Nine Days of Heaven!

By chris-tuckner 0

In a word…WOW! I could not have penned in a better week for taking a vacation. Co-workers, friends and family laugh and snicker when I tell them that I am taking a week off in October to stay in MN. Even more so when I tell them that I am going to fish all night long, going to bed after 3 AM every day! Inevitably the camera comes out, and the pictures get clicked through. Evening after evening of memories captured forever appear and are replaced by another. Person after person who’s paths crossed with mine for an evening on the Lake. Memories of big fish, small fish, and everything in between. Some nights numbers of fish, other nights slower. But EVERY night a “Keeper!” We were blessed with excellent weather, and some of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. (Stay tuned after this report for a few shots of them.)

My buddy LeRoy Carl, James Holst and I spent the week on the shores of this beautiful lake. This area has so much to offer. Perch fishing by day and unbelievable walleye fishing by night. If you have never experienced a full moon over Mille Lacs you are really missing out on one of the most beautiful sights one can take in. You don’t have to believe in God, but try to deny it when you see what we see when up there. There is a magic that happens when you slide the boat off the trailer and bring the engine to life. The excitement builds as you open the free spool on the line counter reel and send that first crank bait back into the dark waters hoping for that heart stopping smash when that first fish of the evening hits! Some nights you wait a while, and others it is immediate. But every night is the same. You feel the anticipation of the next bite, while looking up into the twilight for that beautiful big orange moon to crack the eastern horizon. As the night wears on it turns a blinding white. You thumb through the bait boxes wondering if firetiger or clown will produce better than the current bait wobbling 80 or so feet behind the boat. The sound of the Yamaha T-8 puttering like a sewing machine provides the music for the evening. It soothes the nerves. With every RPM, another stress of the real world is eliminated.

I find that every year brings a new sense of adventure on Mille Lacs. This year water that was 8.5′ years prior are 6′ or less. Baits that were “The Ticket” years prior may not be able to run in that shallow of water. So overcoming those obstacles was and is the key to your success. It made you the better fisherman that you wanted to be. Every day that you succeeded in your search was another notch you could carve in your belt. I had a lot of fun doing that this year. I pulled out some old friends out of the box that had not seen water in years, and they quickly became my favorites again. I look at those baits now and see the teeth marks and bent hooks and just smile. Back in the box they go for another year until called upon for their next tour of duty.

I could go into a lot of detail about how we caught fish, but a lot of other guys are doing that here right now. Everyone has a story to tell. And I will defer to them on the presentations and the particulars. One of the things I constantly hear from fishermen at the landings, resturaunts and resorts is the “Body Count.” “How many did you get?” “We got X amount tonight…” I think we put such an emphasis on how many we catch instead of just being out to enjoy the experience. Don’t be so hard on yourself if you go out and catch only two fish while you hear reports of people catching 30 and 40 fish per night. It happens, yeah. But more often than not…you will not catch more that the “Other guy in the boat”…or the boat next to you. But enjoy that feeling of accomplishment when the next fish bites. Memories are made every time you cast off and start your next adventure. Ted Merdan and I laughed and had a great time this week thinking back to our trip together last year when we blanked! But it was a trip that neither of us will soon forget. We consider ourselves pretty fair sticks when it comes to this lake, and the Gods decided to humble us that night. We had a great time solving the worlds problems and talking about family and friends while forgetting about the world beyond Lake Mille Lacs and the full moon that was above us. For me, that trip was a success even though we did not boat a fish! This year was another story! We had a night where I think we quit counting at 40 fish! And we will no doubt remember that for other reasons. Saying goodbye to Mille Lacs for the open water season is really hard for me to do. I tipped my hat to the Lady of the Lake and said my many thanks and headed home yesterday filled with the fond memories of another awesome open water season. Friendships solidified even more, and a warm feeling of belonging here with everyone here on IDA I got to spend time with this year on IDA. My thanks to all of you out there that make this so much fun! I met a ton of people from IDA up there this week. It was sure nice to see all of you again. Now it is off to watch my kids practice their deer hunting skills and make a few more memories there as well.
See you on the ice shortly!

