Ron's Ramblings

Walleye Sex Life Told

2013-03-04T19:07:34Z

You probably haven’t thought much about the sex life of a walleye. Too bad.   It’s pretty impressive.   Happens on April nights. On gravel beds. Cool surroundings, 42-50 degrees. Not much courtship. More the merrier; group sex, sorta. No ties. When its over, all swim their own way. The young fend for themselves, no problem. Slam, bam, thank you walleye.
Interestingly, in the world of fish, females tend to grow larger and faster than their male counterparts. Walleye are no different.
A male walleye seldom reaches weights heavier than 5 pounds or lengths beyond 22-inches even if it lives to a ripe old age.   There are exceptions, however. One winter day of ice fishing at Minnesota’s Northwest Angle, I caught a hefty walleye that was too weak to return to the water, despite repeated attempts to make it swim away.   It weighed 7 pounds. I was sad about keeping the fish, thinking I’d killed a plump female only weeks away from spawning.   Imagine my surprise when we fileted the fish only to discover it was a male!
However, most Minnesota lunkers, those walleyes of braggin’ size are always big mamas.
What’s a meal to a walleye?
Walleyes are meat-eaters, aquatic predators who prefer to attack prey that is alive if only barely. Their most common natural food consists of small, young-of-the-year perch. Or when eating-size perch aren’t abundant, food studies have shown that walleyes will switch to larvae of aquatic insects, such as the mayfly.
A walleye’s food supply is what determines your own walleye fishing luck.    Let’s consider the fishing history of Mille Lacs.   Some seasons it seems a walleye on the end of the line is rarer than reefs of gold.   When this happens, most of us complain about the DNR and its poor handling of the walleye population. Stock Mille Lacs! They don’t, of course.
The next year, bango, the hot bite is on. Everybody with a line in the water is catching walleyes. What happened? Well, nobody added more walleyes; they were there all along.   What changed was the walleye’s food supply.   An abundance of food makes fishing tough. A decline in young, bite-sized perch leads to a hot walleye bite.   It happens every time.
Finding Walleyes

It’s the hunt that makes walleye fishing so fascinating.
To catch em, first you’ve got to find ‘em.
Too many fisherman with high hopes for walleyes always try to fight the system. These anglers must like bad odds, such as hunting for needles in haystackes.   It might be challenging but, hey, aren’t we here to catch something?
If you want to catch walleyes, go to a walleye lake instead of a lake with walleyes in it.
Take the odds. Choose lakes to fish that have a reputation as a walleye producer. Granted, you’ve got a wide choice in Minnesota. But there’s also a bunch of lakes that are not known walleye hotspots.   When you’re casting for walleyes in a danged good bass lake, you’re in for a slow day, pal.
The best walleye seekers I know all have one skill in common: they know how to choose the best waters and the best time period for the fish they’re after.
Creating your own list of good walleye lakes isn’t difficult. The DNR offers walleye population data for every lake via the ‘’Lake Find’’ feature on its website: www.dnr.state.mn.us. Local baitshops are happy to suggest their best walleye lakes.
Starting out to fish on a known walleye lake or river is half of the battle. The other half is…well, a little more difficult. It’s called fishing.
Finding walleye hangouts

So where do you start fishing now that you’ve found the lake?
That depends on the time of year. Walleyes spawn in shallow water during April and early May in Minnesota. After spawning and as the weeks pass on into summer, the general rule is the walleyes gradually drop into deeper water.
There are expectations, of course.
Under the cover of darkness, walleyes may move back into shallow water, say 6-feet or less, even on the hottest days of July and August.
You will find walleyes hanging out in weedbeds in less than 12-feet of water spring, summer or fall.   One August day my brother Roger and I were casting huge jerkbaits for muskies roaming weedy bays in Mille Lacs. Guess what we caught? We each landed 28-inch walleyes.
What are walleyes doing in the weeds? Following the food.   Where you find the walleyes food, you’ll find the walleyes.
Walleyes tend to be structure fish. A point. A reef. A sunken island. A pile of boulders. A sand flat.    Any and all of these places may harbor walleyes on any given day in any given lake. Which one? There’s not a walleye expert who can say with any accuracy without knowing more. Time of year? Wind direction? Many factors go into locating walleyes. Let’s take a look.

