Please tell your annual fishing trip story

[shimmy]

Well, being the winter time and all, i do not get to fish much and quite frankly, i have not fished much this past year (last year 2010) due to my schedule. And trust me, if i had the leisure time to fish, i would. Nevertheless, i spend a lot of time thinking about my annual fishing trip to Minnesota and wanted to hear yall's annual fishing trip stories. I am not talking about where you fish locally, but the trips you make, whether it be for a weekend, week, or guided trips that are annual and just special gettaways for you and your family or fishing buddies. 

My heaven on earth is Minnesota. I don't live there, never have, but it truly is unbelievable water. The state record is only 8.15 so we don't get giants but we get plenty of quality bass. Every year, i fish for 1 week in Minnesota with my brothers, father, and brother in law who are scattered across the country and we meet up in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. It is just beautiful. What makes this trip so special is every lake we hit, we are usually alone! Just imagine, memorial day weekend, you arrive at the boat ramp to your secret big bass lake (even though it is public but people don't know it has bunch of big 5, 6, and 7 pound bass caught annually by us) and there is not another trailer in site. Not just that, there are no cars to be heard miles away. It's just you, your rods and that determination to outfish everyone in your boat and catch that beauty! We fish every morning at one lake, then fish every night at another. The lakes are gorgeous, full of lilly pads, floating reeds, and birds i swear i have never seen before. Very few if any docks around the lake; and it is all to yourselves. I love it and can't think of a better place on earth. The only thing we ever worry about is the rotation of who controls the trolling motor and gets the first cast on those beautiful overcast days at your favorite big bass lake. In one week, i usually pull away with 2 to 3 over 6 pounds and close to ten over 5 pounds. This seems to be my consistent catch year in and out and i just don't feel bad about not catching giants in Florida, California, and elsewhere. That is for another time and place and this fishing trip doesn't carry the burden of trying to catch that ten plus. This trip is about catching over 100 fish a day easily and catching a few over 5 daily. That is our mark and it is just flat out fun. It is beautiful, and there are many lakes to be had and several nearby our cabin that we have never even tried after 20 years of fishing. Aint that somethingl God bless Minnesota. And yes, we weigh them all. There are no free bees in our boat.

I'd like to hear your annual trip and any details you can.

Shimmy

[firefightn15]

No fishing trip this year Shimmy but I was wondering how you guys set upon Fergus Falls?

[shimmy]

No fishing trip this year Shimmy but I was wondering how you guys set upon Fergus Falls?

My grandparents had a cabin from way back when. My family slowly started making more and more trips through the years up to Fergus falls and now for the past 20 years it has become tradition. Kinda a shame that no one else is piping in on this, i was hoping to read some stories to pass the time...

[farmpond1]

Me and a buddy (one I met on this forum) have a spot off the Illinois River that we dearly love going to. During the spring, when the bass are moving and hungry, it's nothing to catch 50+ bass in a day-largely in the cattails that run in a line about 50 yards from the lake's edge. Later on, in the summer and fall, we have to mostly concentrate on some flooded ditches and the timber that skirts the edges of the ditches. The evenings are great for fishing frogs and ghosts in the choked up weeds that accumulate throughout the growing season. My personal best, a 6 lb 3 oz largemouth came out of this lake. In the fall there are thousands of coots, ducks, and other waterfowl that stop there and white pelicans move along like a giant organized armada as they herd baitfish around. This place isn't technically, an annual fishing location because we go several times a year (still not often enough) but it's near and dear to my heart.

[Dwight Hottle]

A couple of high schools buddies get together every year to fish for pike & lake trout each year in June at lake athabasca at the top of Alberta/Saskatchewan provinces. We almost always go for the first week that the camp is open. Our rational is the pike haven't seen a lure for over 6 months and they got to be hungry. This strategy has severed us well except for two years. One year the ice hadn't thawed yet & they couldn't land a float plane. We found out less than a week before we were going. Plane tickets already purchased & gear already packed. What a let down that was. Talk about withdrawal! The over year half the lake was still frozen so we could only get to less than half of our spots. We spend two days traveling & fish for seven days. We see moose, bears, martins fox and lots of eagles. A big water lake over 200 miles long and as deep as 500 feet. We always go anticipating a new pb trout or pike and over the years we have raised the bar pretty high and pbs come much less frequently. Even remote lakes can serve up tough fishing days & there have been a few skunk days for everyone. This lake has served up a 101lb lake trout & a 43lb pike. This has always been our little piece of heaven away from our home lakes. We have always been blessed with not only quanity but a lot of quality fish on our trips.    

[BASSclary]

My annual trip is a week at the Outer Banks, NC. Me, my dad, mom, sister, Papa Joe and Nana Linda, and their big fat dogs

Nothing to me is more peaceful then sitting on the peir with a pole in one hand, and a drink in the other, bare feet kicked up on the gaurd-rail watching the sun-rise, watching the day pass, and seeing the sun-set before the day is done. Catching is just gravy.

