Woods & Water (267)
I believe that it is a “fair” assumption to say that a lot of folks have attended this year’s Freeborn County Fair. It was almost my favorite summer event, taking a close second to fishing. My favorite part of the fair was the stock car races that were held for many years during the fair. The fair meant that instead of racing on the 5th-mile track in front of the grandstand the cars, for a few years, raced on the half-mile track that circled the outside of the infield. This ended shortly after a car had gone through the fence, rolled and ended up on Richway Drive. I believe they still had modified stock car and 3⁄4 midget car races for a few years after, but that too eventually stopped. I sure did miss those Friday night races at the fairgrounds after they were discontinued. As kids we all had our racing heroes and I’m sure that it’s still that way today for those who follow NASCAR or the races at area speedways.
I can also remember when harness racing was a big event at the fair, but it is something that you just don’t hear much about anymore. There are still some fairs in Minnesota that have harness racing and the Running Aces track north of the cities also has them. Iowa seems to be one of the more popular Midwestern states for harness racing.
The other day as I was on my morning walk by the channel near Frank Hall Park I caught a whiff of the water and it reminded me of late summer days spent at the “crick” on Bridge Avenue. As kids, whenever our parents asked where we were going, we would simply say “the bridge” and nothing more needed to be said. In the spring we couldn’t wait for the first open water and we’d be there at “the bridge” waiting for the first sign of life to appear. Most of the time we’d spot minnows and tadpoles before any larger fish appeared. That little “crick” held many mysteries that nature must have put there purposely for us kids to enjoy. As we moved farther into summer the visits to our favorite haunt grew less frequent because as the water level got lower it seemed like there was less and less activity in the form of wildlife.
I always enjoyed hearing the red winged blackbirds calling to each other and thought it was exciting when a yellow winged one would appear. One year in mid-August I spotted two bright green water snakes swimming near the bridge. I have never been a big snake person so after that day I don’t think I spent a lot of time at the bridge for the rest of that particular summer.
There were also certain smells of that “crick” that were like no other; the smell of stagnant water that I experienced on my walk by the channel had reminded me of the many late summer days spent at the bridge. There was a time when of the kids that he had been told that it was the smell of a neighbor’s sewage that was being dumped into the “crick.” I don’t know if there was any truth to that, but it was our story and we were sticking to it. There was also no mistaking the smell you could experience at sunset when the dew of the evening seemed to overtake the slough and cool everything down. As night crept in, the sound of birds chirping was replaced by that of the bullfrogs and crickets showing up for the night shift. That old bridge was our main hangout for most of the summer and it sure has left me with a lot of good memories.
As a kid I always associated August with hot weather when in all reality, temperature-wise, it is probably one of the best months. The days are usually warm and sunny while the nights cool off nicely, making for great sleeping weather. August can also be good fishing weather. Early morning can produce some nice bass if you can find some open pockets in weed beds or underwater weed lines. You can usually find them close to shore, under docks or around fallen trees most any time of year. I’ve found that August has always been pretty good to me when it comes to bass fishing.
Now that we are into the “dog days” of summer our thoughts may turn to other things like the early goose season or the deer hunting archery season, both of which are just around the corner. The following seasons open in the beginning of September:
• Sept. 1-12 — Early Canada Goose season
• Sept. 1 to Nov. 4 — Snipe and Rail Hunting season
• Sept. 7 — Youth Waterfowl Day
• Sept. 14 to Feb. 28, 2014 — Small Game - Rabbits, Squirrels season
• Sept. 14 to Nov. 30 — Sharptailed Grouse season
• Sept. 14 to Jan. 1, 2014 — Ruffed and Spruce Grouse, Hungarian Partridge season
• Sept. 14 to Dec. 31 — Deer Hunt Archery season
Until next time, enjoy the outdoors and maybe even take a little time to hang out by a lake, do a little fishing or find that bridge of your own.
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.
The end of July is upon us and I can’t help but think that there is still plenty of summer left. I know that with each passing day there is a little less daylight for us to enjoy but there is still time to get in many of the summer things that we had planned on doing but haven’t gotten around to.
Usually by the time August rolls around I have been to the cabin a couple of different times with the grandsons. This year however I have only spent time up north one time with my grandson Dylan and his sister Emma. As kids grow older their interests change and I am sure that in this day and age spending time at a rustic cabin in the woods with old grandpa is not as appealing as it once was. Over the years I have tried to share my knowledge of fishing and the outdoors with the grandkids. I feel good that I have been able to share the outdoors experience that I enjoy with them.
The first couple of years after the cabin was livable it had 4 walls, a roof and a floor with a kerosene heater. There were a few years when I took my two oldest grandsons, Trevor and Taylor up for a weekend in April. This was our traditional trip to check and see if the cabin made it through the winter and if there were any downed trees. On one of our April trips north the boys and I awoke to freshly fallen snow which they thought was pretty neat. There were a few times when were greeted by fallen trees which luckily did no damage to the cabin but did do some to the camper. The camper had been an essential part of our time up north for many years but this year we finally decided that it was time for it to go. Over the years it served us well and it held a lot of good memories of the times spent with the grandkids.
In the early days we didn’t know what our little lake had for fish because when we bought the land the realtor said that there weren’t any fish in the lake. The day I was to sign the papers I drove to the lake early, made a few casts with a jig & twister and had a couple of hits. This told me that there was indeed some type of fish in the lake. I then proceeded to town to meet with the realtor and sign the papers.
Once we had cleared some trees we brought our camper in and since then it has been a work in progress. The first year we were there I offered up a bounty or I guess you could call it a reward to any one of the kids that caught a fish in the lake. Naturally it didn’t take Trevor long to collect that bounty with an 8-inch perch. Once the kids knew that there were fish in the lake they had a blast.
The lake with no fish has had fish in it every year since. The perch disappeared a few years back but mysteriously crappies and sunfish soon replaced them and it has yielded some nice “slabs” over the past few years. Now that I think about it I may just have to try and get a few for the pan the next time I’m up there.
In the evening I love to sit on our deck and enjoy the view as the sun sets on our pretty little lake. The quiet of the evening is broken only by the calling of the loons or an occasional tail slapping on the water by the resident beaver. This is really what it is all about; taking the time to sit back and enjoy nature at its best.
I mentioned earlier that our granddaughter Emma had spent some time at the cabin with us in June. Unfortunately she got homesick every night and the mosquitoes were relentless so for an outdoors girl like her it wasn’t all that much fun. I have no doubt that in a few years she will be fishing like the boys. She is not afraid to pick up an earth worm or a leech and holding a minnow is just plain fun to her. The other evening she went to Edgewater fishing with me, her dad and brother Dylan. Her attention span isn’t that long and sitting still isn’t what she does best but she found that she could bring us bait. She would bring us a leech if we needed one and if we didn’t ask for one she wanted to know if she should bring us one of those “black things”. She told me that she thought it was neat that they could stick to her hand.