Walleyes Love Wind

When the wind blows, the walleyes bite.   There’s no guarantees in fishing but the wind and walleye connection is as close as it gets.
While walleyes tend to be nocturnal creatures, it’s very possible to catch them in daylight, saving your nocturnal hours for more normal pursuits.
You can have the luxury of sunlight and catch walleyes, if you’ve got wind or dark water (tannic stained) or a feeding movement. A hungry walleye is very capable of ignoring bright sunlight while it feeds. Would it prefer less light? Probably, but a walleye eats first and hides second.   You can learn that lesson in early season by casting jigs into 4-feet of water and catching walleyes in mid-day.   They might bite better at sundown but don’t rule out anything until you’ve tried it.
It was mid-day, high noon, when partner, Mark Bundgaard and I, were bouncing in a stiff walleye chop on a sand flat in less than 10 feet of water. We didn’t know it but a walleye feeding binge was about to start, thanks to the sudden wind.   When it was over, Mark had the largest walleye of his angling career, an 8-pounder on a jig-minnow in the boat. He’s caught larger walleyes since but you never forget feeding binges.
Walleyes tend to be clean bottom fish. That is, they prefer sand, rock or gravel sites or at least hard bottom. Again, there are expectations. The so-called "mud flats" of Mille Lacs are famed walleye hang-outs in mid summer. But the flats are actually clay humps and they are quite hard, although covered with silt.   At times during the summer, the Mille Lacs walleyes will go off the humps into truly pure, unadulterated soft mucky bottom. But their forays over mud are the exception not the rule.
In early season, walleyes looking for food also will stray into mud bays. Why? It’s where the food is.

Walleyes By The Season

Just as the sun always rises in the east, Minnesota’s walleye season always opens on the Saturday nearest May 15. Let’s open the season and follow it through until winter once again caps the state’s waters in ice.
Opening Day and the first two or three weeks of walleye fishing is typically a shoreline affair. Having completed spawning in the shallows,   walleyes tend to hang around the rock, sand or gravelly shores in water seldom deeper that 15-feet. Usually less.   If warming spring weather arrives early, this shallow period will be short.
Concentrations of male walleyes in early season can be spectacular, particularly where spawning rivers enter a lake. Seldom are the big mamas around.
Most of the male walleyes will run in the 1 to 2-pound range, maybe a few 3’s.
Meanwhile, the larger females already have begun to disperse to their summer haunts and are recuperating from the stress of spawning. Hence, they are not where most of the fishermen are.
As the days go and the water warms,    walleyes become more predictable.   This happens in June.
If you’re a lunker hunter, June fishing is more promising as the walleye can be found rather consistently in its usual hangouts – deep shoreline points, sunken islands, sandbars, rockbars. The fish producing depths range from about 15 to 30 feet. Remember, however, that not every walleye has moved. Shorelines with sharp drops of gravel or rock will continue to be productive, especially at dawn and dusk.
At that time of year – about mid-June – a practical depth to start fishing is about 20 feet. If that fails, move up or down in increments of 5-foot depths in trial and error fashion.
Sooner or later, if you’re fishing typical summer hangouts, you should get a bite.

Summer Walleye Hangouts?

Today places where fish hangout are popularly called "structure." Your granddaddy called them "hotspots."
Structure is an irregularity in a lake or river bottom, such as a sunken island, a sandbar, or so forth. A boulder or hole in a river would be structure. Fish usually hang around such structure. More specifically, fish tend to congregate near the "breaks" on the structure. A break is a sudden change of depth.
(See Illustration)
For example, suppose a sandbar gradually deepens to 10 feet, then sharply drops down to 15 feet and then drops off again at 20 feet. There would then be two breaks on the sandbar, so to speak. One at 10 feet and another at 15 feet. A walleye fisherman in early June would undoubtedly start fishing at the point where the sandbar in 15-feet of water drops off to 20 or more feet. In May, you’d probably try the 10-feet "break" first.
Starting in mid-to-late June, most of the walleyes have gathered in their summer haunts where they’ll stay through much of the fishing season.
Some haunts are better than others. Sunken islands or humps in a lake are renowned walleye magnets but you’ll find there’s a difference in sunken islands, particularly their cover and depth.
In mid-summer, walleyes tend to frequent the underwater humps with weedy tops, those that peak less than 20 feet under the surface. Those weed-free humps or islands, which are devoid of weed or rock cover often are abandoned by walleyes. Or nearly so.

