duckydoty

It was definitely a fun filled day and the amounts of laughter were not in short supply. Pat is one of the very few that have not fallen for the bear whistle. A smart woman she is! I did have a walleye break the surface of the water to grab my bait at the very last second possible. Not even a foot of line out the end of the rod. Great day and great people!

Jig fest was a last minute whirl wind for me. I was pretty bummed about not being able to go to the White. When the call was made to try Taney, I was elated. I could not play the whole time, but at least I got to play some. I would have liked the chance to fish with everyone and sure enjoyed the company of the ones I did get to fish with. Again, no one went hungry! Marty has that bbq sauce dialed in! Missed you, buddy! D.J. has the bug (itch to fish) about as bad as I’ve ever seen it. I gave him a little flack about his cute little butterfly net one afternoon. That evening at a point in time that was too late, he realized his net really was just good for swatting butterflies. The epic story ended up with a happy ending. Congratulations D.J. and Brandon! I pulled an old guide net out of retirement and presented it to D.J.. No more swatting butterflies for him. Had the pleasure of getting Ham and John in the boat. Now that was a little intimidating with wondering what we were gonna do. Chase micros? Numbers game? Big fish? Any of which I was game for. John needed a Taney brown so we went after that. Sure missed the rest of you guys but maybe in February!

I left two boxes of goodies in Hams boat for you guys this morning. Enjoy!

His eyes were smiling

I had the pleasure of fishing with Ham and John this morning. Our goal was a brown for John. We made that happen on the jerk baits under tough conditions of wind and cold. We took the boat up the lake further than anyone probably should when the water is off and caught a few more on jigs. Great time! Now for some shaved deer nachos!

No trolling that day

All those sleepless nights have finally paid off. Well deserved, my friend! Well deserved.

Found a few on jerks and cranks this morning

I can fish early Friday, and Saturday . Have room for 3 in the boat. Can only fish till about 10-10:30 each morning

Yes sir

3 i got walleye

Started at K Dock around 10 this morning and worked my way up to Snapp. Water temps started at 44 and ended at 46.5 around 1 pm. Boated one short stinking bass and one chunker of a walleye. That was it. Did find what looks like a boat on Snapp. What do you think? Threw mega bass 110+1’s.

46.2 at K Dock this morning

I was using that hook to punch the eye of another hook. Saw something shiny, slipped on a good push and felt a thump. Was truly surprised to see it had gone all the way through and thought, I gotta get a picture of that one.

The 3 Doty brothers got together for 6 days of fun and games in the woods and on the water. It is a given that when 2 or more of us get together, someone ends up bleeding. We just never know who it’s gonna be. Thursday morning I took a small forked horn with the crossbow and brother Jason caught his first walleye that afternoon. Friday morning brother Dave saw one doe at a distance and Brother Jason missed a shot at a turkey. I ended up being the one to bleed Friday evening, punching a hook through the end o my finger. That tickled real good. We saw nothing in shooting range Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. Good to have all three brothers together.

Congratulations John.

I got my butt handed to me today. Sat in the woods again and watched a doe and a yearling about 80 yards out. That’s all I saw. Started getting a little chilled around 9:30 and thought I’d see if I could do a repeat on the walleye. They were not having it today. Only boated one short. Did catch a nice crappie though. Oh yeah, could not keep them stinking bass off the hook. Finally called it quits because I got tired of being aggravated by them. One pass, they took all three rods at the same time. Another pass, they took 2 out of the 3 at the same time. Sure are frustrating things.

I’m running 7-9 feet of 17 pound test. Do not lift the bottom bouncer out of the water while reeling in a fish until you are ready to net it. I can not tell you how many fish I have lost until I figured that out.

Launched at K Dock early for a sit in the woods and brought along some fishing gear for a mid day try at some walleye. Nothing moving but the crows this morning. The wind picked up and started blowing good around 10 am so I climbed down out of the stand and hit some flats. Tried crawler harnesses at a bunch of different speeds and then the wind started getting too strong to troll against it. Switched over to 3 ounce bottom bouncers with Flickershad and ran with the wind trying to stay at about 2 mph. Finally crossed out into the 27-28 foot of water range and started spotting fish on the fish finder. Was not long and one rod went down. Got it about 1/2 way in and it came off. Felt pretty good on the 9 foot rod. Deployed B.B. again, got the proper bounce going and 2 rods went down. A 23 and a 24 in walleye. Before I could get either rod back out, the 3rd rod went down and it was a 16 inch stinking green bass. Tossed it back in while yelling at it to never come back. Got all 3 rods out again and headed back down wind where I was marking fish. One rod went down bringing in another 24 inch walleye. Second rod goes down with a short stinking bass. Pulled everything in to circle around and make another pass with the wind. At the very end of the marked area one of the rods went down getting a 25 incher. Best 1 1/2 hour of walleye fishing I’ve had. Evening sit in the woods, had 3 does within 17 yards. Was hoping for the big guy to be in tow. Not this time. This post has been promoted to an article

I don’t think I will be able to make it this year guys. Bummed about that but have a 6 day cast and blast planned that ends 2 days before jig fest

I’ll share one with you. I like to call it “Lightning and Thunder”. I was out on an LPOP one night pulling guard duty well into the air war of Desert Storm on the border of Saudi and Iraq north of Kuwait in a hilly part of the desert. I was sitting on top of a fox hole with another private from Alaska over looking a small valley separating us from Iraq. Started noticing some flashes of lightning beyond the next ridge and not much longer after the clouds started rolling over the ridge line with the lightning flashes getting brighter and the rumble of thunder breaking the silence of the night air. It was one time I was able to sit back and relax smoking a cigarette and watching a thunder storm roll in just like back home. It wasn’t much longer and the TA 312 land line rudely interrupted my meditation time. I answered, private Doty LPOP 1. I was surprised to hear the CO on the other end screaming what the heck is going on up there private. I answered, nothing really sir. Just watching a thunderstorm rolling in. He asked me, private how long you been in theater. I answered, since day one sir. He asked when was the last time I saw a cloud. I answered not since back home in the states sir. His next reply kinda rocked my world and brought me back to reality. WE’RE BEING SHELLED YOU DUMB A$$!

What I signed up for and did was defend your rights and freedoms, such as the right to a fair trial by a jury of your peers in order to keep you from being falsely accused of a crime and just being locked away in prison for the rest of your life, at a payable cost up to and including my life. The reason, I felt it was the right thing to do. Did not do it to receive a thank you and don’t need one either yet still proud of it.

https://www.wlure.com/products/fishing-lures-blank-minnow-upm606?variant=16627840966 my favorite blank is on sale for $.60 each. Just ordered 100

Where I guided in Alaska for six seasons, it was $11,000 per person per week to stay and fish with the guides at that lodge. Top of the line on everything and unmatched service. Several times the tip was 40% and larger. I still did not expect to get a tip there and was very grateful when they were received.