:11:15

Whoa. I almost let the entire month of October pass without a post. Two weeks ago, I thought I needed to get a post out because a week had passed since my last post. To my shock, when I checked, three weeks had passed. I blinked, and two more weeks went [...]

Confessions of an Absent Angler

Published on 2011-09-25 10:12:35

Forgive me, bloggers, for I have sinned. It’s been nearly three weeks since my last blog entry. I have no excuse, really. Life has just gotten in the way of… well, life. I’ve only fished a half hour since doing my fly fisherman impersonation in Oregon. I have a bunch of posts [...]

MNFlyAngler

Published on 2011-09-05 19:04:36

After failing miserably as a spin casting river trout fisherman, I decided it was time to try being a full-fledged river trout fisherman. That would mean picking up fly rod. Brenda and my cousin left our reunion to meet up with some friends on the East coast, so on this outing it was me, Vince, [...]

Troutminimus

Published on 2011-08-31 23:27:38

I spent last week in Sunriver, OR attending a family reunion. Vince (my brother) attended as well and we, of course, had to do some fishing. The problem was, I’m a bass fisherman. And a lake bass fisherman at that. And the only thing around us was rivers. So I had to [...]

Plastic Worms are the Ticket

Published on 2011-06-30 09:38:44

Last Friday was my last day at a job I held for nearly 11 years. I found a new improved gig and took a week off before diving into new challenges. Monday was my first day of freedom. It was the third straight day I didn’t have to go to work

More Worm Action

Published on 2011-06-29 21:22:36

Sunday morning I once again got up a little after 6am to be on the lake on my float tube by 6:30. This time I followed the Northern shore toward the channel only until the shore turned. The curve of the shore hid water beyond the curve from the morni

Father-Son Fishing

Published on 2011-06-28 21:41:41

After a somewhat productive Saturday morning, my 6 year old son wanted to join me in fishing. Up until now he only play-fished by casting off the dock with a casting plug that came with his Spiderman rod and reel set. I thought it was time for him to

Early Fish Strikes the Worm

Published on 2011-06-27 23:48:48

I went to my dad’s cabin in Northwest Wisconsin this weekend and started off the weekend early. I got up at 6:15 Saturday morning to get my float tube in the water by 6:30. Apparently it was too early because when I sat down in my float tube, I

Happy Bloggaversary to Me

Published on 2011-06-24 10:18:28

Today my blog turns 2. I’ve mentioned many times before how I am in disbelief in how my blabberings have been received. Just this week, my traffic this year has matched all of last year, so I’m on track to meet my goal of doubling last ye

Father’s Day Outing

Published on 2011-06-20 23:18:50

I got a chance to go out on my tube on Father’s Day. I was going to go panfishing with my kids, but they were engrossed in their activities for the afternoon, so it was an opportunity for me to explore a new local lake. The lake I had in mind i

Action Shot

Published on 2011-06-16 23:10:18

The Outdoor Blogger Network had another great photo prompt that I had a good answer for: Show Us Some Action. Last fall, my brother finally got me out on the float tube that he bought for me several Christmases ago. At the same time, he introduced me

Lightning Doesn’t Strike Twice

Published on 2011-06-15 23:21:52

Monday night, I went back to Gervais Lake where I tied my personal best largemouth last weekend. I was hoping the magic would strike again. I threw a couple of different jigs with trailers, bubble gum super fluke, and super craw, but the power worm w

An Unusual Spoon for Northern Pike

Published on 2011-06-10 23:46:14

Last weekend, when I went fishing with my father-in-law (Ken), brother-in-law (George), and his friend (Greg), we all told our own fish stories. This one was particularly entertaining: Greg owns a cabin outside the Twin Cities metro area. He has a ne

First Bass of the Year is a Doozie

Published on 2011-06-05 23:16:03

My brother-in-law, George, was in town for a wedding and he invited me out fishing with one of his friends. It happened to be a day where my son had his Cub Scout model rocket launch, so I told him I couldn’t make it at his scheduled time of 8a

Third Time is Not the Charm

Published on 2011-06-02 22:09:13

On day 2 of Memorial Weekend, I opted to go to a lake I’ve been told has a lot of large bass. My friend’s grandmother was the sole resident on the lake for many years. I’ve fished it twice before and have yet to catch a fish on it.

