Sometimes You Just Gotta Get Out Of Dodge

Sometimes you just got to get the hell out of wherever you are and go someplace else for a change. Andi and I flew into Denver and spent a week out in the Gunnison/CB area.
Skiing was awesome and as always the snow was fantastic. We drove through Monarch Pass in one of the worst snowstorms I have ever drove through. Surely my Wisconsin upbringing enabled me to navigate the fast accumulating snow and whiteout conditions. Yet, once we awoke in the loft the next morning everything in the mountains was covered in beautiful white powder.  Thanks to all the AK West crew who put us up and helped to make sure we had a fantastic time. I can't wait to get out to the mountains this fall so we can experience everything this great part of the country has to offer throughout the seasons. On our way out we drove through the mountains following the Arkansas  River through the canyons. What an absolutely beautiful river (wish I had packed that fly rod). It was a great trip and Andi and I both look forward to getting back out to the Rockies.

Super Bowl Champs

YEEEEEEHHHHAAAAAAA WOOOOOOHHHHHOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!

The Lombardi Trophy is back in Titletown USA!

Green Bay Packers are Superbowl Champs!

if you did not know, up here in Sconie nation, it just got a whole lot warmer.

To all those I encountered last year...I told You So!
Pack is back and they are ready to roll right on down to the Super Bowl!
Go Packers! oh yeah and the Bears still suck!

Ice Fichin'

Well it's January in North central Wisconsin and Lake Wausau has 18" of ice on it. The temps are in the single digit but that did not stop us from heading out to the lake to set some tip-ups and see if we could not tie into some Pike. As a flyrodder it's hard for me to get excited about jigging a foot and a half long pole up and down waiting for a bluegill or perch to take the waxy off my hook, so I tried using a series of weighted wet flies and caddis pupae imitations instead but as we would find out in practice and from talking to an adjacent group of hardwater fisherman "the pan fish just aint bitin' " They of course knew this because in their arsenal of jigging rods and tip-ups they also carry a small neutrally buoyant underwater camera that gives them the advantage over the fish. The information obtained from this camera was that the panfish just were not biting. We knew this because in four hours of jigging, we had only caught one bluegill. Advantage fish!
In the end it was a great day, Josh landed a Northern Pike at 32" and my girlfriend Andi landed a 31 inch northern. I guess it was just a day for the Sommerfeldt's. I was too busy finding out if the pan fish were biting.

This little guy was spotted on the new critter cam.

A nice Dolly

Just a nice Dolly I thought I would throw up here. I missed out on catching one of those really clowned up Dollies that look like a Brook Trout wearing drag.

Well this was a fun night. We have been having really warm weather for a Wisconsin October. My buddy and I went out and after a few hours of no action the bass just started hitting poppers. The action was almost every cast! Here is Smanz with a nice little Large Mouth.