Our area farmers have been pretty lucky so far when it comes to the weather, which has been cooperating so the fall harvest is in full-speed-ahead mode. This is the time of year when we need to take extra caution when driving in many of our rural areas. With the farm work that is going on, farmers will be moving their equipment from field to field. I know some of us may get a little frustrated when following behind a big tractor or truck, but I always remind myself harvest time doesn’t last forever, but an accident can.

From what I’ve been hearing, area bow hunters haven’t been seeing that many deer, but I assume that will change once the weather turns cold and the corn is out. Now is the time of year when we can really start enjoying the fall colors. Taking a drive in the country can be a very exhilarating experience. I always especially enjoy this time of year as those who read my column must know by now. Taking a leisurely drive in the country on a sunny day can be very rewarding because there is plenty of wildlife to be seen and the countryside is painted with fall colors for our viewing enjoyment.

The other day I spent some time with my brother-in-law, Lynn Johnson, who is home visiting from Nome, Alaska and he, along with my son Brian and I drove out South Shore Drive to look at the new dam. It was pretty impressive and the amount of birds that were there waiting patiently for minnows or other fish was also pretty impressive. There was a pair of eagles sitting in a tree that overhangs the river, which made the trip worthwhile in itself. There were also egrets and herons standing in the water with seagulls hovering nearby. I noticed a flock of pelicans that were closely bunched up out on the main lake. That dam is definitely another step in the right direction when it comes to cleaning up the watershed.

I happened to speak with this person the other day who told me his son was really into fishing. He said the boy had spent most of the summer fishing the shores of Fountain Lake and just couldn’t seem to get enough. To me, this is what being a kid in the summer is all about, making your own entertainment and enjoying a sport that will stay with you your whole life.

Hearing this reminded me of myself when I was a kid. It seems I could never get enough of the good thing we call fishing. If I wasn’t able to go fishing, I was reading about it, which made for inexpensive entertainment. My love of the sport has stayed with me my whole life and I still get the feeling I did as a kid whenever I make a cast or watch a bobber as it drifts slowly in the breeze on a peaceful sunny day. At my age I still have that kid mentality when it comes to fishing, so I feel fairly certain it’s there to stay.

Whenever I see or hear of one of our youth who is “hooked” on fishing or is into hunting, it gives me a good feeling. It also tells me there will be future generations to carry on the preservation and maybe even the improvement of our outdoors heritage.

There are times a person wonders about the future of some of our fishing lakes and hunting habitat. The Lessard SAMS Bill has taken us great strides in the right direction, but we still need to do more. Mille Lacs Lake is an example of how something can sneak up on us. How did we let this happen? Now that it did happen the DNR is finding that there is no easy solution. It’s easy to blame the Indians of the Mille Lacs tribe for over-netting, but that is not the core of the problem. Man wants to manage everything instead of letting things occur naturally which, in some instances, is a necessity. The DNR has been playing with the slot limits and how many fish can be kept on this lake for quite some time, so I guess I can’t understand how it has gotten to this point.

Fishing used to be simple and for all practical purposes it still can be. You don’t need a 20-ft. boat and a 200-hp outboard to enjoy the sport of fishing. What you do need is a little imagination, some free time and a willingness to sit back and just take it all in. As a kid I didn’t need anything more than a can of worms, some hooks, weights, a bobber, line and a fishing pole that was sometimes optional if you couldn’t find a good branch. Yes, there is no better way to spend an afternoon than sitting on the shore of a lake watching a bobber. Fish are optional and not always necessary to make it an enjoyable experience.

Until next time, this is a great time to take a drive around the lake or in the country to enjoy the painted beauty of our great Minnesota outdoors.

Please remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers because they are the reason we are able to enjoy all the freedoms that we have today.

Echoes from the Loafers' Club Meeting

I’m getting older.

What was your first clue?

It gets late earlier.

