Three Svens

It was time for the annual pilgrimage to NorthWestern Wisconsin last weekend. The Three Svens were reunited and several other Svens drove up to lovely Lake Namakagon for the long weekend.

Those that came up on Thursday night missed the best bite of the weekend in the channel to Jackson Lake - not evidenced by Sven Jay's giant.



We did actually catch some nice pike. Nothing huge, but it was fun.




They also missed out on Sven John's pasta night - no special sauce required. The weather cooperated and we had a campfire while we waited for the straggler Svens to arrive.



Friday dawned bright and we headed out to all the shallow warm bays we could find. No fish...
It was so bad that to keep from getting skunked two of the Svens headed back to Jackson to catch anything with fins before the Dry rub pork needed to get thrown on the grill.



Sunburn? Check.
Windburn? Check.
Bearburn? Almost. A momma black bear and her 2 cubs were dumpster-diving at the Echo Point Lodge. All of the Svens that were off the lake ran over to watch the show.




Earlier in the afternoon I had asked of there was a dump around. When I was a kid we went to the Gunflint every fall. We used to drive to the dump in the evening to watch the bears dig through the day's garbage. A good time was had by all.
Fishburn? Nope, but there's always tomorrow...

Even the beloved rock pile of 46" Musky fame wasn't producing like we expected it to.

Saturday was a day of transition weather-wise. It started windy and partly cloudy. Then the wind changed direction and the clouds blew in. Then rain. Then more wind. Then it cleared out and was sunny. It was tough fishing. OK not that tough...



We tried most everything but to no avail. We had enough pike and bluegills for breakfast, so we were fishing for pride and fun at this point.

All the Svens trudged next door to the Echo Point Lodge for our annual steak night.

Now, I grew up fishing in the boonies. Running water and indoor bathrooms were foreign to me on fishing trips. If we wanted to go out to eat it was a 40 mile trip one way on a logging road. It didn't happen. So, gathering at the Echo Point for a grill your own slab-o-beef is something I can take or leave.

The first year we were catching so many fish, we didn't want to go at all. The Svens in the SS Mouse showed up an hour late and mostly frozen and were happy to stand near the hot grill.

Last year we moved the dinner up and found out that they don't light the grills until someone shows up to eat. Unfortunately, the first people don't get the best coals. A little hot for proper grilling. This year we gave them a half an hour, but nobody else showed up, so they lit them when we walked in.



That was it for me. I'm goin' fishing. Sven Jay came with me and we tried several more spots with no luck. When we got back the fires were roaring and the boys were playing cards. We watched Strange Brew - LSJ wasn't there to bring inane movies - (Dude where's my car? You've got to be kidding me!), so we went with a classic.



Sunday morning we had a fish fry and leftover french toast and packed up to go. As we pulled the boats up to the boat launch Sven Jay looked down in the water and said "Musky!" There it was, slowly swimming off into the abyss. Sure, Sunday the weather cooperates. There's always next year...

Saturday morning we planned to eat and get out on the lake. By the time all of the sleepy heads got up Steve - the owner - had been over to his brother's dock on the river and caught 50 walleyes. They were in the river and hungry.

Since the slot for Red Lake is under 17" with one over 26" and only 2 in posession, we decided to go out to the main lake to try to find some crappies and some bigger walleyes. We went back to Tyler's spot, but didn't find much. One nice walleye and one nice crappie after an hour. Steve called Tyler to tell him that his friend who doesn't know a jig from a downrigger had caught 26 walleyes in 3 hours. We decided to head into the river.

Tyler, Wally and I put on Rapalas and we trolled (it's a no wake zone) the mile up toward the dock. Wally had 3 walleyes in 2 minutes with a firetiger husky jerk. Tyler switched to a fire tiger Bomber and I switched to a fire tiger Thunderstick. We all caught fish. Lots of them. At one point we had a double and when I reeled in after getting Wally's fish off, I caught one too. We decided to sit there for a bit.



We spent the next 3 hours burning through minnows like there was no tomorrow. The only thing I can compare it to is catching sunnies off of Grandma's dock. Except these were the coveted Walleye - and nice ones - nothing smaller than 15" most 19-22".



We slowly moved our way up the river, emptying pools of their uncaught walleyes and then moving on. We had so much fun we didn't want to stop. Eventually we made our way up to the dock to find the Setterholm's just finishing up catching their limits! We got out, stretched the legs, unstreatched the bladders and had a leisurely lunch. After lunch we went to a few spots, but didn't pound them like before.

