In many of my columns I will tend to look back at the past. It looks like that in today’s column I will be doing that once again. I was looking for some pictures for one of my columns and I came across one that brought back fond memories of one fishing opener years ago.
For many years, I would go to what had become one of my favorite lakes to fish on the opener. That lake was Reeds Lake which lies a little south and east of the town of Elysian. For a few years I had little problem launching my boat on the opener and I always seemed to have good luck catching a few walleyes on the opener whenever I fished that lake. The lake has a maximum depth of 58 ft. but is now infested with milfoil. The DNR has added a nice boat ramp with a dock. There are crappie, largemouth bass and northern in the lake. Largemouth and crappie seem to be the best option for fishing. According to the latest lake survey conducted in 2022 there were no walleye found in the lake at that time. When I fished it, I found that I could catch walleye around the opener, but I had never caught one after the end of May.
The last time that I tried to fish this little lake on the opener there were so many boats on the lake that you almost needed turn signals to troll. Parking was nuts and the vehicles were lined up on the shoulder all along the highway.
The next year I decided to try Lake Frances. The morning was cold with a brisk north wind. The access was packed and by the time we got our boat launched my son, Brian and I were already cold. After fishing for a couple of hours, I could tell Brian was freezing and I was chilled to the bone, so we called it a day. We only had a couple of crappies to show for our efforts.
The next year I decided to stay home and fish at Fountain Lake on the opener. Brian’s brother, Brad wanted to go along, so the three of us headed out early morning to the access. We didn’t have to wait to launch our boat because we were just about the only boat there. We had put in on Edgewater Bay at the old landing. I had bought minnows the night before and decided to troll Beetle Spins tipped with a minnow, which is still my go to bait. We all used Beetle spins and we all caught fish. We caught three walleye and three northern that morning. It was a fun morning, especially for me, watching my boys catch fish.
Before my two sons came along, I always prided myself on being able to catch fish. Once the boys were old enough to go fishing, I got more pleasure out of watching them catch a fish than catching one myself. When the grandsons came along, I tried to help each one of them get involved in fishing. All four of my grandsons like to fish but Trevor, the oldest, has taken it to the extreme. He reminds me of myself when I was young and always thinking of new ways to catch fish.
Trevor has all the latest technology and knows exactly how to use it. I have a nice locator and like to use it to troll the shoreline because I can see what is ahead and keep the boat on course. I still fish old school, and that will never change, you know what they say about old dogs and new tricks.
Until next time: The cooler weather is here but the days are still warm but not extremely hot. I do a lot better with the cooler weather.
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