COOK, Minn.–Mulling things on my morning ramble (without Storm, the family’s mixed Lab).
Yesterday, it felt like something nipped the tail of my Bulldawg (a big plastic muskie bait). So I reacted wildly.
And Steve Statland, my partner told me to calm down.
The problem is that I still react wildly to any good strike while fishing or a deer coming down a trail.
Sometimes it is to my detriment in terms of hunting or fishing. On the other hand, I enjoy what I do and when I lose that thrill of the strike or the sighting, I will worry about my life.
Thick fog rolling in overnight as the post-frontal temperatures dropped to 28 degrees.
As I walked down to take fog on the lake photos, a loon loosed its haunting call, a call even more haunting on foggy morning.
Loons hold a special place in my heart.
I first really noticed them on our honeymoon in northern Michigan. I have not tired of hearing, watching or seeing loons.
Eagles are a different story. They are fast becoming passe.
Loons are something far different from my usual ramble.
As I expected, crows are the dominant form of wildlife on the morning ramble here on Lake Vermilion as I prefish for the Gil Hamm Memorial Chapter Challunge later this week.
The Gil Hamm runs Wednesday through Friday. Chicagoland Muskie Hunters chapter of Muskies Inc. is the host, because they won last year.
I am part of the Grumpy Old Men team, one of five six-man teams from CMH. The other team members are Paul Hortenstine, Statland, Brent “Bert” Cunningham and twin brothers Bob and Don Roman.
We are starting to settle in routines in camp at Spring Bay Resort. We pass along information and tell stories, each of us with a different style. Well the twins are pretty close in style.
But everything is different. The setting is different.
Now we just need some muskies in the boat, to truly test the limits of my excitement.
