North Star Guide Service

First timers on muskies!!

2011-07-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

" Oh my Gosh...oh my gosh, I think I got one" is what I heard from behind me in the Lund. See, a recent high school graduate from the Washington D.C. area and his father were fishing muskies with me this morning. We got in a little too tight and I found myself dangerously close to a cabbage bed that covered a point on the south end of North Star Lake. When David said this, I looked back to see the rod over his left shoulder? No way this was a fish. I told him " I think it may be a weed". As soon as the word "weed" left my mouth I noticed the line coming to the surface like a rocket. Here it comes...........

I received a call from one of my frequent clients that he had a couple of relatives coming up to Minnesota from Maryland and he wanted to treat them to a full day of Musky fishing. I thought " cool, this could be fun". Mel then informed me that these two have never fished Muskies and wasn't sure they could cast! My thoughts then turned to "Oh oh...now what?" But after the first 10 minutes in the boat I could see this wasn't going to be an issue. They would be just fine. This was indeed their first time ever fishing for this monster of a species. I started David and his dad on Inhaler bucktails. These baits are bar none one of the best bucktails made. Within an hour David had on his first musky . The fish hit just 15 yards from the back on the boat and ran a bit. david was holding on for dear life. This fish cooperated beautifully. She swam to the side of the boat and went airborne. Dave then did exactly what he was told and lifted the pig right into the Frabil net. This was the only fish boated today but what a memorable fish it was. To be able to be a part of this experience is priceless. Now for his dad.....next time Sir! Maybe less weeds on your hooks will help ( inside joke ). Enjoy the picture of David and his spotted 42 inch Musky caught on the same Inhaler as his uncle just one year ago. Thanks to Dale Anderson of Winnie Walleyes for taking some nice pics for us today.

Stay tuned for more Muskie action as I have a bunch of Musky trips left this year. I'm thinking the fishing will heat up. We will keep our fingers crossed. Check out my website for some more reports and great pictures of beautiful fish. www.northstarguideservice.com

"Watch your bobber!!!!"

Eric

Muskie on!..Maybe..Mike, not again!

2011-07-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

The morning started out with a little wind and cloud cover. So I knew we wouldnt have another day like we have had in the past. See, I was out on a trip with 2 guys that have been in the boat before who love to muskie fish and great guys to boot. A couple of years ago we had one of those days you hear about but never experience. Correct me if I'm wrong guys but I think we had 14 different fish follow, chase, hit and destroy lures all in a 4 hour stretch.

We all had on different lures including a new bait called Twisted Spoon, Top Raider and a Bulldawg. The dawg is Mikes favorite lure to use on North Star Lake just due to the fact that he has had numerous fish annihilate it time and time again. It didnt take long before we hit a stretch that usually holds some fish. Mike was in the front of the Lund tossing that orange and black Dawg like a pro. I had positioned the boat in 30'-35 ' so we could hit the desired depth of cabbage. The wind turned the front end and Mike had thrown the bait a tad bit short and ended up in 25' of water. After a few turns of the reel I had noticed Mike pull the rod straight up slowly as if he had a bunch of weeds draggin him down. That's where it turned funny. I asked him what was goin on and he said " think I had some weeds". I giggled a little and asked him to take a look at his bait because had tossed that lure in open water. The bait was lifted high and no weeds were hangin'...just tooth marks. Mike had pulled the lure right out of the fishes mouth ever so slowly. Perfect job if it was a weed. We all chucked a bit and kept moving.

Our next spot was an island that had a huge point of reeds and lots of cabbage. Same scenario with our presentations with Mike still in the front throwin his most beloved dawg. We meandered to the end of the point and I had instructed Mike to toss it in shallow , keep his rod high and move the bait across the top of the weeds. "BAM!!!!", his line straightened out and his rod loaded up. Could this be the time? Finally a fish that held on long enough to see and net? Nope. Just a lure that was full of teeth marks...tight full. Now remember I said I had two guys in the boat? The other gentleman Scott just stood on the back deck and threw his heart out. He did have a pretty big fish follow right to the boat but she shut her mouth and snubbed it's nose at us. Now I'm not sure why Scott and I even had rods in our hands 'cause it's always Mike that steals the show. Might have to switch things up again next year and stick Mike in the back 'Eh Scotty? Usually I place a photo or two is this spot of someone holding a fish but not this time. We do have the memories of those funny couple of moments watching Mike.

