George Palmer and I fished Tuesday in a crowd on Indian Lake and found fish in the first spot we stopped at. There were six rigs in the parking lot which pretty well fills it up. Those anglers, plus some of the residents, apparently were enjoying the fall day as much as we were. Besides the anglers we had one kayak come by. Those fishing nearby seemed to be catching panfish and there wasn’t a whole lot of moving to a different spot. There was just enough breeze to keep us comfortable during the three hours we were there. From here on out we’re going to have to pick our days because fall weather can be unpredictable.
* * *
Thursday night’s rains came with lots of lightning and a good inch of rain before it was over on Friday. That should be adequate for the fall with the harvest on the horizon. There won’t be a bumper crop of corn because of the dry conditions earlier this summer, but I suspect there will be enough crops to weather the farmers through another winter.
* * *
The middle of September was an important time of the year for me when I still could walk well enough to go ruffed grouse hunting. Those times are just memories now, and good ones for the most part! The late Roger Niedzielski used to say we’d hunt for grouse the first half of the day and try to find our way out of the woods in the afternoon. Of the three of us, Daryl Hennen, Roger and myself, Daryl was more apt to get us back to the truck in a minimum amount of time. We didn’t always get limits (5) of what I’d consider nature’s premiere upland game bird, but they were delicious! Hunting with their boys too made it an interesting day and nobody cared if my Springer Patches would grab one of their sandwiches if they held it too low. I remember one time while pheasant hunting one of Daryl’s dogs helped itself to a cookie while Daryl was visiting with a group of hunters in southern Minnesota who were on a lunch break. He was embarrassed, but there were lots of good memories.