Fall Pursuits

The LOA team has been both in the woods and on the water enjoying some time to ourselves.  When fishing walleyes we have been focusing on rigging minnows along steep breaks.  Water temps were 44-46 degrees over the weekend and will continue to fall with lows at night dipping into the 20's in northern Minnesota.  Muskie guys are still out and about as well.  With temps falling a lot of guys are slowing down the presentations, think Rapala Glidin Rap or other baits that allow a slow retrieve.

Paul Manecke with a healthy eye from one of the smaller lakes in the Brainerd Lakes Area

Deer have been on the move as well and some of our guides have been in the bow stand with good success.  Not many bucks have showed themselves yet but does have been abundant and some nice ones have been taken.

                                                              

Wherever your passion leads you, be it the woods or water, get out there and 'make a memory!'.

Last remnants of fall fishing...

The fish are on the move on Leech lake for sure; be sure to be active in trying to find them.  Play the wind to start with depending on the wind and cloud cover you can find them as shallow as 4-5 FOW or as deep as 10-12 FOW on the main lake.  When fishing the main lake, shallower water, stick with a jig and minnow (either shiner or rainbow).  If you are rigging in the bays fish have been found anywhere from 20-35 FOW.  Don't be afraid to throw on a jigging spoon or a jiggin rap at these deep water fish as well.  There is still time to get out there and 'Make a memory!' Here on some fish from this week:

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Oct.15th Leech Lake report

The fall bite on Leech Lake continues to be very good.  Nothing fancy needed to put fish in the boat, find a point where the wind is blowing in and fish it!  Pine point, Duck and Ottertail have all been consistent.  1/8th ounce jig, rainbow minnows are all that are needed.  The flats that extend around Goose Island have produced a good mix of keepers and some bigger ones as well.  As the sun peeks out you can hit the deeper structure in Walker Bay with a lindy rig and a rainbow or a redtail to catch some bigger fish.  Key depths, depending on wind and sun, have been 22-35 feet.  While the weather can be frightful at times, you need to get out there to have a chance to make a memory! Here are just a couple of the fish that have seen the inside of an LOA boat this past week:

For more information or tips feel free to email us at jime@leisureoutdooradventures.com or
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Minnesota Musky Guide Report and Photos

Musky bite in Minnesota has been in full swing!  I have had so many great musky guide trips in September and the early part of October it's hard to keep them all straight.  With being apart of a huge tournament win (Read Here), catching one of the largest muskies while filming with In-Fisherman TV, to putting guide clients on their first or biggest muskies it's been a fun ride!  To add to it we have been catching almost every fish on a new lure I designed called the Bigtooth Tackle "KLACK" Bait.  We will be releasing it this spring.  Here are a few highlights...

Enjoy the photos!  Jiggy

In-Fisherman Filming (First fish was caught on the Bigtooth Clack Bait)

Clark Wallace with a Minnesota Giant Fall Musky on the Bigtooth Clack Bait.  Clark and I fished two days together and boated three muskies.  He caught his first figure 8 fish and this giant!

Randy Blake had fished muskies for many years and still was searching for his first 50 incher.  We got the deal done in two days with a 52 incher along with three others including two 49 inchers and one of the prettiest 45 inchers I have seen.

Brett Andrich with his first 50 incher which measured 53.  We caught two others this day along with loosing a monster at the boat.

A three fish guide trip.  Back to Back 47 inchers.  One was a super stoker of a fish.  Fun times!

Father Daughter Duo, Steve and Alyssa, with her first musky.  She said she is ready for a 50 incher now!!!

