Final tally

It's been a little hectic putting a cap on this last full day here in Minnesota. Lots of time was spent on the lake, and then the better portion of the evening disappeared negotiating a plan for how to deal with the first day of traveling back home, booking the hotel rooms, and packing up.

I can tell you, though, that I had a fine finish fishing. I caught thirteen fish, a tally that topped everyone else. Granted, some of them decided to focus on casting rather than fishing off the bottom like I was, and not all of mine were keepers, especially a couple tiny ones. Regardless, the point remains that I caught more fish today than I did the rest of the week. The final count of what I caught looked like this:

Sunday: 0 fish
Monday: 0 fish
Tuesday: 1 perch
Wednesday: 1 smallmouth bass, 1 fishing lure and lots of cut line
Thursday: 7 perch, 1 rock bass
Friday: 12 perch, 1 largemouth bass

For the record, those bass were quite small, so banish any thoughts of me reeling in a fish that's jumping halfway to the moon, such as might be portrayed on a bait shop or fisherman's cap. The perch were pretty good sized. One of mine today weighed 11 ounces. I don't know if it was the biggest I caught, but it had to be up there on my list.

I went out every time the boat left the dock, so I definitely fished more than I intended. I may get into that in more detail in a later blog post, but for now, suffice it to say that I enjoyed the time fishing even if I can't say I have any plans to do it again in the near future.

Catches of the day

The hours spent on the lake finally paid off. We found a spot where we were catching fish on a regular basis. Even I was pulling them in, as you can see above with one of my catches of the day. I caught eight fish--seven perch and one rock bass--and all but two were keepers.

The perch we caught today were pretty big. My dad wasn't getting them in quantity, but he made up for it by getting a two-plus pound walleye and capping the day with a seven-pound freshwater drum. The latter fish was so big that it broke the net when one of my brothers held it out to help get the creature out of the water. After some research and a split vote in the family, my dad cast the deciding vote and released it. The freshwater drum is in the carp family, and opinions vary whether it is considered a good fish to eat.

We fished from this spot on the lake. The temperature was again in the mid to high 60s, and the wind was minimal. We've experienced remarkable weather here in northern Minnesota and had none of the drawbacks. Mosquitoes have been a non-factor. Even if the fishing hadn't improved, we've had a good week here. Yes, my family has driven me crazy from time to time, but considering this trip wasn't something I was entirely sold on, it's been better than anticipated.

Here you see my parents' dog, a schnoodle who eagerly goes along for the ride and keeps track of everyone.

I've spent more time fishing than I planned, so knitting time hasn't been as plentiful as I intended it would be. Nevertheless, I should have a finished pair of baby socks when I blog tomorrow.

Fish story

I headed out for the third day on the lake and had yet to reel in my first fish. They haven't exactly been leaping out of the water, but everyone in the family had caught one except for me. Look, if I'm going to play along and fish, the least that could happen is that I catch a few. (To address a comment on another post, knitting or reading in the boat doesn't seem feasible, especially when the choppy water meant I got soaked on the way back on both days.)

The weather was a little warmer today--mid 70s in the afternoon--but still quite comfortable. Trolling and casting weren't producing any results other than snagging weeds, so we switched to bait and anchored near the far shore from our cabin. Slowly everybody on the boat started pulling in small perch. I think there was only one keeper in the bunch, if that tells you anything.

At least I was starting to get nibbles on my line. Still, I hadn't hooked anything. Come on. Finally, the bobber was yanked below the surface of the water, and I pulled up a perch estimated at four to six inches long. No, it wasn't one worth keeping, but I was glad to have ended my streak of not catching any fish.

The afternoon/early evening session was inconsequential in terms of catching fish. I had a bite or two, but that was pretty much the extent of it. No one went back out after supper because the rain and thunderstorms rolled in. Who cares, though? At least I caught one.

Angling

First and foremost, this family vacation is oriented around fishing. When I agreed to come along, I made it known that I was not sure if I would do any angling. I wasn't trying to be difficult. I just wanted it to be clear that going out into the middle of a lake and watching a bobber for hours wasn't what I necessarily wanted to do day in and day out.

We didn't go fishing all the time when I was a kid, but it was a common thing for us to do on a Sunday afternoon in the spring through the fall. We didn't go on many family summer vacations, but I can recall two--one to Wisconsin and one to Michigan's Upper Peninsula--that were built around going fishing.

I'm not sure exactly when I chose to stop fishing. I think it was in high school. I remember being bored with it. It probably didn't help that the activity basically consisted of sitting in a lawn chair on the shore and not catching anything. There's also the possibility that I was simply being difficult. Still, it cannot be discounted that I have no desire to touch fish or to have them touch me. (This also explains my great hesitancy to get in natural bodies of water. I don't want fish touching me. Where this came from, I don't know.)

It was the morning of our departure for this trip, and I still hadn't purchased a seven-day Minnesota fishing license. I explained that I didn't know if I would fish or not. Deep down I knew that I likely would, in part to be a good sport, but I put off making it official until the last minute. Not that having the license meant I would have to fish, just that I legally could.

I decided that I would go out on the pontoon boat when everyone made their first venture onto the lake this morning. No one would have been upset if I hadn't gone, but I felt like it was the right thing to do. I stated upfront that I did not want to touch any fish, which is probably the behavior of a jerk, but I'm not joking around. I needed to drill this into them.

I baited wax worms on my own line, but I let others put minnows on. I used to do the latter, but I do find the thought of doing it now somewhat disconcerting. No one seemed to mind, so I was happy to let them take care of it.

The winds were pretty strong all day. Driving through some whitecaps this morning left me drenched and cold. (It was in the 60s, and the low end at that, here.) No one was catching much, just four keepers (two perch, one sunfish, and one walleye) and one throwback (a northern pike). I didn't have as much as a nibble, yet I did go back out for an afternoon in which the wind blew us all over the lake and no one caught anything.

I can't say that I want to go out every single time that the rental boat is fired up this week, but I'll probably go more than I had been planning to. I didn't mind the time on the water, even if all that rocking in the wind-tossed boat had me wiped out early this evening. There should still be plenty of other time for doing what I'd like--reading and knitting--and I imagine I'll seem less aloof to everyone else if I tag along. Is that the maturity that a teenage me didn't possess?

But I'm still not touching any fish.