Shift Change

During  the last week Erik makes a bid for the coveted #1 spot on the Most Useful Nephew and/or Niece Report (MUNNR aka the Manservant Ranking).  He made a compelling case:

Keeping the wood rack filled

Battery management

Perhaps his most important role

Fishing with Papa

Stealing pontoon boats and bringing to camp

Instructing neophyte boat drivers on operation of stolen pontoon boat.

In the end, it was not a close call...

By the time Erik departed late Saturday night, he was promoted to MUNNR #1.

Early the next morning Wendy arrived with the next work crew shift...

... including the recently demoted #3.

Big Fish

"Grab the net, Erik."   With the rod bent in two and line streaming into the lake against a strong drag, it didn't require a sophisticated touch to understand that I had a nice fish on the line.   

"Erik? Are ready with the net?"

"Um... Uncle Mike - there is no net in the boat."

"What do you mean there is no net in the boat? 

The line stopped streaming out and I again began to pull the fish off the bottom. 

"There is no net in the boat."

Before you went fishing with Dad yesterday you asked whether to bring a net. What did I say?

"You said always bring a net."

I saw the fish as he broke the surface- a big pike  With a splash he was gone the line was streaming back out again.

"Ok. So where is the net?"

"I couldn't find it."

Long short - After three days of fishing without so much as a nibble my first and only strike was a lunker (for Shag Lake) pike. Luckily, I grabbed a rod & reel with a steel leader out of the random "grab bag" of gear in the shed.  The fish was well hooked and I didn't think there was anyway to lose him. Taking a lesson from Morpheus mishaps of fishing without a net, decided to play him, wait until fish was exhausted, pulled him next to the boat and out by hand. Erik caught some of it on video.


My initial quick and dirty measurement in the boat was sufficient to determine legal size but inaccurate. Net-net: 27" - as documented below. Probably the biggest fish I've ever pulled out of this lake.

Which of course mandates the full-on detailed over-documentation treatment.

Mug Shot

I'll spare the reader the horror of the fillet photos, unless Erik decides to post his iPhone pics shot during the entire gory mess. We used the "Boneless Four Fillet Technique" for dealing with the Y-bones using this YouTube as an instructional video. I was quite pleased with the fillets.

Next step - decide on a prep. This recipe looked good.

Tasty Northern Pike
4 Tbsp butter
1 clove garlic (crushed)
1 Green onion (finely chopped)
Parsley (chopped)
1 tsp Tarragon
2 northern filets
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 Tbsp lemon juice

In pan, melt butter add garlic, onion, parsley, and tarragon. Simmer for 2 minutes. Season fish with salt & pepper. Cook gently in herb butter sauce until fish flakes. Remove fish to serving plate. Add lemon juice to sauce heat 1minute pour over fish.

Surprisingly, fresh tarragon was not available at Larry's Supermarket in Gwinn. Neither was dried tarragon. So we made a few modifications - more olive oil than butter, more garlic, added some wine and ginger to the sauce. All  in all - a great success. Served with a side of wild rice pilaf.

Erik makes up for the missing net faux pas.

Educating Erik

Poppa instructs Erik on bluegill hunting with a flyrod and popper...

Nephew Erik arrived Monday night. After being embarrassed by his friends in a recent fishing trip to the lake, he is keen to learn some fundamental fishing skills. We are beginning to suspect that he was adopted, as no one else in the Ott family line has ever shown the slightest interest in the angling arts. He is 23 now, so sadly it is probably too late for Erik to acquire the key skills his parents failed to to impart during his formative years.  We are doing what we can, but repairing the damage after a childhood of parental neglect is a significant challenge.

... and how to dock the boat.

... and how to untangle a line

... and how to catch undersized pike (which he already knew)

We are doing all we can.

It's working - Erik gets an undersized bass off the dock on a fly.

Flycasting drills on the dock

Cousin Mike K. tried to improve Erik's technique, then gives up. 

More success - the smallest bluegill ever pulled out of Shag Lake on a hook and worm.

There is only so much we can do.

A Walk In The Woods Redux

It's been a dozen years since the last selective cut on the family forestland and four years since our last "walk in the woods.  Time to take another look.  We were accompanied by the forester who has been consulting with us on managing the property since the last cut, and a (relatively "younger" forester who will probably be the guy working with us in the future.  Me and Harlan, Mike and Emily, and the foresters Ken and Mike went for a walk  (yes - three "Mikes" on the walk).  After a hearty breakfast...

Fried eggs & braunschweiger with grilled onions & rye toast

... we are off to the Five Forties.

This was the first walk in decades in these woods for a few in our fellowship.

Meetup before the hike

We are all wearing orange because it is grouse hunting season.  We did not want to be mistaken for a  smallish brown bird. You never know when ex-VP Dick Cheney might be hunting in your woods.

Some quotes from the foresters along the way:

"This is one of the best managed properties I've ever seen."

"If this was my land, I'd name every tree on the property."

"This is a very healthy forest, but a little early for another cut."

 Some pics along the way....

Over the beaver dam

finding the corners

New owner strides onto her property

Much to discuss...

Much to see...

 After the hike, some Yooper cuisine in a local eatery.

Cudighi

Another fine day in the woods.