For Good Luck Kiss a Carp

We came across an article in our local newspaper that talked about a Prairie du Chien man that could star in his own TV reality show. He is a woodcarver and a longtime commercial fisherman on the Mississippi River. He has his own store called  Valley's Fish and Cheese store. Prairie du Chien has a New Year's Eve celebration called Carp Fest and Dropping of the Carp. Mr. Mike Valley makes a real carp that has a clear coat finish applied to it and a smear of red lipstick, weighs about 20lbs. 9oz.. The carp's name is Lucky and is lowered by a crane into a wooden cradle on St. Feriole Island, which is a small island by Prairie du Chien, and hundreds line up to kiss her frozen lips for good luck.
The TV show is a reality show that is to air this spring on the Discovery Channel and titled "American River Rendezvous." It's based on Mr. Valley and his partner cruising on the Mississippi River netting carp, sheep-head, catfish, bullhead and even dog fish. These fish are prized for their caviar which can fetch as much as $75.00 a pound mainly in the St. Louis and Chicago areas. For us this was an eye opener piece of information because other than the catfish we considered all these fish to be rough fish that were worthless and should be discarded when caught.
The show might not be the next Duck Dynasty but who knows with enough support starting with all of us in a few years we might see some Mike Valley bobble-head dolls on the market. The Upper Mississippi River Valley has an endless supply of stories like this and the only way to find them and experience them yourself is to continue to visit our blog and plan your next vacation to come and cruise the Upper Mississippi River Valley.
Continue to follow Houseboating Excursions in the Mississippi River Valley as we cruise and explore more destinations and provide more information in the Upper Mississippi River Valley.

To Winterize or Fish

We started out the day by going down to the dock and had good intentions of winterizing our houseboat. It's a sad time of year for all us boaters in general. BUT, we had left a basket full of minnows in the river tied up behind the houseboat and when we arrived we discovered the majority of minnows were still alive so we did the obvious right thing and that's jump in our fishing boat and use those minnows for one last fishing trip. We didn't do very good, we only caught 6 fish, 2 crappies, 2 bluegills, 2 perch and they were all keepers we threw nothing back and the weather was great. So as guilty as we felt for not getting any winterizing done it was a productive fishing day as we added the fish we caught to some past caught fish and had a great meal with them. What can we say if the minnows were dead we would have stayed home and got the winterizing done but who can waste a good basket of minnows on a beautiful fall day here in the Upper Mississippi River Valley.
We did pull out our houseboat this last weekend and did the winterizing today and now it takes it's long winter nap waiting to be awakened again in the spring for another adventurous summer here in the Upper Mississippi River Valley. We will continue to keep posting any information that comes about here in the Upper Mississippi River Valley to keep everyone informed to make it easy to plan your next vacation to come and visit this beautiful area.
Continue to follow Houseboating Excursions in the Mississippi River Valley as we continue to cruise and explore new destinations and provide more information.

2013 Slpashout Party

It was another perfect day here in the Upper Mississippi River Valley to help us celebrate our Splashout/Green Bay Packer Party. As with every year the end of a season is fast approaching with the cooler temperatures and the changing of the colors on the trees. So with some help from friends Houseboating Excursions in the Mississippi River Valley decided to warm things up a bit and what better way to do it then on a Sunday watching our favorite football team the Green Bay Packers. Our fellow houseboaters joined us in celebrating the end of the season, we all brought a dish to pass and we all ate fish we caught all season long. We posted some photos to show our Master Chef batterfrying our fish with his secret recipe, our Number 1 Donald Driver(Green Bay Packer Retired Wide Receiver) Fan pouring us a touchdown celebration Apple Pie drink, wearing her Donald Driver signed tennis shoes, and our cheerleader showing off his new sunglasses.
It was a successful weekend and a great Packer game, we couldn't have asked for a better end to another season here at Houseboating Excursions in the Mississippi River Valley. We also attached a link to our album on Picasa for all to see the captions. Continue to follow Houseboating Excursions in the Mississippi River Valley as we cruise and explore more destinations, and provide information.

Big Bass Buddy

It was an exciting weekend here at Houseboating Excursions in the Mississippi River Valley, we caught the biggest largemouth bass we have ever caught in our entire lives. It measured 22 inches and we estimate it weighed about 10 pounds. We are normally just crappie and sunfish people but it was exciting to catch something like this, we took photos and shared it with friends and our blog and the sportsman in us released the bass back into the Mississippi River for someone else to catch and enjoy. We did very well catching plenty of crappies and sunfish which is great because we love to eat them and once in a while we even catch a catfish which are very tasty also. We haven't had any luck catching any northern pike which we are told is like eating a poor man's lobster, but there is still time left and the fish are hungry, afterall this time of year is the best time for fishing.
Continue to follow Houseboating Excursions in the Mississippi River Valley as we continue to explore new destinations and provide information about the Upper Mississippi River Valley.

Packer Party

Sunday was a good day for our Green Bay Packer party with some friends. It was definitely football weather and the feel of fall was in the air. It's a tradition of ours that when the Packers score we have a shot of sour apple pucker that was originally started by a bartender/owner of a bar and restaurant in our neighborhood, we decided to carry on the tradition whenever we all get together, unfortunately not all our friends were able to attend our party because they were actually at the game.

Continue to follow Houseboating Excursions in the Mississippi River Valley as we will explore, provide information, and cruise to different destinations.                               

Moby Carp

We were on a fishing Excursion and we were swallowed by Moby Carp! After being gone for a fish year we missed our followers. We finally got pooped out and we are now back online and will be writing about our Excursions in the Mississippi River Valley.

P.S. Carp!!! WTF! In The Mississippi River Valley!

Name an Island

The La Crosse,WI district of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge is asking the public's help in naming seven new islands near Stoddard,WI. The group requests that suggested island names reflect the area's habitat, geology, geography, history, wildlife and fauna. Proper names will not be considered. That means no naming an island after yourself. Each person is limited to ONE name submission per island, and each submission needs to include a written reason why that name should be selected. Judging will be conducted by representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources and Mississippi River Wild.
Entries may be submitted by email to:   Susan_Fletcher@fws.gov or Paula_Ogden-Muse@fws.gov; by fax at 608-783-8452; or mail at Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge "Island Naming Contest", 555 Lester Ave., Onalaska, WI 54650.
Spring is fast approaching our area and it is time to start planning that summer vacation, so come to the Upper Mississippi River Valley and name your island.
We mentioned that one of the judges is Mississippi River Wild, they are a group of citizens that volunteer their time and work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help preserve and protect the natural resources here in the Upper Mississippi River Valley. To learn more about the Mississippi River Wild click on our link we provided and check them out.
Continue to follow Houseboating Excursions in the Mississippi River Valley as we cruise and explore more destinations and provide more information in the Upper Mississippi River Valley.