TennesseeGuy

Scroll up a couple of posts for ice & snow photos. Fishing was great. We still had hundreds of acres of ice floating around in 2004 when I had my best ever pike fishing during the May 15 week.

Red Lake is relatively deep and usually late to have ice leave, but the Chukuni River will be open and you'll be able to land on shallow lakes to catch tons of walleyes and huge pike.

I want it to break up 2 or 3 days before I arrive. Let the fishing begin.

A day or two I posted some ice pictures for the Red Lake area from back in 2002. I'll try to bump the thread to the front page.

Here's Red Lake for the 2002 walleye opener which is the third Saturday of May every year.

Red Lake is relatively deep and holds ice longer than some lakes. We flew from the Chukuni

River and landed on Little Vermilion which is a fairly shallow lake that usually breaks up early.

That's fresh ice close to shore.

We flew over this lake that was shore to shore with ice.

Part of Little Vermilion still had ice.

I plowed through this to make it from camp through Middle Narrows to the mouth of Rathouse

River where the walleye bite was on.

And back to camp for a walleye dinner. Actually I hit a secret pike bay for a couple of hours

on the return trip. GREAT!

Fishing was excellent through Wednesday, but we woke up to this Thursday morning.

Here's what a happy fisherman has for lunch. Leftover walleye from the lake, green onions

from my garden and a beer from the beer store.

Two pounds of scallions are in my garden right now getting ready for next month's trip.

This wasn't Ear Falls, but it's about 65 miles north of Ear Falls.

Ask Dave Winfield about gulls. He knows.

Good fishing. Good report. Great timing for your fishing trip.

Happy birthday Monique.

Great job. Thanks for bringing it to us.

I didn't blink during the first episode. It was outstanding in HiDef. Our sun was given a lot of credit for a lot of happenings.

It has to be the greatest production I've ever seen.

Trapshooter, I stand corrected on males being first to leave. Actually I didn't know whether males or females left first, but I've had a couple of occasions when I caught bigger (female) walleyes just downstream from the spawning site after males were found much further downstream. Something to do with nature caused them to be there.

I've gone in several times when the spawn lasted well into open season for walleyes. It's no problem, just don't kill any females. Identifying males is no problem because the slightest squeeze will cause them to let you know how glad they are to see you. And they squirt it all over your seat and equipment.

Shining a light into the water at night during the spawn is an exciting time and will show that males outnumber females by a bunch.

I'll be on the water May 11, just 8 days before the walleye opener. I'm sure that we'll have a few small walleyes hit our large pike baits.

Males are smaller and easier to catch after the spawn, so they might be what you've been catching. Find out the location of major spawning sites in the lake and go to work on those. I've found that females (larger) leave the site later than males. As they leave, they find areas they like and stay there a couple of days. Some might stay behind a few weeks or more. You might find areas that are almost bank to bank with walleyes as they leave the spawning area. Finding them might mean going farther upstream than you've been before. Two people could pick up a hundred in one hour.

If you're not finding them upstream, try the river mouth from 9 p.m. to midnight. The larger females might be coming in then and may be sticking around until 9 a.m. or so the next morning. My next step would be the deeper water out from river mouth. Next take a look at points away from the river mouth.

Be sure you're spending time and money where the fish are.

Since you're fishing pretty far south, there might be a shiner spawn as early as the May 24 week. You'll find them by casting pike baits into the shallow water. When you crank your bait through the water you'll see minnows jumping. Fish the spot a couple of times a day until the shiner spawn is completed.

When you find walleyes you can expect that pike found them first, so be ready for a pike bite.

Catching small walleyes is a good sign.

Happy Birthday Wayne.

When I first noticed you on the board I assumed that you were a grizzly old pilot who was at least in his last couple of decades. Then I learned that you're a couple of months younger than my son. Now I see you as a person with a lot of experience, who has done a lot of things in a relatively short period of time.

Have a good one.

TG

Nice job. You're off to a good start.

Bea loves to swim. Also likes to play in snow

Here she is spotting fish for our next trip. She loves flying so much that she boarded

an unoccupied plane when a door was left open.

Ice is thick on Nungesser and they're still making more.

A new member needs some help. Anybody out there who can put him on the right track? He seems like a pretty good guy.

Thanks.

Here's more sunshine for victims of cabin fever

Shot from mouth of Nungesser River

West Bay

More West Bay

Outlet - Early September 2003

Outpost Bay

Otter Narrows

Big Rathouse Lake as seen when leaving Whipsaw Creek

North Bay

I see these every day and they warm my heart.

Maybe not my best photos, but appropriate for today and the time of day.

I took the shot. That's not me leaning into the window of #20.

Here's a closer shot. Smoke scatters the crowd when he leaves the garage area and when

he returns from the track. This was taken October 26, 2002, either the last race or last year

garage passes were available to racing fans. It was an exciting morning for me.

Good report. Good trip.

My stomach doesn't care what size walleyes make their way to it. We're looking forward to the third Saturday in May.

I'm no help with your question, but am wondering if you're watching your boys take on UNC?

Thanks for the kind words guys. Actually the scenery was great and hard for this point and shooter to mess up. It was the kind of October trip that carries me through until the next May outing.

grt1, it's jig, jig, click, jig, jig, click and sometime it works.

Great shots to help jump start me on a cooler than usual day. Did those dark gold walleyes come from deep water?

I have two Stradic 2500, Extreme 6' M combos and they're great for walleyes. They don't mind pulling in a nice pike every once in a while.

Beatrice and I were the only humans on Little Vermilion Lake for most of the week. Sometimes Bea is a dog.

We had spent a long day on the water and were picking up a few walleyes in Surprise Bay, just across the lake

from camp.

Bea likes for me to fish with the sonar signal on so she can tell when we're over fish. We were definitely over fish

and she anticipated seeing my rod bend. That's the signal for her to go crazy until a fish is boated. When releasing

a fish I must hold her collar with one hand and release the fish with my other hand or she'll be overboard.

Bringing a wet dog into my boat in October isn't fun.

Minutes later Brett approached in his Beaver, came by to say hello and to let me know to bring in a couple of extra

walleyes for the evening meal. I got one photo and was set to take another when he reached our boat, but as he

got closer Bea was frightened and tried climbing up my face. No picture.

We had a great meal of fried walleyes washed down by the appropriate fluid. Bea and I stayed a few more days until

moose hunters came in. We had the plane to ourselves back to Red Lake and then hit the road in our van for the

1465 mile ride to Tennessee.

Leaving the north country on the final day of the final trip of the year is a sad experiece.

Right, no passports. We want a parole.

My friends at Red Lake are experiencing -11 F. right now. I doubt if they're shopping for carbon credits today.