| Weekend X Up North - Jack's Tale | |
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I think Bill and Doug stayed up but I was exhausted after 1200 miles. I woke up an hour or so later and some of the guys had come in from fishing. It was great to meet Tony (Stony3) for he and I had been exchanging e-mail for months about my dream of going to the north woods again. At first had doubts I would ever make it again but his encouragement kept the dream alive and here I was.
I had met Ronnie at the first Weekend X at his lake place on Clark Hill. Then there was Beertrucker with whom I had been exchanging ideas about this trip for weeks and Learnin 2 fish (now learned 2) Fritz. We had shared ideas on the board for several months too. Brian and Keith rounded out the bunch. We pigged out on catfish and hushpuppies furnished and cooked by Beertrucker.
Next morning we got ready to launch the boat and found that the connector on the gas tank did not match the motor so we set out to see if we could find one (somewhat questionable on Sunday) but after driving to Boulder Junction about 15miles east and finding everything closed we called to Minitewesh Waters 15 miles in the other direction and found a place open and they said they had a connector for $11. (I saw one in Walmart yesterday here for $4.50) Oh well they have to make it in the short summer I guess and we were glad to get it anyway.
Finally back at VanVliet we launched the boat and it DIDN'T EVEN LEAK. Will wonders never cease. The three of us set out to find the big muskie, pike and walleye that we just knew were somewhere in the lake. Since the lake is only about 200 or so acres it wasn't hard to find our way around. We caught some fish mostly pike in the 18-20" range. At first we released them until Tim said that we should keep and eat them as there were plenty of that size in the lake.
At first I was not impressed with VanVliet. Most of the water in places that I usually like to fish was only a couple of feet deep with submurged weeds. We soon found that that was where the pike and muskie lived though. Although we did not catch a muskie we saw plenty of evidence of at least one very big one. We caught 18" pike that had tooth marks across their sides that were 8-10 inches apart, obviously made by a very big fish. We caught several that way but ol' muskie evaded us this time.
We could catch bass (largemouth) by throwing to the many downfalls around the shore and islands, but we didn't concentrate on them as we are living in bass country at home. We wanted fish we couldn't get at home. Sunday night we came in for a supper of Steaks provided and prepared by Fritz. Man were they good after a hard days fishing. Monday was a lot of the same with everybody catching fish.
I think this was the day Fritz caught his biggest fish, a northern pike about 7lb. Ronnie was concentrating on Bass and catching a lot of them. Bill, Doug and I continued on the pike and tried for some walleye but didn't connect. Monday night was Doug's Lasagna night and again we pigged out.
Monday I contacted Donald who lived nearby. I had met him on another fishing site that was concentrated in the north. He had been a guide but now retired and had agreed to take us to another lake for walleye and smallmouth. We didn't get to the lake until almost 6 pm cdt but it doesn't get dark up there until quite a bit later than it does here not counting daylight time. it is the latitude. I have seen the sky still glowing from sunset at ll:30 in June before. Twilight lasts over an hour even in Sept. While here it lasts about 20 minutes. Of course Summer up there is the first 3 days of August if it doesn't rain. If it rains there is no summer that year. (That is their joke up there)
Anyway Donald took us to Crab lake, This lake is completely different from Van Vliet. It is full of islands, some inhabited, some 27 islands in all. Plus many rocky reefs in the middle of what seems open water so one must go carefully or lose a prop or lower unit or even the bottom of the boat. It is a beautiful lake a little under 1000 acres and full of walleyes and smallmouth with a few pike and quite a few muskies. After Tuesday most of us fished Crab lake about as much as we did VanVliet. Bill, Doug and I didn't even go up to Presque Isle lake after Ronnie came back and said it was so clear you could see your lure in 20 feet of water. I don't care for lakes that clear.
I think Van Vliet is a good lake but we didn't hit it just right for anything really big. Crab lake has a lot of bays and places behind islands with drop offs and I don't think it is fished nearly as heavily per acre as Van Vliet I think half a dozen boats on Crab was about the most I saw and Van Vliet 2/10th the size usually had more boats on it. If we had had more time there are at least 30 other lakes within a 15 mile radius that could be fished. some fairly large 2000 acres being about as big as most down to some 10 acres or less.
Vilas County has some 1300 named lakes and several more small ones not even named officially. I am sure they have local names though. I would like to fly over the area in a small plane sometime. As you drive the trees keep most of the lakes hidden. I bet it is even more beautiful from the air.
Wednesday found us still enjoying fairly nice weather. We had a short shower or two somewhere during the week but not enough to drive us off the water. Mostly it was partly cloudy and usually highs in the mid 60s with mid 40s for morning lows I would guess. Though it usually warmed up pretty quick. It may not have been that cold, maybe it just felt like it when someone yelled get up and "P" the World's on fire and an eye would open to a dark room. I would sometimes say "let it burn" but the call of the fish was always too much and I would get up to a breakfast off fried grits and eggs with bacon or sausage and plenty of coffee. That was enough to get me going.
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