MTL - A Birthday Snowstorm

[Route U]

Well, Dad and I have always duck hunted together on this particular weekend given it's his birthday (11/11) and as a duck hunter, (even a "younger" one like me) the Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940 carries so much history and lore. It goes without saying that I also pay tribute to our Veterans.......not just this weekend, but always....we are all in their debt. That said, since we sold our Illinois hunting ground this past summer, we have turned our focus to continuing to update and fine tune our cabin where we have had the pleasure of hosting some of you. This outing in particular, we decided on a long weekend to hang out around the wood stove, drink a few beers and catch some of those Mark Twain crappie. NONE of those objectives were left unsatisfied nor did they disappoint!

I rolled into the cabin after a 6 1/2 hour drive from downtown Milwaukee just as the first few flakes of snow started to drop (and after dodging plenty of bambi's) and got the truck unloaded just as she cut loose. After a fire, some football, a couple 7 & 7's (to keep me warm), the snow had accumulated some:



After a good night's sleep, we woke up at first light to this:





Eager to get on the water but knowing these fish, if they were there, would need to recover from their respective hangover, we took our time........... it all worked out because they were there! I kept commenting to dad that in all my years of fishing MTL that I've never caught such a high ratio of black crappie to white crappie like we did on Friday. We stopped and hit a couple bridge piers where we found a few, single poled bluffs with timber and also ran back further into the creeks where we found some. The common theme was deep early (12-15') and as the sun worked its way through the clouds, shallow (4-6'). You had to watch your line as it was about 50/50 whether they would catch it on the drop or wait for it in the deeper column.

Interestingly enough, around 3:30, the bite suddenly stopped and something felt off........ after some quick talk, we decided that we had done our damage so we packed up and as soon as we came out of the river arm and made the bend into the main lake, we were met with a switched wind and a wall of snow. It was a race back to the ramp and it cut loose into a whiteout as soon as our boat hit the trailer. Once off the water, I couldn't help but snap a picture! Yes, the lake is behind him............somwehere.



Damage indeed as we were 2 short of our limit (we threw back probably 2x as many as we kept.)



Back to the cabin we went to warm up and follow the same path as the night before...............fire, bevvies, some basketball, warm meal and nite-nite!



Woke up to a chilly 10 degrees on Saturday morning and, true to form, we took our time letting the sun do its thing. Battled a southwest wind however, managed our 2 man limit following the same patterns as the day before. The ratio of black to white crappie was much more balanced and they were quite a bit more shallow than Friday.



I peeled out Sunday morning tired but happy and all-in-all, another great weekend for the MTL/Route U contingent. Happy birthday ol boy!

U

[keeferfish]

Nice report and Happy Birthday to Dad.

My Dad's Birthday is also 11/11, easy to remember.

[keeferfish]

Forgot to add I was bow hunting in the snow myself and here is an actual snowman I made it my stand.

That's not a magic hat but close!

[BarryG]

Good job on the crappie! It's Great you still have your Father to go out with!

[ripnlips]

Great report Robbie good to hear the weekend was great. Did your dad get younger he sure looks like a couple of lines are missing. Or maybe the cold took them out. Just great you can still spend time together.

[Route U]

Great report Robbie good to hear the weekend was great. Did your dad get younger he sure looks like a couple of lines are missing. Or maybe the cold took them out. Just great you can still spend time together.

Thanks, Richard. Sorry we couldn't put your Truman intel to use but........ it's tough to leave fish!

As for dad, he's finally maturing (a little bit) at the ripe ol' age of 62. This is one of the very few benefits of making a mistake (me) so early in life!

U

[Route U]

Forgot to add I was bow hunting in the snow myself and here is an actual snowman I made it my stand.

That's not a magic hat but close!

Musta had a few too many of his "top hats" as his eyes are closed!

U

[Speck]

Sounds like a fine birthday weekend!!! I hate we didn’t get to see you all. Tell Jeff Happy Birthday from Laura and me


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

[mac]

What a great time. Nice fish. Happy b-day to your dad and hope he has many many more. You too.
PS: Did you gar a deer?

[Route U]

What a great time. Nice fish. Happy b-day to your dad and hope he has many many more. You too.
PS: Did you gar a deer?

Nope, don't deer hunt......... although was close enough to more than a few of them during my drive in/out.

U