Ya ever get a feeling??

Started out a few years ago, guy at work and my self went on a weeks fishing trip each fall, Winnie was first, one year it snowed for two days and was windy enough the next few days fishing sucked.

Year after, caught a rock and lost a blade off the prop.

Tried Ottertail after that, nice resort, nice people, not overly fond of the lake though, another lake that seems to get too windy to easily.

Some how heard that Spyder lake had great walleyes, so last year off we went, stormed most of the beginning of the week, caught a few nice crappies and both of us came down with whatever crud was going around last year and went home early.

Foolish me let my buddy talk me into going back this year, the 46″? or so musky and pound plus crappies probably helped.

This week we started off great, well, kinda, caught a few nice crappies, a few tiny bass and a couple northerns…no walleyes though, and we tried!

Fancy new 1198 didn’t show squat for fish, no matter what settings I used, after day two and leaving trails on the screen that basiclly covered the whole lake, it got windy, then rained, then more wind, then more rain, the windy and rain, then rainy and wind….did I mention the weather was a bit poor???

No wallies though.

So, I’m giving Spyder lake a 1.5 on a scale 1-5, nice crappies, when you can find them and there being at least one nice musky in that lake, unless someone has caught her and kept her.

Spyder shores resort wasn’t so lucky, they get a 1, considering the temps went to or below freezing some nights the missing window in my bedroom (looks like they stuck a alum storm window in it’s place and you could feel the wind/cold coming in, add the heater that didn’t keep the place much above 50-55 at best, a resort owner who after we mentioned the lack of fish advised us the map he gave us was old and we should have come asked…er…we got the map from him btw.
Oh…no wifi, no TV, no radio, weather forcasts was look out the window and see what was happening.

And who can forget the stairs/trail that leads down to the boats, be nice if he’d at least make it so a sprained ankle wasn’t a probably there.

No, we won’t be going back, but we are looking for next years disaster trip.
Any suggestions??

Oh…forgot, left the I pilot remote at home, and the bow mount depth finder wasn’t working, just to add to the fun..

Maybe one more trip to Superior, I hope.

Al

You know Allen, I don’t ever recall a bad fishing vacation. I know there were many time we went up to Winni and sat in the truck because of the weather before we called it and went home, but still we can’t control the weather when we go.

Then again, just this morning someone was telling my my glass is never half empty…it’s always full. LOL!

See….

Can I assume this is the time of year you always go? If so, don’t commit to a resort / lake for a whole week. After labor day you can pretty much dictate when and where. Instead of committing to a certain lake, resort commit to a certain region. Go to Brainerd, if Gull sucks head up to Leech, Leech sucks head over to Mille Lacs. You get the idea. If it’s just you and a buddy you don’t have to be nailed down, it’s easy to move around.

Biting rocks, forgetting gear, losing gear, breaking gear, weather, it’s all part of the game.

Your story reminds me of that bad luck guy on the old comic strip “Li’l Abner”. Always had a black cloud over his head. Joe Bliskfitz?? jerr

You get a whole week every year to fish with a buddy and are complaining? Gee wiz. That must be tough. I’m lucky to get a few hours every few weeks between work, honey-do list, and the kids.

Sounds like the movie “Gone Fishin'”

It is time for that beer….

If it was all that bad we wouldn’t go, a chance to get out and spend a week on a lake is no doubt going to have up and down times, all part of the game.

Far as times we go, he has a hard time getting off so we grab what we can, but usually the week after labor day works well, does get cold but usually fishing is better.

This post was suppose to be a light hearted whine about times that don’t always go well, just a part of fishin.

And yes, we will do this next year, sooner or later we’ll get it right.
Al

I’ll bet every one on this board has been in the same situations. I was all over Upper Mission Lake last weekend, all I wanted was a dozen sunfish and came up empty. We tend to set our expectations high. The posts you read here tend to distort just what an “average” fishing experience is. Not too many posts about going out and catching little or nothing but you can bet it happens often. But when you do get a warm, bright sunny day with little wind in the fall, it truly is a pleasure to be on the lake.

If I was to plan a fall trip for a week to guarantee catching walleyes, I would head to LOTW in a heartbeat. IMO opinion nothing beats fall fishing on LOTW the fish are always biting somewhere and there are a lot of nice resorts to choose from. If the winds pick up you can always fish the river for Walleye, Pike, occasional Muskie, and of course Sturgeon. Again IMO that is where I would head if looking to guarantee some fish.

If I had a “go to” spot it’d be Red Lake Canada, after 30 something years of going there each fall, and also having two killer musky lakes about a half hour away, it’d be my choice.

Gotten to spendy, and the 11+ hour drive is getting to be a bit much, but I’d like to do LOW sometime.

But I’ll go with someone who knows where some of the spots are, big lake and you can spend way to much time learning even a small part of it.

I did find out that about 7 years ago they were killing walleyes on Spyder, I’m figuring the Musky’s must have eat them all though…

Al

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It is time for that beer….

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As soon as I get the truck/boat almost unpacked..
You around?

Al

It’s all in what you make of it. As a resort owner, as you know Al, nobody feels worse when the weather is bad than I do. I want every week to be sunny with light winds. Especially this time of year when a lot of people are just here for short stays…so if you lose a day of fishing due to the weather it really sucks. If you’re staying for a week and lose a day, not as big a deal. Doesn’t work that way… this week is a perfect example. I have guys that drove 9 hrs to get here on Tuesday, and we all know what the wind was like on Wednesday, 30mph+, and it has been blowing 15-25 out of the NW since (and my resort is on the south side of the lake). So by Wed. afternoon the negativity is already setting in for some of the guys in that group because it’s too windy to fish. Thursday morning they hit the water early with high hopes for walleye’s after I have told them about my recent outings. But, no fish after 4-5 hrs and they are sick of the wind. Now even more negativity. They head to a smaller lake, no fish, after I tell them the lake has a very good walleye population. What do you think they are thinking of ME now? So i tell them, look, the wind is gonna blow, we can’t control that. I show them on the map where I have been fishing, yes it’s gonna be windy there, but the fish should be there. Bingo, they brought in 6 dandy walleye’s last night. They are out again today and I can see them from the resort, fishing that very same spot. They’ve been there for over 4 hrs, so that tell’s me they must be putting fish in the boat. And the wind is still howling, and it’s gonna blow tomorrow too. As a resort owner, I try to keep them positive, and HELP get them on active fish, and even show them area’s to try that get them out of the wind if they wish that should be holding fish. I’ve also told them to trailer their boats so they can laod/unload in calm waters instead of using my boat lifts which are taking the brunt of the wind/waves.

If you can do it, my suggestion is to have a lake in mind and a couple differnt dates that work to go. Then wait for the weather forecast… As someone stated, most resorts have openings after Labor Day, which is very true. You can go on short notice.

I go to Lake of the Woods late October every year. Some years we can’t even get close to the lake due to wind. And if most of the fish are still out in the lake, you sit in the river and scratch out what you can and make the best of it. Still beats sitting at home or typing on a keyboard!

You can come back to Otter Tail anytime Al… I’ll do my best to make ya happy!

Leave the boat at home and grab a shotgun to chase grouse…much more relaxing and stuff doesn’t break.

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You know Allen, I don’t ever recall a bad fishing vacation. I know there were many time we went up to Winni and sat in the truck because of the weather before we called it and went home, but still we can’t control the weather when we go.

Then again, just this morning someone was telling my my glass is never half empty…it’s always full. LOL!

See….

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Yep – attitude is everything!

Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ come Watching the ships roll in And then I watch ’em roll away again, yeah I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay Watching the tide roll away Ooo, I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay …

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It’s all in what you make of it. As a resort owner, as you know Al, nobody feels worse when the weather is bad than I do. I want every week to be sunny with light winds. Especially this time of year when a lot of people are just here for short stays…so if you lose a day of fishing due to the weather it really sucks. If you’re staying for a week and lose a day, not as big a deal. Doesn’t work that way… this week is a perfect example. I have guys that drove 9 hrs to get here on Tuesday, and we all know what the wind was like on Wednesday, 30mph+, and it has been blowing 15-25 out of the NW since (and my resort is on the south side of the lake). So by Wed. afternoon the negativity is already setting in for some of the guys in that group because it’s too windy to fish. Thursday morning they hit the water early with high hopes for walleye’s after I have told them about my recent outings. But, no fish after 4-5 hrs and they are sick of the wind. Now even more negativity. They head to a smaller lake, no fish, after I tell them the lake has a very good walleye population. What do you think they are thinking of ME now? So i tell them, look, the wind is gonna blow, we can’t control that. I show them on the map where I have been fishing, yes it’s gonna be windy there, but the fish should be there. Bingo, they brought in 6 dandy walleye’s last night. They are out again today and I can see them from the resort, fishing that very same spot. They’ve been there for over 4 hrs, so that tell’s me they must be putting fish in the boat. And the wind is still howling, and it’s gonna blow tomorrow too. As a resort owner, I try to keep them positive, and HELP get them on active fish, and even show them area’s to try that get them out of the wind if they wish that should be holding fish. I’ve also told them to trailer their boats so they can laod/unload in calm waters instead of using my boat lifts which are taking the brunt of the wind/waves.

If you can do it, my suggestion is to have a lake in mind and a couple differnt dates that work to go. Then wait for the weather forecast… As someone stated, most resorts have openings after Labor Day, which is very true. You can go on short notice.

I go to Lake of the Woods late October every year. Some years we can’t even get close to the lake due to wind. And if most of the fish are still out in the lake, you sit in the river and scratch out what you can and make the best of it. Still beats sitting at home or typing on a keyboard!

You can come back to Otter Tail anytime Al… I’ll do my best to make ya happy!

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Trev, I never blame the resort for weather or fishing, my stay at your place was great, but I look for lakes that I can go hide in when the waves have the bow mount on 8 or more just to stay in one spot, didn’t find that at OT, but your resort was someplace I’d recommend to anybody.
I do believe we even caught some fish if I remember right..:)
Unfortunately winnie and ottertail are both big lakes with lots of shallow water, and my days of fighting whitecap water were over when I quit tourney fishing years ago, just not worth getting beat up over anymore…call it getting old.

Can’t say that for the resort on spyder, poor maintenance, outdated maps, owner never once came by to see how things were going (something you did a lot of) window piece meal repaired, heater that was erratic and wouldn’t keep up and a down hill hazard to get to the dock are something I can blame on the resort owner.
Much less no wifi, TV or radio makes weather forecasting a bit rough.

Al

My Dad told me I couldn’t sing either Jeff.

I can tell you what days exactly the wind is going to blow, every day I a day off during the week all summer long. no matter what day it was, the wind was howling.. it was that kind of a year..

We are up on Mille Lacs;right now!
It’s cold ,raining ,windy.
So instead of fishing, we are at the Blue Goose,drinking dancing and dreaming of large walleyed yet to come.

One thing I’ve learned is that sometimes you just can’t fight the wind. Sometimes you just have to work with what you’re dealt. Find spots that you can troll or drift going with the wind. Fish with the wind and drive back into it, it may make for a slow drive into the wind but at least you are on the water and not getting beat up this way. It also depends on the boat you have, mine has very tall sides and is really grabbed by the wind which is why I choose not to fight it some times. You’ll always catch more fish out trying than the person sitting on shore watch it blow (although sometimes you need a break from it).

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We are up on Mille Lacs;right now!
It’s cold ,raining ,windy.
So instead of fishing, we are at the Blue Goose,drinking dancing and dreaming of large walleyed yet to come.

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Good Luck Jeff!
We just came from there Thursday. Catching for two boats with a total of 4 men fishing very hard was not something I’d talk much about. 4 days fishing, 2 small walleyes and 2 nice pearch cleaned. 3 walleyes over the length and 3 babys then 8 small perch still nurcing and 2 16″ smallies. THat was it…

NW, SE, E, and central parts of the lake in 12′ to 34′ of water. Jig w/ leach or crawler, spinners and cranks. All were spending time in the water from dead calm to 4′ ers including sleet. 7am till 10:30 pm.

Good luck! Still like Nitties Resort!!