And then comes August.
August is a fine vacation month in Minnesota, unless you’re expecting to taste some of that famous walleye fishing you’ve heard about. Time and again, Joe Blow, the visiting fisherman, brings his family to Minnesota in August, thinking he’ll slip out and nab a few walleyes, too.
It’s dangerous to generalize but August fishing can be tough. Oh, yes, the water is warm and the walleyes are feeding. That’s not the problem. The problem typically is an abundance of baby perch.
Late August and early September can mean fishing deep rock humps, 30 to 50 feet down.   A live bait rig or 5/8ths jig works at those depths tipped with a minnow, leech or piece of nightcrawler.   But it’s slow fishing because locating a walleye in deep water is more time consuming and difficult.
But let’s not despair.
August can produce great walleye action in the right spots. I’ve enjoyed awesome August walleye fishing on Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake.   Where is a hunting question. Shallow 10-foot rock piles can be loaded or you’ll have to fish deep 30-foot rocks to catch fish, you’ll just have to try both.
Let’s not forget the August potential of the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix Rivers.
If you’re thinking August is an impossible month to catch walleye, you didn’t read it in these pages.

A nifty wood business

2012-10-18T14:40:57Z

When he was 16 years old, Joe Nelson, found a way to make a little spending money.
It wasn't easy but---when you're a teenager growing up in the woods around Fort Ripley----it's no big deal to cut a little firewood, load a pickup truck, and rumble around looking for folks willing to buy it.
Today, the kid is now 41 years old and he's up to his entrepreneural head in the wood business. Not just firewood, which he ships the world over these days with loaded semi-trailers, train cars and on ocean vessels packed with containers of his certified, kiln dried and heat-treated firewood. His wife, Angie, a high school sweetheart, is a busy partner and the mother of their two boys, Austin, 12 and Devon, 15.
As if he needed another wood business, Joe and Angie, a decade ago started something called, Wilderness Land Clearing and Mulching.
And guess who are his biggest clients?
Minnesota deer hunters who have some timberland and the wish for more deer.
So, what does Joe do? ''I clear food plots, make trails, shooting lanes, clear building sites, buckthorn removal, you name it,'' Nelson explained.
His machinery is unique, something called a Gyro Track GT 13 plus other similar models. It's not a brush hog. Nelson says it's his ''lean, mean, green machine. It'll take down and grind up brush and trees of 20-inch diameter or more. Stumps are shaved at ground level.
''I drive over an area once and it's done. The result is eco-friendly. The wood mulch goes right back on the ground, decomposes and improves the forest soil. Whereas, a caterpillar pushes up a pile of wood. My machines don't disturb the topsoil, but add to it.''
To get an idea of what the ''lean, mean, green machine'' can do, Nelson says he can create 1.5 miles of trail a day or clear up to 4-acre food plots. The cutting blades run at between 2600 and 2800 rpms.
''Barbed wire ruins my day if I don't see it. I have to buy new machines about every couple years. It's hard on them.''
Nelson takes on deer land improvement jobs throughout Minnesota, western Wisconsin, northern Iowa and southern North Dakota.
So, what was he thinking launching into mulching? ''Mulching is my hobby. I love running the machines, making food plots. I like being in the woods,'' he said. His working crew normally consists of himself and one other employee, both operating machines. ''We're plenty busy, but we can always be busier.''
Nelson says the best time for deer hunters to improve their deer land is in spring and fall. To learn more, check out wildernesslandimprovement.com. Or call 800-630-2960.
And, oh yes, when she's not running the firewood business, Angie also drives a lean, mean, green machine.

My Cabo....

2012-04-04T17:16:14Z

If you've never been to Cabo San Lucas, it's a Mexican vacation destination that---if not perfecto, it's mighty close to it.
And I'm not guessing. Cabo has been an annual winter getaway for me for a decade or more. Why? Perfect weather almost every day. A busy coastal setting with seaside restaurants, fresh catches on the menu and….margaritas wherever you go.
Does it get any better. Well, yes it does. It's also nice to have friends in Cabo, especially if that friend owns Cabo Villas Resort AND a fishing boat, Bad Medicine.
That friend is Chris Erickson, who also happens to be a former Minnesotan from Detroit Lakes. Chris moved to Cabo, following his father, in 1990 and never left. For good reason, of course. He caught a marlin on his very first visit. That's one reason. He also landed a wife and the tourist business.
Today Cabo Villas is a tourist setting on the main beach in Cabo. That's nice. The scenery is awesome. But what I really like about Cabo Villas is the restaurant service and especially the food. Trust me, you won't find better.
Okay, you've got a great place to sleep and eat. Now what's to do in Cabo. Well, there's shopping, of course. There are tours available, such as horseback and ATV riding. One of my favorites was a day trip to a small mountain village where stands the famous Hotel California.
What about the fishing? Aaah, glad you asked. Fishing is my thing. And Chris Erickson's charter boat, Bad Medicine, operated by Capt. Bernie is one of the best in the Marina. Keep in mind, fishing is fishing. Fishing in December through March is an ever-changing scenario. Striped marlin, tuna, yellowtail, you name it. Seldom is every species present at the same time. But the nice thing about Cabo, you also don't need a one hour ride before you start trolling.
Are you guaranteed to land a lunker? Of course not. Fishing is still fishing. But if you do hook up, the fish on the end of the line could be a memory of a lifetime.
And maybe that's what it's all about….memories. Cabo makes memories. My home state of Minnesota also makes memories. One day while Chris and I were hooked to a leaping marlin, he said he still misses Minnesota's walleye fishing.
At the time, the weather in Minnesota was 10 above while the Cabo temperature was 80.
I love walleyes, too, but at that moment I wasn't missing them.

