By Harold Brutlag
Another week of warm weather when the temps on Sunday was 65 degrees mid-afternoon and put a damper on any ice fishing with many of the smaller ponds like Mud Lake wide open and others partially open. Deb Geyen who works for the State Parks system went back to work last week, earlier than usual, and said the ice was off Prior lake last Friday… She also showed me a picture off face book of Mike Muller with two Crappies, one 14 1/2 inches, and part of the 20 he and his guide caught one day in Florida… Sunday I noticed two Swans were in the western portion of Varner lake. just west of Buffalo along with two pairs of Wood Ducks. Another thing that caught my eye were a couple of fields of Winter Wheat this side of St. Cloud. They were starting to green up and a spring rain will make them really pop as well as local lawns. We also need some rain to toughen up the weeds and lessen the chances of grass fires. Texas had one that covered over a million acres and was still burning. On the other side of the coin the Sierra mountains in northern California were in a blockbuster blizzard warning with as much as 10-12 ft. predicted and maybe 100 mph winds. No travel was advised and one interstate was closed… With those kind of reports I think we all should be thankful we live in Minnesota.
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Beginning March 1, the Minnesota DNR will recognize three categories of record fish: historical weight records, catch-and-release documented by photos, and certified weight documented by keeping a fish and weighing it on a state-certified scale.
Anglers can also apply for a certified weight record for yellow bass, the DNR added the category because they say the species has dramatically increased in both presence and popularity.
Species being added to the catch-and-release category are blue sucker, bigmouth buffalo, bowfin, brook trout, brown trout, channel catfish, freshwater drum, lake trout, largemouth bass, longnose gar, rainbow trout, sauger, shortnose gar, shovelnose sturgeon, smallmouth bass, smallmouth buffalo, tiger muskellunge and walleye.