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! 

 

Changes coming

Well, it's spring, and with that, it's time to go through the gear, take stock and restock.

And just as it's time to go through all the gear, it is also time to re-examine the blog and what it offers to you, the reader, and see if more can be done.

With that in mind, I'd like to point out the first of many changes coming to this fishing site. In the upper right corner you'll notice a tab that says "The Tackle Box." Feel free to click on this tab and scroll through the list of area bait and tackle shops (addresses and phone numbers are available for all the stores, and Web links are available for those shops that offer a Web site.

Another change you'll notice is the radar at the top left. Pairing this with the weather, you should be able to get a read on the area weather (although serious anglers probably already have this little detail under control).

The biggest change that will be coming in the next week or so is the addition of Free Press Staff Writer Tanner Kent to the Bass Connection (don't get too attached to that name either, cause it'll probably change too).

Tanner and I have fished together since 2003, and I trust his knowledge of fishing more than most people. We also have the same desire to make this blog site more interactive so that it serves you, the fisherman.

So please be patient and check back regularly — you're bound to see something that has changed.

Muskie stocking, good or bad?

John Cross recently wrote an article about the possibility of a muskellunge stocking program in Lake Tetonka near Waterville.

This issue is bound to get more and more attention, and people on both sides of the issue will have plenty to say.

I've given this situation some thought, and I'm split on the possible stocking. On one hand, I like having another lake closer to me where I might catch a muskie — a feat that is on my list of fishing-to dos.

On the other hand, how will this predator fish affect the overall habitat of the fish already in the lake? A lot of people worry about the walleye populations in lakes, but if you do a simple Google search on what muskie eat, you'll come to learn that walleye aren't tops on a muskie's list of food (this doesn't mean walleyes won't be eaten, however).

Actually, muskies tend to like fish without sharp spines, so Lake Tetonka's abundance of white suckers seems ideal. But rather than worry about walleyes, those opposed to the toothsome predator should be more worried about the perch population in Tetonka, because even though perch have sharp spines, its bones are soft enough to make for a good muskie meal.

I honestly haven't fished Tetonka in a few years, and I rarely fish it for pan fish, so I'm not sure exactly what the population of perch in the lake is. According to the DNR fish sample survey for 2004 (yeah, unfortunately this is a bit outdated), the gill net for yellow perch was 6.5 and the trap net was .3.

Those numbers might not mean much, but when you consider that only rough fish have equal or higher numbers for gill nets, you come to realize perch have to be somewhat plentiful in the lake.

Anyhow, this is all just me digesting the information and puking it out in thought. I've done some research, and I suggest anyone with feelings about the potential stocking, one way or another, do some hardcore research.

I'll leave you with this last thought about the muskies impact on walleyes. In 1984, muskies were stocked into Lake Vermilion in St. Louis County. Today, trophy walleyes and muskies can be found in that lake. And the walleye population is ridiculous — 12.95 gill net/1.89 trap net, average weight 1.01 lbs.

Obviously the habitat is much different than a southern-Minnesota lake, but people with ties to Vermilion engaged in the same arguments that will arise at Tetonka, and along the Cannon River chain of lakes for that matter.

Spring's a coming, so are new products

If you're still interested in getting out on the lake all the way until iceout, this blog probably isn't for you.

But if you're like me (miserable, depressed and in need of a seasonal change), you're probably looking for things to do to pass the time until open water is upon us.

Well, I've been sifting through some of the new products on the market. And when I say sifting, I mean wading through new products across the fishing spectrum that often feel a lot like last year's products, or the year before's product.

This is inevitable, I suppose, since few revolutionary breakthroughs are left in the world of fishing.

Rapala is coming out with a new rap, the Flat Rap. It's a lot like the Original Floating Minnow, except the user is better adapt to manipulate the little wounded bait fish, and the action produced from the two flat sides is supposed to give it more action.

I see Berkley is coming out with a series of flippin jigs, one for well-known bass pros JayYellas and Mike Iaconelli and another for Hank Parker (or at least that is who I believe they are talking about, although he is listed as a line expert under Berkley's pro roster).

I've looked over the three different jigs, and not much looks new. I guess the jigs are supposed to produced better action when standing on head, and the double-barb is supposed to secure bait better. We'll see.

Have you ever stopped to think about products like line spoolers and strippers? I have to confess, these are two items on my short list of equipment needs. You can really get your bang for your buck if you think about the ease of a nice taught line, or stripping down an old spool.

Berkley puts out a hand-held stripper that rips 140 yards of line in less than a minute (just under 47 feet). It sells for $19.99 on the Berkley Web site.

Rapala has a new line stripper on the market that sells at a suggested retail price of 14.99, and strips 5 feet of line per second. This works out to 100 yards a minute.

So both are fast, both are reasonably priced, and both will probably do the job just fine.

Berkley also has a stripper/spooler field kit that sells for $39.99. Or you can go with a portable spooling kit or a permanent spooling kit for $34.99.

As winter melts to spring, I will continue to look over the new products, and from time to time I'm sure I'll report on what I find. Till then, pray for sun.

Remove the houses, remove the trash — it's simple

As many of you already know, Monday is the deadline to get your permanent fish houses off the lake.

This doesn't mean you can't be out fishing in a permanent come Monday, but who wants to haul it on and off the lake each day.

Monday's deadline is also the day that justifies the once-a-year column from John Cross on lazy, littering anglers. As one of the designers and editors of the Outdoors page in the print edition of The Free Press, I'd like to personally ask you to heed his advice.

No, seriously, I'm tired of reading about something so obvious as cleaning up after yourself. I probably suffer the same angst as John each summer.

Take for instance Buckmaster's Bridge. The work done to restore the bridge and creating fishing piers was amazing. It's a great place to sneak off to in the early morning when time is short, and it is a great place to bring a family.

But year after year, I see thousands of cigarette butts littered about the cement fishing slabs — add in soda cans, bottles, line, fishing-lure and candy wrappers, and the place just looks like hell.

Trash cans are provided, so there is no excuse.

If you are a litterer, I think the question to ask yourself as you pull your permanent off the lake this year, or as you head out when winter breaks way to spring, is this: Would you treat your yard or house the same as you treat the area you call home to fishing?

If the answer is yes, than you're probably an idiot.