Jun 26, 20113 min read

Another week, another entry

Hi, all. This should be a pretty long entry so get comfy!

As always, fishing first. We had a nice mix of new and used guests last week. Bruce and the Bear’s Den gang found plenty of fish as always. We were glad to see Don’s shining face back with the group, and he commented that walleye fishing seemed to be better than before. He also loves my footwear assortment so I tried to mix it up quite a bit last week. We had two new groups in Cabins 6 and 7. Both cabins did extremely well all week! Mike and his brothers and dad are honestly impressive anglers! They tackled the lake with precision and caught a nice variety of nice fish. Kyle and his gang also did a great job! It’s nice to see new people do well because it can take years to get to know a fishery. Most everyone caught fish and was happy with their week.

2nd Lake continued to be the place to be, with Ruby and Keynote still producing for a lot of folks. Bruce’s guys spend a lot of time on 5th Lake as well. Crawlers are their bait of choice. Our new guys took sampler platters of bait (leeches, crawlers, minnows) and drifted through the narrows between 2nd and 3rd Lakes. We’re still shallow it seems: 8-10′ for walleye. There are exceptions, with some finding fish in the 15-20′ depth.

Gary, Keith and their boys had the most fun with smallies! Each and every one of their group of five released at least one for my Conservation Awards Program (18+”)! I’ve posted a couple of their photos and await the rest (hint, hint). Steve in the Eagle’s Nest released a 19″er as well! Granted, all of them over 13 3/4″ have to be released until this Friday, but it takes an 18″er to qualify for my program:)

Speaking of Conservation Awards, yours truly finally made her own list! Gruper and I were able to sneak out Thursday for a lovely morning of fishing. We stayed between 2nd Lake and the narrows, tossing into shallows water and bottom-bouncing back. My first fish of the day was a 24.5″ walleye! We got a nice photo and put her back lickity-split! Lee also released a 24″er on Thurs. and his photo is on our webpage as well: tallpinescamp.com I continued to do well with walleye the rest of the day. We kept enough to make Sonny and Kathy their very first shore lunch! We fished afterwards, and I released several. Steve had a tougher day, boating a northern, a couple of nice perch and a walleye or two. Suffice it to say I was the one to beat:) I was using a chartreuse/grape jig and a minnow.

We had some close calls for big fish awards. Rollo and Jan were newcomers who have decided to come back next year. It might have something to do with Jan’s last day of fishing. She caught a nice walleye, a nice northern (posing with Rollo below) and saw a HUGE bull moose (her camera malfunctioned, so she’ll get his picture next year).

I’m sure glad they’re coming back. Jan’s potato salad tasted just like my mom’s used to! She was also able to snap some pretty scenery:

I mentioned Gary and Keith earlier. They’re from our area of Iowa, and we discovered some folks we have in common, etc. The most exciting thing, however, involves fashion sense. I’ve rocked some great looks at home and around Camp, e.g., tie-dye and plaid. Keith pulled off a look I wish I had discovered first:

plaid and camo!

Honestly, this worked for him unbelievably. I plan to try it…I’m just not sure how it will work for me.

I was also able to get the last of Dave’s photos from a few weeks ago ready for posting. Here’s a flock of pelicans and a single pelican…

The guys and I went driving for moose one night while they visited. This young cow posed FOREVER for us! She was so curious ’bout us. Dave was able to take several photos: