URL trip with Jonny and Kelly

[alex1]

Jonny and Kelly, just wanted to say thanks again for an awsome time. Even though the fishing was tuff, we had a great time. I would recommend you guys to anyone who wants to take a trip and catch fish. Thanks again for the use of the sleeping bags, my dad and son would have been a tad chilly we might not have caught a ton of fish, but from what you guys were telling us we did pretty darn good compared to others Thanks again for a great time, clean house, and good conversation. We're already planning our next trip, and my youngest one is going to be tagging along then. Thanks again for going out your way too for running and getting the sleeping bags, my dad still hasn't heard the end of that one from my mother

[Random guy]

Hey email me your adress I found a Leatherman multi tool when I was cleaning the house and I would like to ship it back to you.

[alex1]

Jonny, email sent. I sent to the minnow station email adress. I hope that alright

[kelly-p]

Even though the fishing was tuff,

That's an understatement for last weekend. That was widespread just plain bad fishing. I really thought that walleye fishing there would stay decent and that we would pick up a few more crappies but that didn't happen. The good news is that when Jon was scouting on the snowmobile Friday he found an avenue of shallower snow and decent ice where an area had flooded and refroze. It took 3 plows over 2 hours to make it the first 100 yards Saturday to work through the really bad snow but yesterday we were able to run from the end of Buddy's main road almost 1 mile to the NW. For those of you familiar with Hillman's Road we passed within about 1/4 mile of the "fisheye" area and the water is clear. Buddy did plow a trail in towards the "fisheye" for some guys with their wheelhouse yesterday so we'll see how they did today. In any case the whole fleet has moved out deeper. I didn't like moving away from where we were getting some crappies but we can always try it back there again.

[shaky legs2]

Just out of curiosity Kelly, what do you estimate you guys are spending for gas per week. I think people would be surprised that the road access is only $10/day.

[kelly-p]

Just out of curiosity Kelly, what do you estimate you guys are spending for gas per week. I think people would be surprised that the road access is only $10/day.

We were just talking about that today as we tried to plow ourselves out again. It just will not give us a chance to get our feet under us. Last night was only supposed to be 2 or 3 inches of snow????? I've got a real strong feeling that almost everybody if not everybody working on the lake is spending way more then they are taking in this winter.

To make up for some of it seeing as Doc was stranded in Vegas for a while Buddy is going to charge you guys $5,000 for your road pass. Just enough to cover his engine and my tranny.

[Random guy]

After talking with the clients tonight it’s well worth the cost and time. A couple of guys that decided to live in a rental for the entire week are all smiles with a pan full of fish after day one and talking about going after some big pike as they have conquered walleye mountain.

I also have a father son team that started off well by thinking the flasher was messed up until they realized it was fish stacked up. They were scrambling to get set up as I left; I am a little anxious to see what they have to say in the AM.

[shaky legs2]

We might have to stop at Northern Lights on the way up to cover it. I just chuckle when I hear about people complaining about paying $10 a day to be on the lake. That $10 pass covers a lot more than gaining access. I noticed that the Sunday Mpls. Star and Sickle had an article about Terry at Terry's boat harbor on Mille Lacs plowing roads. It sounds like they are having an easier go than you guys. We had that rain after Christmas around the cities that took care of a lot of the slush and snow that had accumulated on the metro area lakes so now you see quite a few vehicles moving around.

[kelly-p]

What really messed us up here was that very first big snow. If the lake had been just 1/2 a degree warmer and still open like LOW or LRL that snow would have just landed and melted in the water. URL was just skimmed over with about 1 1/2 inches of ice so the snow just landed and sank that ice creating a foot of slush. Then the wind blew out of the SW at 25 to 35 mph for 2 days pushing it all the eastern part of URL where it all froze. Until about 10 days ago we were still finding 3 to 4 feet of slush under the ice in places. The satatite images after that storm were amazing in that they showed LOW, LRL and the western part of URL as dark, water or good ice. The eastern part of URL was white, slush and snow.

I'm happy where we are now as it seemed impossible to get there a week ago. Decent ice with clear water so there is a night bite. We've caught as many walleyes at night in 2 nights then we caught in 3 weeks earlier. It might slow down in time but at least nobody is cutting us off from more fish moving in from the west because that snow there is really deep.

[Fishalittle]

Sounds like you guys accomplished a lot in the last week getting out deeper- a night bite is awesome, I always like crawling out of the bunk, stumbling around for some light and being rewarded with a hungry walleye on the line. Give Johnny a pat on the back for finding that good ice. Hoping to make it up this weekend!!!

[Random guy]

Give Johnny a pat on the back for finding that good ice.

Instead I got three things.

My GPS, a sharp stick and a garbage bag for a flag along with a long walk. Today we pushed the road farther across the lake but first it needed to be mapped, checked and marked for the plows…that’s where the long walk with a sharp stick came into it. As I was busting the ½ mile mark I really hated ever finding that strip of ice; but we ended up with a solid road into some great deep water spots.

[usmtsrocks]

Jonny- How has the bite been as of late? You guys finding a night bite out in that deeper water at all? Was up there a week or so ago with you guys and was thinking of maybe making one more trip. A night bite would be nice, otherwise there is a lot of 'dead' time. Stay warm up there!

[Random guy]

Yes we are starting to see the night bite again.