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| Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] Walleye Fishing -> General Discussion -> Two Tales of the Tittabawasse (an exotic river). |
Rick Larson |
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| It didn't start out to well, with the road growing ever longer. My late arrival into Bay City Michigan this last Sunday night, to meet with the Fabled Captain Dan Manyen and Renown Mill Lacs Minnesota Walleye Guide Jack Dunn, had prompted sharp hunger pains from empty bellies. But we managed to get beyond this with a long evening of good conversation over large platters of hot barbecue smothered nose loving spare ribs (we didn't stick our noses in them ribs, they just smelled good!). And other than our conversation pouring over the hot threads of the day (on the various walleye-related message boards), Captian Dan laid out plans of the fishing in the Tittabawasse River, a water feeder to the Saginaw River and Bay. Claiming our good fortune in timing the Bass mating ritual, Jack and I were informed of impending good weather, and lots and lots of fish stacked up waiting our presentation. But first, and before this story gets into the fishing, I have to make a confession of sorts. Not that it spoiled the day too much, but the first of the morn had our boat heading in the wrong direction as I had forget to obtain a current fishing license - having the Captain a bit miffed at the delay. Heck, I didn't know he had planned to meet with Skeeter at the launch. So I was regulated with the hard back-seat of the bouncing pick-up truck on the 24 mile ride to the launch. Sure was happy to find that Skeeter hadn't cut and run, since again, I was the cause of a late arrival. Thanx Skeeter Buddy. Happy to have bought a few bottles of that Wonder Foam boat restore and cleaner from you! Which brings me to the rest of the story ( I won't tell you about turning the boat about for my unsecured (wet) hat, the big carp, or my thumb being ripped apart by a sharp toothed gator). (And I'm not telling who caught the carp and let it slime the boat, neither). But anyway, to get back on track. Ol' Captain is everything a couple of fishing guys could ever want in a guide. He delivered on the equipment, the fish, an exotic twisting river with banks filled with wildlife, and even on a great big heaping dose of patience in putting up with a spontaneous series of events - that I had nothing to do with! And the fishing? Oh baby, its been long enough that I can not remember the last time I had caught so many fish in such a short time. Dozens and dozens of huge 17 inch bulldog whitebass. Softball swallowing rod breaking smallmouth blackbass. Drag ripping long bodied pike with a few nice walleyes mixed in made for a *thought I had gone to heaven* fishing experience. And how did we catch these fish? Just let me say that the Captain had Jack and I casting spells on these fish by pitching jigs tipped with minnow, slowly reeling shallow cranks, and even went to the old time favorite, floating minnows over bobbers in shallow water current breaks. A mixed bag of tricks used to catch a mixed bag of fish! And topping this whole fishing day off with a sweet cherry, we got along fabulously, and speaking for myself, believe we have made friends for life... Edited by Rick Larson 5/4/2004 10:18 PM Attachments ----------------  Jackbass2.jpg (143KB - 121 downloads) Jack and whitey.jpg (144KB - 115 downloads) Jack be nimble!.jpg (146KB - 97 downloads) Nice Bass.jpg (148KB - 105 downloads) Boober Bass.jpg (147KB - 115 downloads) Blind Bass.jpg (142KB - 109 downloads) Three Amegos.jpg (142KB - 102 downloads) | |||
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| Viking |
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Plenty of girth there, nice fish too!  Sounds like you guys had a great time. | |||
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| Risor39 |
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Member Posts: 377 Location: Neenah Wi | |||
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| Skeeter |
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| walleye express |
