Someone jokingly asked me recently if there was anything I was missing from all the gear I carry on my motorcycle.  I replied without even having to think about the answer: FISHING GEAR!  Since I stay out on the road most of the summer, you'd think I'd carry at least a pole, but my good fishing equipment was stolen (inside of and along with my cargo trailer) and I have not yet replaced it.  Most of the fishing I have done while on the road has been with other folks who have kindly taken me and an extra pole to their special fishing hole.  I'm currently “CouchSurfing” here in Duluth, MN with a two of the kindest and most down to earth great-grandparents I've met in a while, Sandy and Ron.  Oh, and the latter happens to be a life-long Minnesota fisherman who asked if I'd like to join him for a day of fishing... WOO-HOO!!!    Thankfully, Ron is not a line-in-the-water-by-sunup kind of fisherman, so I was able to sleep in and get some needed rest after the past week's adventure (um, maybe past month's?).  Sandy took a pic of us departing their house:   We stopped at the bait shop near the lake.  Ron has been coming to this bait shop and fishing the same lake we were headed to since he was knee high to a grasshopper : Not sure about the story behind the flying pig: I think it was about here...: ...that Ron said “We're almost there” and I wanted to, well, do this:  Wild Rice Reservoir Lake is where we'd spend the day:    In case someone wants to know exactly where that is, here's ya map:   Ah, is this great or what??  Absolutely great weather (mid-70s), clear skies, and fishin' to be done!: It didn't take us long to get the first fish in the boat, a Walleye that Ron caught, which happens to be his favorite fish: The next fish in the boat made me wonder what the standards of this fishing expedition might be...: ...but Ron laughed and said the Perch would definitely be going back in to do some growin'.  But we did keep this Crappie (pronounced "crop-ee") and a few others:   Who would have thought I'd be out here on a lake fishing in Minnesota with someone who I didn't know 2 days ago and having an absolute blast not only fishing but hearing all about life in Minnesota and his adventures.  C'mon, is this cool or what?   One of the few things that I reeeeeeally wanted to do while in the north woods section of my “FJR Fall Full Circle” journey was see a loon.  I absolutely love the sound of loons (especially while camping), but I've never seen one in person.  Ron said he thought there was a good chance we'd see one today.  Sure enough, while I have a fish on my line Ron points and says “There's your loon”.  I wasn't sure whether to drop my pole in favor of my camera or pull in the fish, so I think I just handed the pole to Ron.  I can't really recall as I was so excited to be experiencing both!   Here's the loon: It kept flapping it's wings making it appear to be standing on the water.  Neither Ron nor I knew exactly what it was doing or why it might be exhibiting such behavior, so we agreed it must have been primping for a hot date later in the evening:    If seeing the loon, wasn't enough minutes later I landed what Ron said was a good sized Northern Pike.  I've never caught “a Northern” before, but it seemed like a darn good sized fish to me!  I was so nervous about it flipping out of my hands and back into the water while Ron took a pic of me holding it that I insisted that he hang on to it and I'd take the photo:   Ron and I had a SUPER day on the lake! Pulling the boat out of the water and heading home....   All totaled, we had 23 fish in the boat.  Ron is quite discriminate on the fish that stayed aboard as he only likes to eat certain kinds of fish.  So, we only kept those plus my prized Northern (which he happens to adamantly dislike) just so I could taste it.  WOO-HOO!!! Ron cleanin' 'em up: Sandy insisted a photo of me and my Northern (which I have no doubt the Matriarch will most certainly agree!!): Geez, check out the teeth on these things!: Though we had dinner plans at a restaurant, Sandy cooked up my Northern for me to taste: So, I ate some of the Northern before we departed for dinner and she froze the remaining, which I'm going to take with me on the bike when I leave tomorrow.  By the time I'm ready for dinner it will be thawed and ready to eat.  I think it'll be quite cool to be eating the very fish I caught further up the road.  Oh, by the way, while we were at dinner I noticed this on the menu, which I found rather unusual (Red Flannel Hash): Ron, thank you sooooooo much today!  I had an absolute blast and have no doubt this will be one of the most memorable aspects of this journey.  Can't wait to see you and Sandy when you snowbird to Arizona this winter! AGirl Copyright © 2006-2012, All Rights Reserved.