Where’s Cookie????

yesterday was a very productive day for Marty and I. We started off getting a few little things done around here before we hit the lake. Brian and his crew had 8 fish laying on the ice and looked like they were sleeping in. Sounds like another night of rattle wheels keeping them up. Are first move was to dig North dakota out of its perch, I had turned the heat off and was not quite sure how it would move as it is our newest and biggest edition. Every thing went well and she sitting on the ice wating to be moved to its next location. I then was able tocheck in with Brian and his crew and just as expected the rattle wheels were the culprits of every one sleeping in. The next move was montana and that went smooth also ,following that north carolina our two man day house/sleeper was pulled out of its perch and is also waiting for its new spot. Marty spent the night in montana so we will see how he did over night as well as Brian and his crew. Old minnesota will be moved today as well as florida. If the weather men are right it should be a beautiful couple days working on the lake with snow flurries and light winds before the big cold snap hits saturday

I would like to send out a thank you, to Cookie for a great trip. Our house was clean, comfy, and produced some fish! The wife was impressed with the house and we were both glad to have met you and spend some time with Bella. She sure reminded us of our late lab. Hope to see you again real soon, time to clean some fish.

Sweet, Thanks again Brian. We moved the house after you left and as of last night at 10 it had not produced a fish just a couple nibbles.

Yesterday was a beautiful day to work on the lake. Brian and his crew were all ready gone when I left so I did not get to say goodbye. I know they did go home with there 12 so that was sweet. Marty had his 3 for the trip home on Friday. Sounds like the best bite has ben 1am tell 4 am. Good there in sleepers to be there for the action. Marty and I moved Florida for Don and his crew that were rolling in around 6 30 pm. We then got Old Minnesota out of its perch and moved to its new location. North Carolina was also put on a new location ready for Friday. Dennis and Shelly in the cabin, with the wilcraft went home skunked. I was way surprised. They never fished much after dark and never landed on them during the day. I still have not been able to hook up with Buddy Hillmen from Hillmens. Marty and I headed out his road to measure some ice thickness a mile out where I had good fishing last year. The first hole we augured north of the main road measured just a tad over 11 inches. Rats as I am looking for 14 for the houses. The second place we augured gave us 12 a little closer to shore. The third was just over 12. I guess that pretty much tells me where I’m not going at this time. Westwind has opened there road to some traffic but you will have to check there web site to see what there allowing at this time. Today Marty and I have to find a spot for North Dakota on at least 14 inches of ice for Andy and his crew. I’m sure he is pumped as he always is. He is a big time musky fishermen and will be interesting to see what his biggest was this last year. He has always liked the charm and lighting of Montana and will see if North Dakota lives up to his approval . I think he is going to like it.

This crazy lake? Don, Nate and forgot the other guys name just headed home and they did not do well at all. I guess I landed on a fishless spot. Marty again had great action the night before so I saw no reason to think it could shut down that quick. Being a guide has its draw backs some times. I guess its fishing and thats the way it is. Tom and his crew in the cabin headed out 4 miles on there wheelers and too the north. The fishing was not fast and furious as they came in short spurts though out the day. They did manage to get there 9 plus 4 yes 4 elusive upper red lake crappies. Gotta love that north shore, being mobil also helps alot.
Stopped to check in on Kevin, Jake and Alex in old minnesota and they had just finished a freash walleye dinner. Kevin asked if I wanted to play a game of cribbage 4 handed. We played cut throat and 19. I had never heard of 19, if you get a zero hand you go back 19 pegs. Lets just say Alex and I did not do well and that zero did not help. While sitting there I did miss one fish on a chubby darter on Kevins line. I then had two follows while playing cards. Don and his crew were at westwind so I stopped to check in on Marty before calling it a night. I was only there a few minutes and landed a nice 16 on Marty’s rattle wheelset up. Plain red hook with a small buckshot is all he has been fishing since he arrived tuesday morning. He does not use a vexlar.
Its just about time to hit the lake. Renting a house on wednesday thursday has its drawbacks as now Marty and I have to move florida . Its no big deal as we have a great system and takes us less then a hour, not including prepping the trail and area we move to.

Well the weekend did not go as well as I would of liked. All the houses did catch some fish, but it was slow for sure.
Andy, Andy, Sam and Elvin were in North Dakota our newest house. They were impressed with the house so that was good. Andy has been coming for quite a few years and has had some outstanding fishing over the years and a couple not so good fishing trip. Andy ask if they could be off by them self if they brought there own generator so I headed west as far as the ice would allow. They only landed 4 fish the first night so after Andy did some scouting a little further west I moved them about a 1/4 mile Saturday. Sam augured the holes so that was 8 less I have to do this year. I’m closing in on a 100 for the season so far. The fishing did not get better and they only landed 2 more keepers.
Florida had Aaron, Dave and Jim. They seemed to enjoy the house and had some action . I think they landed 12 to 14 so not that good.
Montana had Ken, Carl, Sarha and Terry. They were from Iowa and have used a couple different outfits up here over the years. They liked how the house was equipped and plan on coming back next year. They also had some action but again not that great . I think they went home two short of there limit of 12. They did catch 4 pike through out the weekend. Nothing to big but one did manage to tangle up a few lines for some good laughs.
North Carolina was a no show with out even a phone call?
Derik, Dan the man and Scott checked into old Minnesota Saturday. Derik rented old Minnesota last year and was the first house to pound the crappies and landed 12. They also had some action and landed enough for a big fish fry yesterday. When I stopped in last night Scott landed a nice keeper and I hope they had good fishing last night.
I also set up Ken with his brother and buddy in his new wheel house. They landed there 9 the first night so they had the best fishing of my group.
Jake, Tom and Derik were in the cabin 3 nights .Due to the cold weather they found a house to rent Saturday from Scott Wakefield. They spent the night in a sleeper and managed to catch 25. So the fish were biting and again it boils down to location, location, location.
Now for some of the low lights of the weekend. For some reason I’m having issues with the generators this year. The brand new Honda 2000 quit a couple of times over the weekend for no apparent reason. I may of got a lemon and plan on making the 60 mile trip to Bemidji to demand a new one . My older 2000 also acted up and may be worn out and using to much oil. I have changed the oil on my units on a regular basis over the years and run them in a 3 sided box to keep them out of the elements the 2500 hundreds lasted 10 years. The old 2000 is 7 years old. The cold snap also played a little havoc on the fleet. The red baron needed to be jumped, the dodge prospector also needed to be jumped and blew the heater core while warming up.. Blue thunder fired right up but had a horrible bearing noise from the power steering pump so I will have to keep a eye on that. All the houses have some flooding issues and have 3 inches of water under them. I do not expect any problems digging them out but time will tell. The next couple of days will be spent scouting a new area to the north of Buddy Hillmens road. I crack did cross the road yesterday morning about 3 miles out and was over a foot wide. I would expect hillmens highway will be fully open for vehicles by next weekend

Where to begin today? I’m feeling excited about getting the houses all pre staged for the big move in the next day or two. With these cold nights were making some ice. A little late but there’s still plenty of the season to go. So far just like every other year I have a hard time sleeping in as I plan for the up and coming day. With the temp at minus 17. Marty and I will be holding off a bit this morning before we hit the lake . All 5 houses will be lined up for the big move today. When I tow the houses I like to go nice and slow and take my time. I’m sure I could go faster but its just so much harder on the houses and vehicle’s.
Yesterday I was off to Bemidji to deal with my generator issues. What a fiasco that was. They do not want to give me a new unit and are blaming the wind and cold as the culprits of my problems last weekend. I tried to explain it has never been a issue before, with them sitting in the boxes, and have seen far worse conditions out there then last weekend. I also explained that I had changed the oil on the older unit Friday and had to add oil by sunday. They said there is no oil leaking but changed the oil because it was milky which is a sign of moisture? There was no snow to speak of in the boxes ? The new unit is under warrantee but only to repair and not replace and there is nothing wrong with it other then it set in the elements last weekend and may be shutting down due to cold air creating moisture in the air filter? Aaron the salemens told me once there oiled and gassed up there policy is no refunds. He did say he will replace it if needed but is a last option. I left both units there so they could run them through out the day and see if they quit.. My plan is to pick them up later today and run them straight for the next 72 hours to see if any problems occur.
I also picked up two new injectors for the red baron and was told this should clear up the red baron from bogging out so I’m very wishful that is the problem as it will not be long before the red baron starts getting her work out for the year. No luck finding a heater core for the prospector so have a little more research to do for that.
I’ll be leaving the area we started the season as it looks like I have ruined another area. Starting Thursday we have a nice little run of rentals into Tuesday

