Canada Vacation Come and Almost Gone

Sorry for being so lazy about updating this blog during my weeks stay in Canada but frankly, there hasnt been much to write about.

We got here late morning last saturday and the weather was chilly, mid 50's and windy with scattered rain. Sunday was rain all morning before the skies finally gave way to some sun and warmer temps and a some south winds. Northern pike fishing was decent and for us anyway, the walleyes were nonexistant!!!

And this is where the story gets good!!!

Woke up sunday to less than favorable weather conditions. RAIN!! Anybody that knows me, knows I dont do much in the rain!! Went to my truck to find a flat tire!! No biggie, got all week to fix it!! Then I hear Shelly yelling at the dogs and to my surprise there is Gunnar, a just turned 1yr old, German Shorthair "tied" to my Chocolate Lab Morgan. After a few f-bombs and a bunch of headshakes they finally came "untied" and that is when the jokes started about the pups I hope I'm not expecting!!! I thought I had Morgans heat cycle figured out and thought she would be unreceptive by the time we got here. Guess I was wrong by about 1 1/2 days as now she wants nothing to do with him.

Oh yeah did I mention how the fishing was?!?!?

Ive been coming up here since 1980 and this is by far the worst the fishing has ever been for us. 2 people caught a total of 10 walleyes over the course of 6 1/2 days. With only 3 of those walleyes being keepers!!! Dreadful!!!!!!!

Pike fishing was less than stellar with a few decent fish being caught by Shelly and myself. Although the biggest one we boated was an anorexic 32"er. We did see a few BIG fish though. Shelly had a bump and follow by a mid to upper 40" behemoth and I had a few hit and follows by upper 30"-lower 40" fish. The highlight of the week came when I had finally hooked one of these better fish only to have Shelly knock him off trying to net him!! She's now been downgraded to honorable mention all-state net-man!!! She was a first teamer coming into the week!! LOL

There was a few others in camp that were struggling with the walleye bite but those that were pounding them were extremely tight lipped, to say the least. I mean really, most people are only here for a week and arent goin to outfish YOUR spots that you've been pounding them on for the last 6 days. I could have been a jag and followed them out and set up in the vicinity by why be a dick. Thats fine by me, Ive helped my share of guys while up here over these years.

All in all, it was a fun trip. Got away from home and work and the rest of the real world for a week.
Now time to head home in the morning and get back after some geese on sunday morning.

Again, Im sorry for not keeping up the blog this week but like I said, "there wasnt much to talk about!!"

Opening Morning

This is the reason Im not a big fan of early goose season. First off, the birds are soooo unpredictable and can never seem to do the same thing two days in a row!! Secondly, this hot humid weather is ridiculous.

The morning brought us heavy dense fog and no wind!!! Only saw a handful of birds with one small flock of four decide to land behind us. We managed to scratch out two with some pretty bad shooting. We thought we may sailed a cripple behind a treeline and after some time we decided to go take a look and see if the dogs could come up with anything. Nothing! On the way back to the blinds, here comes a flock of 10-12 getting ready to dump in on the other 2 hunters in our group until the saw our monkey heads running through the field with 2 dogs in tow. Needless to say the didnt give a shot.

After the fog lifted it got hot and steamy and right now the evening hunt is goin to be rather unpleasant in this heat. At least there is a good breeze.

Back to why I dont like early season..unpredictable birds, hot humid weather and having to find enough birds for 3-4 hunters. I know its not about killing but rather hanging with the crew and the hounds, telling dumb stories to pass time. But this is, for me anyway, the most stressful part of the season and the whole year for that matter. With that said, Im goin to grab a bite to eat and get ready to head out this afternoon for some punishment!! LOL