6-16-04 - A regular guest at Renee's house.

Looking out over one of the many bays that makes up Minnetonka.

I was SURE this would hold something...but all I saw rooting around were carp.

Gull Lake was big and windy!

Just another look at Gull Lake...wind made fly casting fun..even with my 9wt.

Sunset over Sugar Lake.

6-19-04 - I knew that annual Minnesota License would pay off....

Waters Fished: Lake Minnetonka, Gull Lake, Sugar Lake
Fish Caught: 2
Outing Date: 6-19-04
Weather: Gorgeous
Air Temp: 60-70's
Water Temp: didn't bother
Water Level: up
Water Color: Minnetonka was stained with fine particulate debris, 2 foot visibility; Gull Lake was clear, slightly stained, Sugar Lake was crystal and slightly stained
Fish Species: Carp, Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, Rock Bass
Pattern Fished: Flying bunnies and such
Pattern Color: Black & Olive
Fishing Quality: Can't get to the fish!

So the story goes like this. Renee (the woman I've been seeing lately) asks me to go to a wedding in Minnesota with her. HMM. An entire weekend. She quickly added that her folks live on Minnetonka, and her grandmother lives on Sugar Lake. In other words, Renee is a smart woman...she got me to go by baiting me with a sure thing...I can fish ;)

After a quick flight and a good night's rest, I got up and scoped out Lake Minnetonka. Fair visibility from the standpoint of what I normally see out my back door (Lake Como). There was PLENTY of activity....aka. CARP running around and jumping everywhere. Of course these guys in a boat come up and nail a largemouth, about 14", right out of casting distance from where I stood.

After an hour of flogging the water, it was time to go....no fish hooked in Minnetonka. BTW, this really cool thing Renee showed me - the Minnesota Lake Finder - has all this data on the lakes I fished. Here is the most recent survey of Lake Minnetonka.

Well a few hours later we were north and I got to enjoy some more time on the water at Gull Lake while Renee went to the Church for rehearsals. A blustering wind was coming in from the lake which made casting difficult.

Looking around, the water was very clear, maybe just a slight stain to it. I noted a dead largemouth floating along shore, so at least we know those are present! Much of the afternoon resulted in NOTHING. Within fly casting range from the dock there was virtually NO structure...just occasional weeds popping up from within the rock that lined the bottom.

But then I turned my sights on the very dock I was standing on, somewhat "T" shaped. From the upper left of the T I placed a cast about midway along the pier, and from out of the shadows a figure emerged and engulfed my fly! WHEEEE... a nice largemouth in the 12-14" range came FLYING out of the water and landed at my feet...that was how hard I set the hook! When he hit the water he came off and I was left to think "I wish Renee had seen that...".

Oh well, we had a GREAT rehearsal dinner and I met some great folks. One you guys would be interested in knowing about was Nate, the son of "Walleye Dan". We could've talked for HOURS about fishin...at the very least it was cool to know that I wasn't the only fishin' nut present! Heck they had been out on the lake earlier in the day fishin' walleye (man I gotta do those on the fly at some point!). For those who are interested, here's the survey of Gull Lake.

After dinner, we had another drive over to Grandma's house on Sugar Lake. We got there close to sunset...Grandma feeds the bluegills so of course they were EVERYWHERE....rather than give in to temptation I stayed with the Flying Bunny...as soon as it hit the water a big bull gill slammed it. Nice fish but I was hoping for something bigger. As dusk turned to night I got what i was looking for; a fair-sized Rock Bass. At least the skunk was taken care of! Evening was great, sitting and chatting with the lake just down the hill. I hoped I would wake up EARLY on Sunday.

  MP