Woods & Water by Dick Herfindahl

 

I believe that it is a “fair” assumption to say that a lot of folks will be attending this year’s Freeborn County Fair. It has always been one of my favorite summer events, being second only to fishing.

In my younger days, my favorite part of the fair was definitely the stock car races that were held for many years during the fair. The fair meant that instead of racing on the fifth-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 that they still continued with 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 that follow NASCAR or the races at area speedways.

One of the events that most of us youth enjoyed was “Kids Day”. The prices on most of the rides were reduced and the grandstand had some entertainment consisting of bike races and such. The culmination of that day was a prize drawing where, for a few years, they gave away a real live pony. Being around horses my whole life the attraction of winning a pony was just not on my wish list. I’m sure that if I were offered a choice of a pony or going to the bridge to look for fish I would have chosen the latter. After a few years, the pony, like the new car drawing, was replaced by a pair of bikes and the car was replaced by cash money. I am sure that more than one parent was relieved that their little darling didn’t win that pony.

I can also remember when harness racing was a big event at the fair, but it is something that you just don’t hear that 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.

Getting back to nature and the “crick”, I have always enjoyed hearing the red winged blackbirds calling to each other. I’ve always thought it was especially exciting when a yellow winged blackbird would show up. One year in mid-August, I spotted two bright green water snakes swimming near the bridge where we hung out. 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 had experienced while on my walks by the channel also reminded me of the many late summer days spent at the bridge. There was a time when one of the kids had said that he’d been told it was the smell of a neighbor’s sewage that was being dumped directly 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 that were 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 fond memories.

While growing up, I always associated August with hot weather. When in all reality, temperature wise, it is probably one of the better 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.

I have also had some pretty decent walleye fishing in August while fishing the weed edges or like the bass even pockets within a weed bed. In late summer the walleye tend to hang out in either the deeper water or they seek shelter from the sun in the weeds. I have usually had my best luck fishing the weed beds, but that probably ties in with my love of bass and northern fishing, and the fact that there are also plenty of baitfish in the area. I do believe the key to late summer fishing, for any species, is fish early and late and don’t overfish mid-day.

Warm days and cool nights will undoubtedly make for some good bass fishing. Top water poppers can be deadly at this time of year. Look for holes in the weed beds and cast your lure to the open area.  A “Pig and jig” can also be effective when fishing the thicker weed beds.

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 we have today.