Yesterday was a bit nippy as Marty and I dug all 5 houses out of there spots and got them on the road. We have a very nice system and things went real well considering all the flooding under the house’s. I be leave old Minnesota is still our heaviest house as it had the worst flooding and had only been augured last Thursday. We will scouting out our new area today and again need at least 14 inches of ice. There is something that I can not figure out and has been on my mind. How can reports of 17 inches of ice in one place and under 10 in others? I personally have only measured 15 and that is where my house’s were last week. Weird to say the least? Every year is different and again this year is different then last year and way different then the year before . I spent 2 hours yesterday after we got the houses moved helping clear buddy Hillmens road. Again what a pleasure helping out on such a outstanding road. It’s probably been said before but you could land a 747 on it. 5 miles long and straight as a arrow. Very impressive. Marty and I will be auguring a few test holes today and I will report what we find tomorrow. Call the resort your going out of or check out there facebook pages or web sites for the latest ice conditions and what there allowing out

Gotta love when a plan comes together. Yesterday Marty and I worked our buts off as all 5 houses are now to the north of hillmens highway. $ of the 5 are blocked and banked to the hilt for the up and coming cold snap. If every thing goes as plan it should be a easier day today as we knock out all the hard labor yesterday. 16 holes will be augured making the count around 125 for the season. We have a little cleaning and vacuuming to do this morning and I still get a kick when I’m vacuuming a fish house it never get old. We had a few things come loose on the move a mini blind came down , a light bulb fell from a ceiling fan, a couple pics from the walls and a couple trinkets fell.
The red baron was used to cut a new trail and performed like it did when I first got it . Best 1000.00 we could of spent and was way over due. If you need some type of repair up here Barney does some outstanding work and has a shop in kellier and also has a mobile unit for emergency repairs. You can find his card at North Country Food and Fuel here in waskish.
The area we set up has 14 1/2 inches of ice. The houses will again flood a bit but should not cause us any issues. Still not sure what Budddy Hillmen will be allowing for traffic at this time but should know by tomorrow morning. Jim and his crew will be arriving later today for north Dakota and montana turns out they use to come up here in the crappie days. Josh said I would remember Jim when I see him. Looks like another awesome day working on such a grand lake.

I hate it when a plan falls apart. She can be a fickle lake. Jim, Jimbo and Mike arrived for montana around 2. I was working on the lake and told Jim to come on out about a mile and I would meet them on the main road? It must be the excitement of arriving as 5 minutes later they called to say they were at the orange cones. 3 miles out? I try and meet my customers at hillmens or the landing as for some reason is all they hear when you give them directions is come out on the lake. To funny. I remembered Jim as soon as I saw him just like Josh said I would. The rest of there crew Bob, Geno, Mike, Ken and Josh arrived a bit later and they gave them directions out to the houses. Sitting on 14 1/2 inches of ice the houses were flooding just like we expected after we drilled the holes. It wasn’t long and Mike landed a 32 inch pike on Jims rod. Of course it tangled up half there lines but it was good excitement to start and it seemed we are in a fishy area. With a small walleye and a couple of perch also caught while Marty and I were buttoning up florida and old Minnesota things looked promising. I came off the lake just before dark and in preparing dinner I cut my self washing a couple dishes. Right in between my pinky finger and finger on the webbing. After cleaning it up a trip to baudett was in order as it did need a couple stiches. Marty and I rolled back on to the lake around 11pm to check on the guys and top off the generators. The guys in montana had 5 in the bucket and 200 feet away in North Dakota they had not caught a fish. They were all having fun none the less. I do not mind moving houses when needed but it is very tough to move a house when it has not been fished for at least 24 hours. Saturday with the predicted cold it may not be a option. I do not move houses when its 10 below or colder unless its a emergency. I made a call to Marlo and his other buddy in there wheel houses as I had pointed then to a area to fish. Each house only had one fish so that was not very good news. Lets hope we have some of that action from 1am to 4 am like we had 2 weeks ago. We will get the holes augured in old Minnesota and Florida this morning for Pat and his crew and Barry and his buddy respectively. The generators have been running for the last 24 hours and seem to be fine. Lets hope with the cold temps again we have no problems. I do have a couple of back ups in case but would rather not deal with the problem again but only time will tell.

Wow does time fly when your having fun. I was a little disappointed when I checked in on all the guys in North Dakota and Montana Friday morning. Jim, Jimbo and Mike only had 4 or 5 fish in the bucket with no late night bite. Josh, Geno, Ken, Mike and Bob has some poor fishing and only landed one fish. Ouch. I told them we would be moving both houses Saturday to a new area if they did not do better through out the day.
Ryan, Richey, Chris and Pat arrived for Minnesota later in the day Friday. Pat , Richey and Ryan have been coming for years. They have stayed in florida, montana and old Minnesota over the years and always request old Minnesota when possible. Pat has recorded every fish they have ever caught on red lake including time and date. Pat told me last night that this was by far the slowest fishing they have ever had with me. Bummer. The lowest was 28 fish in a 3 night stay. As of last night they were only up to 12 ,They did manage to get 4 more in the bucket after I moved them yesterday. Richey also spanked me in a game of cribbage as he was on fire through out the weekend. They still have enjoyed there stay and Pat has made his reservation for just after Christmas next year.
Berry and Earley also checked in Friday for there stay in florida. They had Kellie and I out for dinner Saturday night and caught two while we were there giving them a total of 12 or so. Berry made a chicken and rice dish that was so good I had seconds. I told them next year maybe I could make them my smothered burritos as this was the second year they have had us for dinner. It sounds like they would like to rent north Dakota next year . Man will that be roomy with only two guys in there.
Jason and Bj checked into north Carolina Saturday .They caught a few fish the first day and yesterday they were up to 10 for the day when I talked to them. With a few of the guys help we moved montana and north Dakota saturday to give them another fresh spot for there last night. Jim told me they were happy with the fishing in montana where it was but I had no choice as both houses run on the same generator. I guess I may have to think about purchasing another generator to be able to separate the houses when need be. Again the 3 in montana out fished the guys in montana and got there 9 keepers with Jim winning the overall pot for biggest fish. Sunday was also a turn over for 3 of the 5 houses so I had to hustle to get 3 houses detailed out for the next groups. Being north Dakota and montana had only been fished one night they were staying put for now. Florida had good enough fishing to leave it where it was for Josh and his cousin that came with him at the last minute.
Over all the fishing was pretty poor. I guess if we caught them all there would not be any left. The cold weather -24 sunday morning did bite me in the butt a bit with my older generator. as it stopped running again. I quick trip home with two oil changes got it running again and yesterday I wrapped it in a Viking blanket to try and keep it a little warmer last night. No phone call yet so it must of helped. Two of my three augurs also became stubborn and acted up. I get so frustrated when they will not run when its cold .There ice augurs what good do they do if they only run when its 70 degrees. Today both need to be addressed to figure out what went wrong with them. A icon may be on the wish list but not sure what the cold does to the batteries? As I like my augur with me on the trucks in the elements and not sitting at home in the warm shop. I will be heading out shortly to gas up the generators and say good by to Pat and the guys. It sounded like Jake may be headed up today as he is dyeing to wet a line on one of his favorite lakes if not his favorite. He will do some scouting for me but if its any thing like the past he will end up finding good fishing miles away from where we are now. He also has a little more trim work on north Dakota to finish it up.
Buddy Hillmens road is again in great shape and now open 4 miles out. I spent a giant part of Saturday pushing snow to the southern berm and I imagine it will start to crack and flood this week as I did see some water seeping out from its banks. To all you off roaders blowing through that bank. It can be bad news and if you need to fish to the north of hillmens pay the 10 bucks and stop blasting through his berm. Not only does it make a mess but once it floods you have less the a 50% chance of making it on to his road. I did talk to a few different wheel houses this weekend and over all it was poor fishing for every one I talked to with just one or two fish per house. Goofy fish! don’t they know I’m trying to scratch out a living here and need better fishing

