Just got back from the great wet north. Heidi(Walleye-Brat) and I along with her brother and 4 of his buddies ventured up to great Lake of the Woods Thursday. Heidi and I Thurs morning and the rest of the group Thurs night.
It started off okay….we got to the hotel and unloaded….from there Thurs went down hill.
We decided to head out over Pine island on the wheeler to fish a spot off long point, after a sloppy ride out we got within 2 miles of our destination to find a sizable ice heave as far as the eye could see east and west. We ran a ways but to no avail, it was already getting to be mid afternoon so we figured we needed to find a spot if we wanted to get any fishing in at all. We passed a small cluster of resort houses but no one was fishing in them so we headed back that way. Not paying as close attention as I should have and with the overcast skies and flat light I completely misjudged the size of the snow drift and proceded to bury the wheeler. 
Push, pull, shove, dig….nothing….so an hour later we get the darn thing unstuck. So now we are wet, all the beverages we brought with us had fallen out of the cooler they were in and were busted all over the bottom of the fish house and we still haven’t wet a line. We finally got to the area which is a small flat in the middle of nothing that comes up a couple feet and punched a few holes….that is when the clinic started. We only fished for about an hour because the GPS was telling me one time and my watch a different time so I didn’t know what the heck was up with that…I thought the GPS would be right but it was an hour behind. At any rate….we started fishing and right away I pop a nice 16″ eye that was only about 2 feet below the ice in 30′ of water. Then Heidi iced a 22 incher, then a small one, then another 16″, then another small one….THEN….she set the hook and said fish on…I look over and the rod wasn’t really bent…it was mostly pointing straight down the hole. I drop my rod and ran over to pull the marucm out of the hole and I am stoked…this is a BIG fish. I think she was close to the ice when it came unbuttoned….we both just looked at each other with the “what just happened” look, but that is fishin. We called it a day not to long after that to make sure we were in before dark since we were alone on 1 wheeler.
Fri we started shallow off Pine Island and we caught a couple 22-23″ fish but that was about it…we bounced around out there for the day and never really found anything that wanted to cooperate. Mid afternoon…it happened again….Heidi sets the hook….yells fish on…I look and immediately I know this is a big one….I don’t even make it off my chair when the rod snaps back straight…the look…agony of defeat. This time the fish snapped her line. I am at a loss, new line, sharp hooks…it just isn’t fair for her to lose 2 big fish. I double checked all her gear and it was set right…just wasn’t meant to be. We ended Friday with 7 keepers for 7 people and a feeling that we got our 
kicked by the lake. We had dinner and a couple brews and talked about the game plan for Sat……we are going to run and run we did.
Sat morning we headed up towards Garden island…..WOW…was that the right decision. Conservatively I would say for the group of 7 we iced 140-160 eyes and saugers….most were small but we filled our limits of eyes not keeping anything under 15″ and we had a number of fish that were over the 19.5″ slot that we got pictures before letting them go back to grow some more. Heidi once again put on a clinic, she was over 30 fish for the day herself…..unfortunately…history repeated itself one more time. I heard the “fish on” in the voice I know is serious about it….I run over pull the marcum out of the hole and I am watchin the rod thump with BIG head shakes thinkin….redemption right here….then it all unraveled again…..the line snapped. What can ya do??
All said and done our biggest was 26″, even though I would have liked to see the 3 that got the best of Heidi over the weekend…they were dandies….she will just have to ice them next year when they are a couple inches bigger.
Now…here is one for you…..I was jiggin away on Sat….saw a mark…felt the hit set the hook to nothin but air…bit me off. I am bummed thinkin it was a good fish. It bit off Berkley Vanish….which really shouldn’t happen….maybe a gator or a scuff in the line. I retie, drop back down….about 5 minutes later….hey a mark….a bite…set the hook….got him. I get the 16″ eye to the ice go to take the hook out and notice….he has the fire tiger glo devil I just lost in his mouth….guess I showed him. 
We had a great trip and checking out this morning I found out we were lucky to get off the lake Sat evening. Apparently they opened the dam in I-falls and what was LOTS of ice in 4 mile bay went to very little ice in no time at all. A number of vehicles dropped their front ends in including the hotel owner, he ripped the plow completely off his truck, a bomber went through in 4′ of water and a couple resort houses went through. The person we talked to was helping Adrians maintain and move their road trying to get people off, they found spots in 4 mile bay with as little as 5 inches of ice. I don’t know who makes the decisions at I-falls to open the dam….but not making sure they gave adequate notification put A LOT of people at risk. I saw the spot where the bomber went through, they had caution flags all the way around it and at that time I didn’t realize that it was open water…I just figured it was a bad slushy spot they wanted people to avoid. Our whole group made it off safe and sound and I hope everyone else that was still fishing when we came in made it off safely as well.
I am already looking forward to heading up again next year. The big lake was rough on us this year but we got 1 unforgetable day of fishin in.
JB
