Always a good time with this guy! Conditions were ideal yesterday evening and many fish made it to the boat including a 20 incher. Mainly a jig bite along the weedline and brushpiles.

Stacey, Joshua, and I made our fifth family vacation/fishing trip together to Arcadia Lodge up on Big Turtle Lake. This was probably by far our best fishing trip to Arcadia Lodge!

Weather was hot and humid the first three days and cooled off a little bit. A couple of strong severe storms came through in the late evening and overnight causing power outages to all of the cabins. With the late ice out and the extreme hot temps that brought the lake temp up about 10 degrees, the smallmouth moved shallow to begin the spawn process and the fishing was fast and furious! I caught too many to count, but most fish were in the 3-8 feet ranging from 16″ to 18.5″. Everything seemed to work but majority of the fish were caught on the Clackin’ Crank, Pop-R, blade bait, jig & craw, and Ned rig.

Check video below for the full action!

My manager Ed and I went on a fun and educational little adventure with our guide Matt Doth of Mahigan Outdoors on the beautiful Vermillion River searching for the elusive brown trout this past Wednesday evening. Although we didn’t hook a brown, we had a blast catching lots of rainbows! Enjoy the video.

Unsettling weather but managed to get out for an hour chucking topwater frogs for largies. A fun morning now home safe and sound.

A fun cold, windy day exploring one of the many creeks in southeast Minnesota! The ultra clear water made it tough to sneak up on the fish but we landed a few.

Felt like a kid in a candy store today at the Northwest Sportshow. Pretty thrilled to pick up this Garmin Striker 4 Portable Fishfinder at a good deal! I can easily take it with me whether I am fishing from canoe, kayak, or boat, and even use it on the ice. Gonna be a fun season!

What a surprise! Stacey brought in the mail and a big envelope addressed to me from Mepps. A nice letter from “The Mepps Man” T. Layton Shepherd mentioning that my rainbow trout photo is featured on page 9 in the 2022 Mepps Master Catalog. Mepps rules!

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Well that’s a wrap to the 2021 open water fishing season. Many memorable fish catches and fun moments. My favorite was watching JT pull his first big 5 pound bass on opener and his big northern later in the summer. He’s growing up to be quite the fisherman. A rare bonus 25” walleye too over Labor Day weekend. Some good pike caught and released throughout the season, and discovered a few new lakes in the process. Overall a good fishing season!

Cold wind, freezing fingers, runny nose and BIG PIKE!!

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