As I continue my visits down memory lane, I am looking back to the fall of 2017. In October of 2017 my son Brad and his son Dylan, my grandson, along with Dylan’s friend Liam were at the cabin with me. This was when we had some fish in our lake. We had largemouth bass and some nice sized perch. It was probably the last time that I have seen any fish in it.
We all wanted to visit Spider Lake, so we planned to go there for a day. We packed lunch, Dylan made the sandwiches the night before and we had some granola bars, chips, Austin brand crackers with peanut butter, along with some pop and water. We always have a shore lunch when we visit there, which gives us a little break in the action.
There are three national forest campsites on that lake where you can camp free for up to 14 days. We like the one on the southeast corner of the lake the best, but there are times when we must visit a different site if that one is taken.
When we visit that lake, we fish for northern or anything else that will bite. On that day we were hoping to catch a few keepers for a meal. On Spider Lake you can keep three northern 24” and under which is different than the regular limit for this area of the state. A 23” northern out of that lake usually has some good meat on it. It was a cool, sunny fall day, but we were dressed for the occasion.
We all caught fish that day, but Brad usually has the market cornered on catching the most pike. Liam had a huge one on, but lost it on the way to the boat. When Dylan and I are fishing together, he catches his share of big fish. After we took our lunch break, we continued to troll the shoreline.
Later in the day we decided that we’d had enough for the day and plenty of fishing for one day, so we headed for the landing. I usually clean the northern, but Brad has gotten good at it, so he and Dylan cleaned fish while I started supper. After the northern were cleaned, Brad wondered if we would have enough fish for four hungry guys, so he said, “I’ll be right back,” and in about a half hour, he was back in the cabin with a couple of largemouth bass fillets. Contrary to what some might say, the meat was white, flaky and delicious. It was just enough to complete our meal of fried potatoes, fish and corn.
Nothing is better than a meal of fresh fish, a wood stove blazing in the cabin and family and friends to enjoy it with. Sadly, our lake froze out in 2020 and I don’t think that anyone has fished it since. If I get up enough ambition, I may try it again next year, just to check it out. When I was there in April of 2020 and there were dozens of raptors sitting on the ice by open water, I knew that it had frozen out.
I am grateful that we have had fish in this lake for the grandkids to enjoy over the years. Those are precious memories that were created over the last 20 or so years.
Until next time: I cannot say enough about the first responders from Freeborn County, the sheriff’s deputy that helped me and the EMT from Mayo who treated me when I had an episode and needed to be transported to the ER. There are a lot of good folks in our county and the surrounding area, and I thank all of you.
Please show your support for the troops that are serving our country today. These servicemen and women are making that sacrifice, so that we may have the many freedoms that we enjoy today.