Just the other day, I was cleaning out a filing cabinet and came across some pictures that I had forgotten about. To me, it was almost like finding an old billfold with money in it. Pictures of our grandsons’ early years on a trip up north brought back so many fond memories.
When we first purchased the land to build our little cabin on, we had to make a plan. First and foremost was building a driveway leading up to where we planned on building our cabin. When we cleared a path to make the driveway, we also created a spot to park my old camper, which we used until we had a cabin built. It actually took a couple of years to clear the area where the cabin would eventually sit.
The grandsons loved to visit the cabin even before there was a cabin. They loved the outdoors and fishing, so each time they came up there, it was always an adventure for them. I knew that we had perch in the lake, so I put out a little reward to anyone who caught a keeper, which we decided had to be over 8-inches. It didn’t take long before Trevor, my oldest grandson, came running up the hill with a 9-inch perch. This didn’t surprise me one bit because Trevor was an outdoorsman from day one.
Before the cabin was built, we would take an annual vacation to Spider lake with both of my sons and their families. The grandkids were young, but they loved the outdoors and fishing. The kids would take turns going out in the boat and, when we weren’t fishing, they were playing games or swimming. The boys loved looking through Brad’s tackle box to see what they thought would catch a fish. Something as simple as this goes a long way towards creating an appreciation for fishing.
I never enjoyed the cabin more than when we had everyone there and the kids were young and anxious to help work on the cabin, fish, swim and tend to the campfire. When I bought the property, I knew that the lake had some kind of fish in it, but I wasn’t sure what species. The first few years, it was perch and then it froze out and nice sized crappies magically appeared a couple of years later. After a few years, it froze out again and a couple of years later largemouth bass appeared, and last year it froze out again. I am looking forward to finding out what kind of fish will make its presence known next.
When we started building the cabin, everyone was there to help and what made me feel good was that every one of the kids wanted to pitch in and help. There were too many of us for all to sleep in the camper, so I pitched a tent and my son Brad and I slept in it while we were working on the cabin. I enjoyed every minute of this because we had family together working on building this cabin. It wasn’t all work because we’d take a little time off to relax and fish.
It’s taken a few years to get the cabin where it is today, but it had always been my dream to have a cabin up north and now I am lucky to be living it before I get too old to enjoy it.
A couple of years after we started building the cabin, I was at the cabin alone in October. The weather was cool, crisp and sunny and I thought it would be a perfect time to take the boat and row out to a spot that I’d had in mind. I grabbed my little transistor radio, a cooler of beverages, my fishing gear and rowed out to do a little fishing while listening to the Vikings game. I couldn’t believe the size of the perch that I was catching on that sunny Sunday afternoon. All-in-all I caught 29 “Jumbo Perch” and I decided that I’d only keep nine of those big ol’ boys, which would be enough to have a fish feed for the whole family when I got back home. I felt good about myself because I wasn’t being greedy and taking more than I needed. A couple of years later, the lake froze out, but I guess that’s nature’s way of culling the herd.
Until next time: It looks like the local lakes are open – Whoopie! It won’t be long before the crappie will be biting. It’s a great time to get out and enjoy the outdoors!
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