Storm Clouds coming.....

2012-01-17T19:32:25Z

WE MINNESOTANS LOVE OUR LAKES.
IT'S ON OUR LICENSE PLATES.
WE GO NORTHBOUND AS A WAY OF LIFE TO RESORTS AND CABINS AND FAMILY VACATIONS. OUR LAKES AND RIVERS ARE IMPORTANT TO WHO WE ARE.   WE PLAY IN WATER. WE PADDLE AND FLOAT.   WE LEAD THE NATION IN BOAT OWNERSHIP.   WE CATCH MORE WALLEYES.
INDEED WE ARE THE LAND OF SKY BLUE WATER. AND PROUD OF IT.

BUT TODAY IN MINNESOTA THERE ARE STORM CLOUDS ABOVE….

AND TROUBLE BELOW.

IN TWO WORDS, INVASIVE SPECIES.   THESE ARE PLANTS OR ANIMALS NOT NATIVE TO MINNESOTA'S WATER AND LANDSCAPE.
SOME WE KNOW WELL. CARP. FOR EXAMPLE. WE ALSO KNOW HOW DESTRUCTIVE THEY ARE.

EURASIAN WATER MILFOIL IS ANOTHER. IT'S SPREAD SO FAST IN OUR LAKES, IT'S LIKE AN EPIDEMIC. NOT MANY YEARS AGO, MINNESOTANS HAD NEVER HEARD OF THIS INVASIVE SPECIES.   NOW IT CLOGS OUR OUTBOARDS AND FISHING HOTSPOTS.

TODAY OUR MINNESOTA LAKES AND RIVERS ARE THREATENED LIKE NEVER BEFORE BY STRANGE CREATURES WE'VE NEVER HEARD OF.     ZEBRA MUSSELS. SPINY WATER FLEAS. ASIAN CARP AND THE LIST GOES ON.   MANY OF THESE INVASIVE SPECIES ARE ALREADY IN OUR WATER (RUSTY CRAYFISH) OTHERS ARE ON THEIR WAY…UNLESS THEY'RE STOPPED.

IN RECENT YEARS THE MINNESOTA DNR HAS LAUNCHED A CAMPAIGN TO ALERT US ABOUT INVASIVE SPECIES. WHY? BECAUSE WE HAVE A LOT TO LOSE. A WHOLE LOT.
ZEBRA MUSSELS ARE NOW THRIVING IN MILLE LACS, THE STATE'S PREMIER WALLEYE FISHERY. SO WHAT? THESE TINY MUSSELS COULD CAUSE A SERIOUS DECLINE IN THE LAKE'S WALLEYE POPULATION. THAT'S WHY.

THE SILVER CARP, ANOTHER INVASIVE HEADING TO MINNESOTA BY SWIMMING UPSTREAM IN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, HAS REPLACED GAMEFISH POPULATIONS IN ILLINOIS AND TURNED BOATING INTO A HAZARDOUS JOY RIDE.

GET THE PICTURE?

INVASIVE SPECIES ARE A SERIOUS, SERIOUS PROBLEM. IF WE LOVE OUR LAKES---AND WE DO---WE'VE GOT TO STOP EM FROM SPREADING AND, IF POSSIBLE, ERADICATE EM WHERE THEY ALREADY EXIST.

AND JUST SO YOU KNOW, THAT'S A HUGE TASK.

