Our youth are the future of the outdoors

Whenever I look back at my days after the service, I think of how the many things that didn’t seem important to me have now taken precedence. I have always appreciated wildlife, and when my boys were young, I tried to point out the smaller things in life, like seeing an eagle or an owl in flight and seeing a rabbit running across the backyard or a squirrel doing something silly. When we were up north, we would see chipmunks, deer, many other critters and even an occasional bear.

It was not uncommon to see deer drinking from the lake along the shoreline or even swimming from shore to an island. We once had the experience of watching a bear swim from a grassy point to some land across a channel. Up until that time, I never realized that bears were that good at swimming. It also made me glad that I had a good running motor on the boat, just in case.

Most of these experiences occurred on lakes in the same general area of where our cabin now sits. The deer swimming happened at Sand Lake on the Bowstring chain of lakes. Spider Lake offered many instances when we spotted wildlife and that’s where we encountered the swimming bear. There was one time when just my grandson Trevor and I were buzzing down the lake when he started pointing to the narrows ahead of us where a moose calf was swimming across to where its mother stood waiting. This is one of many outdoors experiences that I will always remember.

Trevor spent a lot of time with me while he was growing up. I like to think that I had some influence on the sportsman that he is today. He has taken it to another level. He has common sense, respects the rules, and just enjoys the sport, whether it is fishing or hunting waterfowl.

My grandson, Dylan, is also one that loves the outdoors, especially fishing. I probably spoiled him, because he and I spent a lot of his childhood fishing for northern pike, which I now know is his favorite fish to seek out. He just recently became a father and has a son, Krew, to teach his love of fishing to. Luckily, Dylan’s wife Kloe also likes to fish. Each time she fishes with him, she seems to catch the biggest fish, which Dylan attributes to his being a very good guide. Hopefully, those three will have a lot of fun outdoors adventures in the years to come.

It is important to get our youth involved in outdoors activities. Sports like fishing and hunting are important in preserving our outdoors heritage, and our youth are the future of these sports. My youngest grandson Grant also loves the outdoors. Although he likes to fish, he also loves hiking, kayaking and rock climbing. He has visited the boundary waters a couple of times and really seems to like that.

Until next time: There has been a little action on the channel by Frank Hall Park. I have seen one or two permanent fish houses along with some portables, fishing there. I have a feeling that they are catching something or they wouldn’t keep coming back. I don’t believe that the fishing traffic will ever be heavy like it was a few years ago, but it looks promising. I know this fall I was on the channel trying to get my motor running when I made a couple of casts and caught a couple of “eater” perch. This is what keeps me coming back.

Fountain has houses scattered across the main lake as well as Edgewater Bay. I believe that the dredging has helped the fishing, and it would sure be nice if the last part of the dredging could be finished.

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