MN Fisher

I've never believed in luck when it comes to fishing. Either you've found the spot and used the right lures, or it's a learning experience. 'Luck' - to me anyway - is an excuse.

I went ice fishing ONCE. Got a 6# walleye, tossed it outside the house on the ice - just like everyone else did. Few minutes later heard some yelling. Opened the door and looked out...to see a bald eagle making off with my fish. This was up at Lake Bemidji in the late 70's. Chippewa National Forest is close and has the largest concentration of nesting bald eagle pairs in the lower 48.

Ya, $5 tacked onto the boat registration fee. As of 2010 - last year I can find figures, we had over 800,000 registered boats in the state - so $4million every three years for that.

State and Regional Parks here you need a purchased window sticker - but one each covers all the parks in the state. Then the ramps are free. The Public Ramps are numerous - Minnetonka has 10 public ramps and 1 regional park ramp...all free. That doesn't include the 6 marinas - one of which I occasionally use as it's the closest launch point to Seton Lake - one of the sub-lakes of Minnetonka and a good bass/crappie spot.

That's insane. 'Public' ramps here are maintained by the DNR and cost nothing to use. Only time I have to pay to use a ramp is if I launch at a marina.

I'm wondering if my Fedora would be a bit better than a ball cap.

Sausage, Pepperoni and Beef pizza with a side of Murphy's

My dad. He wasn't much into fishing, but I was...so he took me out when I wanted to fish someplace too far to bike. This pic is from '67 or '68 as we're about to head to Wachusett Reservoir, MA for a day of fishing.

I don't know what it's like now - but back when I lived in West Warwick (between my times in MA and MN), Tiogue Lake, Flat River Reservoir and Stump Pond were all spots I fished and caught bass in. All those are near Coventry - SW of Providence.

I've got two trucker style. One is a mesh back, Blue Oyster Cult - got at a concert I went to back in '83. Second is a full coverage, St. Paul Saints, our local AAIPB baseball team.

When I fished Indian, got some good yellow perch as well. And the first largemouth I ever caught was from Indian. Also had lots of carp in there too.

I'm aware. I was born and raised in Worcester. Mainly fished Indian Lake, Wachusett Reservoir and a small stream that fed into Indian Lake (lots of brookies in there) when I was a kid. On vacations, Cape Cod Bay or Lake Winnipesaukee were also fished depending on whether we stayed on the Cape or up in NH.

Per MN's DNR website By the numbers Number of lakes: 11,842 (10+ acres) Number of natural rivers and streams: 6,564 (69,200 miles) There's quite a number of named ponds under 10 acres that add to the 11k figure.

5 (I'm Sorry)

Pretty much anything by Atwood is sub-par. When I was looking around for parts for my canoe mod, I looked at Atwood's King-pin seat mount. The pillar was just spot-welded to the seat-mount. Reviews have it breaking off before even a full season. That's why I went with Wise for all my seat-parts. Suggestion: Don't buy anything from Atwood - there's a reason their items are less expensive.

It's actually over 15,000 named lakes/ponds/etc and over 100 named rivers/streams. If you get skunked even ONCE here, you're doing something very wrong.

So far today, added the brackets for the mid-ship seat and got the wood cut and the seat mounted in the aft. Details are again on my blog (look to my profile for the addy) Also got the King-pin base mounted

After I got married, I told the mother-in-law that I would never visit between May and October. The one time I was there in late June I almost died from the heat and humidity. She lived in Boca Raton at the time.

Mono and FC I change yearly. Braid I go 2-3 years between full changes. Unless they've been abused and I've cut it down to half a spool - then it's a full replacement.

If they're as good as my old Ambassaduer 500R (low profile), then I'd agree. That thing's been a work horse for me for 15+ years. Another one I'm looking at as a possibility for my spring purchase is the Pflueger President or even the President XT. Good reviews on both of them.

Last year on a lark, I picked up a Garcia Avocet RZ combo - 2000 size reel. Dang if it didn't do a good job with spinner baits and lighter crank-baits (Rapalas, Shad-Raps, Rattling-Raps) For around $40 for several different actions/lengths I think it's a great 'budget' combo.

French - means "It's so good". Also the title of an Eartha Kitt song.

Na - drop-shot it - entice the bugger out.

That's why I concentrate on 'Phelps Bay' - it's the one in my location image.

In some ways I have the same issue. Lake Minnetonka has over a dozen bays and sub-lakes. Launching spots all over the lake make them all relatively easy to get to even in a canoe. Add in the dozens of other lakes just in the West Metro area and it gets daunting. Do what I did - pick a few (names in a hat maybe) and concentrate on those. I may have 'Lake Minnetonka' as a fishing location, but really it's just one bay of that - the one with a launch point only 1/2 a mile from me.