This is the same girl that stayed at grandpa and grandmas not too long ago and wanted to watch a movie. I suggested a Ninja Turtle movie that her brother had left at the house a few years back but that didn’t fly – “that’s a boy movie grandpa; I want to watch a girl movie”!
Until next time, enjoy the outdoors, go for a walk on one of our area trails or watch a bobber bouncing in the breeze on an area lake.
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.
Freeborn County Fair memories
The Freeborn County Fair is just around the corner and I find myself wondering: how did it sneak up on us this fast? It seems like only yesterday we were waiting for the ice to go off of the lakes and now summer is on its downhill run.
Looking back to my days as a kid, anticipating the arrival of the fair was almost Christmas-like in my mind. I would work all summer mowing lawns and saving my paper route money for that big event. I mowed lawns for my uncle Orville Winjum to earn spending money for the summer. He mowed the rural pumping station lawns for Interstate Power. Each week we would load his two mowers on a trailer and take off for different towns around the area. We mowed the pumping stations in rural Albert Lea, Emmons, Wells, south of Twin Lakes, and New Richland. I included New Richland last because it was my favorite. The pumping station was right next to the drive-in and he always had it figured so that when we finished mowing, it would be lunch time and he would treat me to a burger or pronto pup basket along with a big frosty mug of root beer, which is still my favorite beverage today. Our family never ate out much so this was a real treat to a kid from rural Albert Lea.
Saving money for the fair was my goal each summer and by the time it would arrive, that money would be burning a hole in my pocket.
My friend Pat Smith and I would head to the fair days ahead of time to “scout” and see what new things had been done to make it an even better fair than the previous one. We could always tell when a building had been painted or if something new had been added. I guess we were pretty much “fair junkies” because we couldn’t wait for that magical time. We would usually ride our bikes to the fairgrounds and hang out all day inspecting every inch of the place, making sure it met our stamp of approval. There was this one particular time when Pat rode his pony/horse to my house and I jumped on the back and we were off on our initial inspection tour of the fairgrounds. His horse was a Welsh pony that he had named Scout after Tonto, the Lone Ranger’s sidekick’s horse. It was a pinto like Tonto’s horse but, unfortunately for me, he wasn’t overly fond of carrying an extra rider. We had ridden to the fairgrounds and spent a big chunk of the day and were on our way home when Scout decided he was tired of two riders and decided to rid himself of the extra passenger. After running through the ditch and bucking like a rodeo horse, he finally shed himself of the extra rider (me) and then stopped, looking at me as if he were giving me the horse laugh. This just reassured my suspicions that horses just didn’t really like me all that much. I was a little sore but overall none the worse for wear and although Pat encouraged me to “mount up,” I decided I was within walking distance of home and would keep my feet on the ground. That was one occasion when I felt safer not heeding the old “ism” about getting back on if you get bucked off.
The first day of the fair we would be there bright and early hoping to get some sort of odd jobs around the carnival. One year they had a new ride called the Mad Mouse and the guy setting it up asked us to fill his water jug and run some errands for him which resulted in a couple of free rides. There was this one time, however, when I helped a guy with his game stand and in return he gave me some free games which ultimately led to him bilking me out of all my hard earned fair money. That was a sad time for me because I couldn’t go to the fair without my own money. I can still remember laying upstairs in my bed with the window open and hearing the fair going on loud and clear without me! Can you feel the self-pity oozing out?
That was a life lesson indeed and if I learned anything it was that those games were not for me and maybe that’s why to this day I’ve never been much of a gambler. If I did help one of those carneys again I made sure it was someone who worked on a ride and paid you in tickets or cash. Lately I only attended the fair one day each year and that is to watch the grandkids show their 4-H projects. I still enjoy walking through the barns looking at the livestock, and every once in a while I’ll think of Patrick and the fun we had hanging out at the fair on those hot August days.
The down side of the fair was that as soon as it was over school was just around the corner. School meant my mother would take me to town for school supplies and new clothes. It was time for new shoes, socks and underwear along with two shirts and two pair of dress pants; blue jeans were not an option. To me the newness of the clothes wore off almost as fast as the excitement of the new school year. I attended Hammer School for grades 1-6 and I have to say those were my most enjoyable school years. The end of summer might have meant the beginning of school, but it was also the beginning of football, my favorite sport at the time. I have many good memories of Hammer School with its two classrooms and some very good teachers.
Until next time, enjoy the outdoors, maybe take in a fair or even do a little fishing.
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.
Here it is the middle of July and it seems like summer is just getting started. I haven’t quite shifted into panic mode yet but it seems that after the 4th of July passes the summer season seems to speed up and many of the things that I had wanted to get done are still in the planning stages. I know for a fact I haven’t gotten up to the cabin as much as I’d like, but then there are just some things that I can’t seem to get enough of.
Once we pass the middle of July we head into what some may call the “dog days” which are usually associated with August. Over the years there have been a few old wives tales concerning the dog days of August. One such tale says that the northern lose their teeth in late summer which is supposed to explain why they seem harder to catch at that time. There is no scientific data to support this claim, but in more likelihood the fact is that the larger ones seek deeper colder water while the smaller ones remain along weed lines. One thing that is a given when it comes to fishermen is they can always come up with an excuse. Personally, I feel the challenge of finding the fish is really what makes fishing fun.
Whatever you believe, the bottom line is the fish are there to be caught if you can locate them. Over the years I have caught northern trolling deep running lures over 20-plus feet of water and I’ve caught August walleyes fishing open pockets in shallow weed beds. I believe each lake has its own particular pattern and that pattern can change not only from year-to-year but day-to-day. I have fished Spider Lake for many years and each year I find the fish may not be in the same place at the exact same time as the year before.
Each year on my first visit to that lake I would be thinking walleye first and at times I would be successful and other times not so much. The down part for me of seeking out the wily walleye is I tend to spend way too much time trying to find the hungry ones and waste valuable fishing time in the process. Spider in particular has some very good crappie fishing and when you get into a school of those hungry slabs there is no better table fare to be had.
I grew up fishing panfish with a simple hook, sinker and a bobber tipped with a minnow or a worm. Over the years I have gotten away from that method and have been using light tackle with a jig and a twister. I don’t feel that there is a better way to fish than tossing light tackle and when a fish hits it I always get tingle of excitement no matter what the fish. My favorite jig is a 3/32 oz. jig with a Northland swirltail twister. My favorite jig color is pink and the plastic color may vary from day to day and lake to lake but I do prefer the white speckled one.