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chris-tuckner

Guide, speaker and tournament fisherman. Member of the , B-fish-N, St. Croix Rods, Marcum Technologies, Topline Controls, Lakemaster.

0 Comments

  4. Awesome pics & report Tuck!

    And to think…. some folks have there boats put away for the year! they dont know what they are missing!

  5. Great report Tuck I would’ve loved to get up there this year but it just wasn’t in the cards Those sunset pics from Hunters are beautiful.

  7. great report and awesome pictures.
    and great perspective. too many fishermen get caught up in the numbers game. as you said, its all about living the life in an awesome setting and making memories with good friends.

  8. Thanks for the great read Tuck….one of the best “All
    Time” IMO. The way you describe the anticipation as the
    lures go back and the moon comes up….I almost thought I
    was there again instead of sitting here at my pc. Every
    night a “Keeper” indeed!
    I also want to thank those who went out and caught the perch for the fish fry, and Hunters Resort & staff for
    serving the fix’ns. Good dinner.

  11. Big thanks to Chris and LeRoy for letting me hop in the boat with them last Thursday night – Tuck we definitely got that revenge we were looking for. You know it’s going to be a special night when you head out of the harbor to start your trolling run and Tuck yells ‘fish on’ and it’s a fat 27.5″ – from then on I had my work cut out just trying to keep up with the pace he set the whole night

    Tuck’s boat control was excellent and paying attention to small details made the difference between a good night and an excellent night.

    Thanks again for the memories and sign me up for next year alreay!

    ted

  12. Thanks for the good times Chris.I just got the kids dropped off tonight.Friday Nickala was almost in tears as we headed home.This was a vacation the kids will be talking about for years.Thanks for your time with us.Sharkbait

  15. Good to see ya again Tuck Had a great time sharing the boat with you and L-Roy for some perch action Got to get after them Deer for now we’ll be seein you on the ice …….BB

  18. Nice report Chris. I saw you down in Isle, I was fishing with Bob in his new skeeter.
    We didn’t quite do a 40 night, but we had enough fish to make it fun and worthwhile!

  20. Nice report Chris good explanation of the time on the water as well. I shared the landing with you on Friday night at the Red Door. I had the black pro-v & truck.

  21. Yep. Felt like a secretary there for about an hour straight! I told Bob that is more phone calls than I get in an entire month!

  23. Great report Chris. Your right on about its not how many you catch but how much fun and rewarding it was to catch the ones you did.

  26. Great report Tuck! and YEP that was the sunset I was tlaking about!

    My only regret is this is the first year in a few we did not share a night beating up on dos’ fat girls.

    I hope to get a few more nights in.

  27. Fantastic Report Tuck and Great Pix too

    I was talking to Dwight today and he enjoyed the perch as well !!!
    Look forward to getting up there this week…with all the posts and pix and am getting real anxious

  29. Great report Tuck. We had a blast this last weekend. Our Nebraska group faired well and had a great time enjoying some of those awesome Mille Lacs walleye. Here are some great pictures of memories from our trip.

  32. Thanks Chris, I thought it was you when you pulled up (boat kinda gives it away;)). We were just trying to get stuff together and out of the way. When I saw your motor as you were driving by then I knew for sure. I am sure I will run into you again out there in the future. I’ll make sure to introduce myself.

  35. Chris,

    Great week and a half on Mille Lacs.

    Very nice read, enjoyed every bit of it.

    thanks for the calls last week.

    Quote:

    But EVERY night a “Keeper!”

    you said it best right there.

    It is not about the catching, and very often isn’t. It’s about the old friends, and new friends, and quality time just being together. Enjoy the Journey,

    For these are what great memories are made.

    Jack.

  36. Thanks Jack, and others! I get to do a lot of things on and off the water over the course of a year. Tournaments, hunting trips etc..But this week each year is absolute magic! It is the one of the things I keep asking “For one more year” for from the Man upstairs.

  37. Chris,
    We really did have a blast of a time. I can’t wait to log some more water time on that lake again in the future, what a great place. Hope to meet some of you guys the next time I’m up north!

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