Well today there will be a little venting and a little whining?
I ‘m basically doing the same things I have been doing for 13 years, I can be a little super stiches and maybe the 13 years is effecting the good fishing? We have been a little handcuffed with the goofy ice conditions this year. Yesterday I did measure 18 1/2 inches where old Minnesota is sitting so that was nice to see. Saturday when I was scouting for a new location Buddy Hillmen ask me not to plow any roads as he is still worried about cracks coming across his road from the weight of the snow berms. He said with the minimal snow I would be able to pull the houses right through it? I gave it a try and it worked fine. Years ago while towing our Alaska house I attempted the same thing only I drove into a little more snow, When I tried to power through it I broke a right front axel in blue thunder one, Since then I have always plowed a road before I pull me houses into areas. I will never forget that snapping sound as it was very distinct. After 13 years I learned something new from Buddy but I still would rather plow a road before I bring my houses into there spots. I guess that’s why I have been called a rouge plower at times. Oh well.
I ‘am also frustrated with the stitches I got last Friday in baudett. He should of flipped over my hand and gave it at least another stich as it is split open on the inside and I have had my two fingers taped together to let it heal. I told him I work with my hands so that’s why I had it stitched instead of taping them together. Oh well! I can’t stand needles and I do not have the time to go get another stich or two.
I have had Scott and Trent in montana for two nights. Scott is either Cory or Abbys dad. They have caught a couple fish but I sure am disappointed with the fishing there. Steve Chris and Brett have been in north Dakota for two nights and have also not done that well. They also fished a little bit in north Carolina and old Minnesota yesterday and snagged one out of north carolina. Last night they did have a 4 pounder in there bucket and a couple others plus Steve ate a couple fish. Josh and his cousin have been in florida for two nights. Again not fast and furious but they have scratched out a couple. Brian and Stacy checked into old Minnesota last night and while I was visiting. Stacy lost what we assume was her first ever walleye as they are from Kentuky.
Yesterday time was spent working on augurs as number 1 and number 2 gave me trouble the last two days. The blanket worked good on my old eu2000 but my brand new one stopped running again a few times in the last 24 hours errrr. Trying to keep everything running in this super cold weather is a grind. I got the Chrysler car running again. The bravado is eating antifreeze and may have a head gasket going out. The prospector needs another can of stop leak for the heater core and should cure the problem. The red baron needs the batteries charged if it sits for more then a couple days so I would guess it needs two new batteries? plus I have new injectors for it. But it has been to cold to even mess with them and I still do not need it on the lake for a few more days. It runs fine but has a high rpm miss that just bugs me after spending 500 dollars getting it tuned up last year. I have never changed injectors but it sounds like its pretty simple. Its sure is a challenge keeping everything running with this cold snap Fun Fun Fun as it does keep me hopping. I also put a new box fan in old Minnesota 17 dollars and it quits working 3 weeks into the season. What the f. Sorry about the venting. The great news is Jake is 2 hours from arriving and will be scouting for a couple new location for better fishing . Marty went home with a cold last friday and I hope he is ok as I have not heard from him. He has a few health issues that he has to deal with but Loves being here working on the lake. Just like me. That must be why we get along so well. I was so busy last sunday I missed james ido show any one know where and what they were fishing for?

You can watch it on YouTube, I haven’t watched this one yet.

Yes I was able to watch it yesterday morning Fishing a wheel house at night on leach lake Thanks

Two days of grinding and last night I was beat. Having a cold has not helped. I hit the sack at 8pm as Brian and Stacy in old Minnesota said he would gas up the generator. At this time both have been running well with there blankets.
Jake arrived Tuesday and got his cold weather gear on and hit the lake looking for the mother load. Brian and Stacy tagged along. Jake found a spot that they were marking fish and saw a walleye and spot tail shiners on a camera. That was good enough for me and I started digging North Dakota and Montana out of there holes . While Jake headed off looking for another area to ruin, I plowed into the spot and hustled to get north Dakota set up for Leroy and his crew. After getting them set up I was off to retrieve montana as they would be together for the up and coming weekend. I then headed over to north Carolina and got her out of its perch. My arms were like rubber by then chopping out all the frozen blocks and shoveling all the snow. Around 4 pm I was headed out to see Lonnie in his wheel house when I realized I had pool? I turned around made a quick stop to check on Leroy and his crew and headed home. Jake would check on them later in the eve and top off the generator for the night. The last I heard Leroy and his crew had 4 in the bucket. Tuesday was one of those days where you just soaked in the beauty of red lake .With the sun shining brightly all day you could see for miles on a crisp minus 2 day with no wind.
Yesterday morning heading out to meet Jake and it had done a complete flip flop, Cloudy ,snow flurries and a little wind it was a struggle to see with every thing so white. After checking in with Lonnie and his poor fishing report I was off to meet Jake and do some scouting with him to find a new area for old Minnesota, florida and north carolina . Oh Lonnie’s buddy 30 yards away did real well. Figure that one out. The first area we tried had fish and I measured 15 inches of ice. I did not expect that and thought for sure I would see 18? We again marked fish that refused to bite. The second area we tried was a little closer to the main road and again marked fish with no bites? Very frustrating to say the least. Jake headed off to North Dakota to finish off the trim work and add a few more touches to the house while I headed off to old Minnesota to talk to Brian and Stacy and come up with my plan for the rest of the day. Stacy caught a 24 inch pike while I was having a cup of coffee with them so in my eyes the area is still a fishy area. Jake would be heading home with his 3 fish while Brian would become my helper as we moved old Minnesota to give them a fresh spot to fish last night. I also got florida set up on fresh ice. Then it was off to check out buddies road as Jake said it looked like buddy was expending further out. The road now goes out 6.3 miles with cones set up some where around 4 or 5 miles as the road heals from a couple cracks. I then talked to Buddy as a wheel house coming from the south busted through the berm to the south. He hit some slush and barely made it through. Again I can not stress this enough. If you want to fish north of Hillmens road pay the 10 dollars to use his road. Once it cracks under that snow which it is doing. It happens every year and this year is no different The berm will sink and it will become a 3 foot slush hole and you will be getting tugged out from the way you came from.

