Woods & Water by Dick Herfindahl

 

This past week I was once again able to spend a little time at our cabin in northern Minnesota. The weather was about “picture perfect,” as the saying goes. With a strong south wind, the shoreline in front of the cabin on our little lake was pretty much out of the wind. I’ve had the itch to take our boat out and do a little fishing for some time, but this is the first time in a while that I have felt strong enough to attempt it. Our dock is next to a dead tree stump that sits in the water making it look like an impossible feat to launch the boat. I have a little 14-ft. boat that I keep on the shore by our dock which we use just for fishing our little lake.

I talked to my oldest son, Brian, on the phone and he said that the boat would fit between the dock and that tree so I decided to give it a try. After turning the boat around on shore I gave it a try and found out that Brian was right, it did fit. Once I figured out how to get in and out of the boat without falling in the lake, life was good.

I rowed the boat out to the spot where I’d had good luck in previous years. On my first cast, a bass went after my bobber but not the lure. After a few casts I finally landed one. I eventually took the bobber off and began casting just the jig and twister, which proved to be a good move. I ended up catching quite a few smaller bass and one dandy one. I had a total blast catching those fish while enjoying a great day on the water.

My neighbor’s son was staying at his cabin, and when I first started rowing my little vessel out to my “hot spot” he began chirping row, row, row your boat from the cover of the adjacent woods. I don’t know the kid, but little did he know that I was fishing exactly like I wanted and enjoying every minute of it. The strong south wind swirled around in front of our cabin and it made my boat change direction on about every third cast or so. I had to constantly use the oars to keep my boat in place and I even anchored the boat where I thought the fish would be, but the wind still swirled me around. Even with a little wind inconvenience, I was fishing the way that I liked.

The leaves on the trees in northern Minnesota have started to turn and the yellow, orange and red colors were really giving me my first look at fall as they started to emerge from the green of the pines that also line the shores of our little lake. I’d guess I was just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time for the beginning of this change.

When I wasn’t on the lake, I would sit on the deck and watch the birds at the feeders while looking out over our little lake. There was an eagle that flew back and forth in front of the cabin at least a couple of times a day. Watching an eagle soaring ever so gracefully over the pines gives me a feeling of self-satisfaction and fulfillment. To me the eagle does indeed symbolize the freedoms that our country has fought so hard to maintain.

I have to say that just rowing that little boat around our lake gives me such a feeling of fulfillment that it is hard to describe. As I climbed the stairs to the loft to bed down for the night, I felt stiff and sore in my arms and shoulders. I guess I am not always on top of my game because I was racking my brain trying to figure out why my arms and joints were so sore. Duh! Maybe the rowing just might have had something to do with the soreness.

 

2019 Governor’s Fishing Opener

The CVB and the Minnesota Department of Tourism along with many volunteers on various committees are working to try and put the many pieces together to make the 2019 Minnesota Governor’s Fishing Opener the best one yet. The opener is about giving the media from all over the state and surrounding states a look at not only our good fishing lakes, but at what makes this such a great community to visit and live in.

It will take many volunteers to pull this off, if you would like to be a volunteer your help would be invaluable. If you are a fisherman, and have a boat, you can be a fishing host for media representatives who come from all over the state. You don’t need to be a guide, just someone who has a boat and likes to fish. There will soon be a website for signup, you can also stop in at the CVB office and find out more information. I will share the website with you as soon as it gets up and running.

Until next time, enjoy the outdoors and maybe even take a little time to hang out by an area lake, do a little fishing.

Please remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers in because they are the reason that we are able to enjoy all the freedoms that we have today.