By Steve Weisman
Well, I’m back home after spending three nights and two days up at Ballards Resort on the south shore of Lake of the Woods after enjoying a fishing trip organized by my daughter’s fiancé, John Walz. He put together a group of 12 to go with six of us in each of the cabins. John had organized this trip for several years, so he pretty much had things down. It was a fully guided two-day trip with each cabin rotating the same two guides from one day to the next. Before I get into the specifics of how the trip went, I want to say I had a great time: traveling together, getting to know anglers from different areas, eating great food and, yes, catching a lot of fish. Best of all, the guides took us out, put us on fish and took care of bait, the equipment and the fish cleaning.
Was it worth it? Cost for the trip was $475 (lodging and guide service) per person, plus the fishing license and the travel costs. We all chipped in for snacks and side dishes to go with the fish we cooked and brought our own beverages. Ballard’s Resort offered an excellent breakfast buffet for $12. I could see that was the best way to get 100 anglers wanting to board the charter boats at about 8 each morning. Let me tell you this: the staff was efficient, and the food definitely hit the spot. We pooled our resources and made our own sandwiches each day.
This was also a special trip for all of us, because John’s dad, John Sr. had passed away this past February, and he had been on the trip in 2021. That was the last big fishing trip he had the chance to go on. John (his son) designed special T-shirts in memory of his father. So, there were a few tears shed, but also lots of John Sr stories told!
Getting to LOW
Normally, you’d think it’d take at least three big vehicles with lots of storage to get us there. Instead, John lined up a huge motor home with lots of compartment storage and plenty of room for 12 of us! We each chipped in $100 to cover the cost of gas and the motor home rental, which I think was pretty good in this time of high gas prices.
You put 12 fishermen in one vehicle for 7 1/2 hours, and you quickly become friends. Of course, I knew John and his son, Wes (soon to be a freshman), along with Bob Grems, Doug Brandt and Dale Brandt (all grew up in Estherville, and Bob and Doug were best friends growing up and played basketball in high school for George Hess). Dale was Doug’s older brother and has caught lots of big walleyes on the Iowa Great Lakes over the years. I also knew Todd Kramer, owner of Kramer Appraisal Service in Spencer, who played basketball for Bob Grems at ILCC.
John also invited Mark Patterson (teacher/coach at Wilton), Mike Ruhland (John’s financial planner with Ameriprise Financial Services) and his son Ross, along with Christian Davis (a friend of Ross’s and in the military) and Tim Eagen (longtime Fareway Meat Department Manager in Spencer-just retired).
Is that a diverse group or what! Over the course of 15 hours of traveling and two days of fishing, we learned a lot about each other, and there were lots of stories and lots of laughter. The best, though, had to be when we would stop every two to three hours for a leg stretch and bathroom break. It had to be quite a sight! No matter where we stopped, by the time all 12 of us had exited the motorhome, a lot of people at the truck stops were looking at us in amazement, and the question would always be, “Where are you guys going?” The answer was always, “LOW and a fishing trip!” People would laugh and shake their heads!
Day 1
The morning began with a quick rain shower, and the winds remained in the 10-20 mph range, which was good for fishing. We learned going into the trip that LOW was extremely high. Our guide, Tilden Edwards told us that it was six feet higher than a year ago, when the LOW received very little rainfall. That put the high water right at dock height of the charter slips and clients would have to walk in water to get to the boats. As a result, Ballard’s had designed a dock on top of a dock so that each charter boat could come alongside to board their clients. With up to 16 charter boats going out each day, that became quite a parade!
The best fishing had been several miles out on the mud flats in 30-33 feet of water. The walleyes were drawn to the bug hatches occurring. We used 1/4-ounce to 3/8-ounce jigs tipped with frozen emerald shiners. It’s hard to keep shiners alive in the summer, so the guides have learned that the walleyes still readily eat just thawed out emerald shiners, that the guides catch and freeze in the fall, when the shiners make their fall run up the Rainy River. It is at that time that the guides will shine lights in the water off of docks attracting gallons worth of emerald shiners!
