Let's Talk Gear....

We've pared down the gear we bring over the past months, trying to dial it in just right and just tryin' to keep it simple and efficient. It certainly has evolved over the season, from one or two simple and versatile rigs to a serious catfish rig or two and some lighter rigs that can fill a few rolls. I think I have gotten it down to four rods in my truck, maybe five if I am feeling greedy, and all of them seem to do the job either down by the river or posted up on a lake. I guess it has a lot to do with the tackle box that accompanies them, but all in all. Everything is compact( I can bike on down to the river) and incredibly versatile. Here's a quick rundown of what I have found to be invaluable to me this season....

I guess I'll list 'em light to heavy. The first rig is an Ugly Stik Spin combo I picked up at Target. It's a 6’0” medium action rod with 30 size reel which I wound with 14 lb. Berekely Fireline. This little rig works great on the river, and I add a little bobber for hittin' up the lakes.

The second rig is also an Ugly Stick. It's a 7' Catfish casting rod with an old Abu Garcia 5500 C3 baitcasting reel set up on it. Right now, I think it's spooled with 30 lb. Stren Super Braid on the reel, and topped off with a light flexible steel leader. I add a baitcasting weight for the river and a topwater or shallow diving lure on the lakes.
The first of my two heavyweight rigs is yet another Ugly Stik. It is 7' Ugly Stik Tiger Bigwater, which is a medium action rod, although it feels much more burly for sure. It is set up with an Okuma Epixor EB50 spinning reel, and wound with hi-vis yellow 80 lb. Power Pro braid. The Okuma reel has got a clicker on it which is sure handy when your fishin' the river at night. It's a bit more sleek than all the rattles and cowbells I see people usin'. This is the one river-specific rod I keep in my arsenal, the other three are more versatile, but havin' this rod down at the river is priceless
Last but not least is a nice and simple muskie rig that is perfect for either the river or the lakes. It is a 7' Fig Rig Baitcaster with medium/heavy action. It is set up with an Abu 5500 C4 baitcaster and also wound with 80 lb. Power Pro braid. This one as well as my other heavy rig are both topped off with flexible steel musky leaders, and weights for the river. Like my smaller baitcaster, I can tie on musky plugs and hit up the lakes, or throw a big ol' circle hook and some weights and let it sit in the river

On Top...

We have been talkin' for a while about tying on a jointed rap to check out the action on the top. The fish have certainly been jumpin' and smashin' the baitfish on the surfacefor a while now. Brandon said he was killin' em the previous night , so I figured I'd give it a shot too. It certainly panned out...This had to be the skinniest smallie I have ever seen, if it had a belly, I think it would have been the biggest I have ever caught...

No Stitches....

Somehow, for once, there was no late night trip to the emergency room for stiches involved with this whole deal here...

Sucka...

Here's a little pencil drawin' of a sucker that I whipped up a while ago....

The Great Minnesota Get Together Part 3...

Here's another quick rundown of all the other things that I think make the fair simply amazing....

The kids & the rides...

Big fat patriotic dudes eatin' turkey legs and Jimmy Buffet dudes with sweet mustaches...

Big ol' smiles all the way around...

Big fat fish...


Incredible sales pitches...

Sweet chainsaw sculptures of clowns...

The lights and the sounds of the Midway...

Did I forget to mention big fat fish...

The Great Minnesota Get Together Part 2...

Here's a quick rundown of some of my personal favorite state fair fare....

Scotch Eggs...with maple syrup or horseradish....

Veggie Fries...hot sauce for me and ranch for Sarah and the kids

New this year...Big Fat Bacon...not quite Manny's but pretty good for sure

Of course some corn on the cob...

The biggest and best turkey leg ever

The Ron Schara Walleye Cakes are a must...unless you hate super amazingly delicious food

Last but not least, the smelt fry...also with hot sauce...wash it all down with a birch beer or some ice cold milk and it's heaven. I think I forgot a couple, and have heard about some amazing foods I have yet to try. I got at least one more trip to the fair, so I will fill in the blanks then.

The Great Minnesota Get Together Part 1...

Ain't it the truth...

17 lb. 8 oz. Walleye caught in 1979 on the Seagull River.

8 lb. 15 oz. Largemouth Bass caught in 2005 on Auburn Lake...

45 lb. 12 oz. Northern Pike caught in 1929 on Basswood Lake
We couldn't pass up the chance to get some sweet pictures taken with the state record fish replicas, thanks Phil.

Sweet Action Shot...

It just landed right in my hand, honestly...

Another River Story...

About two weeks ago, a group came down to take in the view and hang out for a bit. By the time they left, this one girl, Robin, who had come up to Minneapolis from New Orleans, had told me all about her brother Darren, how he had recently died, and how much he had enjoyed being next to the river. He had told her time and time again about the time he spent down by the Mississippi, and this one particular view he loved. She had come up to find this view and to finally see what he had been talking about all those years. So she had made this cross for him and posted it up on a ledge of a bridge. She had figured it would be a fitting memorial for her brother, looking over the river and the city he had loved, and went on her way...

The 70's....

A little bit of the 70's washed up on the shore of Lake Nokomis...

Bullhead, Catfish & ...Magicians?!

Andy & I had posted up on Nokomis with a pail full of suckers hopin' that the northern or tigers would be in the mood. Absolutely nothin' was goin' on, and apparently, the bite has definately slowed over there. So, when in doubt, put worms on the bottom, right?. Voila! Bullhead! Some people hate 'em, but man, I personally think that they are so very cool lookin'. And hey, catchin' fish is catchin' fish, right?

After the bullhead feeding frenzy, we wandered on down to one of our usual haunts on the river. With a handful of those suckers minnows still alive, we had some high hopes for some serious action. And, with all the carp that have been swimmin' around rooting for food for the last week, we figured that some crawlers and corn would be a sure fire backup plan. Well, the carp did nothin' but pick us off the entire evening, and I missed four or five fish personally. It was positively comedic, here's how it would go down... I would get a taker to start pullin' line, and the minute I would grab my rod there would be nothin' for ten minutes. The second I would put it down, that damn fish would burn more line and I'd pick up and then, nothin' again. This went on for what seemed like an eternity. For a little while there were fish workin' both my lines like that. I was goin' back and forth from one to the other and ended up with a whole lotta nothin', except stress.

Andy ended up catchin' his first fish on a sucker minnow, and it was a sweet fish for sure. Brandon got a nice one too, and, at some point, we were joined by a homeless magician who had wandered up and offered up some card tricks.

Now, what are the chances that some dude, who reeks of vodka and had come stumblin' out of the woods around midnight, is goin' to have some really "amazing" card tricks to hit us with. He had asked us if we had ever heard of David Blaine or Chris Angel, and we kinda shrugged him off at first. He hit us up with some crazy four of a kind card trick that was absolutely mind-boggling, and we were sold. His tricks were definately on par with David Blaine, and they just kept gettin' better and better. One beer, seven or eight tricks later, and a whole mess of wild stories about his nine years in the pen, his "old lady" and the fight they were in, their livin' arrangements and subsequent run-ins with the law, he had wandered off back to the "camp" and we were finally ready to get out for the night. I guess it goes to show you just can't judge a book by its cover, cause that dude was blowin' us away with his tricks for sure. There is something crazy about that river, all the different people it attracts and the all the crazy stories they have..it just never ends.

One Slow Night Under the Bridge...

Orconectes (Procericambarus) rusticus
Rusty Crayfish

Absolutely nothin' goin' on for me this night. The most excitement I had was takin' pictures of the crayfish. Brandon ended up with a nice fish right off the bat, then it was awfully quiet for the rest of the night.