Thanks go out to Mike and Scott for another great trip chasing these elusive fish and who knows....the next time could be it!!!

Keep an eye out for my next post 'cause I'm back chasing them on Wednesday and take a look for new pictures on my website. www.northstarguideservice.com

Watch your bobber!!!!!

Eric

2011-07-13T15:01:00.000-07:00

Today was just a half day trip for me that didn't produce a "ton" of action but it did have its moments. Most of them came from watching one of my guys named "Sam". Now I have known Sam for quite some time and this is the first time we have had the chance to fish together. See, Sam just graduated from high school this year and his dad thought this would be a good chance to get he and his brother into some walleyes. 6:00 am came early for all of us except his younger brother Michael who decided not to go due to that fact that it was WAY too early.

We started out fishing rigs tipped with leaches at the same humps that have been producing for me these past few weeks. I located a bunch of fish but couldn't get them to respond. TO ANYTHING!!! I tried a couple of different humps with the same result. I received a call from a buddy that found some baitfish and a few 'eyes . We headed over there and started catching fish right away. Now back to Sam. Our first fish was caught by him in a very unorthodoxed way. He was pulling a rig and told me he " had one goin". I attempted to guide Sammy through his first bite and away we went. I think he did everything I told him NOT to do. His dad and I just sat back a laughed. The fish was "on", then it was "gone...then back "on" then I'm not sure what happened but the fish ended up at the side of the Lund. Our first keeper. I told Sam I was gonna write this and he just laughed and said "ok no problem" with that great big smile he always has.

I got out the spinner rods and we began in 13 fow. BAM ...Randy had one on but it let go. then Sam had one and that let go also. We picked and scrounged for our fish and had some laughs while doin it. We had fish in the box and also let a few big ones go. Below is a fish that Randy released.

I hope that Michael will be with us the next time we are on the water as he has the biggest smile of all three of them. Maybe we will have to start around noon.

Big Bass in the Slop

2011-07-12T12:28:00.000-07:00

This morning was a real treat for me . I had two gentlemen from the Rochester area in my boat chasing big Largemouth. Typically I would have started of us throwing spinnerbaits to try and located these fish but it wasn't gonna happen. Most of the fish I have been finding this time of year have been in the thick pads up shallow. I decided that the water temp being 76 f, we would slow it down and throw some plastic.

Jeff had on a black worm Texas Rig style and I was throwing a slow falling Senko rigged "Wacky" style. Mike on the other hand wanted to catch some pike and decided that a spinner bait was gonna be his weapon. Our first two cast produced some action with both Jeff and I missing our fish. I thought it was gonna be one of those days where we would slaughter the bass. I was wrong. We worked for every fish and worked hard. The water temp was still high but the air temp had fallen dramatically this a.m. and the bucket mouths didn't like it . At least that was what I was telling myself. The sun decided to pop out and the fish answered with a boom. Below is a picture of Jeffs first larger fish that inhaled the Berkley Power Worm.

While fishing the same stretch of water Jeff picked yet another hog on the same set-up. This time the fish was slightly larger. It hit at the egde of the break and he slammed the hook home on this pig of a bass.

This behemoth measured in at a whopping 22 3/4 inches. This fish was fat and healthy; a good sign for this Itasca County gem of a lake. After a few more fish we decided to call it a day and cranked up the Verado and head back to the landing. Great day?...No...Good day...Yes!!! Its all about these smiles you see above. If you are a guide and doing this for any other reason other than the smiles and thanks, you might need to look further because this is what its all about.

Tomorrow I head to Winnie with some long time guests and friends to chase some walleyes. This trip is one of those I always look forward to. A dad and his two sons. One of them never catching a walleye and the other doesn't remember if he did. Hope to log some great photos and post a good story for you.

Watch your Bobber!!!

1st time in a boat? Really?

2011-07-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

"Alright guys we will start the drift again". "How deep are we this time Eric?" I said "31 feet guys but we will be in the right depth really quick." The wind had started to pick up with it gusting to 18mph. John's son Jim said to me " I think I got one goin' " I looked at the Lowarnce and it read 31.9' It couldn't be. But I looked at the time and the temps and I guess it was possible. The fish were movin deep." Set the hook Jim!" and he did so just perfectly! The rod loaded up and I thought " Oh, oh he's in for a fight ". The fish stayed down but soon came up to where we could see her................

When I first received a call the call that I was needed to take a dad and his 12 year old son walleye fishing, I was excited to be a part of this experience. Then when I learned the boy had never fished walleyes before it got me even more excited. Man, to be a part of this kids memories of being 12 and catching his1st walleye left me thinkin', "what if its gonna be a struggle to find the fish ?" On the drive to the landing I then was told that " Jim has never been in a boat". This was gonna be a day we would all remember.

We decided to start on the North end and fish some humps that topped out at 22'. I located some fish right away and it didn't take too long before John had one goin. A 17 3/4"- 'eye was hanging on the end of his leech tipped rig. Wouldn't ya know it but a boat that was circling us saw us land two fish before he moved right in and pushed us off. Now for those of you who are new to fishing or heck even seasoned veterans, it's not very polite to watch someone who is working a small spot and catching fish to move right in and block your path. It seems to happen every time we are on the water lately. There are atleast 50 + humps that are sooo close they could fish. We ended up moving a half mile to the south and what a good move it was. Thats where most of our numbers came from. Leeches were the ticket in the Lund again out fishing crawlers.

Ok, back to that fish. Jim's dad had said most of the morning that all he wanted was for Jim to catch a big fish. Well it was happening...and boy did it happen! Jim's first of 4 bigger fish was a 22 incher and then the big boy hit on the very next drift. Yep in almost 32' of water. The picture above is that of a fish that hit 25 1/4". Now I know most of you weekend pro's are thinkin " that's just 25 inches!" . You are right! 25 inches of the biggest fish of this boys life. Below are a couple of other shots I took of this memorable day. I just hope at least one of you reading this gets to experience what I did yesterday. Besides taking out my own son this tops them all. I hope that some day I get to do this again!!! Thanks guys! You are welcome in my boat anytime.

Eric Koenig
www.northstarguideservice.com

Turn up the heat!

2010-08-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

Holy cow is it hot out side! We had another day on the water chasing Northern Pike and Largemouth Bass. I had three guys in the boat that I have not seen in a long long time. These three use to be guests at our families resort , all with kids.

The day started out with absolutely NO wind. I was thinking " Oh boy here we go again!". One of the guys ( Dave ) was looking for a larger Northern Pike so I set him up with....you guessed it.....the Dixie Dancer spinnerbait. This bait out performs ANY spinnerbait on the market. I challenge you to prove that statement wrong.

David started right away with a fish and surprised us all. this was Dave we were talking about...he doesn't catch fish I'm told....lol. The absence of wind was going to make this tough. We ventured down the weed line picking up some smaller pike. But no big ones....yet.

I was throwing everything under the sun ( what a bright sun it was ) including some plastics for the bass . The fish just wouldn't respond to even Power Worms . I decided to use something I haven't thrown in quite some time, Zoom Baits Big Critter Craw. The minute I put this thing on I had fish hitting it over and over again. Not to my surprise the fish just wouldn't hold onto it. They wouldn't hold on to anything for too long. I suppose I could have thrown a live leach and bobber at them but I just can't do that. I finally ended up catch a few bass with one being on the larger side but we still needed a little wind.

