The Zen of the jig
I came late to ice fishing, an activity the late Michigan writer Jim Harrison called, in the title of an essay, “The Moronic Sport.” In my perception ice fishing involved staying motionless on snow in a season when the weather devotes itself to turning any warm-blooded stationary form into a solid block. I found apropos…
White plain, clear window
Often the difference between winter conditions here in northern Wisconsin and in more southerly locations is only incremental: a little colder and a little more snow where we live, and a week or two of extra winter on each end of the season. At other times the difference is striking, and that was the case…
Of loons and lead
I’m sitting on a cooler on frozen Birch Lake, working a jig down 17 feet, waiting for the light tap on the line or a slight motion of the rod to signal the bite of a bluegill. At a time like this, why am I thinking about loons? It’s not because I envy the warm climate…
A little ice music
On a recent afternoon I made my first ice fishing foray on Birch Lake. Suitably bundled up, I hiked to the site of a crib I has marked on the GPS. I drilled a couple of holes and used the skimmer to clear out the slush. Thyen, sitting on a cooler, I dangled a waxworms…
There’s only one water – and it includes wetlands
Those of us who advocate for lakes can fall prey to a kind of myopia, forgetting that times that all water is connected – lakes, rivers, wetlands, groundwater. I’m as guilty of this as anyone, and so found it helpful to get a message lately from Christopher Noll, who worked for the Wisconsin DNR from…
Giving thanks
Near noon on Thanksgiving, the aroma of roasting turkey fills the house. The bird needs three more hours in the oven, and outside under a gray sky and light fog, the newly frozen lake beckons. I lace up my walking boots, slip on the winter jacket and head down to the lakefront. Conditions there have changed…
A barrier to invasive species: Full-time landing inspection
A few lake groups have taken full charge of boat inspection at landings, leaving almost nothing to chance. In Wisconsin, for example, the Black Oak Lake Preservation Foundation posts paid boat inspectors at the lake’s only landing from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, from the fishing season opener on the first…
Darkness at night: What a concept! The case against dusk-to-dawn outdoor lighting
I remember the first time I really appreciated the stars above a Northwoods lake, about 40 years ago. It was around midnight. The lake was remote enough not to receive light from any city or village. It was sparsely developed so that there was no light from houses or cabins. And the moon was just…
Need ideas for keeping lakes and shorelines natural? Here’s a great resource.
If you’re wondering how to create or maintain a natural shoreline for your lake’s protection, you now have a single repository for finding answers. Patrick Goggin, a natural landscape expert and a lake specialist with the University of Wisconsin Extension Lakes, compiled this excellent electronic document, “Building a natural shoreline from the ground up.” For…