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 Member Posts: 2680 Location: Essexville, MI./Saginaw Bay. | Rick. You sure put the trip into a tidy nut shell allright. I'm already putting together a little hand booklet for the next people I take from Wisconsin. It will include the DNR internet site address for buying a license ahead of time. A easy to read guide about how to turn your hat around on your head so it won't blow off into the river, when looking straight into G-force winds. An explanation of why it isn't necessary to have a picture of yourself holding a carp, especially when dropping same from an elevated position, makes a stinky mess of the boats carpet. A small discipline exercize testing your ability to listen and obey the boats Captain, when he tells you not to pick up the Northern Pike. And finally, a crash course in major first aide after you do pick up the Pike (the wrong way) anyway for a picture.  But will echo your sentiments that it's trips like these, with lots of good times and goof-ups that makes both lifetime friends and great memories to reminice about, when rocking in the chair and looking out the window is finally all one is able to do. And Nel's. Remember the one-eyed walleye I released on the Tibby one day, in front of the guys getting skunked? These guys had just complained to us that there were not any fish in the river. So I flooped this 4 pounder aboard right then while our boats were side by side, unhooked it and released it. "Why did you let it go" the one guy asked? It only had one eye I answered back. "And it's bad luck to keep a one-eyed walleye" I answered. Edited by walleye express 5/5/2004 12:43 PM | ||
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| Rick Larson |
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| JLDII |
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| That was diffinetly a great day on the river. We had alot of fun catching all those fish, and at the same time we managed to figure out ways to cure all the worlds problems too!! Especially those in the "cyber" world!! Capt. Dan likes to set up right on top of the spot, as proved by him when he caught 2-3 fish directly under his seat in the boat. Literally no more than 6 inches from the side of the boat, and one time as he fought another nice smallie, I dropped my line exactly where his bite came from, and we had a double going, both no more than a foot from the side of the boat. Rick showed great prowess with a rod and shallow running shad rap when he managed to bull dog a fowl hooked carp to the net, but he does need to improve his northern pike handling techniques. Both of those fish by the way managed to find their way on to the clean carpet of Dan's boat which of course brought about some fun ribbing. While fishing, we paused for a quick bite of lunch in the boat, smoked fish and crackers. Man oh man was that tasty!  Capt. Dan just kept handing me one hand full after another, which I felt obliged to eat. All in all it was a great day, and a great trip for me. I got to fish Erie for the first time. Unfortunetly it was not a good bite, but my first Erie walleye was 29.5 inches, and we had one over 10 on day one of the RCL. I got to meet Shep, and Troy. I saw a number of people I have met before, Pat Cavins, Carl Grunwaldt, Mark Courts, Duane Tencate, Joe Whitten, Bill Ortiz, as well as meeting a number of pro's that I have talked to on the internet, but had not met face to face. In the 14 days I was gone from home I managed to see and touch 4 of the 5 Great Lakes, which is something not many people can say they have done, so that was special for me. Next year I think my pre-season fishing trip is going to be the U P of Michigan. Man is that some beautiful country!! I think I'm going to fish some of those streams and rivers I crossed on HYW 2. I'll start on the Brule River in Wisconsin, and work my way to the Mackinac Bridge, drop down to Bay City for a day or 2 with Dan, and maybe Rick again, and then fish some of the rivers and streams along Superior between Souix St. Marie, and Marquette on the way home. | |||
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| JLDII |
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| walleye express |
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Member Posts: 2680 Location: Essexville, MI./Saginaw Bay. | Jack. If you have the windows program (picture it!), send me a personal e-mail and I'll walk you through the process. Your the only one with the picutres of that nasty carp and pike that Rick painted the bottom of my boat with. | ||
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| Rick Larson |
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| Sunshine |
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Member Posts: 2393 Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | HEY! How did I get dragged into this thread? I hope that kind words were said when my name was brought up? | ||
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| Rick Larson |
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| JLDII |
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| Well, guys, I emailed some pics to Dan who downsized them for me and now I will try to post them for you to see. I haven't done this before, so please bear with me. Attachments ---------------- DCP_0080.JPG (125KB - 114 downloads) DCP_0075.JPG (129KB - 121 downloads) DCP_0083.JPG (91KB - 108 downloads) DCP_0084.JPG (129KB - 114 downloads) | |||
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| Skeeter |
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