A Look into the Life of a Professional Angler
At Madden’s resort we are fortunate to have a local fishing guide service we can refer our guests to when they are looking for some fishing fun: Walleyedan’s fishing guide service. Walleyedan has written a few guest posts on fishing conditions for us this summer and now for our week of fishing blog posts, we decided to do a little interview with Walleyedan himself to get a look into the life of a professional angler.
When did you first start fishing?
I started fishing around the age of 5. I grew up in Eden Prairie when it was still somewhat the prairie and I was within walking distance of Round Lake. I spent countless hours there fishing, catching frogs (to use for fishing) and just being a kid. The outdoor living just progressed by the day, week and year and it became my life. I am now 43.
How did you become “Walleyedan”?
I was given the name Walleyedan by a co-worker when I was working in the parks department for the city of Baxter. I had been out fishing (and caught a load of walleyes) with Bud and his son a week or so prior to setting up and email account at the city. I asked him what my address should be and he, without hesitation said “Walleyedan”. The rest is history!
I enjoy hunting for walleyes but I just like to put people on fish period, no matter what the species.
What is your favorite part of your job as a fishing guide?
The best part of my job is being outdoors and meeting every type of person on the face of this earth. Of course there are pressures with the job but most days I can handle them and as the years march on it seems to get a
little easier to handle the “tough days.”
What fishing opportunities do you provide to Madden’s guests and the Brainerd Lakes area?
Whether you are a first time fisher or a veteran angler we will provide you with the trip you are looking for. We do fish with a lot of families and will cater to what they are looking to get out of their trip. We can start with the pan fish and try to graduate to the bass, pike and even walleye if that is the plan. If our guests want to only pursue the elusive walleye we are totally game for that. During the summer months, the best approach seems to be to fish for walleye’s for a couple hours and if the “bite” is on, great if not we will just try to get the rod bending. Gull Lake does offer a wide variety of game fish and there are days you might catch a few different species. If the guest would like to keep some fish we will clean and package them up. The walleye “bite” seems to pick up in mid-August and run right through ice-up (with a slow period mixed in around the fall turnover). Turnover usually occurs in mid-October when the cooler (more dense) water sinks and mixes with the rest of the water column. I have open water guided as late as December 13th! But two weeks later we were ice fishing.
Thank you Dan for your service to Madden’s guests and for sharing your story!
