July 30, 2008

Good evening.  And it is a good evening (weather wise).  We have been on a stretch of beautiful weather and some pretty good fishing too.  Our guides are busy, and like they say that's good.  We have been fishing Gull, Whitefish, Leech, Mille Lacs and some others.  The walleyes are still eating some of our bait, but they have a lot of natural stuff to choose from as well.  My best trip as of late was up on Whitefish, but our guides are doing well on Gull as well.  Jeff did very well up on Leech last weekend on the walleyes as he was doing some guiding out of the Chase on the Lake.  All of the guides have some good stories from recent trips where they are putting their people on some nice fish and some good action too!  Jeff just called saying they caught a big pike and just the other day Bruce and Toby put their people on some big ones.  I was out fishing on the dock the other day with my son and bagged a 5 pound 12 ounce largemouth, it is my biggest to date.  The fishing has been good, so make sure to give us a ring or an email if you are looking for some "bites".  We had the superstars up here last week and caught some nice fish.  It's always a treat to fish with these fellows!  For now it's time to haul groceries, so I will report later.

Good night,

Walleyedan

July 13, 2008

Hello out there.  I know you haven't heard much from me for a few weeks, but it's hard for me to type in my sleep.  We have been so busy on the water, that by the time I get back to the computer I have already been spent.  But, I am going to get a little break here this week and will hopefully freshen (rest) up a bit.  We (our guides) have been hitting it pretty hard and catching some fish.  Gull Lake continues to be our most popular lake and I will say it is because of a few reasons.  One is that it continues to produce all species for us even though the walleyes were a little tough last week.  We also hit Gull so hard because that is where a lot of our trips originate.  We have also been on Whitefish and a number of other small lakes in the area.  If you want walleyes, we will hunt them down with you.  If you just want action, we have been having fun tossing a mushroom head jig up into the weeds with a piece of Berkley Gulp Alive.  I have been having my best luck with the 3 inch emerald shiners, smelt or black shad.  This stuff really works!  I was at Mills Fleet Farm yesterday in Baxter for the kids fishing day and had a fun time visiting and handing out goodie bags to those that registered and went through the whole course.  I even got a nice Ranger hat from a gentleman that lives here locally.  I complimented him on his hat and I think he got the picture that I really, really likes it!  He gave it to me, what a guy.  I did tell him however that I will get him a Walleyedan hat.  The Ficks just left town and once again they left with more sweatshirts, t-shirts and hats than the average Joe.  Thanks you guys for your business and I always love hearing the trash talk on the water.  Hey, Tim Carroll are you out there?  I am sorry that this report is so late, I told you that I would give you some ink.  Since the trip with you and your family, the walleye bite has been a little tricky, even though we have been able to produce on certain days.  You guys had a good day and I hope that everyone was able to eat as much as they could!  We hope to have you back next year so we can keep the streak alive!  Thank you for your business.  I best be getting to the shop!  Time to clean the boat and get ready for a road trip to E.P. for Grandma Brens viewing and funeral.  She was a gem and God has a swell one in her!

Talk to you soon,

Walleyedan

June 24, 2008

Good evening all of you.  It's a beautiful evening here in Lake Shore, Minnesota.  I was on the water for 1/2 of the day today and then spent some time with the family.  We did a little putt, putt at Pirates Cove.  The fishing has been good.  I had a perfect trip the other day while fishing with John, Joe and Ann Pecoraro on Mille Lacs.  They wanted to fish smallmouth bass and walleyes and we scored on both.  We started the trip fishing smallmouth and finished up on the walleyes in the shallows once again.  The largest smallmouth was 19 inches and the largest walleye was 26 1/2 inches.  John and Ann had a legit double on big walleyes that they both put the jig right on top of.  We were using Gulp Alive emerald shiners on the walleyes and Rapala XRaps, Skitter Pops and Zara Spooks on the bass.  Today's trip with Brian and Tom Ranney was a bit slow, but we did come in with 5 eater walleyes.  Tomorrow we are back on the water with Federated Insurance and will be looking to catch enough fish for our Lost Lake Lodge shore lunch.  You would not believe the lunch spread that they put on at Lost Lake Lodge, you might just want to make a special trip up to Lost Lake Lodge and do some eating.  My new Ranger 620, courtesy of NisswaMarine.com is the the real deal and I honestly have had more compliments in the first few weeks than I have on any other boat during a full season.  Tim, Toby, Bruce and Jeff have been putting in a lot of time on the water, but things are going to start really cooking as we move into July so if you are interested in booking a trip with one of us make sure to call and book asap.  Make sure to stop by Mills Fleet Farm if you are in the neighborhood to check out some of the new photo's on the kiosk.  I best be getting ready for the rack because tomorrow is another busy day.  I would like to stay up and watch the Twins beat the Padres but I need sleep.  Hey, I just got a call from Jeff Anderson and he told me to tell you that the muskies aren't biting in Wisconsin.

