Cool Cat’s on Horeshoe Lake

Mile 832 and I made the trip up to Horseshoe Lake by St Cloud Saturday. It sure was nice in the sun…but the sun didn’t want to stay out too long and the wind was chilly.

Tim pointed out the fact that there were a ton of yellow roofed portables on the lake…in looking around, it looked like an advertisment for Polar! There were a lot!

We fished together until the “soups on” call, then waited an hour. Not much going through the holes were we were. In looking around, we saw about a half dozen cats on the ice…and a couple dandy crappies.

When we figured we better go eat…the fried cats were gone…(sorry Tim! )
But there was some chili left to keep Tim’s tummy from roaring.
While they were getting ready for the drawings, we ran into Fishhead. He cleaned around 15 cats for noon lunch (that we fished through) and some folks took their’s home. Although they were biting…they weren’t jumping out of the holes and that’s what Tim and I needed!

There was at least 100 folks out there fishing cats…and likly more. I didn’t think there were that many people in MN that would fish channels. This event was mostly advertise on FishingMN, but of course open to all. We met way to many good folks to remember there names. One person I was looking for and didn’t meet was Disguy.

Besides Fishhead, we shook hands with the infamous Dark 30. Once taking a look at his UFO sinkers, his post on the sinker thread made sense to me. He had another little gadget that I’ll let him talk about, but once I figured out what this rather simple device was..my eyes started to bug out. Thanks Dark for letting me try one!

The grand prize of the drawing was an Otter one man portable. (correct me if I’m wrong guys)
I’m not sure who the fella was…but his smile was bigger than the portable…he must have been 8-9 years old. Truely a happy man!

Although fishing was fair for some…Mile 832 and I struck out big time. We should have been moving around more…but I was in one of those put the house out and stay there type of moods.

Besides, it’s not always how many fish you catch that determines the sucess of a fishing trip…sometimes it’s the people you meet!

I’ll be posting a couple of pictures soon.

I figured I would post this here ’cause all the cat guys/girls hung here.

Here’s a pict of Mighty Mile 832 working his cut bait.

And one of the group…my truck was in the way…so the pict doesn’t really do it justice….

Even though I didn’t have a bite, it was a great way to end my ice fishing for the year!

Thanks for the invite guys!

Hey guys thanks for comming to my “little” get together. I am really glad you guys could make it.
I wished I had more time for a little more chat, but I kinda had my hands full.
The fishing was a little on the slow side but they were biting early in the day but they quit just as you showed up.
Hmmmmm….
I have to admitt, I didn’t catch one either. My first skunk on the lake.
Don’t know if I’ll be able to make it up there again this year but next year we will have toget up and try some of those “other” spots.

Thanks Fishhead for your effort! It was a great opportunity to see a few old faces and meet a few new ones. It was cool to see Bayou Bill there!

I didn’t even bring a rod. Ice fishing cats? I think it could be a sin if your catching catfish without slapping mosquitos, slipping in the mud, getting all slimed, and bumping into stuff in the fog….etc.

Thanks for the “Flying Bobber” Dark30. Or at least I think that’s what you called it. I’ll be sure to try that out this year . Also a very big thanks to Fishhead for putting it all together ! I never thought I would see that many cat men together! Especially in March! It’s always great to meet new fishermen. I can’t wait for spring/summer when it really starts to pick up around here.
The fella at the bait shop told me down the road 1/4 mile and take a right. Actually it was a left! It’s a good thing I caught Brian at the bait shop and followed him out there. It would have taken me a while to find the spot on my own.

P.S. Brian, Is that the best pic of me you got? I thought I smiled for that one!

Tim, I do the best I can with what I have to work with…