Yesterday was spent getting all the houses augured out for Bruce and his crew of 12 that were stopping by to fish from 1 to 5;30 pm. they would be fishing 4 of the 5 houses and this would give me a idea of how cooperative the fish would be? I hate to say it but it was not pretty. I always try and have the houses on fresh ice for the customers arriving on Fridays as they have made plans well in advance. If I’m in a fishy area it may only be a 50 yard move but its still clean and unfished. Its hard to say no when some one wants to fish Thursday and I thought what the heck it would tell me a lot. Bruce and his crew have done this before and it was not a issue. Every year is different .I was so upset about the out come of there fishing yesterday that I wanted to move the houses last night. I think its un safe and unwise to move houses and work out there at night especially with out a helper. Unless its a emergency . I have moved a house at night so it can be done but again I would rather be working in the day light. Montana and North Dakota will be moving this morning at the crack of dawn. Followed by old Minnesota and north Carolina with florida bringing up the rear. I not sure if I can get them all moved and 3 of the five augured and prepped but I’am about to give it the old collage try as both the areas I have the houses are not even worth ruining. There’s a good chance a customer or two may have to wait if they show up before 2 . I guess that’s why we have a 2pm check in to give me time to make moves. The other problem is this is going to be a bigger move so you loose a lot of time traveling and prepping the new areas. The good thing is I have a plan. I have done this before when I have had a turn over on a sunday so it can be done. The one good thing is all the houses were wiped down and prepped last night so that will save a little bit of time. I also like to tow the houses nice and slow . I have seen other outfitters flying down the road with houses in tow. I just can not do it. I would guess our houses are pressing 6000 lbs. If for some reason I have to come to a stop the house would smash into the truck as they do not stop on a dime. I have learned this the hard way and its not pretty. I smashed montana the second year we had it and had to use a handy man jack and 2x4s on the floor to push the wall and counter back into place. I also had the greek tow montana the first year when we were bringing the houses to shore. The greek hit the gas when he came up the landing, then hit the breaks and the house just kept on coming and smashed into the truck. The tire on the rear helped but not much.
I did have a couple wheel houses set up yesterday in new uncharted waters and they did well so that makes me feel better then going to a area with a lot of lookers and sniffers. It will be interesting to see how Randy and his buddy did last night. I hope they call me because I will be way to busy to stop in and talk to them. Same with Ken and his crew as they were also checking out a area for me to ruin. Looking at the weather forecast it looks like I will be working in all most ideal conditions. I will take a moment when the sunrises to soak it all in on such a grand lake that owes me nothing as that old timer Dave told me years ago. Should be a fun day wish me luck

Man oh man that was a lot of work. I did not sleep good Thursday night thinking about what I was going to do. It all worked out in the long run though. Nothing broken and no stitches just a lot of hard work. I got out on the lake at the crack of dawn as planned. I was surprised to see 3 wheel houses just behind the houses. Not that I care but one could of plugged right in to my generator he was so close. Imagine there surprise when they came out of there shack and north Dakota and Montana were gone. Both houses were taken up the road to the new area I would be ruining. I mean fishing. I then cut a new trail hooked up north Dakota and off I went. Don and his crew would be bringing there own generator so that meant I could cover a little more ice and spread out a bit more then usual. Once north Dakota was completely prepped holes augured ,house banked,etc I was off to do the same with montana. again same procedure . By then I had worked up a good sweat at it always amazes me that working in the cold you can sweat so much. Old Minnesota was next on the list. I had a completely different area picked for Minnesota. Glen and Sue had a group of friends from Minnesota outdoorsman with wheel houses that would be fishing by them. The area I picked Marlo had done well last week and Lonnie had one of two good nights Monday and Tuesday. Glen and Sue had to wait a bit as they arrived while I was still towing old Minnesota. In between these moves I had checked in Don and his crew in north Dakota and Doug and his crew in montana. After getting every one settled in it was off to get the things I left behind ,blocks that needed to be chiseled out of the ice, boxes for generator, gas can etc. By then blue thunder was running on fumes and pushing 4 pm I headed to shore . Florida and north Carolina would have to wait un tell Saturday which worked out fine as they were not arriving un tell Saturday. Saturday morning upper red lake showed a little of her ugly side as the wind was howling out of the south, I got a call from Glen around 5am the new generator had stopped running EEERRR. I quick trip out there in my tennis shoe was not the best idea as I took the bravado. Luckily I was able to power though the drifts and deal with the generator issue. Not quite sure what happen but oil was good and she fired right back up. With snow drifting across the berm I would be plowing while I attempted moving florida and north Carolina to new fishing grounds. Plus old minnesota’s spot was a strike out and I promised Glen I would also move them to better fishing once the other two houses were set up. My good friend Randy who was out fishing with his family was nice enough to come help me move old Minnesota and prep florida . and north caroilina. Thanks buddy. All that worked payed off and all the houses started catching a few fish Friday evening. Making the rounds Friday night I was able to swing in to Randy’s shack and play a game of cribbage with him and Chuck. They had got the 6 in the area I had sent them and had moved to a new location looking for better fishing. My new friends Tim ,lance and kimmy also had good fishing when I stopped in to see them. We are all going to go to church this morning as I ask david if he would play his saw fro them. It sure was nice seeing all the houses catching a few fish again as last weekend was brutal to say the least. I have a nice break coming this week with only one house rented starting Monday to Dave and Sarah . Bob and his crew are here another day in florida and from the looks of it I will not have to offer them a new location. This has been a crazy 72 hours and I hope to watch a little of the Denver game today. Well its time to hit the lake .I want to top off the generators and catch the sunrise on such a grand lake.

Well we’ve been busy the last couple days. Marty rolled in late Monday night with his young neighbor Dylan in tow. I had a list of things we needed done before we pulled the houses onto the lake for the up and coming season. I did have a few fishermen here and with there portables in tow they all seemed to find a few fish. Andy and his crew camped with there ice castle on the river and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Kyle and his crew were in the cabin. I set two of them up to fish north Carolina but they never did make it out there. Yesterday was the big moving day as we broke all the houses loose and headed on to the lake. Do to the ice condition this year I had no choice but to start out in front of my place just off the last break in 8 to 9 feet of water. There should be no reason we will not catch fish there with most coming after dark. I augured a few test holes and found 13 inch of ice close to shore. I then started walking to the west auguring holes every 25 steps. Checking the ice with a tape measure I was a little disappointed to find 11 inches not 50 feet from 13 inches . The next 6 holes all showed 10 inches. We are just not having the super cold weather that makes ice. Every year is different and this year is no exception. Last year we were driving 6 miles out at this time with well over 20 inches of ice. Right now as it stands I will have to stick it out close to shore un tell the ice conditions improve .When the time is right I will head north and get all the houses on to buddy hillmens road. The lake has been a very busy place the last couple days as all the outfitters and resorts are trying to get houses out to fishable waters. Last I heard Hillmens would only be allowing 16 foot and under ice houses on to the lake towed by wheelers and side by sides. I have no idea what westwind is allowing at this time. Eva and Matt will be fishing our new house North Dakota starting today. They are here for two days and then the house is open Saturday. They will be the first to land a fish in our newest addition. I had Marty and Dylan in montana last night so will see how they did later this morning . Rick and his crew roll in for Minnesota Friday, Cory and his family also arrive for florida. Mitch cancelled montana and Travis and his wife will be using it Friday night. Pat will be bedding down in north carolina Saturday eve. Its nice to be on the lake . She’s a grand lake and as David the old timer up here told me its a grand lake and it owes us nothing.