Good night,

Walleyedan  

Hello.  Hope all is well, and I hope you are getting more rest than I am.  I am just a we bit sleepy after spending almost everyday on the water as of late.  The fishing has been fun.  I have been traveling to a number of different lakes in the area and have had some good fun.  I will have to say that yesterdays trip with Patrick, Mike and John was one that I will never forget.  We started the day on Mille Lacs fishing for smallmouth bass and after only tying into a half dozen or we found a "honey hole".  We were in 2 feet of water and we were sight fishing big walleyes.  Yes I am serious!  We ended up landing 11 or so, large walleyes (24-27 inchers) by tossing our black shad Gulp Alive in front of their nose.  Yes, we were sight fishing walleyes at high noon with mostly sunny skies overhead.  Today, we had the Federated Insurance crew out on Gull Lake and we needed to catch fish for shore lunch, we succeeded and even had leftovers.  The walleyes on Gull were eating red tail chubs in 16-20 feet of water.  Tomorrow I am going to fish with Flash in the a.m. and John Heinmiller in the p.m..  We will be working a few lakes near Walker in hopes of catching some big ones.  I finally have my new rig!  My Ranger 620 (wheel) is rigged and running.  I am so happy with the performance of Ranger Boats, I am sold for life!  I still have some tweaking and minor rigging to do, but it is almost set.  I stopped at Fleet Farm tonight and picked up some rail adapters for my rod holders.  Hey, did you hear that Toby Kvalevog (one of our regular guides) placed 3rd at Cass Lake while fishing the FLW tour?  Well he did and now he will most likely have the big boy tournament bug.  Congrats 2Crank, we are happy for you.  The 25th annual Confidence Learning Center fishing classic took place last Saturday on Gull.  I fished with my dad and wife and we had a good time.  We didn't win bragging rights, but it was a fun day and I am glad we participated.  Al Lindner was the emcee and did a fantastic job, what a guy.

Good night,

Walleyedan

Happy birthday Molly Jo, I hope you have a good day.  I will be on the water if you are wondering.  The fishing remains strong!  We (our guides) having been doing quite well most days.  We have been on Gull, Pelican, Mille Lacs, Leech, Round, North Long, Hubert and I'm sure I'm missing some others.  I went chasing smallmouth bass yesterday for the first time this season.  I was with the Wunderlich's (Jeff, Todd and Blake) and Todd showed us how it's done.  The X-Rap did the trick and it so happened that he had the magic color and it was the only one in the boat after Jeff broke the lip on his.  7 of the 9 smallies that we caught were between 3.5 and 5.5 pounds, just think what is going to happed when they start biting....can't wait!  The walleye bite around the area has been good.  Occasionally we get a few nice one's, but if you are looking for action it's been pretty good.  I am thinking of heading up to Leech Lake today, but I will have to ask Chris where she wants to go and we'll go from there.  I had a nice trip the other morning with Dennis Kamstra and Dennis Neeser, we got on the water early (6:00 a.m.) and had a great time.  The fish we are finding are coming out of 12-17 feet and we have been jigging and rigging with shiners.  For those of you that are not aware, we have moved to a new location in Nisswa and we have added a couple of new names to our list.  Bruce Meinz is now our number 4 guy and Jeff Anderson is our number 5 guy.  We have been pretty busy, but remember we do have a fill-in list that is full of "good guides", so please do not hesitate to call if you are looking for a fun-filled day on the waters of Minnesota.  We will be ordering up some new Walleyedan wear, so if you are up in the neighborhood make sure to stop by our shop and check things out.  The new Ranger boat is in!  I have not run it yet, but it is here and being rigged.  The Ranger Boat that I am running right now is a dream and I have NEVER run such and awesome rig!  If you are interested in buying a Ranger Boat, go to www.BuyARangerBoat.com.  If you are looking for tackle or anything else under the sun, head for my favorite store....Mills Fleet Farm!

