By Dick Herdfindahl, Outdoors writer

Here we are almost to the end of July and we definitely are having summer. Heat, humidity and some rain &045; That’s summer in Minnesota. By now most of us have figured out that no matter how much we whine about the weather there is just not a whole lot a person can do about it, except maybe make the best of it.

This past week seems to have brought out the best in the mosquitoes. They have really been thick this past week I know you will find this as hard to believe as I did when I heard it, but they paid someone to do a study. Surprise! Surprise! This one was on mosquito bites. It seems that the way we have been swatting mosquitoes since man has been walking upright has been all wrong.

The thinking behind this new discovery is that if you smash a mosquito into your skin it drives the stinger into your arm, neck or whatever area the little pest is feasting on at the time this in turn causes a reaction. Do ya think? It’s not a 16 penny nail you’re driving in there and most of the time by the time you notice the attacker it’s too late anyway.

The study went on to say that you should &uot;tweak&uot; the bug off your skin. Makes sense &045; don’t kill the little guy let him live to strike again. I don’t think there is any known connection between this study and PETA but I have my suspicions.

Money well spent I’d say &045; if only our forefathers would have known this little secret things might have been different back then.

If you have ever walked the sidewalk along East Front Street you may have noticed one or two geese in the area. It seems that people like to feed them, and a lot of people really do get enjoyment out of that. The problem with it is now they are almost getting domesticated. You can walk by them and through a crowd of them and they don’t seem to be interested in even breaking into a fast waddle to get out of the way.

When they decide to cross the road they do it in large groups. I don’t know if you’d call that a gaggle of geese but traffic had to come to a halt the other day. I just hope we aren’t in the process of creating another Spring Lake problem like Rochester has.

There are other factors that figure in, like the amount of waste they leave deposited on the sidewalk. Going for a walk? Wear your barn shoes!

Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing I enjoy more than watching birds and animals in their natural environment but when we try to inadvertently domesticate these birds it will eventually create problems along the way.

I guess it’s only human nature to want to throw some bread crumbs or seed to the ducks and geese and I don’t think there is anything better than hearing the laughter of a little kid when he excitedly watches a duck go after a chunk of bread that he has just had thrown to it.

My grandson, Dylan wanted to go fishing the other day and he said &uot;Grandpa, we need to get some worms and some bread.&uot;

I asked him what fish would bite on the bread and he said it wasn’t for the fish but to feed the ducks. He remembered this from last year when we took him fishing at Frank Hall Park and he fed the ducks with bread we’d brought along. I think he probably gets just as much, if not more enjoyment out of watching the waterfowl as he does fishing.

We are lucky enough to live in an area where we can actually enjoy both. It’s just another one of the precious resources we have right here at home &045; something that we don’t have to travel very far to enjoy.

Speaking of traveling far here are a few fishing reports from around the state:

ALEXANDRIA &045; Brandon says the walleye bite has turned to leeches, flash spinners seemed to work well. Reno a good bet in 18-25, keep moving because they are scattered. Bass action hot on jig worms or Carolina rigged lizards in 16-17 feet off the cabbage beds. The chain has produced as well as Lake Ida. Northern pike good action also on the chain with a white spinnerbait with nickel blades. Crappie bite down to around 12 feet in 16 feet of water. Cast a beetle spin next to the cabbage. Sunfish right up in the cabbage beds.

BAUDETTE &045; Another fantastic weekend of fishing! Our Captains lead crews of out onto Lake of the Woods for excellent walleye action. Friday was a complete day of fun and action with limits by early afternoon. The bite started out with a bang, pulling in trophy walleyes for most of the seven charters out.

GRAND RAPIDS &045; The weather turned hot this past week and we saw some good action. The walleyes are mostly on the mid-lake bars and a bait rig tipped with a leech in 16-28 has been good for starters. Winnie, Bowstring, Sand, Trout and Wabana have all been good at times. Some nice northern have been caught with large suckers or deep running crankbaits. Most of the large fish are in depths up to 35 inches. Muskie action is getting better with the heat. We have heard of a lot of follows and some hookups from Deer, Moose, Northstar and Spider. We had a 47-1/2-incher come out of the Mississippi right in town, caught on a Mepps spinner. Bass and panfish are pretty steady.

ELY AREA &045; fishing in the Ely area continues to be good and in general walleye, bass and northern are hitting at a rapid rate now that the weather has been more stable. The walleye are on the reefs in the evenings and on cloudy days. Look for them in deeper water off the reefs during sunny conditions on most lakes. Leeches and crawlers have been doing very well, but don’t forget the old reliable minnow.

Water temp on Bear Island Lake are just over 70 degrees and this warm-up created lots of action this past week and anglers were rewarded with walleyes between 5.5 and 9.75 pound in water no deeper than 15 feet. Guests at Northern Lights reported plenty of success with the crappies and bass along the shoreline. The northerns proved to be a challenge once they were on the line. Anglers reported that it was best to keep it simple with a jig and a leech and that trolling was producing the best results in water this past week.

MANKATO &045; Bass and walleye are biting on Jefferson. Bite has been great on Jefferson. Sunfish bite best on Madison. Catfish action is good on the River with chubs.

Until next time &uot;Good Luck and Good Fishin.&uot;

Remember the brave men and women who are serving our country today.