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Trying to beat mother nature at her own game. Knowing we had some high wind predicted for Wednesday marty and I busted butt Tuesday moving all the houses into position for the up and coming weekend. Time ,gas, and where and tare on blue thunder as I tried to make sure the plowed road into the area we are fishing was nice smooth ice with the berms all to the south. The generator box for north Dakota, florida and old Minnesota would be set up when Dave and Connie arrived Wednesday. Any object on the lake would be getting some drifting and I tried to plan for that with a nice wide trail/ice road.
I knew the wind was howling out of the south and I expected some snow to be drifting across Buddy Hillmens plowed road but most just sliding across the smooth ice heading north. With the plow down I clipped the edges of the snow drifts and let the wind take it away. Arriving at our turn and darn even with all the snow built up on the east side and nearly none on the west side the snow was still building up . Oh well so much for that plan. Every ware you disturbed the snow the rest of the day was going to catch more snow. We headed down the trail to augur out a couple holes in florida so marty could relax and fish while kellie and I were in Bemidji. We set up the generator box and extension cords and powered up all three house’s. I plowed away the major drifts around the three houses pushing all the snow to the east of the houses. I checked on dave and sarah in montana and marked th etrail with tree branches to prepare for whiteout condition. Heading to shore around 12;30 to meet Coonie and Dave from Ill. and that crazy mother nature had done a complete flip flop and was now howling out of the north west? Didn’t see that coming. Now all that snow that had been swept to the north was coming back in force across the road the other way. Plus now it started to snow and it was a wet heavey snow to boot. I again dropped the straight blade on blue thunder and clipped the edges of the drifts to let mother nature carry the snow to the south. The berm has now collected quite a bit of snow. Busting through that berm is no longer a option and any fishermen that tries will be getting towed from the same way the came from or doing a lot of digging so bring a number two shovel if you decide to save 10 dollars to access the north side. I greeted Dave and Connie at Hillmens where they got there pass for 4 days and bait. Heading back out to old minnesota and the wind and snow were starting to create white out conditions just like I expected. After checking them in and going over a few rules I stopped to check in on dave and sarah and told them I would be gone the rest of the day and marty would be fishing in florida if any thing came up while I was gone. I was a little concerned or should I say a lot as Marty would be heading back out in the worst of it after he gathered his gear and I don’t think he has experienced what mother nature had in order. I did have him call me when he arrived and just as I again expected it was a eye opener for Marty.
Arriving back home around 8 pm I headed out to check on every one and see if marty caught a couple fish. first stop was at Montana where the fishing report was not what I expected. Slow with only a couple big perch and one walleye caught. Sarah said when the wind would lighten up they would get a couple nibbles through out the day. I was excited to see how Connie and Dave were doing in old Minnesota as I expected they would have a couple fresh walleyes on the ice. To my surprise they had only landed one little scuffit walleye and lost one on a rattle wheel that broke the line. They also had caught one nice perch and had a few nibbles through out the day. Oh well I guess if we catch them all there will not be any left. I then went over to check on Marty and see how he did. He had the best action and had two nice keepers and yes. One elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. He told me the bite was so very light that if the line moved across the hole you tried to set the hook as they were not even pulling the rattle wheel line down. Marty does not use any electronics as he is kinda old school like me. All though I do use a vexlar when the hammer is not fishing with me. Oh forgot to mention the new generator stopped running for no apparent reason again and I call will be made To acme in Bemidji and a little bithing will be in order as I again demand a new unit as that piece is a lemon as far as I’m concerned. They can not blame the cold as it was above 32 degrees. Buddy’s road was in pretty good shape but the red baron will be hitting the lake this morning to give the newly re built v-plow a good work out and a taste of what she was built for. Brett and his crew roll inn around 10am today.

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Putting myself in a pickle. What to do what to do. My plans were to move montana today when Dave and Sarah leave. Brett and his crew have montana and north Carolina for the weekend. Marty and I put north caroliana in its new spot and planned to bring montana next to it so they would be running on the same generator. North Dakota, florida and old Minnesota are in a little group for Tony and his crew. I get a call from brett on Wednesday eve, letting me know they would be arriving Thursday ? Turns out I had talked to brett a couple weeks ago and they had decided to come a day early. No problem I said as montana would be open. Problem is I had the conversation on the lake and never recorded it on my calender. Then Dave calls out of the blue and they reserve montana Tuesday through Thursday. Now I have to shuffle things around and put brett and his crew in north Dakota when its all ready on its new spot for Tony and his crew today. Dave and Connie arrived wednesday for old Minnesota and are with Tonys crew and came up early. They have not done that well and need to be shuffled onto new ice sometime today. Now north Dakota has been fished one day instead of fresh for tony. I let marty fish florida Wednesday night and he did pretty good. kellie and I had dinner out there last night with marty in florida. Now although florida has not had all its holes augured it has been fished two nights? So now instead of having a easy day of just moving montana over by north Carolina. Do I move all 4 onto fresh ice before 2pm? I guess we will go by the over night fishing report and go from there. Yesterday the red baron got a good work out as I helped Buddy Hillmen clear a big chunk of road after the cones. Learned a little more about moving that much snow which was cool. The red baron performed admirably and I was way happy with its performance. Marty spent time cleaning up the road we made to our houses and pushing a little snow to the south on buddy hillmens highway. Buddy headed off towards his houses I went and met brett and checked him and his crew in .Then I headed off the lake as when we went to town wednseday I blew right through blackdack and forgot to get my stitches out. Now I find out this morning that Buddy made another two miles of road and I had no clue and never got to help. Oh well maybe next time. Kellie the hammer and I fished last night in florida for a bit. I landed one nice keeper rip jigging a rattling flyer with no vex. The hammer missed atleast 4 fish. She must be out of practice. She did finally land a nice keeper though. And lost another at the bottom of the hole. Its so funny she never ever says I got one. Everyone says I got one when they set the hook but not her she just sets the hook and quietly reels them in. I did talk to Brett and his crew they landed the first elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie out of north Dakota and as a reward get 50 bucks off there stay as promised for the first one caught out of that house. Time to hit the lake .we usually start at 9 but today we are starting at 8 so Marty can get in a little overtime. On a side note the warm weather combined with the wet snow, strong winds, Wednesday and into Wednesday night has put a nice glaze over all the snow on the lake. The next dusting of snow with wind is really going to blow some snow around.

I guess all I can say is stupid fish. Making the rounds last night was again a little disappointing. My first stop was to see how Tyler and his two buddies were doing .They showed up with there wheel house and I set them up where Randy and Chuck pounded on them last weekend. They were marking fish but only had one keeper after 5 hours of fishing. My second stop was Brett and his crew in Montana and north Carolina on new fresh spots. Montana had gotten two and north Carolina nothing yet. They were having a big fish fry though as they had fished portables most of the day and had there 15 walleyes and 4 yes 4 elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. One which had came out of north Dakota Thursday night. I then got a call from Keith. They were trying a new spot and had also caught one elusive yet still catchable red lake crappie and one keeper walleye. My next stop was Tony and his crew. The 5 kids which I have not gotten there names yet had caught 4 fish with one being a smaller northern in North Dakota on its new spot. Tony and Jimmy the kids dads were fishing Florida. They had not caught a fish but they had been helping the kids and were just starting to really fish.. Connie and Dave were in old Minnesota after we had moved them onto fresh ice. Connie had landed a elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie and was quite excited. They had also landed a couple more walleyes and now had 5 in there bucket . Still not very good since they arrived Wednesday afternoon. I talked to Marlo and all though I do not know where he is fishing they had 6 in the bucket and there buddies in another wheel house also had some action. I did not get a chance to talk to Matt and his kids in there wheel house as they were trying a new area to the south west of me. Randy and Tammy’s wheel house looked very dark so I did not stop as I assumed they may of been sleeping. Boar and his buddies are also out there somewhere in there wheel houses and I will talk to them later today to see how they did over night. So over all my houses were not doing all that well. Marty and I will move Florida on the other side of north Dakota so Jimmy and Tony get a fresh spot for there second night. I will be moving Montana to a completely new area Sunday for Dan, Mel, Rob and Amy as it looks like I may of ruined another 10 acres of area. Who knows maybe I will get out there this morning and the rattle wheels have kept every one up all night as it has been known to happen in a sleeper.