Have a great day,

Walleyedan

I hope your Memorial Day weekend has been a nice one.  It's Monday morning at 7:08 and the air is a little cool at the moment, but overall the weather has been nice this weekend up here in the lakes country.  The walleyes turned it up a couple of notches this past week and we had some awesome trips with happy customers.  Tim Hanske and Bruce Meinz found some fish that were biting on Friday and that alone boosted my confidence level.  I had been thinking that the fish still hadn't come through the channels but now I am really wondering what the scoop is.  What ever the case, Saturday was a great day on the water.  I looked at a few different areas and finally found a school of those hungry buggers.  The Kozads and I had a fun a.m. trip where Allison had the "hot hand".  If only she could have hung onto her Walleyedan hat and Nancy had issues with her pink Walleyedan hat too, it's a goner.  Anyway, it was a fun trip with fun folks from Burnsville.  Happy Birthday Ron!  In the afternoon, I fished with a group of 4, Mark, Bill, Tim and Ron.  I had fished with 3 of the 4 before and on this day we had a little more comfortable weather, except for a pretty stiff wind.  I was thinking that coming across the main body of Gull Lake was going to be a little brutal but I was wrong.  I am not saying this because I want Nisswa Marine to sell more boats (even though I want them to), but I am completely sold on Ranger Boats.  Unbelievable how awesome the ride, if you are in the market for the best fishing boat I honestly think it's Ranger.  And I have only run it for a couple of weeks.  The one I am using is for sale (I think) and is soon as mine is wrapped and rigged, this one will be ready to hit the water and it's already broken in.  Call Nisswa Marine at 218-963-2292 and ask for Ranger Rick.  Also, please tell them you read this report.  Maybe they'll give you a screaming deal, maybe.  I have the day off today and I think it's time to look at options for the fish cleaning house at the new shop.  Maybe we'll get the family out later on, we'll have to see.  By the way, the fish were biting on spot tail shiners and Lindy Rigs in 12-16 feet of water.  They are also eating Northland Fireballs too.  If you have been thinking of coming up and fishing, it's the time.  Our guides are rigged and ready and there are some open slots on this weeks calendar.  If you are not completely rigged and ready for this 2008 fishing season, you should probably get into Mills Fleet Farm ASAP and get all of your fishing essentials.  Have a great Memorial Day and thank you to all of you service men and women who have been and who are currently out there protecting our freedom.  Thank you!

Walleyedan 

May 16, 2008

Good morning people,

Hope all is well in your life.  I have been scrambling to try and get everything attended to, but it hasn't been an easy task.  The Governors Opener was very fun and it was an all around well planned and well attended event.  Thank you to all of the organizers and all that donated money and time to keep this awesome tradition alive.  This was the 60th year and I aam very thankful that I was able to be a part of it.  The Pawlenty's are real people and I hope to get a chance to fish with them in a different setting sometime.  Now that the fishing opener is behind us and turkey season is pretty much wrapped for our family, it's time to focus....big time!  I'm not sure if all of you are aware, but we are at a new location now.  We are located in Nisswa, across the street from the water slide.  We will have set hours very soon, but right now we are coming and going at all hours.  We are not a full-fledged bait shop, we are a guide service with a comfortable and clean setting where you can hang out, have a cup of coffee and wait for us to clean your fish.  We also have some shirts, hats and other goodies.  We do have a bait tank where each of our regular guides will keep their bait.  The convenience will be tremendous.  If any of you have a clue where we can round up a fish cleaning house, please give us a ring or an email.  My new Ranger 620 fishing boat is supposed to be done today and hopefully it will be wrapped and ready sometime next week.  Nisswa Marine, my boat sponsor has been so kind to let me run a brand new Ranger 620 in the meantime.  I was out the other day breaking in the engine and wow what a rig that is.  I am so excited to get mine all rigged and ready, I can't even wait any longer.  I think I will be out today on Whitefish, they say it is going to be 75 degrees, but windy.  I was out on a trip on Monday with Tim Hanske and two of my regular customers.  We hit Round Lake and ended up with decent action, but more northerns and bass than walleyes.  We did hook a nice 27 and 3/4 inch walleye on a jig and Gulp Alive smelt (3").  I really believe in this stuff.  Mills Fleet Farm has a very good stock of this stuff and they are selling the heck out of it!  Get some, it works!  The crappies are sunnies are biting.  Yesterday was Mac and Elizabeth's birthday.  Mac turned 6 and Elizabeth 8, we had a fishing party for Mac and his friends and a nail salon party for Elizabeth and her friends.  Mac and his friends each caught fish and thanks to Bruce Meinz it was a success.  Without Bruce's help it would have been very tricky.  Grant caught the biggest fish of the day, a 3 pound bass on his 4 foot rod (Spiderman rod?).  The girls, Lily and Claire caught the most....the girls usually do.  O.K., now for my oldest daughters turkey hunt.  It was incredible.  We had one day (just south of Brainerd) that the birds were all over the place but we did not end up scoring.  We called one in to about 25 yards but Alex did not get a good look at it.  I felt like a calling champ as we got it to come back after being up to within 100 yards.  We ended up closing the gap after it had left and then I used my stuff to get him to get right back on us again.  No shot, but awesome memories!

