Re: Fishing for cats idea
If it was his 17' Triton jon boat, that's his river boat. You have to fish with him to understand just how good he is. I was surprised. My wife and her family bought me a day with the Griz. I called him a couple of days before the trip to find out what I should bring, and he said I should bring lunch and whatever I wanted to drink and that's it. So I did. I asked him if I should bring my own tackle. Nah...he said. I've got all we'll need.
So, I get to the ramp where I met him and there's his little jon boat. Two swivel seats. He sits at the stern and runs the tiller engine and the transom-mount Endura trolling motor.
Well, he goes to load the tackle in the boat. Two well-used 6.5 foot spinning rods and a box of jig heads. That's it. He had a bucket of small fathead minnows, too...most of them dead.
I wasn't optimistic. Then, we got into the boat and he handed me a rod. The reel was only about half full of 6 lb. test clear mono. I think it was the cheapest brand available. The rod, though, was a custom St. Croix. The reel was, of all things, a Mitchell 300 from the 70s. The line...I'm sure...was Eagle Claw mono...cheap stuff.
"Don't worry about it. It'll do the job," He said. He took an even crummier rod for himself. I checked the drag, and it was set way lighter than I would use. I started to change it. He said, "Leave that alone, unless you want to lose fish."
So, we set out for the day, moving from one spot to another. Never more than 7' deep. This was the end of July, and the river was really low.
How'd the day work out? Well, we jigged those dead minnows up and down, 6" off the bottom, all day. I caught a 30" walleye that did go over 10 lb.. I caught a 22" sauger. I caught lots and lots more walleyes and saugers. I caught white bass, smallmouth bass, channel cats, flathead cats, a couple of mooneyes, and more freshwater drums than you could count. We caught fish all day long, and in every spot we stopped.
He caught more than I did, of course, but I did way better fishing with him than I'd ever done in my life. We each had a net, and unless it was a trophy fish, the customer did his own netting.
Looks are deceiving. He's by far the best guide on the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers in Minnesota. I've fished with others and been disappointed every time.
The Griz knows the rivers. He knows where the fish are, and how to catch them. Every time. I was blown away by the depth of his knowledge. He's not much to look at, not much for conversation, and he assumes you know how to fish. Then, he puts you on fish and it's up to you to catch them. He's fishing as hard as he can, too.
Best $400 I ever spent fishing. If you ever have a chance, book him. I expect he'll be quitting in a few years. He was 68 last year. It just goes to show: you never can tell.
