Fishing Buddy Cooler

After a successful 2018 WI opener in the books, I have to tell you about a new product I used. It’s called The Fishing Buddy Cooler and it works very well! What it is is a cooler specifically designed for your worms or leaches. It comes with 2 reusable ice packs that your form on the inside of the foam cooler, then you place the black insert inside. You can do it either way, dump the worms in the insert or put the whole container in there. I ended up putting the container in it. The ice packs keep the worms cool and lively! The insert also has a cutting area which works out great! Another cool thing about having the ice packs is, when you are done fishing for the day you can take the inserts out and put them with the fish in a bucket to keep them “on ice”. I would suggest this product for any one! I used a lot this weekend shore fishing for Brown trout, Brook trout, and Smallmouth bass. So make sure you go Order one for yourself!

Getting ready for the first opener!

The WI Opener is this Saturday the 5th! This week I will be putting New line on my ultra-lite rod. Going for trout I like to use a light line around 3-4 lb. test. This, with a smaller rod makes it easier to fish tight spots. I make sure I have a Clear bobber and plent of plain Hook in a size 4, this way the hook won’t get to far in the fish’s mouth and makes for an easier set. This year I will be using the Fishing Buddy Cooler to put my worms in. (Make sure to follow to get the full review on this, early next week!) I bring my waders, and rubber boots to walk around in the water. Usually I’ll wear a hoodie or a medium weight jacket for the morning chill. A bucket with ice and pop and I’m good to go!

Fishing with the wife.

My wife and I just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary and I couldn’t be any more happy with our life together! We have been through a lot through the years especially with fishing! Weather it’s going to the cabin or Wisconsin in the summer or going to the Maple Lake ice fishing derby in Maple Lake, MN , we always get to make up fishing stories.

When my wife, Dani, and I first started dating she knew how to fish and enjoyed it, but quickly learned how involved I am with the fishing world. Like I have said in an earlier post, My birthday always falls around the MN fishing opener, which means we fish every opener no matter what. Typically we go for northern pike, and boy does she love to catch them! One of the first openers we were together, she had caught a decent sized pike. As she reeled it in close enough for me to net it. When I went for the net, she had already hoisted up onto shore. It flopped off the hook and started to wiggle its way back to the water. Now me being the “manly man” I am and wanting to make sure we would be able to keep her first pike with me, I dove, scraped my arms, got a little wet, but I grabbed that fish! After getting up from my circus of a recovery and laughs from all, I put it on the stringer. Now that that memory is forever with us, she likes to remind me, and everyone else about it.

With Dani being from WI, we now go do the WI fishing opener. She usually wont get up as early as me to go fish the trout streams I like to go to, but when it warms up she’ll get out and fish. I’ll usually go catch my trout and we will head up to Amery, WI where her aunt and uncle have a cabin and fish for crappies, pike, and bass. It’s a lot of fun, we will fish on the pontoon, go back to the cabin and have a pot luck.

This last summer we went on a guided salmon trip in Port Washington, WI. She ended up catching one of the bigger king salmons of the trip ( just look at the picture above!)! So when you are hooked up with a big salmon you are allowed to tag another one of the fishing party people to help out. After about 10 minutes of her reeling in I asked “Do you want me to tag in?” She said “sure” and took about a 5 minute breather and she went right back at it. This moment was one of my favorite times fishing with my wife, I was so proud of her for doing the grind to get this monster in! We went with Princess Marissa Sport Fishing, and let me tell you, they get you on the fish! We will be going back this August, so make sure you follow the blog to see more about this trip!

Fishing with your wife/significant other, is always the best. You get to share the memories, the laughs, and the wonders of the outdoors with your best friend. All the commodore goes with it. I can tell you I will never stop fishing with my wife, ’til death do us part.

Openers are coming!

With the 2018 Wisconsin and Minnesota openers coming up in a month, things are getting exciting! One must be prepared and have a plan. Using the right equipment paired for the species you fish for will have a huge impact. I am lucky enough to be able to fish both the Wisconsin and Minnesota openers.

Wisconsin’s opener is May 5th and if you want to go for trout it starts at 5 A.M. That is usually what I like to go for when I do the sconnie opener. My wife and I will stay at her folks house in Menomonie and I will wake up early and hit my favorite stream. I have done this for the past four or five years now and every time I am amazed by the beauty of trout. I’ll usually just go simple and use a clear bobber with a plain hook or small jig tipped with a piece of worm. I cast up stream and let the rod float down, I can see the trout swimming about waiting for passing bugs. I set the hook and it’s game on! I fight the fish to the landing spot with ultra light gear and a spinning reel (it makes the fight that much more challenging!). I measure and take a picture and if it’s to small I’ll throw it back. Wisconsin opener is my favorite time to catch trout and there is a lot of parks that are easy to access! dnr.wi.gov

The Minnesota opener (www.dnr.state.mn.us)is something that has alway and will always be special to me. It is always my birthday weekend and I live in Minnesota. Every year, from the time I can remember, my family and I have gone to Philps Mill. Philps is an old mill that still has the dam in the river and a pool a little further down stream. When I was younger the pool was the only place I was allowed to fish (for safety reasons of course). But once I was old enough I was able to venture up by the dam. There is where I got to really watch and learn how northern pike hunt and attack their pray. I would throw a Storm Wild Eye lure out into the rough water reel in until I could see the lure, than let it sit for a few seconds and boom! Pike on! Sometimes they would be on the smaller side but every now and again a big 7-10 lb. fish would hook up. Boy oh boy was that fun! After catching my limit (3 at the time, regulations are changing) I would walk back over to the pool where the rest of my family fished to ask ” Where’s your fish?” They would laugh and ask what I was using, try something like it and boom! They were hooked up!

Now I know what you’re thinking, ” don’t you need a boat to fish opener?” All I have to say is no! There are so many places I have been to both Wisconsin and Minnesota that all I do is fish from shore! All you need to do is have the right equipment, plan, and make sure you understand the water you are fishing! So make sure you do some research and have fun!