Anticipation builds

My mind took a turn toward the largemouth bass on Saturday when I strolled the shore of Lake Harriet in Minneapolis. I was carrying my camera and setting up a shot of a wedding party with Lake Harriet in the background.

I took just a brief moment to scan the now-weedy waters and think of upcoming bass-fishing trips. I have never fished Harriet, but spend a good deal of time on three neighboring lakes -- Calhoun, Lake of the Isles and Cedar. Harriet intrigues me and I would really like to try it this summer. It has muskies and walleyes and some people say it has some nice bass in it.

I intend to find out first hand. One positive thing is it doesn't seem to get much pressure for bass. That's always a good thing and generally makes a lake appealing to me. Also, the lake seems a lot like Calhoun in terms of depth, water quality and weed growth. It is infested with eurasian watermilfoil, just like Calhoun and the others. Although some folks, especially sailing enthusiasts and swimmers, consider milfoil a curse, it's actually great for bass. As many anglers know, bass love cover, especially weeds, and milfoil offers plenty of it. Therefore, you can often find lots of bass in milfoil, especially bigger ones.

That said, it is also well documented that milfoil can be very difficult and frustrating to fish. I have found this to be true, but with the right tackle and technique, milfoil can be cracked. I have caught nice bass on the city lakes, all the way up to 21 inches. All were caught in and around milfoil. Yes, the fishing can be tedious and, often, a slower and deeper presentation is most effective. Yet, the rewards can be great. I look forward to a great summer of fishing bass. As strange as this sounds, my favorite and best time to fish for bass is July and August. The fish are deeper, but they bite better and more consistently than many people realize.

Just ask the tournament pros. Years ago, some told me they bring in their heaviest catches in July and August. I remember a two-day tournament in late July on Lake Minnetonka when a pair of bass anglers won with about 70 pounds. For some people, that's a summer's worth. The interesting thing is, some of the other teams came in with a total weight of more than 60 pounds. That doesn't sound like dog days to me!

Here's the best part -- because of the outboard motor ban on the city lakes and the belief by many that the fishing slows in July and August, I often have some of the spots I fish, if not the whole lake, to myself. That's hard to beat. I often have a big grin on my face when I land a nice bass and look around to see no other fishing boats in sight. Usually, the ones I do see are manned by muskie anglers, which is just fine with me. In fact, I do hook and occasionally land a muskie while fishing for bass. So much the better.

As of right now, I'm planning on my annual Fourth-of-July outing with my friend Dave. It's an annual tradition that we both look forward to. Dave shares my passion for bass and he really likes to find new spots and try new techniques for bass. We talked yesterday and are making our plans for the Fourth. If we go nice and early, we won't have trouble finding a parking spot, which is one problem you can run into on Calhoun, especially on weekends and holidays. There is only street parking near the boat landing and the spots can fill up fast. That's why I often go on weekdays, when the parking is usually easier.

Now that the weather is finally heating up, the bass soon will establish their summer patterns, which involves moving out to the deeper weedlines. They'll stay there all summer and well into the fall. I'll tie on jigs and plastics and have at it. I can't wait 'til my first bite -- and first bass aerial show -- of the summer!

An interesting vacation

Our family got to spend last week at a lake near Bemidji. The good news: The lake was beautiful, it held some nice crappies that we caught and cooked, and my new boat worked splendidly.

The bad news: The weather was stormy and volatile all week, with lots of rain, high winds and cold temperatures. Get this: The high last Wednesday was only 49 degrees! Hard to believe it was that cold in the middle of June. But, that's the kind of year it has been.

Amazingly, despite the cold, the mosquitoes were out in full force. In fact, they were abundant and ravenous. And, try as we might, we couldn't keep them from infiltrating the cabin. So, by week's end, we all were sporting welts aplenty.

Yet, there was much to be grateful for. And, I led our family in a short "gratitude" session on the drive back home. I feel it is important to cultivate the virtue of gratitude. So, I instructed every member of our family to say aloud things he/she is thankful for. It's a good thing to do. And, it can help us keep a balanced perspective.

I, for one, am grateful for the wonderful couple, Bill and Margaret, who let us use the cabin in exchange for some photography services. They stayed later than they wanted to on the day we arrived to make sure we knew how everything worked and where to find things that we needed. And, Bill came up the night before we left and helped me load my boat onto the trailer the next day. The heavy rains had left the steep gravel loading ramp soft and our minivan does not have four-wheel drive. So, I was worried about being able to drive back up the ramp with the boat on the trailer. Bill and his son, John, came to the rescue with a four-wheel drive vehicle and some muscle to get the boat on the trailer and up the ramp.