Fishing kind of reminds me of hockey because both sports allow the participant to be creative. Over the years I’ve seen fishermen come up with some pretty bizarre lure combinations and thought to myself “this surely won’t work” only to have that person out fish me. I eventually learned that you’re better off not offering too much “free advice” to a fellow fisherman.
I would take my grandson Trevor fishing a lot when he was small and I like to think he learned a little bit about fishing from old grandpa. He wasn’t very old before I realized that he was going to be a very good fisherman as he was always changing it up and trying different things. When we were trolling he was never satisfied waiting for that big strike; he would be in the front of the boat casting while I dragged my lure behind the boat doing the anticipating. It seems that there isn’t a week that goes by when he isn’t texting me a picture of a big fish that he has caught and released on one of our area lakes. One day it could be a 28-inch walleye and the next a 34-inch northern and he has also caught some very nice bass.
I do believe that the one important thing that he may have learned from me about fishing is to not be one dimensional; change it up! I really think its Trevor’s turn to take grandpa fishing and show him a few of HIS secrets for putting fish in the boat.
Fishing report:
Albert Lea - Anglers are pulling some good-sized northern pike from Fountain Lake. Panfish have been active in lakes throughout the area. But the big news has been the number of large walleyes coming from the Edgewater Park, Island, and "The Mermaid" areas of Fountain Lake.
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Until next time, take a little time to relax and enjoy a little fishing and watch a bobber as it bounces lazily in the breeze; what a great way to experience the outdoors.
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.
Last week I had a chance to head north to the cabin with Mark Runden to do a little serious fishing. The weather was pretty good with the exception of a little heat and rain early on. Enjoying time in the north woods is always a good time and this was no exception. Clear lakes, sunny weather and hot temperatures do not always make for the best fishing and although we caught fish the first part of the week, it wasn’t as good as I had hoped. Catching fish is always the ultimate goal when venturing on a lake, but just enjoying the beauty of the area is sometimes the real reward. Although you can’t put beauty in a frying pan, the sights and smells of nature can sometimes be enough. During the week we saw plenty of wildlife and also caught a few fish.
I have never been an avid bass fisherman, but I do enjoy catching them whenever the opportunity arises. Such an opportunity came Wednesday night when we visited Mark and Sherry Anderson at their cabin east of Marcell on a little lake by the name of Three Island Lake. This lake has no access except for a walk-in which is a long portage from the road to the lake. We put our poles on Mark’s pontoon boat and headed out on the lake, which is teaming with smallmouth bass. This is an exceptionally clear lake, which to me just said “fish” when I first laid eyes on it.
I truly have to say there is probably nothing more fun than catching smallmouth bass on an ultra-light. We fished for a little over two hours and caught about 30 fish. Mark said this was actually slow fishing compared to other times. Slow to him was great fishing to me because I had forgotten just how much fun smallies were to catch. When I first started going to Spider Lake we would catch a lot of them, but in recent years they seemed to be harder to come by. Whenever we fished walleyes you could tell when you had a smallie on because the end of your line would be straight out and headed to the surface like a rocket. These fish love to jump out of the water when hooked, which makes for an awesome fishing experience, especially when using light tackle.
This was a lot of fun and I really appreciated Mark and Sherry’s hospitality and for sharing their lake with us for an evening.
After that awesome fishing experience, I decided we would try a little different approach on our last day of fishing. I have always said you have to be flexible and willing to try different tactics when it comes to fishing. I decided we’d try a lake I hadn’t fished yet this year and actually try to fish it a little different than I usually do, which is mostly trolling.
The weather was cool and pleasant but a little windier than I’d have liked. The wind was blowing straight down the lake so I thought we’d try drifting the shoreline on the windward side of the lake using ultra-lights and casting a jig and twister towards the shore as I controlled the drift with the motor. We found an open area with a sand bottom that produced some nice sunnies. After working that area for a while I decided to drift farther down the lake which produced some bass and northern and a few more sunnies. We managed to boat enough fish for a nice fish supper to top off our last night at the cabin. There’s just nothing better than a meal of fish fresh from the lake, and what better way to end the week.
Now is the time to take a hunter safety course
With the fall hunting seasons just around the corner, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) urges hunters to sign up now for a hunter education class.
“Though classes are held throughout the year, their numbers peak in the summer and early fall,” said Capt. Mike Hammer, DNR Enforcement Division education coordinator. “Now is the time to sign up and complete a course, because once the hunting season gets rolling, it might be too late.”
Minnesota hunters born after Dec. 31, 1979, must take a DNR hunter education firearms safety training course and receive a certificate of completion before buying a license for big or small game.
Classes fill fast. Find a class and sign up today or call 651-296-6157 or toll-free 888-646-6367.
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Until next time, take a little time to relax and enjoy a little fishing and watch a bobber as it bounces lazily in the breeze; it’s just a great way to experience the outdoors.
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.
It seems like we have spent most of the spring stuck in Minnesota’s version of a monsoon season. I have been tossing around the idea of calling the DNR and asking them about stocking my basement with walleyes. Last week I wrote about some of the funny things that can happen to a guy (me) over many years of fishing. I’d be willing to bet that if you were to talk to any fisherman, he’d have a funny tale or two to share.
One of my darkest moments of fishing came when fishing with my grandson Dylan on a little lake not too far from our cabin. We had just launched the boat and as I was backing away from shore I noticed water seeping into the back of the boat; that’s when the little light bulb in my head clicked on and I realized we were in big trouble. I had forgotten to put the plug in and the water was fast approaching the top of the transom. I quickly turned the throttle to the max in an attempt to get it on plane and suck the water out, but it had already taken on too much water. It was about that time that bad thoughts started to flash through my mind. I remembered the bilge pump and turned it on and it started working. After a couple of minutes I was gaining on the water, all the while buzzing up and down the small lake. I finally managed to get it on plane and thus rid it of most of the water. That was the closest I have ever come to sinking a boat and although I’d rather not travel down this particular memory lane, Dylan still reminds me of that day from time to time. It won’t be my favorite, but it is another “up north” memory both of us will always have
Yes, I’ve had my share of bad or humorous moments, but I’ve also witnessed some that could probably top those. One of those incidents involved a friend of mine named Larry who had a camper at Best Point in Waterville at the same time I did. He liked to partake in a few spirits from time to time and, on one occasion, he and a friend decided to go out for a little evening fishing venture. After a couple of hours they decided to call it a night and headed in. I was down at my boat when they were attempting to put his boat on the lift. I could hear his motor revving up, but he couldn’t get it on the lift; then his friend noticed the trolling motor was still down in the front. He had pretty much cut it in half trying to get the boat on the lift so, needless to say, Larry was not a happy camper (pun intended).
