It Been a While!

It's been a long while since I last posted a blog. I had the feeling that nobody read them or gave a rats ass. People rarely get away from the TV or have enough of an attention span to read blogs. Yet a blogger should write because they want to, and why care if anyone reads it or not... or likes what you have to say.

My sister has been diligent about her blogging and I enjoy that. It give me a insight into what she has been doing and some of her thoughts without me being too intrusive. She is an artist living in Vancouver, Canada. Check out her blog and terrific artwork at lindsayjoyhamilton.com.

As for fishing. I had a great fishing season in 2009. My clients and I caught lots of fish all season long. The much colder than normal temperatures changed things substantially but we figured it out. I was truly impressed by the size and numbers of walleye we boated. We had days where we found 28 to 32 inch walleye in numbers feeding along a rocky shore or weedline. It was my best walleye fishing season to date.

I am concerned about the pike in the north arm of Rainy Lake. There are a number of issues that could be effecting the northerns there. Over fishing close to the border, (people who once feared venturing into the north arm are now using and depending upon GPS, a dangerous practice for the fish and fishermen), increased walleye population and competition for the crashing smelt schools, and netting. For the first time in years I found many long skinny pike in the north arm. Normally the fish are very robust, often very heavy for their length. I hope that the conditions change for the sake of the northern pike in the north arm. On the up side the size and number of giant pike caught in the south arm was way up for us this past season. There are some monsters lurking in the dark waters of the south arm, they just are more spread out and are often in deeper waters.

Smallmouth fishing was challenging. Due to the unseasonal weather the usual food sources were not there. As with the pike the reduced smelt stocks forced smallies to eat other less nutritious things. Mayflies didn't show up until late July. So the smallies relied heavily on leaches and crawfish. (It was incredible how many pike were eating crawfish and bullheads). These are not traditional feeding patterns on the north arm of Rainy so it took a little time to make the proper adjustments but when we did fishing was fantastic. I found four baits excelled 1. black or brown maribou or hair jigs. 2. dress these jigs with a Gulp Leach. 3. Lucky Strike Ragetails rigged on a wiggle jigs were deadly deep along sandy weedlines and rock piles. 4. Topwater poppers around emerged weeds or wherever we found some sort of insect life. Of course jerkbaits and flukes produced as always but they weren't as productive.

Finally, I hope all of you are having a great holiday season. I won't comment on the economy or the job situation...there is too much negative media coverage and nothing deserves that much attention if we have little control over it. Well, maybe... buy local, buy north american and don't frequent Walmart often. Most of all, be thankful for what we do have.

Seasons Greetings and look for more regular blogs from me. Remember to make your 2010 fishing plans early.

I almost forgot, a reading list!

Choke By Chuck Palahaniuk- Palahaniuk is on of my favorite writers.

Gomorrah By Robert Saviano- A look into the problem of organized crime in the Napoli and Campania regions of Italy.

Through Black Spruce By Joseph Boyden- Boyden in my favorite Canadian author. This is the companion to Borden's first book, Three Day Road. Read Three Day Road first if you can.