Back for my Ocober fishing trip to Bay Store Camp.

[DSmith]

It seemed like an eternity for October to return and do my annual fall trip with Frank. We will swap many stories along with some political comments over the next few days. We will also take time to fish especially Muskie. Most effort will be directed at trolling with Frank at the helm as captain with John and I sharing the title of first mate or some will say deck hands. Anything to be successful. I will add updates each day unless I fall asleep with my fingers on the keyboard.

Arrived at Franks at 13:30 Thursday and after unloading my boat and storing gear in camp we headed out just to fish bait fish to Frank. He agreed to come along if he could take a nap in my lounge chair. Of course I agreed. After securing 3 big scoops of Minnows and 3 rods we finally started fishing about 14:15 in a spot we all know. THE GAP! They were in a biting mood and we got our keepers in a short time. The second location was in Tug Channel and we started to find quality Perch the largest being 14". The third stop for the short afternoon was on the way back to camp, I do not know its name, where we caught more Perch and 1 Crappie. I estimate our total catch was nearly 140 Walleyes, 20 Perch, 1 Crappie and 4 Pike. Not bad totals and still back in camp at 17:30.

Today will be the real test. BTW, from what I hear, in excess of 10 Muskies are caught each day by Franks customers. Several days are near 20.I don't dare to reveal their names because they might want to remain anonymous. How can you not come up this time of year.

[DSmith]

I can't believe that it is Saturday evening already. What an exciting 2 days of Muskie fishing we have had. If you never visited Lake of the Woods in the October you should do so. It is not for the faint of heart considering the weather you can actually have. We have been fortunate to have mostly sunny days with highs in the low 50's but the mornings are a little chilly with lots of frost.
Friday we trolled, trolled and trolled some more. I do not know how Frank does it but he is usually asleep by 9 PM. We managed to catch 5 nice Pike and 3 nice Muskies. Needless to say, we forgot to sharpen our hooks, and lost 4 muskies. One very nice one.
Today, again trolling, we caught 4 Muskies and 3 Pike. Our numbers are getting better each day so tomorrow should be 5+ but we shall see. We did have 2 bell ringers in camp this evening by one of Franks most loyal customers. Tim and his brother caught back to back, within 300 feet, a 50.5 and a 53.5. Both are their personal best and congratulations to them both.
Frank and I had to go out at dark and pull a boat off the rocks near Cyclone. It appears that they were taking care of a fish and the wind pushed them on a rock. A call was made to Laura and the rescue was on. Hopefully there was no damage to the boat with the exception of a few scratches. The motor ran fine back to the dock and they were relieved to be back at Bay Store Camp. It was just a minor thing and realize that it could happen to any one of us.
More gossip tomorrrow.

[Tim Kelly]

Sounds like a great trip so far. Keep whacking them, and get that yellow handled file on those hook points!

[NETim]

Does a red handled file work too? We even caught fish yesterday. Well I'm just the guide. My wife did. Today's my turn.

[dpear]

Wow!Congrats to Tim and his brother.Well deserved as well-few put the time,thought and effort in Tim does.

[Tim Kelly]

The red handle file is OK if you want to catch snot rockets. Yellow all the way for 'skies.

[fishwizard]

DSmith,
You have no idea how painful it is not to be up there right now. This IS the last year I won't be there in October. I graduate in May, so once I start actually getting paid for my time again I will be back in Frank's loyal customer ranks.

Ryan

[musky3]

Thanks Dick, We are having a good week -- It is a lot better being here than reading these from home. We are having a good week so far. We caught some nice ones yesterday. Hopefully the weather will hold. Mark had a good week last fishing week but uncomfortable with the wind in the beginning. Just for the record it is David up here this week -- he got the 50.5 and was happy to net my 53.5. He happily redeemed himself from his netting mishap this spring. (and Mark SYPH).

[dpear]

Super!Hi to all.
Send a pic(s)when done.

[musky1969]

Yes Tim it does suck. LOL great job on the fish!! I try not to look at this forum thinking no one is catching anything, and I am not missing out but I can't damit !! Be safe and catch a couple for me and Carol.
D

[DSmith]

Sunday started off with a very heavy frost which made some interesting sliding on the walkway including the dock. At my age, I nearly forgot how to run and slide at the same time. Maybe I should call it the Bay Store Shuffle. Next year chains will be in my fishing gear. The morning was crisp and beautiful so was the thermos of coffee we needed to warm up. The day started a little slow but did pick up until noon and then all stopped. We netted 2 muskies and numerous pike for our adventure. Frank did net a pike for me so it could be measured and proclamed that he would never do that again. Especially since it did not make the 40" mark and twisted up the net. We also had to cut the 3 hooks off the lure. Close but no prize. I do believe that everyone in camp caught at least 1muskie with of course the winner being Tim. What a machine. We might change plans tomorrow on my final day. Frank will be excited to see what I suggest.

[DSmith]

Monday was the best weather of the trip. Virtually no wind and partly cloudy skies. The morning was slow for us so I asked Frank if he wanted to fish out of my boat for Walleyes. The look was worth a thousand words. Everyone knows what I am talking about. After having lunch back at Franks we ventured northeast and only fished 1 spot for about 2 hours. Guess what! They were stacked in a small area about twice the size of Franks floating docks. We used all our minnows and most of the crawlers. Then had to resort to imitation bait to finish out the time he gave us. No kidding we had to catch over 200 Walleye with the largest, caught by Frank, 23" of pure fighting machine. He will never admit to having a good time but his laughs and comments should be shared by all. It was time to head back to camp and since I was the captain, my customer decided to take a nap. He was extremely tired out after all the fish he caught.