Driving by the Bruces

I have two wonderful neighbors — both named Bruce — who live across the road from each other. Whenever I pass their driveways, thoughts occur to me, such as: An ancestor of mine fell in love with the Lady Gail. He rode for a week without rest to the castle in which she lived, only to be met by her father, King Gene. My ancestor stated his intentions. "No problem," said the king, "but to win the hand of Lady Gail, you must defeat my five greatest swordsmen and then slay the fire-breathing dragon that lives in the sewer while you’re armed only with a toothpick, the flat kind of toothpick, not one of the round and sharp ones. Well, you can all guess what my ancestor did. He asked for directions to the castle where the Lady Trixie lived.

Stop it

I’m like most drivers. I suffer from amberbivalence. I’m uncertain whether to stop for a yellow light or put the pedal to the metal. But I stop for rural stop signs religiously. Such a stop sign isn’t stoptional. I stopped at one recently that I didn’t want to stop for. There was a dead skunk on the road right where my car would be stopping.

I stopped. It was the right and safe thing to do.

It was a smelly stop. The windows were up, but the odor found me. As I drove away, I said, "So long, Flower. Sorry for your loss."

In the movie, "Bambi," a skunk is sleeping in flowers and Bambi mistakes it for one of the flowers and names it "Flower."

I believe we should stop and smell the flowers. I even stopped to smell Flower.

The news from Hartland Harold

Gnarly was a meek fellow. His wife ruled the roost. Some called him henpecked. His brother felt sorry for him and gave him a book on how to be more assertive. Gnarly read it while on a business trip. Inspired, he came home and told his wife that he was the head of the house and his word was the law. He told her to fix his favorite meal and to make it snappy. He wanted a gourmet dessert afterwards. For the first time, he spoke to her in an assertive tone. He ordered her to pour him his favorite adult beverage and that from now on, he was in charge and she’d do everything that he said. He told her that as soon as the meal was finished, she should prepare a bath for him. He was going to relax as long as he wanted to in that bathtub.

"When I’m done, guess who will dress me and comb my hair?" he asked.

His wife replied, "The funeral director."

Those thrilling days of yesteryear 

We climbed the rope in gym class. It ran to a beam near the gymnasium’s ceiling. There was a red mat positioned under it. As we found our way to the end of our rope, we were comforted by the knowledge that should we fall, a cushiony, nearly one-inch thick mat protected us. It was red so that the bloodstains wouldn’t show. Plus it gave the teacher something to roll a body up in. It was more dangerous than lawn darts, which were nothing more than harpoons for kids. We each got a turn trying to climb that rope. We did both rope climbing and dart tossing without wearing bicycle helmets. This was during a time when we got skinned up a lot. We were told that skin was free. It would grow back. Maybe other body parts were supposed to, too.

Nature’s notes

It may be only 19th among the states in apple production according to USDA figures, but Minnesota is the birthplace of the Honeycrisp apple. The University of Minnesota developed it by crossing a Macoun and a Honeygold. The first seedling was planted in 1962 and the apple was released for commercial propagation in 1991. It’s one of 2,500 apple varieties in the U.S. and one of over 7,500 worldwide.

Doris Day sang, "I love you a bushel and a peck. A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck."

A bushel of apples weighs 42 to 48 pounds and is equal to 4 pecks.  

We must love the Honeycrisp apple a bushel and a peck. It became the state fruit in 2006.

Soup & Pie goes together like Green Bay and Packers

Cross of Glory Lutheran Church in handsome Hartland will be having their annual Soup & Pie Supper on November 4 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Ask for the four and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie. Feel free to lick both bowl and plate.

Meeting adjourned

Med vennlig hilsen ("Best regards" in Norwegian) and be kind.

At a football game earlier this season, the opposing team ran the same play twice in a row. The same back ran the ball, the same defender made the tackle, and the same penalty was called on the same player of the offense. The timing was perfect for me to utter into the microphone, “It’s déjà vu all over again,” in a nod to the recently-departed Yogi Berra.

