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Posts: 2865
Location: Brookfield, WI | I arrived home yesterday from my fall dance tour based at AML on Eagle Lake. We arrived at AML in the early morning hours with our hopes high and little experience.
We set our dance cards for the week with Steve Herbeck, the main choreographer for the camp. We were a bit disconcerted to discover the three dates with AML choreographers for each angler we had hoped for would be cut to two each, at best, due to staffing problems.
We tried to find dance partners the first half day on our own with little success. One lady wanted to except my outstretched Topraider but could not.
The second day was our first with a professional leading us. Most dancers at the camp that day had little success. We saw three total posssible partners in eight hours that day. Of the three, I had one that looked like she would take my hand. The professional managed a quick, successful twirl with a 40" lady. Day over, my least favorite day of the trip.
The following day I was on my own with one friend. We saw a few ladies with no success. The two guided people of our trip had numerous opportunities to dance, but struggled mightily with their figure eights due to inexperience. No dances completed.
The following day was again my chance with a professional. It was another slow day with three or four ladies following but not dancing, HOWEVER,
I can now post in the not infrequent threads about the ladies that haunt the dreams of dancers. We were about 20-25 minutes south of Canoe Narrows at a little dance hall with no name. Facing south from left to right it consists of a rocky point, out slightly from which a small rock hump protudes, beyond which lies a small rock island about the size of a three car garage. There is cabbage, rocks, and nearby deep water.
We worked from left to right offering our double bladed hands to any ladies that might be lurking and waiting to dance. As we began to cross in front of the island, my offering was about 15 feet from me when a very mature lady approched for a possible dance. As taught throughout the week, I played hard to get, adding speed to my offering. She closed and made contact. I sharply made my presence known, turning slightly as I did to pull her into a dance. She thrashed slightly, continued toward me while turning on side, and offered a full voluptious view of herself.
She then continued to roll, there was a great release of pressure that many of you know, and she was gone. I used language inappropriate in front of a lady. I sat down and looked at my shoes. I shook.
Mostly there was a great feeling of disbelief. She was the one for me. She was the one with whom I wanted to dance. Darcy, our guide, estimated her at at least 52" and up to 45 lbs or more due to her tremendous girth. These are his estimations and not mine. I have no prior experience with such a lady, and wanted only to hold her in my arms.
We saw no more fish that day. We had little contact with ladies while unguided the following day. Had a severely wind blown fly-in the following day with some walleyes and northerns caught.
On the final day of our trip, my boat was again unsuccessful. My friend Shawn had an eventful dance with a 41" lady while fishing guided. He fell during the hookset but managed to hang for our only fish of the trip. I am happy for him.
A discouraging week. In hindsight, we my have not been ready for the rigors of Eagle Lake. While fishing unguided, we certainly lacked the necessary boat control to affectly work the spots we had learned. Flat Top, Sunset, Colonel's, Burnt, Fifth and Broadway, Gateway, Connaught Point, Strawberry, Dog, and a little rock island well passed Canoe narrows, all received our concentrated attentions with nary a dance accepted. Perhaps the more manageable water of Wisconsin is where I belong for now.
Thanks to AML for putting up with us rookies. We were a bit unruly a couple of nights. Thanks to the Percivals who make excellent dinner companions and were open with their information.
Kevin
Sorry if this write up is not what it should be. I have to be honest, Eagle kicked my a$$.
Now I'm going to my niece's wedding, where I'll dance with the bride. I'll also dance with my wife and daughter. I'm comforted in the thought that such dances will not cause my arms, hands, and back to ache. Who came up with double #10 blade bucktails anyway? LOL.
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | sorry to hear you didnt catch any muskie. it can only get better from there |
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| Eagle can kick ANYONES *ss Kevin..the rookies, the first year players..the veterans...all can be dealt a bad hand on Eagle...don't feel discouraged by not boating one..you had your shots and know now what it is like to engage a big one...If I were you I'd book a trip next year and be certain to get the first few days with one of Herbies guides..
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Posts: 1764
Location: Ogden, Ut | Funny how one can read and enjoy a story w/o necessarily liking the ending. I feel your pain Kevin, but also know that it's not truly pain...You see, Wabigoon rather politely handed me my hat on my rookie muskie trip last summer. Oh yeah, the muskie eluded me, but I was rewarded w/ my personal best pike, and I met some friends that I will have for a lifetime. It wasn't until afterward that I realized that the trip was for WAY more than muskies. You will, if you don't already know that. The big girls will dance with some and not with others, for reasons we do not completely understand. Of course, there are guys that dance much better than you or I ever could, and those guys seem to shuffle along with the big girls more often. But keep trying, one will dance eventually! (probably in October) 
Sorno |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Add me to the skunk List, got it handed to me on Wabigoon a few weeks ago. An unpleasant reminder that we are not always as good as we think we are and still have some stuff to learn  |
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| She gave you the shakes .............she owns your dreams..........she'll be baaaaackkkkkkkkk
You got to go to Gods country the fish are a bonus |
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Posts: 476
Location: WI | Eagle can be a tough one for sure!! Kevin, when I first started muskie fishing I had a similar trip to Eagle. I lost a fish 15 minutes before we had to leave to go home , that I still talk about and was probably the heaviest fish that I have ever had on as it tail walked across the dance floor and went back and sat down!!!
GotOne |
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | Too bad you didnt get the walleye shredder you hoped for, but thats why its called fishing not catching! There is always next year!
Mike |
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Posts: 2091
Location: Stevens Point, WI | Hang in there, Eagle has skunked the best out there many a times. Time on the water is one of the keys to catching muskies always next time. |
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| Any trip on which you hook a big one, even if you don't land it, should be considered a success. (especially if you hooked her in the 8). Plus, I bet you learned a lot! |
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Posts: 1185
Location: Iowa | Hang in there buddy...your chance will come again...that fish my dad lost still haunts my dreams...I see her all the time and I didn't even have a shot at her...you'll get one...stay strong...Presque Isle is just around the corner...
Big Perc |
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | Alright Kdawg, we will hit it up when I get back from up nort next week. A big girl is what you want, a big girl is what you shall dance with.  Great story!! I felt a sence of disappointment reading it, like I watched you loose it. Keep yur head up (I know you will) and welcome to the ranks of peeps that lost a huge fish and are now stuck forever in the relm of musky fever. |
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Posts: 2752
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Kevin- never fear even the very best dancers out there sometimes don't get put on those big girl's dance cards. The best of everything, big girl water, expert guides, desires or pure lust (what was probably reflected in your eye's as she offered you that dance) are sometimes thrown to the wind by those whimsical big girl dance partners. It's not unusual for mere mortal's such as us to spend a full week in those big girl dance hall's and come back rejected and dejected.
Hey- there's also the next time. That's what most of us really focus on after the initial rejection wears off. The next big dance at "MF Presque Isle" in late October should be great opportunity to flirt & cajole a big girl to dance, i.e., where you also will have access to the "creme de le creme" of the MF fishing world. Of course, they may be bit incoherent if it's to late in the eve. However, liberal application's of appropriate libations at opportune times may start them singing and revealing those secret dance steps. Maybe a new dance step will be the trigger that allows you to take her in your arms!
Have fun!
Al
Edited by ESOX Maniac 9/4/2006 1:52 PM
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Posts: 331
Location: Stevens Point, Wisconsin | I think....
Better to go to the dance and smell her perfume than sit at home alone. I would rather have an encounter with a big fish, knowing what the water holds...rather then not seeing any fish at all. Incentive to go back and try again. Sometimes the girls are shy and they are a challenge that takes resolve to gain their confidence. These are the type of woman that makes the end results so much sweeter! There are no sluts in Eagle!
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| Sorry to hear you lost that dancing partner, but there will be more dancing opportunities for you. At least you brushed the dust off of those word's after it happened, you will be needing those next Sunday. |
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Posts: 5874
| Kev,
Sounds like you had a great trip. Also sounds like you'll be spending more time in the future dancing, and not playing cowpasture pool! That's a good thing, if you ask me. I think most of get to see the fish that will haunt our dreams, before we actually get to hold it. Sleep well, my friend. Muhahahaha |
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Posts: 434
Location: searchin for 50 | Not bad for a first timer. Too bad them dances with the big ladys are always short. Look at it as a learning experience. Now the next time you go back you have a few spots to fish. Everybody gets their but kicked on Eagle even the little leprachaun. (head chiefat aml). If you had a GOOD TIME AND SEEN SOME FISH WHAT MORE COULD A GUY ASK FOR.
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| great story, Kev.
Sorno and i are looking forward to "pre-dancing" with you in a few weeks... |
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| They will dirty dance with you next year Kevin, same with me. Eagle was my personal pike factory and musky kicked my booty |
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Posts: 8772
| Kevin,
Man, sorry to hear you didn't score up on Eagle!
Your time is gonna come!
Think of it this way -- if you got a 54 on your first Canadian adventure you're setting the bar pretty high for the next time. Now you've got something to shoot for -- you know where she lives, and you've seen her. |
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Posts: 2865
Location: Brookfield, WI | Thanks, everybody, for cheering me up.
EA, I forgot to mention I may have seen her twice. On Friday I saw half a large fish that came out from under the boat as I did an elaborate figure eight in the exact same spot.
I'm still Hopeful.
Kevin
The plan rests for right now. |
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Posts: 434
Location: searchin for 50 | Do you have the big fish fever everybody gets from going to eagle? I had it bad the first trip I took. Donnie showed us about 10 big fish the days we had him. We even managed to see a couple of biggies on our own. After that trip it was twice a year for about five years in a row. Then the kids grew bigger and started sports so its hard to find the time and money to get back up there. I get the itch every year tho. Hopefully within the next couple of years. I'll get back there. |
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On Being A Wallflower