Well what the heck was I thinking? Just like I have posted this past week. Buddy Hillmens snow bank to the south of his road has sank and is a truck/fish house eating machine. Randy pulled a guy out that tried to make it across Friday. At the same time Buddy Hillmen was just up the road pulling a truck and fish house out of the berm. Another truck with fish house in tow drives by Buddy and goes 50 yards up the road and tries to cross the berm in another spot and he also buries his rig? I’m cruising down the ice road to get home and here’s Marty sitting in the red baron and two guys are buried in the berm. There trying to dig out with a plastic shovel. I stop and they say what should we do your the expert?. The one guys feet are soaking wet as he is shoveling in 2 feet of slush and water. I explain we can tug the truck across but the fish house will have to be un hooked. After tugging the truck out onto Buddy Hillmens road. I explain there is no way I can pull that fish houses trough that slush puddle mess and they need to exit the lake from hillmens, go around and pull the house out from the way they came from. Here’ s where I ‘m not thinking. I say here take my tow strap? go around and hook the strap to the front of the house and spin it around . You can just drop my new strap off at hillmens store when your done. See ya strap as it was never returned wtf. was I thinking. I guess its just another lesson learned here on such a grand lake that owes me nothing.
Now for the long winded fishing report. I had Tyler, Reid and Riley checking out a area that was good last weekend, I had Matt and his kids in another wheel house in another spot, Keith was just to the north east of me in his wheel house, Boar rolled in late in his wheel house and set up somewhere. Marlo was in a completely different area. Saturday morning and the report from all was one fish two fish very slow.
Old Minnesota had a little better action after Marty and I did the cookie shuffle. Connie and Dave headed home with there 6 walleyes Sunday morning plus a couple elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. North Dakota had Jimmy and Tony’s kids. Brock, Luke, Lexi, Monica and Audrey. I checked on them a few times over the weekend and they were enjoying themselves. They ended up with about 12 keepers plus a couple they ate. I had to do the cookie shuffle for Tony and Jimmy Saturday morning as they had horrible fishing. Marty and I will no longer be fishing my houses prior to customers arrival. They did have better action and got there 6 walleyes. 2 the first day and 4 on the new spot plus another elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. Brett and his crew Rob, Jason, Dave and Andy fished portables through out the weekend and only landed 6 walleyes in the two houses Montana and north Carolina. They were both on fresh ice in what was a fishy area last week. Dave did land a Sucker of all things in Montana very weird. Saturday they fished portables and found 4 more elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies plus only 12 walleyes for the day and they moved around quite a bit.
Randy and Tammy moved Saturday morning out further and did a little bit better, Keith moved out further and had a bucket full of small ones when I stopped in to see them Saturday eve. Tyler, Reid and Riley also moved out further and had way better fishing with a few perch mixed in and one a real hog pushing 14 inches. Tyler has a facebook page and we did a quick video while I was there. I saw Marlo leaving the lake Sunday and they had pretty good fishing where they were at. I called Matt Sunday as he was gone with the kids, they also had better fishing but nothing spectacular. I did look over when I was driving by and his kids were having a ball ice skating where I plowed them a rink.
All my houses did not do that well. The rattle wheels were pretty silent over the two nights .Not sure why there not biting at night?
We will reload today and start scouting for a new area to ruin.

Dan Mel Amy and Rob rolled in Sunday afternoon just as I was finished moving and auguring out Montana. They are a great group and have been coming for years. Dan is my carpet man and we did some bartering as I would like to replace carpet in 3 of our 5 fish houses next spring. They are having some good yuks out there and missed a couple fish with in minutes of wetting there lines. Then Mel landed a elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. Again it was slow for the location were at. Its a fishy area but its time to find a new area too ruin. My good friend Wayne is also up. He is the person I acquired old Minnesota from and is still his house. He turned me on to ice fishing in style and spoiled me years ago fishing on chisgao down by forest lake. Before I fished in his house we always set on a bucket or fished out of a vehicle. He is also one of the three best fishermen I know. I have learned many sudel tricks from him. The greek is also one of the better fishermen I know. His secret is he never sets his pole down and is always jigging. His favorit jig is the white flu flu jig.
Kellie the hammer, me and Wayne fished old Minnesota Sunday eve. The third night old Minnesota was fished? 3 bites with one keeper walleye landed. Wayne decided he wanted to stay again last night so yesterday instead of starting my migration to better fishing I again did the cookie shuffle and only moved Old Minnesota to the back side of Montana only a 100 yards away. The hammer and I would again be joining him for dinner and cards with a little fishing to boot. It did not take the hammer long to land her first fish of the night and she was giddy when she landed a elusive but still catchable upper red lake crappie. Wayne followed up with a swing and a miss and I landed a nice walleye keeper on a rattle wheel tipped with a fathead. Wayne followed that with another keeper shortly there after. A couple more misses ,a couple jigs missing there minnows while we were playing cards and the action was again done. Dan, Mel, Amy and Rob got another elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie and are going to stay one more night. They also have just a few walleyes with quite a few misses. Since there staying a third night I will be moving them today to new fishing grounds. Gene and Sue are coming down from lotw to fish in Florida this morning. Marty will be coming up later today and picking up a new used tire for the red baron as it has a flat from dry rot. The dodge prospector has a issue with the front end that needs to be looked at before it breaks. The bravado looks like it may have a leaking water pump and not a blown head gasket. Blue thunder is still the work horse of the fleet and I just love my trucks. I may of also over revved the crysler car yesterday and damaged the motor. Oops

Oh my gosh! What’s the old sayings. You should not be allowed to have this much fun? Laughter is the best medicine? Having good friends and or family is what’s life all about. I have been fishing most of my whole life. I started fishing in Colorado for trout in the streams and lakes of the rocky mountains. The first time I came to Waskish I was 6 years old and my dad brought us up here to see my grandma Olga. My first cast in the tamarac river I caught a 5 lb northen pike. Grandma is the one that gave me the nick name cookie and my dad hated it. He said no son of mine will be called cookie. Dad died in a car accident leaving Waskish after a hard day at the farm in 1978. My parents were divorced so I only got to spend a couple weeks a year with my dad and I be leave if that would not of happened I would of ended up raising my family in Bemidji working at his car lot just north of Bemidji. Dad would take me fishing on red lake and we would troll spinners. I would get sea sick and puke over the side of the boat . Dad loved it as they always bit when I was chumming. My mom remarried when I was 15 and moved me to Minnesota where I met my sweet heart Kellie the hammer. I met her on my 16th birthday and it was love at first sight. We raised our family in the forest lake area and would come visit grandma mostly on holidays when we had 3 day weekends such as the 4th of July etc. The greek and I became best friends when we met as he heard my step dad took me hunting and he wanted to learn how to hunt. We hunted up in swift west of Baudett and always stopped here to have lunch or dinner with grandma on our way up and on our way back home from hunting. Grandma nicked named Billy the greek because he turned her on to greek seasoning salt. Fast forward to this last weekend good friends, good food and fun times were had by all. I’m headed out on the lake yesterday morning to fish with Wayne and maybe get in a game or two of cribbage o before I get to work for the day. As I’m driving out I get a text from Wayne of a pic of a 14 1/2 inch crappie laying in a 14 inch frying pan and the caption says Why do they call them pan fish when there bigger then the pan . I arrive to old Minnesota and say. I want to take that same picture and I put the crappie in the pan where I take the pic. I bend down and pick up the pan and his fish does the crappie flop and goes head first right down the hole. A perfect one and a half gainer with hardly a splash. Oh my gosh it was so funny . I don’t know maybe you had to be there. It was so funny and what were the odds. I know my good buddy Jake possessed with upper red lake crappies would be proud on releasing such a trophy. Wayne headed home yesterday with his 3 walleyes and the crappie the hammer caught. I got to work on the lake about 10am . With Dan the carpet mans help we would be making a big move with Montana to put them in a new area that has not been fished. He was my helper as Marty has not made it back up yet. Some how in the process of moving I missed that I had not cinched the 2 hundred pound propane’s on the back of the house and one of them fell off during the move breaking the line and falling off the house. We dealt with that and I got them all set up in the new area I’m about to ruin by 2. I then headed back to eat lunch and dig North Dakota and North Carolina out for the big move. Old Minnesota and Florida will be dug out today and also be moved. If the weather man is right the wind is going to be brutal out there today with gust out of the nw at 26 mph. Where’s good help when you need it? Drive safe Marty and will see you when you arrive. Old Minnesota will be the next house moved as Rick arrives tomorrow at 10 am for two nights on such a grand lake. When I left the lake I stopped to check on Amy, Mel, Rob and Dan and they had 3 more walleyes in the bucket and were anticipating a good bite as the sun set on such a Grand lake. On a side note yesterdays sunrise was nothing short of spectacular

Thank you for telling a bit about your history. Good stuff Cookie. Please tell more stories about your past. We all enjoy them…RR

