O
UTDOOR CONNECTION
JULY 2, 2015 ESTHERVILLE NEWS Find this publication online at www.esthervillenews.net under 驶Sections始
STORIES, ADVICE AND INFORMATION FOR OUTDOOR LOVERS
Lazy-hazy-Crazy summer Days
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THOSE LAZY-HAZY-CRAZY DAYS OF SUMMER T
he year was 1963, and of bluegills and perch out in 10 foot of water just to the I was 15 years old, a teenager who loved to east of the Yacht Club on the play baseball and go to semi‐ north side of Millers Bay. Shuck’s Jigger pro baseball Minnows tipped games and just with a Belgian kick back on a worm worked mid‐summer’s well or a #10 evening. A big white Rat Finke hit song of tipped with a 1963 was Nat Belgian worm King Cole’s both worked “Those Lazy‐ well. Hazy‐Crazy STEVE WEISMAN After a couple Days of OUTDOOR EDITOR of hours, I Summer, and talked the boys when that into heading to East for some song came on the radio yellow bass fishing. I knew when I was working in the that they would have no‐stop field, I’d go to myself, “Ya, action. On the way, we went life is good!” As we move into July, I get by the sailboat races out in the middle of West Lake. a little nostalgic when I What a sight! remember Cole singing the first line “Roll out those lazy, When we came to the bridge to go into East hazy, crazy days of sum‐ mer…” Oh yes. It’s summer! Okoboji, Devin said, “I’m Last Sunday, I had the per‐ going to catch one of those fect “lazy, hazy, crazy day of fish under the bridge as we go through.” summer.” It began with my We’d be going slower than grandson Hunter Wheatley and two of his friends ‐ Devin 5 mph, so I thought, okay go Ring and Dalton Christopher ahead. So, he pitched out his Jigger – coming over for an early Minnow with the worm and morning fishing outing. For wham! His rod bent, and his an old grandpa, nothing first word was, “Whoa!” And beats listening to three teenage boys give each other the fight was on. The trouble a going over while they fish! was the fish was strong enough that it wanted to go Nobody is safe from some under the boat and right good‐natured barbs about toward the motor. weeds and hooksets and So, Devin horsed it as much misses and…I think you get as he could, and about 20 the drift. Well, we first found a bunch yards after the bridge my
Devin Ring holds his nice largemouth bass taken from under the bridge between West and East Okoboji, while net man Hunter Wheatley stands by. Photo by Steve Weisman
grandson netted his large‐ mouth bass, a 16‐incher! Then it was on to East and the yellow bass. We headed toward a 10‐foot ledge that dropped into 13‐foot, and I dropped the I‐Pilot and anchored there. Over the next 2 hours I would guess we caught close to a hundred yellow bass. Most were in the 8‐9 inch range with a couple pushing 13 inches. Again, the Jigger Minnows worked great, but we found that silver wigglers were actually better than the worms, because they stayed
on the hook longer. I truly believe if you use your electronics and find the school of fish, you can anchor and pound the yellow bass. Man do the 10+ inchers fight. As for table fare, I think they are good to eat. Not as good as a perch or bluegill, but if you take the red meat off the backside of the fillet, they are a pretty mild tasting fish. Also, a while back, I did this and ran into a school of perch and caught several 9‐ 10 inch perch. If you will remember, both West and
East have an excellent perch population right now, and now is the time they should start taking off! Then came the afternoon, and my wife and I took our daughter Stephanie and her two daughters, Maddysen and Sadee out on the pon‐ toon for a little swimming, sun bathing and a trip to the Barefoot Bar. It was three hours of fun and laughing, and in the background, I could hear Nat King Cole singing, “Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of sum‐ mer…” Oh Ya!
THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2015
ESTHERVILLE NEWS/ESTHERVILLE, IA
Habitat and hunter access program looking for projects DES MOINES — Iowa’s Habitat and Access Program (IHAP) will begin accepting new land for enrollment this summer after the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was awarded a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of the farm bill. More than 8,000 acres was enrolled as part of the pilot program in 2011‐ 14, providing much needed wildlife habitat on private land. Landowners with land currently enrolled in a Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) could receive addi‐ tional benefits by participating in IHAP. “This program allows landowners to meet their mid‐contract manage‐ ment requirements of their CRP agreement, including out‐of‐pocket expenses,” said Kelly Smith, private
lands program coordinator for the DNR. “Plus, the incentive rates could cover financial responsibilities under CRP, and any extra costs associated with developing higher quality habi‐ tat.” Landowners interested in installing wildlife habitat or improving existing habitat should contact the DNR who will visit their property and together write a habitat plan that is submitted for consideration. If accepted, the DNR will provide an incentive pay‐ ment in exchange for the landowner installing the habitat. Landowners determine the length of the agree‐ ment, ranging from three to 10 years, and participation is completely volun‐ tary. A list of DNR wildlife staff who works with landowners is available at www.iowadnr.gov/Environment/Land
Stewardship/WildlifeLandownerAssis tance.aspx. The agreement allows hunters access to the portion of the property covered by the agreement, from Sept. 1 to May 31. Conservation offi‐ cers will provide assistance and enforcement, if needed. Increasing hunter access has been a focal point within the DNR and this program is an effort to address that need. The DNR placed survey boxes at existing IHAP locations and infor‐ mation submitted indicated hunters were satisfied with their experience and would like to see the program expanded. “Hopefully landowner interest in the program will continue and we can expand wildlife habitat and hunter access on private land,” Smith said.
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ASSISTANCE NEEDED WITH TRUMPETER SWAN SURVEY
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DES MOINES — The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) is asking all states and provinces to assist with the 2015 Trumpeter Swan Survey for North America. This survey, conduct‐ ed once every 5 years, provides base‐ line population data for trumpeter swan management throughout North America. The USFWS is requesting an esti‐
mate of the number of free‐flying trumpeter swans, adults plus cygnets, in Iowa. “We would like the help of avid bird‐ ers and others with an interest in waterfowl to gather as much informa‐ tion on local swans as possible. Swans are fairly conspicuous and, in most cases, someone will know if swans are in the area,” said David
Hoffman, wildlife technician with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The targeted time period for this survey is June 6 – Sept. 25. Hoffman asked to not include any captive swans in the count. Count information should be sent to David.Hoffman@dnr.iowa.gov by Oct. 2.
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Osprey population set to expand again in 2015 DES MOINES — Iowa’s growing osprey population has added new nest sites in West Des Moines, Colfax and Cumming, bringing the total nest attempts in 2015 to 22. “It’s been a good decade plus for ospreys returning to Iowa,” said Pat Schlarbaum, wildlife techni‐ cian for the Iowa
Department of Natural Resources. The first suc‐ cessful osprey nest occurred in 2003 and since then, 141 wild ospreys have produced 78 successful nests. In addition to the wild osprey nests, the Iowa DNR will release as many as eight ospreys on July 14, between sites at Clear Lake and at
Swan Lake, in Carroll County. The ospreys are provided by ALLETE, an energy company based in Duluth and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Since 1997, 253 ospreys have been released at 12 sites. A web cam is placed near the osprey nest at Wells Fargo in West Des Moines.
Go to www.iowadnr.gov/Educati on/OspreyCam.aspx. Viewers watch young ospreys wing exercise before flight is achieved. Young will take flight when they are approximately 54 days of age. The adults will supplement their young’s diet for a few weeks until self‐sufficiency is achieved.
