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    Happy birthday. Hope you have a good day. Jim
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About mnbandy

Basic Information


Date of Birth
July 19, 1967 (56)
About mnbandy
Location:
Minnesota
Interests:
Gardening, Bandy, triathlon
Occupation:
Financial Services - Operations

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Most Recent Message
07-19-2009 01:21 PM
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03-09-2010 12:53 AM
Join Date
12-01-2007
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View mnbandy's Blog

Recent Entries

Rocky II

by mnbandy on 06-08-2009 at 12:33 PM
It was cool, cloudy and breezy (more like April than June) this weekend, but it made for a a quiet lake and I took advantage of the situation.

I got out twice in search of both some sport (Bass) and dinner (Bluegill), and had decent success at both. I used a rattled frog for the bass, and both a SHWEPF (?) and a fuzzy black leech for the panfish. The fish, though, didn't understand the strategy, and I caught two of the bigger bluegills on the big frog and the nicest largemouth on the leech. The rock bass were also active, mostly on the surface, and I caught what I think is the largest Rocky I've ever landed (probably 1.5 pounds). I released him, and all the largemouth, but between the two days I saved 9 bluegills and one rock bass for lunch/dinner, and they were delicious in a cajun shore lunch batter.

Pictures coming shortly...

Have a great week.
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Mixed Bag

by mnbandy on 06-04-2009 at 01:21 PM
Our Memorial Day weekend on the lake was wonderful - full of family, friends, good weather, and great food & drink. However, it left precious little time to fish. Once everyone had cleared out on Monday afternoon, however, I ignored the threatening clouds, scoped the bay for some spots where the wind wouldn't flip my canoe, and headed out with my 3- and 4-weights.

Despite (or perhaps because of) a front that had just blown in, the fish were very active. Bluegill and large mouth were hitting my small surface poppers, and bluegills, rock bass, and even a northern pike were landed on the sinking line/Crappie Candy combo. the only thing that I didn't catch, of course, were the crappies I had set out to find.

Landing the northern pike on the 4-weight was a lot of fun, even though it was quite small (2-3 pounds). I was already fileting it in my mind when he flipped free from my hands just as I was aiming him for my bucket and returned to the lake. But no matter - I brought in 5 medium bluegill and a big rock bass and cleaned them before we headed for home and the work week.

Happy summer to all!
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August Muskies

by mnbandy on 08-22-2008 at 05:02 PM
I skipped out of work at about 315pm yesterday to meet my friend and head to a Twin Cities area lake for some hot-n-muggy muskie fishing. We figuired now is the time they are getting into the shallows, so it would be an ideal evening for trying to get one on a fly (my first attempt at the "fish of a thousand casts" with a fly rod). He fished with his baitcaster, and I with a frighteningly scrawny looking (when compared to the monster fish we were stalking) 9 wt. The wind was strong at first, and casting my white mouse to any distance was proving to be a challenge. A shoulder (rotator cuff? I dunno, I still need to get to a doctor) injury was making it even tougher, but the bottles of beer aided that. Within a few minutes we saw a follow - a small wake and a flash of white. No bites were fothcoming, so after another half an hour, we took a break to flip jigs into some cattails and my friend landed two nice largemouths (he, being a top bass fisherman in Minnesota, always outfishes me badly, but I'm used to it).

We then headed to the calmer side of the lake, and within a few minutes, my friend had a nice near-strike, as an estimated 40+ inch muskie slashed at his spinner bait without taking it fully. Before it splashed, we could see the torpedo-like wake and tip of the tail behind the lure. Nice. We kept at it, and had a couple more follows and one enourmous strike (my friend promised it was at least a 50 inch fish - I am not expert enough to agree with or dispute his assertion). Nothing in the boat, though.

Just before dark, I hooked a fish on my fly, but I knew immediately it wasn't a muskie - too calm! I had a decent largemouth hooked, but he spit it before I got him (or her, not sure) to the boat.

We went to the landing, and as I went to retrieve the truck, my friend pushed back and threw a few more casts. He got a strike, and hooked into a small (10 pound estimate) muskie, but before he could land it, it also spit the hook. When he told me, I had to admit to being glad; if he had landed the lone muskie of the evening while I was fetching his truck, there could ahve been hard feelings!

Anyway, it was a wonderful evening, despite the dearth of fish landings. It made me even more determined to get my first muskie on-the-fly this season. I'll be sure to post the news and photos when it occurs!

Be well, friends!
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Tyin', Sweatin', Fishin'....Failin'

by mnbandy on 07-29-2008 at 12:30 PM
After my Saturday evening attempt to catch some walleye (Lindy jigs, not flies) resulted in catching every species in the lake except walleye (the most interesting of which was a nice black crappie on a spot I hadn't tried before), I spent the wee hours tying some Al Campbell Crappie Candy, and headed out in the morning to give it a try.

It was hot and humid, even at 7am, and even the ubiquitous bluegills seemed to groggy to feed, though they chased the candy incessantly. Having no crappie results, I returned to the dock with the highlight of the morning being the sight of four beautiful green herons perched on a boat lift as they scouted for fish.

We'll give it a more concerted effort this weekend...

Be well.
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Fun without Fish?

by mnbandy on 07-21-2008 at 01:39 PM
Although I enjoyed a wonderful weekend at the lake, I didn't actually do any fishing, due to a combination of weather, other commitments, and, well, sort of just the way things worked out. I did, however, spend plenty of time messing with my fishing equipment - I recently got some new sinking line that I spooled up, and did other putzing and maintenance, as well (especially during the downpours Saturday).

In addition to fishing, I do triathlons, and on Sunday morning, I took advantage of the nice weather and relatively little boat traffic on our bay to go for a one mile training swim. Our lake is blessed with 20 foot clarity, so in addition to a good workout, I get a fun "up close" view of the goings-on underwater. Not 30 feet from my starting point at my dock, I found myself directly above a school of 1-2 pound walleyes - the first I have ever seen "in person" ("in fish"?) at our lake, though I knew there were plenty in there. I had never thought we ahd a particularly great walleye population, but just the day before I spotted these a collegaue on our lake association board said he and his friend caught a 34 inch walleye through the ice a couple years back, and that there are actually some very nice specimens in the lake. Spotting these guys on my swim got me excited to try to catch one, so that will be my project next weekend. If I resort to non-flying techniques, I'll be sure to omit all discussion of it from my next blog!

Have a great week.....
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