2nd Annual Piggy Perchin' Party :D

[Paul Waldowski]

Location: Appeldoorn's Sunset Bay Resort on Lake Mille Lacs

Dates: February 27th, 8th, and March 1st 2009

What is this: This is a chance for all FM'ers to get out and do some Piggy Perchin' together. This is not a tournament, just a chance to get together, fish, and have some fun.

We will have a Grill out near where we are fishing for all to use. We will also pretty much be fishing as a group, or at least in the same general area. Whether you are a beginner, or a seasoned pro, everyone is welcome. This is going to be a ton of fun, as are all of these gatherings, so you don't want to miss out on this one.

The great thing about this year is that we can have our houses out on the lake an extra weekend . Anyone that prefers to sleep on the ice and try the late bite can do so this year.

You can check-in anytime after noon on Friday and Check-out is anytime before noon if you’re in a cabin, or 10 a.m. on Sunday for those in a Fishhouse as they will need to be pulled off the lake that day.

Rate is $80 per person, for the weekend based on double occupancy. Whether you prefer the comforts of a cabin, or one of our Deluxe Sleepers is up to you.

Don’t Wait! Call now to book your spot. Last Years event filled fast, as did our Fall Trolling Gathering and with some of the perch we are starting to see this one’s gonna be a blast.

[PerchJerker]

I've been to both Fall Trolling events and had a great time. Paul does a great job hosting these events and making sure everyone has fun, learns something, and has a chance to get in on the fishing action.

Unfortunately I'll miss this year's Perch Party, I'll be on LOTW on an annual trip we've been taking for over 15 years now.

[Paul Waldowski]

Still a few spots available.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Sweetness, I just made my reservations!!!!!! Cant wait!

[Deitz Dittrich]

Less than a week away.. whos coming?

[bassNspear]

i was excited to come, but had plans set already that i forgot about! Im retarded!

[Captain B.R.K]

I'm rounding up the troops (hopefully 4) to come up Saturday. Hoping the perch cooperate for us all! See you guys soon.

[Paul Waldowski]

Still have room for a couple more for this weekend.

Bite is still going good and I have Tony Roach out today scouting out a few new spots for folks.

[JP Z]

Paul,

What is the cost if someone wanted to just come up Saturday and fish? Since my folks are only 30min away we may swing in for some piggies.

[Deitz Dittrich]

EVEN IF mother nature hated me and had it out for my soul (which isn’t possible, because I am so loveable), she could not have laid down a bigger egg than what she did with the weather this weekend. What was she thinking? It’s the beginning of March for Pete’s sake (whomever Pete is, I don’t believe I met him this weekend).

The destination was Mille Lacs Lake, Appeldoorn’s Sunset Bay Resort; the event, the Piggy Perchin’ Party (to be known the rest of this reflection as the Triple P). Paul Waldowski, the general manager of Appeldoorns always knows how to throw a party, and this one I had to attend. This time was to be extra special, as I had called Paul to reserve one of the fish houses for the weekend, and then sprung it on my wonderful bride that she was going with me; heaven....a nice, warm house on the ice with my special someone.

My wife and I arrived at the office of Sunset Bay Resort to find a crew of anglers who looked like they had taken a beating from the fishing gods. Reports from the day were not so good. Ahhh...a challenge, something an angler of my supreme ability looks forward to. A good night’s rest, and the fish might as well just surrender and swim up the holes that I drill! I asked Paul which house we were in, and he let everyone know we would meet out at House 30 for lunch the next day at 1 pm for lunch. Paul informed us that he had cabins available (baaahhhh... I was staying on the ice like a man!!!), he informed us that the cabin had a flat screen TV (baaaaaaaaahhhhh I’m a man, I don’t need T.V.), it had a fireplace (baaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh, I don’t need a fireplace.), and running water (baa...“We’ll take it” was what I heard over my shoulder – spoken by my wife, credit card in hand.) It turns out my wife may have been one with the aforementioned “mother nature,” because we awoke to –18 degrees and bluebird skies. A high-pressure system had firmly planted its heavy hand over the exact GPS coordinates of Mille Lacs Lake.

We headed out toward House 30, which is nothing short of the Hubert H. Humphry Metrodome on ice. It has sleeping for an army and enough holes for an entire Vikings squad. Having felt the calming warmth of House 30, the wife decided to camp out there, while I went in search of the beastly perch, which was to be served for dinner. While at Cabin 30, we met up with Niko (age 12,whom I called George, because during introductions, I had accidentally called him Miko. I’m horrible with names and do much better if I just re-name people as I meet them.) “George” and I and the wife quickly laid down a huge 25-cent bet to whoever could catch the first fish! Soon, I had a monster 4” perch in my hands and was doing victory laps around House 30 (as mentioned earlier, it’s the size of Minnesota itself and no easy task for a fat guy like me to tackle a victory lap of). While my victory perch was not the only fish I caught before the 1 pm luncheon, it was one of only five, if my memory serves me correctly. It turned out I drilled far more holes than fish caught - not exactly the goal one has while fishing.

Lunch was fun. Great conversation, great food, a large, warm fish house - does it get any better? I say not.

With full bellies, we hashed out an afternoon plan of attack. Deeper water was our goal, and deeper water was found. My wife was the first to drop down her offering and set the hook into a fat Mille Lacs’ perch in no time. Things appeared to be getting better. We had found the mother lode..................... (of 4” perch). We dropped our Aqua Vu and spent the next hour watching hundreds of 4” perch. We moved several more times that afternoon, and managed a few more keepers, yet yielded nothing to really brag about. While leaving the ice, and licking my wounds, our party was able to meet up via cell phone with Mille Lacs’ Guide Tony Roach. Knowing it was that “hag” mother nature that had doomed us from the start, we explained how the fish had eluded even the best anglers that MN could throw at them. Tony said, “Yeah, it was a tough day, we only got 40-some keepers.” At that point I was hoping for a 40” Nills Master, as it sounded easier to drill a hole in the ice and jump in than stick my head in the frozen ground.

That evening we all enjoyed fishing stories (argh, Paul and I in Stuck Bowl 1 on URL, note: there has never been a Stuck Bowl 2 for very good reason...) and chitchat in Cabin 1 at Appeldoorn’s Sunset bay. If we weren’t going to catch many fish, we could at least kill a few brain cells and enjoy each other’s fishing tales from the year and year’s past. Keep in mind the rule to all fishing stories: no matter how bad it really was, it had to become slightly worse with each telling of the story.

In the end we devised plan “B” for the next morning. Which surprisingly enough sounded a lot like plan “A” from the day before.

Without much surprise, plan “B” was about as effective as plan “A”. Fish all over the Aqua-vu, but unless someone has invented a pliers that you can put in 28 feet of water to open their mouths and make them eat, we didn’t do much but watch them swim by.

Don’t get me wrong, fish were caught (just not often by me)! Our own keeper of the women’s forum on FM, decked out in her totally awesome wheeler and fish house, managed a 13” monster, one that was put back in the lake to provide hope for a later date.

Thanks to all who attended the Triple P. Without your company I may have been depressed by the fishing; yet as I type this, I consider it a great weekend. One always feels so welcome there at Appeldoorns...fishing is only icing (pun intended) on the cake.

Closed circuit to George (AKA Niko): I put your quarter in my trophy case, where it will live forever...or at least until you can win it back!

[glenn57]

HEY DIETZ, did you show em the dietz sprinkler or is that only for spearing GTGs? to bad the fish didnt cooperate. sounds like the catfish people faired better, being it was inmy back yard, almost, checked it out crazy.