A helping hand

It is a bit odd that Neil would mention the “man hand”. I am beginning to get a little concerned that the Professor watched a little bit too much of the Six Million Dollar man television series as a child. The Professor and I were honing our skills for our trip up to VBL under a hot sun and I kindly asked him to pass me a beverage. Out comes the man hand…from his pants. The man has sprouted another bionic hand. I have often said that a third hand would come in handy (pardon the pun) when those walleyes at VBL are biting fast and furious. But this seemed a bit much. But I have to admit that the Professor’s signature series red Frabil glove was actually quite nice. At first I was a bit hesitant knowing where it had been, and you will notice in the first picture that it is hardly noticeable. But then, I started picking out clothes to match the mighty frabil glove.

Now of course Gord will note that this is yet another lame attempt to post some pictures of some nice fish. We will be very happy to post some actual VBL walleye pictures this fall if only Gord would give up the coordinates for that walleye pen. On a positive note, the Professor and I were reminiscing about catching a lot of very nice walleyes at a number of different places. None of those experiences match what we have experienced at VBL on a regular basis. And the Professor will tell you that he started fishing Eagle Lake at a competitor’s place. Gord and Susanne, we can’t wait to make it up this August.
Oh yea, the Professor caught a few too. Is it real or is it memorex? Come up the third week in August to find out for yourself.

8 thoughts on “A helping hand”

  1. Perchmaster
    Reply

    All nice walleyes Andy no matter where you caught them.
    Not so sure about that first picture of the Professor and his hand though!!!!
    Good Luck on your trip!!!!
    Think you failed to mention where you were fishing in those pictures?
    Hey Gord how is fishing?
    Still waiting for some ski pics?
    YES SKI as in MUSSSKIII

  2. Professor
    Reply

    Hi Perchmaster…Andy and I were fishing Big Bay de Noc in Michigan's U.P. last week. Crawler harnesses weighted by bottom-bouncers and spread out with planer boards produced very nice fish for us.

    Unfortunately, controversy is ever-present when fishing with Andy. This time it's the so-called "third hand". Honestly, I don't have a third hand. But I do use the glove to contain what my doctor has referred to as an "unusual growth" in my crotch area. I'm saying this to get all of my "skeletons" out of the closet in the hope of ending any further discussions of my green glove, fruit pants, bionic hand and crotch growths.

    I'm just trying to be a mostly decent person who wants to go out and catch a few fish. Why all the scrutiny over matters that should be private?

  3. Neil
    Reply

    Whoa…..

    Honing the skills, hot Sun, man hand, and pants should never be used in the same paragraph. Too much inference can go on there! All the pun aside, nice Wallys!

    I will be up at Fort McCoy WI in June and I plan on hauling the Lund up to Lake Pentenwell and will fish the Northern side while I am up there! I hope to catch some Ski or Wallys while up there over the weekend.

    It's not VBL though! It's as close as I can get until next year though!

  4. Andy Lewis
    Reply

    I think there is a distinct possibility that the Professor is trying to perfect a winning strategy for future VBL contests or he is putting in a shameless plug for his signature series Frabil Gloves. Maybe it's not a third hand, but he was able to use it to take off fish or hook the next crawler. It seems like an unfair advantage. The Professor also has a button on his glove, that when pushed, plays John Gillespie voice commands like, "Get the Frabil!", "Caught it on the Zip lure", "It's time for some Johnsonville Brats", "Buddy, buddy, buddy it's a slobasorous". Quite frankly, if I wanted to listen to that all day, I would be fishing at a competitor's lodge across the bay. For many years there were some football fans that claimed that Tom Dempsey had an unfair advantage with his "club foot" when he kicked his 63 yard field goal. This might be a similar debate. Its clear however from the Professor's comments that the public debate over this matter is a sensitive topic.

    Andy

  5. Andy Lewis
    Reply

    Neil,

    Its been years, but I used to fish the opener on the base at Fort McCoy on a regular basis. If you haven't fished the brook trout in the streams on the base, you have to give it a try! Everyone fishes the lakes and ponds for stocked rainbows, but the streams are unbelievable. It was not unusual to catch 50-100 brookies in a day on crawlers dragged across the bottom or panther martin spinners. Just walk the creeks until you find a fresh beaver pond. There was also one small pond that had brook trout up to 14"…I believe it was something like "Alderwood"?

    Andy

  7. Andy Lewis
    Reply

    Neil,

    You should know that if you decide to fish the base you need a special permit. For further information, call (608) 388-3337. To receive an application, send a self-addressed stamped envelope (specify type of application) to: Directorate of Public Works, ATTN: IMWE-MCY-PWEN (Permit Sales), 2171 South Avenue, Fort McCoy, WI 54656-5136; e-mail mcco.dpw.permitsales@conus.army.mil to request an application be e-mailed to you; or, go to http://www.mccoy.army.mil, and download the application and sample envelope.

    Permit Sales Office is located in Building 2168. Office Hours are: Monday-Friday 7:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

    Andy

  8. Neil
    Reply

    I see now where the Prof got the info for the glove. Taken from the VBL web page:

    "Another "tool" that can save your hide and that of the fish is a pair of fish handling gloves. These generally have a rubber coating that will give you some protection from sharp teeth and gills….and will also protect the fish's outer coating of slime from being rubbed off. Create a "place" in the boat for these items to have them ready for use."

    We can clearly see where the Prof prefers to keep his glove.

    That said I think I have the glove thing out of my system. No Pun intended.

    Andy,

    Thanks for the contact info. Rumor is a change of plans is in the works, and I might be going to Dallas for the exam I must take. I wanted to have a chance to go up north, but it looks like I will be going South.

    I plan on going up North one more time this summer, so I will check out the Fort McCoy area.

    Thanks,

    Neil

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Keep up to date with The Electric Beaver, The Official Eagle Lake Blog since 2008

Read Now

Testimonials

If you like GREAT fishing, hospitality and affordability, Vermilion Bay Lodge is highly recommended. I have been making the trip to Vermilion Bay Lodge for the past 10 years and have never once been disappointed. If you like great walleye, northern, musky and trout fishing, this place should not be overlooked. The fishing has been excellent… no matter what time we went. Gordy and Susanne are wonderful hosts that will make you feel right at home. Check it out – I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Arnie

Receive latest news articles