the baritone woosh of wind high in a big red or white pine
an old sportwin 9.9 evinrude a mile or so off on a calm morning
lantern in a fish house
hermit thrush
receding thunder heard from a tent

Went out north of Duluth yesterday. No fish. Lots of ice, not pulling from shore at all, there’s a long way to around here until that hot last-ice bite (if I can find it around here.)

Beautiful fish! I’m jealous. I was gonna run up the Trail yesterday for the last day of trout but I’m too old and tired.

It is true that folks who have experience with potentially dangerous things have a “truer” perspective than the folks who don’t have same same experience. For example, I was just out on the ice. It hasn’t even pulled from shore yet, but it has been warm during the day. My co-workers who have zero experience will tsk tsk tsk and warn me of the dangers, though they know nothing of the reality of the situation. If you are experienced, cautious, and thoughtful, you’ll be fine in most situations.

Think of the free climbing guy.

Colter Wall is cool. Jason Isbell is, too; he’s the best songwriter of his generation.
I do like a lot of older music as time tends to sort the wheat from the chaff. Songs don’t stick around for 50 years by accident; the good ones have staying power.

My favorite song is “Going the Distance” by Cake, on the other hand.

What passes for country radio in 2019 is an abomination of art, goodness, humanity, and everything else I hold dear as an American and citizen of the world. It causes me physical pain. I’d rather listen a guy count out twelve minnows for my five-dollar “dozen.”

Nice fish, WH! How was the snow and slush?

Way to stick with it. Time on task looks to be the key.

Bearcat-
I like your thinking on ice fishing late ice on the river. I think of that every time I go up there. Do you guys do pretty good? Same big numbers as fishing from the boat?

Do the same trip in December. Fishing will be better then, probably.

It might be different if it was before Christmas, but LOTW hands down.

Frozen over yesterday. Haven’t looked today, but it’s windy.

Kevin, nice fish. Looks somehow familiar!
Getting any more this weekend?

Deep basin at night.

Symptoms: No workie. Good battery, new power cable, no obvious broken solders inside.

I agree. If you are trying to catch one or two nice walleyes, stick around a bit longer. If you are looking for big numbers of pannies, keep moving. One minute for sunnies and crappies; 10 minutes for an eye per hole.

Ford v Chevy
Get a vx1 or an fl8 and learn to use it well. If you feel, down the road, that you would catch more fish with more features, upgrade. (you won’t have to)

When hole-hopping I like a 48″UL. I keep the tip right by the water to beat wind.

They don’t come off, which I actually like.

canoe country selfie a couple weeks ago

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I was once an hour late to work ON WEDNESDAY. I hadn’t set the watch that I rarely used but used that day. Did nothing for my reputation.

Jigging on the Rainy River I once caught a small bullhead with a BIG lamprey attached to it. Looked like a squid or something.
Nets, anchors, rods, etc.too.

Elpoutugy-
It’s hard to resist going out as far as you can, but don’t forget about shallower. Once that 2 o’clock bite is over out deep, run up into about 15′ and you’ll get that classic evening bite and even into the dark a little bit. I’m tellin’ ya, they are in there. Find harder bottom.

You, my friend, are a real class act. Good job (so to speak.)

Go somewhere you can catch some sunnies or perch, and keep a tip-up out for pike. Don’t let him freeze or get hungry. Thermos of hot chocolate goes a long way. Play catch with a nerf football if it is nice out. Leave him wanting more.

Welcome. I love my Thorne Bros. Walleye Sweetheart. All those lures sound good. Don’t forget about a plain old jig-and-minnow or a plain hook when you are on ’em and can’t get ’em to go.

I didn’t read the whole thread, but pretty good fun.
Did anyone mention the advent of chartplotters and whatnot? GPS? I’d like to see a graph of harvest overlaid with a graph of the advent of every Joe in the cities getting GPS on his rig. Just sayin’.

my two cents: All of everybody and everything in every civilization is shaped by landscape and wilderness. 10,000 years ago, as the glaciers receded, Each and every choice people made was dictated by Ma Nature. Today, very few choices are influenced by landscape and wilderness, which has led to people being all effed up and lost.
Watch the documentary on Netflix about happiness; I think it is called “Happy.” The film makers have unwittingly made a film about the importance of connectedness to our planet. They don’t ever say it, but that is what it is.

Leg power and LOTW don’t really go well together, especially that time of year.
The further north you go, the more fish you will catch, generally, but the more time you spend travelling. February is tough in my experience. Play it by ear.

Mr. Fellegy, I feel your pain. It sucks to see the big pond faring so poorly like so many predicted it would. I know what it is like to love a body of water. It is painful as hell to see resorters struggling. I’m only saying that when the corn market goes south, plant beans. Or oats. The problem was caused by a combination of things; I believe the solution for the resorters lies partly in marketing. There are definitely opportunities.

Thomas Edison said that sometimes opportunity is hard to recognize because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
WORLD CLASS BASS. WORLD CLASS MUSKIES. LOWER 48-CLASS PIKE. RED-HOT CATCH and RELEASE WALLEYE TROPHIES. I agree with Chubby. I’m not saying the situation is ideal, but my 10th grade biology teacher told us that organisms have three choices always: adapt, migrate, or die. IF it were me, I’d choose number one.