A Messenger Message I’m Glad I Responded To!

That Messenger Message came to me on February 21st, 2017.  I recognized the name, how couldn’t I, I had spent some of the most fun years of my life across the Kolstoe Hall hallway from him at Valley City State University:

Ryan Nichols!

That Message and the conversation that ensued led to the booking of one of the most fun, not only guide trips, but fishing trips in general I have ever had the pleasure of being on.  But don’t let me tell you about it, I’d rather one of the participants take on that task, Ryan’s college buddy and current MSU-Moorhead Athletic Director:

Doug Peters:

17 years.  That’s how long it had been since I’d seen, much less been in a boat with two of my best college buddies.  For a variety of reasons this was the summer.  The summer that we’d take some time away from our families and work and head out on an adventure.  Vegas, the beach, Mexico, they were all ideas we kicked around.  Once constant that kept coming up was water and we ultimately settled on a walleye fishing trip to Devils Lake in North Dakota.

Once the decision was made the planning began.  After finding dates that worked with all our schedules we went back and forth about the details. With a former fishing guide in the group we explored every option.  Bring a boat, rent a boat, get a guide, who had what tackle, what we were going to eat…we covered it all.  The biggest decision to make was how we were going to get on the water.

As the only one of the group that had fished Devils Lake, I’ve fished it enough to know that it can send you home with fish stories and a cooler full of fillets to verify the tales that come with it.  I’ve also made the return trip home humbled and mumbling about my skills as a fisherman, wind, and all the trees we hit.

As the frugal one in the group, I started off looking the numbers and was thinking how much is this gonna cost me?  One night, while the texts where flying back and forth, I realized that we hadn’t been together in 17 years and we might not all be together for another 17 years and it changed my perspective.  

All of the sudden I wanted to make sure that my guys had the fishing experience on Devils Lake that makes you begin planning the next trip before you are at the landing.  A trip that we would talk about for years, that would produce fish pictures we would all show our kids, and a few of those stories that leaves two of us laughing and the other one shaking his head.

That’s why we chose a guided trip.  An expert guide with a boat for big water and all the tackle.  Someone that gave us the best chance to catch what we wanted.  Someone who could take care of all the things that could go wrong so that we could just hang out and catch fish.

Let’s be honest….we’re men.  At home we try and take care of our families.  We go to work everyday, we kill the spiders, unclog the toilet, and take care of problems no one else wants to take care of.  If we are really honest, it’s awesome when someone takes care of all the stuff we don’t want to.  Like when your line breaks, the bait spills, or there are fish to be cleaned.

As the trip fast approached my frugal side and my fun side were clashing.  I kept thinking am I really going to pay someone to provide a service for me that I was fully capable of and actually enjoy doing?

I did and I will do it again.  We laughed, we swore, we caught fish in a big, fast boat that would have been ridiculously expensive to rent, and I didn’t have to tie a single hook, buy any bait, worry about hitting a submerged tree, or decide what the next fishing spot was going to be. I even had a walleye dinner prepared for me with a cold one to wash it down.  It was awesome.

Did I learn any secret spots or new techniques for the next time I fish Devils?  Nope, what I did do was make fantastic memories with some of my best friends doing something that we love to do and I didn’t have to worry about any of the details.  I know I’ll fish Devils Lake again without a guide and I will fish it again with a guide and I’d encourage you to do the same.

 

Just for the record, I did take every fish off the hook that I caught so I could shake it in front of the face of my buddies and let them know who was catching fish and who wasn’t.  

Thanks  Elsperger  and Devils Lake Fishing Report, for providing an experience I’ll treasure forever.

 

Hold On To Your Rod!!

And

Turn Fishing Into Catching

With

DevilsLakeFishingReport!!