Valentine - May 2007!
Our 2007 trip to Valentine National Wildlife Refuge started off much better than our 2006 trip (see below).
First of all, Jon and I loaded up my minivan and my 12' aluminum
v-bottom for the trip instead of an 89 Honda with transmission
and radiator issues. We still strapped the kayaks on top of my
boat, but they road much better there than they had on the Honda the
year before.We planned an extra day in 2007. We left Wednesday afternoon, were able to get there in time to fish a little that night, then had all day Thursday and all day Friday and part of the day on Saturday to fish. It turned out that we need it.
We also met my brother Jeff, my dad, and an old family friend who all came in together from Colorado. Lloyd brought his boat as well.
We started fishing Dewey on Thursday morning, and by afternoon, I had caught 3 decent Northern, but no one else caught more than one that day. It was pretty slow. Lloyd also ran his trolling motor out of juice, so we had to load his boat in a less than ideal spot.
Friday, Jon and I went to a lake over the hill from Dewey because we had seen many people head over there on Thursday. We got out in the water, and on Jon's first cast he had a strike...he didn't get him in, but we were pretty excited.
We fished around for a while before we found the fish...and once we did, they kept
coming. By noon or so, each of us had caught about 15, most of which were around 30-32" and we had several occasions where we both had one on at the same time...it was awesome!Finally, the other boat made it over and they caught some decent fish, though Jeff had the worst luck. They never hit them as well as Jon and I, but it was enough to make the trip worth it for them. Enjoy the pics...and read about 2006 below.
Valentine - May 2006!
In May of
2006, Jeff, Jon, & I made a trip
to the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge (south of Valentine, NE) to
do a little fishing for Northern Pike. The bite was a little
slow, but we all came away with a few small ones, and we each also
caught one "big" one (30+ inches). Jon hauled in the first of the big ones.
The Honda had a little trouble on the way up...lost the small kayak a couple times before we just put it on the big one. The transmission gave us fits until we added a quart (or two) of fluid. The radiator was the problem on the way back...but the JB Weld held long enough to get home. (Jon drove the Honda for another 10 months on the repairs we made.)
The area was quite beautiful, in a barren wasteland kinda way...but the sunset at Merritt reservoir was pretty cool.
My big one decided to bite near the reeds. In the process,
I actually hooked him in the side of the head, so he was a little
harder to battle, not to mention keep from getting in the thick reeds.
He was in about 3 feet of water, and we could see to the bottom in that
particular area...which was really fun when fighting a "big one".