Bass Opener Bust

Published on 2011-05-31 23:03:05

The hardest part of Spring in Minnesota for a bass fisherman is waiting for bass opener to come around. It finally arrived this past weekend. I was supposed to go up to my father-in-law’s cabin on the Gunflint, but my wife scheduled her garage

Minnesota Bass Opener

Published on 2011-05-24 20:28:07

The day is almost upon us. Minnesota Bass Opener is this weekend and I can’t wait. I had plans to go up to my father-in-law’s place on the Gunflint Trail, but my wife is planning a ginormous garage sale next week and I have to help get th

Minnesota Fishing Opener

Published on 2011-05-14 00:44:32

It’s about 12:30am on May 14, 2011. The crazies truly dedicated are already on lakes across the state drowning worms, leeches, and minnows pursuing the ever elusive walleye. Others will be on the lake by 4 or 5am. Traditionally, this day has al

Open Letter to BassProShops

Published on 2011-05-08 21:12:59

Dear BassProShops, Last fall, I visited one of your stores when visiting my brother in Colorado. If all your other stores are like the one near Boulder, you have amazing stores. The store was clean, well organized, and had an amazing selection of pro

The MNRiverdageous Lunkerdooress Winner

Published on 2011-05-03 06:00:19

The blogosphere never ceases to amaze me. The MNRiverdageous Lunkerdooress Hydra had a lot of fun getting together our scavenger hunt. But it was much better received than I expected. We got a lot of comments about how fun it was. We’re glad yo

Spring Crappie and a Few Bonuses

Published on 2011-04-26 20:52:35

On Easter Sunday, I got a call from Mark wanting to go fishing. My wife had wanted me to do some things around the house, but she (like I) was a bit exhausted from a couple of late nights. So since she wanted to lay down for a while, I got the go ahe

The MNRiverdageous Lunkerdooress Scavenger Hunt

Published on 2011-04-21 06:00:22

When I started blogging almost 2 years ago, I thought I would be writing in a silo. I knew other bloggers were out there, but I did not expect to interact with them. Nor did I expect that they would welcome me to their community so openly. Because of

How to Steam a Fish Whole

Published on 2011-04-18 23:24:15

In my last post, I gave instructions on How to Clean a Fish Whole. Now I’ll show you how to cook it. These days, it’s very simple and easy to steam a fish. Back in the day, before there was electricity, my mom had to steam fish in a Pyrex

How to Clean Fish Whole

Published on 2011-04-14 23:00:58

When I was a kid, I rarely ever ate fish fillets. The fish I ate were always cleaned and cooked whole. And they were rarely dipped in batter and fried. My mom would fry up smaller panfish in a frying pan, but most of the fish were steamed. Below is a

Yosemite Frazil Ice

Published on 2011-04-12 22:43:16

The average temp in Minnesota this time of year is around 55 degrees. But this last weekend, it hit 70 degrees F and ice out happened overday (as opposed to overnight) for many local lakes. So in keeping with the warming/melting theme, I wanted to sh

Review : SentrySafe Pistol Safe

Published on 2011-04-11 22:31:34

During the SHOT show in January, SentrySafe gave away 40 pistol safes to Twitter followers that tweeted their contest. While I don’t own a pistol, the safe looked like it could be used for much more than firearms, so I entered. To my surprise,

Review : River Cottage

Published on 2011-04-06 22:42:42

A few months ago, a friend of mine, who is originally from the UK, introduced me to a series called River Cottage. It stars Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (herein referred to as HFW for brevity) who was a chef by trade and decided to leave the comforts

Animals Died so that We May Live

Published on 2011-04-04 23:06:03

A few months ago, a friend and neighbor introduced me to the UK series River Cottage. It’s a series about a man who left London to live in the country and raise his own food, both vegetables and animals. After watching the series, I wanted to d

