Jeff "Breezer" Andersen Fishing-Photography

Leech Lake Monster Muskies

2011-08-15T22:14:00.001-07:00

Read a great story written by 14 year old George who catches a couple of big muskies

http://leisureoutdooradventures.blogspot.com/

Leech Lake Area Muskies and Walleye Guide

2011-07-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

Hey guys I just posted a few musky guide stories from the Leech Lake area at check them out at http://leisureoutdooradventures.blogspot.com/ Also become a friend of ours on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/leisureoutdooradventures

"Make a Memory and Get Hooked"
Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

Fishing, Photos, and Bees

2011-07-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy summer so far and I hope that everyone is getting a chance to soak up some of the sunny weather we have had. I have spent lots of time in the boat meeting new friends, catching fish, and telling and hearing some funny stories. I also had the chance to go shoot some interior photos of Cove Point Lodge on Lake Superior. A beautiful place! My little girl Brooke is getting big fast and my rug rat Gavin is being a goof ball and Kristine has been busy with both!

Toby and I have been busy with putting all the pieces together for Leisure Outdoor Adventures. Check out our website at www.LeisureOutdoorAdventures.com It's been so much fun but always something to do between our fishing guide trips. We have been pleasantly crazy busy! If that makes any sense?

I'm also getting packed up to head to Lake of the Woods for five days. I leave this Monday to try and film a television show with Jeff Simpson and the In-Fisherman crew. We are going to be targeting muskies! I only hope we can put a show together like last year.

In between all of the busyness I got stung by a bee two weeks ago. Well, I found out I was allergic and went into "anaphylactic shock". Good thing Grandma Susan was visiting as she rushed me to the hospital and I got taking care of. EpiPen and all I was released to live another day! Scared of bees? Yes I am! Funny thing is I got home last weekend and got stung again! So with a little apprehension I grabbed the EpiPen looked at Kristine and said, "Should I do it?" I didn't get much of an answer so I jabbed my leg and off we went to the Emergency Room. Yepper that shot did the trick! I was so full of adrenaline I was ready to run a marathon. I had the same great nurse as the time before and she said, "At least this time you don't look like Will Smith in the movie "Hitch"". I had to sit at the ER until midnight, my good friend Tim picked me up, I got the boat ready for a guide trip, and after a few hours of sleep I was picking minnows at 5 AM ready to catch a fish. Good thing I found all of this stuff out before I head to Canada!

This was a picture I took with my phone after things started to get under control!

Well for now here are a couple of photos from the past weeks.

Kristine, Gavin, Brooke and I on the North Shore of Lake Superior. We went on a little hike right in front of beautiful Cove Point Lodge.

Leech Lake Walleyes and Pike

Check out Leisure Outdoor Adventures Fishing Updates and Reports for up to date reports and photos.

Leech Lake Walleye Fishing

2011-07-05T17:50:00.001-07:00

Hey guys check out our Leech Lake Fishing Guide Report at http://leisureoutdooradventures.blogspot.com/

Leech Lake Walleyes - Fishing Guide

2011-06-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

Walleye Fishing on Leech Lake is on fire and if you like catching big ones now is the time. Have you check out our website? www.LeisureOutdoorAdventures.com Toby and I had the chance to take out the guys who built it fishing the other day and what a day! In my boat was Luke, the code writer for the website, and his brother Gabe. In Toby's boat was his brother Shane, our web designer, and their Dad, Dean.

These guys were an absolute blast and I only wish all of my guided fishing trips went this well. I asked the guys, in the morning, do you want to go for numbers or would you like to go for big ones? Both Luke and Gabe said, "Go big or go home!"

BIG it was and off we went. We fished with crawlers, leeches and red tail chubs on a long 7 foot rig with both 3/8th once weight and up to 1/2 once. The fish early in the morning were positioned on top of the rock reefs and as the day progressed and a few fellow anglers driving over the spots the fished pushed off to the deeper edges but it didn't seem to slow them down. We went BIG and the boys put a hurt bag on the big walleyes!

Toby's boat also did well on the big walleyes with the big fish, a 29 incher, between the two boats. Our biggest was 27.5 along with two others over the 26 inch slot and several fish just under. We also caught a few limits of keepers mixed in with the big ones. Here are a few photos of the trip.

Thanks to Luke and Shane for the amazing website and for the memory of an awesome day fishing!

"Make a Memory"

Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

Leech Lake Walleye Tournaments

2011-06-16T11:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a little while since I have had a good office day and I'm happy to say today I'm getting a chance to catch up. Over the past two weeks I fished in both the Leech Lake Walleye Classic and the FLW both walleye tournaments on Leech Lake. I had a great time in both but struggled to get our bites during tournament days. With the 18 - 26 inch slot it plays a little role in our game plan. Do you go for the "over" fish first and then go catch your small "unders" or visaversa? The problem going for your big one first is if you don't get that bite you might be stuck trying to find the smaller fish during the middle of the day. Well I knew that we had to have an over fish each day of the tournament to win so that's what we did...We went for the win. It worked on one day in each of the tournaments but not both. I can't tell you how many slot fish we caught but it was a fun bite! We also had a few missed opportunities with really big fish too and that's bound to happen. We finished 29th out of a 150 boats in the Leech Lake Walleye Classic and 54th out of 95 boats in the FLW. Not what I wanted but not too disappointing as we had a chance each tournament at fish that would have put us into the money each day.

The walleye fishing now on Leech Lake is pretty good. Seems like catching big ones is easy now! We have had some really good days with the keepers and some fairly tough days but for the most part it's been consistently good. The walleyes are starting their summer transitions and moving to some of the midlake structures and they are starting to utilize the large flats area around Goose Island.

I hope that everyone is enjoying their spring. If you are looking at getting away please take a look at Chase on the Lake (www.ChaseOnTheLake.com) located in Walker on Leech Lake. Toby and I at www.LeisureOutdoorAdventures.com would love to set you up with a package deal!

Here are a few photos from the past week. (click on image for larger view)

"Make a Memory"
Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

Have to love the hair in this one! I lost my hat and it was windy!

fish lectronics Nisswa Minnesota Boat Rigging

2011-05-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

Hey guys every now and then I get so impressed by someone who provides awesome service and I like to share that with you. In this case, it was Friday before the Minnesota Fishing Opener and I was in need of someone to rig my boat for my 36v Vantage. I called Andy at Fish-Lectronics in the Pequot Lakes and Nisswa, MN area. To say the least he was swamped. I explained my situation and he said bring the boat up. In a matter of a few hours he had everything working to a "T". I can't thank Andy enough as when I was there he had several phone calls and several other people stop by for service. He put me first!

If you are in need of boat rigging and are in the Brainerd Lakes Area or anywhere in the state of Minnesota call Andy at 218-568-4806 or visit his website at www.rigmyboat.com I can confidently say that you will be completely satisfied with his work!

I hope that everyone is catching some fish this spring!

"Make a Memory"
Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

Leech Lake Fishing Guide Walleye Report

2011-05-19T18:06:00.000-07:00

Walleye fishing on Leech has been a roller coaster for me the past few days. We have been hit with some drastic weather changes from a cold windy opener to flat calm HOT days. The smaller eater size fish are a little tough to come by during the daylight hours. The eaters seem to be biting late in the day and into the evening.

Yesterday I was fishing with my good friends Dave, Jeff, Tom, and Wayne. We had caught a few fish in the morning and like I mentioned above the weather was flat and hot. It was about 11:00 am and with the struggle to catch small fish we decided to go off the wall and try something new since we only had about an hour left and the boys had to head south. A pattern that has been so good for me when things go calm and hot. It didn't take long and we had our first monster walleye in the boat. Shortly after a few photos and a release we were hooked up again. In the short period we had to fish we boated some real giant walleyes.

As tough as fishing can get remember, "There are always fish biting somewhere on the lake." I truly believe that and sometimes it's a matter of work, work, work until you find out what it is they want.

Good luck fishing and remember to visit www.LeisureOutdoorAdventures.com and come fishing with us.

Oh and the pattern that we had success with...well...I guess you are just going to have to come fishing with us.....

PHOTOS BELOW

"make a memory"
Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

Leech Lake Fishing Opener - Guide

2011-05-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

Well the 2011 Minnesota Fishing Opener is in the books and of coarse we were greeted with a cold and rainy day but that didn't dampen out spirits. I spent both days fishing on Leech Lake and we had a blast! On Saturday the fishing was good and we caught our limit of keeper fish and some mid 20 inchers to boot. On Sunday we had pretty tough conditions with high skies, high pressure and the fish noticed. We caught fish in almost ever spot but couldn't put together a good number so we bounced around from spot to spot. Can't complain too much as we had enough for a meal, a few slot fish and one 27.5 incher.

We caught all our fish on a VMC Dominator Jig and a shiner. The fish were scattered from 5 feet to 12 feet of water.

I expect with the stable weather fishing is going to improve. Stay tuned!

If you are looking for a fishing guide trip on Leech Lake please give us a call at 855-LOA-HOOK or find us at www.leisureoutdooradventures.com

"Make a Memory"

Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

Father's Day - Mountain Dew - Chance to Win $1000 at KrugerFarms.com

2011-05-05T10:06:00.000-07:00

Minnesota fishing opener is nearing and the rods are rigged and ready to rock! My good friends at KrugerFarms.com has teamed up the Bernick's Beverages and Bottling to give you a chance win one of three $1,000 gift cards to spend at KrugerFarms.com. See the banner below for details. You can find these banners throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin at select stores. It was pretty cool honor they chose a picture of my little fishing buddy Matthew and yours truly for the banner. If you get a chance stop by and check out Bernicks Facebook Page and like it also check out KrugerFarms.com Facebook page too. You can keep updated on all of their discounts on fishing and hunting gear!

Our little Easter Gift

2011-04-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

So most of my post on here are fishing and outdoor related but this one I'm pretty excited to tell you about. Our family recently has grown with the birth of our little girl Brooke Sue Andersen. She was born on April 23rd, 6lbs 4oz, and has her Daddy wrapped around her finger already. Gavin is now a big brother and is adjusting to the change. Momma is glowing and doing well.

Here are a few pics...

Leech Lake Guide Service - Walleye Opener

2011-04-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

Are you getting ready for the Minnesota Walleye Opener? I am! I have so much going on and one thing I can check off the list is a new boat! I'm excited to say I will be fishing out of a Ranger 620 powered by a Mercury 250 this year. This is the ultimate in fishing boats and I hope that I get to show you this summer. My long time friend Toby Kvalevog and I have started a new outdoor adventure group called Leisure Outdoor Adventures (our website will be up soon click here) and we will be working with Chase on the Lake on beautiful Leech Lake. I'm so excited to tell you more but I will keep things short for now.

Opener on Leech Lake is going to be on fire. If you or someone you know is looking for a fishing guide please pass on our website. I promise I won't tell too many bad jokes! Toby you just never know with him.....

On the other hand my wife, Kristine, and I are due any day now with our second child. I'm so excited and can't wait to meet our little baby girl. Gavin our 2 year old is growing fast and loves to be outside looking for birds, frogs and ladybugs!!!

Here is a link to an article I wrote about fishing the Leech Lake Area. Click Here

Get those jig rods ready to rock and roll!

"Make a Memory"
Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

Keyes Outdoors Television and Some Monster Lake of the Woods Pike!

2011-03-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

We just returned home from a trip to Lake of the Woods with Mike Keyes and Steve Genson from Keyes Outdoors. We were filming a television show to be aired in a couple of weeks. The crew consisted of Bigtooth Pro-Staffer Mike Crawford, Josh Kragthorpe, Mike Keyes, Steve Genson and myself.

We had a pretty good trip and captured some great stuff for the show. I landed probably my heaviest pike and some other nice fish throughout the two days of fishing. Each day we made almost a 20 mile run with snowmobiles and had to cross a monster ice breaker which you will see on the show. So without going into too much detail tune in to Keyes Outdoors on April 9th. For show times in your area go to www.keyesoutdoors.com

We caught several of the fish on Bigtooth Tackle's new fluorocarbon HD Rig. Visit www.bigtoothtackle.com for more info!

Here a few photos from our adventure!

"Make a Memory"
Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

Monster Pike Weekend

2011-03-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

We headed north to Lake of the Woods in search of Monster Pike for the annual Bigtooth Slime Fest! We arrived Friday morning and were chopping at the bit to get some flags set. We targeted the South shore near Warroad, MN. This area has a ton of water sheds from creeks and streams which is a good starting point for anyone looking to fish these huge pike. We ended up with some pretty good fishing but I would have to say on this trip we were a little early. The bite is only going to get better!

The Bigtooth Fluoro-Carbon HD Rig was on fire this weekend. Learn more at www.bigtoothtackle.com

I'm looking forward to filming with Mike Keyes and Steve Gensen with Keyes Outdoors television this coming weekend. Stay Tuned!!!

Here are a few photos of some of the pike we caught throughout the weekend.

"Make a Memory"
Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

(click on photo for larger view)

Leech Lake Fishing Guide

2011-03-17T13:48:00.001-07:00

Hey Guys! I hope everyone is having a great March. I thought I would pass on an article I wrote for the guys at My Lake Guide. In the article I talk about how to approach the abudant walleye and pike on massive Leech Lake.

Here is a link to the article click here.

"Make a Memory"
Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

Leech Lake Perch - Mille Lacs Perch Report

2011-03-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

Leech Lake Perch
It's jumbo perch season here in Minnesota and my friends Tim, Abear and I headed north to Leech Lake in search of just that, Jumbo Perch. The bite was on but getting them to bite wasn't the challenge. We were faced with too many small fish. We had to move, move, move and drill, drill, drill. We finally put together an area towards the last three hours where we put some nice fish on the ice. It seemed like each hole held a few decent fish, which would bite first, then it seemed like the small fish would take over. We had to move holes at that point. We fished the Bear Island Area which is no secret and for good reason. The shore line structure, near Hardwood Point, seemed to hold the nicer fish as the midlake structure seemed to be packed with the small fish. These fish are on the move so be prepared to get a good work out.

Mille Lacs Perch
I have also been fishing a few times with the perch master, John Hoyer, on Mille Lacs Lake. The perch fishing there too is on fire. John has been pretty dialed in all season. It's fun to watch him work and talk to him about the details that make him successful while fishing. One thing he keys in on is bottom transitions from mud to rock/gravel. It takes some work to find these areas but the work is paid off with buckets full of perch. So take some time and locate these transitions areas.

Both of these lakes offer great perch fishing and they are on the bite now! Get out and take advantage of this beautiful weather and great perch bite.

"Make a Memory"
Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

Kids Fishing Clinic Baxter

2011-03-08T07:18:00.000-08:00

My friend Chuck asked me to help out during a kids fishing clinic at the Baxter Elementary this past week and what a great time we had. It was fun to see the kids excitement while talking to them about ice fishing. I covered simple presentation tactics. I asked the kids, "If you go to McDonalds and you were served a piece of tire would that seem normal?" They looked at me funny and I said, "NO!" and then I asked, "If they served a big juicy cheeseburger would that seem normal?" "YES" they all exclaimed and I explained that while fishing we need to serve the fish a big juicy cheeseburger not a piece of tire. I could see the wheels turning! I made the relationship to match our presentations while fishing to what the fish are eating.

Something that simple is such a huge part in being successful on the ice. Ask yourself, "What are the fishing eating?" and apply that to your fishing tactics.

Take time and teach our youth this great sport of fishing!

Jason Mitchell Crappie

2011-03-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

I had the great pleasure to shoot an ice crappie segment with Jason Mitchell for his television show Jason Mitchell Outdoors. We fished with my good friend Mike Crawford on a small lake near Bemidji, MN my home stopping grounds.

We were fishing in and around a 30 foot basin on the small lake and drilling holes was the name of the game. This is nothing new but I see it too often when anglers drill a couple of holes and just settle in hoping the fish come to them. If you want to have a good days consistently I believe you have to be willing to put work in. If you can find those large schools of fish in those main lake basins it's not too often you can't get them to bite. We caught fish on some new soft plastic baits. It's pretty awesome not dealing with live minnows in those cold temps.

Here is one photo from the day.

In-Fisherman Musky Show

2011-02-18T14:15:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! If you didn't get a chance to see the episode I filmed with Doug Stange and the In-Fisherman crew here it is. As I mentioned before I have grown up watching Doug on television and it has always been a dream to fish let along film an actual fish show with him. On top of the that to catch a pair of the two largest muskies caught on one episode of In-Fisherman television history. I think my Momma was watching down this day! I didn't talk much as I was shocked by the big fish and the camera so I let the master take it away. It's amazing how good Doug can just spit the words out!

Click here to read about the RAPALA X-RAP WALK 13
(Click after you watch the show. It will navigate you to
a new page)

I hope you enjoy!

"Make a Memory"
Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

Gull Lake Walleye

2011-02-14T10:57:00.000-08:00

So it was going to be a quick trip to Gull Lake in the Brainerd Lakes Area with my friends Tim Hanske and Dan Abear. The past few days we have been greeted with, what feels like summer like weather, since we are so used to 20 below. Tim had been out the night before and put the hurt bag on some keeper walleyes so that added to our motivation. We pulled up to our spot, nobody in sight, and it was game on! We drilled our holes and started fishing. It was still pretty early about and hour from sunset and the perch were on the feed bag. They weren't jumbos but the action was intense! The sun hit the top of the trees and the perch bit slowed. Waiting with anticipation I thought the walleyes were going to go nuts but they didn't. We kept saying 10 more minutes! So we had enough after catching a few small walleyes and we started to pack things up. Tim went to pick up a tip up he had set and Dan said, "Well, I'm gong to fish one more hole!" which was right next to Tim and before we knew it fish on. Dan did battle and landed a dandy Gull Lake Walleye. Spirits were lifted as we had our tails between our legs prior to Dan's impressive catch. See photos below......

It's amazing how one fish can turn an O.K. night of fishing into another amazing memory!

I hope everyone is enjoying the winter and looking forward to warmer weather!

Take Care,

Jeff "Breezer" Andersen
"Make a Memory"

A sunset beauty

Dave Genz

2011-02-07T14:01:00.000-08:00

Dave Genz and I took the afternoon to go catch a few bluegills and crappies. We took advantage of the beautiful day and took a few photos. I'm out the door to go fishing so I thought I would just post a few photos from the day. Enjoy!

"Make a Memory"

Jeff

(Click on Photo for larger view)

(Genz's fishing machine)

(A little Funky)

KFAN Radio Interview

2011-02-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of speaking with Billy Hildebrand on KFAN Outdoors the other day. What a great guy, an awesome outdoor program and is full of information from fishing to hunting or anything outdoor related.

The link is below
KFAN Link to Interview
(2.5.2011 Hr 2)

Thanks Billy!

Leech Lake Walleye Lrn2Fish School

2011-01-20T06:39:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of working with Jim Hudson who is a fishing guide in the Chequamegon Bay and Apostle Island area this past weekend. Jim and his wife put together ice fishing schools which are called lrn2Fish Ice Roads and they do an amazing job! Jim asked if I could help out with the event on Leech and of coarse I was down for anything. So Northbound I headed last Friday morning. We had several guys out looking for fish for the students and that was my goal, to find the fish!

I met up with friends Scott and Kody Seibert along with Rick Johnson. These guys are great sticks and fun to hang out with. We headed out on the main lake basin with our snowmobiles and can you say SNOW! I can't believe how much snow the Walker Lakes Area has got. Good thing for snowmobiles as travel on the main lake was pretty good after the first couple hundred yards. We fished several spots with only catching a few walleyes through out the day. It was perfect out and they should have been biting but we just couldn't locate a large school of fish. We did mark some pretty big fish that just were in a "negative" mood. They would come up on the Vexilar, look at the bait, then go back down. Frustrating, as I thought the main lake was going to be on! The best part was there wasn't anybody out fishing where we were so I thought we would have fresh non pressured fish but no go.

Stuck with our tails between our legs we headed back to Horseshoe Bay Lodge where we met up with all the students, had a great dinner and talked fishing. Jim asked that I put together a presentation on Leech Lake which seemed to go pretty good. There was also a ton of knowledge in the room with many great anglers giving their two cents how to target these fish. So we had to come up with a game plan for Saturday morning. Half of the students only had truck travel and the other half had snowmobiles. We sent the truck group to fish the Grand Vu Flats area since there are some pretty good roads plowed there and the other half was coming with me. My plan was to fish Walker Bay since I had caught some walleyes there the other day.

Eager for the first hook set we were all up and at em' early and off we went. We had a pretty large group of anglers and most of the spots in Walker Bay are fairly small secondary structure so we had to spread out. We pulled up on our first three humps and started marking fish right away. Again the big walleyes seemed to just look but we caught some small walleyes, perch and a few bonus tullibees but not the hawg belly we were looking for. Our mobility was very limited with the amount of slush and snow we encountered. We were consistently getting stuck! On a typical day of fishing I would fish over 25 spots but with a large group and the horrid slush we were half way through the day and had only fished three spots. We moved to one large reef in hopes to find a few fish, eat lunch and make a game plan for the evening bite. No fish on this reef but the boys cooked up some dangerous brats and they were so good! All Five of them....

For the evening bite we set up and it didn't take long and we were all marking fish. As the sun started to fall the bite was on. We caught several walleyes but most of them were very small. I was a little bummed as I thought we could find the larger fish through out the day but that just didn't happen. That is fishing!

It was great for the students to see how finicky these fish can be. It took the correct presentation, use of electronics, and a sensitive touch to get these fish on the ice. Lets face it when the walleyes are in a positive or aggressive mode they are easy to catch but when we are dealing with a large cold front and high pressure typically that turns them neutral and for the big fish they were negative.

We were fishing with small spoons and most of the fish came on just a small minnow head. The key was to get the fish to chase the bait, then play keep away until you could see their mood change and once they looked aggressive you had to pause the bait and wait for the bite.

Thanks to all the students and to all the great anglers I had the chance to meet and fish with.

If you are looking for a great guide in the Chequamegon Bay Area check Jim Hudson out at Hudson's on the Spot Guide Service.

Also you can learn more about the Lrn2Fish Ice Road Schools Here.

"Make a Memory"
Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

Dave Genz, Jason Mitchell, WalleyeDan, and the Clam Corp Team

2011-01-10T13:21:00.000-08:00

This past week I had the chance to go out fishing with Dave Genz, Jason Mitchell, Dan Eigen (WalleyeDan) and the team from Clam Corp on Lake Mille Lacs. Our goal was to capture some images of the guys in action and we did just that! We only had a day to shoot photos so we had to hit it hard. The bite on Mille Lacs is day to day and the walleyes seemed to be on the move. One day you can catch them in one spot and then the next day they are gone. So mobility is key! Most of the fish we are catching are on smaller spoons like the Northland Buckshot Rattle Spoon. This is one of my number one producers. While out fishing Dan was using another one of my favorites, the Rapala Jigging Rap, and he caught the largest walleye only two minutes into the trip.

Here are some photos of the boys in action!

(Click on Image for Larger View)

KFAN Radio Interview

2010-12-17T13:40:00.000-08:00

Had the chance to chat with the boys from KFAN Outdoors last night. A little fish talk, a little Clam New Product Talk and lots of non sense talk! It was a pleasure and hopefully I get the chance to talk smart again! You can listen by clicking on this link KFAN Outdoors our conversation starts at 19:25 in the program.

Thanks to the host "The Captain" Billy Hildebrand for giving me the oppertunity.

Lake Mille Lacs Ice Fishing and Ice Conditions

2010-12-12T07:54:00.000-08:00

It's a tad bit chilly out there! My buddy John Hoyer and I took a little ice fishing adventure this past couple of days out on Lake Mille Lacs. As most of you know Lake Mille Lacs is a monster of a lake so we took it pretty easy the first day out as there wasn't another fish house in site. The first mile was probably the worst ice as there were several large cracks. John and I joked as we could have tied up a Rapala and drove down one of the cracks. Little Ice Trolling! We had pretty good ice everywhere we went so we felt pretty safe with a four-wheeler. The fishing was pretty good for size and just ok for eaters. We had enough each day to clean and take home to eat. Most of the fish were caught on jigging spoons with just a minnow head.

OK so it was pretty nasty cold the first day with winds up to 30 mph and I had the chance to put my Clam Extreme Black Grey Suit to the test. All I'm going to say is "WARM". Didn't get cold once. If you have ever been cold fishing you know it's not fun even if you are catching them. So if you are in the market I promise you won't be disapointed with how that suit performs!!! Check them out at Clam IceArmor Cold Weather Ice Gear

So on with the photos! Here are just a couple of Hawg Bellies from the trip.

Ice Fishing is just around the Corner

2010-11-27T20:42:00.000-08:00

The ice conditions in the Brainerd Lakes area, like Gull Lake, Round, and North Long are very close to being fish-able or I should say safely fish-able. The farther you travel north like Leech Lake and Cass Lake should also be making some pretty good ice. So it's time to get that equipment ready! I just put together my brand new Clam Voyager TCX and let me tell you this bad boy is awesome! If you are in the market for a sled style fish house you wouldn't be disappointed with any house from the Clam Corp line up. I can say that because I have a 10 year old Clam Voyager sitting in my garage that still looks new! Seriously the thing is in great shape and yes I used it a few times just ask my wife.... Check out the line of fish houses here Clam Corp Fish Houses If you do have any questions please let me know and I would be happy to help out.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone too. I'm so thankful for a loving family. This was the first Thanksgiving since my Mom, Suzette, had passed away. It was hard on all of us but my wife, Kristine, put together an amazing spread of food in Memory of Her. We know that she wasn't at the dinner table physically but spiritually she was sitting there happy to see her family together.

I'm looking forward to a great year of ice fishing and guiding this winter. If you or you know someone who is looking to hop on my snowmobile and take off onto the frozen water of Central and Northern Minnesota lets do it! I will be guiding on many lakes like Gull Lake, Round Lake, Leech Lake and too many to name. Send me an email if you would like more details. My buds WalleyeDan and Tim Hanske also have some sweet sleeper houses and I would love to set you up with those guys too.

So to get you in the spirit here is a little video of my buddy and Bigtooth Pro Staffer Mike Crawford showing you how to set the hook on monster northern pike using Bigtooth Tackles Natural Quick Strike Rigs and Tip ups. You have to love Mike he is a funny fishing maniac!

Big Buck Story Minnesota Deer Rifle Season

2010-11-19T15:07:00.000-08:00

Once in awhile you get to hear a story that is truly what outdoor passion is all about. My friend Paul, AKA Pablo, called me and I could hear the excitement in his voice. He said, "Jeff, I just shot a huge buck and the best part is that Braedon was sitting right next to me!" Oh man I felt the chills go down my spine as I could hear an excited father not only did he shoot a big buck but his five year old son was able to experience that moment with him. I can tell you that excites me as my little boy Gavin turns two in February and it will only be a few years and I, hopefully, get to share moments like this with him. I ask Pablo to give me the play by play so he sent me an email with photos!

This is what is all about!!!

"I asked Braedon who is five if he wanted to go deer hunting with me this year and of coarse he said "YES"!! Opening morning I didn't have to ask him twice to get up and out of bed. We had a quick bowl of cereal and we were out the door. As the sun hit the top of the trees we got into my deer stand and we saw squirrels, geese, swans but no deer. At noon I figured he needed to stretch his legs so we went to the truck for a quick sandwich. My brother had been seeing deer most of the morning and I thought Braedon would have a better chance of at least seeing a deer if he sat with him. So, I asked him if he wanted to sit with my brother and he did. I told my brother that at 2:30 Braedon had to make a decision either to sit with you or come back to my stand to sit till dark. Well, he chose to sit with my brother. I was kind of bummed because it was fun sitting with my son, showing him the many things that were taking place around us and just spending time together. My brother texted me at 3:30 and said Braedon wanted to sit with me and was bringing him back. Cool, by buddy was back with me and now I was just hoping we would be blessed with seeing a deer. We were sitting with a lot of anticipation and excitment. It was down to only about 45 min left of the hunting day and through the corner of my eye I saw some antlers to my left coming through the brush. After I see it turn it's head all I could see was antlers I knew it was a shooter!! I asked B "theres one...do you see it...do you see it" OK Daddy was pretty excited at this point but he finally he says, "Yeah I see it I see it!" We went through this like 5 times while the deer slowly made his way. My heart was ready to pop right out of my chest! I could tell the deer started to get antsy (or maybe it was me) so on the last "do you see it" and B says "yes" I drop the hammer down. The monster deer didn't move an inch and we had a deer of a lifetime down! The two of us went NUTZ!!!! All I can say is what an experience, and to have done it with my 5 year old son by my side" Priceless"!!"
Paul Manecke

Holy buckets if that doesn't give you chills I don't know but all I can say is thanks Paul and Braedon for sharing such an amazing story!!!

Minnesota Deer Hunting - Big Buck

2010-11-16T12:38:00.000-08:00

Here is a few photos of Joe, my brother, of a buck he shot during the Minnesota Deer Hunting Season. I will post the story soon. It's a good one!!!

(click on photo for larger view)

Photo Walk-a-bout

2010-11-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

I went out on a morning walk and snapped a few photos. They are not the most mind blowing but what a great way to get out and get some fresh air.

(Peek a boo squirrel)

(Minnesota Pond Fog on the Water)

(Turkey's on the Ridge)

Ice Roads Walleye Weekend on Leech Lake, MN

2010-11-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

From fall musky talk to winter ice fishing. Yep it's almost time to get that ice gear read to rock and roll. I wanted to let you know about a great opportunity to learn ice fishing tactics from some of the top anglers around. On January 14th and 15th fellow fishing bud, Jim Hudson, and crew will be holding a comprehensive ice fishing school on Leech Lake. I will also be there to help the guys out. As if I know what I'm talking about! The focus will be on ice walleye tactics from start to finish. Their goal is to shorten your learning curve and to increase your odds on your next walleye adventure.

I can't think of a better spot then Leech Lake to get out and put some new tactics to the test and catch a few fish together. So get the boys/gals together and lets go catch a few walleyes together!

Check out more information at Ice Roads Website

"Make a Memory"

Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

Minnesota Monster Musky - Lake Bemidji Guide

2010-11-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

The phone rang and my buddy Kevin said, "I wanna catch a musky!" "Well yeah don't we all!", I replied. Well lets get rocking and go catch one! So we were off to hunt down one of the toughest freshwater fish. Easy task right?! Kevin has been fishing his whole life but never for muskies so this was a new experience for him and the pressure was on. As I prepare for our Musky Hunt my mind starts to dive into the lake, are the fish going to be deep, shallow, suspended, on the rocks, in the weeds, outside the weeds, inside the weed line or are they on the sand, in the bullrushes holy buckets I didn't know for sure but all I could do was try and put the pieces together. Just a week prior we had warm weather and the fish moved into the cabbage, but that was a week ago, and we were hit with a nasty cold front with strong NorthWest winds.

So the hooks were sharpened, all of the hooks I should say, as I was up till 10:30 getting baits ready. Did the fish want small bucktails, large bucktails, spinnerbaits, or did they want top water baits, or maybe soft plastic baits, or crankbaits or jerk baits? The book would say in the fall use soft plastics, crank baits or jerk baits, but there have been times when I have caught some of the biggest fish in the fall on topwaters. That is what this game is all about! Putting the pieces together and when you do it can pay off huge.

Northbound we headed with the Crestliner 202 and Mercury Verado ready to rock we were greeted with 26 degree morning. It was picture perfect! Not another truck and trailer at the access and we had the lake all to ourselves. "What is everyone doing?" I thought to myself and Kevin was probably thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?" We put the boat in the water and I bundled up with my IceArmor and off we went.

We started fishing a steep edge like I mentioned in the previous post and our presentation was focused on fishing with Crankbaits and Jerk baits. Both of these lure have different triggering qualities but both have the ability to stall out in the water. This means to work the bait either back and forth or twitch, twitch and then a long pause. That long pause can be the difference in a bite or just a methodical follow. Every lure you throw has a triggering quality so learn what they are. We had moved three nice fish on this steep edge but no bitters. I thought to myself, as it was early in the morning, "Let's try a small little cabbage pile that is adjacent to deep water as an active fish could have moved up."

We started to work down and as we were casting the money spot I saw a huge boil behind the bait appeared. Twitch, Twitch, Twitch Pause.........Fish on! Kevin did battle! As I was grabbing the net Kevin exclaimed, "It's a big one, it's a big one, it's a big one!" Well this was Kevin's first time musky fishing and the first couple of hours into it for that matter so I was thinking it was just a nice one, until I looked up and saw the Blue St. Croix bent over and was starring down at a giant! The fish was doing several hard head shakes just out of nets reach. "Kevin just take it easy and bring her head around!" I said in attempt to stay calm but the fish said, "I'm the boss!" and made several runs back and forth with violent head shakes by the boat. After a short period Kevin was able to bring her head around and into the net she went. "It's a giant! Kevin you just caught your first musky and you just caught your first 50 incher!" I yelped! There was no doubt this thing was over 50 and I was pumped and Kevin, I think, was a little shell shocked.

So number one thing on my mind is the fish's safety. Kevin handed me the release tools as it didn't take much to get her unhooked. We grabbed the camera, bump board (measuring board) and I told Kevin how we were going to take the picture, measure her and let her go. It's always a good plan to have a good systems as this fish or any fish for that matters is a precious gem so we don't want to hurt her.

Ok so Kevin, previously semi pro basketball player at 6'5", looked down and asked, "Do you see the size of that thing?" I showed him how to grab her and with a grunt she came out of the net. This fish was a giant! Man I wanted to get the best photos possible but it's tough when it's this cold, we don't want the fish out of the water too long, and Kevin never holding a monster musky before I was little worried, but he nailed it. The fish relaxed and posed for some quick shots, down to the bump board she went. "54 1/4!" I said to Kevin and with a 26 inch girth! Kevin's first musky, first 50 incher and first mid forty pounder. That's a way to start things off!

Lures Selection

We were using a variety of jerk and crank baits like the new Rapala Glidding Rap

We caught this monster muskie on a 7 1/2 inch Phantom Softtail Lure

Congrats to my buddy Kevin who landed a true Minnesota Trophy Musky!

So here are couple of shots. Like I said before Kevin at 6'5" wearing a ton of winter clothing and this fish still made him look small.

You can do a weight calculation here Musky Hunter Weight Calculator

"Make a Memory!"

Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

(click on photo for larger view)

I cropped the above photo just to give you an idea of the girth on this fish!

Minnesota Fall Turn Over Muskies

2010-10-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

(Photo by Chuck Beasley In-Fisherman)

Holy buckets did things change in hurry. Last night I made a last minute dash to Wally World (Walmart) and I thought I was going to get blown away with the snow and wind. It was awesome! This kinda gets me pumped up for the ice fishing season ahead, but lets stay focused here, and remember this is the time the big ones decide to bit!

Fall is a period when many changes happen with in the lake including the "Fall Turn Over" period. Ok so I'm going to get a little sciency here and it might feel like you are in science class all over again but if you want to cash in on the fall bite this is important piece of the puzzle.

In most of our lakes in the Midwest there are three layers. The first or top layer is called the Epilimnion, an upper layer of circulating warm water, usually no more than 20 to 30 feet deep, where dissolved oxygen concentration are moderate to high, then comes the Thermocline, a layer of rapid temperature and oxygen decreased with depth, often pretty thin, the thermocline separates the upper and lower layers, then we have the lower layer which is called the Hypolimnion, a cold, deep-water, non-circulating layer in which oxygen is low or absent.

At some point during the fall the top layer, Epilimnion, starts to cool. "Turn Over" starts when the surface water temp reaches approximately 50 degrees in which the surface starts to sink into the Thermocline. As the air continues to cool the surface (epilimnion) temperature, a common temperature, between all the layers starts to occur. With the wind the water continues to mix the full water mass. Eventually the oxygen levels will be the same throughout the entire water column allowing fish to use deeper water.

So with most lakes turned over in our region most of the fish will utilize deeper structure for feeding areas. Usually the number one location I look at are steep, wind blown, drop offs with deep water access. Active muskies and walleyes will move from the deep water to feed on these steep edges. When fishing for muskies in this situation it will require you to get down to these fish. Two of my go to baits are the New Storm Giant Flat Stick and the New Storm Thunderbeast. Both of the lures have specific triggering qualities for these types of situations.

The Giant FlatStick (pictured above) is a bait imitating lure that can be used in a very aggressive manner with hard jerks and pauses, a straight retrieve, with slow soft jerks causing lure to work side to side and trolled. The bait has flat sides that causes a super wide wobble, loud rattles, and is built tough so you can bang it on rocks, wood and through the weeds.

The Thunderbeast is a soft plastic with a large tail that gives huge vibration. This is a lure you can cast out on these deep edges, let if fall, and with hard or soft jerks work it back to the boat. The muskies just love to eat this lure up. You can see more at Storm Lures.

So don't let a little snow or cold weather get you down! Get out on the water, find a deep edge, and put one of these lures in the face of a giant muskie.

"Make a Memory"

Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

Reeds Sporting Goods Ice Catalog Cover 2010

2010-10-25T09:02:00.000-07:00

Photo I took Featured on the Cover of the 2010 Reeds Sports Catalog

Huge Leech Lake Walleyes are Bitting

2010-10-18T10:42:00.000-07:00

Holy Mackerel did we put the hurt bag on some monster walleyes on Saturday. I had my buddies Dave, Randy, and Steve out just for a quick afternoon of fishing and it was on! We were fishing Leech Lake in Walker, MN and man do I love this lake. It's just that good! I mean the wind was blowing 20 30 mile per hour out of the Northwest and it was tough to keep things straight but it was big fish after big fish. It was so nuts that we had lines, motors and everything else tangled up! It was awesome! Yep it was awesome because the fish were smashing our red tail chubs! Ok maybe the tangles weren't awesome but the tangles were only happening because the crazy wind and the huge walleyes doing battle with us. We were fishing with Bigtooth Tackles Walleye Rig tipped with a Red Tail or Creek Chub in about 25 feet. Our set up was the usual St. Croix Legend Tournament 7' Rig Rod with Sufix 832 Braid and Suffix Flouro Leader Suffix Fluorocarbon Line. The walleyes were scattered on most of the structure so covering water was key put it seems like when we ran into one there was another one that was close by.

Ok so I have mentioned this before but if you guys are looking for a get away you should really take a look at Chase on the Lake in Walker, MN. Seriously there is everything there from amazing food, to great shopping, spa, golf, biking, bowling, and the best fishing in Minnesota on Leech Lake. Check them out at www.chaseonthelake.com.

Picture time. Here are several of the big ones we caught! (Click on Photo for larger view)

Also I should mention there is a link at the very very bottom to follow my blog. Please sign up so you can get all the updates.

"Make a Memory!"

Jeff

It took Dave 5 minutes to catch the first monster Leech Lake Walleye of the day.

Dave and Steve owner of Chase on the Lake with a double.

Randy with yet another monster walleye from Leech Lake

Dave was on fire putting huge walleyes in the boat left and right. Seriously!

The boys even let me drop a line down for a little bit and look what happened. Yep another monster walleye. Leech Lake is on fire! It's a joy to be a Leech Lake Fishing Guide when they are biting like this.

Another Double by Randy and Dave. Look at the size of those Leech Lake Walleyes.

Steve with an end of the day monster walleye. Come up to Chase on the Lake, get a spa, eat some awesome food at the 502 Restaurant and catch some huge leech lake walleyes with me!!!

2008 Crestliner 202 Tournament Series for Sale

2010-10-13T07:15:00.000-07:00

2008 Crestliner 202 Tournament Series Powered by a 250 Mercury Verado.

20ft Crestliner with full windshield, 9.9 pro kicker electric start/trim and tilt (Low Hours) Minnkota Vantage 101, Minnkota Terrova 101 with Sonor also has handheld remote (brand new foot pedal), built in oxygenator in live-well, 5 optima batteries, 4 bank on-board charger, Mercury Smart Gauges, power steering, Lowrance lcx 113HD and 27c w/ gps, Splash Guards, extra storage box in back, travel cover, Ez-Loader trailer, Special Coating on Trailer, Custom Wheels and Bearings, 4 fish on rod holders, marine radio, AM FM CD Player, MP3 Player hook up, and 4 seats.

Boat is loaded and in great condition! Asking $34,000.

There is no doubt you will love fishing out of this boat.

Call me at 218-766-8048 or send me an email. I will try and get a few more pics up.

Click on Photo for larger picture....

Gull Lake Walleyes Brainerd MN

2010-10-04T11:08:00.000-07:00

Yo! Just wanted to give all you fish-a-maniacs a little fishing update. I have been fishing Gull Lake in the Brainerd Area for the past few days and yep they are bitting. The walleyes are scattered, so my advise, is too bump up that weight on the Bigtooth Walleye Rig to a 1/2 once and get on the move. We caught walleyes in 13 feet of water and we caught walleyes in 45 feet of water. Move, Move, Move, Move, Move is the name of the game. I'm not really saying fish 1,349 spots I'm just talking about while fishing a certain area you should be moving at least .6 to .9 mph. If you do happen to find a school you can maybe slow down a little but it seemed like the old walters wanted the baits moving along. When we found a school of fish we would just make several passes back and forth rather then trying to sit right on top of them. We caught every fish on a Red Tail Chub and I didn't catch one. These boys put the hurt bag on em!

Guys don't get fooled by the hunting urge grab your St. Croix Fishing Rod and get on the water. The fall bite is on and this is by far one of the most scenic times to be on the water. Ha! and not too many pleasure boaters.....

Check out some photos from the other day. Bada Boom!!!

"Make a Memory!"

Jeff

Clam Corp Product Review and Featured Photos

2010-09-30T13:12:00.000-07:00

Holy buckets it's almost the ice season and I'm pumped. Yesterday I went down to Clam Corporation Head Quarters go over all the new products with Clam Corp and meet with most of the pro staffers. What a bunch of great guys! Clam Corp and IceArmor have so many amazing new products that I can't cover them all in one short post but I will make sure and pick a few out here and there to show you ice fishing fanatics! We covered everything from new shelters, clothing, fishing rods, and ice fishing accessories. I can't wait to put them to the test.

One, simply yet must have, was the New Scoop Shovel. This bad boy was collapsable and only weighs 1.2 pounds. It's perfect for the fishhouse and also perfect to put in the trunk of your vehicle for those emergency situations. A product that is so simple yet something I will use a ton! Check it out at Clam Scoop Shovel

Also one other piece of equipment, which isn't brand new this year but a must have, is the Fan/Light Combo. This thing is so slick! It has a LED Light and a fan which does exactly that, lights up the fish house but also helps circulate the air. We all know the heat rises and it's a pain to have those holes freeze up on the super cold days so this helps circulate the warm air throughout the fish house. The Fan/Light Combo comes in two sizes check it out at Clam Fan/Light Combo

I was also pretty pumped as this was the first time I was able to see first hand the 2011 Clam Ice Fishing Catolog and Ice Annual. Why am I pumped? Well I shot several photos that were featured on them including the cover on both! See photos below.

Photo I took Featured on the Cover of the 2011 Clam Corp Ice Fishing Catalog

Photo I took Featured on Cover of the 2011 Clam Corp Ice Annual

Photos (Top and Lower Right) I took Featured on the Back Cover of 2011 Clam Corp Ice Fishing Catalog

Article and Photos I wrote and took featured in the 2011 Clam Corp Ice Annual

Photos (Lower two) I took Featured on the Back Cover of Clam Corp 2011 Ice Annual

Bob Cat Trail Camera Pics

2010-09-27T13:52:00.000-07:00

My friend Bob Johnson, who you have seen catching muskies in previous post, sent me a few trail cam pics of a bobcat. I thought you guys might enjoy seeing them!

Fall Musky Bite - Lake Bemidji - Cass Lake - Musky Guide

2010-09-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

I had the chance to fish with my buds from In-Fisherman, Chuck and Trent, for muskies yesterday. It was an earlier morning as we were up and at em and on the road North to the stomping grounds to try get one of these toothy critters in the net. We were greeted with a strong South East wind but the guns were loaded and were were ready to put a good day in. Throughout the morning we moved a few fish but it was obvious they were not in the right mood so after eating a bunch of Diablo Wings from the Green Mill we decided to try our hand a different lake.

It didn't take long and we started moving fish. As we fished down long expansive weed flats there was no doubt the fish were schooled up as we had multiple follows in certain small areas. We concentrated on green cabbage beds. Green? Yes I said Green because this time of year is when the some of the weeds start to die off in which they turn black and do not produce the oxygen like the green ones. Most of the fish were moving were coming from the insides of the weed edges. Although we had several fish located we couldn't get those bad boys to bite, besides the one that Chuck won't want me to talk about, so we made an adjustment just before the sun hit the trees and went shallow into the bullrushes. I told the boys, "if they are up here it wouldn't take long to find out!" and it didn't. We were casting buzz baits like Vibrax Musky Buzz from Blue Fox Lures. Check them out at Blue Fox Vibrax Musky Buzz This can and is one of the most exciting ways to catch these fish. I position the boat just on the outside edge of the bull rushes casting into them as far as we can making sure I gave the fish enough room to eat as the bait exits the bullrush edge. This is pretty important part to catching these fish because almost all the time the fish will follow the bait out of the rushes and eat just on the outside. If the boat is too close a lot of time you can spoke the fish prior to the bite as you are in pretty shallow water.

So just like the the text book says we had a fish come out of the rushes and eat about half way between the boat and bullrush edge. It was an awesome bite and Trent did battle with this beauty of a musky!

So why in the world would we make a move after seeing a bunch of fish? I don't know? I just had hunch we could get a bite up shallow. We decided to make one pass to see what would happen and it worked out. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut feeling!

Equipment Check!
While fishing in the bullrushes one of the most important tools is your fishing rod. I mentioned earlier that most of the time the fish will bite out from the edge but there are times when they are deep in the cover and this when the fishing rod you are using can be a huge factor in landing fish or not. The goal is to get the fish's head up and yes this is the one time you really have to put the boots to the fish. I'm not talking about the hooks set I'm talking about putting lots of pressure on the fish after she is hooked up. The goal is to get the fish on top of the water and try to get her out of the rushes. Most times you will have to go in after them with the trolling motor. Yes this is intense and so much fun!

I have been using St. Croix musky rods this year and they are without a doubt the best fishing rods I have ever used. I would highly recommend the Legend Tournament Series 8'6" Sling Blade model. This is by far the best all around fishing rod I have ever casted a lure with. Check them out at St. Croix Legend Tournament Series Rods

Check out a few of the photos!

"Make a memory"

Jeff Andersen

Gull Lake Pike

2010-09-18T14:19:00.000-07:00

Fishing on Gull Lake has been pretty good the last few weeks. We have been catching walleyes on both deep structure and shallow weed lines. The Red Tail Chub rigged on a Bigtooth Walleye Rig has been the ticket. Here is a photo of a bonus pike we caught the other day.

Fall is here!

2010-09-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

Oh summer where did you go? It seems like yesterday I was sitting in my boat chomping at the bit to get on open water this spring and now it's IceArmor Clothing time. Fall is upon us which means the fall bite is soon here! It was a summer filled with so many great memories and so many more upon us this fall.

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to fish muskies with my friends Bob and Rob. We had super warm weather leading up to our fishing adventure for the day and the muskies were bitting! Our plan was to fish Leech Lake as there had been a bunch of muskies on the move there. Well of coarse mother nature reminded us that she was in-control of the weather and we were greeted with 25 mph Northwest cold wind. A drastic change! Sometimes good and sometimes bad? From many fellow musky hunters, when faced with tough conditions, I get asked the question, "Are we going to catch one?". My response is always, "You can't catch a fish if you don't try!". Well with Bob and Rob there was never a doubt if we were going fishing. These guys are good fisherman and understand that this is fishing and fishing for muskies.

We met at the boat access bright and early. If anyone knows me they know I get pretty excited for any day of fishing and especially one when we are chasing muskies all day. Well I was pretty excited for this and it was apparent as I had a tough time getting my boat in the water! I backed the boat in and for some crazy reason it wasn't coming off the trailer. The access was fairly shallow water but my boat should have been sliding off. "What is going on?" I said to myself. "Boys! I will try and just dump it fast!" I exclaimed after the first two tries. That didn't work! Rob asked, "Is the boat still hooked up?" Ha it was and after a good laugh we had the Crestliner and Mercury ready for the ride! I learned that if I can't laugh at myself sometimes I will be goofed up all day! Have you laughed at yourself lately?

Leech Lake a lake filled with shallow rock structure and large expansive weed flats. The rock bite was our focus for the morning as I had a fellow musky friend in a separate boat fishing weeds. Between the two boats were were sure to have the fish dialed in. It was rough and running from spot to spot wasn't the easiest but we managed but the fish didn't. It was soon noon and we hadn't had a follow or bite in six hours of fishing. Holy Mackerel what are we going to do? The other guys hadn't moved a fish in the weeds either so it wasn't like the fish were bitting elsewhere. We were faced with a decision. Do we stick out the Rocks hoping the sun will warm them up and the fish bite or do we change lakes? After about a two second deliberation the decision was the change lakes. So Northbound to the Bemidji Area we went.

We launched the boat into the water with no troubles this time and it was like we got on a plane and flew South as the wind had calmed down and the sun was out. Sweet! It didn't take long and we had fish following and had a couple of bites but nothing in the boat. Let me tell you that after getting pounded with huge waves and not having a follow it was like a shot of adrenaline having the first fish come up! We wouldn't be denied today! We decided to leave the spot where we had the follows and went to a spot that has produces so many big fish in the past. Bob was casting a bucktail with double ten blades like the Blue Fox Twin Turbo. "Boys we are casting in Dangerous water!" I expressed as we approached the "money spot" and I heard a grunt of a hook set and saw that Bob had a fish. Sweeeeet! Fish on and I could see it was a good one. After a pretty good battle and some great head shakes the 51 inch muskie was in the net. We quickly took the hooks out, measured her, took some quick photos and gave some pretty awesome high fives!

You can't catch them if you don't try! We were faced with some adversity this day. With sore backs, sore everything else, being beat up and humbled it's pretty easy to give up say let's try again but we didn't this day. Muskie fishing that's what it takes on most days to be successful. Thanks to my friends Bob and Rob for yet another great memory this season filled with yet another 50 incher.

See pictures below....

Make a memory!

Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

Bob's 51 inch hawg belly!

Pure emotion shown with a smile!

Cass Lake, Leech Lake, and all around!!!

2010-09-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

Over the past week I had a chance to stay on Cass Lake at the Sah-Kah-Tay Resort and what a great time we had spending time with family and friends. We had a chance to get a little fishing in, catch up with friends and family, and Kristine and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. Holy Buckets 5 years! I'm probably the luckiest guy in the world that she would hang around that long! I also managed to lose my wedding ring playing football in the water with my buds. I'm in the dog house for that one! Leah, the musky Goddess, was at it again and she boated another musky with her Dad and I. I was able to go out for an hour by myself and found a new spot on Cass that produces a chubby one. My little boy Gavin at 18 months caught his first fish! That's a pretty emotional thing for me. Mom held the fishing rod and he reeled it in. After he learned how to reel it in that's all he wanted to do! What a memory!

This trip wasn't about fishing though. The Crestliner and Mercury Verado had a chance to take a break from running from spot to spot. We took a trip to Itasca State Park and took Gavin on a bike ride, had a picnic and went to the head waters of the Mississippi. Todd, Kristine's dad, cooked us Halibut from the trip he and Suzanne, Kristine's Mom, took to Alaska. It was so good! Campfires, beach, swimming, and just time with friends and family. Thanks guys for the great week!

Here are few photos from the past trip and some past guide trips!

Gavin playing in the sand!

Gavin Feeding the Squirrels.

Gavin at the Itasca State Park

A couple of Leech Lake Hawg Bellies!

PMTT Chippewa Flowage

2010-08-19T07:23:00.000-07:00

Joe and I just returned from the third Professional Musky Tournament Trail, for the 2010 season, which was held in Hayward, Wi on the famous Chippewa Flowage. We left Thursday morning around 3:30 A.M. and arrived to this massive body of water which was new to us. We didn't have too much information on the lake and we had a ton of work ahead of us and only two days to get it done.

We launched the Crestliner 202 and Mercury Verado which was ready to rock and roll. We pulled up on the first good looking area and we made a few cast and I got bit. I looked at Joe, as there were boats in the area, and whispered, "Joe I have a fish on!". I pulled off the spot and unhooked her in stealth mode. The fish was around the 32 inch mark which wouldn't help us in the tournament but it was a good sign of things to come. By this time it was 90 degrees and flat calm and holy buckets I felt like I was going to tip over. Joe and I fished as many spots as possible with out any action. Well instead of getting heat stroke and casting to fish that didn't want to follow or bit we decided to learn the body of water.

While it's flat calm and sunny this is a great time to take advantage and learn spots. We marked out several areas which looked to have awesome structure. Everything from shallow weed flats, to rock flats along with some great shoreline areas. Our plan was to go back and fish these areas when the sun started to go down. By this time we had several hours on the lake and felt like we had a pretty good handle on where to fish but still didn't have too much to go off because we had not made too many cast on the spots. Evening final came and the temps. dropped, a little, and we went back to the key areas to fish. Joe and I fished into the night without a bite. We felt bruised, battered and defeated and decided to call it a long day!

Day 2 back at to try and put a program together. Well we pretty much had the same results as day one without catching a small one. Yes we had no follows, caught a pike, and had two possible musky hits but we couldn't tell for sure. We had nothin and I have to admit I wasn't too excited to fish two days against some of the best musky anglers around. Speaking with many local guides and tournament anglers it sounds like the bite was about the toughest they have scene in many years. Great! Our game plan was to just go fishing!

Tournament Day the boat was loaded with an assortment of baits and we were ready to rock but not too confident. We were greeted with a flat calm morning with a heavy blanket of fog. Joe and I started on the spot we had caught the fish the first day of pre fishing. We had two local guide boats to compete with but managed to fish the best area with not even a follow. We fished the spot deep, shallow and everywhere in between with nothin! So onto our game plan to fish as many spots as possible and try to put some type of pattern together. Around 1:00 Joe and I found a spot with rock weed mix so I told Joe to cast up to the weeds and I'm going to bang rocks with a deep diving crank-bait. Casting with a mouth full of protein bar I felt the crank-bait contact some rocks and I continued my retrieve and went into the L turn and can you believe it a fish was there and smoked the bait. "Joe got her!" I exclaimed and the fish tall walked down the side of the boat. Joe ask, "You got her?" I was like, "Yes I got her get the freaking net!" and he grabbed the net and made an amazing net job and we were on the board. Yeah buddy! We were pumped and thought we had something to work off of. Well that wasn't the case we fished so much of the same stuff with nothing the rest of the day. We were sitting in 8th place with only one team that had two fish after day #1.

Tournament Day 2 Joe and I were actually pumped and I felt that tingle down my spine when the boats lined up to take off. We had the 202 and Verado rockin at take off and we pulled up to the same area we had caught the fish the day before. Same plan, Joe fish shallow and I fished deep and it didn't take long. Same scenario I made contact with some rocks and right on the L turn a fish came up and smashed the bait! "Joe lets net her right away!" I said and boom she was in the net. Holy Mackerel two fish and we had all day to get another one. Joe and I fished our tails off without another sniff of another muskie besides a 30 inch walleye that got the blood flowing.

(Look at that hair! You can tell that we were rockin!"

So to the awards ceremony with two fish registered which put us into 4th place overall. It's truly amazing what this tournament fishing can do to a competitive angler. Most fisherman and women that fish in these tournaments know what I'm talking about when I say the high and lows are unbelievably dramatic. For instance Joe and I at the last tournament in Eagle River we took fourth and we were disappointed as we were on the winning fish and lost the winning fish. Coming into this tournament we had really nothin and scratched out a 4th place finish which is pretty respectable against some of the best anglers in the business. It can happen so fast. Prior to catching the fish on Day #1 and not having a follow I was determined to figure out a bite but no confident. That is hard to fish "good" and a lesson learned to always fish "good" even when you don't think anything is going to happen. I just had to keep telling myself there are fish bitting somewhere no matter how tough the bite is!

So happy with a another 4th place finish it is now time to get prepared for the next tournament which is held on the St. Louis River near Duluth. This will be an important tournament as we are in the running for anglers of the year if the right people stumble and we have a good couple of days.

Our Presentation:

As you read I made a lure change in the middle of the day which proved to be the right choice. Being able to adapt is such a key decision because sometimes changing works but there are times sticking with what you are doing also pays off. Well in this instance we could do both which worked out. Joe and I dealt with extremely warm water temps which usually pushes the fish super shallow in the oxygen filled weeds or out off the break. We just couldn't get those shallow fish to go and we knew they were there but we had to try something different. I was fishing with deep diving crank bait like the RAPALA X-Rap Magnum casting it out parallel with the weeds. Each cast my goal was to have contact with the rocks which were close to the weeds which was the rock/weed transition area. We got lucky to get two bites considering we didn't have another follow the rest of the tournament hours. That's 14 hours of non stop casting to put it into perspective.

It's so important to have many tools in the tool box and a deep diving crank is one of them.

You can purchase this lure from the worlds largest selection of Rapala Lures at KrugerFarms Super Store You can also receive free shipping by entering JEFFA.

I know that I mention my Crestliner Boat and Mercury Verado in my writing but I'm truly impressed with them. I have put so many hours on the water and both my boat and motor have run flawlessly. I get so many comments on how quite my Mercury Verado is but you should drive this bad boy. I have power stearing and the smart guages work wonders! Check out more here Mercury Verado These motors are top of the line and if you are in the market I'm so confident in saying you won't be disappointed! My Crestliner 202 is also a fishing machine! If your not in the market for a tournament boat Crestliner makes a smaller boat like the Fish Hawk that is pretty much just the smaller version. Check them out at Crestliner Boats I would also be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

"Make a Memory"

Jeff Andersen

Gull Lake Guide Trip Fishing Photos

2010-08-10T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos from the past couple of Guide Trips. The walleyes on Gull Lake have started to turn around. I have been catching them early in the mornings on top of some of the mid lake structure and on a few weed lines in 13 to 14 feet of water. Most of the fish have bit on a Bigtooth Tackle Walleye Snell tipped with a Red Tail Chub. The walleyes have been smaller eaters so I have been using small minnows so we miss less bites. Some of the larger bass have suspended out during this crazy warm weather but when they move shallow they are hungry and the larger pike have moved to around 18 to 20 feet. Below is a picture of one of the three big pike we had bite on that trip. The other two seemed to sneak away somehow before getting to the net!!!!

(End of the day Double!)

Leech Lake Walleye Fishing

2010-08-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

Had a great trip up on Leech. We managed to get a limit of walleyes and a bonus 28.5 incher. The walleyes were scattered so we did a ton of moving from spot to spot to spot to spot catching a few fish then we had to move. The fish were on the move and we chased em' down!

Thanks guys for the great trip!

Fishing Updates

2010-08-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

(Pictured above are 11 year twins and 13 year old girls who I had a blast fishing with. We didn't catch any monsters this trip but caught close to 40 bass in 4 hours!)

Fishing the past week has been awesome. I have had some of my best trips this year for catching fish. The walleyes have bit "O.K." early in the mornings but the Bass and Pike are on fire. Besides dodging wall clouds, lighting, and accidentally catching those white things flying around the fishing has been great. More on the "white thing" later.

The bass have moved to their summer patterns and are on deep coontail piles on the main lake. They are hungry and willing to bite. If you are looking for action now is the time to get out and catch some fish. They are bitting anything from live bait to a jig and also lately I have been throwing a DT Metal Sure Set Rapala Crank Bait. This bad boy gets down there and catches fish. I have been throwing this one which is the Regal Shad Color. I would recommend using a long rod that isn't too stiff as when a fish bites a crankbait like this you don't need to really put the boots to them. Just a nice easy sweeping hook set and you'll get em' every time.

This week I look forward to fishing with my good friend Erik and George on Saturday for a little musky action, Mike from North Dakota on Sunday for some Hawg Belly Walleye action on Leech Lake and also look forward to meeting some new people in between.

Oh yeah and about that white thing. I had my buds out from the State South of us and we had a double and after dealing with the double we looked over at one of the rods, which was set down with the bail open and the line was flying out of the spool like crazy. We looked up and yes you called it we had a seagull. We didn't catch the thing on purpose and we got it into the boat and cut the line so the seagull is doing just fine. I was a little worried about posting this picture but want to make it clear the seagull is just fine and wasn't harmed in anyway! This is real life guiding and thought you would like a little laugh as we couldn't stop for the whole trip. I can't wait to tell the story with my friends from down south next year.

Come on Minnesota Twins we need to pull it together!

"Make a Memory!"

Jeff

Rapala X-Rap Walk 13

2010-07-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in the previous post Doug and I boated two fish over the fifty inch mark on film the other day. I'm pretty excited to tell you about the lure we caught the fish on and how we had success but for complete details your going to have to watch the show.

Here is a little Taste!
I have often spoke about how each lure is part of play that should be in your playbook. The lure alone isn't going to give you success but it's the totality of the circumstance you are in. What? I'm saying there are many factors that have to be taken into consideration to consistently put trophy fish in the boat. You have to be able to read those factors and make correct adjustments to your game. The best anglers can just do that! Make the right call at the right times. Just like it takes so many factors of the Vikings Offense to have a successful touchdown. In short the Offense has to read the opposing defense and make the right play call then the boys up front need to fill their roll and make blocks, Favre needs to handle the snap, and then you just give the ball to Peterson and we score! With fishing for muskies you need to consider many different variables and apply that to your lure selection.

Odds in your favor
While Doug and I were on the water we had fished some outside weed edges but we did not contact the size of fish we wanted. Clue #1 we weren't fishing where the big fish were. We adjusted and looked shallow. We had calm water and low light. Typically from past experience a topwater lure would come to mind. A topwater lure also gives me almost 100% clean cast as the water we where fishing in was weed choked. A huge part in the game of musky fishing is having as many odds in your favor as possible. When you have clean cast, no weeds, you have more chance to boat a fish. Cast angle another part of our successful play. We decided to push up into super shallow and cast out towards the break. After getting all of those pieces of the play we needed to present the lure in a manner that would cause the fish to loose its grip and smash the bait! A large piece of presenting the lure in the correct manner was using a smaller then normal musky rod that being a 7' 11" Fenwick Elite Tech Flipping Stick, with Suffix Line and Suffix Fluorocarbon Leader.

Lure Presentation
The playbook was set in motion and we fired our cast. The Rapala X-Rap Walk 13 was called up to make a play. The lure is an amazing lure to say the least and I'm excited about it! Although you can work the bait in super fast motion I slowed the bait down in a rhythmic cadence. As I mentioned it takes a little practice but the goal is to get the lure to almost stay in a straight line but to flip back and forth in a Z pattern. I see a lot of guys work this lure with long sweeping rod pumps causing the lure to swing way left and right. I feel that by working the lure this way it will cause you to miss more fish. So with the goal is to work the lure back and forth but keeping in the same path while searching for fish. I do this by casting the lure out and with the a small amount of slack in the line I pump the rod tip with small twitches while reeling the reel just the right amount. Once you get the rhythmic cadence down you will have it dancing as it should. Now there are times when I have a fish come up behind the lure and sometimes it takes a change in that cadence to trigger a strike so I first try to speed the lure up. If that isn't working I will stop the bait and do long hard twitches causing the bait to stay in one location for a period of time but will turn from side to side throwing more water. If the fish still is following and won't take the bait on the surface go into your figure eight bringing the lure sub surface moving your rod tip back and forth while in the figure 8. Make sure to not only change speeds but to change water depths as this is by far one of the most crucial parts of the figure 8. I like to make my L turn at the boat then go really deep with the lure then come back up like a fleeing fish would to the surface and that is when I get almost all of my figure 8 strikes.

A Little More About the Lure
The Rapala X-Rap Walk 13 is made of super tough plastic, VMC hooks, a ball bearing rattle which causes a unique noise and is weighted perfectly making long casy easy. The bait is also one of the easiest walk the dog lures on the market. While filming with Doug I boated six muskies on this lure and had six bites. That is a 100% and that is one of the top aspects that this lure has over many and trust me I have missed many fish on other brand of topwaters. The hard plastic does not allow for a muskies teeth to sink into it and small body allows for the fish get good hooks while it chows down.

(Photo courtesy of Rapala)

The Rapala X-Walk 13 is just another important part of my playbook and I can guarantee I will score again with this bait!

Check out more at Rapala X-Rap Walk 13

You can purchase the Rapala X-Rap Walk 13 from KrugerFarms.com just go here KrugerFarms.com Sign in and look at the largest selection of Rapalas online!

In Fisherman Musky Show

2010-07-23T15:29:00.000-07:00

The past three days I had the chance to film with a long time idol Doug Stange with In-Fisherman. We were fishing in Northern Minnesota on Cass and Bemidji Lakes. The plan was to put a television show together featuring "Hot Bites" and we needed to put some decent size muskies in the boat for the show. Easy task right?!

I pulled up to the launch at Cass Lake and I'm being honest I was a little nervous as there was a tad bit of pressure on my shoulders to catch some fish. I spoke with Doug many months back and was pretty confident as I explained we could catch some muskies if we we put some work into it. Yes I said confident then but I was a little nervous now! Doug pulled up and we packed the boat and off we went camera and all. Holy Buckets!

I was pumped as we had clouds and a light to moderate rain which is typically pretty good musky weather. We pulled up to our first spot and waited with a ton of anticipation as the rain had to slow before we could start fishing. Rain stopped and the baits were flying! This spot we were fishing has been pretty consistent and it didn't take long. "Doug Fish!" I expressed as I felt my bucktail get stopped in its tracks. Fish in the boat and we were off to a good start to the day with a 40 incher. We fished through out the day seeing a lot of small fish and catching them too but they weren't the fish we wanted for the show. We ended a pretty good day of fishing but didn't get what we needed. Bummed but we still had a few more days to put things together.

Day two we decided to fish Lake Bemidji. Another early morning but I was pumped because I knew the size of fish that live in this lake. And this is where the story here ends as you will have to watch In-Fisherman television this comming season as Doug and I put two fish over fifty inches in the boat along with several others. We didn't get pictures of the really big one but below is a photo of the last big one we decided to take a picture. We didn't want our buddy Chuck to kick our butts.

All I can say is what a memory! Over the past many years of spending time on the water I have been blessed to fish with so many great anglers and now I get to add another name to that list. Doug, Dave and I had a great time and it was such an honor to be able to catch some real giants on camera with Doug. He has been a someone I have watched and learned from for so many years. Thanks Doug!

I should also say thanks to our camera man Dave as he worked his tail off holding that monster piece of equipment for many, many, many hours and nailed some sweat shots!

We as musky anglers sometimes get stuck on big baits but sometimes a little down size can make a huge difference. The two big fish we caught were on a Rapala X-Rap Walk 13. You can view the Rapala lure here Rapala X-Rap Walke 13 This bait is smaller size musky lure that is 5 1/4 inches. It features a walk-the-dog-action, sharp VMC hooks and has a couple of rattles that give it a noise that not a lot of these muskies have heard. Don't be afraid to down size baits if your not getting bites! This type of bait requires practice so don't get discouraged!

Sabaskong Bay 2010

2010-07-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

The planning was complete and the boats were packed and off to Morson, Ontario to fish my favorite body of water Lake of the Woods - Sabaskong Bay Area. We had three boats headed North and all of us were filled with anxiety to get on the water.

If you remember last year it was just Joe, my Dad Steve, and I that went on this trip. It was a trip filled with unbelievable walleye fishing. It was also a time when our Dad told us that our Mom, Suzette, was battling cancer. Since the trip last year most of you know our Mom is now in Heaven looking down on us. Before each fishing trip she always said, "Make a Memory!" and for this 2010 trip our intentions were to do just that.

Here is the link to last year's photos and story Sabaskong Bay 2009

We arrived at Mylies Place and of course greeted as we drove in by Justin and the crew. The fishing reports were good so if you know me I was chomping at the bit to rip some lip. So, yes I probably rushed everyone to hurry up to get on the water! Justin got the boats in the water right away, we got licenses for those who didn't have them, picked up some bait, unpacked the trucks and off to paradise we went.

FUN FACT

Lake of the Woods is over seventy miles long and wide, and contains more than 14,552 islands and 65,000 miles (105,000 km) of shoreline. It would amount to the longest coastline of any Canadian lake, except that the lake is not entirely within Canada. Lake of the Woods is also the 6th largest freshwater lake located (at least partially) in the United States- after the five Great Lakes. So there is not shortage of spots to fish.

Day #1

We headed out and stopped on a reef where we had caught most of the big fish last year and also named, "The Suzette Reef" in memory of our Mom after our trip last year. We boated a few small fish and off we went. Our goal was to put some fish in the boat for a fish fry and also to get the itch of setting the hook off my back. We headed to Miles Bay area and stopped on some of my old honey holes and put a bunch of eaters in the boat. As we were fishing the wind and weather took a turn for the worst. So we decided to stay in this area as moving from spot to spot was pretty rough and we where catching fish. Here's a few photos from the calm spot!

(click on photo for larger picture)

This is Leah, Jason's Daughter, putting a hurt bag on the keeper walleyes!

After a great evening of fishing we decided to head back to get things figured out in the cabin and clean fish. Well it wasn't that easy. We had to cross a large section of water in which the wind was coming across at 30 to 35 mph. We battled some waves that where close to 7 feet and made our way home. I wasn't too worried as the ol Crestliner 202 and Mercury 250 Verado kept us safe. We cleaned a big bag of super jumbo perch and walleyes.

Day #2

Leah, Jason, and Joe hopped in my boat for the day. We went out caught a few walleyes and Leah said she wanted to catch a musky and let me tell you this girl can cast with the best of them. We fished some of my really good musky spots with out a follow. I couldn't believe it as I was frustrated with the high wind and tough bite I couldn't fish several of my other really good spots. We fished through out the day a mix of walleye and musky spots with catching again keeper walleyes but no muskies. This girl wanted a musky and was determined. On the way in we decided to make one last stop. We were gabbing away when from the depths a large fish came up and crushed my topwater lure. "Got her, Leah get back here!" I said. I gave her the rod and she did battle like a pro. I grabbed the net and scooped a monster fish. We took a few quick photos and let Leah's first musky go.

OH did I mention it was a 50 incher......

Day #3

My buddies Erik and Derek said we want a musky! So we got up early and headed out to hunt for another musky. The wind was again rockin and we were so limited to where we could fish. First spot Derek had a mid forty incher turn on the figure 8 and it looked like it nipped the bait but it was so tough to see in the rough choppy water. We fished several more spots with not much moving. Again frustrated with wind we headed back to the camp to eat some lunch.

Jason, Joe and Leah hopped back into my boat as Leah said she wanted another musky. So I went to an area I hadn't fished much and looked to the sky and asked Mom to give me some wisdom on where this fish are bitting. As tough as the bite is I always believe there a fish bitting somewhere on the lake you just have to figure them out. Well we did just that. Our first spot Leah had a musky eat her topwater bait on three different times and didn't get hooks. We continued down the spot and she had another fish bite and didn't get hooks. We caught two really nice pike and the lake was starting to show some true colors!

So feeling pretty dialed into where and what the fish wanted to eat we found another spot similar to the last and it didn't take long. Leah had yet another fish come right up to the boat and try to eat again. Holy Buckets that was three bites in under an hour. We turned back to make another pass and older brother Jason sets the hook as a monster chomped his bait. This fish made a huge jump and I said, "Yep that's a big one!" and the battle was on. Joe grabbed the net and stretched out to get the monster in the net.

After a few loud cheers we got her unhooked and took a photo and let the monster go. The fished was Jason's second musky ever and his first fish over 50, that measured 52 inches. Wow!

A tough musky bite turned pretty good really really really fast. We continued to fish with not a boat in site and ended up losing three or four other bites. The fish were hitting the topwater baits so hard it was pretty tough to get them hooked but Jason was all smiles.

It was getting dark so we decided to work our way back. Jason said, "One more spot!" We all agreed and it didn't take long and the water again was flying. Jason hooked into another fish and I think the whole lake heard it!!! I grabbed the net and Joe grabbed the camera and we netted a cute mid 40 incher.

What a great day! Did I mention it was my Birthday and I think this is the 6th time I have put a fish in my boat over 50 inches on my birthday. So who wants to go fishing next year on July 17? Although we had lost some nice fish we were pretty pumped to get out for the final day. We had some birthday cupcakes I was ready for bed!

Day #4

Today my Dad said he wanted to catch a musky! So it was one of my best buds Erik "Hopper", my Dad and I out to find one of these crazy fish. It didn't take long. About the 10 cast in I watch my Dad's bait get chowed with a pretty good grunt he sets the hook and the battle was on and as soon as I went for the net it was off. It was another monster and this would have been my Dad's first fish that he hooked by himself and probably his first 50 incher. We continued to cast a little defeated but not to defeated as it was my Dad's third cast after the water again erupts and he was hooked up. This time he was to going to be denied and my Dad's first fish was in the net! A beautiful 47 incher!

A few photos and back at it! Joe, Leah and Jason pulled up to say hi and at this point I was casting. We were sitting jabbering about the fish my Dad had just caught when a fish came up slurped my bait underwater and I was hooked up. This fish went ballistic with violent head shakes causing the water go everywhere. I yelled at my Dad and said come get the rod, I knew it was a monster! He took the rod and this fish was a fighter. Made some huge runs and finally with a quick scoop my Dad had landed a 50 incher. Hopper and my brother Joe, who was in the other boat, took some fighting shots. We got her unhooked, some photos, and back in the water. This fish was a super tanker! I'm not too sure but these fish must be on the same diet as I am because they are chunky!

That same day Jason boated another 44 incher which was his third fish for the trip and Joe had a fish that he said was close to 60 inches bite but missed the bait. This same fish followed several times before it bit so they saw her really good. Hopper also had a chance at one later in the day and so did my Dad.

(Joe and Hopper both took some pretty awesome pictures)

So a Memory was made! Thanks Mom for looking down and giving us the wisdom in finding these fish. Yes we lost a lot of fish and yes we couldn't fish our good walleye spots because of the wind but we put three fish over 50 inches in the boat along with some other super nice fish.

If you guys are looking for a spot to get away let me recomend my friends at Mylie's Place. Their goal is very clear and that is to make your trip comfortable and fun. The cabins are clean, up to date, and they have all the necessities at their store and Justin will put you on fish. Please visit their website at Mylie's Place click here

Thanks to everyone for a great trip!

Leech Lake Walleyes

2010-07-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Had a pretty good trip on Leech Lake today. The fishing wasn't fast and ferrous but we managed to put some nice fish in the boat and kept some for dinner.

Muskies are on the move Cass Lake Minnesota Musky Guide

2010-07-07T13:27:00.000-07:00

So Chris and George said they want to catch a muskie. We fished two days and this was their first time fishing for these crazy fish. So Day #1 we had a several follows and saw a ton of fish just sitting in the cabbage. We also had two nip at bucktails that got off and had a couple areas that had several fish. We were pumped as it was hot and sunny and we knew the clouds and rain were on the way!

We got up and went to a spot were we had several fish following and one fish sitting that was 55 to 56 inches, A MONSTER! The silence of the calm morning was broke by the sounds of our cast...oh what a sweet sound! We though our large muskie baits to the specific location were the fish were holding and we had a few fish follow but they were lazy. I couldn't believe it. The weather was perfect and I though for sure they would bite. So nothing on spot number one and onto spot number two. Chris was a little sore after a long day of casting and I kept telling him it's going to happen. Well it happened and Chris had a fish come up and bite his bucktail and didn't get hooks. Heartbroken! I just smiled and said that's fishing' Chris looked at me and said, "After 888330 hours of casting I have my shot and I blew it!". Oh if he only knew how many times that has happened to me!

So we continued to fish and we had fish sitting but not following. We all looked at each other with a little less air in our balloons after hours of casting and couldn't believe it. I kept telling these guys this was perfect weather. We would fish a spot and not move a fish and then drive up on it and see them laying there. So that kept us motivated.

"Should we go walleye fishing?" Chris said to George. "Well lets give it two more spots" George replied and what a good idea. On the second to last spot we got a fish to bite and stay hooked. Chris landed his first musky a 49 incher that wasn't too worried about her diet.

Congrats to Chris and George and thanks for letting me be apart of a great moment!

Hawg Belly Pike-Gull Lake Fishing

2010-07-05T12:58:00.000-07:00

The walleye fishing has been a little spotty from lake to lake and from guide trip to guide trip but the bass and pike continue to be on fire! Wendi caught this monster pike today. We caught a couple of walleyes and a ton of bass. Thanks guys for the great trip!

Colorado Bound

2010-06-29T12:12:00.000-07:00

PMTT Eagle River

2010-06-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

Oh man I can't wait to tell you about our trip to Eagle River for the second tournament on the Professional Musky Tournament Trail. We had a good tournament with a lot of up and downs. But for now here are some photos including a live figure eight musky Joe caught while prefishing!!! Back on the water I go........

(Click on photo for larger image)

Also thanks to Chris Dutten for taking some great action shots of the us in the tournament.

Two of the three tournament fish! Including a 42 1/4 inch tiger musky!

A few shots while pre-fishing.

Tornado destroys Wadena

2010-06-17T17:12:00.000-07:00

Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in Wadena. I took a few shots while driving through Wadena just moments after a tornado had touch down.

Wall Cloud in Fargo Moorhead area in the early morning!

KrugerFarms

2010-06-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

Hey guys I just wanted to take a minute to tell you about the best place to purchase your fishing and hunting gear. I know buying stuff online can be a little nerve racking but the guys at KrugerFarms are top notch. I have been working with them for a couple of years and it's clear their mission is to provide quality gear at a great price. The KrugerFarms Pro Staff team is a combination of some of the best anglers and hunters in the business. The neat thing about KrugerFarms.com is the ProStaff is always available to answer any questions you may have about buying any specific product. These are the guys that use this stuff every day in the field and on the water!

Check them out at KrugerFarms.com

THE KRUGER FARMS STORY

Kruger Farms is located in the prairie pothole region of Western Minnesota, surrounded by some of the country's most desirable hunting land. The farms' distinct landscape was carved by glaciers over ten thousand years ago; its high ridges and accommodating wetlands make for an ideal habitat for pheasant, ducks, geese, as well as whitetail deer.

At Kruger Farms we strive to create unique hunting and fishing experiences for our guests. Our expert guides have led hundreds of successful excursions and have helped guests in their selection of outdoor gear for all their hunting adventures. The sheer number of products and brands available can be overwhelming, whether you're a novice or seasoned outdoorsman. That is why Kruger Farms is happy to announce the launch of krugerfarms.com, an intelligent way to shop for the products every hunter and fisher needs to have an ideal experience.

The goal of krugerfarms.com is to eliminate confusion and frustration while buying hunting and fishing equipment. We only carry the products and brands that our guides rely on in the field. After years of experience in scouting, hunting and fishing our guides have determined which products deserve their stamp of approval. Look for our Guide Top Pick tag when you're shopping to help you determine what products are essential for a successful hunt. Furthermore, our guides are available to answer any questions you may have. Give them a call or email at any time during your shopping or research process. Go to ask our guides to learn more about them and how they can help you.

With proven quality products, accessible customer service and Kruger's 100% satisfaction guarantee, you can shop with confidence at krugerfarms.com.

Gull Lake Walleyes

2010-06-14T19:08:00.000-07:00

Hey guys I wanted to drop a note to say I had a great fishing trip on Gull Lake today. The walleyes have been hungry and on the weed edges. Today we fished a jig tipped with a shiner. The walters have been on the move from day to day so with the silence of my Mercury Verado I have been just cruising on the weed edges anywhere from 10 to 13 feet and simply looking for fish on my graph. Once I mark them just stop, drop a jig, and it seems like they will bite.

After a great day on the water I dropped off my fishing partners and I was on the way to the access just cleaning some stuff up and marked a school of walleyes. I couldn't resist dropping a jig down and it was on like donkey kong! I caught 10 walleyes in a matter of 20 minutes and nice ones to boot! An end to a great day!

Enough babble get out and catch a fish!

PMTT Eagle River Preparation

2010-06-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

Joe and I are getting prepare for our second PMTT Event in Eagle River, WI. We both have fished on these waters before so hopefully we can get a good program together and catch a fish or two.

Leech Lake Walleye Tournament

2010-06-08T16:13:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! I fished the Leech Lake Walleye Tournament with my wife Kristine. This was the first tournament we have fished together so she was a little nervous.

We fished against over 150 teams for the first place prize of $12,500. There is a huge strategy when it comes to fishing this tournament. Leech Lake has a slot sizes that must be released of 18 to 26 inches. We were allowed to weigh two fish over the slot so the game is try and catch two big ones and three just under the 18 inch mark. Typically the larger fish are located in the deep, structure filled, part of the lake called Walker Bay and the smaller under fish are located in the main lake.

Prefishing we had found a spot in Walker Bay that was holding fish under the slot and found spots that were holding big fish. So our game plan was to get our five small fish and then go Hawg Hunting! So Day #1 we headed to our spot and by 8:15 we had our five weigh fish and we were ready to look for the monster. We fished several spots and found some active fish on a deep isolated hump. On this hump we caught several fish that were from 20 all the way up to 25 inches. Then around 1:00 Kristine said, "fish!" I looked up as I was snagged and she was doing battle. I grabbed the net and saw a monster emerge from the depths and netted a 29 incher. We were pumped! We still had lots of time to catch another big one. We continued to fish and not too long later another boat, friends of ours, pulled up and started fishing next to us. They also knew there was big ones in this area and not too long later they were hooked up with a monster. I was heartbroken as I saw them net a fish that measured 30.5 inches. That's tournament fishing! So we ended up with one over for the day and we were sitting in 27th place.

Day 2 began and we were on our way to catch our small fish I saw that nobody was on our deep hump. I told Kristine, "lets give it 20 minutes and see if we can boat a big one." So we stopped and it didn't take long for a few boats to pull up. One of the boats was our friends who had caught the monster next to us the day before. As we were fishing pretty close to each other having a conversation and I got bit. I set the hook and told Kristine, "big fish!" With one quick scoop of the net we had a 28 incher in the live-well! Man we were pumped! We had all day to put four more fish in the boat and try for a big one. We stayed on the spot and our friends who caught the monster the day before also boated a 28 incher. We said to each other we should just fish next to each other for the whole day! The fish moved off the hump so we decided to try and go fill out our limit. We went to our under spot and we started catching fish but all the wrong sizes. So it was around 11:00 and I told Kristine that we should probably run out to the main lake to try and fill our limit. So we did and here came the rain. It was a down pour but just before the rain Kristine put two nice keepers in the box. Stuck with only three fish we decided to run back to our under spot in Walker Bay. The rain had stopped and the fish were bitting. Again we caught several fish but all the wrong size except for one. So we had four fish in the boat. Do we stay and try to catch one more under or go for monsters? We decided to stay as I knew would would cash a check with one more fish. We just couldn't find that right size fish.

We ended up weighing in with four fish and received a "non releasable" fish penalty of 3 oz. Bummer as we took second place in the male female division losing by just 2 oz. We ended up taking 18th place out of 155 boats. With one more fish we would have been in the top ten. Should have, could have, would have!

I can't tell you how much fun I had fishing with my wife Kristine. She had caught most of the fish we weighed and we truly just had fun fishing. I think she was more competitive then me! We really had no issues besides one little one and my Crestliner Boat and Mercury Verado worked flawlessly as always.

We targeted the smaller fish using a jig and minnow and the large fish using a Bigtooth Tackle Walleye Snell with a Red Tail Minnow or Leech.

Congrats to my good friends Toby and Dean Kavelevog who placed 3rd.

For complete results of the tournament go to Leech Lake Walleye Tournament Website

Pike went Crazy!

2010-05-29T15:06:00.000-07:00

Man alive! It's been a busy first part of the season and yes the fish are bitting! Spent the day with the Kobs crew on the Whitefish Chain and what a blast. The walleye bite has been a little tough so the boys wanted some action and that's what we had. We targeted northern pike on a 8 to 10 foot weed flat. We fished with a jig and minnow. We ended up boating 64 pike in just 4 hours of fishing! Here are a few shots from the day!!!

Holy Mackerel back on Leech Lake

2010-05-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

So yepper I headed back to Leech Lake with my good friends Dave, Wayne, Randy and Jared. I was pumped as I knew where the monster school of walleyes were. We didn't get out until later but I stopped on deeper location as I marked some fish there the day before. We trolled leadcore as these fish were spread out in a large area. Nothing! So to the honey hole we headed! It didn't take long and the boys were on em' We had just a tremendous night of fishing including a 28 and 29.5 inch walleyes. We took some photos and let them go!

We headed out the second day and fished close to home for just a couple of hours. We ended up taking a boat ride and stopping on a few spots in Walker Bay catching few walleyes but nothing special.

If you are headed to Leech Lake and are looking for one of the nicest places to stay check out Chase on the Lake They are located right one beautiful Walker Bay and close to downtown Walker, MN. They have everything you could imagine from great food to bowling to a day in the spa or even a ride on their new Lady Chase Bluewater Coastal Cruiser Charter Yacht

Leech Lake Photo Shoot

2010-05-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

Back to Leech Lake to find a few fish for some photos. It was great pleasure to have Chuck Beasley and my little brother Joe in the boat. Our goal was to catch some quality fish, mainly walleyes, to take some photos. So we headed back to the same area right were we had caught them the day before. Nothing! We couldn't catch a fish or even mark that many. These fish are on the move! It was another flat calm sunny day making it even tougher. Through out the day we bounced around catching fish but we really had to work for them. We took a break from walleyes went up and caught a few crappies. Wouldn't you know it the wind picked up while we were fishing for the crappies so we decided to go back out to catch some walleyes. The wind died again! Flustered with the conditions and the moving fish I had to make a decision. We ended up going back out to the area we had found the fish, the day before, thinking they might have moved back and they didn't. So the hunt was on. I knew the fish were close or so I was hoping! My Mercury Verado got a workout bouncing around and all of a sudden I found em'. They were loaded and about 1/4 of a mile away from where they were the day before. The last three hours of the day was gang busters as we caught lots of fish and managed to take some really nice photos. As frustrated as we were we kept the mind frame, "the fish are bitting somewhere" and stayed positive. Sometimes that is a hard thing to do! Everything came together perfect. Our light was spot on and we had a beautiful sunset to utilize in some of the photos.

Here are just a couple of photos we were able to capture! (click on image for larger view)

Leech

2010-05-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

I was up on Leech Lake again today and can you say HOT? There wasn't a wiff of wind and it was blazing hot. I was fishing with my new buds Dave and Richard. We started out fishing shallow weed flats as I thought we could still get some of these shallow fish to go in the morning. We caught a few but it wasn't hot and heavy and most of the fish were in the slot. I was kinda stumped as I had caught these shallow fish all year last year. So we had to adjust. We started to fish some deeper main lake locations and found some fish and started catching them. We were all alone for a little while then one boat, then two, then three and so on moved right in on us. We still continued to catch a few but the fish seemed to scatter with all the new boat traffic. We ended up bouncing around looking for deeper fish which seemed to be more active. Overall we had an O.K. trip considering we had no wind and the sun was bright as could be.

Thanks to Dave and Richard for a great day on the water!

Fishing Opener 2010

2010-05-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

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Fishing opener 2010 has come and gone. What a weekend! Well at least the for the weather. I don't think the bite was as good as what everyone had expected because I think the fish were confused as many anglers. We ended up finding some bitting fish here is the scoop.

The WalleyeDan guide group, Tim, Toby, Bruce and I took out the Lost Lake Lodge fishing maniacs on opening day on Gull Lake. It was a struggle to get on a good pattern. We caught fish in 7 feet of water all the way to 26 feet of water. Some fish bit on a jig and minnow and some bite on a rig. So we had to work for em' but we all were able to boat some walleyes for the boys.

We had pretty early spring and I think some of the fish spawn really early and some late which means some of the fish were already starting their early summer transition. What does that mean? Be versatile and look for the active school and be prepared to fish both deep and shallow until these fish decide what they want to do.

On Sunday we headed to Leech. Again another beautiful day on the water. I had my Dad and brother Jason in my boat, Tim Hanske had his Dad in Tim's boat, Joe, my little brother, Aaron, and Joe Skerik in Aaron's boat and Toby, Mike and Drew in Toby's boat. What a goon crew and there was no doubt we were going to find em.

I started fishing in the traditional spring locations. Shallow flats close to spawning grounds and we found some fish. Most of the fish were caught using a KenKatch Hair jig. It wasn't gang busters by no means. I couldn't believe the amount of boats and what a great site to see for the fishing community. It was flat calm and sunny but it seemed like when the wind picked up just a little and the clouds rolled in the fish decided to bite. We bounced from spot to spot catching fish on almost every single location. We caught our limit of keeper walleyes and some hawg bellies to boot.

So the phone rang and it was the hooligans, Joe, Aaron and Joe. "Come over Joe has a musky on!" Aaron said. We picked up and I took some shots of the boys in action. I also took a couple of other shots. Click on the photos for a larger view.

Don't forget to check out WalleyeDan Guide Group I'm so pumped to be apart of fishing with these great group of guides. We are booking up fast so make sure to give us a call and request me!

Cappies!

2010-04-30T08:53:00.001-07:00

Had the chance to get out and fish for crappies with my good friend Pablo. We fished a local lake in the Brainerd Lakes area and had a great trip. It was super windy out but I still managed to get a little bit of sun burn and catch some crappies and some super nice sunnies. The majority of the fish we caught were still on the edge in 7 to 8 feet. Most of the fish were caught on small jigs and flies tipped with a crappie minnow. The fish were holding pretty tight to the cabbage weeds.

Walleye opener is just around the corner! Can't wait to get set the hook on some white tips!

First Professional Musky Tournament of the year Cave Run Lake

2010-04-22T12:41:00.000-07:00

Joe, my brother, and just returned home from our first Professional Musky Tournament Trail Tournament of the year. We fished Cave Run Lake near Morehead, Kentucky.

We left on Tuesday afternoon of last week and let me tell you that is a long drive. We drove through the night and made it to the lake. After a few u-turns we got our Kentucky fishing license and we were off to the boat ramp. Going into this tournament I knew two areas that were going to produce fish and I also knew that most of the anglers fishing would also know about these two areas. Joe and I talked and said we were going to focus our pre fishing on off beat locations. The water temps were anywhere from 60 to 70 degrees with the average being around 64. Most anglers thought that the musky were done spawning and some said that the spawn has yet to happen.

On Cave Run there are several bites to key in on. One is to focus on deep “hollows”. There are several ways to fish these deep hollows. We found lots of really small muskies towards the shallow water in the back of the hollows and along the edges as you enter the hollows. We started to see fish immediately but they were small and not the fish we were looking for besides the occasional 32 to 36 incher.

The second bite on Cave is the weed bite. Now the largest weed flat known as Zilpo flats is one of the community holes I knew fish would be caught. There a very few other weeds, mostly milfoil, in the lake but we found some. There were fish on a few and the right size fish. Usually this weed bite really kicks in when the water temps hit the consistent 70 degree mark.

The other main bite on the lake trolling over deep water and bait fish. Which Joe and I did for awhile during prefishing which proved to work as we lost one nice fish. Joe and I focused our efforts away from those three bites and found fish on the deep water main lake. Needless to say we found the hawg bellies. During prefishing we saw a ton of really nice fish and on the spot we saw several, Joe had one bite 20 feet from the boat. Joe didn’t set the hook and we just watched her shack her head trying to kill the minnow she thought she just eat. Finally she let the bait go and went back to the depths. We were pretty dialed in and thought we could catch a couple of these nice fish in the tournement.

The night before the tournament we made a decision to fish these off beat spots and go for the win. We couldn’t wait for tournament take off.

Saturday came and we were ready to rock em’. I was little concerned as the temp dropped from around 75 degrees to a blistering 30 degrees in the morning. We went to our first spot and didn’t move a fish. I was thinking what in the world? These fish were just here I know there here. I told Joe lets hit it from a different angle and after that they started coming out of the wood work. We saw several nice fish but couldn’t get them to eat. We continued to fish out big fish spots and mixed in a few hollows and moved fish but had not bitters. So day one was over and we were fishless.

Day 2 and Joe and I decided to stick to our plan to try and catch a big one as we knew if we could get one of these fish to bite we would be in the top 10 and if we could get two we would win this bad boy. It was again another cold morning and we took off to our number one spot. Nothing again! We found on day 1 once that sun warmed the water up they fish would start to move and that is exactly what happened on day 2. We went back to our number 1 spot and I heard Joe set the hook, “got er”, yes fish on and as soon as I looked up to go for the net fish off. This was in the exact area we were seeing a really nice fish. Crap! That’s fishing and we continued to fish. We had several more fish follow through out the day and even had a fish with 10 minutes to go nipping the back of Joe’s bait but just wouldn’t seal the deal. So no fish but were happy with the decision we made to go for the win.

One of our main lake spots did produce the biggest fish of the tournament. Caught by locals Anthony Smith, my buddy that lives down there, and his partner. Congrats to him. Another one of my friends, Josh Brovosky and Troy Zuelzke, took third with two fish. Almost all of the guys who placed fished on the two community spots that I mentioned earlier. I knew there would be fish caught on those spots but I didn’t think that many.

Thanks to our many sponsors for helping us fish these tournaments. My Mercury Verado ran perfect! Also thanks to my good Southern Buddy Larry Besant who let us crash at his place. Larry get your butt up North and we will catch another 50 incher. Our next tournament is in the end of June on the Eagle River Chain in Wisconsin.

Here is a list of the fish caught in the tournament. (from www.promusky.com)

Southern Shootout! Day 1 Day 2 Total
Team Cave Run Lake, KY Size of Size of # of
# Place Team Name Fish Caught Fish Caught Fish
30 1 Schneider, Russell & Wells, James 37 & 38 32 3
48 2 Lijewski, Mark & Schroeder, Clay 37.5 & 36 31.25 3
34 3 Zuelzke, Troy & Borovsky, Josh 37 & 37 0 2
78 4 Burns, Billy & Tate, David 36.25 36.25 2
73 5 Reed, Joey & Smith, Anthony 0 48 1
8 6 Clepper, Brian & Smida, Charles 46 0 1
53 7 Everhart, Dave & Gardiner, Nate 45.75 0 1
14 8 Olsen, Ben & Hamm, Andy 0 37.5 & 32 2
43 9 Johnson, David & Walls, Jason 35.5 & 31.25 0 2
13 10 Rusteberg, Steven & Bowman, Ron 37.75 & 31.25 0 2
77 11 Searsor, Darrell & Seasor, Lance 0 38.5 1
57 12 Guenther, David & Lewis, John 36.25 0 1
19 13 Mullins, Crash & Mullins, Justin 36 0 1
26 14 Rozek, Tom & Dresow, Mark 36 0 1
50 15 Kircher, David & Kircher, Matt 35.25 0 1
55 16 Campbell, Tad & Kinney, Justin 0 35.25 1
5 17 Keyes, Michael & Genson, Steve 0 35 1
2 18 Summers, Jason & Bilbrey, Troy 34.5 0 1
49 19 Burton, Richard & Rue, Mark 34.5 0 1
69 20 Morris, Jerome & Burquest, Eric 34 0 1
6 21 Korpela, Ross & Adkins, John 0 34 1
25 22 Landmeier, Duane & Ryan, John 33.75 0 1
31 23 Risius, Jr, John & Lulay, John 33.5 0 1
36 24 Stewart Jonathan & Ferjutz, Jeff 0 32.5 1
24 25 Reiter, James & Saucedo, Cesar 32 0 1
80 26 Lewis Paul & Lewis, Willie 31.75 0 1
29 27 Forman, Marty & Tiegs, Donnie 31.5 0 1

PMTT Team number #37

2010-04-01T15:53:00.000-07:00

I'm pumped to say that Joe, little bro, and I will be fishing the entire Professional Musky Tournament Trail this year. Thanks to Jeff Thoele for sponsoring our team and to the rest of our sponsors for making this happen. We leave in a couple of weeks for our first even on Cave Run Lake in Kentucky. Going South!

You can read more about the PMTT here PMTT Website

Bigtooth Tackle Slime Fest 2010

2010-03-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

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I had just an amazing weekend fishing with my good friends this past weekend. We were fishing with Bigtooth "Natural" Quick Strike Rigs on Lake of the Woods and we put the hurt bag on some monsters.

Pure monsters found here Bigtooth Baby!

Some more photos here Become my Facebook Buddy Click Here

Clam and Ice Team Photo Shoot

2010-03-12T07:36:00.000-08:00

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My good friend Nick Chiodo, with Clam Corp, and I just got back from Rainy Lake. Our mission was to go up and get some photos of guys with with fish for Clam Corporation and Ice Armor. We stayed at Woody's Rainy Lake Resort with Woody himself and of course the rest of crew of Woody's fairly Reliable Guide Service. All I have to say is what a fun bunch and an amazing lake! This lake is for the ice fisherman who likes to take there snowmobile and Clam Fish Trap shelter and just go. I mean the structure is so awesome and there was nobody around. If you don't have a portable they are plowing a road with access to all the fishing spots you need. We fished hard and caught some super nice walleyes. Got the walleye shots we needed along with a bunch of fish house photos. We rocked! We decided to make a pit stop on a lake on the way home and I ended up catching a 14 1/4 inch Craap Dawg! It was a hawg belly. I wish I could show you the photos but you will just have to wait for the catalogue.

Check clam out at Clam Corp

Check Woody's out at Woody's Fairly Reliable Guide Service

Check out his winter specials. They are a steal!

"make a memory"
Jeff Andersen

March Pike Madness

2010-03-11T06:47:00.000-08:00

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Holy Hannah! March is just around the corner and that means hawg belly pike time. It’s one of my favorites times of the year and it is by far the best chance to catch a trophy pike.

As the sun starts melting the snow, that surrounds the shorelines, the warm water starts to trickle into the lakes. All the big pike that were roaming the open water start to move in and “stage” for spawning season. It’s usually like clock work and very predictable. It should be noted that most lakes have been closed to fishing so that leaves us with border water here in Minnesota and more specifically Lake of the Woods. The fish right now are still out roaming but the best bite usually happens when the first flight of big ones move shallow. Well I said it was like clock work and predictable but as with any fishing you have to hit “that day” just right and you will have a day to remember. So with that said I can’t tell you the exact date when “that day” is but watch the forecast and weather channels for warm weather and have the gear loaded and ready to head north.

When “that day” comes and you get the flags set don’t mess around with cheap equipment because when that hawg belly bites you don’t want to miss the chance of a lifetime because of “chensy” equipment. So here are the must haves when you head north.

Good Release tools! So I’m putting the cart way in front of the horse and assuming your going to catch a big one and you will if you listen to what I have to say. The most valuable part of catching the monster pike is the monster pike itself so without good release tools you are taking a chance at harming one of the gems. It takes many years for this fish to get to this trophy size so let’s take good care of them. So here is a list of must haves release tools; a good hook cutter/bolt cutter, long noise pliers, jaw spreader, measuring tape, and hook out tool. With these you should be set. Have these tools ready when the flag goes up. Don’t leave them in your truck or fish house and run to the flag land the fish then look around yelling get the release tools. Have them in a bucket or took box and bring them with to each and every flag. Land the fish and please don’t allow the fish to roll around on the ice. Have a plan once the fish is removed from the water. Someone is in charge of hook removal and photography. If you have a plan this will help with the chaos of when that monster comes through the hole. Also let these big fish go! You can get beautiful replicas made and I would recommend Rick Lax at Lax Reproductions. Rick and his crew are so talented! Check out is work at Lax Reproductions

Second you need a good tip up with a large spool. Most of the tip ups today are made fairly good so just make sure you use one with a large spool. I prefer the style that covers the whole hole. Then make sure you have good fresh tip up line. I like to use the cloth 30 to 40 pound. Then of coarse your Bigtooth Tackle Quick-strike Rig. I like the “natural” rig because it holds the bait at the minnow’s natural swimming state. Bigtooth Tackle is made tough and the crimps are double hand crimped. With the “natural” rig, hook one hook behind the head and the other just behind the dorsal fin. Make sure not to spread the hooks too far apart as when the fish hits you would like to hook her with both hooks. The best part about the “natural” rig is you don’t have to let the fish run and swallow the bait. You can set the hook right away preventing deeply hooked fish. You don’t need to set the hook like hulk Hogan either. Just a nice stiff hook set will suffice and don’t wrap the line around your hand. Just be ready to let the fish run as with this big ones they will make many big runs and if you don’t give them line they will rip the hook out. Make sure no slack gets in the line and be prepared when the fish does a “u” turn to reel up the slack. Now sometimes with the big ones they still get the bait super deep so that is why it is so important to have all the tools necessary. You can read more about Bigtooth Tackle at Bigtooth Tackle Company You can purchase the Bigtooth rigs at many retailers and online at KrugerFarms.com

Of coarse you have to drill your holes. The new Solo Engine by Strikemaster makes drilling holes a breeze. If you don’t have a ten-inch auger you can drill two eight-inch holes next to each other. Go Strikemaster Augers and check out the new Solo Engine they are powerful so hang on tight!

Next, a variety of fresh bait is a must! I like to use both frozen smelt and live suckers on my rigs. Last but least don’t forget good clothing! Fishing cold is no fun. I use my IceArmor Blue Suit and I’m all set. With tip up fishing you are on your knees a lot so one of the essential parts of the IceArmor Suits is the padded knees. Check em’ out at Clam Ice Fishing

Ok so we have most of our equipment set so where in the world do we fish? Well it’s no secret we are headed to Lake of the Woods and there are so many places to fish but a few things to look at are feeder creeks and rivers. There are many to fish around and some are fished more then others but just remember to keep your distance from a group that is already set up. Usually my first trip up we spread our tip ups in a straight line starting deep then moving shallow. If we aren’t getting bites we leap frog depending on if it’s late or early March. If we aren’t getting bites and it’s the first part of March we take the shallow one and move it deeper. Deep would be considered 12 to 14 feet and shallow would be 4 to 6 feet. So that is the name of the game. Find how deep they are staged and bada boom you will have flags flying everywhere. Once you determine the right depth concentrate your flags there and always have a few sleepers either shallower or deeper.

Here are a few items you should also think about bringing; sun block, ice cleats, good camera, GPS with lake chip, hook sharpener, hook proof gloves, and did I mention Bigtooth Tackle?

Good luck fishing and please feel free to contact me with any questions at jeff.andersen@live.com

“Make a Memory”

Kenora Bound

2010-03-11T06:38:00.001-08:00

Northbound we headed! And, when I say North I mean way North to Kenora, Ontario. The goon crew, Dave, Rick, and Wayne and I headed up to visit my friends Jeff Gustafson “gussy” and Dave Bennett.

We arrived pumped up to go out and stretch our lines on a few fish. We didn’t let the -20 temperature scare us. Well at least not all of us. We spent three days fishing one of the best fisheries in the world Lake of the Woods. We caught several Lake Trout, Walleyes, Crappies and a few bonus whitefish. Oh yeah Rick also caught a monster scoop!

It’s no fun being cold when your out fishing so being prepared with the right clothing is so important. This was frost bite weather so I relied on my Ice Armor Clothing. I didn’t get cold once! If you dress right with the best gear you won’t have to worry about the elements and I didn’t. It’s important to dress in many layers. I started off wearing Ice Armor’s Poly top and bottom. This stuff is amazing and so comfortable. It’s made of 180 gram brushed fleece inside and is naturally moisture wicking. That means when you sweat a little from drilling holes in the ice it will wick the sweat away from your body. The next layer was a wool shirt and pants. Then of coarse my Bigtooth Hooded Sweatshirt that brings me all the good luck, then my Ice Armor reversible jacket that is windproof and then my Blue Black Suit. I will note that the Blue Black suit isn’t insulated like the Gray Black Extreme suit but I wear my suit in spring and winter also. I didn’t need anything more as I had my coat off except when we were driving on the snowmobiles. Another piece that was a life saver was my Ice Armor Neck Gaiter. You can wear all the warm clothing in the world but if you have a cold neck and face it will cool you down in a hurry! OK I know that sounded like a commercial for Clam but I now truly believe in this stuff. The weekend before I was out in poring rain and didn’t get a drop of water on me and now fishing in -20 degree weather I didn’t get cold once. I’m a believer!

Now back to the fishing. Did I mention I caught a walleye that was close to 12 pounds. Yeah baby.......

Here are a few photos from the trip:

Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza

2010-01-22T15:24:00.000-08:00

My Bigtooth Tackle partner, Josh, and I spent the day on the ice with all the fisherman and women fishing for the grand prize at the Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza. All I can say is what a blast! We had the Bigtooth Booth set up and talked fishing so many nice people. I thought I would share some action photos of the event with you. The event took place in the Lakes area on Gull Lake.

It was most interesting weather ever! It was poring rain then it turned to snow. Thankfully I had my IceArmor Blue Black Suit from Clam. I was out in the poring rain for hours and didn’t get a drop of water on me! I’m glad I finally got to put it to the test....

Winter PIke Article

2009-12-15T08:37:00.000-08:00

Hey guys I recently wrote an article on Early Season Pike Fishing and you can find it at Clam Fishing Team.

It’s an honor to be part a company that makes the best ice fishing products available. Clam Corp and the Ice Team are always on the leading edge of product development and quality.

Check them out at > Ice Team or Clam Corp

A few Guide Photos

2009-11-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

OK so I have lots of stories to tell but no time. So I’m going to post a few photos from some past fishing trips. Stories to come when the water turns to ice!

My Mom

2009-09-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys! Life? It’s amazing we live day by day and get into a routine and we take for granted the important people in our lives. I’m going to admit I’m guilty of this. My Mom has always been a women who has put her children first. I love my Mom more then anything and I always have looked at her as being invincible. She doesn’t stop moving and is involved with the community helping so many different organizations and of coarse putting her family #1. My life is so busy with fishing, my family (Kristine and Gavin), running ASPEN and with all the busy things I wasn’t the best son spending time with the women that raised me with my Dad.

Why am I writing this? Well this past spring my invincible Mom was diagnosed with lung and liver cancer. My Dad, Steve, called when they were on their way back from the Mayo Clinic and said, “We are going to stop by and see you.” “Great!” I said as we hung up the phone. They pulled into the driveway and I soon saw my invincible Mom changed to my Mom I had to help walk into my house. The last time I saw her was two weeks prior and I couldn’t even recognize her on this day. I didn’t want to believe this was happening to a women who cared more for anyone else then herself. We helped her into my home and there we sat. I was broken. So many emotions and so many questions, why? I didn’t allow my Mom to see my broken inside and it was all I could take from braking down in-front of her but I needed to be strong. I looked her straight in the eye and said, “You can beat this, we can beat this.” After we spent some time together, drank a cup of coffee, not too strong just they way she likes it, I pretty much carried my invincible Mom to the car and they drove off. Life soon became something so much more.

My Mom is now doing well. She is invincible and she is winning this battle. She has gone through many chemo treatments and it seems to be working. She has had so much support from so many family and friends. We have put together a benefit website at www.suzettebenefit.com. Please take a moment to stop by and say hi. We are holding a benefit dinner on Oct. 4th in Bemidji and an online auction you can get more details on her website. Your support would be appreciated.

As we go through our busy lives remember you are never too busy to pick up the phone or make a lunch date with the ones you love. My Mom has found a way to bring our family closer and hopefully yours as well.

Figure 8 Musky

2009-09-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of spending the morning in the boat with Bob Johnson (musky fanatic) Bob and I had fished late into the previous evening and nothing. The musky bite has been so spotty with the weird weather we have been having. So we decided to get up early and try a different lake. After a few wrong turns at a detour we finally made it to the access.

The lake we were fishing was pea green with a super bad algae bloom. I was a little worried. We started on a mid lake hump and didn’t move a fish. We then switched tactics and went into the bull rushes and moved a few fish and it seemed like that was the only thing going but still wasn’t much. We made a decision to go out and fish a cabbage spot and not the second cast I see Bob go into the figure 8. I didn’t see the fish right away because of the horrible water conditions but after several turns I saw the fish was right on the bucktail! I told Bob, “Go deep then come up, go deep then come up!” As soon as Bob went deep on the turn and then up the fish bite on about the ninth or tenth time around. It seemed like forever! We landed a nice chunky musky! We were pumped.

We went to the next cabbage spot and they started coming out of the wood work. I was throwing a Fish Stick HD made by Lee’s Lures and I pulled it away from several fish. Bob took the rod and made some a cast right where they came from and a fish unleashed on it but it didn’t get hooks. It was a blast seeing all of the fish react to this bait. I had three different follows in three consecutive cast. Bob really wanted to catch a big one so I kept pulling it away so he could have a chance at them. We never converted another fish but we turned tough conditions into a good day on the water. I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many follows we had from one cabbage pile but there is no doubt that these fish feed in packs.

2009-09-10T15:06:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Toby K and I just finished fishing in the Northwoods Fishing League. This is a multi species fishing league that extends throughout the summer months. We had a blast fishing with some of the best anglers in the Brainerd Lakes Area. We also enjoyed fishing several new lakes. I’m amazed by all the quality lakes that we would never have fished, if we didn’t fish in the league. This is meant to hang out with fellow fisher men and women but of coarse it is pretty competitive. Toby and I were trailing going into the last lake and we pulled out the big WIN! We set a new record for most points in a season. Thanks to all the guys that we fished with and we can’t wait for next year.

Click Here Northwoods Fishing League

Gull Lake Walleyes

2009-09-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple of days the walleyes finally decided they wanted eat! It has been a fairly tough summer on Gull but for the last week the fish have been hungry.

I have been using Bigtooth Walleye Snells and catching fish anywhere from 22 to 38 feet of water. The fish have been relating to deep structure. It seems the fish will move up to feed in different spots each day. That is why it is so important to have confidence in your electronics and drive until you mark the fish. I use Lowrance Graphs and they are awesome. It’s so fun when I can say, “Someone's going to get a bit!” and it happens. There has been many spots I caught them one day and not the next. As my good friend Toby K says, “Don’t fish in the past!” Put some time looking for fish and you will catch them. Also boat control has been key. Once I see the fish I have been sitting right on top of them without moving. It seems they want the bait to dangle right in-front of their nose before they bite.

Good Luck!

Big Pike

2009-08-26T14:58:00.000-07:00

So the boys, Kevin, Scott and Sean wanted to catch a big pike! We loaded up the big baits and went Hawg Hunting.

We were trolling big Jakes and Ernie baits made by Musky Mania Tackle over suspended bait fish. I told the guys if we had a shot at a real monster we were going to have to put some serious time over open water. Sometimes finding these big fish are like a needle in a haystack. Well we found that needle and it didn’t take long. About 20 minutes into the trolling session I saw the rod bend and the fish was on.

Sean took the rod and did battle! About 30 feet from the boat I saw this fish come up and I realized we had a real fish. This was Sean’s first big fish and he fought the fish like a pro. We netted the monster and took some shots and let her go!

The Musky Mission

2009-08-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

Toby K and I had the pleasure of fishing with Dave, Rick, Wayne and Jared over the past couple of days. Our mission was to catch a few muskies....easy task right? Rick especially wanted to catch one to get a replica made for his office. Our work was cut out for us!

With the warm water temps the musky fishing was pretty good prior to the guys showing up but we where faced with a tremendous cold front. Yikes!

Day one it was Dave, Rick and I in my boat and Wayne and Jared in Toby’s boat. These guys had never musky fished before so I was pumped to be able to show them some fish and hopefully get a few to eat despite the cold weather. We pulled up to our first spot and we started to cast. Not ten minutes into fishing “fish on” and a nice one. Before we knew it fish off. Crap! The next cast “fish on” right next to the boat and again the stupid thing got off. I couldn’t believe it! Two fish in 10 minutes lost. Although we lost the fish it was pretty intense and fun for the Dave and Rick but we needed to get one in the net. They were nice fish by the way. I’m guessing both of them were mid 40 inch fish. That is the size of fish we were after. We continued to fish and we had a follow and she was pretty hot. We drifted down the spot a little ways and I said lets make one more pass. “Fish on” yeah buddy! Rick did battle and we netted a healthy 38 incher. We snapped some shots and gave a few high fives and back to fishing we went. The next spot I went to was a small rock pile that was holding some fish. We got half way around it and bam a fish nailed my bucktail but no hooks. I couldn’t believe it? What in the world is going on? This was another really nice fish and another lost opportunity. “How do they not get hooks?” we all asked as this has been a question of mine for 15 years of fishing these fish. Onto the next spot and the next and the next with a few more follows. It was almost time for lunch so we moved to one more spot. Dave was throwing a Pacemaker and all of a sudden I hear a huge explosion. “Yes” I thought to myself and as soon as went for the net I noticed it didn’t get hooked. Holy Crimany! The fish was another 46 to 48 inch fish and it never got a hook but managed to put some big chomp marks in the new pacemaker. The muskies were kicking our butts. The score was 1 for us and 4 for them. We had enough and went in for lunch. We met Wayne, Jared, and Toby and they had also lost a fish.

After a huge burger and some fries we hit the water. Rick was up front ready for action casting a bucktail. Not five cast into the first spot I hear him say, “I got one!” I looked up and this fish was doing some huge head shakes and I went for the net. Just as I grab the net you will never believe it.............Gone! She was gone! Your probably thinking by now my hooks weren't sharp. I can tell you they were razor sharp as always. We were pretty bummed at this point but were pumped to have the chances. We continued down the stretch and I look down as a fish was coming up to eat Rick’s bucktail. With the sun and high wind it was really tough to see the fish and as the fish was coming up Rick didn’t see her coming. Bummer! We fished the rest of the day with a few more follows but no takers. We fished hard and were ready for dinner.

Day two it was Rick and Wayne in my boat fishing muskies and Dave and Jared in Toby’s boat fishing walleyes. We were pumped but knew with the weather condition the bite was going to get fairly tough as it was suppose to be flat calm and sunny. We pulled up to the first spot and didn’t have a follow so I said, “Last Cast!” to the boys and as I was putting stuff away Rick said, “I’ve got one!” I look up and this fish was doing some crazy head shakes on top and I knew it was a musky. Rick did battle and we netted Rick’s second musky a 32 incher. Sweet! It wasn’t a monster but a fish in the boat. We fished several of the good spots and didn’t have too many follows or bites like the day before. By this time it was hot and calm on the water and our spirits started to diminish. I told the guys keep casting you never know! We moved to one of my big fish spots. Wayne was throwing the pacemaker that Dave was throwing the day before. As Wayne went into his “L” turn I looked down and here she came. I said, “She’s going to eat, she’s going to eat!” and she did just that right in-front of our noses and the battle was on. Huge head shakes boat side in the flat calm water and then hard runs. While Wayne was doing battle I said, “Turn her head this way!” and the musky said, “I don’t think so” and made several runs. After the long battle we netted a dandy 45 incher. Wayne’s first musky! We took some photos and let her go! The spirits were lifted and we casted hard for the next hour with a bunch of lazy follows except one on Rick’s bait that we thought was going to eat but didn’t. We decided to head back and take a break from the heat and do a little celebrating.

Dave, Jared, Toby and Travis were catching some big walleyes and one really nice pike! We decided to go out for the evening and try and catch a few walleyes and fish by the other crew. We caught a few fish and called it a night.

What a fishing trip! Rick that big one that followed your bait is still lurking waiting for the next time your up

The Boys are in town

2009-08-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

I got to spend the morning fishing with my buds Lee Tauchen, Mike Crawford, Brian Truax and Ron Labrosse. I was in Bemidji spending time with my family and couldn’t resist a morning musky trip with all my buds.

It was Lee, Mike and I in one boat and Ron and B.T. in the other. We ended up boating this cute musky!

Thanks boys I had a blast catching up with everyone!

Whitecap Splash Guards

2009-08-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys I pumped! I just finished putting my brand new Whitecap Splash Guards on my boat and let me tell you they are a life saver. O.K. maybe not a life saver but they keep me dry!

If you are in the market for splash guards these are the ones you want to put on your boat. Below is some info about why! I will post some better pics soon.....

(From Whitecap’s Website) Click Here for Whitecap Website
* 1/4" virtually unbreakable tinted gray polycarbonate adds a sleek look to your boat and can withstand trailering.
* Whitecap uses die-cut Santoprene thermoplastic rubber; the best rubber available. Santoprene remains flexible in cold weather, has excellent ozone resistance, outstanding durability and flexibility. Santoprene is used in products such as windshield wiper blades.
*Aluminum rivets, along with a solid backing plate, holds the rubber firmly in place.
*Whitecap splashguards remove quickly. Simply remove wingnuts and lift guard out of slots. Slotted and aluminum angle brackets are permanently mounted to boat with stainless steel screws.
*Heavy duty slotted brackets are made out of 3/4" HDPE plastic. Slots are machined 3/4" deep.
*More than a 1/4" between transom and guard allows clearance for transducer cords, bolt and rivet heads. Guards angle out at 7 degrees for boats with extruding gunnel end caps.
*Guards are also available to accommodate Minn-Kota's Vantage troll motor.
* 3 year warranty.

Happy Birthday Kristine

2009-08-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

It was my wife, Kristine’s, birthday on August 11th and I asked her what she wanted to do? I was thinking she would want dinner and a movie, a day at the spa, shopping or family day at the beach? She looked at me and said, “We are going fishing!” I have to admit I’m the luckiest guy on the earth. Fishing! My wife said she wanted to go fishing instead of all over all that stuff mentioned above. I was pumped!

Now you need to understand with a new little boy in our relationship she hasn’t been in the boat fishing with me except for a few times up North with Dad/Grandpa Todd when Mom/Grandma Suzanne could babysit Gavin. So she had the itch to catch some fish!

We dropped Gavin off at the new daycare place and Northbound to Leech Lake we headed. We only had a few hours so I had to make them count. I was so pumped to spend the day on the water with Kristine but knew if we didn’t catch fish she would kick my butt!

We pulled up to our first spot and rigged up crawlers on spinner harnesses and started to troll at 1.1 to 1.3 in about 14 to 16 feet of water. I was marking fish but couldn’t get them to bite for the first 15 minutes. It was flat calm and sunny so I was a little worried about catching fish. As we were fishing we were very close to one of my favorite musky spots and I was telling Kristine about some of the fish we caught of the spot. I also told her I left the musky gear at home! She couldn’t believe it but we only had a few hours and I new if I had a musky rod I would have spent some time casting for muskies and again I only had a few hours to figure out these walleyes. I made another pass with only catching a few smaller fish and these fish bite when I was making a turn. They bite on the inside line which means it was going slower. So I slowed the boat down to .8 to 1.0 mph and moved into 11 to 13 feet. We were making our first pass and I saw a musky boat pulling up to the musky spot I was telling Kristine about. I could hear the musky baits clanking and plopping on the water. I then heard the sound of a big head shake and looked over and they had a fish on. Man my heart sank until I looked over and saw one of our rods bent over and I said, “fish!” Kristine fought the fish and I scooped a 27 inch walleye and looked back and saw the other rod bent over and I said, “Another one take it!” It was another hawg and just as I unhooked the first one I netted a second one that was almost identical. What a double! We had a pattern and we continued through out the day catching some real big walleyes including a 28 incher with a total of five fish over the 26 inch mark and several in between. We took pictures of the big ones and let them go. Through out the day we did try trolling cranks and caught a few fish but most of them wanted the slower spinner rig. It was amazing how two feet shallower and .2 mph slower made the difference. If we wouldn’t have changed it could have been a long day on the water.

I should note that Kristine caught all the big walleyes and I caught the rock bass and pike when she let me take the rod. She is a fish catching machine! I should also note I didn’t think once about the musky that was caught only a 100 yards away the whole day. I just enjoyed catching fish with my wife!

Happy Birthday Kristine!