2017

ONE MAN DOWN

Something's missing . . .

Oh yeah, that's right . . . Norm couldn't make it!

THE BASICS --
Dates: March 2-5, 2017*

Water: Lake of the Woods

Location: Northwest Angle

Outfitter: Angle Outpost (Red Fox Ice Fishing) -- Jason and Lisa Goulet

Fishermen: Michael Collins, John Groppoli, & Eric Kraus (Nick Schwarz MIA watching Sam's state hockey tourney)

Accommodations: Sleeper
Time on Ice: ~50 hours

FISHING STATS --
Waypoint: Lat.  49°17'34.52"N, Long.  94°53'4.57"W
Depth: 21 ft.
Number Caught: 147
Notable Catches: Probably a fairly equal mix of walleyes and saugers; no walleyes over 18" but a decent number (~20) in the 14-18" range; good quality saugers (keepers from 12-17"); best perch we've every found, in numbers (7) and size (10-14.25"); maybe 5-8 tullibee, big (14-18"); one eelpout (~5-lbs on a rattle real in the mid-evening on Saturday). ELK lost two quality fish Friday night after dark: one on a rattle real and the other jigging a rattletrap. MC broke off on nice fish on rattle that night, too (all between 6:30-7:30pm, an hour or two after dark).

OTHER NOTABLES --
ELK landed about 11am. Picked up within minutes of landing. Tons of open water when flying in. To Osakis by ~2:30, no snow. Took our time to Warroad. Picked up snow a couple hours in. Beautiful around Itasca. Saw literally hundreds (400-500?) deer yarding in big groups on way up; lots of swans, too. Ate at new pizza bar near public launch in Warroad (~7pm). Nice waitress, good beer, good food, Wild hockey. Super 8 (negotiated to $70). Up and out to meet outfitter by 9am. Nice lodge. Nice selection of branded gear. Huge musky mount (59"). Exceptionally cute and personable "receptionist" turned out to be owner ("Flip-Flop"). All of us instantly intrigued and enamored. [Turned out to be remarkable family; just a couple years older than us; from Warroad; went to St. Cloud State; he played a few years in NHL; bought resort from her now 94 yo great uncle; now seven daughters and a son help them run the place!) A little ping-pong to stretch and then out on the ice with one of their guides. Everyone very professional. Tons of gear --just a few sleepers but ~35 day houses, a dozen cabins, and seven bombers! Heard even more about day trips to Ontario for limits of 12-16" crappies. Been pretty much a sure thing for several winters now. Too many people know and it's getting pounded. No availability for us. Fishing was fairly constant throughout, but definitely benefited from low light early and late. Very sunny otherwise with no snow. Ice ~24" thick. Ate like kings, per usual (Grops stepped up, esp. with chip selection and Chips-ahoy). Fun to talk coaching and X's and O's on Grops' dry-erase board. No bracket. Pretty low-key in evenings. Amazingly good radio. Day house ~75 yards away was drafty and full of fumes, but a couple holes produced (including biggest perch, ELK). Supposedly two huge boulders (5' high) in between sleeper and day house. Jigging with Chubby Darters and all the usual suspects produced pretty aggressive strikes. Dead stick with plain hook and/or pink glow grub consistent, too. Lots (~30) of tiny walleyes (5-7") over course of trip. Off ice by 12:30 and back to MC's by 6:00. Thaw was on! MC and Grops split 31 fish (limit of eyes and saugers + seven perch). Ate fish twice on ice, too. ELK stayed at Christy and Abe's Sunday night and flew out noon on Monday. Lots of laughs, per usual. Missed Norm. Need him back for 2018! Lake Winnipeg or back to the Angle? Time will tell . . .

(1) The launch from Angle Outpost; (2) jumbo perch (note standard pop can for scale) -- largest was 14.25"; (3) trip tallies -- 35, 72, and 40 respectively; (4-6) representative catches (note red shirt).

Once again, we didn't go hungry! Despite the fact that a Groppoli did the shopping (see lower-right), we were well fortified with breakfast essentials (including road fritters), cold cut sandwiches (with chips and pickle slices), and all the fixin's for what has become the staple LOTW dinner.

About 7.5 miles one-way from lodge to sleeper (~0.6 mi SW of Oak Island -- see below).

Drive back on Sunday -- chauffeured by Jack, the 12 yo son of resort owners (Jason and Lisa "Flip-Flop" Goulet). Note open "sun roof" -- it's nearly 50 degrees . . . far cry from the -15 F we were greeted to on Friday morning!

Quite a swing! Saw -15 in Warroad on Friday morning, super sunny and windy for much of the time we were on the ice, and it was 60+ in Osakis when we pulled in Sunday about 6:00 pm.

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