Even if you’re not a sports fan, it’s likely you’ve heard of the great New York Yankees catcher. You might not be able to recite his stats or his incredible number of trips to the World Series, making him arguably the greatest winner in sports history, but you probably remember him in the Aflac commercials dumbfounding the duck with his malapropisms.

And that’s why I figured everyone would react well, having heard the quote I used at some point in their lives. Yogi Berra expanded beyond the world of sports. He was also an example of a great athlete who gave up some of his prime years to serve in the military during World War II. Others on that list include Bob Feller, Ted Williams, and Jackie Robinson. Now there are thousands of young men and women who have given up opportunities in their jobs to serve our country, but can you imagine a war today and seeing LeBron James or Adrian Peterson stepping aside from their contracts to go fight overseas?

Jackie Robinson certainly shows just how much sports can impact everyday life. He broke the color barrier in baseball and helped push ahead the Civil Rights movement. Would civil rights have happened without Robinson? What would the result in our country have been if that color barrier had not been brought down yet in sports? I’m not sure I know the answer, but it would make for an interesting debate.

It’s fine if sports aren’t your thing, but it’s hard to deny the impact they have on society. The Super Bowl is the most watched program on television year in and year out. It brings people together, not just to watch the game (or the commercials) but to enjoy each other’s company and have a good time. Think of the money generated for the economy through the food and drink bought, as well as the millions paid to air those commercials.

Without the sports teams in our state, there would be fewer jobs available. How many people work for the Gophers, Twins, Timberwolves, Vikings, Wild, and Lynx? What would they do without sports? Would there be other jobs which popped up to take the place of all those careers? Granted, some are surely minimum wage jobs, but that’s better than being unemployed.

Some people claim we don’t need sports in our schools or that we pay too much attention to them and spend too much money on them. The actual amount spent on sports is around 1% of the overall budget of a school. And the skills taught go far beyond shooting a basketball or serving a volleyball. Kids are taught teamwork, how to overcome adversity, and how to be a good winner and loser, all things we need to know in our adult lives. I actually heard someone say years back, when our school district was struggling a bit financially, that we should just cut all the sports. What if that’s the one thing keeping a student focused on their work? It’s the idea that the student needs to keep the grades up in order to participate in something at which he or she excels, maybe the only thing that comes easy. More and more, schools are becoming a place to teach more than reading, writing, and arithmetic, and sports (as well as other extracurriculars) are a big part of that.

When I mentioned Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton in last week’s column, you might not have recognized them if you are not a baseball fan. Indeed, not many athletes so transcend their sport to draw attention around the country and the world. But if I talk about Tiger Woods, you almost for sure know who that is and what sport he plays. You might not know much beyond that, but he had such a tremendous impact on golf that his celebrity status grew beyond that contingent of fans.

Possibly the biggest athlete in that realm was Muhammad Ali. He, like Jackie Robinson, helped define civil rights from a sports perspective. Even today, Ali is recognized wherever he goes; I would guess most of you would be able to name him if you saw a picture. He used his celebrity to do many good works, and these are the athletes who are most admirable. Take that money and power and help others.

As has been clear when I delve into the world of sports in my columns, I can’t imagine life without them. They are true reality TV, where you’re never quite sure what might happen, unlike the many other formulaic programs on the tube. Without sports (to paraphrase Yogi), the future wouldn’t be what it used to be.

Word of the Week: This week’s word is gannet, which means a greedy person, as in, “Yogi Berra might not have been considered a gannet when he told the server to cut the pizza into four pieces because he wasn’t hungry enough for six.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!

The scurs had the Weather Eye dialed in over the weekend, although the fan must’ve got stuck on high Monday. Will our season come to a screeching halt or will we still be mowing lawn at Thanksgiving?

Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with a miniscule chance of overnight showers. Highs in the mid 60’s with lows in the low 40’s. Thursday, mostly sunny with a modest chance for showers. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the upper 30’s. Mostly sunny Friday with highs in the low 50’s and lows in the upper 20’s. Saturday, partly cloudy with highs in the low 50’s and lows in the mid 30’s. Sunny on Sunday with highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the mid 40’s. Monday, partly sunny with a slight chance of showers. Highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Cloudy and cooler for Tuesday with a modest chance of a shower. Highs in the low 60’s and lows in the upper 30’s. The normal high for October 17th is 59 and the normal low is 37. We dip below 11 hours of daylight on the 17th, still losing minutes per day. The scurs are thinking that covering their delicate foliage may be in order Friday night. Leaving it out to freeze might not be all bad either. Cuts down on watering it.

Harvest continues to move at a breakneck pace. Most soybeans are in the bin with the exception of wet spots that remained too green to combine or areas that were replanted due to drown outs. Soybean yields for many set personal bests. Corn has also been yielding tremendously and due to the relatively dry moisture content, is coming off the fields rapidly. Most were seeing moistures in the mid to upper teens on earlier maturing hybrids (95–100 day) with full season hybrids in the low 20’s. Stalk quality has been an issue in places although in the absence of windy, wet conditions, it has remained in the background. After Monday’s wind however, some may have to rethink the notion of waiting for corn to dry in the field so it can be dumped directly in the bin. Still too early for ammonia application. 

Many questions about the spate of annoying insects, namely multi-colored Asian lady beetles and minute pirate bugs. Unfortunately for us as humans, these insects have run out of soft bodied insects to chew on and are looking for a snack before packing it in for winter. It is a common misconception that the lady beetles are only attracted to soybeans. They have for the most part been spending much of their time recently either in the corn searching out the last remaining aphids, in trees doing same or have followed the surviving soybean aphids to their overwintering host, namely buckthorn. They then look for places to hole up for the winter, including your house. Less is known about minute pirate bugs. For starters they’re not trying to squat in your house. They become more well-known this time of year once their food sources are depleted. They then migrate to overwintering sites such as leaf litter, like that surrounding many houses this time of year. They can inflict a rather painful bite. Some are referring to these true bugs as “no see ‘ems,” although they are not related to the tiny biting flies that develop from larvae in rivers and streams earlier in the year. Their calling card is a nasty welt. Despite the bites being painful, there’s generally little evidence you’ve been bitten by a minute pirate bug.

www.extension.umn.edu/garden/insects/find/multicolored-asian-lady-beetles.

After having numerous distractions the previous weekend, it was finally time to put the mower deck back under Whitey with new belts. While the deck was off I decided it was a good time to put a quick edge on the blades with the angle grinder. I flipped the blades over so the edges could be accessed. With the cordless impact driver, it was a quick process. Changed the oil in the process while the deck was off and things went smoothly. Even the deck that was somewhat persnickety about coming off went on easier than I would’ve guessed. Heading towards the shed and the grease gun I turned the blades on expecting to see grass fly about 20 feet. Instead it barely cleared the discharge chute. Puzzled, I peered under the deck only to see that in my haste I had committed a cardinal sin: I’d left the blades upside down! Nothing a few more minutes of wrenching couldn’t solve, but an embarrassment nonetheless. Didn’t take long and the road ditch was returned to its original pristine condition.

The mowing done and a minor crisis averted where a deer had apparently gone through the fence again, it was time to sneak off for a cruise. Days such as Sunday were made for taking the Silver Hawk out to gaze at the leaves as well as running reconnaissance on area farmers. Mrs. Cheviot and I made a whirlwind tour. We stopped in Waseca for gas where a gentleman admired the car as I filled it up. We then proceeded to LeCenter and Cleveland, then on to Madison Lake to wet our whistle at the Trailblazer. It was a warm day. With the heater core on the Silver Hawk positioned under the passenger side seat as was common back in the day, it was even warmer. Not many people in the Trailblazer Sunday afternoon, although several noticed and commented on the Stude. On the way home we swerved around Betsy’s dad who was pulling a wagon toward the field. Moments later we received a call from him saying how cool the car looked. Looking at the phone I noticed that there had been another call from Shannon Shoenrock’s uncle. Upon calling him back, he too had spied us rolling past his place. Suddenly it dawned on me: This is not the vehicle to go driving around in if you plan on going someplace incognito. Likely have to break out the Soccer Mom van, wigs and sunglasses for that.

