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Author Topic: Ken- I think i was in your neck of the woods!  (Read 1339 times)

Offline NickC

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Ken- I think i was in your neck of the woods!
« on: February 19, 2014, 08:46:43 pm »
You're around Linwood, right?

I have recently been looking for a new shanty and i came across a site with a pretty good deal this morning... ended up being Franks Great Outdoors. Didnt even know they were from Michigan. I called for a shipping price then i found out they were only an hour and 45 minutes away so i decided to get in my truck and drive! They only had one or 2 left so i didn't want to pass it up.

Assuming youve been there.... man that place is crazy busy!! A lot of stuff, pretty neat to walk through and check everything out. You can totally tell thats a full blown fishing town! lol

All in all, very nice place and the people that work there are even nicer. I came home with a heavily discounted new shanty and a new white color truck (road salt >:().

Now once this warm weather passes along with the rain we're suppose to get tomorrow, i can be back on the ice trying out my new home. This makes me feel like a pervert in a whore house!  :lol:

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Offline kenz

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Re: Ken- I think i was in your neck of the woods!
« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2014, 01:43:14 am »
Yep, you were less than a mile from my house. I live right in town. I'd yell at you for not letting me know you were in town, but I'm just coming out of a nasty, nasty case of the flu. Not pretty. Wife said that if I wouldn't have gotten a flu shot it would have been worse. Any worse I'd be dead.  :puke:

Frank's is a pretty nice place. Nice people. One of the principal owners of the store also owns the campground/marina down on the bay. Did you take a ride down to the bay and check it out? Being how nice it was Wednesday it was probably like a small city out there. When I go by there on the way home in the morning (7:00'ish) you can't get another truck in the parking lot. And every truck has a shanty and 4wheeler in the back or on a trailer. There's even reports of a few guys driving there trucks out---9 miles! Not me, no matter how thick the ice is.

I got 2 more places near here that I also go to. The small party store here in town probably sells just as many minnows as Franks mainly because it's on the way to the bay access. You can get your bait, munchies, beer, etc all at one stop. Plus he will order me anything that Franks sells, only cheaper. I usually go up to Franks to look at guns, find the one I want, then see Doug at the party store/sporting goods store and have him order it for less. Good deal for me.  :up:

Just 5 or 6 miles up the road in Pinconning is Northwoods wholesale outlet. This store is worth the trip up by itself! I believe they have more fishing stuff than Franks. Plus hunting gear, camping gear, Christmas stuff, food, a little of everything, and heavily discounted to boot. Being a wholesale store the inventory changes all the time. So it's like a whole new store every time you go in there.

Now you can see why they call Linwood the walleye capital. Walleye is king here, winter and summer!


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Offline NickC

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Re: Ken- I think i was in your neck of the woods!
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2014, 04:47:00 am »
I thought about reaching out to you but it was sorta last minute. I even beat traffic both ways because i left after morning traffic finished and i got home before the evening traffic started. I was pretty stoked about that!

But in reality, its not THAT far to drive. I was thinking that if i had a quad, it definitely be worth the trip to get out there with the masses and target those 'eyes. It had a cool feeling to the town as far as fellow fisherman went. Kinda reminded me of our fishing town area, only with yours being on a MUCH larger scale.

We have 4-5 very popular bait shops near us but thats all they are, bait shops. Shantys are over priced along with their augers and everything else. But as far as spoons, hooks, bait, snacks and a fishing report goes... they're all you could ask for!

I saw how close i was on the map to the lake, but for some reason, i didnt even think to drive out there to check it out! Stupid of me now that i think back! I was in a hurry to get back home to set it up and still make the plans i had that night. Ill have to join you up there for a spring tour of the "hot spots" one of these times. Seemed like a pretty cool little town!

That factory outlet store had me thinking once i got onto the road that Franks was on. They had billboards all along the way and i thought about calling them to see if they had a better price on the shanty i was after but i said hell with it, ill just go to Franks. Plus, i kinda wanted to check the place out being that i was told it was worth seeing.

I ended up chatting with the guy that loaded my shanty up in their storage facility in the back... he picked my brain about our perch fishery and i picked his about the 'eyes. It was pretty funny! He went on to tell me that many people hate the publicity that your lake gets for walleyes because they're being over fished. He didnt think so, but he said many locals think that way. He also said that its been a tougher year than ones in the past. Same holds true to our lake for this winters ice season.

Off subject from this thread but you mentioned sturgeon in that other ice fishing thread. This past week theres been 2 sturgeon sightings at my fishing spot according to several members on that Michigan Outdoors forum you turned me onto. One of the guys said he saw a 6'-7' sturgeon pass through his hole. I would of had a yam left in my trousers if i saw something like that swim by!! Either way, like you said, its cool to know that they're around being that they're signs of healthy waters.

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Offline kenz

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Re: Ken- I think i was in your neck of the woods!
« Reply #3 on: February 24, 2014, 01:45:04 pm »
I've heard the same thing from a lot of people around here about people coming from all over and overfishing the waters. I think the deal is that they don't like the out of towners coming and catching the fish they could have. 'Cause the ones complaining about the overfishing are also the ones that go out and catch there limit, take them home, and go out and catch another limit again. So the real overfishing problem stems from the locals, not visitors from abroad. And according to the DNR, even though thousands of fish are caught every winter and then again every summer, the bay fishery is still maintaining it's levels. So I think it will be a healthy fishery for the forseeable future.

As for it being a tougher year, every one I talk to are pretty much catching there limits every time out. What is making it tough this year is the weather. Brutally cold temps combined with the 20mph wind chill while riding 9 miles out on your 4 wheeler can get to the most die hard of fisherman. It's even keeping me out of the fish market!  :lol:


2005 QC Dually 2wd CTD 6-spd. SRT-6, AEM Brute Force intake, Smarty Sr., D.O.F. shift knob, 5" to dual side exit 4" exhaust, Quad Scout, road kill kat, 2011 Coachmen North Ridge fifth wheel

I MAY BE OLD, BUT I GOT TO SEE ALL THE GOOD BANDS.....

 

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