FOR STARTERS, MINNESOTA LAWMAKERS HAVE PASSED STRINGENT BOATING LAWS AIMED AT HALTING THE SPREAD OF INVASIVES FROM LAKE TO LAKE.
BUT ZEBRA MUSSELS AND MILFOIL DON'T READ LAWS. YOUR DNR CAN ONLY TRY TO ENFORCE THE RULES.
STOPPING THE SPREAD OF INVASIVE SPECIES IS REALLY UP TO YOU. FOLLOW THE RULES. CLEAN YOUR BOAT. DON'T GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS THE LAZY ANGLER OR BOATER WHO SAID RULES ARE FOR OTHER PEOPLE.

WILL IT WORK? CAN WE HALT THE SPREAD OF EURASIAN WATERMILFOIL OR ZEBRA MUSSELS OR INVADING CARP?

IN TRUTH, NOBODY KNOWS. BUT WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING BECAUSE DOING NOTHING IS A PRICE WE MINNESOTANS DON'T WANT TO PAY. WE HAVE THOUSANDS OF LAKES, BUT WE CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE ANY OF THEM.

IF WE LIMIT THE LAKES UNDER SIEGE, NEW   CONTROL METHODS MAY BE DEVELOPED WITH MORE RESEARCH.

A LONG TIME AGO, SEA LAMPREYS ALMOST DECIMATED LAKE TROUT IN THE NATION'S GREAT LAKES. TODAY THEY ARE UNDER CONTROL.

SO---IT CAN BE DONE. THERE IS HOPE. BUT WE LAKE LOVERS MUST ALL WORK TOGETHER TO DO IT.
AFTER ALL, THE GUAGGAS ARE COMING. YES, THAT'S ANOTHER EXOTIC MUSSEL SPECIES THAT'S POSSIBLY MORE DESTRUCTIVE THAN ZEBRA MUSSELS.
YES, THE LAKES WE LOVE ARE UNDER SIEGE. WE MUST WIN THE WAR AGAINST INVASIVE SPECIES.
OR RISK A MINNESOTA HEARTBREAK LIKE NO OTHER.

A Fish Story

2012-01-10T20:18:07Z

This fish story just in.
Not long ago I was sent a Manitoba newspaper clipping from a March 23, 1999 edition with a most amazing fish tale.
The story’s headline says it all: THEY ATE MANITOBA’S BIGGEST PIKE.
And, yes, it’s apparently true. A resident of Easterville, Manitoba, a small aboriginal community southeast of The Pas, was fishing for food for the family table when he caught (by hook or by net is undetermined) a pretty nice northern pike out of Cedar Lake.   The fisherman and his four children had a picture taken of them holding the pike.
Okay, so it was a little better than pretty nice.
According to Manitoba officials, who utilized computer scanning and imaging to determine the fish’s measurements, the pike was estimated to be 70 inches long or about 10 inches longer than Manitoba’s official pike record.
The pike’s estimated weight is more than 50 pounds.
As a fish story goes, this one is also quite short. Doug Leroux, a regional fisheries manager in The Pas, said he believes that such a fish was caught.
‘’From what I understand, the fisherman was simply out to stock the family fridge when he made the catch.   From what I understand, he gave it to his grandmother. It would definitely feed a family for a while.’’
And so, the largest pike in Manitoba history ended up on the dinner table.
Sad in a way, but, if you think about it, most of the giant fish caught in the last 100 years probably ended up in somebody’s belly. It’s quite possible Minnesota’s record 45-pound pike, allegedly caught in 1929, was cooked as well.
(It’s also possible the Minnesota state record pike isn’t even the state record pike because of insufficient evidence but that’s another story awaiting a DNR decision).
Through the centuries and for as long as anglers have cast for sport, big fish have always held a special place in an angler’s heart. However, in comparison, official state record keeping or big fish awards programs are probably only decades old. In a way, that’s too bad, too. It would have been nice to know, say in 1850, if a 17-pound walleye was viewed as really big or commonplace.
Clearly, the times they are a changing, as the song goes. More of us who fish are releasing more of what we catch in the belief we’re helping the resource (and our own fishing future.)
If you would have told me 25 years ago that walleye anglers someday would willingly release perfectly good-eating walleyes, I would have told you to check your fever because you’re hallucinating.
Oddly enough, the northern pike seems to be the trophy we love to catch and keep.   In my home state of Minnesota, a big pike (more than 10 pounds) may be the rarest trophy of all gamefish.   On lakes that are capable of producing large pike, the rules still allow an angler to keep one pike over 40 inches or so.   Under those rules, if 50 anglers all keep one big pike, the big pike will be gone eventually.   The story of declining or rare pike trophy catches is found in just about every state in the country.
Fortunately, many big pike lodges in Canada have learned the ir conservation lesson and forbid killing of any 40 inch plus pike. Not every lake is capable of producing big pike (food and habitat play a major role) but we need to identify those lakes and establish complete protection if we want to restore our trophy pike angling.
In the meantime, we still must keep fishing fun without the need for an attorney in the boat seat. Fishing is also a way to have good eating. We just need to remember to eat the small fish and let the lunkers go.
Sometimes it doesn’t happen, of course.
My favorite big fish cooked story is about a Twin Cities angler who caught the fish of a lifetime in the St. Croix River. It was a beautiful smallmouth bass with dark golden sides, dashing red eyes and a bass belly that weighed more than 8-pounds.   To this day, I think it was a new Minnesota record smallmouth.
But we’ll never know.
As the angler explained it to me, he was more than excited with his catch and rushed home to share his good fortune with the wife.
‘’What are you planning to do with that?,’’ the wife reportedly said, apparently not as ecstatic as he.
‘’Honey,’’ he said, softening his answer, ‘’I plan to have the fish mounted.’’
‘’It’s not hanging in our house,’’ she replied.
So--now you know why a potential Minnesota record fish---a coveted smallmouth bass--- ended up on a dinner table instead of a den wall.