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Veteran walleye angler Jason Mitchell has embraced pork for tipping jigs in situations that traditionally called for live bait or soft plastics. Pork Meat products often fish better than soft plastics because of the added durability combined with the fact that fish hold on to pork much longer than soft plastics. Photo submitted
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tics over the real deal? Anytime the lure is presented to trigger a Anglers often debate the merits reaction. Could be a jig and soft of soft plastics versus live bait. plastic tail getting swept swiftly When temptation is necessary to down stream on a river system coax difficult walleye into biting, where walleye won’t have time to good live bait often trumps soft over analyze. Could be snap jig‐ plastics but what many walleye ging through the edges of emerg‐ anglers have discovered is that ing coontail where the durability soft plastics can often work as of the soft plastic make the angler good or better than live bait for much more efficient. some applications. To say that soft Another common example is plastics work better than live bait pulling crawler harnesses behind across the board is foolish but bottom bouncers where again the there are definitely situations durability combined with the where the fake can trump the faster speeds that the harness is bait. getting pulled create a situation What situations dictate soft plas‐
where soft plastic begins to out fish live bait. Besides durability, the other vari‐ ables that can make soft plastics shine are the wider pallet of color offerings, the ability to change the profile and the increase in vibra‐ tion. Many soft plastics also offer impregnated scents designed to attract fish and fishermen. In our view however, the profile, soft‐ ness of the plastic and accompa‐ nying action or footprint is what makes soft plastics tick. Water‐soluble soft plastics offer another dimension to soft plas‐ Turn to WALLEYE, Page 5
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Once in a ‘blue moon’ BY MIRIAM PATTONʼ
my, a blue moon is the second full moon that occurs in a single calendar We usually say “once in a blue month. There will be a full moon on moon” when we refer to an event July 2 and July 31, two full moons in a that doesn’t happen very often. month, therefore, the second one is According to popular definition, referred to as a “blue moon”. when we actually talk about astrono‐ The average interval between full PALO ALTO COUNTY NATURALIST
WALLEYE, Continued from Page 4 tics. Water‐soluble baits dry out in the air and retain more taste or smell. These baits typically don’t have as good of action as many traditional soft plastics but the upside is that fish will often hold on to the baits longer. In fishing demographics where live bait has been difficult to let go (like walleye fishing and saltwater fishing), water‐soluble baits like Berkley’s Gulp! have become not only popular but also effective. The next trend we see developing has been right in front of us for an awful long time. Pork Rind has been used to tip bass jigs forever. Before the explosion of soft plastic products over the last twenty years, most bass anglers tipped both spinner baits and jigs with pork. Over the years, pork kind of disappeared from the fore‐ front of the fishing scene but we still had a few souvenirs like the phrase “jig and pig” which began to morph into something that wasn’t quite so much pig. Pork trailers were a closely held secret amongst a few bass pros par‐ ticularly late in the fall when water temperatures dived or after severe cold fronts and the fish had a case of the lockjaw. The durability and effectiveness of pork rind like Uncle Josh, however, is starting to spread. This past season, this old iconic company in the bass world reformulated some baits for walleye anglers and the effectiveness of the new Uncle Josh “Meat” Series of walleye baits has been impressive. “Fish hold on to pork for a long time,” explains veteran walleye angler Jason Mitchell who hosts the popular outdoor television program Jason Mitchell Outdoors. “The action
is subtle but lifelike, really reminds me of a strip of belly meat. You won’t get the intense vibrations that you will find with soft plastics but for slower and more subtle presenta‐ tions that traditionally favored live bait, the Pork Meat is much more effective,” states Mitchell. Why or how could pork be anything close to being as good as live bait? The durability is the answer. Live bait; say a shiner or night crawler is typical‐ ly good for one fish. Tip with soft plastics and you might get up to half a dozen fish before you have to replace. The pork is so durable that you can catch over twenty fish before having to replace. “I have been using the Pork Minnows in the three inch size a lot for tipping jigs where I traditionally used a minnow on both lakes and rivers and what is incredible is that it just stays on through the course of the day so I just don’t ever have to mess with rebaiting. In fact, the more chewed up the pork gets, the better it seems to work,” explains Mitchell. The new Uncle Josh Pork Meat products like the crawlers and min‐ nows shine for tipping on jigs or tip‐ ping crawler harnesses. The product comes in a sealable bag, which makes transporting and storing these baits easier. The durability and number of fish that can be caught on one piece of pork makes these baits much more economical than expensive live bait or even soft plastics. So often with fishing, some things come full circle. With a few new pro‐ files married to bass fishing’s dirty secret, walleye anglers have an effec‐ tive new tool that can help them catch a lot more fish.