I also forgot to show Franks new remote cabin on Cyclone Island and we named it THE LOVE SHACK

Thank you to Laura and Frank for another memorable vacation to your special place. Congratulations to all the sportsmen and sportswomen that were there during my stay. Good luck and keep Frank in line.

[Tim Kelly]

Sounds like a great trip! We all know Frank's a closet walleye angler...



I try to keep up with the zander we get over here, but can't match Frank's skills.

[DSmith]

Great Walleye Tim. I know that the Pike is nothing compared to what you catch but it is nice anyways.

[Tim Kelly]

All fish are good fish (except maybe small pike, rock bass and snakehead!) Those are some nice pike there Mr Smith.

[RASPUTIN]

Dick, Thanks for the report and pictures. You make us all jealous, but it also brings back great memories of our times there.
"The Nebraska Girl"

[fishwizard]

So... just how many of us huskers are there on this site? Really makes me wonder, how the Omaha BS&T show could have been so un-worth while for Frank a few years back? I know, the fibs probably dominate, but I'm sure the 'Sotans and the Cheese Heads are pretty close.

Dick, thanks for the reports, even if they only miss the Walshes and the best lake on the planet more than I care to tollerate.

Ryan

[RASPUTIN]

Alas, alack the huskers lack an attack. The spartans will leave the huskers longing for the old big six.

Rock bass are hard to catch. Only an "expert" can hook a wiley rock bass.
Uncle frank knows how to find them, but even he can not bring one into the boat.

Sincerely, mr. Rasputin

[NETim]

Huskers win!! Boy was I wrong!

Anyway, best fish of the trip. 48" 10/27/11

Not a fifty, but I'm obviously happy. (Note the hat. A word to the wise. It WILL be next year's fashion craze. Get yours while you can.)

[fishwizard]

Nice fish Tim! I'd take a 48" like that any day. It sure looks like a beautiful October day in the background.

Indeed, Go Huskers! Finally a game where the team actually executed their game plan. Reminded me of the good old days. Hopefully with the tough road ahead we can get that same team to show up to the rest of the games.

Ryan

[NETim]

Nice fish Tim! I'd take a 48" like that any day. It sure looks like a beautiful October day in the background.

Indeed, Go Huskers! Finally a game where the team actually executed their game plan. Reminded me of the good old days. Hopefully with the tough road ahead we can get that same team to show up to the rest of the games.

Ryan

Yes, it was a beautiful fall day. Fog kept us in 'til noon, then rolled back in after we got out on the lake. Fortunately it lifted a short time later.

But it came back when we wanted to leave Saturday morning to go home. Thank God for GPS.

[dpear]

Nice fish Tim,congrats!Are you sure it wasn't on Rachel's rod though?
As to the hat,well think you have to be a husker to wear it.

[NETim]

Thanks Dick. That 50 is really going to mean a lot to me when I FINALLY get one. I'll blunder into one eventually.

Rachel's best was this 40.5":



Unfortunately she is hampered by a 2nd rate guide. But we have a good time out there, which I think is what it's all about.

And she's wearing a red hat too, but it's not NEARLY the bold fashion statement that mine makes.

[dpear]

Good on her.
It's clear who has taste in the family.

[Illinois Dennis]

Dick S,
I've been away for awhile. I figured I'd get the fellow FIB Darren & Carol Show second half, but guess they were canceled this season.

I really enjoyed your report; great times!

Thanks for sharing,
Dennis

[DSmith]

Nice pair of Muskie Tim and Rachel. Nice to finally meet you in person. Our paths will cross again. I can't believe that you are finally online again Dennis. I hope that everything has been good with you as your posts are fun to read. We trolled your favorite spot and nothing showed up when we were there. The way the weather has been lately it has been warmer at LOTW than in Omaha. If I had the time, Frank would have seen me one more time. Now my boat is winterized and in storage for the remainder of the year. Unless of course the southern waters call me. I think that Darren was up at Franks a week ago.

[musky1969]

Just got home last night, boy had some July's with colder weather then we had, water temps last Sat in front of Oak 47 water temps this Friday same spot 45.5 don't even think the whitefish are moving in yet to spawn. We caught fish but never seen soooo many in the 33" to 38" range caught on 10" jakes in my life. LOL good for the future of LOTW so many small fish, and yes Carol caught more then me but she could not beat my 49" .
If any one has the chance to get up there I think the hot bite with the BIG girls are still coming, yes there where a few caught in camp but not like it should be this time of year who would of thought the water temp is what it should be in Mid Oct.
But we did catch fish and we where at the Best little musky camp in the world and NO boat problems YA!!!! so it was great.
Darren

[tompellant]

Tim, nice to meet you at Camp but it sounded like we left a day to soon. Do you have pics of the big fish ?

[Illinois Dennis]

Mr. Smith, I got out early for good behavior, belief that?

Darren, I figured you just canceled the fall trip. Glad you and Carol made it up this year. Hard to figure out when the hot troll time is these days. I bet Frank would welcome the visits on short notice when the big bite is on. I hear that is a great way to plan a trip.... one day's notice. Might have some good moon coming up soon.