Last Updated: Friday, December 29, 2006 1:10 PM CST
Northwoods Notebook -- Winter's Wonder
by Roger Sabota
Snow arrives just in time
For most of the month prior to Christmas we constantly heard that people were hoping and praying for a “White Christmas.” Wow! Even in our wildest dreams we could not have guessed that we would get such a “White Christmas!” At our house we simply could not wait for our children and grandchildren to arrive and see the beauty of the snow on trees.
From our house we could not see through the trees, which were covered with snow, down to the lake. The view anywhere in the Rhinelander area was truly a winter wonderland. Our son and daughter-in-law, who live in Appleton where there is no snow, were just enthralled with the snow-covered landscape. Our daughters, who live in Chippewa Falls and Somerset, had similar reactions.
One evening just prior to Christmas, after watching the 10 p.m. news, we heard that several thousand homes in the area were without electrical power. Judy looked out toward the lake and remarked that the power must be out in the homes across the lake. “I can't see any lights,” she said. The next morning, as we looked out, we realized that all the snow on the trees had prevented us from seeing any lights across the lake. The best part of this winter wonderland is that the snow stayed on the trees for such a long time thanks to temperatures below the freezing mark and a lack of wind.
My thoughts went back to opening weekend of the deer-gun season one year ago when we had similar conditions. When our son returned to camp on opening day at noon he looked like a snowman. He was covered with snow after walking through the alders and red pines.
On Tuesday I drove out to our deer shack to make sure that everything was OK. There were snow-covered trees lying across the lane so thick that I was unable to drive the pickup through them. I am sure that I looked very silly as I was beating on the trees with an eight-foot pole.
As we say good-bye to 2006 and prepare to welcome in 2007 it is a good time to reflect on this past year.
January was relatively mild and ice fishing took off quite well with anglers able to enjoy time on the ice in comfort. I joined Steve Suick and participated in the Annual Chicago Muskie Show. As usual this show was very well attended. This is the show that provides participants with the opportunity to see what is new in musky fishing. It appeared that most of the manufacturers of musky lures were coming out with a line of soft plastic lures. As usual it was an enjoyable weekend and a chance to visit with many friends.
The end of January found me having some new parts installed in this old body of mine, which kept me in for the month of February and part of March. It was difficult to stay out of the woods and off the ice for that much time.
As soon as the ice was gone from the boat landings on the River we began fishing for spring-run walleyes and perch. Again last year we were catching as many as twenty-five to thirty walleyes to get one over the fifteen-inch minimum size limit. We keep saying that next year there should be a lot of legal sized fish.
It seemed that it took forever for the water to warm up enough for the crappies to come in shallow. Once it started to warm up the water temperature warmed very quickly.
We hunted turkeys opening weekend of fishing season and did not see as many birds as we usually do. Following the turkey hunt we began to fish walleyes on area lakes. The action remained strong into June.
Musky season opened Memorial weekend and we combined musky fishing with some fast action crappie fishing. That action continued for a few weeks and then the water really warmed quickly. During July and August the weather got so extremely hot that we did not fish as much as usual. Perhaps as a result of the hot weather and resulting warm lake water musky fishing was difficult.
My notes point out that we saw more bears than normal plus an increase in the number of grouse alongside gravel roads. As usual fall got extremely busy, combining bow hunting, grouse hunting and fall musky fishing.
Very few deer were seen near the Monico area even though we spent a lot of time hunting. Our group of four hunters only saw two bucks during the gun season and shot both of them.
Our wish is for all of our readers to enjoy a Happy New Year. Hopefully 2007 will be a good year.
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