Welcome to another edition of the Wigwam
Fisherman’s Blog. The weather today has been spotty, it showered early, but the day has turned out gorgeous this afternoon. We had a few boats out on the water and our guests were able to limit out this morning and trophy fish this afternoon. Besides the weather, everything is perfect for us at the Wigwam Resort on Lake of the Woods. We are supposed to have some awesome conditions for tomorrow which will make for an excellent start to the final weekend in May 2009!I was talking with one of our guests this morning and the question was asked, what is your best fishing memory? I had to hesitate for a moment, because I think every time I go out I experience something new that makes that experience my best, but there is one that I have to say is the best, and because of Fathers Day right around the corner I thought I would share it.
My Father, Curt Tessier, loved to fish and every chance he got to make the call, that’s exactly what we did. So on Fathers Day in 1982 he told the Tessier clan that we were going fishing, and were going to his all time favorite spot on Rainy Lake…Black Sturgeon up on the Canadian side…I can remember back to the very first time I fished with my Father and Grandfather at the age of 3 and Black Sturgeon is where we went.
Back on that beautiful June day my parents loaded up the car and the boat (14’ with a 9.9 Honda motor) with all our goodies and kids (me, my brother (Ryan) and sister (Janelle)) and we hit the road. I remember having a good feeling about that day…I don’t know if it was just because I was
able to go fishing, or if it was because our entire family was going to be together and fish, but there was something special about it. It hadn’t been more than 30 minutes on the lake and we had gotten into the Crappies, and I’m not talking about the little ones either…I’m talking about frying pan size Crappies. We were pulling them up one right after the other…it was amazing! After about two hours of none stop Crappie, my Father had latched onto something big, we didn’t know what it was at first, but the names were flying out of our mouths before we had even seen it. I had said, “It must be a Muskie”, my Mom said, “it must be a Northern”, finally my Father saw it for the first time and said, “IT’S A WALLEYE”! Everyone was so excited that every time he got the fish to the boat we all leaned over and we almost flipped the boat. This whole time I was trying to net it, mind you I was 8 years old, my brother who was 6 wouldn’t get out of my way, and my Mom was holding my 6 month old sister tightly in her arms, telling us all to settle 
down. I was in Walleye heaven…I had never seen a Walleye so big. Finally after what seemed to be an eternity my Father was able to bring the fish up just enough for me to land it and then he dropped his rod and grabbed the net. I didn’t say a word for about the next 5 minutes…all I did was sit there and stare at what I thought was a monster. My father wanted to throw it back, but we all said, “NO, we have to mount it to remember this great occasion”, after all it was Fathers Day, my Dad was doing what he loved to do, and the entire family was there, so we did. For the rest of the day I didn’t even wet my line…all I did is stare and think to myself, when would be the next time I would be able to be face to face with another Walleye of that size…I was in heaven!The Walleye was just over 6 ½ lbs…small to the standards held on Lake of the Woods these days, but it was a monster to an 8 year old, and that is to date, my most memorable fishing memory. I hope you enjoyed, because I’ve got goose bumps reliving it. It makes me want to get out there and go fishing right now!
The moral of this story is, many of the best stories are made with family, so this Fathers Day, no matter what it is, just get out there and do it with your family. I hope that each and every person will make this Fathers Day the most memorable to date! I hope to see you all on Lake of the Woods and remember to checkout our Fathers Day Week Special on our website; it will be an offer you can’t refuse!
Daily Fishing Report: Tomorrows forecast looks like this; mainly sunny, high around 60F with winds NNW at 15 to 25 mph. For those of you that would like to do a little evening fishing here is what you can expect; mostly clear skies early, becoming mostly cloudy with showers developing
later at night, low 39F with NNW winds shifting to ESE at 10 to 20 mph. There will be a 40% chance of rain. Sunday’s forecast will be overcast with rain showers at times high 59F with winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. There will be another 40% chance of rain. Since I won't be blogging this weekend I will give you Monday’s forecast; showers, highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the upper 30’s…so don’t put away your parkas…ha ha. My sources (our guides) were out on the big water again today, about ¾ or a mile out from Lighthouse Gap in the mud fishing at the depth of 32 feet. Nothing has changed and they are still catching fish. They are fishing with Pink & White jigs with frozen shiners. Lighthouse Gap is still producing in about 14 to 18 feet of water. I’ve been having great success casting out into the current and jigging back to the boat against the current with my trusty Pink jig with a frozen shiner. Once again, make sure you’re on the bottom, because that’s where the fish are at! Good Luck and Happy Fishing!My shout out today will go to a group of first timers to the Wigwam Resort, Keith Schlosser of Connecticut, Tom Mason of Minnesota and Bill Ferro of Wisconsin. I wanted to thank them for
the opportunity to show them our northern Minnesota hospitality and what Lake of the Woods is all about. I hope they will return very quickly for another round of great fishing. I also wanted to give a shout out to Keith’s son, Kyle. I have heard through the grapevine that he has the dream of working in the resort business someday, and I just wanted to tell him that I think he’s on the right path. Kyle, never lose site of your dream and someday it will become reality. If you would like to checkout what Kyle is all about, please checkout his website at http://www.schlosserfamily.com/. Kyle, keep up the great work and I hope to see you in September with your Dad, so we can knock down some of those Canadian Honkers (Geese)!Happy Fishing to all, and to all a good day!
Wigwam Fisherman aka Jean-Paul Tessier
Wigwam Resort
http://www.wigwamresortlow.com/
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