"Stephen M.H. Lawrence" wrote in message
link.net...

Let's not forget the *superb* fishing. On Friday, I'm off for 3 days of
fishing
on Lake Pepin. The walleyes have spawned (hopefully), and will be moving
in to the shallows. If luck is on my side, we'll have some tasty fillets
in
the
deep freeze (minus a couple kept fresh for lunch on Sunday).

Hey, good luck! Hope you get a bunch of them. I was down by Lake Pepin last
month and saw about a half-dozen bald eagles in the area. Walleye, now that
is some great eating-- for some reason, I've never had too much luck
catching them. Maybe it is because I try to avoid the premiere walleye lake
in central Minnesota, Mille Lacs, because it seems like every other
fisherperson and their entire extended family is on that lake from May to
November, and no one's telling where they're biting. Bah.

My star catch was a 7 lb. largemouth bass that I caught out of a lake just
north of Bemidji. That was some fun. It took 45 minutes for me to tire that
guy out, and I was only using 8 lb. test line! It bit me for my trouble.
Bass are great fighters, so much fun to catch, and they can be good eating
if you keep the smaller ones and cook 'em fresh. No scaling and just remove
the backbone, voila, you're good to go.

So many of my childhood memories have to do with fishing. You almost can't
help that if you grow up here. I was raised in St. Paul, close to the
Mississippi, so fishing the Old Muddy was a staple activity on many weekends
of our young lives in those pre-Internet, pre-VCR and pre-computer game
days.

We used to catch catfish, carp and buffalo fish out of the Mississippi.
Those things would bite on anything, and I mean anything, like even pieces
of tinfoil. My dad would lend us some of his fishing equipment (usually the
crap that got stuck to the bottom of his tackle box) but insisted that we
leave his good lures* alone if we were going catfishing. So we'd hop on our
bikes and start off downhill to the river, our fishing poles strapped to our
backs next to backpacks filled with lunches, pop, sunscreen, OFF bug
repellent, and a can of Green Giant corn kernals. We would string a bunch of
corn kernals on a hook, toss it into the river and voila, a big, ugly ten
pounder'd be on your line before you know it. After several hours of landing
big ones from the Old Muddy, we'd hop back on our bikes and head uphill all
the way home; sunburnt, mosquito-bitten and full of fish stories for our
folks. Life's good here, you betcha!

Jackie
Who is really looking forward to Minnesota's Holy Day of Obligation: Fishing
Opener.

* Rapalas.

"Jackie" wrote:
| Hey, good luck! Hope you get a bunch of them. I was down by Lake Pepin
last
| month and saw about a half-dozen bald eagles in the area.

I was driving along the East (Wisconsin) side, and saw plenty
of eagles' nests in the trees at the edge of the road, actually,
but no eagles. That sure is a nice drive (Except for the fact that
a police car followed me for about 8 miles - that was some
perfect driving!

| Walleye, now that
| is some great eating-- for some reason, I've never had too much luck
| catching them.

They're cagey as heck - when they bite, they all seem to bite
in the same spot, maybe they run in loose schools, kind of
like crappies? Anyway, I've always run hot or cold on
walleyes, feast or famine.

| Maybe it is because I try to avoid the premiere walleye lake
| in central Minnesota, Mille Lacs, because it seems like every other
| fisherperson and their entire extended family is on that lake from May to
| November, and no one's telling where they're biting. Bah.

That's a closely - garded secret, on the same plane as morels.

| My star catch was a 7 lb. largemouth bass that I caught out of a lake just
| north of Bemidji. That was some fun. It took 45 minutes for me to tire
that
| guy out, and I was only using 8 lb. test line! It bit me for my trouble.
| Bass are great fighters, so much fun to catch, and they can be good eating
| if you keep the smaller ones and cook 'em fresh. No scaling and just
remove
| the backbone, voila, you're good to go.

Bass are a fine eating fish, that's for sure. I grew up in Dubuque, Iowa,
on the Mississippi, and we used to catch whopping striped bass down
on the river, at the power plant discharge, and I remember very fondly
some nice fish dinners from our efforts.

| So many of my childhood memories have to do with fishing. You almost can't
| help that if you grow up here. I was raised in St. Paul, close to the
| Mississippi, so fishing the Old Muddy was a staple activity on many
weekends
| of our young lives in those pre-Internet, pre-VCR and pre-computer game
| days.

That's precisely how I grew up. I can remember - no kidding - probably
3 or 4 summers when I fished at *least* half of the days of summer. Used
to catch my own nightcrawlers with a flashlight and bucket, every night
after (and sometimes during) a rain. Those are truly happy memories.

| We used to catch catfish, carp and buffalo fish out of the Mississippi.
| Those things would bite on anything, and I mean anything, like even pieces
| of tinfoil. My dad would lend us some of his fishing equipment (usually
the
| crap that got stuck to the bottom of his tackle box) but insisted that we
| leave his good lures* alone if we were going catfishing.

I remember the day I lost my Dad's Lazy Ike Leopard Frog lure.
He was disappointed in me - I almost felt like crying. I think I was
twelve. I learned from that experience that, if I didn't buy it, and
I didn't work for it, I should keep my hands off of it.

| So we'd hop on our
| bikes and start off downhill to the river, our fishing poles strapped to
our
| backs next to backpacks filled with lunches, pop, sunscreen, OFF bug
| repellent, and a can of Green Giant corn kernals. We would string a bunch
of
| corn kernals on a hook, toss it into the river and voila, a big, ugly ten
| pounder'd be on your line before you know it. After several hours of
landing
| big ones from the Old Muddy, we'd hop back on our bikes and head uphill
all
| the way home; sunburnt, mosquito-bitten and full of fish stories for our
| folks. Life's good here, you betcha!

Another Dubuque memory: I must have been 12, and those were in the
good old days when kids could do just what you're talking about: Hike
or bike down to the river. I brought two cans of corn, opened one and
threw it in (I didn't know "chumming" was illegal then). I baited my hook,
and cast it into the area about 40 feet from the bank where the corn landed.
I seem to remember that Buffalo Carp weighed at around 40 pounds.
The tomatoes tasted mighty GOOD that summer! (Fertilizer)

| Who is really looking forward to Minnesota's Holy Day of Obligation:
Fishing
| Opener.

I'm a bit of a claim - jumper, as I'm getting into the walleye
water before opening day - legally, of course!

73,

Steve Lawrence
KAØPMD
Burnsville, Minnesota

(NOTE: My email address has only one "dot."
You'll have to edit out the one between the "7"
and the "3" in my email address if you wish to
reply via email)


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