Another incident that could have had serious repercussions was the time a boat could definitely be considered overloaded with only two people on board. It seems this person who was a regular camper each year had customized his old 12-footfishing boat by adding two captain’s chairs out of an old pickup truck. Those puppies were mounted in that little boat on plywood, which made them sit quite high out of the water. The guy decided to try out his new invention by taking his buddy fishing. This buddy must have weighed well in excess of 300 pounds, so when he sat in the front of that little boat the stern sat a little high in the water. As they were fishing, a boat went speeding past creating a wake and when that little boat met the wake, the stern (rear) of the boat came out of the water and at the same time the big guy in the front lost his balance and toppled out. In a knee-jerk reaction, the front of the boat went straight up in the air, the rear went under and the boat went straight down like a rock. The boaters around them were able to get to the two guys, but they couldn’t get the big guy into a boat so they had to tow him to shore. I don’t believe there were any spirits involved in this incident, but there wasn’t a lot of common sense either.
Yes we can laugh at these incidents now, but with a little bad luck there could have been some serious consequences. Use a little common sense while on the water and save the spirits for the nightly campfire.
I have to say that almost every time I have been up north at the cabin doing some fishing I have gotten a text from my grandson Trevor. He has sent me pictures of big bass, northern and walleye that he has caught on the lakes in our area. It’s tough to justify driving 300-plus miles and not get fish like he gets right at home.
I have said many times that it’s not all about the catching, but the fishing when I’m up north. So far this week as I sit in the cabin writing this column, I have to say that the fishing has been spotty at best. I have noticed the vegetation like lily pads and pencil reeds are barely making an appearance and it is almost July. I have to think the late spring has really had an effect on every lake in this area to some extent. A good example of the way fishing is was posted on the bulletin board at Frontier Sports in Marcell. Usually by now there are numerous fish pictured on the big billboard at this time of year, but thus far there are very few. Most of the folks in the area say the fishing has been pretty spotty so far this year, but hopefully it will turn around as the summer goes on.
The rain has been hard on us in the southern part of the state, but as far as fishing goes it has been very good. Almost every species of fish has been biting and that is a good thing if you are a fisherman.
Now is a good time to wet a line and get out and enjoy one of our many area lakes.
Please remember our service men and women who serve our country so that we may enjoy the many freedoms that we have today.
The one thing predictable about fishing is that it is pretty much unpredictable. What does that mean? Well, although there are conveniences available to us that just a few years ago were not even considered a possibility, there is still the unknown part that nature has in store for us. For example the old “green box” has long since given way to underwater cameras and fish finders with GPS capabilities to take most of the guess work out of the sport. Call me old-fashioned (you’d be right), but I still like the element of surprise fishing has always brought to the table of my life.
I know I have trolled across countless miles of water holding no fish, but in my mind that “big one” was about to strike at any moment. To me that uncertainty is the best part of the game and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I do own a fish finder of sorts, namely an inexpensive one that will tell me the depth and does show if there are fish in the area, but I’ve covered too much water with fish showing on it but not on my hook to put all my faith in electronics. I do like to know the depth and where the weed lines are but that is where I draw the line.
I’d have to say I am a shoreline type of guy and most of the northern lakes I fish are very clear and can pretty much be fished without a locator just by keeping an eye on the weed line. You can use all the technology you want, but you still need to spot a “deadhead” with the naked eye. I like to think I am fairly adept at finding the fish in my own “old school” style of fishing. I have always said no matter how good a fisherman is, there is still a good amount of luck involved.
Over the years I have seen and heard about some pretty humorous escapades fishermen have had. I have had more than my share of “oops” events when it comes to fishing. One time in particular comes to mind when I was fishing alone on Spider Lake and decided to do some casting for musky. Now, when you are camping with the family and only have a small boat, the opportunity for throwing some “big stuff” for that toothed one is pretty rare. One particular afternoon the kids and my wife decided to stay in, so I headed out in search of the “big one” I knew was waiting just around the next point. After many casts short of the 10,000 minimum that some persistent fisherman had set, I was getting a little arm weary and as I went to make a cast with a lure about the size of a small dog, I hooked one of my other poles. As I lunged forward that pole went flying past my head and into the water. Luckily that lure had more than enough hooks to secure the rod that I now had dangling over the side of the boat. Once I had my other pole securely back in the boat, I did what any good fisherman would do – I looked around to see if anyone had witnessed my smoothness. As far as I know I had no witnesses to that debacle.
Another instance came on the same lake as I fished alone early in the morning. I was using a Rapala and had hooked a northern, but while I attempted to bring it into the boat, it spit the hook. I could accept that part of it but when the hook embedded itself in the inside part of my hand between thumb and forefinger I knew I had a predicament. The lure had small treble hooks and one of the barbs went all the way through but was too small to clip off. After many attempts at different hook-removing techniques that folks had told me were sure-fire, I did the only thing I could think of: push down and rip ‘er out with the needle nose. Once again there were no witnesses.
One year on the way north I ran over a semi tire that had blown out and the wire inside of it wrapped around my trailer axle and stopped my tire from turning. It happened in a construction zone and by the time I could stop, the tire was gone, the rim was tiny, flat on one side and the hub was ground down to nothing. What a way to start a vacation.
I know fishermen who have lost their trailers, but the one time that sticks out in my mind is when my grandson Trevor and I were at a northern lake not far from our cabin which has a very long steep landing. As I went to put the boat in, Trevor asked if the plug was in. I was sure I had put it in, but that question always seems to put that little element of doubt in my mind that makes me want to check. As I went to pull the boat ahead so that I could check it I was unaware that he had already unhooked it. After hearing a loud, sickening thud, I looked back to see the boat sitting on the cement landing. Luckily, the motor was up. The look on Trevor’s face was priceless as he muttered, “What do we do now?” To which I said, as nonchalantly as possible under the circumstances that we would just crank it back up. I had no idea if that would actually work but it did and after a little minor patching, the boat has been as good as ever.
Yes, fishing can be a lot of work at times and after a few of these stories you could ask what is so relaxing about that. They say you need to take the good with the bad and believe me when I say that to me, it’s all good. There is nothing more exhilarating than cruising down the lake in the early morning with a cool, misty breeze splashing your face like a bottle of lake scented after shave with a vision of that next big fish dancing in my head.
Until next time; get out and enjoy some fishing in one of our many lakes and streams of the area.
Please remember our servicemen and women who serve our country so that we may enjoy the many freedoms that we have today.
The one thing a person can count on with all of the wet weather we have been experiencing this spring is we will see plenty of our Minnesota state bird – the mosquito. This past week my wife Jean and I headed north to the cabin for a few days. Our Grandson Dylan and his friend Liam went with us. Our Granddaughter Emma also went along on her first extended trip without Mom and Dad, which went about as I had expected for a 4-year-old. She got a little homesick from time to time but was a real little trooper.
