There is something to be said about the special bonds and memories that are made over years of fishing and time on the water. The following is a blog composed by Mark Kirschner, long time LOA friend and client as he eagerly awaits this coming weekends guide trips. It paints the picture of the anticipation leading up to a monster Walleye trip in LOA country.
Mark's Story....
So I sit here on Father’s Day, one week before my semi-annual trip with my son to Leech Lake to fish with
my friend and world class guide Toby, excited for the trip, yet knowing this will be one of the LONGEST weeks of my life just waiting to load up and head North.
When I was a kid, my family often took a week long summer fishing trip to Minnesota, usually spending a week in a cabin on Lake Winni, once to Lake of the Woods. It was a fun week for a “city” kid spending a week in a cabin “roughing it” as my dad would say, fishing, cleaning fish in a screened cleaning hut, no TV, to bed early, up early, actually enjoying each other and the peace and quiet of the lake country.
Those trips stopped as I got older, became a typical teenager and wanted nothing to do with a vacation with my parents, we got busy with school, sports, etc. Then many years later I rediscovered the beauty of Minnesota lake life when my youngest daughter began visiting a summer camp in Nisswa with a friend. Those trips soon turned into extended trips before or after camp with parts or all of our family. Now as my kids have gotten older (the youngest turning 21 next month), those trips have again become difficult to get the entire family headed in one direction at the same time with school, jobs, and the like.
However, what HAS become a tradition that I hold dearly is a late June and a late September fishing weekend with my son (26 now) to Leech Lake to fish with Toby and stay at Chase on the Lake. These are so important to me that I book our June trips in early January and our September trip as soon as we leave in June, just to be able to get on Toby’s calendar and to be fishing at what we have determined to be the best times of the year for walleye. When you drive 10+ hours from home and have a few precious weekends per year to spend quality time on the water with your son, fishing for what we consider to be our favorite fish to catch, I want to make sure I maximize our chances for success. Sure we fish plenty of day trips close to home for bass, whites and crappie, but fishing for walleye in Minnesota is our passion.
So as we’ve been at this for several years now, and as it gets more and more difficult to schedule around
my adult son’s schedule and commitments, I realize that as much as I enjoyed my time as a child fishing with my dad, that he likely enjoyed it ten times as much as I did. It’s funny the things that you are able to see through your parents eyes as you become a parent. My dad turned 90 this year and I’d bet you he could still tell me every detail of those fishing trips to Lake Winni 40+ years ago. I can only hope that I helped make those trips as memorable to him as my son does for me. When not with Toby, my son Matt is my full time fishing partner, guide and expert.
So as I get things ready at both work and home to be away for a few days, this will certainly be one of THE longest weeks of my year as I wait to get in car and head North later this week.
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For all of our guides what motivates us all year long is this anticipation that our clients have that causes them to count down the days on the calendar for when they come North to fish with us. It this very thing that drives us to jump out of bed early on a summer morning and makes us eager with excitement as we put our boats in the water geared up for another memorable day. As a guide service we are about being first class and giving people the ultimate experience. So many of our customers are like Mark and constantly are thinking about their next trip back to the North Country. For some it is about that father/son trip, family outings, and so many other bonds and friendships that give people the opportunity to spend the day in the boat together. For these people, we know that this is "their day, their time on the water, their chance to make a memory". It is this that motivates us as Leisure Outdoor Adventures Fishing Guides all year long. The goal and mission each and every trip is to make it special and one that our customers and clients will forever remember from the time they book with us on the phone to the hand shake at the dock, the fish coming over the side of the boat, the first walleye ever caught, personal bests, and the final laughs, memories, and good byes from another awesome day on the water.
We want to personally thank Mark and all of our customers both long time and new for giving us the opportunity to make your trip one that is full of hook sets and memories! We want to thank you if you have already fished with us this year and if you haven't we can't wait to see you.
The Leisure Outdoor Adventures Guide Team