Unique Art

2011-11-03T13:58:00Z

Jim Bellamy is an avid deer hunter with considerable artistic talent. What happens when you combine the two....presto, you have Jim's shaved deer hides that are unique in every way.
After trial and error, Jim came up with the idea to shave the fur, to give it a dimensional look. Jim’s first shaving was his last name, “Bellamy”. Since starting this he has done various logos for bars, sporting good stores and Jim’s work hangs in some resorts. Jim works with each customer on a one-on-one basis, so that no two designs are the same.
An avid fan of our Minnesota Bound show, Jim took a look at our logo and turned another buck skin into a work of art. To see more of Jim’s work go to deerhideart.com <http://deerhideart.com/> or whitetail-innovations.com <http://whitetail-innovations.com/> .
And one more nifty fact about Jim and his passion for whitetail deer: He has been hunting deer since boyhood and has kept EVERY set of antlers he has acquired over the many deer seasons.----Ron Schara

Deer Habitat

2011-09-19T14:48:20Z

It was the winter of 1968-69 and Minnesota's deer herd was in a free fall. Deep snows. Severe cold. Lack of food. Excessive doe harvest. A perfect storm in Minnesota's north woods was annihilating the state's deer population.
Then, a small miracle appeared. A small group of determined Grand Rapids deer hunters   organized to save their cherished deer hunting traditions.   And they gave themselves a name, simple and direct: Save Minnesota Deer.
And they had one simple goal: improve the state's deer habitat.   I remember interviewing Dave Shaw and other founders and touring snowy woods with DNR's deer guru Milt Stenlund who opened my eyes to the lack of deer browse within reach of a deer.
There was only one problem.   State leaders in St. Paul weren't listening much.
So---to make themselves heard, the Save Minnesota Deer members decided to raise a little hell. State lawmakers had been unresponsive to the deer population crisis…..so carcasses of starved deer ---with puffy faces and ribs showing---were hauled to the steps of the State Capitol.      Pictures of dead deer made the news in the Twin Cities.    The DNR Commissioner, Jarle Leirfallom, personally led browse cutting crews into the snow-bound north to show his concern. And it worked. Lawmakers voted to fund a deer habitat program with a license surcharge.
But it was too little too late. In the autumn of 1971, DNR announced there would be NO deer season.
But the grassroots habitat push didn't end there. In fact it grew so fast, the Save Minnesota Deer group transformed itself into a statewide organization in 1980.   This was the birth of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association. Habitat remained their battle cry with innovative programs like Hides For Habitat. Members dollars were used for habitat projects.
Now fast forward…..
Today, Minnesota's deer population flirts around record highs, thanks largely to a number of reasons: 1. revised deer management tools used by DNR, such as doe permit systems; 2. better habitat thanks to increased logging of popple because of new product innovations; 3. a series of milder winters; 4. and the decades of watch guard work by members of MDHA.
Now imagine my surprise in recent months to find that MDHA is over its hunting boots in controversy. The organization has become the target of bitter letters to the editor regarding new buck hunting regulations in the state's southeast.     MDHA members are fighting with other MDHA members. Some members are quitting the organization and/or calling for a change in leadership and so forth.
What happened? In my view, this is what happened. MDHA landed in a political quagmire by taking a stand on…NOT habitat programs….but on new deer season regulations that were guaranteed to be divisive.   By taking one side asked for by MDHA members; other members were alienated. It was a lose-lose for MDHA.
For sure, a public debate about deer regulations, seasons, etc., that included MDHA members, is great. That's the democratic way.   And MDHA members ought to express their views. But debates over regulations are not good for organizations whose goal is habitat and protecting the right to hunt deer..   Everybody supports habitat, but nobody wins in a quagmire.
Take note, rarely does Pheasants Forever enter public frays over seasons, road hunting, etc. although their members might. No, Pheasants Forever sticks to its message and purpose: pheasant habitat.
Ducks Unlimited largely takes the same stance. It's a duck habitat organization, period.
Minnesota's deer management is now being usurped by political interests that individual MDHA members may in the future want to support or boot out of office. But MDHA, the organization, ought to concentrate on what they do best: fight for the future of deer hunting via habitat and related issues.
And MDHA's Mark Johnson says that's still the goal, ''MDHA's primary focus must be on ensuring a healthy future for hunting in MN by improving habitat, providing hunter opportunity and increasing hunter access to public hunting lands.   We need hunters, but if we don't have quality habitat where they can hunt our hunting legacy is doomed.''