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Minnesota Walleye Alliance Tourney

It all started with an email, Do you want to fish in the Walleye Alliance tourney with me? I was lucky enough to partner up with fellow LOA teammate/Owner Toby Kvalevog. Toby has fished the Walleye Alliance Classic for about the past 10 years, he has been fortunate enough to to place in the top 10 several times, and take home the title a couple times too. I would be crazy to pass up this opportunity. He kept things simple for me and said “meet me at my house at 545am and I will take care of the rest”. The questions in my head started to mount, what to bring, what to wear, what to eat, etc? It was like I was a kid going on a field trip for the day, but this was serious stuff, I’m fishing in a tournament with a seasoned professional. Now I was getting nervous, what if I knock off a nice fish, what if I lose the big one, etc? The morning arrived, with zero sleep, I was at Toby’s house 5:45am. Toby’s first comment too me was, “ Are you fired up”? That set the tone for the day, I was fired up. We arrived at the landing, I backed in the boat and parked the truck, Toby picked me up at the Elks Camp. The morning was beautiful, light breeze, blue skies and a brisk 44 degrees on the water. The plan for the morning start was for me to use lindy rig with a 6 inch chub with power pro line. Toby had an arsenal of sticks ready, one with a jigging rap, another with a lindy rig, and a jig with a long shank. We baited my hook with the minnow and set it in the live well, I was armed and ready. The first spot we arrived at Toby gave me two rules to remember for the day. Rule number one, we will only fish “marked fish” on the Lowrance. Rule number two, we will not fish memories, please remind me of that all day. That seemed pretty simple. We set ­up on a spot, Toby said there are fish here, let’s get it on. Within minutes, Toby yells fish on, he tells me to drop the rod and grab the net. It was bizarre to me how he was literally standing up and the rod above his head. He said using a jigging rap these walleyes will swim up towards the boat, straight up, so tight lines are key, plus i needed to net this 18.75 inch walleye without knocking it off. Toby said, net it from behind, the small hooks lose fish easy. We are on the board. Within five minutes Toby had another 16 incher in the boat on the same jigging rap, same spot. Talk about excitement, and then it was that moment when I got my first bite. I gave it line, lots of line, heck this was a 6 inch creek chub. Toby reminded me that I need to keep tip up, then start reeling, DO NOT SET HOOK until you feel the fish. I started reeling and fish on, then off. Dang it, I just lost one!! Toby reminded me to slow down and breathe; I was crushed. I asked myself did I cost the team a nice fish? Toby pointed out everything was fine, just slow down on the reel. At that time, Toby yells, fish on, drop your rod and get the net. “This is a monster” he says. Now when a seasoned professional says monster fish,. It sent me into cardiac arrest or caused me a thought to commit a Harry Carey. As he is getting the fish closer to the boat, I see a flash and say, holy sh**! The fish makes a run, at that time Toby feeds it line and reminds me to do the same when I get a big boy today. As the fish surfaces, I get the net under it and we set it in the boat. I was amazed at the size of this walleye, it was huge! It measured just under 29 inches. Toby and I high fived, I was shaking so much I couldn't hold my rod.