The week started out wet and cold but soon gave way to warm and sunny weather. Through it all the one thing that was constant was the overabundance of mosquitoes. This is probably one of the worst seasons that I can remember for those pesky little blood suckers. I do know that if the fish had been biting as good as those little bugs, we would have been arm weary from reeling them all in.
Mosquitoes or not, it was great spending time at the cabin with our grandkids. Dylan took Emma and Grandma fishing on our little lake and I think she enjoyed being in the boat more than fishing. Emma loves being outdoors, and I can see her being a future fisherman. I had bought some leeches for our trip to a nearby lake and she wanted to see them. Of course, just seeing them wasn’t enough for her, she had to touch them. Now I know a lot of adults that refuse to touch a leech, but not Emma, because the next morning I had to get them out of the cooler and take one out so she could touch it. I definitely see a future fisherman in the family. Later that day she found an earthworm and was playing with it like it was a hamster or something; it’s obvious she has no fear of creepy crawly things.
Spending any time at all in the north woods with the grandkids is always a plus and not even those pesky mosquitoes could put a damper on that. We did get to do some fishing and got to enjoy nature and the outdoors. The boys and I got to fish on a few different lakes this week with mixed results. The lakes seem to be at least two weeks behind in vegetation because you still see brown dead pencil reeds where the new ones should be growing and lily pads are just barely starting to appear. This all translated into different fishing patterns than past years. I spoke with a guy at the local store and tackle shop in Talmoon who told me the same lake he had fished successfully for walleyes a year ago at this time produced nothing this year. He asked where I was from and, when I told him, he asked if I knew Chuck Jean because it seems he and Chuck Jean wrestled together while in the Army; guess it really is a small world.
I really do think that the late wet spring has affected the northern part of the state a little differently than the southern part of the state. I believe that the same weather patterns that hurt the farming in the southern part of the state had to have hurt tourism in northern Minnesota
My personal observation is that it seems to be getting harder and harder for the small businesses in Northern Minnesota to make it. You just don’t see the people out and about like you once did when “going up north” was how folks spent their vacations. Years ago folks used to take vacations a week at a time and would usually set aside a week or two for “going up north”. These days most folks can take their vacation a day or two at a time which, along with increasing costs made it more tempting to skip a week-long vacation and stay closer to home. It’s kind of sad to see the family resorts disappearing and being sold off in parcels.
I guess it’s all about change and a different lifestyle than what we were once accustomed to. Today’s fast paced lifestyle leaves little time for a person to stop and look around at all of the wonderful things the outdoors has to offer.
Looking back at the times that I would go up north and stay in a cabin it seems like you always packed enough food for more than a week. Going up north also meant packing plenty of clothes for all types of weather. Of course the old Johnson outboard motor and gas can was packed into the trunk, which seemed to hold an endless amount of necessities. The crack of dawn seemed to be the normal time to head out on the trip that was months in the planning stages. The times seemed to be simpler back then but maybe that was because there were not as many entertainment options like there are today.
It may not possible to turn back the clock but I try to do it at least a couple of times a year. Give it a try sometime and you may find out how much fun a family vacation “up north” can really be. Camping at a National Forest or State Park campground can be a fun and inexpensive experience for a family.
Until next time; get out and enjoy some fishing in one of our many lakes and streams of the area.
Please remember our service men and women who serve our country so that we may enjoy the many freedoms that we have today.
The amount of moisture we have had in the area the last few weeks has not only greened things up but has raised the water levels in our lakes and streams, which is good. This spring has been especially hard on the farmers who make their livelihood growing corn and soybeans.
The fishing in the area has been has been pretty darned good when it comes to panfish and Fountain Lake has been giving up some dandy northern. The walleye fishing on Walnut Lake was going hot and heavy earlier this spring.
My oldest grandson Trevor has been hitting the lakes in our area hard with some very good results. He has been catching a lot of nice northern and some dandy bass. Trevor has a nice fishing boat and he spends most of his spare time putting it to good use. He has probably caught and released more fish in this short fishing season than I’ve caught in the last five years. This is great to see because I know he is a true outdoorsman and does things the “right way” which makes Grandpa proud.
It is so important we get our youth interested in hunting and fishing to ensure the future of our outdoors heritage will be preserved. Seeing my grandsons interested in the outdoors brings back many memories of my own youth. In the summertime I was always doing something that involved fishing or nature. Maybe it was partly because my access to other activities was limited because I lived in the country
There were times when a few of us kids would walk a “crick” just to see where it went. Occasionally we would get in trouble if we went too far and were gone too long without notifying the wardens (moms). Walking a “crick” didn’t always mean fishing, it just meant we’d follow it to see what types of critters were living those waters. One hot August afternoon my friend Jim and I followed a small creek that eventually connected to Goose Lake from the north. We found this small “crick” had dried up in places, leaving only pools alive with small bluegills, bullheads, minnows, crayfish and frogs. As a kid this was exciting, but yet sad at the same time because I knew there was nowhere for those creatures to go and what the end result would be. The exciting part was finding those bluegills in that water because we usually never saw other “edible” fish except for bullheads. Walking that small stream was exciting because the natural flow and route of the water was how it was always meant to be.
I spent many summers walking Lime Creek south of Emmons with my cousin Richard. That “crick” wound snakelike through the pasture of their farm. To me that is what a stream should be, natural, with a few trees and bushes sprinkled in. There were times we’d swim in that creek only to go around the corner and find the cows standing in the water doing what cows naturally do. I imagine that is why Senora, Richards’s mother, always made us take a shower after swimming.
I always enjoy watching the creek that winds through Twin Lakes from Lower Twin and eventually finds its way to Grass Lake and the Shellrock River. There is just something peaceful about seeing a creek that has not been turned into a drainage ditch but has been allowed to flow naturally as nature intended. As you travel farther north in our state you will see many beautiful streams and rivers that have not been altered and are pretty much untouched by man. Observing nature as it was meant to be always gives me that “life-is-good” feeling.
I was curious about the difference between a brook, stream and creek and the answer I found on the trusty Internet made some sense. A brook flows on pretty much flat land and sort of meanders along, a stream flows a little faster, and the beloved creek I always talk about flows even faster yet. If this is the case, do creeks in late summer turn into brooks as the water level goes down? Just a thought.
If you find a dry day and want a little exercise, taking a walk or a bike ride on one of our area trails can be a great way to enjoy nature and get a little exercise as a bonus. I have always liked walking on the Blazing Star Trail early in the morning because morning is my favorite part of the day and there are not as many folks out at that time. If you haven’t given it a try now is as good a time as any.
