Another Icy Opener Report

I received this picture from a friend who was trying to fish Leech Lake on opening weekend.  This picture was taken on Mother’s Day, Sunday, and is of Walker Bay, the smaller and deeper side of legendary Leech Lake.  They were fishing in Shingobee Bay, which was open.

She also told me that apparently there were some anglers that had put in at Erickson’s Landing, near Kabekona Bay and north of Walker, on the Northwest side of the lake, and while they were out fishing the ice flow shifted and blocked the landing.  Supposedly they were able to negotiate to another landing and retrieve their vehicles and trailers from there, but it sounds like there was some scratch and dent, and gnarling of props….

I also spoke with another friend who owns a cabin at Huddle’s Resort on the Southeast side of Leech Lake, who told me he spent the weekend working on his boat because the entire south side of the main lake out to the north end of Pelican Island was still iced over.

Most of the fishermen I know from the Whipholt area skipped fishing on opening weekend, but a few did go around the ice flows to the north end of Bear Island, Sugar, and Battle Points where the cool waters left the walleyes a little sluggish and uncooperative.

The ice did finally go out from area lakes this week and the summer fishing season can begin in earnest.  I observed a dozen boats and pier fishermen on Lake Bemidji this afternoon between finals.  I didn’t see any fish caught during my brief observations today, but we’ll be an active participant this weekend instead of a casual observer.  Then we’ll have hard facts to report!

What’s That in the Shadows?

Could it be…?  No….  Is it?  Spring?  It can’t be….  Can it?

A Mother’s Day Revenge?

Not completely.

The pictures of Lake Bemidji below were taken yesterday, the day before the traditional Minnesota fishing opener at 12:00AM Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend.  Many of the larger lakes in the northern third of the state were still holding ice - a lot of it - thanks to Old Man Winter’s unrelenting grasp this year.  Opening day brought 33 degree temperatures, rain, and snow in the Bemidji area.

A survey of the Lake Bemidji access parking lots this morning found only a few lonely, boatless trailers.  The north end of the lake was open and the connecting Lake Irving to the south was open as well, but for the most part this year’s opener was about ten days too early for many of the big lakes.  The cold water temperatures has also delayed spawning which will definitely affect fishing success as well.

A little farther to the south, the Minnesota Governor’s fishing opener at Pelican Lake saw Gov. Tim Pawlenty boat just one 17″ walleye.  He was bested by Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau who put a 19″ eye in the boat, MN Sen. Mary Olson, Bemidji, with a 19.5″ walleye, and Pawlenty also lost his bet with U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, MN,  who set the hook on a 21″ eye.

Mom’s Day is forecasted to bring clear skies and 57 degrees of sunshine.  Sorry moms, they might be gone fishin’ after all.

Why I Came Calling

Since the Outdoor Bloggers Summit has been kind enough to invite some traffic my way, I thought I would post an answer to Kristine’s question of why I have decided to support the OBS for all those who have the urge to pay a visit.

Originally, the LPRB was a class project born from a return to academia, but it has progressively become more than that.  I have been affiliated with the outdoors industry in one way or another for most of my life, most recently as an employee of the nation’s largest outdoors outfitting retailer where I worked in various locations across the country for nearly eight years.  When I decided to leave that life last August in order to pursue some loftier personal goals, I spent the Fall in a dream season of sorts - hunting or fishing the Fall away everyday.  Although, I had left the “business” of the outdoors behind, I was not ready to sever my ties with the outdoors community.  The LPRB has provided a way to continue to share my passions for the outdoors and redirect my life towards those personal goals I had set so long ago.

This class project has also expanded to include something I would not leave behind, my mentoring responsibilities as a hunter education instructor.  I have started the Hunter Education & Firearm Safety Training blog to enhance the experience of the students in my classes as well as provide a possible resource of information and enlightenment for the hunting and non-hunting communities alike.

I originally came calling upon the OBS, and many sites affiliated with it, in an effort to increase my outdoors resources on the web for my own personal use.  But now the OBS and its members and supporters have become a source for communication, exposure, and building relationships as well as shared information, knowledge and a channel for my voice to be heard by the individuals who share my passions for the outdoors and our outdoors heritage.

I hope the LPRB will continue to evolve into a site the OBS is proud to display on its blogroll.  I have many ideas to continue to improve the site, like a “lake of the week” feature I am hoping to implement with the coming open water fishing season, and I am also learning from all of the fantastically talented individuals I have come across since turning down this new path.

Thank you to Kristine, Othmar, and Tom, who have already stopped by to say hello or link the LPRB into their blogrolls and send traffic my way.  And welcome to those I have not met yet, I hope you enjoy the LPRB as much as I have enjoyed looking around your creations while I’m discovering great new places and friends everyday.

Urban Deer

So I have been away for a while preparing for the end of the semester crunch and finals, tending to family and friends, and working with my first Firearm Safety Training class of the year.  This is where I have been doing most of my blogging lately, over at the Hunter Education & Firearm Safety Training blog.

My personal outdoors activities have slowed to almost a halt, and it’s beginning to drive me a little nuts - the dog won’t even look me in the eye anymore.  Next weekend is the Minnesota fishing opener, and although in recent years I’ve chosen to leave opener to the rookies and one-timers, I’m chomping at the bit to get Pro-V - Year II under way.  It’s a good thing we still have ice on the lakes.  The late April snowstorm that closed out our total snow accumulation somewhere in the 5-6 feet range for April - just April - didn’t really dampen my spirits as I have had no time to do nothing else but dream of fishing.  Now, knee deep in finals, there will be no fishing until after turkey season, which gets under way, for me, the day after finals.

Even the scooter and the wheeler have been relegated to the doldrums of the garage.  Hell, the wheeler still has the plow attached - ready for that Memorial Day weekend blizzard!

But the snow has again mostly melted, and there are signs - albeit reluctant signs - of spring everywhere.  The urban deer have started to become more active and are now beginning to show up on the LPR Deer Cam.  They look a little ragged and strung out after another long winter, but don’t we all!

 

I have taken thousands of pictures of urban deer with the LPR Deer Cam over the years - a way of hunting from inside the city limits in one’s own backyard.  I will be sharing some of the new photos throughout the upcoming months as the backyard activity picks up.  This guy in the foreground of the picture above looks as though he is just starting this year’s antler growth.  Over the years, there have been some very nice photos - fawns only a few days old, foxes, the old club-footed doe - and some not so nice - neighbors chasing their dogs for instance!  But, the most amazing photos the LPR Deer Cam has ever taken were not the most brilliant pictures ever made, but the subject was jaw-dropping.

In 2004, the brute pictured below was part of a four-buck urban deer gang that ruled South Bemidji.  They roamed day or night, backyards - and front!  This guy even challenged me in my own driveway as he indulged on acorns when I arrived home from work one night.  Believe it or not, he was not the biggest one of the bunch.  There was a perfectly symmetrical and wider 12-pointer who was slightly larger in body mass and also ran with this group of thugs.  However I never managed to get him on film.  Which one was the leader?  Who was the boss?  I’ll never know.  The pictures below were taken shortly before the last time I saw either of them, when I could count 19 points on this atypical monster.  He lives on in legend as the Liberty Pines Ranch Buck.