When I finally grabbed my rod, which at the time had some dead weight, I gave it line, closed the bail and yelled, fish on. It was now my turn, it wasn't big, but at 14 inches and just like that I was on the board. Meanwhile, Toby was doing surgery on the 28 incher to take the air out of its belly. That way it would live, I didn't have time to watch, I needed to catch fish. It was then I felt the the famous slow pull of a walleye, I went through the steps Toby had taught me and proceeded to lay into another walleye. It was a dandy, it kept fighting, I was doing great as Toby coached me through it, until I decided to pull the fish towards the net man, and clink, fish lost. This was a perfect time for my partner to constructively criticize my poor technique. Toby offered another tip, let the net man come to you. That was the last time I would lose a fish all day, and I made myself a promise to not let the team down again. Still, we had three fish in the tank, with one over 20 inches( AKA “The Hawg”). After we got back on the spot, Toby decided he would catch another dandy, it was 21.5 inches and it was fat. At this point it was about 845 am, and we needed 2 more fish under 20 inches to be in a comfortable spot. I felt a decent a pull on the line and set the hook, “it’s a dandy” I said, Toby reminded me to be disciplined in the fundamentals( the guy sounds like Vince Lombardi). I kept steady, meanwhile I saw it was decent, oh boy, I feed it line as it ran again, here it comes and it was pure adrenaline when we landed it in the net. It was 22.5 inches. Yes, we upgraded, but still need 2 more fishunder 20 inches. We spent the next 45 minutes searching areas, then we spotted more fish, we set down our lines, Toby decided he will use a live rig with a redtails, and BOOM, he says fish on. He is a cool cat under pressure, very disciplined in every facet of tournament fishing. I netted the 19.75 incher and it was bleeding. Toby says, reel up we need to get her into the weigh station. Off we go, Doug Erickson of Walleye Alliance is there and I ran up to the weigh station and it weighed in 2.36lbs. We were officially on the board! Doug yells out to Toby, “hows the day going?” Toby says, “we got a dandy”. Doug smiles like a proud friend would. So we set back out on Pelican lake knowing we have to catch more fish under 20 inches to fill our bag limit for the tourney, yet the pressure of knowing we could win it all started to mount. I jumped back in the boat, we were now on a mission that would cause stress for the next 5 hours. The time was 11am and we had until 4pm to get one under for our 6 fish limit. At this point Toby figured we had close to 16 lbs in our bag, his gut feeling was we needed to get that next fish to seal the deal. We checked about 12 spots and didn't mark a fish on the north end. Then we buzzed to Goat Island, marked a few, missed one on a jig ( even the top dawg misses fish), than we decided to turn on the Vikings game, then look for more fish spots.
We returned to the morning hot spot, found our school, had returned in full force and it was game on! The clock read 3:00 PM and we sensed we still needed that 6th fish, which needed to be under 20 inches. Tap, Tap, thud, my line started to run sideways, I closed the bail, then reeled and set the hook, it was a chunky 4lb largemouth. Then for the next ten minutes we proceeded to catch largemouth after largemouth, which is fun, but they don't sign a check at the end of the day in a walleye tournament. We moved out deeper and Toby said, “lets tail hook those redtails, Hop”. I dropped my line down again and thud, I had a bite , reeled it in, 14 inches, which is too small. Toby proceeded to catch another 14 incher, these were not the fish we needed. The clock read 3:48PM. All of a sudden I got a solid bite, I gave it a good 10 seconds and remembered everything Toby had taught me, when the line tightens up, rod tip in the air, start reeling, feel the fish, set the hook, boom! I said this is decent; best case scenario is it is a 23 or 24, then we upgrade, next best is it is a 17­, 18 maybe 19 incher. The fish surfaces, Toby says, that fish will seal this victory, I know it! And it was just that, 17.75 inches! Toby gives me an atta boy fist pump. I look down at the clock and see 3:54pm, it was time to weigh these walleyes and see if we pulled off the 2013 WAC on Pelican with a shot at the title. The day ended with a 1st place victory. We ended with 17.44lbs, we had the biggest fish of the tourney and we won the calcutta cause we bet on ourselves to win it all. It was a great day, some may say it was luck, others may say it was skill. Whatever you call it is was fun! What I learned about fishing is to find fish, than fish them, with everything in your toolbox. Remember, don't fish memories, because that is the only thing you will catch.

Frank Schneider Memorial Muskie Tournament

2013 Frank Schneider Memorial Muskie Tournament

On September 6,7, and 8^th over 500 anglers competed for the top prize in the Frank Schneider Memorial Muskie Tournaments on 20 different lakes in Northern Minnesota. 

LOA Guide Jeff  “Jiggy” Andersen, his brother Joe Andersen and friend/fellow musky guide John Hoyer competed. The tournament is an individual tournament, which allows you to fish with as many anglers in one boat as you choose.   The team ran a  fully prepped Lund 2010 Pro Guide powered by 200 hp Mercury Verado.

The trio started the morning off with John catching a 41 incher 20 minutes into the tournament.  Joe later in the morning then caught two muskies back to back, which were 42.5 and 44 inches.  After the morning bite slowed guide Jiggy Andersen made the call to transition to a different location, which proved to be the right call as Joe set the hook on a beautiful 47 incher.  After day one Joe was sitting in second place.  “I’m blessed to be able to fish these waters on a consistent basis and understand with changing conditions, you as an angler, have to also make adjustments” Guide Jiggy Andersen.