Teacher & Hero

2011-07-25T13:35:14Z

Prof. Jim Schwartz, of Edina, and former head of Journalism School at Iowa State University, died in July at the age of 95. The family asked if I would speak at his funeral at Mt. Olivet on Saturday, July 23. The following are my remarks about a man who meant so much to me and all of his students.

FIRST, I'D LIKE TO GIVE MY THANKS TO THE FAMILY OF JIM SCHWARTZ FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK ABOUT ONE OF MY FAVORITE FISHING PARTNERS.
YES, JIM AND I SHARED A FISHING BOAT IN RECENT YEARS IN PURSUIT OF HIS FAVORITE FISH, THE LARGEMOUTH BASS. AS IN LIFE ITSELF, SOME DAYS WERE GREAT; OTHERS NOT SO GOOD.

BUT I'M NOT HERE TO TELL FISHING STORIES ABOUT OUR TIMES ON TEN MILE LAKE AND HIS CABIN AT HACKENSACK.

JIM WAS MORE THAN A FISHING PARTNER TO ME. HE WAS MORE LIKE…WELL, MY HERO.

A LONG TIME AGO, BACK AT IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY, JIM WAS THE FIRST JOURNALISM PROFESSOR TO READ WHAT I WROTE ABOUT FISHING AND HUNTING AND FISH AND WILDLIFE. HE ENCOURAGED ME TO KEEP WRITING AND TO PURSUE A JOURNALISM CAREER WITH AN EMPHASIS ON FISH AND WILDLIFE BIOLOGY.

AND WHEN MY PATH AS A STUDENT GOT A LITTLE ROCKY, IT WAS MR SCHWARTZ WHO SHOWED COMPASSION WHILE ALSO OFFERING A SWIFT KICK TO MY REAR.

NOW AS I LOOK BACK AT MY OWN LIFE'S WORK ….FROM NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST TO TELEVISION HOST…..MY GUIDING LIGHTS WERE MANY.
BUT ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST CAME FROM MR. SCHWARTZ. AND I AM BUT ONE OF HUNDREDS OF HIS FORMER STUDENTS WHO WOULD SAY THE SAME ABOUT A PROFESSOR WITH A WONDERFUL GIFT OF TEACHING.

DECADES LATER, WE WOULD ONLY DISAGREE ABOUT ONE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE.

HE INSISTED THAT LARGEMOUTH BASS WERE GOOD TO EAT.

I SAID THE ONLY GOOD BASS WAS THE ONE NOT IN MY FRYING PAN.

ONCE AGAIN, HE'S UNDOUBTEDLY RIGHT. IF THERE'S A BASS LAKE IN HEAVEN, IT'S PROBABLY FULL OF GOOD EATING SIZE BASS.

CATCH 'EM ALL, JIM.

License fee increase?

