Good fishing memories

Here we are in June and the unofficial start of summer. It’s time to forget the yard work and a hundred other “honey dos” that tend to keep us out of taking time for a great fishing trip, hike into the backcountry or camping.  

Let me assure you, the honey dos of yard and home maintenance chores will never end. You just need to bite the bullet and take a memory making trip in the great outdoors.

While going fishing or taking a hike is almost always a fun experience, a supplemental benefit is you may make a great memory that will last a lifetime. Here’s an example. 

As a boy, my father took me and my older brother on many hunting and fishing trips. One of my fondest trips happened when I was just 10 or 11 years old. This summer I turn 87, so this memory making fishing trip has lasted over 70 years.  

On this memory making trip, my dad took my older brother and myself on a weekend fishing trip to Mallard Lake in northwestern Wisconsin. We stayed in an old cabin belonging to his boss, Ole Anderson. The cabin had electricity but no running water. An old outhouse served the need for a bathroom. 

As we drove out of the city, my dad stopped at a grocery store and purchased a case, 24 bottles of Orange Crush soda pop. Since my mom stayed home tending to my younger brother and sister, there was no mom around to monitor the soda pop consumption. Having a large supply of good pop added to our fun weekend. 

After settling in the cabin, my dad gave my brother and me an old 2-quart Mason jar with a good cover. He told us to go catch some grasshoppers for bait. After an hour or so we had a jarful of grasshoppers, probably 40-50. 

We then went down to the lakeshore to a primitive wood dock. A 12-foot wood boat was tied up next to the dock. Our fishing poles consisted of three cane poles about 12-14 feet long. The fish lines were a tad bit longer than the cane poles. The end of the fish line had a fishhook tied to it. A small lead weight was located about 15 inches above the hook. 

My dad manned the oars and rowed the boat out a couple of hundred feet into the lake. My dad cautiously opened the Mason jar and pulled out a couple of lively grasshoppers. He skewed a grasshopper on the fishhook at the end of my fishline. I lowered the grasshopper down into the lake. 

I could see about 6 to 8 feet down into the lake, then everything deeper was dark. I watched the grasshopper struggle to swim to the surface because grasshoppers are land critters, not water bugs. But the relentless weight of the lead split shot forced the grasshopper deeper into the water column. 

But just before the grasshopper disappeared into the deep dark water, a sunfish would come zooming out of the mucky depths and inhale the grasshopper. I would set the hook and the fight was on. 

Boy, what fun it was catching two to three dozen good-sized hard-fighting sunfish. We had fresh sunfish for dinner. What a great weekend of fishing with my brother and dad. Having a big supply of orange Crush pop was like icing on a cake. 

Over the years, I have fondly recalled that great fishing weekend. My older brother and my dad are gone now but recalling that great weekend fishing trip experience still warms my heart. 

A more recent and more local fishing memory has been catching lots of good eating yellow perch in the Thompson Lakes. 

Our cabin in the Thompson Lakes usually has good perch fishing. Our current dock is a modern plastic, aluminum and floating dock. It is a fine dock but lacks the character of an old wooden dock. In the old days, about 10 years ago, we had a dock made of Styrofoam logs and 2 x 6 boards. About once a summer we would convert the dock into a fishing platform. 

My wife and both sons would unhook the dock from shore and paddle out 100 feet and fish for perch. I have sunk several old Christmas trees out in this deeper water to enhance the fish habitat. 

We anchored the old dock and used it as a fishing platform. Each of us had a comfortable lawn chair to sit on. My wife, kids and guests would fish for the perch. I had a 16-inch diameter log sitting in front of my chair. That was my fish cleaning table. 

I was the designated fish cleaner. When a perch was caught, I was handed the fish, and I would fillet the fish. The fillets went into a small bucket with water. The fish guts went back into the lake. The steady flow of fish guts going downward in the water column acted like chum, attracting more fish to our floating fishing platform. * 

Anyway, we caught lots of fish this way, had many good times, made memories and had good fish fries in the evening. 

So, like I said earlier, take some time to enjoy making memories in the great Flathead outdoors this weekend.

* According to state fishing regulations: "When you are in a boat on the water and fishing, it is acceptable to dispose of fish entrails in deep water in the lake, reservoir or river. When you are near or on the shore or bank, it is recommended that you bag all fish remains and dispose of the bag in an appropriate garbage receptacle. Help keep the shoreline clean for others. It is unlawful to discard game fish; however, dead nongame fish may be treated like fish entrails for disposal purposes (puncture the bladder first so the fish will sink)."