100 degrees in Minneapolis on July 4th

The forecast for tomorrow in Minneapolis is 100 degrees, a real scorcher. Be careful outside tomorrow and watch the kids, they can overheat well before they know it. There is an air quality alert in place for here until 10:00 pm Thursday that goes along with the extreme temperature.

Also if you go out in a boat watch for sudden storms. There was one last evening up north with 80 mile per hour straight line winds that caught a fisherman out on the water and capsized his boat, drowning him. This kind of heat can cook up a wild storm real quick especially as the afternoon wears on.

Thanks for the public service announcement and the heads-up on the sudden storm possibility, No1son.

Today the little guy spent most of the day inside with his cousin, before we all hit the beach, followed by taking his cousin out in the canoe to explore anything crappie.

Another boat slid into our destination just before us, but they were soaking heavy suckers, so we didn't pose much of a threat...until the little guy tied into a big toothy "crappie." It took him for a run in the park before finally breaking off. The guys in the other boat were very kind, in letting him know they were hoping he'd bring it in. The boys kept busy with crappie though, so the disappointment didn't last long. I was bit off twice, and the crappies ran 9.25-9.75" at the top end tonight.

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What the sucker soakers really don't want to hear is that you will often get more toothy action fishing crappies than they will. Getting three incidents in one evening in one boat is not really all that uncommon, if you got the crappie spots worked out well enough. The tooth carps are there for the same thing you are, but they will not limit themselves just to hooked panfish. You get the panfish action as the main course, but I am no longer at all surprised when something much bigger crashes the party and even takes the crappie offerings in their own right.

Your boy did real good to hold on to the fish for any length of time. That kind of hookup takes patience to let the bigger fish tire themselves out against the light crappie lines. Just don't get in a hurry. I took a 40"er two years ago that took almost a half hour to bring to shore. (and 3 days for my right shoulder to recover!)

I think you got yourself a fisherman there.

101 today. Too bad we can't stockpile some of that for next winter when it starts getting to 10, 15 or 20 below zero.

Hung out at Ft Snelling today then went tubing (not tubing as in jigging), followed by fireworks tonight. My brother and I toyed with fishing for about 2 minutes until we stepped into air conditioning and our brains started to think rationally again.

Lake Osakis this weekend for a reunion. Going up two days early to get some fishing in. We did quite well with the walleyes the last time we were up there two summers back, but that was squeezing in an hour one early morning before the reunion started. I haven't had time to chat with anyone about crappies up there. The little guy hasn't been on any walleyes this year yet, so maybe we'll just key in on them. I'm scared to look at the temps up there for this weekend though.

Have a great fourth and weekend.

The little guy handled the pike pretty well. It was just at that "very close to the boat and still a bit too green" spot, that he just hadn't had the experience working with.

The boy hammered the dock all day while I helped with reunion prep work. Plenty of small crappie, perch, and sunnies off the dock and under boats. Two 9"ers kept his hopes up, as he swam and fished until the wee hours each night.



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"Last Call"

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"Anybody seen the little guy lately?"


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"If you can't catch 'em, join 'em"

:) The first pass and the last one. Pike are famous for both of them. Back in the day it was the job of the netman to anticipate those... Back then we ate a lot of pike. I seldom keep one anymore these days, just like nearly everything else catch and release.

It is amazing how many times a good pike will come in and have a look at you before really starting the battle. A good netman often got the fish on that "first pass". They always seem to have just that one more run left in them at the end, too. A whole lot of fish were lost when the netman misjudged that last surge.

Hey no1son, thinking about a vacation up your way around the first of AugustWife and daughter are wanting to hit the mall of america, me and the son are wanting to find somewhere to fish for a couple days.I have a Lowe 170W looking for a nice family owned resort with some good fishing have any info that might be helpfull.

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Originally Posted by Bowbender

Hey no1son, thinking about a vacation up your way around the first of AugustWife and daughter are wanting to hit the mall of america, me and the son are wanting to find somewhere to fish for a couple days.I have a Lowe 170W looking for a nice family owned resort with some good fishing have any info that might be helpfull.

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Bender, I am afraid that at this time of year on such short notice finding anything nice still unreserved at this time of year will be extremely difficult, especially considering that part of your party wants to have Twin Cities amenities readily available. The best resorts, especially the good family owned ones on nice lakes are generally booked up by the same parties for the same weeks year after year, and there are generally waiting lists for mid and late summer openings as well. If you can get away after Labor Day, there will probably be more vacancies, since that is after school starts.