moons is about 29 days. Most months are 30 or 31 days long. This means it is very unlikely that any given month will contain two full moons, though it does happen some‐ times. On the average, there will be 41 months that have two full moons every 100 years, so you could say that “once in a blue moon” happens every two and a half years. Four or five times in a hundred years will a single year have two blue moons. That is really rare! The months that have 31 days are most likely to have two full moons, for obvious reasons. Sometimes February misses out completely on a full moon because of fewer days, but it is the only month that can. Once in awhile, the moon really does appear blue in color. Volcanoes and forest fires sometimes produce
particles the right size to create a blue colored moon. In 1883, the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa erupt‐ ed. Blue moons were seen for many years after this event. People also saw purple suns. The ash caused “such vivid red sunsets that fire engines were called out in New York, Poughkeepsie and New Haven to put out the apparent fires”, according to volcanologist Scott Rowland at the University of Hawaii. Other volcano eruptions caused blue moons. In 1980, people saw blue moons after the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, and in 1991 after Mount Pinatubo. So at the beginning and end of July, check out the full moon. It will be about two and a half years before this event happens again. Once in a blue moon!
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CLEAN WATER CONCERT SET FOR SATURDAY, AUG. 8 R
eady for an afternoon and evening of fun revolving around family and learning more about clean water and our Iowa Great Lakes? Then mark Saturday, Aug. 8 on your calendar. That’s the date of the annual Okoboji Protective Association’s STEVE WEISMAN “Clean Water OUTDOOR EDITOR Concert” at the Arnold Park green space. OPA president, Barry Sackett invites everybody to come enjoy the festivities. “This event is meant for everyone. No matter your age, I think you will find something memorable about this event.” Oh, and it is FREE! That’s right. There is no cost! Just come and enjoy the cama‐
raderie as the OPA membership celebrates efforts to protect and improve water quality on the Iowa Great Lakes. It promises to be an event filled with interactive family activities and informa‐ tion sessions from 4‐7 p.m. The annual OPA meeting will run from 5‐6 p.m. The public is invited to attend the meet‐ ing and hear guest speaker Joe McGovern, President of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. Sackett notes, “We encour‐ age everyone to come and hear Joe McGovern’s speech. Joe is a great conservationist, who graduated in 1994 from Iowa State University with a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology. He began Joe McGovern, President of the Iowa Natural working at the Story County Heritage Foundation, will be the keynote Conservation Board as a Deputy speaker at the August 8 Clean Water Concert. Biologist with Vegetation Photo submitted Management. After five years
there, Joe joined the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation staff in 1999 as Land Stewardship Director, which gave him the opportunity to restore and pro‐ tect Iowa’s natural areas across the state. He became president of INHF in 2013. “ Highlight of the day will be the per‐ formance by Big Blue Sky Band from 7 – 9 p.m. OPA memberships will be available throughout the event. The OPA is non‐ profit organization governed by a board of directors and is comprised of dues paying members dedicated to preserving the lakes for future generations. Since its founding in 1905, the OPA has worked to preserve and enhance the ecological health not only West Lake Okoboji but of the entire Iowa Great Lakes watershed. For more information about the concert, go to the OPA Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/OkobojiProt ectiveAssociation) or email Paige Ellensohn at pcellensohn@gmail.com.
Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers
As the Fourth of July approaches, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is reminding boaters and anglers to check for any unwanted hitchhikers to protect Iowa lakes and streams. Aquatic hitchhikers are invasive species – every‐ thing from zebra mussels to Eurasian watermilfoil ‐ that are transported from one waterbody to anoth‐ er by hitchhiking on boats, in bait buckets, and other equipment used in the water. When brought to another lake or stream, they often grow quickly and spread
rapidly due to lack of nat‐ ural controls. These aquatic invasive species can create serious problems for Iowa waters by reducing native species and making lakes and rivers unusable by boaters, anglers and swimmers. “The best way to con‐ trol the negative impacts of aquatic invasive species in Iowa is to pre‐ vent their spread to new waterbodies,” said Kim Bogenschutz, aquatic invasive species coordina‐ tor for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
“Boaters and anglers need to clean, drain, dry after each time on the water to stop aquatic hitchhikers.” n CLEAN any plants, ani‐ mals, or mud from your boat and equipment before leaving a water‐ body. n DRAIN water from all equipment (motor, live well, bilge, transom well) before leaving a water‐ body. n DRY anything that comes into contact with water (boats, trailers, equipment, boots, cloth‐ ing, dogs). Before trans‐ porting to another water‐
body either: Spray your boat and trailer with hot, high‐pressure water; or Dry your boat and equip‐ ment for at least 5 days. n Never release plants, fish, or animals into a water body unless they came out of that water body and empty unwant‐ ed bait in the trash. It is illegal to possess or transport prohibited aquatic invasive species in Iowa. The fine for violating this law is $500. Signs are posted at pub‐ lic accesses to remind boaters to stop aquatic hitchhikers and to identi‐
fy infested waters. It is also illegal to trans‐ port any aquatic plants on water‐related equip‐ ment. Boaters must drain all water from boats and equipment before leaving a water access and must keep drain plugs removed or opened during transport. It is also illegal to introduce any live fish, except for hooked bait, into public waters. More information about aquatic invasive species and a list of infested waters can be found in the 2015 Iowa Fishing Regulations booklet.
THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2015
ESTHERVILLE NEWS/ESTHERVILLE, IA
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Do you understand wren chatter?
BY CAROLE LOCHMILLER BIRDHAVEN
I
thought I under‐ stood "wren chat‐ ter" but obviously I don't. Remember that before daylight storm a couple of Saturdays ago? I came downstairs as usual, and as usual I heard wren chatter. Only I should have paid more attention. That night I filled all of the feeders and finally sat down only to realize there was no wren chat‐ ter. Investigating, I found the wren house from the birch tree was on the ground. Quite possibly it could have been there since the early morning storm. It had landed with the opening facing upward. There was one live wren that I could feel (no, that doesn't bother them). I didn't know what to do, but the day before I had played "Mama Robin" for a whole day and had been successful. The rule of thumb is to leave the baby birds alone as the parents are always nearby and will take care of them. OK. Listening to my own advice, I hung the house back in the birch tree, walked away and watched. Within five minutes, the parents were going in and out of the house. Sunday night I investi‐ gated again and could tell for sure that there were two lively little wrens in the house. The chatter is increas‐
Photo by Wendell Hansen
ing so I'm sure they are about to fledge (leave the nest). I probably will never know if any little birds were lost, but I do know there were two survivors. Meanwhile, another pair has set up house‐ keeping three trees away in a dwarf crab apple. It is now the next day and the wrens did fledge the nest yester‐ day. I took the house down and took off the bottom to clean. Boy was I happy to find no dead wrens but there was plenty of evidence that there had been lots of activity while the house was basically upside down. We'll never know how many wrens there were but at least no casualties. Evidently the chatter I heard that Saturday morning was panic chat‐ ter. Wrens go back a long way in my memory. At
home in Greenfield, we had a giant white lilac bush plus a bridal wreath hedge where there were always wren nests. After Dad retired, one of his woodworking activities was making wren houses. I still have one of those although I retired it many years ago. Altogether that makes wrens enjoyable and nostalgic. With the second nesting in my yard, we will have wren chatter for more weeks. Back to being "Mama Robin". One of our cus‐ tomers found two little robins whose nest had been raided. Glenda, our Wildlife Rehabilitation specialist, was on her way back from the Black Hills, but she told me what to do. Our customer couldn't stay home all day to feed the little robins so I bravely took on the task. Let me tell you those little beaks do not open automatically.