Gotta go,

Walleyedan

May 4, 2008

Good evening,

It was a nice weekend, today was exceptional.  We got rid of a lot of ice and I am quite surprised how fast it went.  It's not totally off right now, but I just got the report from the sky, no not from God.  I got the report from Brent Wiczek who was up flying this afternoon.  He said there was a small patch out in the middle of Mille Lacs, a patch on the south end of Pelican, an area on the east side of Gull and in Steamboat and Wilson Bay, and he also said there was quite a bit of ice up on the Whitefish Chain.  Most other lakes in the Baxter, Brainerd, Breezy Point, Lake Shore and Nisswa areas are ice-free.  How are the walleyes going to react?  hard to say until we get out there and get after them.  I am not ready yet, but I will be ready by the time Saturday a.m. rolls around.  I am still waiting on my new Ranger 620 (courtesy of Nisswa Marine.com), not quite sure when it is going to be here.  On opening day, I will be hosting Governor Tim Pawlenty and the first lady and this means I won't need my boat.  I will be using John Janouseks' for the day, hopefully the walleyes will be attracted to it.  I will have a Ranger loner for the first few guide trips of the season and I am anxious to run my first Ranger boat.  I spent a couple of hours transferring tackle into my New Mills Fleet Farm tackle boxes.  I do still have a lot of work to do before "game time", but hopefully I will be ready to rock by Saturday a.m..  Right now I am a little wiped because I have been trying to get everything done and things don't always work that way.  So I guess I will keep on keepin on and see what is next on "the list".  I'm having some new rods made and they should be done by Tuesday, can't wait to get some reels on them and get fishin!  If you are wondering where to get your fishing tackle, Mills Fleet Farm is the place.  They have an unbelievable selection of baits, line, rods, reels and everything else under the sun.  If you are by the Baxter Fleet farm, make sure to stop and see the turkey video at our kiosk.  My last turkey hunt of the season will take place starting on Mother's Day morning with my daughter Alex.

Have a good night,

Walleyedan 

May 2, 2008

Good morning,

It looks as though we had a little moisture fall from the sky over night.  That is a good thing, we need all of the ice melting we can get right now.  We also have wind as I look out and see the tops of the trees swaying in the breeze.  We need to bust up that stuff fast!  The opener is only a week away, oh boy.  Lots to do.  I will be up at Breezy Point on Pelican Lake for the Governors Opener and I will not be the only one, it should be an exciting time and that might just be an understatement. I have the honor of guiding (hosting) the Governor and the 1st Lady.  I suppose I better get some rods rigged and make sure I have the "goods".  These next week will most definitely be one of my busiest to date.  I have some work to be done with Mills Fleet Farm and then it's media time and all of the hoopla that surrounds this huge Minnesota tradition.  I am still deciding what presentation is going to be the ticket.  Will it be the standard Fireball and a spot-tail shiner?  Will it be a Lindy Rig and a red tail chub?  Will it be one of the Mills Fleet Farm exclusive Rapala's?  Or will it be a jig and a Gulp Alive emerald shiner?  Hard to say, but we will do our best to get some of those whitetails to bite our presentation.  Doesn't that sound good, a walleye dinner about now.  Hard to say what Tom Whitehead has up his sleeve or what Toby Kvalevog is thinking but it will be fun no matter how you slice it!  There will be about 100 other "hosts" that will be kicking off the season at this event as well and as most of you know, this area of Minnesota is loaded with awesome anglers.  I have to go now or the kids will be late for school and I will be late to open up the garage sale!  Have a great day and say a prayer that the ice is gone by midnight next Friday.  BuyARangerBoat.com.

