John,
I got up to AML for some of the last of the fall fishing last week. It was just me and Herbie at camp, with Julian bringing us food in the mornings and chatting evenings when he could make it between kid's hockey and preparation for the upcoming deer hunt. The weather was challenging, but good for fishing if you had the right gear. It was in the 20s at night and about freezing during the day, often with snow squalls and high winds. Fortunately for me, Herbie was handling the boat, so I was where I needed to be on every spot, even when we had big rollers with whitecaps. The first day we took a chance on favorable winds and went east to Coleman's. At moonset I raised three different fish on Heiting's and we boated a fat 48 incher. It then shut down hard for the day and we fished all that beautiful structure without seeing any more fish. The next day, big winds and snow made it clear that we were fishing close to home and that turned out to be the right choice. On one pass through Strawberry I got two low 40s fish before we moved over to a little bar in VB that produced a 47, 50 and 53. We kept starting the structure over after each fish and then getting another, bigger one. The big girl was a brute, with rolls of fat, and boating her in big wind had us high as kites. We moved back to Strawberry and I got another 50 that ate a jointed perch Depth Raider. I told Herbie I was hooked up and he said, "Any size?" and I was completely delighted when the fish came up and I could say, "Yep, looks like another big one." That day was probably the best of my musky fishing life so far. The next day seemed tough by comparison, but I raised a good fish that just showed her tail at boatside and Herbie kept us on the spot until she ate a sucker. It was another 50 off Strawberry. I got two more that day, including another one that ate the Depth Raider. At that point we were basically out of suckers and the suppliers couldn't fly out to get more due to the tough winds and snow, so we went for a home run the fourth day, trolling all around Portage with big Jakes. I got a nice pike, but that was the only fish we saw that day. The fifth day was more of the same weather, but with good suckers again. I got two mid-40s fish and caught a gorgeous, big lake trout all in spawning colors that ate a Triple-D out in Bear Narrows. The last day, the wind went up to 50 and the waves were downright dangerous. With the wind chill, reels began to freeze and the deck was getting icy. Somehow, Herbie handled the boat perfectly and I got a small fish at boatside on Musky Point to cap off a tremendous trip. Most of the action was on suckers, so it was a tremendous advantage to be with the foremost practitioner of that art. It was very wild and beautiful, there was almost nobody else around, and Cabin #2 is luxury accommodations when it gets cold out. Herbie, I will always remember the flight of swans we saw over Heiting's, the burned pizza for supper and the steak on the lake the next day, and the way we felt as the fish count was climbing to six on that magic day in Vermilion Bay. Thanks for everything.
Bill