Brute’s Bleat August 17, 2016

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I’m beginning to think my honey hole for panfish might be drying up after a couple of hours with Jim Lemieux last Tuesday morning. A slight wind kept us from anchoring on a rocky spot (we kept slipping off) and I think I spent more time trying to relocate than fishing. But, be that as it may, Jim caught enough keepers for a meal and that was what he was after. We had to do a little sorting in the process and his bait, live and dead leeches, was the most effective. I was using minnow heads when I couldn’t seem to keep the sunnies from sucking the earthworms off my jig. . . . A story in my hometown news-paper last week about two fellows catching their limits of walleyes on Ottertail Lake made me drool, just thinking about it. They were fishing with one of the premiere guides in that area, Ross Hagemeister, who apparently is a conservationist at heart. His clients don’t keep any walleyes under 13 inches or over 18 inches. Jack Treadwell com-mented a couple of years ago that he and Mary were fishing with him on Ottertail Lake and they also caught limits in the middle of the summer.
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A couple of rain-outs didn’t keep the Lakers from gaining a spot in the state tournament when they dominated Howard Lake 8-1 Saturday behind their pitching ace, Jeremy Schmidt. With the bases loaded Todd Fuller’s double scored two runs for a three-run lead, enough to dominate the game and propel them to state, their first appearance since 2014. Laker fans saw veteran pitcher Mitch Wurm throw five excellent innings in their 6-1 win over Loretto in Saturday’s nightcap after being sidelined this year with an arm injury. Hunter Malachek, MLHS senior and a diamond in the rough, finished the game. The Lakers went on to defeat Delano 9-3 in a game that started Sunday at 11 a.m.; and lost to Hutchinson 3-7 for the #2 seed in the region in game two. Maple Lake drafted pitchers Adam Gregg, Maple Plain; Eric Hanson, Dassel-Cokato; and Tyler Zeibohmer, also from D-C; to bolster their own pitching staff.
The Lakers’ first game in the Class C State Tournament is against St. Peter, Region 6, Saturday, Aug. 20, at 7:30 p.m. at D-C. A win would pit them against Waseca (Reg. 5 winner) Sunday, Aug. 28, 5 p.m., also at D-C. The full bracket sheet is available on the State Amateur baseball web-site. Our best of luck to the Lakers at state after a great region tournament.

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