Down right windy

Wow. Windy spring days are expected each year. You could say it's a right of passage most anywhere in the country.

Five years or so ago, I spent my winter into spring studying and researching everything I could about Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee. And what I came to find out about the early spring crappies down there was that a guy could catch upwards of 100 of them in just a few hours, if the spring winds quieted long enough for him to get on the lake.

Weather.com pegs the winds today at 3o mph with gusting winds reaching 41 mph. That's the type of wind that becomes dangerous on the lake.

Now, while I'm not crazy enough to head out onto a lake with these types of winds unless I can launch and fish in a wind-protected bay, I've never been one to let the wind, even gusting wind, drive me off of a good shore-fishing spot.

A few years back I caught a 5.5 pound walleye out at Buckmaster Bridge with a stiff wind in my face. I also watched my buddy catch a 3-pounder and another kid catch a 9-pounder. Wind can have huge advantages, especially strong winds that force baitfish along the shoreline.

Fortunately for the fish, I have little desire to try those same techniques on crappies and sunfish. But two weeks from now, well that's a different story.

License renewal approaching

Well, it's that time of year again.

The angling license you bought for the 2009 season will expire on Friday. While it's hard to imagine many anglers will forget abbout the April 30 expiration — this is only the second year since the angling license expiration moved from February to April — stranger things have happened.

I really like the extended season and compliment the decision to move back the expiration date. I'll be the first to admit that panfish rarely drew me in for a license renewal in March under the old guidelines.

But in the past two years I've fished the shores come ice-out religiously, and after Friday, I will purchase a new license for my wife and I.

So don't forget. Buying a license and fishing legally is one of the more noble ways to support your environment. Think of it like the newspaper honor system — you can drop 75 cents into a newspaper box, but once you open that door, you could clean out that newspaper stand.

Like that newspaper stand, a person can easily disappear along a river shoreline or some other remote spot and likely fish without a license. And that same person could likely take fish, within the limit or over the limit, illegally.

So, avoid a fine and any possible interruption in your ability to own a license and fish legally by ponying up and buying a license.

You can renew online or find a list of licensed agents on the DNR's website.

Most invasive species of all? The careless.

This little nugget about two northern Minnesota minnow-farmers breaking the golden rules of invasive-species management got me thinking.

In this case (which was widely reported in the media) a pair of licensed minnow-farmers used equipment from Lake of the Woods - which had possibly been infected by the lake's invasive species, such as the spiny waterflea - to harvest minnows in Upper Red Lake. As punishment, their commercial minnow licenses were revoked for three years.

I say: Take their fishing licenses, too.

I've become entirely fed up with anglers who don't take preservation seriously. Those who don't care enough about the water to preserve it, don't deserve to fish it either.

I'm ashamed when I travel to my favorite shore-fishing haunts only to find the shoreline strewn with empty cans of Natural Ice (funny that it's never something like Sam Adams or Stella Artois), various bait containers and cigarette butts.

I'm a smoker myself. And I use beer and bait regularly, often at the same time but only rarely for the same purpose. However, I have never - now allow me a moment to mount my high horse - NEVER thrown those things on the ground.

Those who do act so carelessly deserve to be treated the same as those who transport invasive species, an issue that has long troubled Minnesota anglers and DNR officials: Take their licenses, confiscate their equipment and tell them not to bother fishing for awhile.

As outdoors folk, we make habit of proclaiming loudly our value of preservation. I say: Prove it.

- For those interested, you can view a list of Minnesota waters that are infested with invasive species here.

For what it's worth ...

The family and I got out for a bit on Friday night. Went to the public boat landing on West Jefferson and I missed a few on a yellow jig and wax worm while I was chasing the boy around. The fellas down the way were catching a few, though.

As a sidenote, we stopped first at Buckmaster Bridge on Madison Lake and there must have been 100 people fishing from shore. Looked like some had been camped out for some time. 

Although it can get a bit crowded, I love fishing at Buckmaster. It's as good as there is when it comes to shore-fishing. Plenty of flat shore space, additional cement walk-outs and, of course, the good fishing structure.

Guess that's why it's no secret.

As far as public fishing docks go, the only other that I fish often is the one on West Jefferson (which features an under-road tunnel connecting the dock to the parking area for the safety-conscious). That, too, is an excellent place to catch fish all year-round and has enough room for plenty of anglers to spread out beyond the dock. I grew up fishing on West Jeff and the rock wall along that shoreline has always been a nice spot for spring crappie, too.

I'm no expert, but I'm guessing water temps this weekend were in the 45-50 degree range - probably a few degrees below spawning temperature for panfish. Fishing should be picking up on most area lakes.