Luckily, I had some experience helping Wendell feed little pur‐ ple martins. There were
a lot of customers that day that got to witness the procedure. Being a robin parent or any bird
parent is time consum‐ ing. For several years now robins have been com‐ ing to my platform feed‐ er and since we began carrying the fruit and nut mix, they have been busy eaters at that. Now I'm glad I have kept the feeder filled so maybe the parents don't have to work quite so hard to feed their little ones. There are many birds teaching their young to fly and feeding them, too. Be sure to take the time to enjoy the habi‐ tat you have created or come to Bird Haven to just sit and watch. You'll be glad you did and also more relaxed!
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C8
Planer boards and trolling BY BOB JENSEN FISHING THE MIDWEST FISHING TEAM
W
SPREAD OUT FOR FISHING SUCCESS To see the newest episodes of Fishing the Midwest TV, visit
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FACEBOOK.COM/FISHINGTHEMIDWEST Using boards will enable anglers to catch more fish and a wider variety of fish in the summer months, especially when the fish suspend. And, in the summer, many fish can be found suspending near baitfish. Photo by Bob Jensen
e’re into the summer bite! For most species of fish, the spawn is over and the predator fish have one thing on their mind: Food! Their only concern for the rest of the summer is eating. If we want to catch more fish, we need to be where they’re eat‐ ing, and then we need to put a bait in front of them. The various species of fish will be in different places, and some individual species will be in different locales in the same body of water. Walleyes for instance: In some bodies of water you’ll find them hugging the bottom eating perch or crawdads, in other bodies of water they’ll be suspended near baitfish that suspend. In some lakes they’ll be doing both. Largemouth bass and crappies will be doing similar stuff. If we want to catch more fish, we need to cover lots of water, and the best way to cover lots of water is to troll, and the best tool to troll with in many, many situations is a planer board. Here we go. Planer boards are best when the fish are spread out over a large area, as they are so willing to do this time of year. We’ve been using planer boards to catch suspended open‐water walleyes for a long time now, but in the past couple of years we’ve been target‐ ing crappies and perch with planer boards. Crappies will suspend in large areas over open water, and perch will spread out near the bottom in a lot of lakes. Precision casting or trolling isn’t necessary. We simply locate a general area where the fish are living and start trolling. Much of the time we’ll catch a fish here and another over there, and every now and then we’ll get into a pod of them and have several on at the same time. By the end of many days, a bunch of fish have come over the gunwale of our boat. The appeal of planer boards is that they allow us to spread our lines effectively. If we just let our lines out behind the boat, we can effectively fish maybe three lines. More than that and tangles become common and frustrating. Boards take our bait out to the side of the boat, so we can fish an area fifty or a hundred or however many feet wide without tan‐ gling lines. We can fish baits at different depths, we can experi‐ ment with lots of different colors and sizes: We can do so much to determine what the fish want on that day. There’s more to it though than getting lots of lines in the water. When fish suspend, they often suspend near the surface, and a boat going overhead will spook them. By using a planer board to get our lines out away from the boat, we prevent spooking. One memorable day on Lake Mille Lacs in Minnesota a couple years ago, there was a bug hatch happening, and the walleyes were eating those bugs close to the surface. Four of us were fish‐ ing. Minnesota is a one‐line state, so we had four lines in the water. Two were directly behind the boat, while the other two were on boards out to the side about thirty feet away from the boat. At the end of a short day the board rods out‐produced the flat lines, fourteen to two. That’s too much of an advantage to ignore. Off Shore Tackle is the leader in planer board and trolling innova‐ tion. Off Shore boards are easy to use and are built with a lot of features that will put more fish in the boat. Once you start using boards, you’ll wonder why you didn’t make them part of your fishing arsenal a long time ago. Spreading your baits will truly put more fish in your boat much of the time, and right now and the next several months is one of those times.