10-9-13

Well once again it's been a long time since I've updated my website... its been well over a month, but what a month it's been!  The biggest and most important thing happened on September 17th at 12:59pm, when we welcomed Mason Matthew Liebel into the world!  He was 2 weeks earlier than expected and came at just the right time, we have to thank the doctors and nurses for all they did and also God for looking down on us with him!  He was born 4lbs 11oz and 18in long!  For his size the doctors said he was very healthy!  He did have to stay in the hospital for 10 days while he put on weight, but he is now home and doing great!  We are even getting some sleep at night(keyword: some)!

My fishing time has been very limited as we adjust to a new baby, but I have managed to get out twice since he was born.  Jeff and I ventured out of Lund's Landing on September 29th for a few hours in the morning.  While the fishing was slow it was a beautiful morning!  The highlight of the day was watching a young bull moose swim across the lake!  The width of the lake where he crossed it 2.25 miles! He looked a little bit tired after the long journey.  Check out the photo gallery for more moose pictures.  While we only boated one nice walleye for the day it was nice to get out on the water!  

The Tobacco Gardens Fall Walleye Classic was held last Saturday October 5th, and it was a chilly one!  With temps below freezing at takeoff it made for a cold run across the lake.  I was fishing with my brother Nick and we decided that with the cold weather, we would look to traditional late fall/early ice locations.  It didn't work out well for us.  We caught a lot of catfish and started bouncing around from spot to spot, putting over 50 miles on the boat.  We gave them a selection of jigs, lindy rigs, and cranks.  We couldn't seem to put a pattern together.  We ended up catching 2 walleyes for a total of about 4.5 pounds.  We also caught an 8.9 pound northern that won us biggest northern so we didn't go home empty handed!  The fishing was slow, the teams that did well sat on spots all day to try and grind out 6 fish.  That just isn't my style of fishing, I would much rather run and gun, trying to find active fish.  Oh well! That's why they call it fishing!  I have to again send a huge shout-out to Mike Russell and Concord Energy for sponsoring our entry fee for the event! 

The fall fishing on Lake Sakakawea can be great!  The opportunity for trophy class walleyes is there and the fall is prime time to catch the fish of a lifetime!  I have a few weekends available, and also Thursday, October 17th and Friday, October 18th.  Give me a call and we can discuss a fall walleye trip!

The Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers should also be heating up, as of now the water is dirty but the fish are there, and it doesn't take a big improvement in clarity for the bite to fire up!  Fall is just a great time to be on the water in western North Dakota!