See you next week…real good then.

By KATHY PAULSEN

Staff Writer

Would you like to help build a new home and help provide for a needy family in Honduras?

Several members of First Baptist Church in Clarks Grove are again looking forward to traveling to Honduras on New Year’s Day, where they will be doing just that.

Most of the homes in Azacualpa, Honduras are very primitive compared to our little corner of the world.

Carolyn Weller and Mike Peterson from First Baptist have helped build new homes for needy families in Honduras many times before, and Michelle Peterson will be making her third trip. Mike, Michelle and Carolyn pay for their own airfare, which Carolyn said was more costly this year.  Ten members of the Fillmore Free Methodist Church, located in the Harmony area, also plan to join them.

NRHEG to host playoff game Wednesday

LINE UP — NRHEG wide receiver John Cole checks with the linesman during the Panthers’ regular-season finale at New Richland Thursday, Oct. 8. The Panthers lost 24-23 to Maple River. They host Blue Earth Area in an opening round section playoff game Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. (Star Eagle photos by Chris Schlaak)

By JIM LUTGENS

Editor/Publisher

Once again, the NRHEG Panthers controlled the line of scrimmage and the pace of the game.

They just couldn’t control the scoreboard.

The Panthers, despite holding Maple River to 163 yards — 125 of which came on two plays — fell just short 24-23 in their regular-season finale at New Richland Thursday, Oct. 8. The loss left the Panthers 6-2 overall and in third place behind WEM and Maple River in the South Central Blue District football final 2015 standings.

“It’s not often you hold a team to 163 yards and lose,” said NRHEG coach Dan Stork.

The story for the Panthers was mistakes.

The NRHEG Community Education trip to Lanesboro to visit the Amish farms has been rescheduled from October 8 to October 22. The tour will visit several Amish farms, then have lunch in Lanesboro and spend some time in the shops. A highlight of the trip will be viewing the beautiful colored leaves in this area. If interested, call 507-417-2667.

Acclaimed Minnesota author David Treuer will speak about Prudence, a captivating work of historical fiction which tackles the history of German POW camps during World War II in Minnesota, at 7 p.m. on Oct. 20 at the Waseca Public Library.

Treuer is an Ojibwe Indian from Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota. He is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a Minnesota Book Award, and fellowships from the NEH, Bush Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation. He divides his time between his home on the Leech Lake Reservation and Los Angeles, where he is a Professor of Literature at USC. 

I am one of the fortunate, or maybe not so fortunate, to be an early riser. It seems to be something I was born with. In fact, my mother often reminds me that even as a baby I did not sleep much, which was hard for a new mother to deal with.

As I watched them gather at the bus stop near my home this past week when the morning temperatures dropped down in the 30s, my thoughts turned to the kids. It must be hard, especially for the younger ones, to have to get up early and leave their nice warm beds so they would be ready for the school bus. I guess the colder temperatures we experienced for a few days was a reminder that winter will be here before we know it.

My uncle, Paul, reminded me that compared to his growing up years, today’s early bus ride would be a picnic. The farm youngsters had to get up and do their morning chores before they got dressed for school. 

Once they were done with the chores they would have to try and wash off the smell of the cattle and such before they would get dressed, eat breakfast and head out the door. And if that wasn't enough, many of them often had to walk some distance to catch the bus that would take them to school. Those walks, many which could reach a mile or more, could really be cold early in the morning, especially when the winter winds were blowing.