Day #2 the bite had slowed with calm winds as there was only 9 total registered muskies caught out of the over 500 musky anglers.  Joe was one of them with a 40.5 incher.  The trio also boated 2 short fish measuring 36 and 38.5 inches.  Joe moved to first place in the tournament.

Day #3 clouds came and the wind blew.  “We knew the bite was going to be game on and felt Joe needed another fish to take home the gold.”  Said fishing partner John Hoyer.  The anglers failed to convert three good opportunities and did not land a musky for the shortened day.

Despite their failed efforts at catching a musky the final day, Joe took home first place in one of the largest musky tournaments in musky fishing. 

“It’s a huge honor to win such a big event!  I just sat in the front of Jiggy’s boat and casted where he told me to.”  Said champion Joe Andersen.

“We made on the water decisions as a team, mistakes as a team, and ultimately Joe came home with the win!  In reality with the bites and lost fish, all three of us should have been in the top 10 but, that’s musky fishing!”  Explained previous champ and renowned fishing guide Jeff “Jiggy” Andersen 

The anglers used a new prototype bucktail made by Bigtooth Tackle called the JUICE Series of Musky Bucktails.  "It was amazing to see how these muskies chowed this bait even in tough conditions!" Said Champion Joe Andersen.  Click Here to See more about this winning Musky Bucktail! 

Top Three

1^st Joe Andersen 42.5, 44, 47, 40.5

2^nd Tony Sommerfeld 50, 49, 44

3^rd Stephan Nielson 52.5, 47

Boat Control

All Around Boat control

With the brisk North winds cool water temps are just around the corner.  Yes!  The fall bite will soon be upon us and that means hungry walleyes.  A key factor to catching deep midlake or strong wind swept shoreline walleyes is “spot on” boat control.

“Getting There”
Where beastly winds blow, hawg belly walleyes will follow.  However, getting there can be tricky.  Sure, you can go Ricky Bobby like and just go straight on into the teeth of the wind and take the pounding that comes with it.  But, a better alternative is to quarter into the waves.  The idea here is to go at angle so you can still stay stay dry but reduce the pounding you and your fellow anglers take.  Boats do make a difference and a Lund is tough to beat in big waves; I’ve actually seen waves turn and run when they see a Pro-V hull headed their way.  So much of driving in rough water is a little ebb and flow and the power of a Mercury Verado combined with it’s instant throttle response will  allow you to conquer the waves.  LOA Guide, Jeff “Jiggy” Andersen, says, “It doesn’t matter what species you are fishing if your bait isn’t where they live, you can’t catch them.”  He relies on the Lund 2010 Pro Guide powered by 200hp Mercury Verado Tiller.  “A combination that allows me to fish effectively in all conditions!”  says Jiggy.  

“On the Spot.”   
No better way to tame waves and put fish in the boat than to backtroll.  Rigging, jigging, rippin Jiggin raps, all presentations work when backtrolling.  When sitting over a school of fish or sliding over a few feet to find where they moved, backtrolling keeps you safe.  To enhance our backtrolling, we pair our Lund/Mercury boats with Whitecap Splashguards to create the ultimate backtrolling machine.  No matter if it is using the big tiller Verado, the stout 101 MinnKota Vantage, or a 9.9HP Mercury Kicker motor, Whitecap Splashguards are custom fit for unparalleled performance!  LOA Guide Toby Kvalevog states  “I love rigging big minnows on midlake structure.  Targeting inside turns, transitions, etc and there are days if my bait is off by a foot we aren't catching em’.  Backtrolling offers me the precision I need while allowing me to be mobile as well.

Beastly winds will be there in your pursuit of the fish of a lifetime or just going after some eaters.  Utilizing boat control to get there and stay on the spot will help separate you from the crowd!