Dick Herfindahl, Water & Woods

The passing of fair week means that fall can&8217;t be far behind. I don&8217;t want to push us into the next season but fall is my favorite season.

Fall always meant the beginning of school, football and the coming of fall colors. Even as a kid I was an avid Minnesota Gopher football fan and I listened to them on the radio every Saturday whenever possible. I almost never missed a Tiger home game and spent many a Friday night sitting in the stands at old Abbott Field. The one game that sticks out in my mind was against Red Wing and it was played in a downpour, but that didn&8217;t matter because I sat through the whole thing. Maybe it was because we were winning or it was just that playing a football game in mud or snow was something that I always thought was &8220;neat.&8221;

My grandma lived two blocks from the football field so I&8217;d go to the game and spend the night. That was always a treat because like all grandmas she made sure there was plenty to eat and plenty of treats to be had. I wonder whatever happened to the days when homemade cookies, cake and pie were enough of a treat? I can still taste grandma&8217;s cherry pie with the strips of crust sprinkled with sugar criss-crossed on the top.

In today&8217;s world there are so many other things that a cookie seems to not be much of a treat to kids anymore. I guess nobody has the time to bake so it&8217;s a lot easier to buy packaged sweets.

Somehow I feel that kids today are really missing out on the &8220;good stuff.&8221; Sweets were treated as something special instead of a mainstay or something to eaten whenever you wanted.

August was also the time to buy new clothes and supplies for school. Mom would take me to J.C. Penney&8217;s for my annual stock-up of socks and underwear. I would get a new pair of shoes and a couple pair of pants and shirts. I can remember the old cable operated change return that was at each checkout counter. You&8217;d pay the bill and they&8217;d send it upstairs in that contraption with a metal box and cables. Then almost like magic a couple of minutes later it would return with your change and receipt which the clerk would hand to you.

At one time Friday night was &8220;THE&8221; big shopping night in Albert Lea. One Friday I was asked if I wanted to go to town with by my neighbor Ken and his family just to ride on the &8220;brand new&8221; escalator that Skinner Chamberlain had just installed. I guess it was a grand opening of sorts.

That was a pretty big deal for some small town folks, and I know us kids were pretty impressed.

Everything changes, but as long as there are those memories to look back on you can still revisit them if only for a short time. When fall finally brings it&8217;s first taste of fresh, crisp air I will once again get that feeling that I used to get each fall and something inside me will let me be that kid again who was just excited about football, fall and everything that goes with it.

Fall fishing is a not something I did a lot of as a kid. The water in the &8220;crick&8221; would be reduced to a trickle and the time spent fishing in the summer seemed to satisfy my desire to fish, at least for the time being. Fall held too many other things to peak a kid&8217;s interest.

After I returned from the service I actually looked forward to fall fishing and can say that there&8217;s nothing better than spending time on a lake in the fall. We have plenty of good lakes in our area to enjoy but you don&8217;t have to wait until fall. August is still a good time to fish and the fishing can be surprisingly good if you have the patience. Any time spent fishing is good &8212; catching is just the frosting on the cake.

Here are a few fishing reports from around the state:

CROSBY &045; Walleyes can be caught consistently on portions of the Mississippi River, as well as Serpent after dark. People fishing panfish have been having great success on Little Rabbit and the Mississippi between Riverton and Brainerd. Bass fishing has been very good, with plastics catching the most fish. Pike action is still good, with plenty of fish being taken on sucker minnows and jerkbaits alike. Muskies have been caught this past week from Cedar and Mille Lacs, with a few less fish being seen compared to last week. Trout fishing is very slow.

KABETOGAMA-NAMAKAN &045; Heading into late summer, the fish are beginning to respond differently. In shallow water, walleyes are scattered while feeding; in deeper water, 30-plus feet, walleyes are schooled up. Anglers finding those shallow-water walleyes, at 6-12 ft., are biting on crawlers and leeches; whereas the deeper-water schools are responding to jig and minnow and/or leech. Pike enjoy the weed beds and weed edges searching for bait as they add heavily to their girth. Smallmouth are roaming the shallows and finding food on or near the rock piles. Windblown shallow bays and shorelines are a great place to use slip-sinker rigs and crawlers. An option plan would be to cast small jigs tipped with leeches or minnows and retrieve slowly. Pike enjoy live bait; or toss your favorite lures at them near or over the weed tops.

LEECH LAKE &045; Leech Lake walleye fishing still best at Sugar Point pulling shad raps in firetiger, perch, crayfish colors. Sub Island area best using live bait rigs and Sand is still holding them at night. Reports of muskies hitting yellow bucktails.

NISSWA &045; The big bass fishing continues to be just awesome. The bass fishing has been going strong lately but we are starting to see the walleye action getting a little better. We are still fishing weedlines with redtail chubs. It has been a variety when fishing close to the weeds, walleyes, bass, and pike. Both slip rigs or jigs have worked well.

SAINT PETER &045; The cats are going nuts. Last week we had a 60-, 40- and a 32-pounder weighed in. A lot of the guys are using frozen cutbait. There is a big contest in Belle Plaine this weekend. The sunnies are biting in Shields Lake in 10 to 12 feet of water.

SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA &045; This past week was outstanding for Tetonka again. Tons of crappies and sunnies were taken from the lake using mostly live bait. Walleyes were being greeted in the bay by the hatchery and up along Best Point. Northerns were also there in the bay and spoon plugging was working best during the hot days we have been having. A 40-inch muskie was removed on Tetonka it was a real beauty to see. Sunfish Lake has seen a little action with a lot of fish on the graph but slow biting. German/Jefferson is still doing good with panfish and a few eyes. Some real nice bass are also being had near the water tower here in town, heck don&8217;t even need a boat for these critters.

Until next time, good fishin&8217;, play safe and enjoy the outdoors.

Remember to keep the troops that are serving our country today in your thoughts and prayers.