That's right - actual fishing. A rare occurrence these days in my life. I had to go to Minneapolis/ St. Paul area for business and had all morning before leaving for the next flight. My rep and I decided we'd try to get out in the morning for a few hours with a local guide. Ken did the arranging, and he did it well! Our guide on Lake Minnetonka was Shane Raveling. Shane and Dean Capra have, over the years, teamed up to win just about every noteworthy tournament in the upper Midwest. So, I knew we were in the hands of a guy who knows the lake and knows how to fish.
I just didn't realize we'd have so much fun! Shane was a blast to fish with! He knew the water intimately, and showed us the pattern to use to catch fish. It has been a couple years since I actually fished for Largemouth, but it came back to me pretty quickly. We used a technique that I believe was developed on Minnetonka - fishing a Senko on a jig head with an exposed hook in 10-15' deep weed beds. The idea is that the fish either hit on the drop, or when you RIP the worm free from the wed and it falls back. It took some getting used to, but I ended up boating about 9-10 largemouth over the morning. Shane was fishing to try to locate fish and establish a pattern, which he did. He also caught a 5 pound LM - beautiful fish for MN. He got a few pike, too.
Great day, great fun.
Here are the couple of pictures I took.
So - there you have it - I have NOT forgotten how to fish!!
But I'm still pretty enamored with the camera thing. Here's a few more for your viewing pleasure