Tour da MN

[Scoot]

I've leaving for a wedding tomorrow, then back Sun. Mon morning, bright and early, I'm taking off for three days of chasing skis on MN waters. We'll start very generally in the Bemidji area and see where we end up from there. Wish me luck!

I'll post pics when we get back (if we have anything worth posting)...

[porterhouse]

Good luck Scoot!!!!

Brian

[PDXFisher]

I arrive on the plane tomorrow, followed by three weeks of chasing skis. Starting West Metro for a couple days, then generally in the Bemidji area, followed by Nestor Falls, then back to Bemidji (well, closer to Northome, but I'll drive). Will be some URL in there somewhere for some Pike, methinks. After last year's five week debacle, I need some luck, too.

Good luck, Scoot!

[Scoot]

PDX,

I didn't realize this until now, but are you the fella I spoke to last year about DL? I believe a buddy of yours in Dilworth gave you my number???

Regardless, good luck on your trip- sounds like a hoot!

[PDXFisher]

Yes, indeed I am, I still have your number in my Blackberry (about the only thing that survived my trip last year)

Ended up going out with Brad Waldera...and got hailed on like you wouldn't believe. That was one of my better days...

If you have more days available in the next three weeks, lemme know!

[Scoot]

Yeah, I remember saying you took a pretty good kick to the groin last year. Look at it this way... it can only get better!

I'd try join you, but I can already tell you that there's just about no place to squeeze in another outting in the next few weeks. Three days next week, one day of work, three days at the in-laws for the 4th, 2 1/2 days of work after that, then to LOW for 4 1/2 days. After that, I've got some serious make up time to take care of when I get my butt back home. Somehow, I think I'll be paying for the next couple weeks for more than just the week that follows... Of course, I'll have to get my make up time in quickly, because I've got six days on LOW at the end of July!

Good luck on your trip- you should have fun and will do better than last year!

[PDXFisher]

You only heard a sampling of the kick to the groin. There was much more to come, including the wheel from my trailer passing me on 94 in Baxter. I had three muskies of at least 50" each get off, two within inches of the net. The only one I got to net in 5 weeks was around 20". Of course the weather only started cooperating when I left. I should be used to this. I swore off Muskies for the rest of the year, until I went to Kinkaid in March. That's a whole 'nother sad story (I got one at least).

We'll be at LOW at the same time. I hear it's a big lake, though

I'll be in Sabaskong Bay out of Nestor Falls, the 4th-10th. I'll probably try Crow Lake a time or two. After that, possibly Ballard's/Wheeler's Point for a while.

I think I wanna buy a kicker now. My luck is so bad there's no way I should go out on that big water with only one motor...as I know I'll be tempted to stray pretty far away from the dock.

I think my "luck" is contagious, you should probably stick to your side of the lake!

[Scoot]

I realized this weekend that I didn't post a follow up story of our Tour da MN. I suppose I was just busy when I got back, but maybe it was intentional forgetting!

We fished the Bemidji area for the entire three days. The wind blew like a banshee for Mon and Tues (25-35 out of the NW), so we fished some smaller lakes for most of that time. In total, we saw enough fish, but couldn't get much for takers. We had two fish hooked for about 10 seconds each, but both came off. First was a mid-40's that hit a bucktail- came unbuttoned after about 12 seconds. The second one was a perfect ending to a really tough trip- Jon hooked a low 40's on the spot that we had just said would be our last for the trip. I thought, "hey, we finally scraped up a fish... cool", right when it came unbuttoned. Grrrrrrrr! We tucked our tails firmly between our legs, packed up, and called it quits right after that.

Here's the only pic I took on the trip- it's Jon getting a backlash out after trying to cast into a stiff wind at the end of the evening. A perfect symbol of our trip...

[DHanson]

His rod guides being crooked probably contributed to his backlash.....

[Scoot]

His rod guides being crooked probably contributed to his backlash.....

My guess is that you think that's a 2 piece rod, with the top half screwy from the bottom half. Actually, it's an acid wrap rod (aka., Roberts wrap, spiral wrap, or a dozen other names it's been given) and it looks exactly as it should. The rod played no role in the backlash- it was 100% operator error in tough conditions. I had some myself, but I was sneaky enough to not get caught on camera...

[DHanson]

My bad. Never seen or heard of a rod like that. What are the advantages to have the rod guides aligned like that?

[Scoot]

Several advantages- greater casting distance, less twisting given that the blank is pulled from below rather than on top,etc. The differences are small, but since my dad's a custom rod builder, I can get it however I'd like, and I like the wraps.