Bill also has a nice fish-cleaning station set up on the back end of the garage. It features a nice, tall table, which meant I didn't have to bend over and get a sore back from cleaning the crappies I caught. And, best of all, there were not one but two electric fillet knives at my disposal. I have been curious about them and have seen others use them with great success. I had been wanting to try one and, last week, I got my chance.

I'm happy to report that the Mister Twister electric fillet knife performed magnificently. It was easy to use and fast. Someone had told me previously that it takes a while to learn how to use it and that I should plan on ruining a few fish during the learning process. In this case, I botched only two of 21 crappies on the first try and zero of six on the second. Pretty good "filleting" average, I would say.

Upon returning home, I did the natural thing: Put that knife on my Father's Day list. And, my wife, Julie, happily obliged. But, I'm not sure, at this point, if it means I will get permission to go on more fishing trips. For now, I'll stick closer to home.

Humbling experience

I was all set to take my family on my new boat's maiden voyage yesterday. After a busy spring of turkey hunting, I was turning my thoughts to the fishing season.

The planned destination was Turtle Lake in Shoreview, but a packed boat landing and parking lot made a change of venue necessary. So, we journeyed farther west in Interstate 694 and pulled in to Lake Owasso. It was less crowded there and I was able to launch the boat within minutes.

I jumped in with my oldest son, Joe, and turned the key to start up the motor. The groaning sound indicated the battery power was too low. So, the cruise across the lake would have to wait. Then, I decided to try out the bow-mount electric trolling motor. Bad news there, too. The foot pedal was seriously out of adjustment, which made steering difficult.

So, I packed it in, loaded the boat back on the trailer and went home. End of trip. Unfortunately, on top of that, I reacted very poorly to the mechanical problems and set a poor example in front of my wife and children.

As I reflected and prayed about the episode later that day, I knew I needed to ask everyone's forgiveness for my bad attitude and expression thereof. The great thing about kids is they're very willing to forgive, especially when they know you're sincere about your penitence, which I was.

The good news is, I'm already working on the remedies for the boat problems. I've got a battery on the charger that I bought last year and know is still good. Also, I called MinnKota and got information on how to adjust the foot pedal on the electric trolling motor. And, I hope to take the boat out later this week to make sure everything's in good working order. After all, our family is going on a week-long vacation up north at the end of the week and I would like to have full confidence that the boat will function like it should.

I also hope and pray to have God's blessings on all of us, and the boat, too. And, I think another worthwhile task this week would be to find out the patron saint of boaters.

An intriguing invitation

Last Friday, I sat in the office of teacher Dick Paul at Totino-Grace High School in Fridley. He is set to retire June 13 after 32 years at the school.

His first year was 1976. The very first day he walked into a classroom at the school, he was announced as my homeroom teacher. I was a sophomore at the time. He also was my geometry teacher that same year. On Friday, I got a chance to tell him that his geometry class was my favorite class in four years at T-G.

But, we spent little time talking about geometry or school. Instead, the talk was mostly about fishing and his upcoming trip to Lake Mille Lacs June 9. He fishes the lake several times each year and invited me along for this one.

I've been wanting to go fishing with him for years, but our schedules never lined up. This outing sounds very intriguing. It's an annual trip on a Mille Lacs fishing launch he makes every year with teachers from both Totino-Grace and Hill-Murray, where his wife, Susan, serves as principal. There is a trophy that goes to the team that catches the biggest fish. The competition is friendly, but can get intense.

"They (Hill-Murray teachers) have possession of the trophy," Dick Paul said. "We lost it in the last 20 minutes of the trip last year."

The trip started about 10 or 11 years ago, Paul said, when Duane Buhl from Totino-Grace and Brad Peterson from Hill-Murray worked to put together a combined trip. Prior to that, each of the schools was going out on a launch on Mille Lacs independently.

"It's nothing but pure fun andd good-natured teasing between the schools," Paul said. "Inevitably, someone pulls a prank on someone else during the night."

One interesting subplot this year will be the switching of teams by Aaron Miller. Last year, he fished on the Totino-Grace team because he was a religion teacher there. Then, he was hired by Hill-Murray as assistant principal, starting at the beginning of this school year. So, this year, he will be fishing for Hill-Murray.