Have a great weekend,

Walleyedan

April 26, 2008

Good morning, or is it?  It's 6:23 a.m. and as I look out the windows all I see is white.  I have not been out, I have only opened the door for the dog but it looks like we have a few inches and it's still snowing.  What a great day for a marathon, or a fishing tournament, or an annual golf outing, it's kind of a bummer but the Lord knows we need the precipitation up in these parts.  So I guess we should just continue getting ready for our garage sale (next weekend at our new shop in Nisswa) and just enjoy the day.  We have big news!!  I am hosting the Governor and the 1st lady on opening day up on Pelican.  I received a phone call earlier in the week and hearing the news sent chills throughout my body.  I am completely honored and look forward to all of the hoopla.  Tom Whitehead will be hosting the Lieutenant Governor and I guess it's going to be a competitive day on the water.  I guess we will have to pull out the bag of tricks and put some of those Pelican Lake walleyes in the boat.  Toby, one of our regular guides will be hosting as well and he is holding out on who he will have in his boat, what an exciting time for the area.  We are only 13 days from the "big day" and things are going to be quite crazy from here on out.  It has been one fantastic year thus far for us.  From signing on as a spokesperson with Mills Fleet Farm back in January, moving out of our previous location and into our new "spot" in Nisswa (across from the waterslide), to our continuing relationship with Nisswa Marine, things are going well for our business.  We are thankful and feel very Blessed.  The ice is still covering Gull lake, so I would say that in about 7 days it should be out of here!  Boy, do I feel for those turkey hunters that are opening their season today.  It would certainly be a good morning for snow camo.  Perry Bunting, a friend of mine is out with his son Wyatt (who is 8) this a.m. and hopefully they will get a crack at a big tom.  I was down to Lake City earlier in the week with Kent Blake (a friend) and I bagged one of my biggest birds to date, a 24 pounder with a 9 inch beard and 3/4 inch spurs.  What an awesome hunt that was and we got a lot of it on video.  Hopefully we can show it at Fleet Farm one of these days.  The next turkey adventure is going to be the week after opener when my daughter Alex will try to call in and shoot her own bird......we'll see how that all shakes down!  She will be using one of the calls that Flash made for her.

Gotta go,

Walleyedan

April 17, 2008

Good evening.  It's between periods 2 and 3 of game #5 of the Wild and Avalanche and it's about time to give you a little update from the lake country.  Hey, I just saw my mug on the Mills Fleet Farm commercial for the second time (isn't that special).  Anyway, all is well and all is happening up here.  The lakes are starting to loosen up, the turkey season is on, our guides are getting ready to rock, I spotted my first pair of loons, Bar Harbor might be sold, My new Ranger 620 (courtesy of BuyARangerBoat.com) will be here by opener, the Governors opener is closing in on us, the wood ticks are out, the snow is gone (finally) and yes I bagged my Merriam (wild turkey) in South Dakota.  I should have had my two birds in the bag by 4:00 p.m. opening day but one of them came in silent and I wasn't able to drop him on the fly.  Next up is my Minnesota hunt, hopefully that will be a success as well.  I have a couple new friction calls thanks to Flash.  The most recent call he made for me is a glass call with a photo of my bird from last year (under the glass).  He also made my daughter a couple of friction calls, one of which had a photo she took on our first hunt together.  We had a guide meeting tonight and had some good discussion.  At this point, we are going with 4 regulars (myself, Tim Hanske, Toby Kvalevog and Bruce Meinz) and will then work with our list of fill-ins.  The trips are starting to roll on in and it looks like we will be having another busy season.  Bruce had asked if we have had any crappie trip inquiries and the answer was no.  But, I told him I would mention it in my report and hopefully some of you will get the crappie itch and want to come on up once the ice breaks.  Oh, oh the Avalanche just scored twice (3-1).  Let's go Wild!!  I am going to plant myself in front of the television for the last 6 minutes and see if I can cheer them on.  Call or email if you are interested in booking your open water crappie or walleye trip.

Good night,

Walleyedan

April 9, 2008

Hello, how she go?  I hope all is well with you, things are just fine here in the woods of Lake Shore, Minnesota.  Except the fact that we still have snow on the ground and the reports say there is more to come!  Let's hope they are wrong.  It's kind of tough to say we don't want it because we certainly need more water in our lakes and that is very, very important....thanks God.  I have not been on the water or the ice for quite some time because of my schedule here on land.  I was over in Green Bay, Wisconsin last Thursday and Friday for the Mills Fleet Farm sport show.  It was cool, and not only did I get to work in the friendly confines of Lambeau Field, I got to meet a lot of people (including jumpin John Gillespie) and was able to listen in and learn from some of the gurus from Garmin, Hummingbird, Berkley, Minn Kota, Lowrance and others.  Overall it was a great experience and I hope to be at the fall show.  I have heard a lot about the new Rapala Subwalk and now I have some to check out on those monster smallies over on Mille Lacs come June.  The opener is only 30 some odd days away and it will be time to get things rockin once I go bag a couple of Toms (turkeys).  I can not wait!!  Yesterday I was digging through some of my gear and of course my son "wanted some stuff".  I gave him one of my mouth calls and he is making sounds and probably isn't too far away from a yelp.  He is only 5 years old, so don't tell me you can't use a diaphragm call. It's a good thing to learn when that wily gobbler is in tight but you need him to move a hair or two in a certain direction.  I will be anxious to call in my first bird with one of my Flash calls.  They are homemade and Flash is a call making machine.  Things are busy around here and there seems to never be a dull moment in the business world.  I want to thank Mills Fleet Farm, Nisswa Marine (BuyARangerBoat.com) and the Mills Auto Group for there support.  I also have many, many more people to thank including the folks at KFAN radio for giving us the plugs.  They will be up at Grand View Lodge for the opener and we will be providing some gear and possibly a guide.  I will be involved in the Governors Opener up at Breezy Point. The area will be buzzing to the max that weekend!  For now, it's off to a meeting at G.V.L..