2011-04-07T14:45:33Z

I’ve been thinking about.......DNR’s proposal to raise some hunting and fishing license fees.
Should license fees be increased? Or, not?
Opinions might vary but I do know this:
Minnesota hunters and anglers DESERVE a legislative debate (hearings, etc.) about DNR’s need for an increase and what those fees might be.   However, according to media reports, legislative insiders say the idea of raising fees in a Republican-controlled Legislature is already a dead issue.
No discussion. No debate. No nothing.
Republican Party chairman Tony Sutton reportedly sent a letter to Republican legislators warning them that raising anything, including license fees, would violate Republican principles.
Whoa. Let’s pause here for a second.
Tony Sutton is certainly entitled to his opinion. So are the rest of us.
But I don’t recall seeing Tony Sutton’s name on the ballot last fall; which means he wasn’t elected to represent anybody in Minnesota.
On the contrary, Minnesota voters did send Republicans and Democrats to the Legislature to, hopefully, do what’s best for Minnesota.   And that includes exploring the need for more revenue for the DNR’s fish and wildlife programs that are largely supported by license revenue via the Game and Fish Fund.
DNR says the Fund will go into the red by 2014.
The point is this:   I don’t think there’s a hunter or angler in Minnesota who wants the Game and Fish Fund to go broke.   Not on our watch.
I don’t think there’s a license buyer out there who wants to see the state’s hunting and fishing opportunities decline.
In essence, a license to hunt or fish is nothing more than a user fee. And those of us who pay that fee have long debated about how the money is spent and how much is spent and how much is wasted and so forth. This is democracy in action.
We can also agree or disagree on the need for higher fees. No problem. But our lawmakers also should have the same discussion.
We deserve it. We also have 18 fewer conservation officers in the field, which is only a good thing if you’re a poacher.
Hunting license revenue is subsidizing DNR fish management programs because of budget imbalances. That needs to be corrected.
The DNR’s proposed license fee increases also seem to reveal something else about us. Unlike a few neighboring states, Minnesota doesn’t play the game of gouge the nonresident very well.
For a seasonal nonresident fishing license, DNR is suggesting a $44 fee. A Minnesotan in South Dakota has to pay $62 to fish; Wisconsin charges $50.
To hunt ruffed grouse or pheasants in Minnesota, DNR proposes a $97 fee for nonresidents; South Dakota charges $114 for pheasants and $75 for three days of waterfowl hunting.
A nonresident deer hunter in Minnesota would pay $160 under DNR’s proposal. To hunt deer in North Dakota, a Minnesotan must pay $200; in Iowa, $529.
The average ticket price to watch a Vikings football game is $110. It’s valid for one afternoon.
The price of a seasonal resident Minnesota fishing license is $17; DNR would like to raise it seven bucks....which is roughly what a beer costs at the football game.
So what’s our pleasure? More beer or more walleyes?

The Two Line Debate

2011-03-08T15:34:10Z

I’ve been thinking......
About the two line fishing debate.   While I intend to agree with my friend, Joe Fellegy, that two lines opens a possible Pandora’s Box, and therefore we ought to leave well enough alone, I’m not convinced that ends the issue.
On the other hand, Joe may be rockin’ the boat for phantom concerns that will not impact gamefish populations. If there is such evil in two lines, why haven’t fish managers from other states come to the same conclusion?
Frankly, I’ve played with the two lines in Wisconsin and sometimes it’s more bother than worth, although bobber fishing with two lines is very doable.
My take on the two line debate is this: On border waters, such as Wisconsin, where two lines are permissable, Minnesota’s laws should be changed to allow Minnesota anglers the same option.   Anglers on Lake Superior also make a good case for increasing the fishing line limits as Wisconsin also had done for trolling in such large water.
If two lines, indeed, means greater enjoyment with minimal impact on our future fishing success (gamefish populations) I suggest the Minnesota DNR establish a few experimental two line lakes and measure what’s happening.
But until we know, I’m siding with Joe.
I’ve been thinking.....
About DNR’s conflicting stance on winter feeding of wildlife. As long as I can remember, DNR officials have discouraged winter deer feeding by anybody. The practice sets the stage for deer diseases to be spread.   Folks who throw out corn for mallards have been told the same story. Don’t feed pheasants; it makes them vulnerable to predators, disease.
And it makes sense.
So....why are DNR officials putting their stamp of approval on artificial feeding of swans on the Mississippi River near Monticello? Ther StarTribune recently featured a story about the amazing and fast comeback of trumpeter swans in Minnesota and two kind folks who are dumping nearly a ton of corn a day in the river to feed more than 2,000 swans who frequent the open water on the river. The couple who are doing the feeding are kind-hearted folks. That is not the issue. Kind-hearted folks also have fed deer and ducks and have been told by DNR to stop.    Yet, according to the newspaper story, the swan feeding has the ‘’blessing’’ of DNR officials.
What happened to DNR’s concerns for spreading disease? Or don’t unnatural concentrations of swans pose a problem for swans?     Or what about the concentration of, to be kind, ‘’swan droppings’’ in the river?
Hey, DNR, what is your official position on winter feeding of wildlife? The deer in my backyard look hungry?