Of course, if you went to country school you probably rode in Dad’s sleigh and kept warm using horse hair blankets, wool snow pants and coats, four and five-buckle overshoes, wool scarves and mittens, sitting in a pile of straw.

Buses weren’t always big yellow monsters like they are now. My mother reminded me when my aunt, Helyn, or Toody, rode the school bus it was a wagon or sleigh, depending on the season, and when the winter winds started blowing they often had a tarp-like top for a cover to help keep out the bad weather. Often they would heat bricks and children were able to put their feet on them to help warm their toes after those cold walks in the snow. Remember, they didn’t have snow boots back in those “olden days” like we do now.

There were no radios back then either, to allow bus drivers to keep in contact with the school. And we won’t talk about the quality of those county roads, especially in bad weather. There weren’t as many kids back then, so there weren’t so many bus drivers either. Some of the early bus drivers who come to mind in the Ellendale area are Norris Thompson, Menard Vangen and Arvid Langlie; and the “Geneva Kids” had Donny Bartsch.

While today’s kids have so many activities to keep them busy, yesterday’s children had a variety of chores they were required to do before homework and then getting ready for bedtime, often by lamp light before electricity.

By those standards, maybe today’s children have it made. Not necessarily so. Back in those early years parents and children were together more often at meal time than some families are now. They weren’t busy rushing out the door to go to a ball game, musical program, shopping, etc. Once children came home from school, they stayed home until it was time to get up and go to school again the next morning.

— — —

Birthdays and anniversaries:

• Thursday, October 8th: Alex Schlaak (2014), Lauren Olivia Sommers, Barb Hagen, Barb Dobberstein, Barb Strenge, Mary Kay Spurr, Mandy Moon, Haley Hanson, Hazel Spiering, Brad Anderson, Doug Anderson, Daniel Paulson, Kaye Nelson, Julie & Brian Dahl

• Friday, October 9th: Matt Kubiatowicz, Joshua Kasper, Randy Mucha, Nancy Jo Anderson, Ashley Hove, Keith Neidermeier, Paul Aronson, Dennis Blouin and Cheryl Paulsen Wilson

• Saturday, October 10th: Pat Goodnature, Trevin Stollard, Aarin Gray Pirsig, his 2nd; Eric Anderson, Nicole Anderson Loken, Luverne Hamor, Haley Hanson, LeRoy Ingvaldson, Ncole Lonning, Betty DeRaad, Elena Grace Spande

• Sunday, October 11th: Michell Edwards, Mayro (Leak) Kubista, Melissa Otto, Jenna Swearingen, Alisha Moody, Mike Trumble, Cory McGrath, Shawna Besco, Lee & Jody Loverink

• Monday, October 12th: Katilyn Crabtree. Christopher Wallace, Beth Spande, Elena Grace Spande, Marilyn Dobberstein, Terrie Mullenmaster, Lewis Kelly, Charlie & Becky Phagan, Larry & Terry Jensen

• Tuesday, October 13th: Hunter Knutson, Adrianna Schewe, Journey Lynn Utpadel, Courtney Deml, Otto Nels Oquist, Mitchell Wallace, Jackie Flor, Rita Thompson, Suzanne Peterson, Becky Wallace, Mikkel & Jennifer Iverson

• Wednesday, October 14th: Chris Schlaak, Jim Lutgens, Reece Alexander, Chris Ritz, Janet Goette, Dan Hanson, Delana & Daniel Routh, Breanna & Tim Briedenbach

• Thursday, October 15th: Colin Farr, Corbin Brocker, Tony Anderson, Sandy Jensen, Edwin VerHey, John Dittlevson, Madison Lynn Homuth, Barb & Jack Kuckenbecker, Heidi & Tim Schaefe

• Friday, October, 16th: Kade Schember, Jenny Shaunce, Sabrina Marie Bauers, Donna & Gordon Hanson, Jamie & Amber Jensen, Travis & Stacy Simon

May your special day be filled with all the things you treasure most.