On another note: I have been seeing a black and white cat in my yard for the last few weeks and in that same time period I have found dead birds and a dead baby rabbit. No wonder the birds quit coming to the feeder. I did have quite a collection of critters between my yard and the neighbors that I enjoyed watching. Cats find baby birds easy pickings, so please keep your pets at home this time of the year. I am not a cat hater, but I feel if I really wanted one, I’d have one. Besides, I can pretty much see more cats than I care to on Facebook.
Until next time; get outdoors and enjoy some fishing, take a walk or just take in the beauty of one of our many lakes and streams of the area.
Please remember our service men and women who serve our country so that we may enjoy the many freedoms that we have today.
Fishing Leach Lake remains as good as it ever was
Written by Jim LutgensThis past week I headed north with my brother-in-law Ron Johnson to his cabin to help with his dock and do a little fishing. Mark Runden, a friend of both Ron and I went with us. The first part of the week was rainy, windy and cold but we managed to get his dock in and also get the old dock, which Ron was nice enough to give me, ready to haul to my cabin, which is a little farther north.
Because it was raining and fishing wasn’t looking like much of an option Mark and I decided to take the old dock to my cabin. On Wednesday the weather finally broke and we were off to try our luck at Woman Lake. The fishing wasn’t proving to be hot and heavy but we did manage to catch a few small walleye and some northern.
The next day we had planned to head to a little lake north of Leech Lake to try our luck. This little lake came with some pretty good history because it had been featured on a couple of Al Linder’s fishing shows. The little lake didn’t produce many fish on this day with the exception of a few northern and a dandy largemouth that I caught and released.
Ron had been telling us how he had just about given up on Winnie because he hadn’t had much luck the last couple of trips that he had taken to that large body of water. After fishing most of the morning with no walleye boated Ron hinted at going to Winnie but I reminded him of the statement that he had made earlier so we decided to try Leech.
It was actually a good day to fish the big lake because the wind was just about perfect for drifting. Now I do not consider myself a hardcore walleye fisherman; I guess you could say that I fish “at it” and hope for good results. Ron, on the other hand knows how to fish walleye and I was confident that if anyone could put us on fish it would be him.
After launching the boat at the access near Battle Point we headed west to the spot that Ron thought would be an ideal place to try our luck. On the first full drift Ron landed a 22-inch fish and in afterthought he said we should have thrown out a marker. I reminded him that he caught the fish quite a ways back but he could do it on the next one. On the next drift Ron had one hit his bait only to have it on for a brief moment and let go. He said “that was a big fish” and I said jokingly “if you don’t see it then it can be as big as you want” and at that moment I had a big one on. After about two minutes Ron saw the fish and said that it was a big walleye. It probably took about four or five minutes before Mark had it in the net. It measured a little over 28 inches and after getting it unhooked and a couple of pictures, I released it to the big lake to fight again another day. That fish was a personal best walleye for me and an experience I won’t forget. Ron has told the story a few times since then and for some reason it always seems to sound like I wouldn’t have caught it if he hadn’t had that fish on first. That’s fishing with Ron; it usually includes a little good natured ribbing which works both ways.
As the day went on we caught 6 fish in all and mine was the only legal keeper because the rest were in the 20-23 inch range. Ron caught the most at three followed by Mark with two and I settled for quality not quantity with just that one. Leech Lake has a slot limit where any fish from 18-26 inches must be returned to the lake. We actually didn’t fish all that long but we did manage to catch some nice fish in that short time. With the decrease in walleye numbers that the lake had experienced a few years ago I get the feeling that the lake is definitely back and as good as ever.
I last fished the lake in 2007 during the Governor’s Fishing Opener. The focus at that time was on the resurgence of the walleye fishing on the lake and since that time I have heard from many different sources that the fishing has been very good. I know that it had to help when the DNR thinned out the cormorant population a few years back. Thanks to Ron I had a chance to see firsthand how good the fishing actually was. To me, catching a personal best walleye was great but boating that many nice fish in just a few short hours was enough to convince me that Leech is once again a top walleye lake.
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Once again I have to report that there are some good fish being caught throughout our area. Fountain is still producing northern while there have been some nice crappie and walleye caught on waters in the surrounding area. Look to streams or rivers of the area and try fishing a Jig and a leech which seems to be doing the trick for the walleye in the fast running waters brought on by the rain.
I have to wonder if the high waters would make fishing New York Point a good option. It seemed to work a few years ago when we had a lot of rain and the waters were high.
Until next time; get out and enjoy some fishing in one of our many lakes and streams of the area.
Please remember our service men and women who serve our country so that we may enjoy the many freedoms that we have today.
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While I was visiting the Park Rapids area a couple of weeks ago, I was impressed by the beautiful countryside with its many lakes and streams. It had been many years since I had visited that area with my uncle Ben and Sam, his neighbor and brother-in-law. We would go to Toad Lake which is located near Osage, Minnesota which is west of Park Rapids. I have many fond memories of that lake, and if memory serves me right the fishing was always great. When I think of Toad Lake I think of good walleye fishing and the times spent there with Uncle Ben.
I can still remember the time when my Uncle Ben and I were fishing near some pencil reeds on Toad Lake and were catching the biggest bluegills I had ever seen. Now remembering things that happened as a kid could tend to get distorted, but I’ve always remembered those fish as real slabs. The big “gills” started biting just before an oncoming thunderstorm and as the storm approached Uncle Ben fired up the old 5-horse Johnson outboard and we headed for the resort. As the wind picked up it started to get very rough, so he had me sit on the floor of the boat as that little motor trudged its way to the dock and safety. I can’t remember how many times over the years I have experienced a fish feeding frenzy just before a storm as the barometer begins to fall.
When I first arrived in Park Rapids for the opener I found that the area was a little more like a rolling prairie with hills, woods, streams and lakes. It didn’t take long to realize what a marvelous resource this area is for the state of Minnesota.
Itasca State park is where the “Mighty Mississippi” begins its journey to the Gulf of Mexico. If you have never been to or taken your kids to the headwaters of this great river, you owe it to yourself and your kids so that they can experience walking across that great river. Itasca State Park is not only Minnesota's first state park; it is the only major park available at the source of one of the world's four greatest rivers — the Amazon, the Nile, the Yangtze and the Mississippi. At Lake Itasca, 500,000 visitors a year walk across the Mississippi headwaters and imagine how this tiny stream becomes miles wide as it enters the Gulf of Mexico 2,552 miles downstream.
The Park Rapids area is dynamically diverse in the variety of species of fish available to anglers. This includes walleye, northern pike, muskellunge, largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappies, bluegill, perch, brown, brook and rainbow trout, rock bass, tullibee and even a species that locals call, "the mermaid of Minnesota."
If you've never heard of a silver pike, you might just be lucky enough to catch one and subsequently photograph and release the unique fish. Essentially, a silver pike has a body identical to a typical northern pike. The identifying difference is that silver pike do not have a green body spattered with white lines and spots. Instead, the uncommon fish is covered in silver scales outlined in gold. Silver pike are truly magnificent.