We also get a huge number of foreign visitors directly here into the Minneapolis/St Paul metro area. It is not just outstate or in the more northern lakes area. I fish City Park lakes pretty heavily and I see tourists from all over the world all summer long.

About all I can suggest is to get ahold of The Minnesota Resort and Campground Association
Hospitality Minnesota
and make a lot of phone calls from their lists . Your best hope will be to find a cancellation and be on the phone at the right time to get first shot at it.

Sorry about that. My extended family has been vacationing at resorts on Minnesota lakes for a week in late summer for about 6 decades now. Finding additional openings for the younger ones as they start their own families has been getting extremely difficult over the years, and we are definitely repeat customers.

BTW I have had some dealings with the Mall of America over the years. I am not impressed. It is extremely loud, it is less than really convenient, and it is expensive, just be thankful you do not have to deliver to it or stock a store in it. But that being said one look at least is forgivable, and may not generate any desire to return. Be sure to remember where you park; it is easy to get lost just in the parking lots around the place.

There are quite a few other very interesting things to do and see as a tourist around the Twin Cities that IMO are much higher in quality and better ways to spend one's tourist time. A couple of days or even a couple of weeks will only enable one to just scratch the surface.

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Originally Posted by IMFSHN

The boy hammered the dock all day while I helped with reunion prep work. Plenty of small crappie, perch, and sunnies off the dock and under boats. Two 9"ers kept his hopes up, as he swam and fished until the wee hours each night.



Attachment 95845
"Last Call"

Attachment 95846
"Anybody seen the little guy lately?"


Attachment 95844
"If you can't catch 'em, join 'em"

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ya need to save these pics in case Slab asks for pics for a calender again this year. Great pics

Sweated out a few pounds at Sterns Cub Scout Camp over by Anadale, MN this weekend. They had a fishing (casting) section for one of our rotations, and all the boys loved it. The young man who was leading (standing back and letting the kids go at it), had a fly rod off to the side and I got three of my scouts to go try it -barely got them to try it, since they were having too much fun casting for plastic fish, which was a lot more fun than some of the other "cast into hoops" options I've seen done elsewhere.

I stepped in with all three to help them on their fly casting, not that I'm of a caliber to make Lefty Kreh give a nod, but I didn't want them thinking it was all about making wind knots and dumping line because they were being shown to just use your wrist to point the rod at the ground behind you and in front of you. I'll see if some of the shots a scout Mom took of myself and the little guy turn out.




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They did have 8 rods and some tackle which you could fish off the dock or check out a row boat or canoe during one of the open times, so we used it as a chance to fulfill a rowing elective, only to to get over to the section of the lake we wanted to fish and find out the line was all jammed up inside the Zebco 202 reel. 10 minute later, he was casting, and 5 minutes after that the horn sounded to come in. :(
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Do they get merit badges for this kind of camp or for fishing in general? Boy and Cub Scouts were not available to me when I was that age; so I don't know all that much about them.

Fishing is getting recognized more and more as a valid outdoor recreation. There are a couple of public schools back in NW Iowa that have added it to their PE programs, and the kids really enjoy it.

I'm not sure about the Boy Scouts, but the Cub Scouts can earn a Fishing Sports Belt Loop (easy), and Pin (must earn Loop first, then have additional requirements to learn more about the topic or develop the skill).

The little guy already had both completed, but loops and pins are a good incentive to get the scout's "feet wet" into a sport or academic area they haven't tried.


Requirements for the Fishing Belt Loop

Complete these three requirements:

1. Review your local fishing regulations with your leader or adult partner. Explain why they are important, and commit to following them.
2. Demonstrate how to properly bait a hook.
3. Try to catch a fish.

Requirements for the Fishing Pin


Earn the Fishing belt loop, and complete five of the following requirements:

1. Compete in a pack or community fishing tournament.
2. Demonstrate how to clean a fish.
3. Prepare a report on three different kinds of fish. Include information on preferred habitats, feeding habits, and recommended fishing techniques, baits, and equipment needed to catch it.
4. Draw a picture of three different types of fishing reels. Explain how each works.
5. Tie three fishing flies. Use at least one to fish.
6. Demonstrate proficiency in casting at a target 30 feet away.
7. Select a species of fish and draw a picture of it, correctly labeling each part and its function.
8. Replace the line in a fishing reel.
9. Make a simple pole and line fishing rig. Use it to catch a fish.
10. Catch a fish using artificial bait or lures.
11. Practice fishing on five occasions, complying with local fishing regulations and the Outdoor Code.