[Bankbeater]

No major trips because of my shoulder surgery, but I was told that I could come along if I wanted to ride in the boat :-/.

[oteymc]

I have had several trips in the last year or so. This year has allowed me to visit Lake Fork twice. The most recent trip my brother, two buddies, and I went ice fishing on Lake of the Woods over new years weekend. This is going to end up being an annual trip for us. Last year we tried out Lake Millacs, and were not impressed.

This year was much different. We caught a lot of fish, drank a lot of beer, and had a lot of fun! We stayed in sleeper houses and slept, fished, cooked and everything out on the ice. We were there for three days, and the middle day we went out on snow mobiles on a guided trip and fished out of portable shelters. The whole thing was quite a bit of fun, and not all that expensive. It was cold, but not unbearable. We caught mostly saugers and walleye. We ate huge fish dinners the first two nights and then everyone took fish home with them when we left. Good way to end the year and start another.

I am trying to post some pics, hope you enjoy.

[lynyrdsky1]

Used to go on trips to Joe Wheeler in Alabama every year but that has been 10 years ago. Me and my dad are trying to start a new tradition of Lake Fork but its going to be expensive.

[Shane J]

The closest I have to a fishing trip, is yearly when I go down to help out for the Wounded Warrior/Reel American Heroes tournament. The two days before that Weekend, we all go to Briary Creek Lake for a chance at one of the monsters there, and some all around good times. Just pulling into the boat launch parking lot there makes me giddy, and I can't wait to be there again in May with all my friends.

[Olebiker]

My father, brother, brother-in-law, and next door neighbor used to go to Lake Cumberland every year in early May to fish for white bass. We would rent a pontoon boat and anchor at the mouth of a creek on the main lake. We would hang Coleman lanterns around to railing to attract insects that would attract baitfish that would attract the schools of white bass.

Nighttime in Kentucky in early May can still be pretty cool so my no-good brother-in-law, the doctor, would bring a sleeping bag to stay warm. When the schools of white bass would come through and start biting the action would be fast and furious. I will never forget watching Jim trying to get out of that sleeping bag and grab his Shakespeare Wonderrod and Zebco 33 before the fish took off with it.

[bilgerat]

Me and 6 - 7 other guys get a house at Big Bass Lake in the Poconos every June. The house is a rental in a private community. The lake is only a bit over 100 acres, it's probably more like a puddle compared to what a lot of guys here fish. Maximum depth is probably around 15'. It's got a decent stumpfield out in the middle near a small island, lily pads, weedlines, everything that makes a good lake.

A majority of the guys are hard core golfers, play 2 rounds a day. I fish 12 hours a day rain or shine. For a small lake, it's awesome. Two years ago I nailed a 6 lb. LM bass on a Jitterbug at 12:30 am. It also has the biggest, meanest bluegill I've ever seen. They'll hit full size topwater baits without hesitation and give you a fight you won't forget. Some are easily over a pound. On light and ultra light tackle it's phenomenal !

There are plenty of other species. My wife's cousin lost a (estimated) 36" pickerel right at the boat. Big yellow perch, big white and black crappie, lmb, pickerel are all in there and plentiful. The only thing that would make it better is smallmouth.

I couldn't go last year because of other obligations, but I'll be back for sure this June.

[intheweeds]

The closest I have to a fishing trip, is yearly when I go down to help out for the Wounded Warrior/Reel American Heroes tournament. The two days before that Weekend, we all go to Briary Creek Lake for a chance at one of the monsters there, and some all around good times. Just pulling into the boat launch parking lot there makes me giddy, and I can't wait to be there again in May with all my friends.

I am part of the group that goes with Shane to Briery Creek Lake and it is a blast. I look forward to that trip every year. Oh, and yes, you all should have seen Shane's face when we pulled up to the ramp at Briery Creek for the first time! Kids in a candy store!

[shimmy]

These are great stories. As i read Oteymc's post, i realized how much i have started to enjoy ice fishing. I never thought i would want to make a vacation or tradition out of ice fishing, but it really is a blast and i have found it to be more social than my traditional bass fishing. There is nothing like having 10 family members and friends around the ice telling stories and jigging for a big fish. There is something about jigging your line up and and down and then the line suddenly goes slack as if it has hit the bottom...

[farmpond1]

i have found it to be more social than my traditional bass fishing. There is nothing like having 10 family members and friends around the ice telling stories and jigging for a big fish

Agreed.  I'm much more "sociable" when ice fishing.  When you're vertical jigging, you aren't getting in each other's way and, while you "own" a certain amount of space around a hole", you can share space more easily.  Good fences make good neighbors.

I also wanted to say to oteymc that the ice fishing trip looked like great fun-although the drive up there is brutal.