One thing I always wonder when taking people up to our cabin is: Will they like it? A little over a week ago my grandson Trevor and I had planned on going north to work on the cabin. I asked my friend Mark if he’d like to go and warned him about the work thing. He said he didn’t mind and then Trevor asked about his friend Josh coming along too. I said okay and we had a fishing party.

When we arrived at the cabin the weather was kind of shaky with front after front rolling through so working on the cabin seemed like a good plan. We worked hard between rain showers which rolled through like they do a lot in the late fall in northern Minnesota and here I was thinking it was July. We were able to accomplish everything that I wanted to in a lot shorter time than I imagined. What would have taken Trevor and I at least two days to accomplish we got done in less than a day.

Trevor asked me knowingly, “What are we going to do tomorrow grandpa?” I quickly said, “work” then he laughed because he knew it was time to fish. Trevor and Josh fished our lake that evening and caught a few nice crappie and a couple bluegills. They fished until dark the first day and Trevor said that because it was so late they would leave the fish in the basket and clean them first thing in the morning.

After learning one of life’s lessons the hard way myself I was a little skeptical but said OK. The next morning when they went to get the fish they discovered a hole in the basket and all but two fish had disappeared. Before they could get the last two out of the basket one escaped and another slipped out of Trevor’s hand when he was picking it up. I asked him if he learned a lesson and he said, “have a better basket” but I was thinking more in the line of cleaning the fish after you catch them. He agreed and I am sure that was a lesson learned.

The next two days we fished five different lakes, had a fantastic fish fry and took a few fish home. We practiced mostly catch-and-release, but did keep a few nice northern to eat at home.

I always worry about taking someone to one of my favorite lakes because on any given day the fish can develop a severe case of “lockjaw” and make for a long day. The first lake we fished was like that, we had a little action but it wasn’t like it was a couple of weeks earlier. It’s funny how a lake can take on a whole different personality in a matter of a week or two. As we found out, lakes can even change from morning to afternoon when there is a weather front moving in.

Luckily I decided to take them to one of my favorite area lakes and give it a try. I went to a little bay on this lake and as the resident eagle kept a watchful eye on us we began trolling. Almost immediately I caught a northern and then the boys started taking turns catching one on almost every pass. Trevor caught a 3-pounder and then Josh hooked a 4-pounder. Trevor also caught a nice bass and he and Josh continued catching northern. The boys were starting to worry about Mark but he finally joined us in the catching and life was definitely good. On one particular pass all four of us had a fish on in a span of about fifty yards. That was a great day of northern fishing and most of the fish were released to fight again another day.

While on the lake I spotted what I first thought was a beaver swimming in the lily pads. After pointing it out to Trevor he said there were three of them and that they looked liked otters. We were trolling along the shoreline and those otters were following along frolicking in the lily pads about 50 yards from the boat. What a fun sight it was to have a chance to watch.

Although I’ve never seen otters on any lake in this area I wasn’t totally surprised that we’d see them on this one. It has an access but no cabins or campground so you can usually plan on having this pretty little, pristine lake all to yourself. There may be one or two other boats on it in any given time but I’ve never seen any more than that. We fished this particular lake twice in the short time we were up there and had the lake to ourselves. I do believe the fact that there are no walleye in the lake keeps the fishing pressure down and that is a good thing because there are some nice pike and some real nice bass swimming this deep little lake.

That evening we all joined in and fished crappie on our lake. I do know one thing, Trevor will always find a way to catch fish and crappie are his specialty. We didn’t use any live bait but came up with 10 dandy crappies from 10-12 inches. Most were in the 11-inch range.

The next day we fished another lake and did catch some small northern a couple walleyes and some bluegill. When we finished fishing that lake we headed back to the cabin for a fish fry. Mark was the master chef and he didn’t disappoint. Those fish were the best and by the size of them it was hard to believe those were crappie fillets. Trevor and Josh cleaned all the fish except for the northern, which I did because they wanted the Y bones taken out.

The last day saw Josh catching a 5-pound northern on the same little lake we were fishing the day before. We only caught a couple of other northern and you could feel the cool down coming because the wind picked up out of the northwest and all things were different from the day before.

This just shows how fronts can have such an effect on fishing and even with a drastic change in the weather there are fish to be had but they may have needed a little more enticement. With that nasty cold northwest wind Trevor, figured out a way to catch a few more crappies on our lake. Josh topped off a few great days of fishing by catching a painted turtle, which he soon found out, can be a little crabby when they have a hook in them.

A trip like this may not be for everyone with no running water, no electricity, no TV (no time to watch it anyway), no mint on the pillow and no one to leave the light on for you. The boys couldn’t believe how good Mark could cook and Josh said, “Mark did the cooking and you did the guiding.” If you like to fish and eat good food then it just doesn’t get any better than this. Sometimes things just work out and I know we’ll all have some good memories of this trip to look back on.

A few fishing reports:

BLACKDUCK — Walleyes are hitting spinners and crawlers or crankbaits on the 8-to-14-foot weedlines of Blackduck Lake and Gull Lake. The 8-to-12-foot cabbage beds on North Twin, South Twin, and Gull lakes are holding panfish. Bass and northern pike action is strong on most lakes.

BRAINERD/NISSWA — The Merrifield end of North Long Lake is a safe bet for walleyes in 16 to 28 feet with leeches. Gull Lake is giving up a few walleyes in 20 to 30 feet, while redtails are producing walleyes and pike on Lake Edwards in 14 to 20 feet. The weedlines of North Long, Gull, Round Lake, and Lake Margaret are safe bets for panfish, bass, and northern pike.

CRANE LAKE — Leeches and minnows are producing walleyes on the 25-to-30-foot rock reefs. Pat Smith Island Reef on Namakan Lake has been giving up good numbers of slot-sized fish. On the shallower parts of the reefs, crankbaits are triggering small mouth bass. Crappie action has really improved at the mouth of the Echo River on Crane Lake.

FARIBAULT — Hit Lake Mazaska for sunfish and crappies in 10 to 12 feet. The weedlines of Cedar Lake are holding northern pike and sunfish, while muskie anglers are reporting a few more follows on French Lake this week. Walleye action is slow with just a few fish being caught below the mill on the Cannon River.

Until next time keep fish’n and take a little time to enjoy our great Minnesota outdoors.

Remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers throughout the year.