Christmas, Ness Style

Ok, so a dew rag and a pink guitar may not be part of your Christmas but it works for us. Grandma took this picture. I think grandpa was makin' a highball and who knows where John was....
Fishin' report: The nice walleyes still elude us. Picked up two small ones Friday night and Johnny lost a hog Saturday night. For you non-fisherman, a "hog" is a big, @^%#^&!!*# walleye!
I went out tonight and picked up a small walleye at 5:00. I settled in, reading my book, and expected great things. At 5:30 I decided to head in for some dinner. I pulled up both lines and there wasn't a minnow on either... Oh well, at least I was enjoying my new book on John Lennon.
Next weekend we've got some "real" fishermen coming up. Maybe Stone and Uwe will catch something for a change....

For What It's Worth.....

Ice fishin' has been slow as usual. I think we've caught 5 or 6 little walleyes and one keeper. Haven't put out a tip up yet this year. It's either been too cold or those lovely 25 mph NW winds kinda take the fun out of trying to man a tip up.
It hit 27 below last week and there's so much snow on the lake, I haven't the foggiest idea how I'll ever get "The Hotel" off the lake. A problem for another day...
Now that I'm through complaining, I got a Christmas card from an old compadre of mine who I worked with in the cities. She had told me a while back that she had terminal lung cancer. Well, in her card she wrote that she was almost through with her latest rounds of treatments and the doctors think she can live one to two more years. She was all pumped up about that.
And I'm worried about getting an ice house off the lake.....

The Hotel California!

Ok, Ok, I haven't been posting lately but I have been staying busy.
Deer hunting was fun as always. We only got 1 deer but the fun is being in the woods and hanging out with a great group of guys. It's just too bad it's just for a few days...
We did our annual Thanksgiving weekend grouse hunt. I've discovered where the grouse like to hang out but they still don't like to fly in the direction I'm shooting. Johnny dumped one but we couldn't find it. One for the coyotes I guess. What we need is "InstantDog". Just add water...
So, yesterday broke with 25 mph winds and a temperature of 8 degrees. T'was a fine day to launch "The Hotel California"! To say it was cold was an understatement but I wanted to be ready to fish by evening. I caught the obligatory 2 northerns so decided to sleep in this morning. Tonight I was joined by "The Great Indoorsman". We caught those same 2 northerns and 3 small walleyes. Too small to keep but it beat looking at northern teeth.
Last year I caught 5 little walleyes and that was it. Hope springs eternal so may this year??? This is the earliest I've ever got the hotel out so maybe, just maybe...
We'll be out there again tomorrow night. If nothing else, I'm stubborn, or so I'm told.....

Black Ice, Deer Hunting and Pvt. Malone

Thought I might not make it to deer camp this year...
I took today off as my aunt passed away and I was planning on driving down to Howard Lake for the funeral. Weather wasn't so hot but figured it was worth the drive. I got on 94, the road looked good so I put a cd in the Trailblazer and headed on down the freeway. I had just passed the Evansville exit, doing 60 mph when I hit the black ice. I hit the center ditch, doing 60, sideways. I went down through the ditch, up the other side and then back down and up the other side. I was turning the wheel every which way trying to keep from flipping the truck. I ended up down in the middle. I gunned the truck, threw it in all wheel drive, cattails and mud flying everywhere and started to climb up to the freeway. That's when I saw the rental truck bearing down on me. Fortunately, he had seen my predicament and some how managed to slow down enough to allow me to whip up back onto the freeway. I somehow managed to slide over to the right lane so he could get by me. He did a good job just to miss me. Thanks guy...
I saw people sliding around in the west bound lane as well so decided to get off the freeway at the next exit (6 miles down the road). I put the Trailblazer in 4 wheel drive and crawled home on the back roads. Took an hour to go 20 miles.
It's true what they say. Everthing was in slow motion. I remember thinking that Trailblazers are top heavy and that I had to get the truck out of two wheel drive to get out of that water.
Looking back, that truck should have flipped over at least three different times. Why it didn't I'll never know. Maybe it wasn't my time. Maybe I had a co-pilot.....
Guess I'll be deer hunting in a couple weeks....

Kurt and Dewey go a huntin' (Round Two)

When I discovered the Minnesota deer hunting didn't open up until the second Saturday in November, I decided to take another crack at that elusive quarry, the grouse. Since my normal spot hasn't been overly productive this fall, we decided to hunt north of Mora, in some spots I've hunted off and on over the last 30 years or so. We had stopped going up there after only flushing three birds two years ago.
Well, those three birds must have laid a ton of eggs as we flushed more birds than I had flushed up there in many years. Some flew out of pine trees, some flushed well ahead of us and, of course, some flew in a direction different than that in which we were shooting. We did, however, manage to bring home two.
T'was a great day, great weather, lots of birds to chase and a good time spent with an old friend. It's a shame we don't do that more often.......

The Fat Lady Never Had A Chance...(A.K.A. Kurt And Dewey Go A Huntin')

Ok, Ok, enough about the Fat Lady!
After giving the grouse, and myself, a two week rest it was time to go after that elusive quarry again.
Having discovered that new secret spot where Walker shot his bird, I came up with a marvelous plan. I decided to hunt it first thing and again right before we headed home. Well, we hadn't walked but 100 yards and Kurt got one running around in the berries. It was 7:55 and the skunk was already over. It was going to be a wonderful day! Well, 6 hours later after walking many miles and only flushing 4 more birds (none of which flew in the direction we were shooting), we harkened back to our secret berry patch. This time one flushed in front of The Old Norwegian and I actually had to shoot it out of the air! Must be those new contacts I just got. We jumped yet another bird on the way back to the truck but once again, it flew in a different direction than we were shooting. That's ok. You have to leave some brood stock. At least, that's my story...

45 Years Ago....

Yeah, Jim and I go back a long way. 8th grade in fact. He and his daughter Cailin (my goddaughter) blew into town Monday and I drove down for dinner.
It's amazing how people can lead such diverse lives but when they get together, they talk as though they've never been apart. I guess that's what makes good friends and for that I am a lucky man.
Just remember what I said Jim. I don't ski and you don't hunt but there's plenty of trails to hike and mountains (small ones I hope), to climb....And you know, I never forget.
On a much more serious note, I think Jim was standing on his tip toes during this picture as I always remember being taller than him......