Whether I'm chasing trophies or preparing a world class shore lunch for my guests, I am proud to say that my passion is my "work". Trophy fish keep my adrenaline glands working overtime but ultimately, it's all about the people that we share our days on the water with. Since beginning my guiding career, I have had the pleasure of fishing and hunting with a great deal of amazing folks from all around the globe. I recently had the pleasure of fishing with the guys from the Burgess group who hail Birmingham, Southern Alabama; these amazing gentlemen caught some absolute stompers!
From the get go, it became unquestionably clear that I had hit the ultimate cool-guest-jackpot with Arthur and Brian Burgess. During their stay here at North Haven Resort, they rolled snake eyes on the weather dice and dealt with every element of nasty northern climate, including high winds, a cold front, a thunderstorm, and even the loss of an entire day of fishing due to low cloud ceilings which prevented them from arriving to the lodge until 9:45pm of the first day.
Never the less, the guys held a positive pike attitude and maintained that a single day of good fishing could heal all foul weather wounds. With a little luck, the third day of our trip together was highlighted by incredibly beautiful conditions and a fly out day trip to the mighty bear lake!
After exploring the interior and mid section of a personal favorite pike bay for half an hour, it became apparent that the big fish were nowhere to be found in the shallows. In turn, I began to work the outer edges of the area, concentrating our efforts on a rock pile running adjacent with the shoreline leading into the main basin of the lake. KABLAMMO! it was only eight in the morning and Arthur had already landed the beautifully clean 42" trophy pictured above.
As the day progressed we focussed on the deep pockets of spring spawning bays and main rocky points with the lure of choice being a four inch, holographic rattle trap in silver, black, and red. The results were phenomenal with three trophy gators revealed, measuring in at 45 & 1/4", 42", and 42" respectively. Countless 37" to 39" fish were graciously boat side released during our quest for the giants and boat morale was at an all time high. Once again, I said goodbye to two people who arrived as perfect strangers and left as good friends. Thank you so much Arthur and Brian for being the awesome, kind, patient, and genuine people that you are.