If it's trout you're after, a handful of lakes offer rainbow trout, some of which can grow quite large. Brook trout are available on some small streams, but the wild brown trout inhabiting the cut-banks and eddies of the Straight River are really what get trout enthusiasts excited about Park Rapids. An intensive habitat rehabilitation project that utilized helicopters to drop massive pine trees along the bank of the river, ultimately redirecting current flow to establish deeper channels. This project, the first of its kind in the state, took place in 2006 and 2007. Most fish species can be found in the majority of local lakes, which range in size from a couple hundred acres up to about 2,500 acres. Numerous bodies are part of lake chains, so anglers can navigate from lake to lake via watercraft. Yet those hidden waters deep in the forest that require a portage or angling means such as canoes or float tubes are equally exciting to explore. Water clarity on the lakes in the Park Rapids area can exceed 20 feet, pairing pristine water among the pines.
This is truly a beautiful area and one that I plan on visiting again in the near future. If you’re planning on taking a summer vacation I would highly recommend giving the Park Rapids area a try, I’m sure you will enjoy it.
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On a local note, the rains have caused the streams and lakes to rise and those waters are starting to return to their normal levels. This is something I didn’t think would ever happen after seeing all of the dried-up waters last fall. The rising waters are helping the fishing in the area.
Until next time take advantage of the good fishing on our area waters.
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.
Another cold and windy fishing opener greeted most anglers this past weekend. I guess we should just assume that windy and cold will be the norm when venturing out on the fishing opener. On the other hand, finding open water to fish wasn’t quite as predictable.
The Governor’s fishing opener actually started on Thursday in the Park Rapids area with many planned events and it continued through the weekend. Some of the area’s lakes were open but most were at least partially ice covered. Everything that I have ever been told, read or experienced was telling me that fishing would not be that good right after ice-out. With this in mind I headed into the weekend not expecting much in the way of fish, but I was looking forward to learning about the Park Rapids area.
While attending the community picnic on Friday night I was impressed with the number of folks present. They were expecting around 2,500 people in attendance and I believe that there were easily that many. If you have ever been to Park Rapids you know that they have a very impressive downtown area. I always seem to get a good feeling when I see a community come together to take in the festivities and promote their area to the media. This wouldn’t be possible were it not for the 400 volunteers who put in a lot of work and time to make it all come together.
Tourism in Minnesota is a $12 Billion a year industry and towns like Park Rapids will see the population double during the summer. There is also currently a push to promote winter tourism in Minnesota.
I was very impressed with the Park Rapids area and the friendly people that call it home. The theme for this year’s opener was “Catch a Memory” and the folks in this area made sure that all the memories caught were good ones. I’ve said it many times before: it’s not about the catching of fish but about the experience of being there.
My friend Jeff Anderson of Watertown, SD who I have been fishing with for many years, and I were fortunate enough to be hosted by Brett Kent, an avid outdoorsman in every sense of the imagination. On Friday evening Jeff and I were sitting outside of the Park Rapids Armory waiting to go in and meet our fishing host when this nice couple passed by us and said hello. A little later we discovered that these nice folks were Brett and Brenda Kent and that Brett would be the one taking us fishing in the morning.
The next morning we met Brett for breakfast and he took us to a lake that he knew was open and had produced walleye for him in the past. It was a cold, windy and fishless venture but fun nonetheless. Brett suggested we get off the lake to warm up and seek out another lake to fish. While we were approaching the access two young guys were heading out into the cold and wind in a paddleboat. Brett turned to us and said “now those guys are tough to be fishing from a paddleboat. I mean really tough.”
It didn’t take me long to figure out that Brett was a full-blown outdoorsman and there weren’t many things that he didn’t like doing when it came to hunting and fishing. Brett and Brenda have a honey business appropriately called “Double B Honey” and they have 50 hives which produce about 4,500 lbs. of honey each year. He also traps minnows and leeches for local bait shops. Bait is not the only thing that he traps because he had an impressive collection of hides that he had from the past winter including bobcat, timberwolf, fisher, coyote and gray fox.
Brett has a nice northern hanging on the wall and after spending a short time with him I knew it would come with a story. It seems that he and some friends went to Lake of the Woods to ice fish and he was pulling a fish house across the lake when it lost its runners. He was so determined to get to the spot which was five miles out that he pulled the house bouncing along the ice until he got there. Brett had put a tip-up out and later looked out and noticed that there was a fish on. He went out and began bringing this huge northern in but it was almost too big for the hole. He called to the guys in the house to help him but they said “it’s too cold. You’re on your own” After several attempts he did manage to get the fish through the hole. Unfortunately the fish bit him on the hand and he had a huge gash which was bleeding pretty badly. Even that didn’t bring the “friends” out of the house to help. Another tale that he told was about the time his friend asked him to go trout fishing which Brett says is not his favorite pastime. While fishing and catching nothing he noticed two beavers nearby. He ended up setting two traps and caught both beavers which I suspect made his trout fishing trip a success. Brett also enters about four fishing tournaments during the summer with his son which Brett says is quality time that he enjoys spending with him.
Over the years I have fished with a lot of folks but I have to say that there have been none better than Brett. He is truly an avid outdoorsman and can tell a story like nobody that I have ever met. Oh, did I mention that his day job is that of a Minnesota State Trooper which he has been doing for the past 27 years.
Brett said that he was originally from the Twin Cities area but he knew from an early age that he wanted to live in the Park Rapids area. He told me that his wife Brenda once mentioned going on vacation and his response was quite simple: “People wait all winter to come here for vacation, why would we want to go anywhere else?” I don’t believe that you could possibly have a better testimonial than that for the Park Rapids area.
I did manage to catch a 21-inch walleye while fishing the open part of Fish Hook Lake in the afternoon. We had checked out the access that morning and the ice was on both sides but the access was open. We were the only boat out there for quite some time that afternoon but managed only that one fish. It was a great experience not only meeting Brett and Brenda but learning about this great area of the state which I know I will be revisiting in the not so distant future.
Until next time; take some time to go out and enjoy some fishing on one of our many beautiful lakes.
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.
The weather has finally seemed to have turned the corner. I believe that I can safely hang up the old snow shovel for a while.
The official opener for walleye and northern fishing usually falls on Mother’s Day each year. This is a good thing because it is a time for me to pause and reflect on all of the things that my mother did to encourage me to enjoy the sport of fishing and the outdoors. Although my mother loved to fish, she never seemed to have that much time to enjoy it.
I can remember the times when my dad would treat the family to dinner at the Dairy Bar drive-in, which sat about where McDonalds is now. It was his Mother’s Day treat to her, as she didn’t have to cook a big Sunday dinner.
