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It is hard to believe that the 2005 Pipestone fishing trip is now history! It seems like only a very short time ago that Tim Mead invited me to go on this trip. The decision as to whether to go wasn't quite as simple as last year. The rumor mill at work had been running rampant for almost two months with regards to cutting a number of jobs. The rumor started before Christmas 2004 and continued into January. Tim contacted me in early January and wanted to know if I wanted to go. Whether I wanted to go was never in question, but whether I should commit to the trip if I lost my job was definitely on my mind. I had asked Tim for a little more time before making my final decision. He told me that I would have to make a decision by the end of the month. Well, on January 25th I found out that 156 people were loosing their jobs, and mine was one of them. The wife and I talked about it and she was pretty adamant that I go as she felt I would need a vacation. As I have stated many times, she is one in a million!
The group consisted of Tim Mead, Tony Garitta, Mike Quinn, and myself. Tim and Tony hail from North Carolina and Mike is from Pennsylvania, and I am from Wisconsin. Tim was the only person that knew everyone in the group prior to the trip. The picture on the right shows all the members of the party. Starting from the lower left and going clockwise is Tony Garitta, Tim Mead, Mike Quinn, and Gordy Johnson.
The trip started on a positive note with blue sky and good temperatures, but that only lasted long enough to get us to the Happy Landing Lodge. We had hardly gotten settled in the cabin, when it started to rain. Never-the-less we all scrambled to get our rods setup and equipment moved to the boats. During these trips we have typically traded fishing partners everyday and this year was no exception. This gives everyone a chance to really get to know the other guys in the group and it also makes for changes in the conversation.
On the first fishing day, I was fishing with Tim Mead. The day started out fairly well with both of us catching several smallmouth, and as with last year I caught an approximate 30" Lake Trout on a tube jig. We weren't able to get a picture of the Lake Trout as neither of us wanted to get the cameras wet as it was raining pretty hard at the time. The trout was caught on a rocky shoal in only a couple feet of water. A while later, we moved to an area where a creek empties into Pipestone. We could see a large number of fish moving on the bottom (3 - 4 feet deep), which we assumed to be smallmouth. The dark skies, rain beating on the surface, and a slight chop made absolute identification impossible. I was casting a tube jig and Tim was throwing a green rubber grub on a jig head. Tim made a couple of casts near the entrance of the creek and had a good fish hit. We both looked at the fish and simultaneously said, "Musky". It definitely was a good musky, which Tim now had hooked on a small jig with eight pound test line.
The situation was further complicated as there were countless fallen trees in the area where a smart fish could make quick work of an angler with light equipment. Tim fought the fish, keeping constant, but limited pressure on the fish. After all you can't horse a big fish on 8 pound test line on a light weight spinning rod. I got back to the motor and preceded to back the boat out of the shallower water into hopefully deeper, more snag free water. Gradually, we made progress and the fish literally missed two opportunities to wrap Tim in a couple of trees. After a time, I was able to get the fish into my big Beckman net, which I brought along for just such an occasion. Last year when we brought big nets, the staff at the resort looked at us like "You got to be kidding". They knew we were fishing smallmouth and pike, so the huge musky net looked like a case of classic overkill; however, being prepared paid off! The musky measured 48 inches with a girth of about 22 inches, which translates into about 30 pounds. This was the first and largest of five muskies Tim would boat during the week; All on smallmouth lures and a spinning rod. His other muskies (no pictures, sorry) measured 42, 38, and two more of 30 inches or less. Tim was definitely Mr. Musky during the week.
The second day I was fishing with Tony Garitta and I was off to a great start. I caught probably 10 smallies before Tony got his first fish. Tony then started to put some smallies in the boat, and then announced that he had something bigger on! I told Tony that he had a musky on which again was hooked on light spinning equipment and a small lure. Fortunately, everything played out in Tony's favor and once again I was the designated net man. Tony's musky measured 37 inches and had a large growth of some kind growing out from its lower jaw. The growth can be seen in the photograph and is about the size of a walnut.
On the third day I was fishing with Mike Quinn. It rained off and on throughout most of the day. We decided to fish the creek mouth where Tim had caught that 48 incher, as we had seen what appeared to be maybe 100 or better big smallmouth on previous days. The sun actually made a brief appearance during our visit and when we spotted the large school of fish, they were large suckers. No wonder that big musky was hanging out there! Unfortunately that put a quick end to hopes of tying into the large school of smallmouths.
On day four, I was back fishing with Tim and it was time to break-out the fly rods. The weather briefly cleared in morning. It really didn't take to long for me to put two small pike and smallmouth in the boat using the fly rod. They weren't the largest fish I have ever caught, but catching them on a fly rod really adds an element of fun and excitement. The weather changed again, as it had been doing regularly throughout the week. The wind picked up substantially and I got the idea when the fly was blowing back toward me, that I was better off putting the fly rod away. The rain once again followed the wind and made fishing tough.
For the next few days, the weather dominated the our trip. Mike Quinn came up with a catch phrase that we used quite often over the next several days, that being "Borderline Miserable". My rain suit after getting pelted by rain throughout the day was allowing moisture to come through. Every stitch on my body was soaked completely, making for one large, cold, dishpan body. One of our biggest concerns was whether the rain suits would dry out to a point where we could use them the next day. Our cabin had clothes hanging from every conceivable location in hopes of drying them out. It reminded me of several deer hunting trips I had been on.
Fortunately, we were able to go out everyday with reasonably dry clothes, but fishing did take a turn for the worse. You could catch fish, but you really had to work for them. Rain became the watch word for the week with 4 to 6 inches of rain reported in the area.
The lake had risen substantially given the amount of rain that we received and what were once small creeks coming into the lake, literally became torrents. On the final day of the trip I was again fishing with Tim Mead. We really put the miles on the boat trying some of Tim's favorite spots, but only with limited success. We couldn't help notice that the rain and lake levels were taking a toll on other than fishermen. On one of islands we fish, we saw a Loon doing her best to rescue her eggs from the rising water. She had obviously built her nest too close to the water and now was paying a price for it. She continued to bring material up from the bottom of the lake in an effort to get the eggs dry. We looked at this bird and we felt sad as it appeared to be a loosing battle on her part. We had no idea how long she had not been sitting on the eggs or if the damage had already been done. The pictures show the mother Loon and her two eggs.
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| Mother Loon | The Loon's Eggs |
Many people have said that fishing isn't about just catching fish nor is hunting the taking of the game. That statement is absolutely true! I didn't catch a lot of fish on this outing and I definitely was "Borderline Miserable" with the weather we had to deal with, however it was a great trip! I had the opportunity to make two new friends and the opportunity to be spend time with an existing friend. I got outdoors, got away from my employment problems and had an opportunity to catch my breath. In the greater scheme of things it was wonderful to have my biggest complaint be that it was raining or I wasn't catching fish. That to me is so much more important than merely catching fish.
In closing I would like to thank Tim, Tony and Mike for a great time. I sincerely hope that we can do it again sometime in the near future.
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