Enhance Your Trip Experience

Million dollars view from our Root Bay trip

In my opinion your fishing trip experience is going to be magical. A few days getting back to nature, spending time with friends and family is a special treat. Everyone has their own way of enjoying these outings, but I thought I would share 3 that have really become favorites of mine

Use Every Lure in Your Box

My first fly in trip was awesome Pickle Lake w White River Air I caught more fish in the first few days than I had in years fishing at home. As the week rolled on, we pinpointed quite a few spots where we could drift, troll or cast for walleye and pike with success. Midway through I realized that finesse was not required on this lake, this week so I started to really make my way through my lure selection. After reeling in a feisty little pike on a swimbait I had never used before I thought - I am going to catch a fish on every lure I brought! I cannot accurately confirm if every lure hooked up, but I can definitely say about 80% of them did. Why bother? For me it was about building confidence in other lures or tactics. While I read lots of articles on rigging swimbaits on a bullet jig, I had never really given it a chance. On the lakes I was used to fishing bites were few and far between and I quickly lost confidence and went to an old standby. Gaining confidence on that trip as well as subsequent ones has allowed me to be a better angler when I am back at home – my PB walleye on my home lake was caught on a swimbait and bullet head jig! Give it a whirl – it can help you become a better angler and its fun!

Mark with a nice pike caught on a drop shot rig - his first time ever trying that set up

Have a Concert on the Dock

I am not 100% sure which trip kicked off this tradition – I believe it was our first fly in, but it does not really matter. As someone who grew up in and still lives within a big city, I love how remote our trips are. No lights, cars or other white noise other than loons, frogs and crickets. One trip it had been overcast and cloudy all week. Great for walleye, bad for seeing the stars. Mid-week it cleared up and sitting around the fire we were amazed by the sheer volume and brightness of the stars. We may or may not have been a few beers in, but we decided to head down to the dock with fresh drinks and our portable speaker and have a concert on the dock. Its still one of my fondest memories and has now become a tradition! Cold beer, Pink Floyd and a live light show – nothing better

The view from the dock - you can almost hear Comfortably Numb in the background

Burn a Swedish Fire Log

Full disclosure = our technique is probably not Stockholm approved. We love our campfires Campfire Magic As long as the weather cooperates, we have one every night we are in camp. When we were at Shekak Lake Shekak Lake Trip Report someone found a Swedish Fire log precut out by the wood pile. A Swedish fire log is a full log which has been cut into quarter sections without going through the entire log. It is a great cooking platform but for us we really just liked the way it burned (Yes, we are quite simple folk) On our next trip we didn’t have access to a chain saw but it didn’t stop us. We took precut quarters and bound them with some wire and voila - our own variation of the Swedish Fire Log. The tradition has lived on – last trip the log took a while to get going, I had hoped to make an instructional video but it kind of fell apart (but provided a ton of laughs and banter) It’s a simple thing but I think if you love a good fire, it will be worth your while to give it a try.

The Swedish Fire log in action

So, there you go = 3 things you may want to try on your next trip or your first. Catching fish is important and a big reason I love these trips but so are campfires, trying new things, enjoying nature and listening to the silence.

Cheers

Andrew