Ice Fishing 2010-2011 In Review

Published on 2011-04-02 00:13:55

I saw my first open water near the shore of one the bigger lakes yesterday. The ice lost its grip on shallow ponds almost a week ago. I’ve been seeing a lot of ducks hanging out on those ponds. So with ice fishing season over, it’s time o

Review : Replica Toy Fish

Published on 2011-03-29 22:07:21

Earlier this month, I was contacted by Simeon Chambers of the Replica Toy Fish company. He said he had a product that kids love and parents really appreciate. Not sure of his claim, I checked out his web site. His story was very interesting. One summ

MN DNR CWD-Tested Culled Deer

Published on 2011-03-27 20:45:11

[This post contains several place holder images that hide images of dead deer. Please do not click on the place holders below if you do not want to see them.] Back in early February, I happened to notice some tweets by Jim Braaten giving information

Ice Out Watch 2011

Published on 2011-03-23 22:35:09

A year and a week ago, I saw my first open water of 2010 and hence began my wait for open water season. Given the winter we had this year, it’s no surprise that open water has yet to appear on any local lake, especially after we got 3-4 inches

Most Un-trophy Trophy

Published on 2011-03-22 19:59:47

The Outdoor Blogger Network posted a photo prompt today that could not be ignored: Most Un-Frame Worthy Outdoor Photo, otherwise known as, “Smallest Fish” or “Most Un-trophy Trophy”. Mine was this one: Can you even see it??? I

The World Loses 101 Year-Old Angler

Published on 2011-03-16 21:01:50

A couple of months ago, I reported on a story of a gentleman who went ice fishing on his 101st birthday. He caught two very nice bass. After my post, his granddaughter contacted me saying he would get a bigger kick out of being on a Minnesota fishing

An Early Morning Panfish Adventure

Published on 2011-03-14 22:46:17

Mark, Rob, and I decided to try Bluegill Bill‘s lake to see if we could catch some of the slab panfish that has been reported to be in that lake. In our three hours out there, we managed less than 10 fish total. I caught two crappie, Mark caugh

Ice Fishing 301 : Enticing Ice Crappie with the Help of Electronics

Published on 2011-03-12 18:13:36

In my last ice fishing report, I talked about a technique Mark used to catch more than 20 crappie in less than 2 hours. As promised, I am going to describe his technique now after delaying my initial commitment due to a special post. I thought about

Thank you, Mrs. MNAngler

Published on 2011-03-10 07:16:06

Too often we forget to express our feelings to the people that matter most in our lives. We also forget to thank them for everything they do for us. Not just in the obvious big events, but also in the little things that get lost in our daily lives. S

Grand Master of Ice Crappie

Published on 2011-03-08 20:55:40

A few weeks ago, I dubbed my brother the Master of Ice Crappie because he had caught 13 crappie in just a few hours of ice fishing. That was an impressive feat considering the conditions. We essentially drilled some random holes near some other ice f

The Legendary Bluegill Bill

Published on 2011-03-06 10:11:07

I was at a neighborhood gathering tonight where the guys were in the living room talking fishing and the ladies were in the kitchen playing Yahtzee. I was definitely in the right room. During our conversation, one of the guys mentioned that one of hi

The Wait Begins

Published on 2011-03-01 23:13:45

Today is the first day of the 2011 fishing season in Minnesota. You can buy your 2011 fishing license starting today even though 2010 licenses are good to the end of April. This year I get to pick up my first free license. I’m excited about wha

Success at an Ice Fishing Get-Together

Published on 2011-02-27 22:44:17

I had opportunity to participate in an Ice Fishing Get-together sponsored by a local bar on Saturday. It wasn’t called a tournament because of the legalities of such a moniker, but it had all the makings of one: an entry fee, prizes for the big

Ice Fishing in a Blizzard

Published on 2011-02-20 22:09:56

The local weathermen were all in a tizzy the past few days because they were predicting a storm to rival the one that hit us last Dec 11. By 1:30pm, the snow was supposed to be coming down in full force, but it wasn’t snowing that heavily. It w

