Sorry to report that I did NOT get a monster pike this weekend. Amy and I had a blast. LeeAnn and crew were waiting at the bar and Amy and I were driving as fast as two NorthernGirl’s could drive without drawing attention to our speed and the fact we had liquid refreshments in our sippy cups. LOL.
We arrived in Baudette at 10PM as expected. Just 16 short miles to Williams…. and we had a night of fun. Thanks Robbie & Chad. Next time only 1 shot of Tequila Rose. Amy sure showed Pontificating Matt how to drink a shot. That was a demonstration Matt will NEVER forget. We headed back to Gary and LeeAnn’s and went to bed so we could be out on the lake first thing Friday morning.
We were surprised to see it snowing Friday morning and we headed out on Rainy River for a day of adventure. Matt and Don had the holes clear and our house was toasty warm when we arrived. Thanks guys for treating us so nice. When we headed up the river toward Lake of the Woods we noticed the plowed path was starting to drift over and the wind was picking up. By the time we made it 2 miles to the house, it was snowing harder and the wind was really blowing. We are troopers ….. thank God I told Amy to do a U-turn and point the truck toward the access. After an hour, I speared my first and only fish all weekend. When I threw it out on the ice in front of the truck, I was startled by how much snow had fallen. I told Amy maybe we should head back to Don and Matt’s house. We packed up and we could hear the wind starting to really howl outside. When we peeked out the door, my fish was almost buried and the tracks and plowed path were almost gone from sight. I said “Come on we have to leave and we have to leave now!!!” It was a full blizzard, with white out conditions. I could not see across the river or more than about 30 yards.
I was scraping the windshield and clearing the wipers when Don and Matt drove up to rescue us. We were all ready to go and started following them down the river to get back to safety. Don and Matt were hanging their heads out the window to try and see the tracks from when they came to get us. The tracks were already covered. It was the longest drive I ever had to get off the lake.. We couldn’t see much and just prayed that Don would not drive off the tracks and get stuck. After 20 minutes, we finally made it to their spear house. It was getting impossible to see a thing so Don got out and I gave him my fox hat to stay warm…. He literally walked on the right tire track and we followed him off the river. Close call but it was a fun adventure.
Friday night we went to meat raffle in Williams and had a blast. Don won a turkey and Gary baked it on Saturday while we fished. We spent a great night with Gary talking and enjoying an awesome turkey dinner and a yummy batch of Chianti….. Gary – you are the best.
I will leave for LOW again on Feb 11 for a 6 day adventure of spear fishing and decoy carving. Gary is going to teach me how to carve and paint his famous decoys. I am very excited!!! Then on the 25th I will head north for my last spear fishing trip of the season. Spear fishing season ends much too quickly.
What are my plans after February?? I will begin my search for the perfect starter motorcycle. I still have my eye on Jeff’s V-Star 1300. It sounds mean and has many chrome extras and nice saddle bags. It is also my favorite color… Pearl White. I am heading out this weekend to the Minneapolis Motorcycle show to check out the new Harley Davidson’s.
I also am meeting one of Gary’s friends on my next trip to Baudette… “Short” builds custom motorcycles and I may have him build one for NorthernGirl. Once the ice is off the lakes, Walleye Amy and I will start practicing our fishing techniques… as we plan to try a few tournaments this summer. Amy will be going back to Canada to see if she can catch Big Betty again and hopefully Betty will be 3 inches longer. Big Betty was 31 inches last summer. So between motorcycling and tournament fishing, I will be busy living and loving my life!!!
Take care and have a great weekend. Love to you all,
NorthernGirl Tammy