My new project is taking up a lot of my summer.  Fishing is taking a back seat so, I apologize for the lack of posts.  I was able to carve out a few hours on Thursday and had a great time on Lake Pepin.  We were trolling lead core for walleyes and hit the jackpot.  Work the breakline in 13-15 ft of water on the flats with shad raps, wally divers and some stick baits to cover the whole water column.  The common colors included purple or blue.  There's a nice bug hatch happening and even though they were gorging themselves, we were still connecting.  The water temperature was 84 degrees and as always the big pike were hanging around where the smaller rivers and cold water empty into Pepin.  We were about 150 feet out from the Rush River when we hooked this gator.  We were disappointed it wasn't a walleye for about a half second, or the time it took us to realize it's size.  Folks on shore were fishing in waist to chest deep water for these trophies.  My friends who are daring enough to stand in the water, tell me that sometimes you can feel the fish swim between your legs.  OMG!  I prefer the comfort of waders or a boat.  
Incredible fishing and scenery aside, be sure to check out these restaurants in the area.  A perfect end to a great day on the water.  Bon Appetite!