Over the years I have found that at times although I have been quite obsessed with buying fishing lures I am not in this thing alone. There are many forms of addiction: alcohol, drugs and Robert Palmer even had a song about being addicted to love. I on the other hand suspect that I may be addicted to lures. In talking with a friend at coffee the other day I found out that he too is quite a lure collector. In fact, after a little conversation I began to feel like small potatoes compared to him.

It seems that as each fishing season opener draws nearer I find myself feeling a void, sort of like I am missing something. Once I diagnose the problem I begin to realize that I just don’t have the necessary tackle to start another fishing season. There is new line to be bought, jigs and plastic bodies that need to be replaced and, of course, there is that “new and improved” lure that just hit the market and not having it would be the only thing standing between me and a season of fishing success.

Over the years I have become much more discreet with my purchases or maybe it’s just that my wife has learned to accept the fact that I will always be buying at least one new lure at this time of year. When the boys were still living at home and we were going on our family vacations to Spider Lake she must have finally felt enough was enough and decided on an intervention. She just asked me: why are you buying all those artificial lures when most of our fishing involves live bait? It was a question for which I had no reasonable explanation. I didn’t purposely quit buying lures but every time I would pick up one of the latest “sure fire” lures her words of wisdom would pop into my head.

I must admit that although I’ve not quit buying new lures I have been limiting my purchases. I do think that some of these new lures we see advertised on fishing shows are designed to catch the biggest fish of all – the fisherman! I have to admit I have bought a couple of muskie lures after watching a guy on TV hammering the fish with his latest “Hawg Chaser” or whatever it was named. I bought one lure that I think was called Pig in the Poke or something like that. This guy was just raking in the muskies with that lure so I had to have it. I think that the thing must weigh about 4 pounds because it is one heavy lure. I know I must have pumped up my casting arm by quite a bit when using it. I have more than my share of lures that have escaped unscathed from the jaws of numerous muskies.

I can still justify the purchasing of a new lure if one has been lost to a “giant” fish. This is a free pass to the candy land of fishermen. I know that the lure should be replaced because didn’t it just get taken by a monster fish that I didn’t see but just knew would have been my own personal record. While I’m at it I may just have to buy another of a little different color.

Fishing has been

heating up

Fishing in two Albert Lea area lakes has been picking up. There are perch being caught from the Front Street Bridge or off the fishing pier in the channel by Frank Hall Park. Crappies and sunnies have been biting in Edgewater Bay. Crappies are being caught along the shore on Highway 13 and sunnies can be had off of the fishing pier in the park itself. There have also been some crappies being caught in Dane Bay. Now is a just a great time to fish the early season panfish and perch, and you should be able to find them almost anywhere along the shore of Fountain Lake.

A couple of other area lakes that may be worth a look are St. Olaf Lake by New Richland which has some quality size crappies both white and black. St. Olaf also has some nice northern in it, but there are some size restrictions that you can find posted at the access. Beaver Lake near Ellendale has both black crappie and bluegill but the size range for both is relatively small. It also has a good walleye population with a nice size range. Both lakes offer fishing piers if you don’t have a boat or just don’t want to drop your boat in. Both lakes could be a great place for a family outing with picnic areas available.

Until next time; it’s time to do a little fishing and get out and enjoy the great Minnesota outdoors!

Remember our brothers and sisters who are proudly serving our country so that we can keep enjoying the freedoms that we have today.

Dick Herfindahl’s column appears every Sunday in the Tribune print edition.