Happy Birthday to me.

Minnesota opener fell on my birthday this year.  My wife give me the full approval for a half day fish.  Living so close to the Red River, I knew I could not pass up the opportunity to fish the Minnesota opener.  Saturday was cold, blustery and wet.  I woke up to 43 degrees and mist.  My initial plan was to hit the river at 6am.  The alarm went off at 7:20 and I was on the banks of the Red by 8.  


My first cast, bango, right into a tree.  My line broke and I quickly realized how chilly it was as I retied.  Luckily I had a pocket full of jig heads, a fresh bag of Gulp White 3" Slugs and a bucket full of minnows.  I knew I was in the "hot spot," so said a coworker the day before.  Cast after cast, no fish.  An occasional snag, followed by a snapped line and a retie.  No fish!  I worked the banks of the river as the chilly air and wet mist touched my body to the core.  Forty five minutes into my morning, I had enough snags and broken lines and called it quits.  I took my bucket of minnows and wandered home, head hanging low.  

I put the gear back into my garage with intentions of getting back to the Red.  Saturday night, too busy.  Sunday, too busy.  Today (Monday) I thought I would go see if my minnows had expired after work.  They are alive!  After clearing the idea of an evening fish with my wife, I called my buddy Nate who agreed to be my guide.  Nate lives on the Red River and said he would paddle the canoe while I fish.  


The Red River is high, swift, and mighty.  We paddled up stream and found a place to fish along a tree line.  Nate lives near the zoo.  Ambient sounds of Peacock, Turkey, Ducks serenaded us as I fished.  We laughed about old times, talked about work, and I fished.  As the sun set, we paddled back to Nate's house.  I landed this 15" Walleye in Nate's backyard.  Nate was amazed, "I have never seen anybody catch a walleye out of here before,"  he said.  


Kudos to Nate, who broke out his new filet knife and fillet my fish.  Nate did not fish with me, as he did not have a fishing license.  Now that Nate is aware of the Walleyes in the Red, I'm betting that he will rush out first thing tomorrow morning and purchase a fishing license.