Moose's Report - Cambridge-Elk River-Foley-Milaca-Mora-Ogilvie Fishing Reports

[Wanderer]

23 hours ago, monstermoose78 said:

It’s been a slow duck season and scouting to find a duck has been tougher than normal. How are you all doing? 

I’ve only really found them in one place.  Did some MN River scouting today and saw a few but nothing I’d drag a boat there for.  Would’ve liked to get closer to the Louisville Swamp area before completely writing it off though.

[monstermoose78]

Sure love these puppies 

[Mike89]

sweet!!!  ❤

[gim]

On 10/7/2021 at 6:09 PM, monstermoose78 said:

It’s been a slow duck season and scouting to find a duck has been tougher than normal.

This is the primary reason I decided not to waterfowl hunt last year and this year.  There just aren't as many ducks as there used to be in the area.  I don't have the time to scout ahead of time either and that is a must when you are looking for ducks/geese.  I have a couple friends who have been out a couple times since opener and they have 1 goose between the two of them so there its been poor for others too.  I'm sure the drought is playing a role.  I was able to get permission to pheasant hunt this season at most of my usual spots.  Not sure how that will go with the lack of moisture this summer either.

 

Fishing has been pretty slow too.  The water temps are still almost 70 degrees.  I think there will be a good bite the second half of this month if the water cools down.

Edited October 12, 2021 by gimruis

[monstermoose78]

At 11 weeks Hazel is 22.1 pounds and Finn slimmed down to 90.7 pounds and vet was really happy with Finn’s weight and said hazel is going to be a big girl. 

[Wanderer]

On the ducks: I was on Pelican for the first time ever.  Birdy looking water and we did see some.  Coots and Gadwalls.  Not a lot though and obviously local birds.  They liked to land in the big water and swim in to feed.  Very shy birds.  I do however have a couple ideas on how to hunt them better if I ever get back there. Standard spreads and sets will be useless until migrators show up.

 

Interesting find through.  Somebody (we know who) lost their ammo box with 151 rounds, calls, wallet, SS card, license, etc.  We started looking for him based on his ID but haven’t contacted him yet.  He WAS from WI and think he’s still there.  
 

Here’s the kicker; the license is date 27 years ago. 

[monstermoose78]

Wow @Wanderer

[leech~~]

On 10/12/2021 at 12:37 PM, Wanderer said:

On the ducks: I was on Pelican for the first time ever.  Birdy looking water and we did see some.  Coots and Gadwalls.  Not a lot though and obviously local birds.  They liked to land in the big water and swim in to feed.  Very shy birds.  I do however have a couple ideas on how to hunt them better if I ever get back there. Standard spreads and sets will be useless until migrators show up.

 

Interesting find through.  Somebody (we know who) lost their ammo box with 151 rounds, calls, wallet, SS card, license, etc.  We started looking for him based on his ID but haven’t contacted him yet.  He WAS from WI and think he’s still there.  
 

Here’s the kicker; the license is date 27 years ago. 

Which Pelican? 

[Wanderer]

3 hours ago, leech~~ said:

Which Pelican? 

Not yours. 

 

St. Michael.

[leech~~]

22 minutes ago, Wanderer said:

Not yours. 

 

St. Michael.

Where did you find the ammo box with all the stuff in it. Landing? 

[Wanderer]

In the rocks on a point we chose to set up on.  The point has been under water for years but with the draw down and then drought I’m figuring it finally was exposed.  Honestly surprised we were the first people to open it for how much it was exposed.

[leech~~]

2 hours ago, Wanderer said:

In the rocks on a point we chose to set up on.  The point has been under water for years but with the draw down and then drought I’m figuring it finally was exposed.  Honestly surprised we were the first people to open it for how much it was exposed.

How cool is that. Like a time capsule. Hope the guys still around or his family may want to get it. 

Suppose it wasn't water tight? 

[Wanderer]

Nope, not water tight and half filled with mud.  My Buddy dumped it all out and rinsed everything off.  The wallet and other stuff was in a top compartment in the lid so it wasn’t muddied too bad.

 

I told him after washing it all up it could’ve been the guys ashes in there.  His face dropped!   I’m sure it wasn’t though with the SS card and DL.  Oh, and $20.

[Mike89]

good yank of his chain!!!   

[leech~~]

1 hour ago, Wanderer said:

Nope, not water tight and half filled with mud.  My Buddy dumped it all out and rinsed everything off.  The wallet and other stuff was in a top compartment in the lid so it wasn’t muddied too bad.

 

I told him after washing it all up it could’ve been the guys ashes in there.  His face dropped!   I’m sure it wasn’t though with the SS card and DL.  Oh, and $20.

Kind of a similar thing and how I got into hunting. It was more of a forgotten item though. I went fishing the St, Frances river by Zimmer with my dad when I was about 16. Some duck hunter had forgotten his hunting ammo box-seat packed full of shells. I didnt have a shot gun but my buddy had an old H&R single 12g. We went up by Cambridge and spent a good part of the day blowing up a few $100s worth of shells at trees and craap!

[monstermoose78]

Finn and I hiked the river in Sherburne and only saw 5 swans. 1000 cranes and not one duck or goose.  Saw some guys looking in the grass and they said they dropped a woodduck and Finn found it for them. Boy Finn was mad when I gave them the duck. 

[Wanderer]

Very, very few ducks in Ely today.  4 grouse seen with only 1 coming back to camp.

 

I literally saw more fish today than birds.  And I skipped the fishing gear this time! 

[Wanderer]

Keep looking and sooner or later even a blind squirrel finds a nut.

[monstermoose78]

I heard some divers are showing up so I will go try for those

[monstermoose78]

Finn and Hazel watching me like a hawk as I have treats.

Edited October 18, 2021 by monstermoose78

[Wanderer]

19 hours ago, monstermoose78 said:

I heard some divers are showing up so I will go try for those

Yep, western MN and Lake of the Woods diver reports were good from the weekend.  That Arrowhead head area is fickle for ducks and hitting the migration.  
 

We had a fantastic week up there about 8-9 years ago and have been chasing that memory almost every year since.  We just don’t spend as much time doing it anymore.  Still love being there in October and that chase.

 

We went from a 30 decoy spread in small clusters to a 6 decoy spread set up in a 4/2 grouping.  That’s the one they liked.  No pass shots, wings cupped and feet down or they were left to carry on.

 

I gave up the fully flocked mallards in exchange for the early season mallards.  I don’t know if that change worked as well as I think it did but like I said, they came to em.  Even the geese.

[gim]

I did pretty good bass fishing on Saturday from 8am - 1pm.  It was frigid when we started at 8am but by 10 the sun was fully up and it was more comfortable.  A friend and I caught 7 bass and 5 pike.  I caught the biggest bass I've caught in a month, a 19.5 incher.  The water temp was 58 degrees.  I might try going one more time and then hang it up for the season as long as the water temp stays above 50.  I think turnover has just occurred because the water temp dropped about 10-12 degrees in less than a week.

[Wanderer]

Update on the shell box situation: My buddy was able to contact the guy after searching numbers and making a few calls.  Shocked the heck out of him!

 

They were out on a windy day; big waves crashing as they were motoring and barely staying upright.  The guys buddy shifted positions in the boat and his dog moved when he did.  That was all it took and they got swamped.  He lost the shell box and his shotgun.  They were able to get everything else to shore.

 

Thats all the detail I got about the story but it’s a classic duck hunters nightmare. My buddy is sending him the contents of his wallet.  His SS card is in perfect shape still and the guy hasn’t replaced it yet so there’s a win!   We’ll be back out there with a metal detector to sweep the area for the shotgun.

[gim]

2 hours ago, Wanderer said:

We’ll be back out there with a metal detector to sweep the area for the shotgun.

That's quite a story.  Wonder what kind of shape the shotgun is going to be in if you find it...

[leech~~]

12 hours ago, Wanderer said:

Update on the shell box situation: My buddy was able to contact the guy after searching numbers and making a few calls.  Shocked the heck out of him!

 

They were out on a windy day; big waves crashing as they were motoring and barely staying upright.  The guys buddy shifted positions in the boat and his dog moved when he did.  That was all it took and they got swamped.  He lost the shell box and his shotgun.  They were able to get everything else to shore.

 

Thats all the detail I got about the story but it’s a classic duck hunters nightmare. My buddy is sending him the contents of his wallet.  His SS card is in perfect shape still and the guy hasn’t replaced it yet so there’s a win!   We’ll be back out there with a metal detector to sweep the area for the shotgun.

 

Forget the metal detector and get a big magnet on a rope at Harbor Freight. Like I have!  

[Wanderer]

10 hours ago, gimruis said:

That's quite a story.  Wonder what kind of shape the shotgun is going to be in if you find it...

Probably no better than a wall hanging conversation piece but cool to find anyway.  It’s a Mossberg, so…. 

 

20 minutes ago, leech~~ said:

 

Forget the metal detector and get a big magnet on a rope at Harbor Freight. Like I have!  

 

The water isn’t deep there but it is green. I’ll take the detector vs guesswork.  Probably wouldn’t have to go more than elbow deep if we find it.  The box might’ve floated a bit away from the incident.  It was designed to float I guess but not with 151 shells in it!

[leech~~]

2 hours ago, Wanderer said:

Probably no better than a wall hanging conversation piece but cool to find anyway.  It’s a Mossberg, so…. 

 

 

The water isn’t deep there but it is green. I’ll take the detector vs guesswork.  Probably wouldn’t have to go more than elbow deep if we find it.  The box might’ve floated a bit away from the incident.  It was designed to float I guess but not with 151 shells in it!

Good luck with the prospecting Yosemite Sam!

[gim]

14 hours ago, Wanderer said:

It’s a Mossberg, so….

Ya I wouldn't worry about it now.  Don't waste your time.

[smurfy]

47 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Ya I wouldn't worry about it now.  Don't waste your time.

why not...i would given the opportunity!!!!!!! like he said a conversation piece!!!!!!

[leech~~]

11 hours ago, gimruis said:

Ya I wouldn't worry about it now.  Don't waste your time.

What! 

It's the hunt, solving a mystery.  Maybe he will find Jimmy Hoffa chained to the dang thing?

Or not find a plug in the gun and make some TIP money 

Edited October 22, 2021 by leech~~