Wednesday, January 24, 2018

200 Plus Crappies And Counting

10.5" VMC Fly/maggots
5:00-7:30PM Bulldog
Conditions: 23 degrees, Cloudy, Light S wind
Depth: 27'
I finally felt good enough to go out and do some fishing.  There are fewer houses on Bulldog now.  I was able to keep my bearings.  There were two other guys out fishing.  I drilled three sets of holes and never left the first set.  I was in a little shallower water than I had been fishing. I was really on my game and didn't miss a whole lot of bites.  They mostly wanted the VMC Fly/maggots.  Action finally slowed down around 7:10PM.  I brought home 9 fish to give to Jan.  Fish ran about the same size as always except for that one mini.

26 VMC Fly/maggots
8 Glow Demon/minnow
34 Crappies

203 Crappies For the Winter (Goal of 200 Achieved) 

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Bring It Home, Boys!!!

The Vikings kicked a field goal to go ahead in the game 23-21, but I was not a happy camper.  Too much time left on the clock for Drew Brees to drive into field goal range.  I thought maybe we had dem Saints on 4th and 10, but Brees made the play; Saints first down in field goal range.  Dammit!

Sure enough, the Saints kicker didn't miss. Ugh!

25 seconds left for Case with 1 timeout. I thought what a bummer it is that our season will end this way.  But 25 seconds.  That's not impossible to get into field goal range.  False start, that's fricken brilliant.  More thoughts on what a bummer the season ends this way.  Then the first completed pass to Diggs and the quick timeout.  My mind then shifted to the McCaffery touchdown last week vs. dees Saints.  Then I thought about Thielen's long touchdown catch vs. the Rams.  Then incomplete pass.  Incomplete pass. "Case man, we need some magic."  And then it happened "The Minneapolis Miracle".  There was Stefon Diggs catching the ball and running into the end zone and throwing off his helmet like a boss.  Joy, elation, disbelief in what I had just witnessed.  Awesome!!!

The best Vikings come back since that very cold day in December 1980 when I was at Met Stadium and witnessed the hook and ladder get us to midfield;  And then Tommy Krammer completed the hail mary Miracle at the Met to Ahmad Rashad and pandemonium broke out in Vikings nation.

Thank You, Case Keenum!  Thank You, Stefon Diggs! Thank You, O-Line! Thank You, Pat Shurmur! Thank You, Coach Zim!  Thank You, God!

Now Bring It Home, Boys and Win at Philly!!! 

Sunday, January 14, 2018

It's Playoff Time in the Cold Loud North

The Vikings D is healthy and was played lights out at the end of the season.  The O has shown the ability to move the sticks and score points all year.  I really like our chances vs. Brees and the Saints in the "House of Pain"(©Paul Allen).   The big question mark for me is how will Case play?  Up until this point, Case has answered all my questions rather well.  I expect that will continue.

Beat Dem Saints, Skol!!! 

Friday, January 12, 2018

2017 Fishing Goals Achieved (and Not)

Goals achieved in bold green
Goals not achieved in red
Partly achieved in purple
Commentary in blue

Fishing Buddies:
1. Fish with Dad at least 5 times. Dad fished with me 1 time.  Not great, but that beats zero.
2. Fish with Mike Thompson
3. Fish with Jim Bonin
4. Fish with  Mike "Spike" Miller
5. Fish with Jeff and Renee
6. Fish with Todd and the girls several times
7. Take Peter W. out in the Trophy at least once.
8. Take Matt W. out in the Trophy at least once.
9. Fish with Dave Lindmark
10. Fish with Christopher Glaze
Dream Fishing Buddies:
1. Fish with Josh Douglas
2. Fish with Al Lindner
Maybe I'll do better in 2018.  I would have to give myself a D for making an effort to get out fishing with other people in 2017.  