At one point Mike promised the last brownie to the first person to catch a fish. Tyler picked his spot and made the cast. 10 seconds later he had his fish and a minute later he had his brownie. After a while we decided to go back out to the main lake to try to catch some crappies. Once again the challenge went out for the first fish, this time only for a crappie. You should have seen the look of determination on Tyler's face - he was a man on a mission! He really liked that brownie.

Sure enough a little bit later he had a fish on - a crappie. Now to pay up. You see, Mike promised something he didn't actually have. The last brownie was in Tom's boat. Mike cast his line over the bow of Tom's boat and Karsten hooked up the brownie in a bag. Mike reeled it in and made good on his promise.

Unfortunately for us, we ran out of time - we had a dinner to attend. We trolled in our little channel and got a few strikes, but no fish.

We pulled the boats out and got cleaned up and went to the Setterholm's for another amazing meal. We all got our pictures taken with Luke - and everyone else and went back to the cabin.



I had planned on fishing from the dock, but Steve had both of them loaded up with paying customers. We went back to clean our fish and get ready to go. Steve had a 42" pike in a tank in his cleaning shop. He's a taxidermist too and the guy that caught it wanted it mounted. That pike was a pig. August trip anyone?

Friday morning came dank and cold with 20 MPH winds out of the North.

We cleaned our fish and made breakfast. By the time we got suited up it was raining steadily and the wind was even worse than the day before.





The wind and rain dropped the surface temps 5 degrees and the crappies weren't on the flats. At least we didn't catch very many. OK none.

We were all cold and wet, so we headed in to dry off and have some sandwiches for dinner. After we ate and warmed up Mike took a pile of clothes over to the Setterholm's to put in the dryer. Karsten, Todd, Luke and I went to the boats to see if there were any fish in the canals.

I threw my jig/slip bobber rig out into the canal and got nothing. Then I dragged it by some cattails. Pow - a big slab hit my bobber like a popper. Game on! I put a minnow on and cast past the spot. I moved it about 6 inches when the bobber disappeared. 14" slab.



A new minnow and the same spot. This time I dragged it about 18 inches and there goes the bobber - 13"slab. One more cast and another 6 inches of travel produced another 13" slab. How many could be hiding in that little spot? I think there might have been one more because Todd came over and threw in the spot, and got a strike, but didn't hook it. Then all went calm.

I moved over to the boat where Luke was casting down the canal. He hooked into something that gave him quite a fight. It was a 23" walleye. Out of the slot and 3 hours early. Back it went.

I got to go up to Red Lake this opener with Tom Allen and Rick Binder et.al.

We drove up Thursday morning and got to the lake around 4:30. Mrs. Binder's parents have a cabin at a little development some guy built a long time ago. He cut canals and an entrance to the lake. The lake basin is really shallow for several hundred yards out, so docks are out of the question. Plus on that big of a lake, the waves that whip up would beat your boat to death in a storm. Mrs. Binder's lot isn't developed, but it is on the canals, so we kept our boats there.

We stayed at Bear Paws Guides http://www.bearpawguides.com and had a few blocks to go to get to the boats. We loaded up our stuff, went to get Tyler - the guide - and headed out into the big wind.

Did I mention the shallow part?
The big waves part?
The brand spanking new Lund 18 Fisherman that Rick got at the boat show?

Let's just say that boat control with the OB tilted as high as possible to make it through the sand bar is a bit of a trick. Add to that 3' rollers and you get some dicy moments. Like the triple wave set that we almost dove into the third wave. It actually cleared the bow on Tom's 18' Crestliner and they took water over the bow. Thank goodness for bilge pumps! Eventually we got the speed figured out that kept the bow up and the motor out of the muck and kept us from getting pounded by the rollers. It was a wild ride. Do not try this in a little boat.

We made it over to the North side of the lake to a spot Tyler has been fishing for Crappies since ice out. It was on the 5-6 foot break line. He had one on within about 30 seconds and the fun began. We caught 34 crappies and tons of walleyes on 1/16 oz. jigs and minnows. Mike Binder caught several in a row on a jig with a beetle spin white plastic body.



The only thing that stopped the fun was the setting sun and the fact that we were a mile or so across the lake and we didn't really know where we were going. We found it before dark - and it was a fantastic sunset by the way - and the Setterholms had dinner all ready for us. Wow.

Last weekend I worked on the SS?? seats. I sanded them down and then tried a few different methods for finishing them. The spray didn't go down evenly enough, so I let it dry and I sanded it down - again - and tried a spar varnish.

Then it rained. And ruined the first coat. I put it in the garage and put a fan on it to dry it out. I guess only the spots that were too thin to begin with were actually damaged, the rest was fine.



I decided to sand it down a little and throw on another coat. It has sat a week now and I sanded it down tonight and will put another coat on it tomorrow.

Four days to Namakagon.