"Time on the Water".....Quote #11

"Turned on the television for a few moments this morning and there was Willie Nelson talking to Rona Barrett, the Hollywood gossip queen. So this is what things have come to while I've been away fishing. The beautiful people have clasped ugly old Willie to their bosoms. To them he's real. He writes down-to-earth songs about life. All of a sudden, I had this tremendous urge to grab Willie by his ponytail and scream, "What do you know about life? You ain't ever fished for muskies!"

-Bill Gardner

"Time on the Water".....Quote #10

"Well, here I am in Reno, Nevada, one big-time gambler in a city of two-bit pikers. Look at all these people at the blackjack tables. You call that gambling? Blackjack is nearly a one-to-one proposition. Where are the guys who play the long shots? Who around here is betting 10,000-to-one odds? That's what I do each time I throw out a cast. And that's just for a keeper. Who knows what the odds are on a 30-pounder."

-Bill Gardner

"Time on the Water".......Quote #9

"Back in California the earthquake experts like to say the "big one" gets a day closer with each passing day. I feel the same way about muskies. I'm a day closer to my big one than I was yesterday...There's a thin line between success and failure this season. One cast...A good season is 99,999 casts that don't yield the lunker and one cast that does. A bad season is the same, except for that one cast."

-Bill Gardner

"Time on the Water".....Quote #8

"I took Musky Marsha out on Big Lake today, and we did't catch anything, but did have one of those experiences that makes musky fishing exciting. After a couple of hours of no action, suddenly there was a musky right behind my lure at the boat. He was good-sized, probably about 40 inches, and he showed no inclination to dart away so I kept my lure moving and he grabbed it. But before I could set the hook, he was in the air right by the boat and was off and gone in a flash. That's the thing about musky fishing. Even when you're not catching any, you have encounters with them, frequently heart-stopping encounters. I'll probably remember that musky I didn't catch longer than most of the walleyes and bass I have caught."

-Bill Gardner

"Time on the Water".....Quote #7

"I gave Birch Lake another try today and...didn't catch a fish...Stan Godfrey arrived and went out on Crab tonight with Mike, but they didn't catch any or see anything big. They ran into Terry Tassi on the lake, and he didn't catch anything either. That's one nice thing about musky fishing. If you don't catch anything, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Everybody understands."

-Bill Gardner

Finale to the March Break Ice Fishing Frenzy....

It has been March Break here at Vermilion Bay Lodge, and while in the past this has been our chance to split to warmer climates, this year we decided to hang out at the lodge and do more ice fishing. Over the past two days we have fished Clearwater Lake (Holly above with a whitefish)....



......and a lake trout. These were the only two fish we caught! (###note: NewMexicam has pointed out the "snowmachine lure" that this trout was caught on. Yes, it's true, and it almost swallowed the whole seat!)




Even with a number of holes and fishermen! That's fishing.........

.......there is always the fire and some food to take your mind off the slow bite.

When things get real boring then take a drive. Here we are at.......can you guess where? If you said Caribou Lake then you are correct. Anyone who has ever been there will have caught bass around this large boulder.

The next day Susanne and I ventured back to Teggau Lake (500 feet deep, remember?). We did pretty good in a couple hours..........

......probably 7 fish caught, with these four kept.

On the way home we did some adventuring and came across a fresh deer carcass and some wolf tracks.........also a whole pile of deep slush. This picture doesn't do it justice, but getting stuck in 12 inches of slush is not for the weak hearted. We survived to tell the tale. Weather has warmed and things are wet........perhaps a trip to take gas into the portage lakes needs to occur soon.

"Time on the Water".....Quote #6

"So it's Friday the 13th, so what? Musky fisherman aren't

superstitious. You never hear about a musky fisherman

refusing to change his lucky socks. And there's a good reason

for this. Most musky fisherman never have enough luck to

have lucky socks."

-Bill Gardner