Have a great day,

Walleyedan

March 30, 2008

Hi, how's it going?  It's 9:35 p.m. and all is well.  Just got done watching the Big Give.  Normally I do not watch television, but my wife was talking about this show so I figured I would hang with her and check it out.  It was pretty good, it's an Oprah show.  Any way, that's my story about that.  It was a nice day up here in Lake Shore today and I didn't do much, and you're not supposed to on Sunday.  Although I did gather a number of my open water rods and started to do a little inventory.  I also went on a little bike ride with the kids and maybe this is something I should keep doing with the turkey season right around the corner.  Last year when I went to South Dakota turkey hunting it was not a good situation as far as my out of shape body, my legs wore out and I ended up having to back down the hills because my quad muscles were tore.  I am getting absolutely psyched and can not wait to hear my first gobble of the '08 season.  There are a lot of things going on and it's just going to get busier as we approach the open water season.  I spent a couple of days last week at some of the Mills Fleet Farm stores (Oakdale, Brooklyn Park, Hudson, WI and Lakeville) and enjoyed my time talking with a number of the employees on hunting and fishing.  Saturday I was on the road again and road tripped down to Owatonna for two seminars at the Home and Recreation Show at their Four Seasons Center.  Great people, long drive.  I did meet Joy and Darcy, who own Bear Paw Lodge near Armstrong, Ontario.  They were very nice as well and I think I am going to try and get the family up there for a week this summer.  I would love to bring the new Ranger up there and do a little exploring, we'll see.  This is going to be another busy week and it is going to be capped off by Tim and Kaarins' wedding.  Just got word that we have a little weather moving in tomorrow, not sure if I want it to be rain or snow.

Gotta go,

Walleyedan

Good morning to you.  It is Easter weekend and I'm sure you are getting ready to go to grandmothers house or you are getting your house ready for grandmother.  We are having Easter at our little house in the woods.  We went to Good Friday service at church last night and it was a good one.  I hope all of you have a nice Easter weekend with the family.  I had a busy week and visited 4 of the Mills Fleet farm stores (Fargo, Fergus Falls, Alexandria and St. Cloud).  It's pretty neat to see all of the different stores and meet some of their personnel.  I will be working with Mills Fleet Farm in a variety of situations and I am extremely happy to be working with such an awesome family run business.  If you haven't shopped Fleet Farm for your sporting goods in the past, I would say that you have been missing the boat.  They have an awesome selection of fishing and hunting gear.  And of course everything else under the sun.  If you are heading out into the woods to hunt turkeys this spring or are getting pumped to wet a line in the Rainy River, you should make a stop and check out the latest in products.  One product that I am going to load up on is the new perch colored Northland Fireball jig.  As far as the turkey scene, the new Skinz that go over your decoy are really a hot commodity.  The Skinz make your decoy look like the real deal!  My last time out on the ice was Tuesday when I fished one of my favorite pan fish lakes.  The "bite" was on and I had a blast catching crappies and sun fish.  We ate some sunfish last night and the kids gobbled them up, I guess I need to escape for another outing very soon.  Well, I guess for now that is about it and I will have to get back to you when I have something else to say. 

Go gophers (hockey)!