Feel free to chime in with a good place to get 'em.

 — For what it's worth, motorists can pick up this semi-taunting and location-free fishing report on a roadside marquee outside a gas station in Madison Lake: 

"The crappies are biting" ... 

Passing the torch

Tanner and I made it back out to the saw mill on East Jefferson, this time accompanied by our sons, Tyler and Noah.

Tanner wanted Noah to get a feel for his old-but-new Snoopy pole, and Tyler had been bugging me to get back out and catch some fish.

"Ten of them, Daddy," he said on the drive out.

There was a time when Tanner I and could do everything we needed to do while moving toward the lake. Stop at a gas station? No problem. Run in for bait? You betcha. Grab some beverages? Done and done.

Now, things are bit more complicated. And fishing, too, has changed dramatically.

On Friday, my goal was to let Tyler fish while I helped. Tanner's plan was the opposite — he would fish and let Noah help by reeling from time to time.

Our boys, I might add, are a year a part. Last spring, Tyler was in the same position as Noah, eager to catch fish but not really sure how to go about it.

We started out pretty strong, with Tyler casting his Spider-Man pole with ease, and Noah working the reel of his Snoopy pole while Daddy fished. We maybe got in a good five minutes of fishing.

But five minutes is a long time in a child's world (especially without a bite), and soon Tyler and Noah were off in a field of grass, ripping and pulling at the dead, withered blades and throwing them into the water.

As you can imagine, soon sticks followed the grass, and soon after, rocks. Now, since we were fishing away from others, we let this behavior go on, but had it been more than just Tanner and I affected by the noisy boys, there would have been a stern talking to that would have followed (that sounds worse than it really is).

Nonetheless, I'd estimate that Tanner and I got in 15 casts each, if we were lucky. But our boys bonded, in much the same we have, and the afternoon was successful enough that I'd venture to say there will be a few more fishing outings with the boys in the future.

— Doug Monson

Mothers love walleye opener, too

Moms are terrific. I'm a big fan. Love several of them, in fact. And dearly, I might add.

But let's have no more of this fishing-opener-interfering-with-Mother's Day business.

This year's walleye opener is not until May 15, about one week later than usual. The delay is due to a state law requiring that opener be two Saturdays prior to Memorial Day weekend (which is the last weekend of the month this year).

In the wake of such a cruel blow to anxious anglers, moms and other maternal types are rejoicing that they will not have to share their special day.

Let's stop kidding ourselves.

Everyone knows the best gift for mom is a quiet house. And fishing opener has played an essential role in making mothers' dreams come true each and every year.

And for those brave enough to actually take their favorite matriarch fishing on Mother's Day weekend, the opener has traditionally allowed many water-ward men to give the gift that keeps giving: a trip to a soggy southern Minnesota lake for a tutorial on removing bullheads with cold hands.

But without fishing opener coinciding with Mother's Day this year, many of us will be left to scramble for a gift that conveys our love and affection as powerfully as a red wriggler on a size 4 hook or a 5:30 a.m. departure. Many of us will now have to wait an extra 7 days - or exactly 10,080 minutes - to really show our love.

But who's counting?

- Tanner Kent

A wet line and a big zero

As with every Minnesota spring since I can remember, the angler's itch has set in early for me.

By January, it's a mild bother. By February, it's a nagging one. And by March, I want to thumb my reels so badly I have to content myself with a tired batch of Babe Winkelman VHS videos I snatched from dad's garage. 

So, when Friday's near-tropical temps rolled around, I couldn't help myself.

Fishing buddy extraordinaire Doug Monson and I — as well as my wife, whose southern upbringing leaves her a bit incredulous as to why anyone wants to cast 4-pound monofilament into a 25 mph wind — packed up our gear and hit the shorelines.

We stopped at Geldner's Sawmill (west end of East Jefferson), which is a well-known April hotspot for crappie, and at Roemhildt's Lake (just south of German Lake). We fished wax worms and minnows along the bottom on small jigheads — and we didn't catch a thing. So, take that for what it's worth. If past returns are any indication of future gains, then my summer will likely be filled with plenty such outings.

But it was sure nice to be fishing. 

— Tanner Kent

As a sidenote: I'm thoroughly excited to be teaming up with Doug on a fishing blog. We've got lots of ideas, but our general mission is to offer a local resource guide and "one-stop-shop" of sorts on fishing in southern Minnesota. 

Feel free to contact us with ideas, suggestions and fishing reports that we can use to inform readers.

Looking forward to a great season, and Fish On!