While Gord is sleeping the boys will play

While things have gone quite to the North, the fish are still biting in the bannana belt. The Professor, Wild Bill, and Andy ventured out on to the big pond at Milwaukee and found a few cooperative Rainbows. After fishing these trout with light tackle it has me thinking about fishing those Lakers at VBL in the spring!

Andy

Last trip up the creek for '09.......

It was the last chance to put the boat away on McGregor before conditions were too bad. Since I had the wrong key the last time I tried (seems that has happened before!) I needed to make a second trip. Susanne volunteered to come along.

I thought the snow melt on the lily pads was interesting.

The creek was fairly high at the beginning but went downhill quickly. One new beaver dam we had to pull over and the last 50 yards we had to pole through due to the low water.......but we made it!

Snow on the ground on the portage trail.......with leaves still on the bush and trees. What an unusual Fall.

Finally, the right key to unlock the motor! A couple rods to test the waters. I was anticipating a walleye dinner that night. Unfortunately I must not know the Fall pattern on these waters. Go to "Plan B".

O.K.........well at least the whitefish are in the same location as per usual on Clearwater. Unfortunately the lake trout wanted to bite as well, and since that season is closed we left them to their spawning or post-spawning rituals. We returned home slightly frozen to the core, but several warming cocktails and a dinner of fried whitefish put us to right.

All is well on the portage lakes......the boats are put to rest for the winter, the fish await the challenge of the anglers in 2010. The ritual continues...............

Vern "Andy" Anderson passes away, 10-11-09

I am sad to report that my father-in-law Vern "Andy" Anderson passed away today. I'm glad he was able to make two trips up to VBL in the last few years of his 75 years. He spoke warmly about the memories of fishing with Gord, having lunch with the Mitchells in their cottage, and most of all...fishing with his grandson's Shawn, Kyle, and Patrick. Of course, in order to enjoy that, he had to put up with his 2 son-in-laws.

Vern was an amazing father, son, husband, and grandfather. He loved the outdoors and taught me a lot about hunting in fishing in the 33 years that I knew him.

If you have been thinking about taking someone dear to you to VBL lodge the last few years....do it soon. Life is too short.

Andy

Welcome to October 10th.........

Maggie checks out the first snow of the season. Probably won't stay, but the forcast for this weekend (Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada) is for more snow and cold temperatures. Perfect turkey weather!

The muskie rod encased in snow........waiting for the rematch with the "lunker".

The boat is ready to go.....but the skipper is doing some insulating in the addition today....bummer.

I did go out onto Vermilion Bay about a week ago. Fished two spots and had a medium sized follow plus caught this little guy. The colour on this fish was a vibrant emerald green and silver.....the photo doesn't really capture it, but some of it shows up. Click on the picture to enlarge it and you'll get to see what I'm talking about!

Good Year for Lakers at VBL

I've been chasing after lake trout on Eagle and Clearwater for many years. This summer proved to be very good for me. I landed six that went 30 inches or better. Lake trout in this class are terrific fighters and, for me, are more fun to catch than any other species. The big ones usually come while trolling deep down in the Trout Holes of the West Arm of Eagle. That method produced a 36 inch fish in August. I wish I had a picture of that beauty to show you, but I was fishing alone and couldn't manage a decent shot after unhooking it. Watching it rise to the surface after a 15 minute battle is something I'll remember for a long time. It was released unharmed and I watched it's image on my sonar unit as it swam back to 75 foot depths. It was one of four really nice fish I caught that day.

The Trout Holes have never produced a lot of lakers for me on any given day. I have to work pretty hard for these fish, which usually means hours of trolling, searching for fish and trying to trigger strikes. And I'm not always successful either. I spent close to nine hours trolling on a beautiful September day that produced one half-hearted strike. No hook-ups and no fish makes for a very long day. Sometimes that's how it goes when trying to connect with a brute.

But then there is Clearwater Lake. There are lots of lakers in Clearwater, along with whitefish and quality pike. I like vertical jigging in deep water for these trout using the "Lewis Rig". My friend, Andy, came up with this system which consists of a .75 ounce silver spoon and a white hair jig tied on 24 inches up from the spoon. We use 10 pound test FireLine with a flurocarbon leader to catch a nice combination of lakers and whitefish. The fishing can be exceptional when you catch a strong bite.

Most lakers will run about 21 to 24 inches. These fish are a ball on light tackle, but this summer I got surprised twice by big trout in Clearwater. I had a 33 incher take the jig, and on a different outting, a slightly shorter, but much fatter fish, slammed the spoon. That's the one pictured in this post. This fish could not be sucessfully released. Gord weighed it at 15.5 pounds and said it contained a good size whitefish in it's belly. A filet from that laker will be going onto the grill someday soon.

Most anglers who fish out of VBL ignor the lake trout fishery in favor of walleye and pike. Perhaps this post will stimulate your curiosity. If so, I suggest you reference the lake trout primer that Gord and I wrote. I think you'll find it helpful. It's located on the VBL web site.

Fall Walleye Index Netting.......

.......or F.W.I.N for you fisheries biologists out there. This is a method of sampling to determine health of a fishery. Back 7 or 8 years ago the MNR did one on Eagle and this week they are doing a second one. Three crews are doing netting samples from all areas of Eagle Lake......one crew happens to be going out of VBL. Today, because of motor trouble on their boat, I had to help out with using my boat to pick up the three nets set in Vermilion Bay.

As you can see it is not always walleye that find these nets! This muskie (maybe 38 inches) was just tangled around some of it's teeth and was released. They are trying to avoid setting nets where muskie might be found, but on Eagle Lake that is pretty tough to guarantee.

One of the tubs with the fish still in the net. Primarily walleye (of all sizes), a few pike, maybe 8 whitefish and a bunch of perch in total for the three nets I saw. Interesting to note that the best walleye catch came out of about 12 feet of water........the deeper nets seemed to have many smaller walleye in them. I will keep you posted on anything interesting that comes of this.......

Lodge Renovation Update.......

The windows are in and roof is on the addition.

A view from the North side. Note the small upper deck where I can shout out orders to Mike!

We even have floors! One more coat of varnish to do......at a later date.

Even the lodge is starting to have a different look. Roof is being prepared for the red metal.

Carved into the beam above the entrance......a friendly reminder of where you are...........