Walleyedan

Good morning.  It is 8:44 a.m. and we woke up to a light dusting of snow up here in Lake Shore, Minnesota.  It's spring break for the kids and two of the three stayed up with me last night to watch the gophers beat the Minnesota State Mavericks from Mankato.  Wow, was that a series.  I'm hoping the Pohl boy is doing o.k. this a.m..  I did not fish this weekend, instead we headed up to to Cross Lake to watch the St. Patrick's Day parade.  We stayed overnight at the Whitefish Lodge and Suites.  What a nice place, the kids were loving the bunk beds and of course the pool, hot tub and sauna.  The home made waffles were a big hit on Sunday morning.  I would highly recommend a stay at this hotel, they have it all and are also walking distance to Rafferty's Pizza and to Cross lake, which is on the Whitefish Chain of lakes.  The snow is still hanging around up here in the north country, so you sno-birds might want to stick it out for another week or two.  But, when you get back it might be a good idea to call and book your fishing trip, we are starting to get a fair number of bookings.  The walleye season will be kicking of on the 10th of may this year and it will be a very exciting opener and Mother's Day!  Governor Tim Pawlenty will open up the season on Pelican Lake in Breezy Point, Minnesota.  Hopefully I will have my new Ranger boat by that time (buyarangerboat.com).  I have talked with a number of people and everyone is getting pretty pumped up for the open water season.  I was in Fleet Farm the other day shopping for the Arts In Bloom auction the other day and it got me in the mood for open water.  The Fleet Farm shelves are looking pretty well stocked and once again they look to have the largest selection of Rapala lures on the planet.  I best be going, the list of to do's is long.

Have a great break!,

Walleyedan

March 10, 2008

Good morning,

How are you?  I am a bit relieved, our computer issues are being resolved and it is starting to make me feel better.  I got some help this a.m. from Antonio and I think he may be the most intelligent person out there, or maybe I should say the second most intelligent person out there besides God.  He really did ease my mind on this computer stuff.  So anyway, winter is over!  Thank goodness.  I fished a couple of times this weekend and struggled on both occasions.  Once with Toby and Tim and the other was with the Inglemans.  Both trips were fun, but the fish did not want to cooperate.  I am hoping that with the nice sounding forecast that things will really start shaping up under the ice.  We have a lot going on in our lives, but I think with a warming trend things will go that much smoother because we are going to feel better mentally.  It's been a pretty long winter in the woods.  I went hiking with the family yesterday and it was nice to be out breathing some fresh air.  After the family walk, Alex (my oldest daughter) and I went on another hike back in the woods.  We brought her new pellet/bb gun that she won at the turkey banquet.  She is a pretty good shot.  We saw a lot of turkey tracks and I can not wait for some of this snow to melt so we can go back and get some birds to respond to our calls.  In the meantime, if any of you readers would like to fish we are more than ready to get on a good pan fish bite.  We will continue guiding on the ice until it is no longer safe to do so.  It sure does seem that a lot of people are ready for spring, we have been booking a fair amount of open water trips already.  One thing we would like to do this spring is more pan fish trips out of the boat.  If you would like to chase some crappies around, call and book a trip.  I would guess that the best times are going to be the 10 days leading up to the walleye opener (May 10).  I hope all of you have a nice week and I will be talking with you soon.  Congrats to Hill Murray on being the 2008 state highs school hockey champs.

Walleyedan

Good Friday morning to you and yours.  Sorry for the late report, but I have been on a whirl-wind tour the last couple of weeks.  It all started when my wife surprised me with a cruise to Cozumel and Grand Cayman.  It was our first cruise, and we had a great time.  Perry and Cindy Bunting and Dave and Jenny Bessingpass came too.  From ice to the Caribbean, pretty interesting.  I didn't fish.  After returning last Friday we stopped at the Miami boat show and then for a quick stroll around south beach.  Then it was on to E.P.,  where we stayed at my parents and then headed down to the U of M Aquatics Center for the YMCA state swim meet where the Brainerd Dolphins won the whole kit and kaboodle!  Nice job coaches and swimmers.  After the meet I road tripped over to Appleton Wisconsin to have some meetings and photo shoots with the Mills Fleet Farm people.  I will be doing some work with Mills Fleet Farm and it should make for a good time for all.  I will keep you posted on what this will mean, but I will tell you that we are running the guide service just like in the past.  My position with Mills Fleet Farm will allow me to stay on the water where I do my best work (most of the time).  Fleet Farm has an incredible selection of fishing and hunting supplies and is consistent with their affordable prices on the goods we need for the water or the field.  Last night was my first time on the ice in quite some time, Tim Hanske handled the ice fishing stuff while I was away.  Last night we had a group of 17 executives from the Best Buy Corporation and we had a good time.  They caught 6 or 8 walleyes and a bunch of perch, we were just happy that we had some action.  The walleye season closes on Sunday and I am still trying to decide on whether or not to take the kids out to the fish house for their first sleep over.  I probably should.  Wow, won't that be fun!