Review : Frabill Pro-Thermal Tip-up Combo

Published on 2011-02-18 21:46:22

Every week, the Outdoor Blogger Network holds a contest and gives away some gear to its members. The catch is that you have to review any product that you win. Back in December, they gave away some really cool ice fishing equipment and I was picked a

Master of Ice Crappie

Published on 2011-02-13 13:45:14

I was finally able to do some ice fishing last Friday afternoon with my brother, Vince, and a friend of his. Vince was in town to surprise my dad for his milestone birthday. Vince and I spent some time with family (my aunt flew in for the surprise as

Ice Fishing for a Good Cause

Published on 2011-02-08 23:34:15

This past weekend, I had an opportunity to fish two different ice fishing tournaments. The problem was, they were at the same time. So I had to make a choice. I opted for the closer tournament that looked like it might have fewer people. Not to menti

Happy Chinese New Year

Published on 2011-02-03 07:50:40

From my family to yours, I would like to wish you a prosperous and bountiful (fish or otherwise) Year of the Rabbit. [ The picture above makes me want to get my pellet gun. I haven't seen many bunnies in my yard this winter, but their tracks keep sho

MNAngler World Headquarters

Published on 2011-01-31 22:30:56

One of the great ideas that came out of the Outdoor Blogger Network is their writing prompts. Every week, they suggest a topic for us outdoor bloggery types to write about. I’ve opted out of most of them mainly because, like Troutrageous, I don

Million Dollar Lure

Published on 2011-01-24 20:00:59

Muskie lures are among the most expensive lures around, but this one is hook, line, and sinker craziness. Assuming a muskie would go after this thing. The size of it would suggest a killer whale might be a more likely target. Maybe one of my saltwate

Bag O’Gear

Published on 2011-01-20 22:59:02

Not too long ago, my colleague and fishing buddy, Dan, walked into the office with a bag that his dad had given him. It was originally owned by Dan’s Great Uncle, a Benedictine monk and avid fisherman. His name was Angelo Zankle (isn’t th

I’m Still Here

Published on 2011-01-18 22:34:28

So I blinked and somehow 9 days passed since my last post. I haven’t done that since getting ready for the Lego League regional tournament. Granted, we are now getting ready for the state tournament that takes place a week from Saturday, but my

Mr. Ice Fishing

Published on 2011-01-09 20:57:44

When you mention the word “technology,” computers and electronics generally come to mind. But each field has technology that advances its industry to make things easier and more efficient. Ice fishing is no different. When you talk about

60″ Muskie Caught on Lake Vermillion

Published on 2011-01-05 19:46:02

Check out this 60-inch muskie that was caught by Kevin Walsh of Ellendale, MN. He caught it fishing with his buddy on Lake Vermillion in Northern Minnesota on October 16, 2010. This is another story I didn’t get around to posting this fall. It

60″ Muskie Caught on Lake Vermillion

Published on 2011-01-05 19:46:02

13 Year Old Girl Catches Record Striped Bass

Published on 2011-01-04 22:22:52

Last March, I did a post about a 14 year old girl catching a Kentucky state record muskie. That was impressive, but this past fall, she was outdone by someone younger. I heard about this about the time the story came out, but never got around to post

13 Year Old Girl Catches Record Striped Bass

Published on 2011-01-04 22:22:52

Goals for 2011

Published on 2011-01-01 01:01:19

Welcome to 2011! As I mentioned last year, I prefer to do goals rather than resolutions. And this year, it happens to fall right into the Writing Prompt that the Outdoor Blogger Network posted earlier this week. Last year, most of my goals focused on

Goals for 2011

Published on 2011-01-01 01:01:19

Year in Review: 2010

Published on 2010-12-31 08:03:41

This year was very good to me, fishing-wise. Here are some of my 2010 stats courtesy of Fish Swami: 2010 Stat Summary � Related posts:Year in Review: 2009 Review: Fish Swami Three Month Year Goals for 2010

Year in Review: 2010

Published on 2010-12-31 08:03:41

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