An Outdoorsman‛s Journal

Excellent Fishing in Sawyer County

Hello friends, This week’s column will be all over the map but it’s a good one. Location: Sawyer County near Birchwood. Activity: winter camp on Lake Chetac with my faithful companions, Ruby and her pup Red, to see if I could do some serious fish catching. Sunday, Feb. 26 — High 33, low 21 I have always had a cardinal rule: Do not socialize the night before an expedition. I broke that rule last night when I went to a very fun gathering for Vlad Wandler’s 21st birthday. Today, I was short on sleep and had a lot to do before my head hit the pillow.

I drove to Birchwood pulling a trailer with my Polaris 550 Classic, unloaded the snow machine and packed three Otter sleds with my gear, which I pulled behind the snowmobile, and then headed out into the wild, white yonder, confident that over the next three days I would catch some fish.

I was late in my day for a solo trip, and it was 3 o’clock before I set out two tip-ups and a Finicky Fooler with my intention being northern pike or walleye. I had a camp to build, and it would be dark for two hours before I was done. On the happy news part, I had five flags, including one with the Finicky Fooler, and caught five gator, of which I kept three in the 5-pound range.

After dark I had serious hopes for a walleye or some crappie. I re-rigged for those fish, drilled a hole in my shack and put the “Fooler” in my shack. I set up my shack real nice, with flooring, a cot, kitchen, heat and propane lights. The pups took their normal spot on the cot, I fished and when I hit the rack at about 11 o’clock, I had not caught any fish since the gators. If I wanted to sleep, I had to kick the pups off the cot. They have a ritual. For at least 30 minutes they stare at me with the hopes that I will let them back in my bunk. When I am weak, it costs me sleep as it’s just too small of an area. Monday, Feb. 27 — High 35, low 28 The rain, sleet and snow started at about 2 in the morning; first there was a wind for an hour as the front approached and then it hit. I was up long before daylight and put out two tip-ups and would jig in the shack for perch and crappie. Let me tell you about the weather that everyone in the north witnessed — this drenching type of freezing rain chills you to the bone if you have to spend a lot of time out of your ice shack. I had to spend a lot of time out of my shack because the gators were very hungry, as in no rest for yours truly, and by 9 o’clock I was soaked to the bone and smiling from ear to ear.

I got a cold call mid-morning from Pat Sorenson, who reads this column in the Rice Lake Chronotype. Pat and her husband George were the original owners of Christie Mountain ski area and avid out-west campers, as in backpacking and fly fishing for trout for several weeks at a time in Wyoming and Montana. They would have a base camp which was a canvas wall tent. George Sorenson passed away and Pat wanted to know if I could use the tent. Long story short, I met Pat on the way home from this trip and I now have a wall tent. Thank you, George and Pat.

Today was truly a day of surviving the elements and catching fish, just a few perch and a whole bunch of gators. At dark I gave a renewed effort to catching a crappie in the “Eskimo popup.” I missed a few tries and then got lucky and landed a 14-inch crappie. At midnight I was very tired and hit the rack. I was weak and let the pups on my cot. The Finicky Fooler went off five times, I caught two more crappie and sleep was minimal.

At daylight I caught a 31 and a 36-inch gator, and a dozen perch and bluegill. I broke camp, met Pat in Rice Lake, shopped in Tomah for my next trip and when I got home, I was so tired I felt like I had drank a bottle of brandy.

It was a well-deserved fatigue! Sunset