Looking North

Looking North

April 30th, 2008

Ice bound for the first of May. That hasn't happened for 12 years, at least in this neck of the woods. The traditional Wisconsin Opener is this Saturday and Minnesota follows a week later on the eighth. Our lake should be open by then, but the border lakes still may have some ice. Rain is expected starting tomorrow night and continuing through Monday of next week. That should put a good melt on the ice, but it'll raise stream levels to a point where wading may be problematical.

As an ol? Navy guy I've always been impressed by the Coast Guard, the Saving Service. With a reputation like that it's pretty hard to engender bad vibes. That being said my ears perked up tonight when the evening news out of Duluth announced the Waterway Watch. Attention all hands! Keep your eyes open for suspicious boats prowling about on opening day! Report strange sightings, unusual maneuvers! Terrorists with 3 Wt. rods have been known to infiltrate our Northern Waters! Trust no one!

Actually I did talk to a border patrol guy up at Warroad a few years ago. He mentioned that some foreign nationals had tried to sneak across the line in June of that year. They spent three nights in the swamps in what we locals call Loon Poop. When they struggled onto the highway, eyes swollen shut from black fly bites, clothes shredded, missing shoes, and pretty bedraggled, they turned themselves in and asked to be locked up.

I got a feeling that dedicated terrorists won't be sitting in a sixteen foot Lund, in a four foot chop, with a 15 knot wind at 32 degrees, chucking lead headed jigs to 12 inch Walleyes. Only fisherman would put up with that.

The bears are out. Reports from the local lumber yard guys are that they are foraging bird feeders and garbage cans. I stopped feeding the Chickadees about a week ago. I figured they would be around.

So here's my problem. What with the terrorists and bears, should I really consider wading some icy north shore stream in the eternal quest for the 14 inch Brookie ? Of course! Look for me. I?ll be the one with the combination Simms Kevlar Flack Fishing Vest with the bear spray hanging from the net hook...

Later,

Corvus