Question for RK

[MLmusky]

Rob,

Appreciate the information you are contributing to this HSOforum. Just a quick general question, what are your home waters, or what are MN waters you spend the most time on?

Thxs...

[RK]

Hiya -

I have the luxury of being pretty mobile so I tend to sort of go all over the place. Generally speaking though I like the Bemidji/Walker/Longville area when I can get there (have a place to stay in Walker so I'm there quite a bit). My cabin's near Pelican Rapids so I fish the DL/Pelican area a lot too - not just for muskies though. Great multi-species fisheries around there so I do a lot of bass fishing, plus when I'm at the cabin the kids are around so I do a lot of the panfish thing with them. I haven't been on Mille Lacs much this year, though I've fished it in the past quite a bit, and haven't been on Vermilion in a couple years at least. The one area of the state I rarely fish is the Metro lakes, even though I live in St. Paul. Do fish the tiger lakes some at certain times of year but usually if I fish the Metro I'm either bass fishing or fishing the river... I don't handle crowds well so the metro lakes sort of turn me off even though I know there are some great fisheries there.

So short answer: all over the place:) If I can choose though, I'm heading to Walker or Bemidji...

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[B420]

RK,

Did you happen to work at Camp Fish back in the day?

[RK]

Yep - 87 to 92...

[B420]

Lots of great memories from that place, I attended for 3 years 86-89 maybe? Learned a ton and always had a blast. Since that closed is there any similar camps like that for kids these days?

[10,000 Casts]

RK,

Bemidji and Big DL are my 2 favorite lakes that I spend most of my time on, we'll have to get together some time. Also, what magazine do you work for?

just curious,

John

[RK]

Hiya -

Yeah, CF was a once in a lifetime deal...I can't measure how much I learned there over the years - not to mention meeting many wonderful people... Lots of old CF guys in the fishing world to this day. Charlie Moore is tournament director for the Professional Walleye Trail, Dan Bodingheimer, who's a regular on FM, guides up on Pokegema, Dan Craven writes for the In-Fisherman, Outdoor News, and is one of my regulars at The Next Bite - Esox Angler, Trevor Sumption is marketing manager at Aqua -Vu, Bob Jensen hosts Fishing the Midwest...on and on. Many many good anglers went through those doors...

There have been a couple attempts to start something like it over the years, but the location was such a huge part of what the place was, and there's no way to duplicate it...like I said, it was a once in a lifetime thing I think...

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[RK]

10k -

I'm the editor of The Next Bite - Esox Angler, and the Managing Editor of Fishing the WildSide's new digital publication, which is coming soon. Also do some writing for the In-Fisherman and a column for the MN Outdoor News (which is what I should be working on right now...heh)

If you ever see an 18' Tracker Tundra with a full windshield on Big D, flag me down and say hey..

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[10,000 Casts]

I had no idea that you were the editor at esox, great magazine. When I graduate in may with a talk in Advertising, I will send a resume... hehe. maybe you can point me in the right direction. also, DL has been a good lake this year. But on the other hand, have you noticed that most of the skis have bigger heads and smaller body mass? I think that lake is going to have a real forage problem in the future. What do you think?

[Scoot]

10,000, I realize your question was to RK, but I'd like to comment. I agree with what you said through the month of July and early Aug, but the last dozen fish we've caught out there, which have come in the last month or so, have been fat. Some of them REALLY fat. I think the feedbags have been on and they're really packed on the pounds over the past month or so. They should just get fatter over the next month too.

Have you caught skinny fish lately or are you thinking back to fish you've caught over the summer? RK, how have the recent fish you've caught out there looked (in terms of girth)?

[10,000 Casts]

hey scoot,

I havn't fished DL in a Month or so (school started) I have been fishing Bemidji since that is where my boat is. but I am glad to hear that the fish are getting fat. I was a little worried. I know that lake has a ton of forage that can support a large population of skis but it just seemed like all the fish that we caught in June/July/August were skinnier than the fish that we were catching elsewhere. I was also wondering if the boat traffic had something to do with it. We have always had better luck at night and very early mornings. Thanks for the info

John

[RK]

Hiya -

I do think the heat was tough on them this summer and it did affect their condition in mid-summer somewhat. They were pretty far out of their comfort zone when water temps were in the mid-80s there for a while. Last time I fished before I quit because of the water temps and started beating up on the bass instead, I had a follow from a fish that popped up behind a bait into the surface water, followed it for 6-8 feet, then sank back down like it was on an elevator...it was like it got into that 80 degree water and went 'nuh-uh...' There's no doubt high heat stresses muskies, and it probably did have an effect on their overall condition.

Fish do seem to be in pretty good shape now. 51 I caught on saturday was in marvelous shape and the one Sunday was a flat-out horse. But individual fish may vary - fish are different. Some of them are pretty lean, especially the younger males and low to mid 40-inch females. They're teenagers basically - growing fast and stretching out. On the other hand, a mature male in the same size range is probably done getting longer and just getting fat (kinda like me - heh...). A lot of times you can sort of look at the head of a fish and tell they're a mature fish. Have caught some fish with really gnarly, bony old melons...

In fall a lot of the weight the bigger fish carry is egg development too. Real late in the fall you can actually see the egg skeins on the sides of a big fish. I have a picture of a 35 pounder my wife caught in late October a few years back where you can see the bulge of the ovum on the side of the fish plain as day...

Overall I guess I'm not too concerned with the forage base there. If you look at the survey numbers they're pretty solid across the board on forage. Not many perch in there but there weren't from the start for whatever reason.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm