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Survived another one!!!


Eric Wettschreck

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I've fished URL about 20 times in the past 5 years. Let me be the first to say this does not make me an expert. However, for the last few years I've been hooking up with a good friend of mine, the one and only Jonny P (Who I will consider an expert on this lake), and taking the annual trip with the fire dept guys. Holy cow, this was another one for the books.

We hooked up with Jon and Kelly on Friday mid-day after spending a bit of time in Westwinds. Kelly met us on the lake and sent us to Jon. What Jon did to Kelly to have him send us his way I'll never know, but that's a story for different discussion. Jon got us set up in one of the cleanest/nicest/biggest/warmest sleeper houses I've ever been in. He told us it was a tough bite and gave a few pointers on what was working. Oh, and by the way, he drilled boilerguy a very special hole.

We started drinking/fishing and Jon was right. It was a tough bite. I know fishing in a hard house your odds are against you, but yous guys have to understand we were there to not only fish, but get away from it all, and away from it all was exactially where Jon and Kelly put us. We were out in the middle of nowhere, which is pretty much where we wanted to be. This way, no one could hear the screams. grin

Even though, according to Jon, the bite was tough, we had ourselves a blast. We managed to catch some fish, drink ourselves stupid, stay out of jail, and live to fight another day. Both Jon and Kelly did an outstanding job at checking our pulses from time to time to make sure we were all still alive, keep the propane tank full, and offer some fishing advice that we really didn't care about.

With the exception of Fireman Dan's pike, all our fish were caught about 2 inches off the bottom, being lazy with just a fathead under a bobber. From time to time we tried to get fancy and acutally put on different jigs in a half hearted attempt to catch fish. We'd mark em, and lose em. They just were not interested in anything except the old fashioned minnow under a bobber. Jon called it a tough/negative bite. I call it old fashioned fishing. Call it what you will, we had fun.

When the fishing was slow and the wind was blowin, Kelly still came out to check our pulse, tell a few stories, and toss some good old fashioned humor into our weekend.

Here's Fireman Dan's 36 incher. Just so you know how cool this fish is, he caught it on a K-mart special rod and reel, spooled with 2 (yes 2) pound test and a chubby darter. This pike came out of no where and absolutely smoked the darter. The fight lasted a good 8 minutes and when he got the head up the hole, the line broke, and down the hole my arm went. No way this fish was getting away without a picture.

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Even I managed to catch a few nice ones.

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Heck, even though Jon said it was a tough bite, Bob managed to get himself a keeper.

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Tough bite Jon said, but we were able to legally eat fish for dinner 2 nights, and we all brought home a limit of walleye, with a few decent perch to boot. All in all we're calling it another successful run to URL, thanks to the scouting and advice of Jon and Kelly. Dan's pike, my walleye, and a bunch of too nice to keep walleyes all went down the "Escape hatch."

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How many other outfitters will drill you a hole for the sole purpose of catch and release??? None that I know of. Jon, in his modesty, says the extra angled hole was for a PBR guy. We all know that he knew we'd be on our share of slot fish that would have to go back, and he was good enough to drill us an extra hole, just at the right angle to let them bad boys go and be healthy.

Another great trip with a crew of great guys staying in a house supplied by a top notch outfitter. Oh yeah, we'll be back. Jon and Kelly......thanks a million.

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Boiler guy- It sounds like you and your crew have the right attitude. Fishing has been slow but it will get better as you know from your past experience up there. Some of my best memories have come from when fishing wasn't the best. You just added a couple of chapters to your memory bank provided you have any memory cells left after the weekend.

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Well Boilerguy, some of you survived. I thinks I had a delayed reaction from Bill's group south of you with their Greek brandy Friday night. I took a little tumble yesterday afternoon checking the house's and I am now sporting a very attractive and stylish cast from just above my left knee to my toes. cry A little problem with the ankle, the Docter said that the toes are supposed to point FORWARD. grin When Shaky recovers from his surgery I'm hoping he brings along 2 walkers with skis attached so we both get around out there. Maybe we can have a race. grin When Patsy is gone tommorrow I'm gonna go try fit this thing into the plow truck and still be able to close the door.

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Holy wow, that's not good.

Hopefully you got some good pain killers out of this deal.

I know the door outside the house was a bit slippery. I chalked it up to the warm temps followed by the prairie type wind. It always makes for a good hockey rink. Nothing anyone can do about it but be ready to do a face plant.

Just don't tell Patsy it's a break. Tell her it's a new fangled dog training device and with any luck, she'll buy it. I know what you are talking aboot. Years ago while doing something really dumb (sking) I fell, and stood up to find my body pointing north and my toes pointing south. It sucks, but look at me.......didn't affect me in the least bit. grin

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The bad thing is Patsy had to haul me to the Doctor along with Jon because of his bad cold. Then she sat in the room with me to make sure I didn't fudge about what the Doctor said. Then they had to fold down the back seats of her Trailblazer for me to fit the cast in. blush

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Kelly, Sorry to hear about your bad luck! Can you teach Fred to drive your truck like Halad's dog so you can stay mobile? eek If that doesn't work maybe we can hire someone to haul us around so we can be "icewalk superintendents". Some people will go to no ends to get out of work grinI am going under the knife tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. Take care and I will bring up an extra set of crutches when I come! You better watch yourself on the Gaza Strip as you are no longer a moving target laugh

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Shaky, Good luck with your surgery, with your good attitude you should be fine. Kelly, a little adversity builds character and you certainly have had some adversity. But then so has Patsy. Good Luck With your ankle. Stan C.

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"But then so has Patsy."

Cute one Stan. grin Next time you are up I'll have to bring Fred over to visit. In 5 minutes your house and all your equipment will frozen down with yellow ice. grin

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O.K. I gotta ask.......what is the wood just under the ice in that one hole??????????? one of the cribs???? seems too close ,to be safe for boats, if it is a crib.

My buddy is coming up there this w/e, hope the catching part improves by then.

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Thanks, Jonny, it has been bugging me for days....

After reading some of the stories from people about their "fishing" trip.....they probably wouldn't even notice a hole plugged with a wood crate anyway whistle ha

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We actually did go fishing. We even actually caught some fish even though Jonny said it was a tough bite.

It was a good time. It's kind of nice to know you can be a stranger in a strange land and you have quality guys like Jon and Kelly to take care of you. No worries kind of trip.

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"But then so has Patsy."

Cute one Stan. grin Next time you are up I'll have to bring Fred over to visit. In 5 minutes your house and all your equipment will frozen down with yellow ice. grin

I can attest to that! grin Hey did you get a handicapped sticker to put on the plow truck? That sign could have so many meanings. gringrin

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I can attest to that! grin Hey did you get a handicapped sticker to put on the plow truck? That sign could have so many meanings. gringrin

I just spit coffee on the monitor when I read that...now that was funny.

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I can attest to that! grin Hey did you get a handicapped sticker to put on the plow]truck? That sign could have so many meanings. gringrin

Did they operate on your hip or your brain? In either case it must have worked. grin That was a good one. grin

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Shakylegs, That was a good one. I don't know if Kelly broke the white truck yet but he's plowed me out several times over the years. I'm really glad he has a sense of humor. Stan C.

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No the white one isn't broke at the moment but has had it's tranny rebuilt twice this winter. Seeing as I cann't do anything else I've been punching lots of roads to scout off from. Hillman's road system must be at close to 35 miles total now.

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