So I’m tooling down the ice road yesterday and I see a black garbage bag on the west side of the north west berm. I always try and stop when I see liter and pick it up. Some times I may have to get it a little later if I’m on a mission. I stop walk over to grab it and its full of frozen fish guts. That’s the second bag of frozen guts I have picked up this year. WTF? The first one I picked up a few weeks ago I threw in the back of blue thunder, I stopped to throw it away and when I’m walking to the dumpster it rips open and splatters all over the ground. There not frozen and of course I do not have my glove as there in the other truck. I ‘m trying to scoop them up and getting poked to boot. Very frustrating. Who ever does this please stay home and go fish in your toilet. Last year picking up liter was ridicules. Being on the lake every day for 100 days I am quite aware of some of the liter bugs. Rodger a old customer of mine that now has a skid house left quite the mess last year and I’m still waiting to see him so I can chew him out. It looked like he left a whole basket of laundry out there. Sweat shirts, jeans, tee shirt ,towels etc. Another outfitter left every block he used for his rentals? One spot I know he never went back to as when he pulled out there was his customers grocery’s. Milk, butter, beef sticks, eggs, cheese . etc. that were forgotten under the house . Some times I can not rescue a block that has completely froze in. Later in the year in march I try and go back to every area I have ruined and double check for any thing left behind. When we had are little crappie get together last year I would say 30 wheel houses showed up in the area we were working. Only a handful came out of there houses and said hi. When they all rolled out Sunday and Monday I found 1 pop can driving around. They may of not been the friendliest fishermen but they were very respectful of the lake. Yesterday driving home off the lake I had a big bang and thought I blew out a tire. I stopped to check it out and a bungee cord had snapped. Wow was it loud, I would of swaryed it was a tire I was thankful it was not the tire . I then backed up and gathered the two pieces laying on the ice. I also stopped last week when I was helping Buddy with the extended road as I saw something black and did not want to plow it in. It was a piece of the red baron. I never did look at the red baron to find out what it was. Its was plastic and I imagine it was a some type of splash panel.

Now for a very short fishing report. Mel, Dan, Amy and Rob did a little better in the new area I’m in the process of ruining. Not quite what I was hoping for but a dash better then where I was at. I planned on fishing another spot last night out of blue thunder but after moving north Dakota, old Minnesota, cleaning Montana, chipping out blocks left behind when I moved north Dakota. Washing the picture windows for Andy and Andy when they arrive Friday for Montana. I was to tired and worn out to augur any holes and wet a line, plus I had to make my homemade pizza for dinner. I will keep trying to check out the area I have in mind. On a side note accu weather had a big swing and a miss They said gust to 26 with a nw wind. I dressed for it and it was a lite southwest wind with sunshine all day, I was so over dressed. Marty made it up today and we have a very busy day today. Not sure how I’m going to dress better check accu weather.

Another day on such a grand lake has gone and passed. Marty and I had a fantastic day yesterday working on the lake. Were still working on better communications on the lake though. Having some fun with walkie talkies reminded me of when I was a kid in Denver. I got a new set of waklie talkies for Christmas. My uncle Lester showed up and took one in his car to see how far he could go and still here each other. He dropped it out of his car window and ran it over in the driveway.. I was about to throw mine out the window yesterday.

We were able to get the whole fleet in to new fishing grounds. Rick ,Matt and Mike arrived right on time. They have been here many times so giving them directions out was a breeze which made it much easier for me to keep working instead of driving to shore to meet them. Once they were checked in Marty and I cleaned up 3 miles of Buddy Hillmens highway from the dusting of snow we got. Montana is just what Andy requested and they will be bringing there own generator . A dodge truck decided to jump the southern berm and they had there plastic shovel digging it out. I guess they did not want a pull? If your going to off road bring a number two shovel as the plastic ones usually end up as liter when they break. Florida is all banked and ready to augur. North Dakota and North Carolina are together for Tanner and his crew. We still have to position them, block, bank and augur them out. I lost track of how many holes we augured so far this year. I will do the math at the end of the season. I know I’m on my 3rd gallon of gas. So I’m moving Florida yesterday and a truck with chains, towing a old large homemade trailor/fish house comes down the road and stops right in my path. I take a hard right on a old trail and when I bust through the edges florida comes unhooked an d almost passes me. Them steal runners are like ice skates. The guys in the camper swing around when I’m re hooking it up and ask where they biting. I say where did you come from and they say Rodgers. I say how did you get here and they say we have chains. I stopped in to check on the guys in old Minnesota they were sleeping. They had a long drive from il. I lost my spade shovel the other day. My replacement was a old one that has been on the property for ever I imagine. It lasted one day in Marty’s hands and broke in two. I made it last a whole week. That brute force of Marty’s. Coming off the lake last night and the red barons head lites got broke off as well as the patch work we did last year on the plow frame broke. We will be taking the v plow off today and having Barny repair it asap. Wayne said it would not last when we repaired it last march. I also plan on installing the new injectors. The park ave needs some work to get it road worthy as I spun a bearing on my chrysler car. OOPs. The bravado is leaking antifreeze and is not a head gasket so we also have to look in to that. Well I’m again excited for a awesome weekend .I expect a little better fishing soo time will tell

Another interesting day on such a grand lake. Marty and I rolled on to the lake around 830am. I was hoping to be on the lake by 730 to catch the sunrise but got delayed. Oh well cant catch them all. Andy and Andy always want to be off by them self ,they bring there own generator and I do my best to get them off by them selfs. When I get out there to my surprise there are 20 rentals that have advanced to the east and now are much closer then where they were the day before. Then there is a new trail to the east. Oh well they still are off by them self and I just hope that the fish are not coming from the north as they have a gammit of lines to get through before they get to montana. The house is on a fresh spot and there is no time to move it and the v plow is out of commission for a day or two. For some reason there is quite a bit more snow in the new area I’m going to ruin. Stopped to see how old Minnesota did and they had better then average fishing .That was great to here as that is really the goal. Putting the houses on fish. We then spent the next 2 hours getting north Dakota and north Carolina set up for tanner and his crew. tanner and his group showed up and I checked them in. Then it was off to prep florida for Rolly and Kevin.Old Minnesota and florida would be running off the same generator. I go to plug it in and I’m 10 feet short. OOPS. I try and keep the houses about 200 feet apart and missed it by 10 feet. rather then go all the way back to shore I was able too borrow a extension cord from Tanner so it all worked out. Just as I was finishing florida Rolly and Kevin arrived. Perfect timing. Marty and I headed home to get the red barons v plow off and get her to town. Arriving back home it was time to rest a bit before taking the hammer out to have dinner with Randy and Tammy in there fish house, cabbage rolls. They were very good. We took Marty’s dodge 1 ton. I think great I will dress lightly and where my tennis shoes for a change. After having dinner I jump in the 1 ton diesel and meet Boar on the lake to point him in the right direction with his wheel house. I take him half way down the road where I have my rentals and pull of to a area I like. Boar comes over to say thanks and says I have your new spade shovel. Oh great I will get it tomorrow as I don’t need it tonight. I then drive down to the end of the road to check on Andy and Andy. Turns out they have had company most of the day as 5 trucks have driven with in 2 feet of the house to get around to the very end of the trail. Then the whole group moves just after dark and sets up out in front of the picture window, again driving right next to the house to get there. Oh well! I say good night and drive over to say hi and see how there doing. Turns out they are looking for the elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. I then turn and drive towards the trail and proceed to get stuck in 10 inches of snow if that. I jump out to survey the situation and I’m in my tennis shoes. I look in the bed and no shovel. One of the guys says if you have a strap I can tug you out. Looking in the back seat and all I have is a over sized ratchet strap. That would have to do. A little more improvising and they were able to tug me out. Still not sure why I got stuck and I have a sneaky suspicion Marty’s tires are a little worn out. Two last stops to top off the generators and check on Tanners group and pick up the hammer and we were on our way off the lake. half way home a jeep decided to cross the south berm and was buried to his running boards. There was a truck helping them out so were headed home. Tired and worn out from another day of fresh air a grand lake