Both boats caught lots of walleyes on Day 1 with 15 walleyes over 21 inches. The largest was a 29.5” walleye caught by Dale Brandt that he released. Each boat could legally catch 24 walleyes (slot was 19.5 to 29”) and 12 saugers. We kept a total of 65 walleyes/saugers. One issue was the number of small 10-14” saugers. They were definitely bait stealers, and I think they “out-quicked” the larger fish to the bait.
The goal was to put the jig/shiner on the bottom, pound the bottom and then let it sit just off the bottom, followed by a jiggle, jiggle, jiggle. The bite would be a latch and hang, and then it was up to us decide when to set the hook. Our group of six anglers went through four quart bags of emerald shiners, as we battled the smaller fish. Tilden only shook his head and laughed when I asked him if he ever had a boat of fishermen go through that many shiners in a day. However, when a 20+ incher hit, you knew it! As always, there are those who seem to catch more fish than the others in the boat, but still everybody had plenty of action. My first day included several small walleyes and saugers, along with four in the 15-18” range and two over 21”. And, yes, I missed a lot of those hangers-LOL!
After seven hours of fishing, we headed back, and it felt good to know that the guides were going to clean the fish. Half were frozen and half went to our fish fry. Mark was our cook, and he deep fried the fish in several batters. The only trouble (as usually happens) was most of the fillets were eaten before we even ate our potatoes and peppers! After supper, it became story time, especially for the Estherville old timers-LOL!
Day 2
Day 2 was hot, eventually reaching the mid-90s, and the early breeze dropped and LOW went flat calm. Thank goodness the anglers in my charter let an old man fish under the shade of the canopy. The flat calm really affected the bite. The fish weren’t where they had been on the first day; it became search and fish and search some more! Luckily, our guide, Chris Johnson ran north several miles, and he worked until we found some grudgingly active fish.
Worst part of the lack of wind? The flies, yes, the flies. John and I were the only ones who wore pants. Everybody else had bare legs, and the flies attacked their ankles causing a lot of slaps and sore legs! I learned long ago that jeans are the best defense against biting flies!
The bite was slow, but persistence paid off for our boat, as we ended up with 31 fish and had five slot fish. John ended up with the largest of the day with a 26.5” walleye, while Wes tied into the biggest fish of the trip. It was mid-afternoon and things were pretty slow. Then Wes set the hook. The rod doubled, and we all knew he had a big fish on. After about 10 minutes, the fish came into sight: a big northern pike. It turned out to be a 41” pike. After a couple of quick photos, Wes released it. My day was really slow with only a few bites and two fish over 15”. Oh well, that’s why it’s called fishing instead of catching.
Definitely worth the trip
Would I do it again? Was it worth all the miles and the cost? Yes, I would say yes. It took a lot of pressure off going to a huge body of water like LOW with little knowledge of where to go. It was nice to be taken out, for all of the equipment to be ready and all I had to do was work the bait.
The boats were comfortable, the guides friendly and knowledgeable and the accommodations excellent. Plus, the ride in the motor home was certainly “interesting” to say the least. I could write a short book about all of those stories and tales of the past! Yes, lots of memories for all of us, and one special tribute to a special man to us all: John Walz, Sr!
After first evening fish fry, the crew wore their memorial T-shirts in honor of John Walz, Sr.
(Front row-L to R) Steve Weisman, Dale Brandt, John Walz, Wes Walz, Doug Brandt, Todd Kramer
(Back Row-L to R) Mark Patterson, Tim Eagen, Mike Ruhland, Christian Davis, Ross Ruhland, Bob Grems
Tim Eagen with a nice slot fish on Day 1.
Todd Kramer with a big slot fish on Day 1.
Mike Ruhland with a 25.5” inch walleye on Day 2.
Panoramic view of the line of charter boats in front of Ballard’s Resort.
Dale Brandt with his 29.5” walleye taken on Day 1.
John Walz with his 26.5” walleye taken on Day 2.
Wes Walz with the biggest fish of the trip, a 41” northern pike.