Bass Snatcher Goals:
1.  Get "Wood" in at least one tournament. (1st-3rd Place Finish or Lunker) If I would have landed that limit fish on the Mississippi I would have gotten 3rd place.  So Close!
2. Win my 1st tournament. (My best finish to date is 2nd Place.)
3. Get "Lunker" in a tournament.   (Preferably one over 5-8 to win the revolving big bass pot that I'm now entered in thanks to somebody finally winning it last year.  With 3 big bass lakes on the schedule there is a shot.)
4. Get paired with Chuck Fields.  (He usually only fishes a couple of tournaments a year so chances of it ever happening are not very good.)
5. Finish in the Top 10 at the end of the year.  (Something I haven't done since 2011) Not fishing Thunder sunk this one.
6. Catch a limit at every tournament of the year.  (I've done this twice, but in 2012 I only fished 4 out of the 6 tournaments due to a bad back.) A tough year for limits with only two out of 5 tournaments fished.
7. Pre-fish with at least 3 boaters. I pre-fished 4 tournaments, plus the Challenge Cup
8. List the Rods I'm bringing for each tournament before the tournament.

Technique & Tackle Goals:
1. Win something in Fantasy Fishing or Facebook giveaway/contest. Won a 13 Fishing Hat.  Had a terrible year in Fantasy.
2. Catch fish on a Lucky Craft Gunfish 117
3. Catch a fish on % of Mystery Tackle Box Lures
    3a. 1st Box 100% (5 out of 5) 3 out of 5
    3b. 2nd Box 60% (3 out of 5) 2 out of 5
    3c. 3rd Box 110 % (6 out of 6)
4. Catch a fish on the Rapala BX Waking Minnow
5. Catch a bass on the Salmo Bass Bug Caught pike on it several times, no bass though.
6. Get my brother Todd set up with a Frog rod.
7.  Officially Open the Tackle Warehouse this year. (I never did that in 2016)

Blogging:
1. Blog about anytime I reach a goal. I wasn't 100% vigilant.
2. Record all fishing trips at Fish Swami Think I missed a trip or two
3. Fish at least 150 days and blog about them 213 Days fished in 2017
4. Do a better job of blogging when the Elites come for the AOY this year on Mille Lacs. Failed spectacularly.  Heart just wasn't in it.

Fish Goals:
1. Catch Devin's birthday bullhead on May 20th.
2. Average 5 fish caught per hour. (4.08 in 2016, 3.62 in 2015, 3.55 in 2014, 4.41 in 2013, 4.31 in 2012, 2.77 in 2011) 3.99fph in 2017.  I just love topwater fishing too much.
3. Catch 3,000 Fish 3209 fish caught in 2017

Crappie:
1. Catch a new personal best. (Currently 14.25")
2. Catch* over 300 this year. (Caught 306 in 2016) 515 Crappies caught in 2017.

Dogfish:
1. Win my 3rd Minnesota Bowfin Club Grand Championship
2. Catch a MN State Record fish. (11-4  or 35" x 20")
3. Catch a new personal best.

Pike:
1. Catch* over 200 this year. (Caught 488 in 2016) 798 Pike caught in 2017
2. Catch a 38" or over/personal best.

Bass: 
1. Catch a 21plus inch or 6lb Largemouth
2. Catch a 21plus inch or 6lb Smallmouth
3. Catch* over 1,000 bass this year. 1,238 Largie and 26 Smallies caught in 2017
4. Catch* at least 25 smallies.  (I caught 24 last year)

Walleye:
1. Catch at least 30. 40 eye's caught in 2017
2. Catch 30" or new personal best. (28.5 is current PB)

Thursday, January 11, 2018

What I Caught Walleye and Pike On in 2017



40 walleyes caught total in 2017, so it was a good year for me catching ole marble eyes.  My goal for the year was 30.  Grass Pig led the way with 10 fish, followed by the Rippin Rap with 8 fish and the Jerk Shad with 6 fish.  I think I will up my goal for 2018 to 40 walleyes.

It was a banner year for pike with 798 fish caught.  My goal for the year was 200.





77 different lures caught pike for me.

Top 5
1.  Zoom Horny Toad (75 Pike)
2. Mad Maxx Frog (64 Pike)
3. Shower Blows Knock Off (57 Pike)
4. Bobby's Perfect Frog (51 Pike)
5. H2O XPress Jerk Shad (50 Pike)

I will definitely up my goal for pike in 2018.