Column: Angling essentials include a good excuse or two
Published 12:00 am Saturday, July 12, 2003
The summer is going along at a rapid pace and old Mother Nature is also kind of doing what she does best &045; even things out.
We started out with a fairly dry spring and first part of the summer, but as the summer progressed the rains have came and the streams and lakes have began to raise to more normal levels.
I have talked to some fishermen that have traveled to Canada and they said the fishing there is as good as it’s been in many years. I have always read or been told that when the lakes are low the fishing is better. There are times I have found that to be true.
From some of the reports I have heard around Minnesota that is not always the case. I think there are too many factors to be figured in for the ideal &uot;bite&uot; to occur. Early spring, late spring, cold spring, early heat waves, water temperature, storm fronts. These are all good reasons to explain a bite or even a lack of bite.
How many of these look like handy alibis for not catching fish? I think almost all of us fishermen have used one of these at one time or another.
It is essential to the emotional well being of the fisherman to have an excuse ready at all times.
We would deal our egos a devastating blow if we were to say, &uot;I didn’t catch a thing today because I’m actually a lousy fisherman.&uot; What would that thought process do to our mental well being? Nothing good I am sure.
That’s why a few handy excuses are all we need to keep us fishing and justify owning a boat or a tackle box full of the latest lures. I wonder how many lures I have bought over the years because they were the latest thing on the market. Buy it, use it a couple times and then let it slowly sink to the bottom of the tackle box. The lure is now forgotten until I re-discover it while looking for another much more important lure that had somehow also found its way into the black hole in the bottom of my tackle box.
The more I think about it the more I am convinced that a good excuse is priceless when being put on the spot. &uot;Grandpa, I caught all the fish except for your one small one.&uot; Well someone had to run the motor and get gas on their hands. Yeah, gas on the hands, that’s always a good one.
With the new motors you don’t really get exposed to that much gas anymore so that one is starting to get kind of &uot;iffy.&uot; &uot;While I was running the motor I was trying to put you on the fish,” they’ll buy that one for a while. Old line on the reel is another one to fall back on. Hard time casting with that old line.
No matter what the weather or when we are fishing we should always have a few of these excuses in our arsenal so that we won’t really have to own up to the fact that we are getting out-fished or worse yet the dreaded &uot;skunk.&uot;
Now that a backup plan has been established, here are a few reports from some of our area lakes:
Faribault: Some of the area’s best largemouth bass action has been reported at Hunt Lake, fishing the thick weed edges. Walleye action has been pretty sloe with an occasional evening bite on some of the area lakes. Some walleye have been coming off Cannon in 16-20 feet in the evening. Lake Mazaska has reported some decent northern and some limits of sunnies.
Fairmont: Anglers fishing from shore on Temperance Lake are catching northern on bobbers and suckers. Hall lake is producing some walleye along the weed line breaks and Iowa lake is still good for northern and walleye. Crappie are still being caught on Sissiton, Budd and Hall lakes, while Lake George has been active for largemouth.
Mankato: Anglers are catching walleye on German lake trolling crankbaits in 18 to 20 foot of water. Crankbaits also seem to be the best bet for walleye on Ballantyne Lake fishing about 14 foot of water. Flathead cats are still being caught in the Blue Earth and Minnesota Rivers. Madison and Washington are still producing panfish in 5 foot of water while Jefferson has shown good bass action using spinnerbaits.
This is just a short report of the fishing action on some of our area lakes.
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I received a call last week from an old family friend, Charles &uot;Eastie&uot; Eastlund. He and his son were fishing Fountain Lake on Father’s Day and caught a 21&uot; walleye. It was good to hear from an old friend and at the same time be reminded that we don’t have to travel very far to have some good fishing.
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Until next time &uot;Good Luck and Good Fishin.’&uot;
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Remember the troops that are still over there serving our country.