Woods & Water by Dick Herfindahl

 

The new year is now upon us and I am anxious to embrace it with the many good things that lie ahead.

This May the Albert Lea area is hosting the 72nd Governor’s Fishing Opener for the first time since its inception. This will be only the sixth time that southern Minnesota has been host to this event. I am looking forward to our community being able to show the rest of the state and those who visit from other states; why we call this home.

We have many good fishing lakes in our area and from what I have heard the “hard water” fishing for perch on Pickeral has been very good so far this winter. We also have Fountain and other good fishing lakes nearby.  With flux of warm-cold-warm weather we keep experiencing (not complaining) you should still use caution when venturing out on area lakes.

This past year didn’t result in my spending as much time on the water as I would have liked. I did spend a couple of days on Spider Lake (my favorite) and the pike fishing was pretty darned good. Quite a few years ago they went with an under 24-inch 3 fish limit and only one pike over 36 which has really given a person a chance to catch and release some dandy pike. I would have to say that the northern pike is probably my favorite fish to seek out. This could be because they are one of the easiest fish to catch and the vision of that 20-plus pounder is forever dancing in my head.

I have never claimed to be an avid walleye fisherman but I do fish them from time to time. They are a tasty fish and some may say the only fish; northern pike if cleaned and prepared properly yield white, flaky meat that will equal any fish that swims. Another of my favorites is the crappie which really can’t be beat as far as fun to catch and tasty to devour.

For years our little northern Minnesota lake has given up some dandy crappie, nice perch and bluegills and recently some descent bass. With that lake each winter is a mystery because it has frozen out from time to time and when it has it always seems to start over with another species of fish. When I say starting over I am saying that within a year or two there will be full sized adult fish there for no apparent reason.

Nature is a mysterious creature and how that lake re-invents itself remains the mystery. There is no stocking involved when it comes to that little lake because it is classified as an E-1 lake; meaning all natural with no stocking by man. We are even limited to how much land can be cleared which is kind of a good thing.

After the opener has come and gone I am looking forward to the summer and spending a lot of time at the cabin and fishing our little lake. We are planning another family vacation with as many of the family that can get away from work. I really enjoyed last year’s outing and I hope that the weather cooperates again this year.

It is fun to look back at the years when the grandkids were younger and going north with grandpa and grandma was no problem. Now a couple of them have graduated college and have jobs while one is still in college and another will be starting in the fall. I have to wonder where the time has gone? They have made us very proud and even though they are in different fields they all have a common bond; a love of the outdoors.

Trevor, the oldest, is the total package when it comes to the outdoors and is big into both hunting and fishing. Whatever Trevor shoots he will eat (coyote being the exception) and with fishing he is catch and release except for what he considers table fare.  Dylan does hunt but is more of a fisherman only guy and he really loves that sport. Taylor and Grant like to fish and hunt waterfowl but are not as intense about it as their brother Trevor.

It is great to reflect on the fact that they have been raised to respect nature and know how to enjoy the sport. I can still hear their excitement whenever they had caught a mess of crappie or sunfish. They would spend late evenings cleaning fish by lantern on the table we had set up behind the shed. As a grandpa this was what it was all about; teaching these kids how to fish and also how to clean their own fish. When they were little they couldn’t wait to clean their own fish and it didn’t take long before they were all pretty good at it.

Those days may have faded into the past, but the memories will always be there for me to enjoy.

 

Boat hosts needed for Governor’s Fishing Opener

We have been getting good responses for our need of fishing hosts but we still have a long way to go in reaching the number of hosts needed to make this event a success. I would like to encourage anyone who is a registered boat owner and would like to participate in the Governor’s Fishing Opener by being a boat host to sign up online. The easiest way to do that is by going to www.mngovernorsopener.com look for the search box and type in boat host, click on search glass and it will take you to the page. Select boat host information and follow the instructions. This is our chance to showcase this great community that we choose to live in and one that we are proud to call home.

Please remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers during the year of 2019. They are the reason we are able to enjoy all of these wonderful freedoms we enjoy today.