Talk to you soon,

Walleyedan 

Good Sunday Morning,

It's 8:10 a.m. and myself and Daisy (our goldendoodle) are the only ones up in this household.  It's not the norm, but yesterday was a very long day and our little guy has the nasty croopy cough going on so the more sleep the better.  We were at the section swim meet in Grand Rapids yesterday and that gets to be a long day.  The swimmers did very well and a lot of them qualified for the state meet which is held at the U of M aquatics center in two weeks.  I was last on the ice on Friday.  We had a couple of trips on Gull Lake, one big one (25 people) and I finished up the day fishing with Glenn and Sandy Cook out of the Sno Bear.  The Otto Bock group trip was pretty slow going, but the people had a good time and seemed quite happy just being out on the ice.  We didn't get skunked, the one gentleman won the whole pot for the first, most, biggest and smallest!  Not quite sure what he got for his accomplishment, but he did catch the only walleye!  The trip with Glenn and Sandy went better, they each caught a couple of walleyes and we had opportunities at a number of more fish.  Fun outings.  The walleyes we caught were roaming the "edge" in about 15 to 16 feet and they seemed pretty hungry when they showed up.  The Jigging Shad Rap was doing the trick as were the tip-ups with a Creep Worm and a small shiner.  The weather has finally mellowed out a little and now that we have a couple of feet of ice we should be good to go for the remainder of the season.  Hey, it's super bowl day.  I do plan on watching the game on the Ericksons  70 inch big screen, should be fun.  My guess is that it will be a good game but I think Randy Moss will be the deciding factor late in the 4th quarter.  If you would like to schedule a late ice crappie trip up to Red Lake, let's line it up now.

Have a nice week,

Walleyedan
www.walleyedan.com
218-839-5598

I am a year older today (40), but on the bright side we are a day closer to the 18th annual Brainerd Jaycees ice fishing extravaganza.  In fact we are really close, the gun goes off tomorrow (Saturday) at noon.  I'm pretty certain most of you readers know what I am talking about, but if you want to read more, go to icefishing.org.  I will be out on the ice tomorrow and will also be trying my skill/luck.  So far in my 16 years of fishing, I have not scored any prizes.  I have caught fish (walleyes and perch, but I haven't caught anything big enough to get on the board.  We will just have to see what is in the cards for this year.  Maybe my lucky t-shirt will do the trick.  If you want one, we will have some for sale at our Sno Bear (and also at our shop) so make sure you come by and pick one up!  We also have some fancy new stocking caps in many colors including pink.  If you are looking for something to do before the contest, swing on into Grand View Lodge tonight for the pre-party.  I look for fishing to be pretty good this wekend with the warm weather coming in.  We spent some time on Gull and Whitefish this week.  The fishing wasn't awesome, but we did catch some fish.  The largest was caught by Shawn Ryan of Rosemount who caught a beautiful 21 inch walleye on a jigging shad rap.  If any of you are interested in a pretty cool ice fishing excursion, sign up for a guided trip in the Sno Bear.  Take a look at the fishing page if you want to see a picture of the Sno Bear, it's wild!      

Walleyedan

Walleyedan's Guide Service
Dan and Shelley Eigen
9287 Anderson Rd.
Lake Shore, MN. 56468
www.walleyedan.com
218-839-5598

Hey we're at 0 degrees, we're having a heat wave.  I was thinking that we would be at 20 inches of ice by Saturday the 26th, but with this most recent blast of cold air, I think we might be at 2 feet!  The furnace went out a couple of times over the weekend when the temperature was 20 below, not really the best situation.  But we did survive!  I am hurrying and scurrying to get all things situated for my p.m. Sno Bear trip with Marc Ryan and his son who are heading up for the evening "bite".  I think I might head up north and check out one of the honey holes that I fished this fall.  The Brainerd Jaycees ice fishing extravaganza is 5 days away and the excitement is going to be building by the minute.  I plan on having the Sno Bear set up in the vendor area and we will be selling some goodies, make sure you find us and check things out.  If you want some warm clothing, this might be the week to check out our line of Arctic Armor.  My last trip to the ice was on Friday night when Keith and Michelle Hennen (from Jordan) were out with me.  We set up the bear on the Bow Tie and caught 1 walleye and had another tip-up that we didn't score on.  Let's just say that the cold front is to blame for that slow bite.  I better get my rear in gear, isn't it amazing how the time fly's.  If you our up here in our neck of the woods, make sure to stop by our new shop in Nisswa and check things out.    

Walleyedan

Walleyedan's Guide Service
Dan and Shelley Eigen
9287 Anderson Rd.
Lake Shore, MN. 56468
www.walleyedan.com
218-839-5598