We called this trip The Four the Hard Way Tour. We would travel over 1600 miles in 6 days for stops in Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and (hopefully) Kansas. Though we still have 3 states to fish east of the Mississippi, we were looking to put large blocks of red on our map to show completed states. Catching fish is the goal, but logistics and planning is the best way to make it happen. As Mike was in Ohio to visit family, it made sense for John to fly to Cleveland to start the journey.

A quick drive to Monroe, Michigan for the annual walleye trip was a good way to ease into the adventure. A little bit of shore fishing on Friday and then a leisurely trolling charter on Saturday would get us going. To see what that is all about, check out the Michigan trip from prior years. We made an early start on Sunday to get to an Iowa layover. Things were calm through western Ohio and Indiana, but as we entered Illinois, serious storms and torrential rain turned the expectedly bad Chicago traffic into a parking lot. We drove through rain all the way to Iowa. Eventually, we crossed The Mighty Mississippi into Bettendorf, Iowa to stop for the night. Monday brought clear skies for the trip to Mankato, Minnesota.

The first stop Monday was at the World’s Largest Truck Stop in Walcott, Iowa just off I-80. It is a must see tourist location for seasoned road warriors. Though we have to admit, it doesn’t have quite the allure of Bucc-ee’s. It doesn’t have the smoked brisket either. After that, it was state roads and detours to Mankato, Minnesota. After a day and a half of gas stops, gravel roads and sketchy weather, we were ready for some fishing.

The morning dawned cool and slightly cloudy. Clear Lake is a beautiful 652 acre city lake surrounded by homes and a state park ramp.
Our guide Myles arrived in his new AlumaCraft boat, and it was soon obvious that we had picked the right guide. This was classic “northern” fishing where you target offshore humps and structure. Myles knew the lake like the back of this hand and we started catching fish. We were continuously adjusting and moving to different areas looking for large mouth bass. After a morning of run and gun tactics where we landed a few fish, Myles put us on a stretch of shoreline and we found where the fish has been hiding all day.

The day instantly changed from Day 1 of our trip into Slay Day! We spent the next 2 hours landing fish after fish. We even doubled up a couple of times. The near perfect Minnesota fish habitat combined with the catch and release policy of Clear Lake meant the fish averaged between 16 and 20 inches. Certainly not the largest fish we have ever landed, but the consistency of size and the frequency of the strikes was absolutely amazing! Mike had started to hint that we needed to land a pike to make it a perfect Minnesota day. Four casts later, he was “cut off” as he was landing another fish. Myles opined it was a pike, but we will never know.

After we landed the 39th bass, we were determined to get the number to 40. Unfortunately, the marina bite shut down and the wind picked up. Myles guided us to some sunken ice fishing huts in 20 feet of water. He used his LiveScope to locate a couple of fish, but the bite had well and truly shut down. Sadly, the fishing day had come to an end. Time to wrap it up and get back on the road for Day 2 of the tour.

Huge shout out to Captain Myles Pfingsten of MVP Guide Service. He stayed in touch before the charter and provided the exact directions to the meet location. Once we launched, he knew exactly where to target the fish and exactly when it was time to move. Myles was the epitome of Minnesota Nice! The day was filled with great conversation and stories. He made a cast or two to investigate other lure presentations and even caught a fish or two, but he was genuinely more excited when we were catching fish.

Do yourself a favor and go meet Myles and do a little fishing.