We ended up catching fish but didn't get that big fish until I decided to move locations and saw Davey struggling with a bigger pike in front of the Lund. His rod was bent over the side of the boat and the drag was singing sweet music. I landed the fish and he was pretty happy and EXCITED. Remember is was saying he is full of energy..........I mean FULL.

After a high five and some pics taken ( not with my camera....forgot ) we headed for a new location. About twenty casts into it the David B. show began again. I saw his black and orange spinnerbait disappear and told him to set the hook. He did a great job at the hook set and the fish came out of the water. It was a good 3 1/2 pounds and Dave was getting excited. I told Dave if the fish starts to jump to lower his rod into the water and reel the fish back down. As soon as I finished my sentence the fish did the same thing...right out of the water and Dave forget most of what I said. But that's ok cause he was right in the middle of a battle.

All in all it was a decent day but still not what I wanted but again the guys were happy an that's all that matters. It was so good to see these gentleman again after sooo many years. I just wish I would have taken pics with my camera to post but maybe next time.

Stay tuned for my next post. Muskie fishing on Deer Lake with a retired president of Budwiser! This will be our third trip this year and should be fun.

Be safe and keep your lines tight!!

Great day with Great people!!!

2010-08-05T14:27:00.000-07:00

Last night I logged on to the Weather Cannel to see what was in store for us for this morning. It said north winds from 4-8 mph and high of 71 F. Well they were close on the temp but failed miserably with the wind. The trees were blowing with gust up to 15-20.

With the colder temps I decided to slow things down a bit and try some Texas rigged Power Craws with a 1/8th oz. weight. Jeff and Marty from Duluth, MN had on a couple of spinnerbaits tied on. Marty's first cast with a Dixie Dancer produced a very nice largemouth. I was thinking " I hope this works all day" but soon realized we all should be throwing crawdads. After changing the the guys lures we started putting some fish in the Lund. Marty was on fire after figuring out how these fish were biting. Jeff was soon to catch up. A little while later and more pictures taken, the guys switched spots and now Jeff was on the bow deck ready to rock and roll. It didn't take long for Jeff to show his fishing prowess . Several pictures and hand shakes later we decided to move out of the wind. By this time the fishing slowed and we decided to call it a day.

I am not sure how many fish we ended up with but Marty said he stopped counting his after 9 or 10. Jeff was right in there with some pretty big fish. Me, I was too busy netting fish , taking pictures and making sure Marty was having a good time ( inside joke ) .

This was an unexpected great day on the water with some good guys. It's tough to call these guys clients when they are truly good friends. My family looks forward to these two families checking in at our resort and is sad when the week is over.

Thanks again to the wives for waking these guys up and for giving permission for them to go!

Be safe and keep a tight line!

Eric
www.northstarguideservice.com

Did someone say rain?

2010-08-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

This August started out with a bang! Holy cow did we get rain! I think most needed a snorkel just to find our way around. I believe we ended up with around 3-4 inches over night on Sunday making the fishing a little slower than I would like. But we still went out a gave it a shot.

I would be fishing with two teenage boys from the Duluth area. This is their second outing with me as I have been guiding theirs dads for the past 8 years or so ( maybe even longer but ya know time flies ). Brady and John wanted to try for some Large Mouth Bass and Northern Pike so thats what we did.....tried. We hopped in the Lund and were on our way. The boys started throwing the trusty Dixie Dancer Spinner Baits and I was using a Berkley Power Worm. After about 10 casts , John ended up landing a pike that would find the livewell. I was thinking " OK this wouldn't be so bad", I was wrong....it was. I landed two nice bass with the worm and Brady was still working hard.

I ended up moving with the intention of returning to this area that has produced so many fish in the past. I have posted people pics in previous blog that were on this same lake. Brady ended up breaking the ice with a respectable northern. John was still living on the memory of that first and only fish at that time. We started to pull a few more fish but still wasn't what I wanted for them. These kids are a blast to have in the boat. Nice job on the ipod boys!!!

By days end Brady ended up with about eight pike, I finished with 4 pike and two bass while Johnnie only has that one fish to remember. I think he gets that from uncle Jeff.

Today is my day off and then I have the dads on Thursday. Still not sure what they want to chase as this is a common question with these guys right up to the last second....lol. We may go for walleyes or Jeff may get his way and go for bass. It's a coin toss. I will try to get some pics to post being that the boys didnt get theirs taken.

I want to thank the boys mother as I know they are the ones who got the two ready on time cause their dads must have been sleepin'.

Lets hope the weather stays stable and the fish are biting! Stay tuned for further post from Thursday and Friday.

Be safe and keep your lines tight,

Eric

Check out my web site @ www.northstarguideservice.com

"Fish ON..Fish ON !!!!" Musky in the boat

2010-07-29T16:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was pretty exciting for one client from St. Louis that decided to try his hand at Musky fishing. Mel ( 67 years young and I mean young!) was in front of the Lund all day throwing his heart out when all of the sudden I heard Mel yell " Holy S*#T" and the boat jerked from side to side.

I'll start from the beginning. We started the windy day off by throwing Bulldawgs and Inhaler Bucktails off the cabbage edges with little to no luck. The wind prevented us from seeing any follows that may have occurred and boat control was tough. We threw and trolled for 4 hours before deciding to take a break and go in for lunch. After lunch we were both ready for a nap but figured we would give it another shot. It literally came down to the last few cast. Our day would end at 4:00 pm and at 4:07 is when all the excitement began.

Ok, back to the first paragraph. I looked at Mel and saw him brace his legs, dig the pole into his side and set the hook. I immediately looked to Mels lure and saw an amazing site. His fish hit the Inhaler Big Daddy and took off....... straight up. It cleared the water by almost two feet. AWESOME SIGHT!! This was Mels first Musky and was "quickly" measured at 41 ". I think if we took our time and did it right we may have ended up a little larger. This musky was so think and fat that I think it would have tipped the scales at over 20 lbs. easily if not closer to 23-24.

Great job Mel and Congratulations to a good man and now friend.

Make sure to visit my website when you get a chance and thanks for reading!! www.northstarguideservice.com

Be safe and keep a tight line!

Little Slow today

2010-07-26T15:24:00.000-07:00

Today started off fast and furious with 4 fish on the first 6 casts. Then the fishing came to a stand still. My clients are from Illinois and have been great customers of mine for the past few years. So they know that I wouldn't stop working...and boy did we have to work. I had three people in my boat and had a tag boat with three more. This is hard enough to keep 6 people on fish especially when the bite is hot, but they understood and didn't complain one bit. What awesome clients turned friends.

We started with Berkley Power Worms and it produced about 6 - 8 fish right away. As we moved down the weed line few more were picked up but NOT how it should be. The wind started to pick up so I decided to change over to Dixie Dancer spinnerbaits. As we moved to the south I had something hit my lure and found about a 3 pound northern pike attached to it. I thought " ok, atleast we can have some action". well that kinda happened. I think we put about 5 pike in the Lund. This day was not one of our best outings but the boys were happy. Two 13 year olds that love to fish...one of them being his first trip to Minnesota fishing. We also had two 15 year old girls in the other boat that were catching a couple. Great people to spend a morning fishing. They are welcome in my boat any day! Actually we are heading to Big Winnie on Friday so wish us luck.

Hope to have a few more post up before then as I have two Muskie trips Wednesday and Thursday. Maybe get some picture to show.Be sure to visit my website and see all the new pics that have updated. www.northstarguideservice.com.

I realize that putting up a post like this isn't exciting or great for business but its real life. Not everyday can be phenominal or the trip of their lives so I will continue to post the good and the bad. Gotta keep it real.

Till next time ! Be safe and keep a tight line.

Muskies, Muskies and more Muskies!

2010-07-23T13:17:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was pretty exciting for two of my clients. We ventured out about 7:30 am and hit the first spot on the south end of the lake. The bait fish were plentiful and right where I wanted them. That was until another boat pushed us off our spot. This isn't a big deal due to the fact that North Star has numerous spots that produce enough to make anyone happy.