Yesterday was not a day to be on the lake. Marty and I headed out around 8am to gas up the generators and say goodbye to all our customers from the weekend. I had a sneaky suspicion some would all ready be gone with this major weather system blowing in . We met Tanner and his crew coming off the lake and said our goodbyes. I never got to spend much time with them this weekend so only remember Amanda and brads name the other two I forgot. They had the worst of the fishing in north Dakota but did catch enough for a fish fry and said they were taking some home. Tanner also said they would be back next year for sure. That’s always nice to hear. We also met Bobby joe and Darrel on the road as they were headed to westwind for breakfast. Kellie the hammer and I spent a couple hours Saturday night visiting them and doing a little fishing. When we arrived they had 3 in the bucket. I got the hammer set up and Bobby s rattle wheel went off. She set the hook and got a nice keeper. The hammer lost one at the hole a short time later . Then Bobby had two misses on the same rattle wheel, they sure seemed to like that corner of the house. I stopped in to check on Rolly and Kevin if Florida. They were eating some fresh fish. Kevin said they had caught a few and had enough action to keep them entertained through out the weekend.. Andy an dandy had the best fishing of the 5 houses they figured they landed 20 even though they had a parade of trucks driving by them part of the day. They hooked up with there buddy Sam Saturday and spent the night in his wheel house on a way point from last year. I’m not a huge be leaver in way points out there as the fish move so much with the lack of structure. There are patterns out there and I spose certain areas can be good year to year. They ended up with only 3 fish and no elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. Oh Rolly did land a nice 14 1/2 Saturday morning. I stopped and talked to a wheel house that had set up just north of florida. They did not do well at all. I also stopped and talked to Boar as I had picked a spot for him. They had pretty good fishing and caught some nice ones and took home 12 nice keepers. We had a couple good laughs about a shovel. I found a shovel he left on the lake weeks ago ,when he ask me if I had found a shovel I said yes I did but he would have to buy a new one as this one has become part of cookies operation. I ask him if he would also pick me up a spade shovel and I would reimburse him this weekend for both. Saturday morning when I stopped to get my shovel I left in a hurry to say good bye to Rick, Matt and Mike. I got a text from boar a bit later that he had found a shovel and it now had became part of his operation. he is coming up again next weekend with a group of 4 h kids so the pressure is on to find him a good spot. Marty and I worked on detailing the houses as the weather quickly started turning for the worse. We had a couple small mishaps that were again to funny. I had a dandy perch laying on the ice in front of florida, when Marty rolled up with the vacuum he made it into a pancake with blue thunder as he did not see it there. Then when is was vacuuming Florida the extension hose fell in the hole and he sucked up a pint or two of water through the vacuum. Coming off the lake a 11am and the north west winds with the snow had started drifting across the roads and things were getting real ugly out there real quick. I would be making another trip out there when Russel and his dad arrived for florida later in the day. They rolled in around 230 and heading out it has become a whole new world out there. I got them checked in and told them they would be hunkering down and do not venture out , I also talked to Bobby and Darrel and left them a spare generator in case any problems developed as I would not be coming back on to the lake in less it was a emergency. The road I made to the houses is completely gone and I imagine it will be easier to cut a new trail then open up the old one which is a shame as I had put quite a bit of time in making it nice and wide with only a big berm on one side. In hind site I should of built the berm on the eastern side and not the west. The way it was blowing it may of not even made a difference. It only made sense to have the berm on that side as all the houses were to the east of the road. I’m not sure what Buddy’s plans will be reopening the road but do know that we have a big work out coming for blue thunder and the red baron. The red baron is still in Kellier but is spose to be done today. 800 hundred dollars worth of work as Barny is reengineering the whole thing and beefing it up . He said with the design the way it was if I ever hit something to hard I would rip the plow right off the front frame horns. With the new design maybe it will be bullet proof. I expect not as the conditions are just so extreme out there. Marty will not be back un tell Friday as he will be bringing his wife up for a weekend of fishing in Montana. Since Montana was only fished 1 day I plan on leaving it where it is and just moving all the drifted snow away from it. I would like to have north Dakota on fresh ice some time before Andrew arrives tomorrow. Old Minnesota needs to be on a new spot by Wednesday and the rest of the fleet by Friday. It should all work out but there is a lot of plowing to do once this wind settles down. I have my eye on a whole new area so we will also see how that pans out through out the week. Randy and Tammy set up right on the spot there were last weekend and did terrible I know I’m not going there.

Just as I figured the roads on the lake were quite drifted. The nice thing about Buddy Hillmens’ highway as even though the snow had drifted there were still areas of bare ice and as long as you go slow even in blizzard conditions you can navigate your way off the lake. I talked to Buddy before I hit the lake with blue thunder .He told me to start on the north side and cut a new edge all the way to the end of the road. I got on the lake only to be greeted with high winds out of the northwest. With some lite snow coming down on top of the 3 to 5 we got she was blowing across the lake pretty good. I don’t quite understand where it all comes from. You would think the way it was howling it would all be blown away in no time but it just keeps coming and coming from the north west. Time I got to the end of the road and turned around the edges I had created were all ready catching snow. I headed back towards shore with a quick stop to check in on Russle and his dad in florida. The easiest thing to do was cross country to the house from the eastern side as the well maintained wide road I had made was pretty much full of snow. Stepping in to the house I from out of that extreme weather and it was just like stepping in to florida 70 degrees and no wind. They only had one keeper? Wow that surprised me as bobby joe and Darrel had left early in the am and had caught there limits less then 200 feet away. I was in a hurry and told them I would be back later. getting back on Buddy Hillmen’s highway and pretty much all the work I had done was now filled with more snow so I basically started over only heading east. Once to the end again I turned around and back I went for my third trip. I was clipping along pretty good letting the wind take some of the snow to the south .Another trip to the end and back and half way back I find my square shovel. It had magically fell off the truck. The next trip back I again stopped in at florida but this time I decided to plow into my old road bed. I new I had lost it but had to check it out . Once there a quick look at the box and generator and the extension cord coming out of the box had frozen into the puddle of water created from the exhaust. A little chiseling , repositioning the box and I walked over to old Minnesota. The weight of all the snow from drifting causes water to some how rise out of the holes and oozes out from under the house where it freezes like hot lava and somehow rises above the ice sheet. There under all that fresh ice is my extension cord. Frozen at least 10 feet under two inches of ice I would not be saving that and will have to roll it up hang it on a stick and come back and retrieve it in march when every thing starts to melt. Another quick stop in florida and still no more fish. I spent a few minutes giving them a couple tips,lures and tricks of the trade and off I went again. I met Buddy hillmen v plowing on the way in and his helper Kelly with the straight blade. What a mess as I think the winds had picked up. I was out of gas and needed to get to town to pick up the red baron so off the lake I came. Arriving back home around 5pm I had to put the v plow back on. With Barnys new design It changed the way the plow lifts and I struggled getting it back on. What I could do I my own in the past now I need a second person. Chandler was nice enough to help me and after a couple different atemps we got her back on. I was eager to get back out there and give her a test. buddy and Kelly had called it quits and open up only half the road as I think the winds had picked up when that stupid weather man kept saying on the radio all day the winds would be diminishing. Who makes up these weather reports? I gave the red baron a good work out on the way out and every thing performed just like it was designed. A third stop at florida and it was nice to see some more fish lying on the ice. My tips , tricks and lures had done the trick or the fish decided to swim under the house. Another short visit and off I went to get home for a nice dinner with the hammer and rest up for another day of plowing? Not sure what the plans will be today as the stupid weather says high winds for a third straight day. I hate to cut a new trail to the houses as the drifting will just fill it in. I will have to base my decision when I arrive out there as Russell and his dad are in a car, Andrew Jakes brother will be arriving some time today for north Dakota. Jake said they will help move the house but with the extreme weather not sure if that going to happen today. I also rented florida tomorrow? I may get the chance to see if the house can catch any fish on the fifth night on the same spot. Making any new roads to the houses will only fill in as fast as you make them. Mother nature is the real boss and winner out there and no matter how hard you try she is in control. I plan on hitting the lake at first light this morning and we will go from there. As Dave the old timer said . ITS A GRAND LAKE AND IT OWES ME NOTHING, NOTHING