It just doesn’t seem possible that the Freeborn County Fair is already in the books for another year and Labor Day weekend is looming on the horizon. In looking back a few years before we had our cabin up north, we had our camper at Best Point on Lake Tetonka near Waterville.
Once school starts it seems to send the message that the summer season is over for another year. I can recall many Labor Day weekends when the fishing on Tetonka was good to excellent on or after Labor Day. I can remember one particular time when I was fishing on Tetonka with my brother-in-law Mike and we caught a lot of nice bluegills and bass one Sunday afternoon in September. Mike had a bass boat that I believe was 20 feet long with a 215 hp motor. I used to tease about having that big fast boat just so he could be the first one to the spot where the sunnies were biting. In all reality I actually liked that boat and enjoyed fishing with Mike out of his big bass boat, although I can’t remember if I actually ever told him that.
Fishing Tetonka Lake in the fall could be very rewarding and it was actually my favorite time to spend time at the camper. I liked going there during the week when a person could very often find himself all alone on that big lake. Those were special times, little or no boat traffic, no water skiers or jet skis to contend with, just the peaceful challenge of finding fish on a fall day.
There was one particular day in October when I was at the camper alone and had decided to do a little fishing. When I arose earlier that morning I had spotted a bass boat passing by the campground heading west. Curiosity had gotten the best of me so once I was on the lake I scanned the horizon and soon discovered the boat was at the spot where the Cannon River flows into Lake Tetonka. I didn’t get all that close to it, but I could see that the fisherman was working that area for bass pretty hard. It was a couple of weeks later when I read in Outdoor News where the state record largemouth had come out of Tetonka on that day. I have a feeling that this is about as close as I will ever come to a state record.
Yes, those were good times with some great memories of time spent with good folks sitting around a campfire at night swapping fish tales. You couldn’t ask for nicer folks than Jerry and Linda Miller, the owners of Best Point resort where I had my camper for about eight years. Fall is probably about the only time of the year that I really miss having a camper there. When I reflect back and think about fishing that lake and having it almost all to myself, it brings back good memories. Now that I have a cabin up north I can experience those times of having a lake all to myself pretty much any time and I don’t even have to wait for fall.
Fall is by far my favorite time of the year to be on any lake; especially when the colors are changing. Picture this: a cool crisp morning sitting on a quiet little northern Minnesota lake with the colorful fall foliage reflecting off of the mirror-like surface of the lake. It just doesn’t get any better than that unless you throw in the bonus of catching a few fish.
Until next time, just keep in mind that although hunting may be foremost in your minds this time of year there is still plenty of fishing to be enjoyed.
Please remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers because they are the reason we are able to enjoy all the freedoms that we have today.