This year the ninth Annual Die Hard Fishing Tournament was held on Fountain Lake in mid October. Each year the tournament brings a good number of participants from the surrounding area including northern Iowa. This year’s event brought 14 boats of which most are two-man teams.

This year, as in most years, the event started from Brookside landing and once under way the fishermen were off in search of the best 5 fish that they could muster.

The team of Lloyd Van Guilder and Dan Nelson won this year’s event. They had a total of 5 fish weighing in at 12.66 pounds. They also took top honors for the largest fish, which weighed in at 4.37 pounds. Second place went to Jason Howland and Travis Lohre a team from Albert Lea and Austin. Their 5 fish had a total weight of 12.27 pounds. Third place went to Tony Johnson and Mike Smith from Mason City. They had five fish with a total weight of 10.43 pounds.

In talking to Lloyd he said that he has noticed a gradual downsizing of the total limit weights over the years.

Although they didn’t finish in the top three, the team of Wayne Jahnke and Jerome Klingfus did catch a dandy walleye. Jerome landed the walleye, which measured 29-inches and weighed 8.6 lbs. He caught the lunker casting a “Wally Diver”. No matter how you disguise it this fish just wouldn’t qualify in a bass fishing tournament.

“Nice fish Jerome!”

Fountain Lake has always been a good bass lake but for the most part the people that fish the lake are usually thinking walleye or panfish. Bass fishing can be fun and like any other fish when they are on the bite they can give you a lot of action. Whenever a lake survey is done the results usually give accurate statistics on almost every species except for bass because gill nets are not an effective measuring tool for them.

The Minnesota DNR had this to say about Fountain Lake after the 2006 stocking which consists of walleye and channel catfish.

Fountain Lake continues to provide good fishing opportunity for several species in an urban environment. Walleye catch remains above average and should continue to provide good angling as a strong 2004 year-class recruits to the population. Black crappies are abundant and the size structure is favorable to anglers with a good number of fish exceeding 8 inches in length. The channel catfish population features a well-balanced size structure, providing excellent opportunity for this species. Although carp and bullhead continue to affect the turbidity of Fountain Lake, black bullhead numbers are at an all time low.

Lloyd Van Guilder, who was one of the original organizers of the Die Hard Bass Tournament, said it took him nine years but he finally won this tournament. Lloyd is an avid bass fisherman and usually spends most of the month of September in Northern Minnesota fishing both largemouth and smallmouth bass. He spends a lot of that time in the Grand Rapids area and said that when he fishes bass on these northern lakes he also has a chance of tying into a nice pike or even a muskie. He also said that when he’s on a muskie lake he may be fishing bass but he always has muskie in the back of his mind.

Lloyd also said that he likes the fall season in that part of the state because when he puts his boat in on one of those secluded lakes there are many times when he has the lake almost all to himself. He recalled that after launching his boat on one cool sunny day he noticed that his was the only boat on this particular lake and it was so peaceful that he just sat back in the boat and took the time to reflect on the wonder of it all.

This is what makes fall fishing special, there seems to be something almost mystical about being on the lake this time of the year. I have often written that fall is my favorite season and when you are on a lake in the fall with little or no boat traffic it is a time to relax and just enjoy being there.

Muskie Talk

The November meeting of Southern Crossroads chapter 54 of Muskies Inc. will be Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Eagles Club in Owatonna. Our speaker will be Scot Yaeger, a musky fisherman that catches a lot of fish. Hear Scot tell you how to do it. Also, fish stocking report, updates, door prizes and raffle. There will be the annual election of officers to run the chapter for the coming year.

The annual fund raising banquet, open to the public will be 6 p.m., Dec. 3, at Eagles in Owatonna. Our speaker will be Steve Jonesi, a Mille Lacs musky and walleye guide with lots of tips and spots to fish. Dinner, prizes, raffles, silent auction etc.

Check out our Web site, www.michapter54.com . Our meetings are second Wednesday of every month. Visitors interested in musky fishing are always welcome. Musky hunters, bring a friend, join Muskies Inc. Help improve muskie fishing in Southern Minnesota.

Just a note: The Minnesota Deer hunting season opens on Saturday, November 8th for season A. The Muzzleloader season opens on Nov. 29 and runs through Dec. 12.

Good luck to all of the deer hunters!

Until next time, hunt safe, fish hard and enjoy the outdoors.

Please continue to show your support for those that have chosen to proudly serve their country.