About 20 minutes later we moved to our second spot and boy was that the right move. I showed them a new spot on the lake that they didn't even know about. After about 15 casts....BOOM!!! I heard " FISH ON, FISH ON". I turned and saw his St.Croix thumping downward. The fish had a black and orange Bulldawg deep in the weeds. I put the Minnkota in high gear and tried to head the fish off. After about a minute, all we saw was the weeds being split and the trail of bubbles was quite impressive. So close!

We moved again to spot number 3 and started to see more fish. This area is a quick drop off into deep cabbage that holds a ton of big fish. The first fish to follow was on the smaller side ( approx. 40 inches). Just when ya least expect it, the inevitable happens.......the giant! This fish followed up and we had a really close look at her. We all agreed that this fish would go a little over 50 inches. He was interested but not gonna take it. So we decided after seeing 4 different fish on this spot that we would move. The last area produced a strike by another monster. This gator struck his lure not too far from the Lund just missing the rear trebles. I actually think this fish was a tad bigger that the previous one.

Although we didn't boat a fish this trip we did end up seeing around 5 fish and hooking one. Not a bad day when you are talking Muskies. The only thing that matters is that the guys had a blast. These clients have turned into friends that we look forward to seeing every year. Next time Mike.......next time.

Be safe and keep your lines tight!!!!
www.northstarguideservice.com

North Star is producing some big fish!

2010-07-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

Good morning everyone!

Last night my son and I went out after some Pike and wow did it happen. We started throwing our trusty Inhaler buck tails with some pretty good success! After about 10 casts I landed a 33 incher that my son hooked. I didnt believe him at first but that custom St. Croix rod was bent right over. Pretty exciting for my none year old. We had some pretty big muskies follow up but no hits.

This Wednesday I have a muskie trip on North Star Lake and hopefully we can put one in the new Lund. If the weather stays stable we should be able to have some success with the big gators. The fish have been so active lately that it seems so easy to stick one of these elusive thing but if you have ever tried they can turn you red in the face pretty quick.

Just looked outside and its getting a little dark in the west so fishing may be good today. Need cloud cover on these crystal clear lakes. We might try a night bite this evening with some top water if the temps stay up . Now that gets the heart pumping if you have never tried it.

I'm out for now but in the mean time be safe and keep a tight line !!!

North Star Guide Service: Bass Action is heating up

2010-07-11T07:33:00.000-07:00

North Star Guide Service: Bass Action is heating up: "Those of you that have been chasing walleyes around and need a break, try the bass action. We went out this morning and slaughtered them. Th..."

Bass Action is heating up

2010-07-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

Those of you that have been chasing walleyes around and need a break, try the bass action. We went out this morning and slaughtered them. The weather didn't cooperate right away but after a half hour of rain,thunder and lightning we start to pile them into the Lund! My son hauled in a beauty that weighed about 4 1/2 lbs on a Northland Tackle Jaw Breaker.

We worked the deeper weed edges with Berkley Power Worms and Dixie Dancer spinner baits as the sun started getting higher. The bass seem to be locating around mid lake structure being in their post spawn phase. We had to slow down a bit and get a little deeper but the fish kept biting. Don't give up too early on the deeper pads in the morning before that sun drive you crazy. You can have an absolute blast throwing plastic making them slowly fall off the edge of a pad and then HANG ON!!! Looks like today will be a scorcher.

I will try to add some pics of this morning. I think I might be inside this afternoon since it about 90 F. I think we may go try another small lake tomorrow. I have a few trips this week to Big Winnie for some walleyes, so I'm enjoying these smaller lakes while I can. Sometimes work gets in the way.

My family owns and operated North Star Lake Resort which is a family resort located 25 miles north of Grand Rapids.

Check back for more reports on bass walleyes and hopefully some Muskies this week. Take care, good luck and be safe.

Eric