Judging by the number of fish houses appearing on Fountain Lake, I would have to say fishing must be pretty good. My grandson, Trevor, is off to school so any thoughts of he and I doing a little fishing, like in past years, have pretty much disappeared. Though I haven’t seemed to find the knack of catching fish through a hole in the ice, I always enjoyed the time spent trying.

As a kid, my ice fishing was pretty much restricted to ice fishing contests on St. Olaf or Beaver lakes. These events were held on Sundays, which enabled my mom and dad the opportunity to take me ice fishing. My mother was the one who took me out, signed me up and made sure I had everything I needed to fish. My dad went along but, just like every other family fishing adventure I experienced with the family, he chose to abstain from wetting a line.

In all fairness to my dad, he usually worked six or seven days a week and every other Sunday was his. He was always willing to take my mother and I somewhere where we could fish, but it was not what he chose to do. My dad was a people-person and a talker, so sitting on a bucket or on the shore of some lake talking to a minnow or worm was not what he considered a good time.

In the summer, he would take us to these same lakes to fish and there were those special times when we would rent a pontoon boat, fish and have a picnic. These picnics would feature my mother’s famous potato salad, cold meat and cheese sandwiches and VanCamps pork and beans. This also offered my mom, my sister and I an opportunity to fish in places we only could wish to be when we were sitting on shore. Fishing from a pontoon was something we only got to do about once a year and, in looking back it, was about as close as we usually got to taking any kind of a vacation.

My uncle Ben and aunt Marcie did, on occasion, take me with them on their vacation. Vacations in those days were taken a week at a time and, like most folks in those days, it involved going up north for a week of fishing. Those were precious times that I really enjoyed and I will always remember fondly what Uncle Ben taught me about fishing, sportsmanship and appreciating the outdoors. If I close my eyes and take a deep breath, it is as if I can smell the fumes from that old, green Johnson 5-horse motor as it sputtered through the mist on a cool summer morning.

Whenever I think of those days I can still remember the times spent day-dreaming of going to northern Minnesota and fishing some of the lakes I had read or heard about when listening to stories of someone else’s vacation. As an adult, I have since had the opportunity to fish many of those lakes I longed to visit as a youth and, in looking back, I consider myself very lucky to have had loving parents who did what they could to make my childhood the best experience possible. In hindsight, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Just a personal observation — what is the deal with the Minnesota Twins? They haven’t had a player even close to super-star status, so when Brian Dozier has his best year ever the first thing they try to do is trade him. What will they get? Probably two or three minor league prospects!  There is the much over-used excuse of rebuilding the team, but it seems like they are always doing that. This smells like Limburger cheese to me (stinky). They won’t keep having fans in that new stadium if there is nobody on the field worth watching.

CWD found in 2 more deer; 5-county feeding ban now in place

Two more deer suspected of being infected with chronic wasting disease have been found near Preston.  The DNR received preliminary results of the positive tests late on Jan 6. Final results confirming the two suspected cases are expected later this week. The two adult female deer were killed within a mile of the first two positive deer.

This latest discovery will prompt the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to consider removing more deer to better assess the disease’s prevalence.

“We won’t make any final decisions until after Jan. 15 when the special hunt concludes,” said Lou Cornicelli, DNR wildlife research manager. “But with the discovery of an infected deer 5 miles north of Preston and these two new presumptive positive deer, it’s prudent that we increase our original surveillance goal of sampling 900 adult deer.”

Apply by Jan. 27 for spring wild turkey A and B season permits

Wild turkey hunters have through Jan. 27 to apply for early season spring hunting permits.

The spring season lasts from April 12 to May 31, and has six time periods. Only firearms hunters age 18 and older who want to hunt during the first two time periods (A or B) need to apply by Jan. 27 for a spring turkey permit.

Until next time, take some time to enjoy an outdoors adventure of your own, whether it be skiing, skating, sledding or just taking a brisk walk.

Please take some time to honor those who have sacrificed so much for the freedoms we enjoy today and to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice, those who served and those troops who are now serving.