An Outdoorsman's Journal

Exploring the Mississippi River backwaters by Wabasha/Nelson

Hello friends,

   Before I start with this week's column I want to say something that I have wanted to say for quite a while. For those of you that write to me, I do my best to respond and sometimes it may be a while. I have hit a point where between the readers of this column and being President of KAMO and NOAC I cannot keep up with replies. I am sorry, generally I get back, but it is becoming very tough.
   I syndicated this column back in ‘92, before that I wrote for my hometown paper The Poynette Press. When I syndicated, I knew I was going to have to have some good winter variety to keep my readers, publishers and myself happy and I entered into the world of winter camping. Doing treks on the ice of Lake Michigan, Superior and in between in the bush and of course ice fishing would fill the winter with plenty of adventure.
   This week I am writing about a bit of a nature on the ice, winter camping trip that I did near Wabasha/Alma on the Mississippi River in backwater channels, marshes and islands. My goal was to maybe catch some fish with a jig pole, maybe call in a coyote but pretty much just to see some new country.

   Saturday, February 7th
   High 27, low 18

   My mode of travel would be leg power pulling an Otter Sled with a small tent, minimal ice fishing gear, a rifle and bedding, my trusty pup Red would be my companion. I put in at a boat landing on highway 25 that is literally a bridge of islands, channels and a road. My 6-foot sled was loaded to the hilt and my mood was excellent. I figured one way or another I would find some panfish or call in a yote but most importantly I was going exploring.
   My limited intel had told me that the guys with air boats were catching perch a couple of miles deep into paradise and I thought “I can find that.” My plan for today was to build a camp, fish and hunt the area and read signs. What does read sign mean? Tracks, dens, current, eagle nests etc..
   I spoke with several fishermen and was repeatedly told about what a great area that I was in for fishing but that the big panfish were not hungry. No matter how many holes I drilled all I caught was 2-5 inch perch. No problem, I had a plan for day 2. I went back to my humble abode on the ice and slept like a baby.

   Sunday, February 8th
   High 26, low 14

   I was up with first light and my mood was great. The first thing I did was jig for panfish and all I could get to bite was small perch. Next, I packed my sled with a rifle, ice fishing gear, food and my mouth coyote call.
   My main goal was to find air boat/perch paradise and fish on my way to it and coyote hunt. I used to be pretty good at calling in yotes and oo what a thrill it is when they come in looking for the dying rabbit.
   Bad luck came my way a mile into my journey when I came to open water that would not allow me to travel to perch central. I would later talk with a guide that told me “fishing was tough, only small perch".
   In reality this would make my day because what I did was explore, call coyote, observe, drill holes, fish and live! What I saw was one coyote that did not feel comfortable with me. Lots of eagles nests with eagles hanging out in them and a ton of beaver damage.
   The beaver damage is a huge deal for the eco system of the river as trees hold islands from becoming filtered away and becoming marshes. A few years back the river was very high and a solid percentage of trees died on the Mississippi. The unchecked beaver population is making that problem much worse, and I saw very few young trees.
   On one of my setups for coyote I set up near a long since abandoned beaver lodge that had to have taken a very long time to build as it was immense. Due to the low water of the last few years the beaver could not swim into it anymore, which keeps yotes from eating them. Now this lodge is an active coyote den and it was pretty neat to see how that evolved.
   As my day went on and I really got into it I felt like I did back in the early ‘90s when I just pulled a sled, both of my goldens pulled their own sled and we lived large and always on the edge both danger wise and financially.
   This all started in ‘89 and with 37 years on the job hitting me in May, I kind of feel the same.

   Sunset