A long awaited trip commenced today. Granny and I began our journey to Gangler’s North Seal River Lodge in the far north of Manitoba. But we didn’t start by plane. I recently discovered that it’s a 7 hour drive from Hayward, Wisconsin to Winnipeg, Manitoba so we left a few days early in the Ruby … Read more
Granny and I are headed for Canada on Tuesday for ten days of fishing ranging from Red River catfish around Winnipeg to huge pike and lake trout up at Gangler’s North Seal River Lodge in Manitoba. It’s a trip we’ve been looking forward to all year and its finally around the corner. Being I won’t … Read more
Aug 22-24, 2023 I’ve fished an insane amount this summer and have a packed fishing schedule the next three months that includes two trips to Canada starting next Tuesday, Mexico in October and Borneo in November/December. Surely, this week I’d buckle down and catch up on work. Perhaps life? But then the forecast came. A … Read more
Every so often I over do it with fishing and not getting my work or the basics of life done. I’m in the dust this time and once you fall this far behind you need to decide, fish or write long detailed blogs. I chose fishing so today blog is short. Bob and I … Read more
Summer on my home water here in Northern Wisconsin is almost over for me. That’s because in a week I head for the Red River in Manitoba for channel catfish and a few other cool fish. Then its straight up to Gangler’s North Seal River Lodge. I should get home from Canada on September 12th … Read more
I planned a big adventure with Granny this week to pack up our Outcast Striker Raft and explore a new river. Based on my Google Earth research of the stretch I chose, there were plenty of shallow raft-dragging rapids, a potential portage and being this is a boggy location, one could expect an abundance of … Read more
I grumble about an early morning once in a while, but for the most part I love them. My alarm was set, but as usual I was up without it by 4:15 AM. Today Bob and I met at 5:45 which meant a before daylight departure from home of around 4:50. I look forward to … Read more
Howie and I hooked and lost a couple honkers last week on Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior. Mine was likely a gigantic smallmouth bass. We never saw it. Howie’s was for sure a big northern pike but it severed his bass leader in seconds. Today we left Washburn at sunrise with hopes of redemption. … Read more
Getting up before 5 AM to go fishing has been tough lately. It hasn’t been like a month ago when I popped from bed with pleasure. I’ve really been dragging. The only thing I want to do is flip over and keep sleeping. So when Bob called me last night and asked me to be … Read more
There were a few times today where I caught myself thinking “Is it really August? What happened to July? But I ask myself this every year. The fact is, once July 4th passes summer seems to go faster. Maybe it’s the shortening of the days. Or perhaps we slowdown which in turn speeds up time. … Read more
July 26 & 27, 2023 I like getting on the water early. I’m a fan because first light is excellent for smallmouth bass. We also beat the canoe crowds. But launching the Blue Bathtub yesterday was different. It was day one of our first overnight float trip since we moved to Wisconsin and we started … Read more
We’ve barely had temperatures above the mid 70°s for almost two weeks. There’s been a few solid thunderstorms and rain mixed in this timeframe too. Both the cool down and moisture were well needed because from about Memorial Day till the 4th of July it had been very warm and dry. My Hayward neighbor can’t … Read more