Rockman's Report/Rocky Reef Resort

[rockman]

1/26/10
It was a warm one again this weekend, and with the rain, it made for an interesting weekend. With all of the slush on the roads, it made it tuff to plow off today after the cold front came thru and we dropped below zero over night. The winds were blowing for the past two days out of the N.W. at 30 to 40 mph. Most of the roads held up pretty good, but anything that was running east to west was pretty plugged up. The wind blew the roads to the 1st and 2nd humps completely shut, so I had to plow new roads to them this morning. I made the mistake of trying to get to the foam houses out on 1st hump yesterday after my day on the tundra was done, just to do a little fishing as the pressure was on the rise and the conditions for a great bite were coming together.

I was just going to go from 3 to 5pm, as I approached the access road to the hump it looked like it was going to be no problem to get thru it. Well, how Wrong I was, as I made my way in the trail blazer which , I used it because the red truck has a bad starter and the tan truck has a leaky radiator, I was limited in the vehicles that I could take. So, I chose to take the trail blazer, with its brand new snow tires on it, just to check them out, you know what I mean don’t you guys? So, I get about a quarter of a mile from the hump and the snow started to get deeper and deeper. I was already committed to going forward, as I was not able to back up or turn around, so forward I went. I did make it out to the houses and knew that if I did not turn around and head back rite away, I was going to be there until Jonathan got back on Wednesday from Duluth. Patty would never even attempt to come out with a truck in a wind storm to get me.

So, I did turn around and started back towards the main road. As I started back, I noticed that the wind had already blown over my tracks from the first pass going out. I could just see where the wind rows, which were on each side and just tried to stay in the middle of the road, where I knew it wasn’t as deep as the edges. I made it within a quarter of a mile of the main road and then, I was stuck. Now, it was not easy for me to pick up my cell phone a call Jonathan, to come and rescue his father from the grips of the tundra and of course, he loved it. He was out with the 1 ton truck to rescue me in about 25 minutes, by then; the road was almost completely blown over. It took a couple of jerks with the snatch strap and I was free. Now the trick was to get the rest of the way to the main road, knowing that at the end of the road, there was a slushy spot from where the water from the rain the day before had settled in the road.

So I went as fast as the snow would let me go. As the main road was in site, I thought we had it made and it was all over. Well, that was not the case. It was so deep and slushy at the end of the road, and the trail blazer just did not have the clearance to make it thru it, even at 30 mph. So, Jonathan backed up, and he was even having a tuff time getting any traction himself in the one ton on the slick ice. As he tried to get close enough to reach me with the strap, he would fall into a pocket of slush and we would have to dig him out. I was so stuck in the slush that we had to get a 10 ft run just to get me out. Jonathan just kept on pulling me until we were to the main road and I could make it on my own. It took over an hour to get back to shore and it was just getting dark and the temps were falling. That would not have been much fun to do in the dark with the winds blowing at 40 mph. So we did make it back safe and sound and of course I knew that Patty was going to chew me a new A&* hole about not being dressed for the conditions and as she did  I just kept saying, yes peaches I know you are right.

The wind blew every bank and cross road with 4 to 5 ft drifts and they were very, very hard as I tried to plow things off this morning, I did get most of the roads open today, I just have a few more cross roads to open tomorrow and some houses to push the snow back from to keep the weight off of the houses, so they do not start to flood with the weight of the banks around them. It was not a fun day to plow that hard blown in stuff. It was so deep and wide next to the houses, that I had to take them straight on and break them up, or the snow was so deep and hard, that you could not move it and it would just pile up. You just have to take your time and pick away at it when it is that hard or you will be busting up plows and plow brackets all day long.

That was the excitement for the week so far and the cold weather is upon us again, for the next few days, this weekend is looking like it is going to be pretty decent, and I do have 2 houses still open for this weekend, so if you need one give me a call @ 320 532 3431 and we will take care of it for you. I did get everything moved out to the Second Reef this past week and the results from the new spots by those that were fishing in the rentals was pretty decent over all. Some people got into some very nice perch and others got into some very nice walleyes. There were over 12 fish that were caught over 21 inches and 3 fish that went over 26. There was a 28 incher taken on Tuesday by yours truly out on the hump and I did see 2 Northerns that were 26 and 39 inches this weekend. I saw 6 keepers and over 2 dozen 10 to 11 inch perch that were taken off of the 1st and 2nd Reef. Most everyone is jigging the Swedish pimples and just a head and on the set lines, they are using small crappie minnows for the perch.

It will be another 2 weeks before we will see the perch bite really pick up, but with the season closing on Feb.28th this year, it should be just about perfect timing to have the perch show up out where I have put the houses. They are in 28 to 31 feet just off of the sand transitioning into the silt, on the bug beds. Time will tell, but as good as the bite has been all season for the most part, I think that the perch bite is going to be awesome. As usual I will keep you up to speed on the perch as they show up. That is it for now, and I will be out tomorrow opening up the rest of the roads from this weekends wind.
Have a safe week
We will see ya
When we see ya
The Rockman