As I have written many times before; fall is definitely my favorite time of the year. I always enjoy taking a walk in the woods on a cool, crisp, sunny fall day with the sound of dry leaves crunching underfoot as I inhale the definitive smell of this season; a certain smell that only fall can offer up.

I am looking forward to one last trip north to our cabin before old man winter shows up. The fall colors are peaking in that area right now and although I won’t be there before they are done I will still enjoy the solitude that only a fall day spent in the woods can bring.

If I close my eyes I can almost smell the smoke as it flows gently from the chimney of our cabin. This is one of the smells that I always associate with fall and it gives me the feeling that all is right with the world. The forest offers many distinct odors for my smelling enjoyment. There is the distinct smell that only comes from fallen leaves after a late fall rain shower; there is also not only the smell but the sound of dried leaves crunching beneath your feet as you walk one of the trails that wind through the woods.

I have, over the years, been on many fall fishing trips and I can say that these are some of my fondest memories. There were quite a few years when I would go to Spider Lake for late September and early October fishing trips. This was always made special by the beauty of the lake and if you were lucky enough to be there when the leaves were at their peak it was a sight to behold. As the leaves of the trees that lined the road to Spider turned, the last few miles of the drive gave you the feeling that you were driving through a tunnel of gold. It is hard beat the magnificent beauty of that lake any time but the fall colors just make it that much better.

Fishing in the fall can be fickle at times but if you can find the fish your chances of netting a lunker are very good. Fall is the time when the fish such as walleye and northern are “bulking up” for the long winter ahead. It is a fact that when you find the baitfish you will also find the fish that you are seeking. Once the lake turns over, which is usually right after the first hard frost, the oxygen level is the same throughout the lake and finding the baitfish is the key. Live bait (minnows) and large jerk baits seem to work best in the fall. There are some exceptions, I once knew this muskie fisherman who trolled a large Red Eyed Wiggler as close to shore as possible and with very good results; so there is nothing set in stone when it comes to fall fishing. The only predictable thing about fall fishing is that the fish are seeking that last big meal before the water hardens.

I have had some very good fishing experiences in the fall but, truth be told, I have probably found fishing to be tough more times than not. In my past experiences I have found that spending a lot of time on the lake is the key to finding the fish but when fishing in the fall it is sometimes tough to be on the lake for extended times.

One particular time that comes to mind is when my son Brian and I were staying at Spider in October. Brian was into bow hunting at that time and he would get up early to sit in his tree stand for a couple of hours and then come back to the cabin and have breakfast. After breakfast was finished and he had warmed up we would head hit the lake for a little fishing. This particular week the high temps didn’t reach much above 40-degrees. This made spending a lot of time on the water almost impossible because after about two hours we were ready to head to the cabin and enjoy the heat of the oil heater. We would usually come back to the cabin, warm up and eat  lunch before taking a little nap. Once we’d eaten and were warm and rested we were ready to hit the lake again in search of that elusive fall lunker.

If you have fished much at all you know the feeling of putting your hand in ice cold water and then trying to put a minnow on a hook. When you have the minnow in one hand and the hook in the other and your brain knows what you want to do but your fingers won’t cooperate it’s probably about time to head to the warmth of the cabin.

Although this was one of those times when fish were hard to come by I have to say that it was actually one of the most enjoyable fall fishing trips that I have ever taken. Spending those few days at Spider Lake bonding with my son is a memory that I will always cherish dearly.

Don’t forget that we have some very good fishing lakes in the area and fall bass fishing is usually very good on many of these area lakes.

Until next time, this is a great time to take a drive around the lake or in the country to enjoy the painted beauty of our great Minnesota outdoors. The farmers are now busy harvesting their crops so be aware of any farm machinery that may be on the road and give them a little space.

Please remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers because they are the reason we are able to enjoy all the freedoms that we have today.