Mom always ordered the pork tenderloin basket because she always said that it was her favorite. After dinner, we sometimes drove to St. Olaf or Beaver Lakes and do a little fishing. My dad was never much for fishing, but he always made sure that mom got to do a little of it on “her special day.” There were even a few times when he would even rent a pontoon boat and take my grandma along.
Once my wife Jean and I got the camping buzz, we occasionally took mom along with us for an overnight camping and fishing excursion to Elysian or Waterville. There were a couple of times when I took her to Clear Lake in Waseca.
I can still remember how excited she would get when a fish would hit her lure. Mom and dad went up north with us a couple of times and on her last summer with us, she went with Jean, the boys and I to Sand Lake which is near Squaw Lake.
I knew she didn’t feel very well so I said that she didn’t have to go out in the boat with us if she wasn’t up to it. Her answer was quite simple: “I didn’t come all this way to sit in the cabin.”
She ended up catching the largest walleye of the week. I know that made it worthwhile for all of us. I always say that you can never turn back the clock, but it is sure nice to visit the past on occasion.
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The buzz this past week has been about the opener and whether the ice will be off the northern lakes. When this column goes to print that question will already have been answered.
Locally, it obviously will not be a problem. I am looking forward to hearing about how our area fishermen fared this weekend.
This past week, I spoke with a few folks that are a little upset, me included, with some people that come to our waters and fill coolers with fish while having no license and no regard for the rules. I had also heard of one instance where people were observed keeping walleyes well before the legal opener. This is where our local sportsmen can step in, call the TIP line and report a violation. That number is: 800-652-9093.
It really bothers me to see someone getting “greedy” and breaking the conservation laws that the rest of us heed to. True sportsmen have an unwritten code of ethics when it comes to protecting our resources, so it is hard for me to even watch when a person keeps an 8-inch walleye even though it is not illegal. The walleye limit for inland waters is 6 and only one fish over 20-inches is allowed.
The Minnesota DNR has released the following information on an investigation called Operation Squarehook:
Authorities are bringing state charges against 21 individuals following a major investigation into the illegal sale and dumping of thousands of protected game fish in north-central and northwestern Minnesota.
The three-year special investigation, known as Operation Squarehook, involved about 60 officers from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and tribal authorities from the Red Lake Band of Chippewa and Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. This is Minnesota’s largest case of illegal fish commercialization in two decades.
The suspects are facing up to 35 misdemeanor and six gross misdemeanor state charges in six counties in northern Minnesota. Total state fines are expected in the tens of thousands of dollars. Cases have been presented to state county attorneys for prosecution; some individuals have been charged or have already paid fines.
The charges involve both illegal purchases and sales of the game fish, primarily walleye, taken from some of Minnesota’s most popular fishing lakes, including Cass, Leech, Red and Winnibigoshish lakes on the Red Lake or Leech Lake Indian reservations.
Until next time, take advantage of the nice weather and wet a line, soak a worm and watch a bobber bouncing in the breeze as you relax on the shore of one of our area lakes.
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.
Will all of the lakes be ice-free by the opener?
Written by Jim LutgensFor some reason, I am having a hard time getting into the mood for this year’s fishing opener. I suppose the 10 or more inches of snow we received this past Wednesday and Thursday may have something to do with that. In spite of the growing list of weather setbacks we have been experiencing, like the snow, the show must go on and next weekend is the official Minnesota fishing opener.
I have been attending the Governor’s Fishing Opener since 1995. Each year is always just a little bit different. In 1996, the opener was held in Bemidji and that was another late year for ice-out.
I usually leave for the opener early on Friday morning. On this particular opener as I drove past Leech Lake, I noticed that the ice was still on the main lake but the bays were open. The ice on the lake we fished in the Bemidji area had just come off on Wednesday so fishing was not exactly the best. On the way home as I passed Leech Lake, it was now completely open. Amazingly, it took just two nice days for it to look like a totally different lake.
This year’s fishing opener will be in the Park Rapids area and from the news releases that I have been receiving from the Department of Tourism, they assure us that we will be fishing on open water. The Minnesota Department of Tourism, Minnesota DNR and the host community join together to feature a different area of the state each year.
At the core of Minnesota's great fishing is a system of DNR research, management and effective law enforcement. This system has made Minnesota one of the nation's top five angling destinations. It is the foundation that generates $3 billion in annual Minnesota retail sales and supports 43,000 Minnesota fishing-related jobs.
Your license dollars are the fiscal foundation of this fish and wildlife management. License fees increased March 1, 2013, for the first time in 12 years. The increase, which passed in 2012, was critical to maintaining the world class fishing and hunting that Minnesota enjoys.
Each year as the opener approaches, I look forward to learning about the area that I will be fishing. As the time draws near, I also anticipate meeting the person that will be hosting me and my friend Jeff Anderson who is a sportscaster from Watertown, South Dakota.
I actually met Jeff quite a few years ago at one of the openers and we have been fishing together ever since. The opener is also a time for us to catch up on how our families are and what we’ve been up to for the past year.
In the years that I have been attending this event, I have had the opportunity to meet some very nice folks. Usually I’d refer to the person that I fished with as a “guide,” but they now prefer that we call them “hosts” because most of them are just average or above average fishermen that know the area.
I have, over the years, fished with some actual guides and also with some that could actually be guides. I have also fished with one or two very nice folks that would probably have a hard time catching a bullhead in Waterville. This is what makes each year unique because not all of the hosts are going to find fish. However, what they can teach you about a lake, or the area that you are fishing is invaluable.
Yes, I will be fishing on “open water,” but what body of water and who I will be fishing with will remain a mystery for a few more days. Good luck to everyone that ventures out for the walleye opener this year.
If last weekend was a preview of things to come for the upcoming fishing season, then it should be a pretty good one. The crappies were biting hot and heavy on Fountain Lake last weekend. All you had to do was take a drive past Hatch Bridge to know that the bite was on.
My grandson Trevor was going to take grandpa fishing Saturday evening but unfortunately an accident with his truck at the landing put those plans on hold. But, I am sure that there will be plenty of those days still ahead.
The weather on that weekend was just about perfect, and there were limits of crappie being caught as evidenced by the number of fishermen lining the banks of the lake. So on Sunday my grandson Dylan and I decided to give it a try.
We had planned on fishing by the bridge, but unfortunately so did most of the fishermen in the area. Neither one of us are big fans of fishing in crowds so we opted to go to Edgewater and try our luck from shore.
This proved to be unproductive so we changed our plans and tried the channel by Frank Hall Park with the same result. Even though we didn’t catch any fish, the time spent fishing with a grandson was reward enough.
Until next time, be safety conscious and don’t forget your life jacket as you head out for this year’s Minnesota walleye fishing opener.
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.