Minnesota adventure with Knute(The Heathen)
We left from my house at 6:00 AM on June 8th and drove all day and into the evening to arrive at Marcell,MN at about 8:00 PM local time. Roughly a 15 hour drive. Fifteen hours in Knute's car with no radio, just a constant running commentary from Knute's prattling tongue.
The other three fishermen were already there and we quickly made the necessary hand shakes and "good to see ya again" comments. Knute and I quickly unpacked his car and then immediately opened up the Woodford Reserve to remove any road dust from our parched throats. I wanted to be sure there was no dust left behind so I quaffed a few ounces.
We spent the next week fishing various local lakes in the Marcell area. Ice out didn't occur until mid May and this resulted in the water temperatures being colder than we anticipated. This factor also delayed the emergence of Lily Pads and reeds,which are our targets for bass.
Sunday,our first fishing day, we decided to fish Belo Lake. Belo is a shallow lake so we thought it would provide a better chance of being warmer than other lakes in the area. We fished with crappie jigs and caught our limits of crappie and slightly below our limits for bluegill.There was a 60% chance of rain for Sunday that turned into 100%. We all had rain gear and just weathered all the showers. A fish fry was held that evening upon our return to the house. Again, Woodford was enjoyed by myself and my companions.
I think it was on Tuesday that one of us (not me) caught and kept an eight pound Northern so we could make some chowder. Big makes a great fish chowder and the first of the week had some chilly temperatures and the chowder hit the spot.
Tuesday we changed boat assignments so that Charlie and Big could return to Belo for more panfish. Tom,Knute (The Heathen) and I took Tom's 16' Tracker and fished for bass at a different lake. Success was enjoyed by all.
Wednesday,Thursday,and Friday we had Tom and Charlie in Tom's boat while Big, Knute, and I fished out of Big's Tracker. We primarily targeted the bass and also reluctantly reeled in some more Northern Pike. All the bass and Northern were released.
We all caught plenty of bass but it wasn't until Friday afternoon that my "secret" bait started to produce fantastic results. I was using my 5' Ultra-Lite rod with a 4" Berkley Power Worm in black with a chartreuse curly tail. I could only use that combination in the open waters beyond the Lily pads. I caught nothing huge but a 3 pound bass on an Ultra-Lite is a lot of fun. I was also stuck in the middle of the boat that resulted in my targeted casting spots being limited. Even with that handicap I was smoking Knute who was operating the trolling motor. After about my tenth straight catch ,Knute couldn't stand it any longer and said. " Tyme, you malifripping snafflerouser, give me some of those worms." I only had 4 worms left but I gave him three of them. We stopped at the bait/tackle store on the way home and bought the closest thing they had that matched the worms I was using. They had some 7" Berkley Power Worms in Green Pumpkin with the chartreuse curly tail.
Tom and Charlie departed Saturday morning for their return home and left the other three of us there.
Knute has an ankle brace that limited his efficient use of the trolling motor so it was decided that I'd sit up front on our last day,Saturday. Since I could control the trolling motor more professionally I pointed the bow into the wind and just stood on that motor the entire time. That resulted in a much slower boat speed and all of us were having success. Big likes to use a "stinger worm" so he would catch crappie,gills,pumpkin seeds and bass while I was still out fishing Knute who was placed in the middle seat. I had switched rods that last day to a 7' Eagle Claw "Peregine" medium action with a Rapala SX21 reel spooled with 50lb test Power Pro to horse the bass out of the weed beds. Again Knute couldn't stand it and wanted to know exactly what I was using. I was using a 32th ounce bullet sinker with an Owner 1/0 offset worm wide gap hook while Knute was using a much heavier sinker and a larger hook. I just told him, "Give me your road." I then set him up with correct tackle and while it improved his catch, I still smoked him. The clouds then disappeared and as the sun came out brighter and hotter we decided to call it a day.
Knute and I left Marcell bright and early Sunday morning about 6:00 AM for our return trip . In Eau Claire,WI we stopped at Gander Mountain to see if they had any of the brand/size/color of worms I started out with. I located them only to discover they only had 4 packages. I took all four off the shelf before I hollered at Knute that I had found them. He came hobbling up the aisle and wanted to know where they were. I showed him the empty peg and then the four bags in my hand. Before he could blow another gasket, I handed him two bags to ensure I had a place to sit in his car. Eau Claire is a long way from Indiana and I was afraid he might drive off without me if I didn't let him buy some of the "secret bait".
