Our Outdoors

By Nick Simonson There’s that moment of anticipation in early spring which transcends time.  It occurs after the grill has been fired up in the first warm evening and is preceded by the sizzle which triggers some primordial salivatory response as red becomes pink becomes that ideal singed-brown-and-black-striped.  Just before a perfect medium-rare chunk of meat comes from the flame and onto the plate, it appears almost suspended in a moment which becomes a front bookend for a warm-weather season full of outdoor cooking to come.  In that instant, with fork and knife raised and napkin tucked firmly in collar, […]

By Nick Simonson A year ago, the pike ran so thick at the end of the late spring it almost seemed likely that one could walk on their backs across the surface of the water below the small rock dam.  This year, under the warm white light of the mid-April sun against a pure azure sky, however, they were nowhere to be found.  The pair of buffalo that came to the large jigs of the anglers across the flow, and the quiet retrieves of my favorite gaudy streamers at the end of my fly line led me to believe that […]

By Nick Simonson As the ice fades from white, to blue, to black to open water, one of the first species available for anglers throughout the region are the trout in the scattered streams and lakes of the upper Midwest.  Whether it’s stocked browns in the Redwood River of southwestern Minnesota or rainbows in the Turtle River of North Dakota, or those that occur naturally on north shore streams of Lake Superior, fly fishing for these species of salmonids is a popular pursuit as soon as the ice moves out and the seasons open.  It doesn’t take much to get […]

By Nick Simonson The six-hour drive began early, from the southwestern corner of Minnesota to the edge of the Missouri River in North Dakota.  Following a gathering of familiar faces at the banquet for my long-time chapter of Pheasants Forever in Lyon County, an early start was imperative to touch base with folks along the journey and get back at a reasonable hour to get a few other things done.  With the rising dawn and lowered breezes, I fired the F150 up and headed northwest along the two-lane blacktop toward I-29. Starting the day along with me, three rooster pheasants […]

By Nick Simonson I nervously touched off the first shell of my ten-shot warm-up round and watched the bottom fall out of the orange dome, sending the remainder of the clay target skyward.  I breathed a sigh of relief but was unable to exhale the nerves which still lingered in my chest as my fellow coaches and a young shooter cycled around me and between the snow banks melting in the afternoon sun in our effort to educate some new scorers for the start of the spring high school league the next day.  My next shot smashed target number two, […]

By Nick Simonson One of spring’s first fish that anglers find schooling up in the shallows, rushing reed beds and staking out structure for spawning is the crappie.  Whether black or white, these fish are synonymous with fast spring fishing, and knowing what to use for them can help heat up any chilly day.  From small jigs and plastics to those lures that flash and flicker, this handful of baits will get things going in the right direction. 1. Start Small.  Insert heads with a variety of crappie tubes help present a package that is compact and moves naturally, as […]

By Nick Simonson A person never knows what’s lurking in various waters.  I’ve seen tiger muskies caught in lakes where they’ve never been stocked and read reports of eels somehow making it hundreds of miles up small rivers and drainage ditches to waters far from their origin point.  Gar have snapped at the orange foam of a bobber rig I’ve set for crappies, while less-than-attractive bowfin snatched up the minnow hanging underneath it.  The angling experience provides for some interesting encounters with fish that sometimes just don’t seem normal.  Maybe it’s part of the process of learning a new water […]

By Nick Simonson As snow piles higher and higher across the region and cold temperatures refuse to lift, the one-two punch of a suddenly very real winter has many conservationists worried for wildlife.  Additionally, looking forward to an eventual melt, concern also rises in regard to spring flooding as coulees, drains, creeks and streams will swell with the onset of any extended warm conditions.  While elevators and sportsmen dump corn alongside the roads in an effort to feed pheasants and deer, and anyone near a flood plain wrings their hands with the growing reality of spring floods following a super-snowy […]

By Nick Simonson At this point in the season, it’s almost pointless to check the long-range forecast.  It’s been the same thing on repeat for the past month: cold, wind and a shot of snow, followed by bone-chilling cold.  While the pattern may be disheartening and – don’t look now – continuing over the next couple of weeks, it has provided and will continue to provide preparatory time for spring and summer plans. What follows are a few of mine, which will hopefully give you an idea for some things to try out when winter finally subsides. Force Spring’s Hand […]