The SM/LM Ratio
If your lake contains bass, chances are you have some combination of smallmouths and largemouths. That’s the case here on Birch Lake, although the ratio has varied over the years. When we started vacationing here more than three decades ago, largemouths dominated. In fact, I never caught a smallie until after the rusty crayfish decimated…
Growing Up Loon
It looks like an idyllic childhood. Imagine you’re a baby loon, a little dark-gray ball of down, paddling along beside mom or dad, or between them. Maybe there’s a twin for companionship. Get tired, climb on mom’s back and ride for a spell. Food is served continuously, fresh fish straight from the lake. Dip your…
The Lake Guy talks “peak life” on the lakes
You are welcome to share this post with your networks and to subscribe to my blog! https://www.wjfw.com/chat-with-ted/video_9691dfc6-232f-5404-8128-83a0ea1c7f49.html (segment 1) https://www.wjfw.com/chat-with-ted-part-2/video_fd2045d9-d5da-5679-bd2d-fb1ad37dcb73.html (segment 2) On Channel 12’s Up North@4 on July 9 I talked about lakes at peak life. You can view the two segments at the links above — and here’s more on the topic. There’s…
What They’ll Remember
One of my favorite pictures is a drawing grandson Tucker made then he was about five years old. We’d just come back from a pontoon boat ride on a windy morning, a ride shortened because Tucker got scared of how the boat rocked on the whitecapping waves. The drawing shows the boat riding on the…
How walleyes eat
How walleyes eat Different fish attack and eat their prey in different ways. If you understand their habits, you might improve your odds of catching your favorite species on your lake. You might think apex predator fish go about their feeding in much the same way, but that isn’t the case. For example, northern pike…
A better sky show
Fireworks look best over water, and if you doubt it, watch the people crowd around and the boats come out for lakefront Fourth of July displays. The sky explodes in colors caused by incandescence of elements and chemicals: Reds from strontium and lithium compounds, orange from calcium salts and carbonate, gold from iron and carbon, yellow…
Why we stay
We’ve wondered lately how long it makes sense to make our home in the North, with its attendant hardships like long winters, isolation from family and long-time friends, absence of urban amenities, and 63 steps from our lower deck down to the lake. Then they came to visit us and celebrate the New Year: Daughter…
Water: A bigger picture
Those who live on and advocate for lakes can easily (and appropriately) obsess over everyday demands. What’s happening with the Secchi readings? Will we get that new invasive species grant? How can we do more to protect natural shorelines? But now and then it’s useful to step back and see water in the big picture:…
No Clues
Please feel free to share this post with your personal netowks and to subscribe to this blog. Birch Lake froze on November 30, pretty much typical if our year-by-year record is to be trusted. This time is different, though. Usually I get to enjoy watching the ice slowly form, a sheet gradually spreading out from shore…