10-19-2009 Mon
Day 184-181 to go
5:30 PM -7:30 PM

Weather: Calm, clear, 64°, 29.85 rising

Water conditions: 639.5’ falling, 18 kcfs, 49°, very clear

Fish caught

1. Walleyes 16, 15, 13, 23, 24 inches, Storm Thunder Crank
2. Sauger 12”, Storm Thunder Crank
3. SMB 14,12,12 inches, Storm Thunder Crank, Rattle Trap

Area fished

Pool 7 – Main channel wing dams

Fishing Partners

none

Comments

It was a pretty good night of walleye fishing. I caught fish on every wing dam that I fished. The temperature of the water has increased a few degrees since the last time I was out. All the fish were caught in front of the wing dams in six to eight feet of water. I caught some of the walleyes before it got dark and some of them after it got dark.

day 183 10-18-09 Sun

10-18-2009 Sun
Day 183-182 to go
11:00AM – 1:00PM

Weather: SW14, partly cloudy, 43°, 29.94 falling

Game Bagged

(2) Woodcock

Area hunted

Moose Junction – Hunters Trail

Hunting Partners

Fritz/Tom

Comments

Today I am past the half way point of my 365 days of fishing and hunting. The time has gone by quick, but I am afraid the real difficultly is just beginning!
Tom and I hunted an area that I did quite well on grouse two years ago. Today the grouse were not plentiful, but we did manage to put two woodcock in the game bag.
After three days of bear baiting and checking the baits, we had no hits on the bait sites. I believe the unseasonably cool weather has moved the bears into their dens, or is making them stick close to their den sites.

day 182 10-17-2009 Sat

10-17-2009 Sat
Day 182-183 to go
2:00 PM – 4:00PM

Weather: W9, mostly cloudy, 42°, 30.31 falling

Game Bagged

Nothing

Area hunted

Moose Junction – Tin Shack

Hunting Partners

Fritz/Jeremy

Comments

Jeremy and I took a four wheeler trip back to the Tin Shack for some remote grouse hunting. I do not know what Fritz thought about being put in a kennel and strapped to the back of a four wheeler, but he seemed to do just fine. He did get pretty excited when his box slid off the back of my four wheeler and landed in a water filled rut. I did not have any opportunities at birds, but Jeremy missed two.

day 181 10-16-2009 Fri

10-16-2009 Fri
Day 181-184 to go
1:00 PM – 2:30PM/5:00PM – 6:30PM

Weather: WNW5, light rain, 41°, 30.19 rising

Game Bagged

(1) Grouse

Area hunted

Moose Junction – Fall Road

Hunting Partners

Fritz

Comments

I got a grouse today right at the start of the hunt. Another year has slowed Fritz down, but it has positively affected his grouse hunting skills. He now is more deliberate on his locating and tracking skills. When he catches bird scent he locks-up and waits for me to get up to him. Then if the bird has moved off he begins a slow and careful process of re-locating the restless bird. My shooting was not good again today and my 28 gauge jammed beyond field repair!
I did bow hunt this evening over a new clear cut that is located behind the cabin. The deer have definitely been using the area, but they were a no show tonight.

day 180 10-15-09 Thr

10-15-2009 Thr
Day 180-185 to go
3:00 PM – 5:00PM

Weather: E6, light drizzle, 35°, 30.11 steady

Game Bagged

(1) grouse

Area hunted

Moose Junction – Spruce River cutover

Hunting Partners

Fritz

Comments

Today was day one of a four day hunting trip up to the cabin. The four hour drive up to the cabin was marred by on and off again snow showers. During this trip I was going to help out with bear baiting, and hunt grouse and whitetail deer.
Fritz is getting old and consequently he is slowing down. I now try to limit him to about two hours of hunting at a time. He did have some pretty good points on both grouse and woodcock, but unfortunately I was off the mark on most

10-14-2009 Wed
Day 179-186 to go
6:55 AM -7:30 AM

Weather: N5, overcast, 37°, 30.33 rising

Water conditions: 5.24’ falling, 33.2 kcfs, ?°, very clear

Fish caught

None

Area fished

Pool 8 – Main channel area below the Dresbach Dam

Fishing Partners

Myself

Comments

Since I was successful walleye fishing last night and I was on a limited time budget, I fished from shore below the dam before work. I fished above and below a wing dam with various presentations. I fished with a crank bait, jig and ringworm combo and jig and crawler combo. I caught nothing and had no strikes.

day 178 10-13-2009 Tue

10-13-2009 Tue
Day 178-187 to go
5:30 PM -8:00 PM

Weather: Calm, clear, 40°, 30.38 rising

Water conditions: 639.73’ falling, 18.5 kcfs, ?°, very clear

Fish caught

1. Walleye 16”, 6:35 PM, Storm Thunder Crank
2. Walleye 20”, 7:00 PM, Storm Thunder Crank

Area fished

Pool 7 – Main channel area

Fishing Partners

Myself

Comments

Tonight I was able to target walleyes. I did start out seeing if I could locate any toothy critters first. I was not successful on the northern, but I did have a bump from either a northern or bass.
The walleye fishing however was pretty good. I did boat the two, but I also lost two others. The first fish I lost felt real good, but unfortunately it came unbuttoned about a minute into the battle. The situation on losing the other fish was a little different. I decided to fish the wing dam a little different by casting from the downstream side of a wing dam over the top and above the face of the dam. On my first cast I hooked into a fish, but unfortunately it had to be fought over the rocks. It did not take long and my line was cut by the multitude of zebra mussels that cling to these rocks. I am actually not a critic of these invasive mussels. They have done a tremendous job of clarifying the water. I believe these invasive species have improved the fishing on the river tremendously.
It has been about two weeks since I have been out in the boat, and I must say it has changed! The aquatic vegetation and all the wild rice has really started to die-off and is disappearing very quickly. Wow what a pic!