Our Outdoors: Thinking Big
Our Outdoors: Thinking BigBy Nick SimonsonIt was by far the biggest walleye my ten-year-old eyes had ever seen. Back in those days at the lake cabin, when septic fields slowly filtered their way into the water, and weeds grew thick this time of year from the warm, fertile shallows out into the depths, walleyes were a bit rarer than they are now. The lush vegetation and algae-stained water were better suited to the herds of hammer-handle pike that dominated the food chain at the time, and walleyes were those rarities my uncle would pick off occasionally as we panfished the […]
Our Outdoors: It All Comes Together
Our Outdoors: It All Comes TogetherBy Nick Simonson While preparing for the upcoming salmon season, and tying a few extra spinners for summer walleye trolling, my fingers began to find the smoothest of patterns on the various rigs coming together at my desk. The turns and twists of line around the metal of the hook shank and gentle tug that snugged the loops of monofilament into a cylinder of solidarity against the hook eye became a seven-second symphony, replayed over and over and over. With hardly a missed beat, a couple dozen new flasher rigs and crawler harnesses mounted quickly […]
Our Outdoors: Water, Water Everywhere?
Our Outdoors: Water, Water Everywhere?By Nick Simonson Whether it’s taking my pick of one out of 10,000 lakes on my Independence Day holiday road trip, or floating down the Missouri River back home, the presence of freshwater is a major part of my summer and presumably that of any other boater or angler enjoying the warmer temperatures of the season. Casting for bass, trolling for walleyes or fly fishing for trout and sunfish all require access to a stream, river, or lake and involve access to that water. On top of abundance, that water must be clean enough to support […]
Our Outdoors: A Blaze of Color
Our Outdoors: A Blaze of ColorBy Nick Simonson When it comes to angling, I’m a huge fan of matching the hatch to catch more fish and will often start with something natural on that first cast if I know what bass, walleyes, pike and other species I pursue are eating. Silver jig-and-twister patterns shine for walleyes when the spottails are running in the creek. Perch crankbaits are dynamite when those three-to-four-inch schools are available in a water for predator fish. A trolled spinner or slow death rig with a deep blue, purple, or heck, even a lifelike bluegill pattern painted […]
Our Outdoors: Sweating It
Our Outdoors: Sweating ItBy Nick Simonson Two months ago today, it snowed and snowed and snowed; and it wasn’t just for a day, but for nearly four straight days that the skies remained gray under a stalled low-pressure system, where the wind howled, and drifts of ten feet in depth that blocked traffic into and out of my neighborhood for nearly a week were left in the wake of the continuous northwest gusts. That was the start of our so-called spring.This weekend’s state high school clay target league tournament on the cusp of the summer solstice erased any memory of […]
Our Outdoors: For Reference
Our Outdoors: For ReferenceBy Nick Simonson Atop the tank of the basement toilet, where any good publication of any sort rests in any household, sits a well-worn copy of the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. As a smaller reference book, it tops of the stack of old Outdoor Life and Dakota Country magazines and sets perfectly on the foundation of the Complete Outdoor Encyclopedia, finishing off the easy access pyramid of print. The crown jewel of my bathroom reading with the emerald leather cover and the slightly torn half dust jacket with a full […]
Our Outdoors: Smells Like Summer
Our Outdoors: Smells Like SummerBy Nick Simonson For some, the scent of summer is that of hamburgers on the grill, floating into the evening air between houses and through yards, ringing the mental bell of Pavlov’s dog in even the most civilized of us. For others, it’s the smell of freshly opened lilacs, a sweet fragrance which industry has tried for decades to duplicate in candles, bathroom deodorizers and laundry detergent, but never has quite captured in a way that elicits the accompanying sigh that signals summer. There are a hundred different olfactory cues, from cut grass to a thunderstorm […]
Our Outdoors: Spring Sing
Our Outdoors: Spring SingBy Nick Simonson Staring out over the glassy lake, the early morning was a symphony of spring, and like the trill of the redwing blackbirds coming from down the beach in the brush surrounding the high flowing creek, it was a far cry from the day before. Then, as my wife and I took the line for the Fargo Half Marathon, temperatures near freezing and a chilly continued northwest wind from the exit of yet another swirling low in a series of season killers made things feel more like the end of summer than its unofficial start […]
Our Outdoors: Four Weeks
Our Outdoors: Four WeeksBy Nick Simonson In good springs and bad, snowy ones and warm ones, no matter how the kids come out of the final day of competition in the USA High School Clay Target League’s regular season, it’s the four weeks in between today’s end of the often chilly, windy, and trying eight weeks that make all the difference ahead of the state tournament. Whether with the first team in southwest Minnesota I helmed nearly a decade ago, or with the six pack of schools I coach along with 75 other adults now in central North Dakota, the […]