Which brought me to the question: Whose team would I be fishing for? Totino-Grace, based on my status as an alum? What about my journalistic code of being impartial, not to mention my code as an archdiocesan employee to support all Catholic schools?

Paul had a quick answer for all of these questions: "You're fishing impartially for us. You are what you are and proud of it."

Let the competition begin!

Turkey time in Wisconsin

I went on a turkey hunt with my dad in Wisconsin last week. In that state, like in Minnesota, you get drawn for a five-day season. This was the second-to-last season, so we were hunting late in the year. But, with the late spring we've had, this turned out pretty well. The birds were active and the weather was beautiful on each of the three days we hunted.

The first day, we had birds gobbling and strutting, but they wouldn't come in. Then, I moved our blind right to the edge of the property line and had a bird gobbling as we were setting up. But, a tractor pulled onto the neighbor's land and started planting corn. Then, another neighbor whose land touches the property we were on drove up on a tractor to plant a food plot for deer. That ended things for the day, but we decided to come back to the same spot the next morning.

Turkeys love freshly-planted corn fields and they were definitely there the next day. I moved the blind to the spot where my son had killed a nice bird the previous year, just 20 yards from a large strip of freshly-planted corn. Two toms were gobbling on the neighbor's land, but wouldn't come over. Then, at about 6:30 a.m., a hen crossed in front of us. I tried to call her into the decoys, but she just kept going. About 10 minutes later, two more hens crossed in front of us. This time, they turned and came right to the decoys, which we had set up 5-10 yards from the blind.

I was thinking it would be nice to have a gobbler follow the hens in when I heard a gobble just over the hill to my left. I looked and saw the top of a tail fan pop up, then another. The two birds came strutting over the hill and I was hoping they would veer right so my dad and I could both get a shot. He was on the right side of the blind (where I thought the birds would come from) and I was on the left.

But, these darned birds stayed left and began to slow down and act cautious. They came out of strut, ran their heads up and stood there. My choice was to keep waiting and risk them leaving, or shoot now and at least get one. I chose to shoot and I dropped the bird in front at 40 yards. Unfortunately, the other one took off right away and my dad didn't get a shot.

We went to another farm (where my son Andy had shot a bird April 13) and hunted there for a few hours that day and then again the following morning until noon. We had birds gobble and come part way in, but we couldn't pull one in close enough for my dad to shoot. So, we ended up one for two. I was hoping my dad would get one, but I think he just enjoyed being out in the woods with me. At his age, 86, that's an accomplishment in itself. He did manage to shoot a bird the week before in Minnesota while hunting with my brother, so he did get his bird this year.

Several weeks ago, I shot a bearded hen in Minnesota (which is legal), but it is not the same feeling as shooting a big tom. Mine weighed about 20.5 pounds and had an 11 1/4-inch beard that was nice and thick. All in all, a great bird and an awesome hunt. I'm thankful to the Lord for the time with my dad and the bird we were able to harvest.

Solving Mother's Day Dilemma

Sometimes, the most valuable hunting and fishing trips are the ones we don’t take.

Say what?

Let me explain. First of all, I like the outdoors as much as anyone. For that reason, Saturday’s fishing opener weighed heavily on my mind.

In fact, in anticipation of this year’s fishing season, I bought a boat that has all of the features I wanted. And, as recently as two weekends ago, during one of those nasty stretches of cold weather, I went out into the garage and climbed into my boat, dreaming of the warm, fishing days of summer.

That said, I realized I had a tough choice to make this past weekend -- fishing or Mother’s Day. Because I had a work commitment on Saturday, that left only Sunday to ply the waters in search of walleye.

As tempting as this idea was, I felt a hesitation in my spirit about leaving my wife on Mother’s Day to spend time in my boat.
Maybe I could come up with some sort of compromise, like taking my wife fishing with me. With that idea in mind, I casually queried my wife, Julie, about her interests for Mother’s Day.

Without hesitation, she shot back a quick, definitive answer -- clean up the yard.

Yes, that gets me outside, but that wasn’t exactly the type of outdoors experience I was hoping for. Yet, I felt like I could not ignore her wishes.

In the end, I determined that fishing and Mother’s Day, for me, would be incompatible this year. I would spend Sunday sprucing up the landscape and filling a trailer with things my wife wants gone.
The walleye would have to wait. I realize that probably gets me in trouble with other husbands who will insist my decision makes them look bad.

Believe me, that is not my intent. And, I would caution “fishing widows” out there not to wave this column in front of their husbands and make this type of cynical retort: “See, loving husbands do NOT go fishing on Mother’s Day.”

No, I do not presume to make some type of theological ranking of Mother’s Day above walleye fishing. Even the state legislature backed away from this one as it briefly pondered changing the date of the fishing opener so as not to conflict with Mother’s Day.

Rather, I leave each fisherman to his own conscience in settling this matter with his wife.

I merely believe that there are times when men ought to have enough courage and enough conviction to recognize and grab hold of opportunities to make sacrifices out of love for their wives.
I can’t say I have a great track record in this. Just three years ago, I went turkey hunting on Mother’s Day with my oldest son.
Bad idea. Not only did the hunting turn out to be lousy, but the conversation I had with my wife on the way home was nothing short of painful. She made it clear just how disappointed she was in the choice I had made to leave her on Mother’s Day.

I resolved not to make that mistake again. The experience played a big role in my decision this year. As recently as the Friday of Mother’s Day/fishing opener weekend, I was feeling pretty confident in my decision.

Then, I ran into Julie Pfitzinger of St. Joseph in West St. Paul. She and I both were at St. Joseph School in West St. Paul to cover a talk by Imaculée Ilibagiza of Rwanda on her personal experience of the genocide that took place there in the 1990s. Pfitzinger is a mom and a freelance writer who has written about issues like this over the years.

After the talk, we spent a few minutes discussing the issue. Julie’s insights confirmed I was making the write choice.

“Although my husband isn't a fisherman, I have friends who have been ‘Mother's Day widows,’ ” she said. “I don't think it's ever about them [mothers] wanting the big spotlight to shine around them on the second Sunday in May, but is really about the desire to just spend quality family time together.”

That simple remark made me realize that what my wife -- and, I suspect, many other wives -- really wants is merely the chance to spend time with me and feel a little special.

Lord knows, moms take a lot of abuse in our culture these days, often from members of their own gender. This is just one day out of 365 when we husbands can show them a little appreciation for all that they do to make our families strong and vibrant.

And, as Pfitzinger pointed out, this also is an opportunity to send a message to your children, especially boys, about how to set and maintain the right priorities.

“I believe that every opportunity we have to model to our kids the importance we place on family should be taken now -- it's all part of helping prepare them to raise their own families some day,” she said. “I guess if that means missing the fishing opener in favor of spending Mother's Day together, the valuable message inherent in seeing Dad choose family over fish is more than worth keeping the tackle box packed for a few more days.”

I agree. But, make no mistake, my tackle box will open soon.
And, walleyes of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes, beware.

God's goodness in Buffalo County

Over the weekend, I took my No. 3 son, William, to an annual father/son weekend for boys in grades second through sixth and their dads. We go down to a farm owned by a friend's parents in Buffalo County, WI. The county is known as one of the top places in the country for trophy whitetail bucks and there are more and more hunters gobbling up prime hunting land in this area.

Last spring, I shot a turkey on this farm and have also taken three deer, all antlerless. This weekend, however, was not about hunting. It was about helping about 20 or 30 boys have a good time and bond with their fathers. Thanks to God's grace in turning away foul weather on Saturday, I'd say we accomplished our mission.

One of the highlights is a hike to the top of a bluff along the Mississippi River near Nelson, WI. It was cool and windy at the start, but the sun popped out just when we reached the top and it stayed out the rest of the day. It's a spectacular view from there, overlooking the Mississippi backwaters and Lake Pepin. We lingered for a while to take in the scene, then came back down and enjoyed ice cream cones in Nelson. My son saw a wild turkey on his way down and we saw two others near the farm. I hope to see turkeys like these when I go turkey hunting in Wisconsin next week.

Speaking of turkey hunting, my 86-year-old father shot one in Minnesota on Friday (see photo above). He was hunting with the my brother, Joe, and they called in two jakes (young toms). My dad took the first shot at 28 yards and downed his bird. My brother shot next and missed. Although he hunted three more days after that, he did not get another opportunity. That's the way turkey hunting goes. But, everyone in our family is thrilled to see my dad get a bird. I wonder if he is the oldest turkey hunter in the state to get a bird -- or, even oldest in the country. I'd love to be able to find that out. I hope to help him get bird No. 2 next week in Wisconsin.