Dock Fishing

This is the time of the year that I enjoy just going down to my dock in the evening and fishing for Walleyes from about 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm or so. The fish are coming into the shallows to feed on minnows or insects during this time of the evening. The key to their movement is light penetration. The less the light penetrates the water surface from a slight chop to break up the surface, or we have an overcast sky, the fish will venture in sooner and shallower. Now I have a nice boat and I enjoy using it, but nothing pleases me more then sitting on my dock and catching my Leech Lake limit of 4 Walleyes within an hour or so. My usual presentation is a leaded jig with a minnow attached. Six pound test line is more then enough. A bobber stopper rig or plain minnow hook also works well. Any color jig will do as long as it has some green. I cast out and retrieve at various speeds and motions all to entice the fish to bite. The usual fish are the eater size or smaller and not the bigger ones, but occasionally one in the slot size shows up and needs to be released, but that is rare. I am quite often serenaded by the sound of the Loons as it was this evening. The peace and quiet is real relaxing. Low tech fishing for a relaxing, stress free evening. And yes, you will probably need some bug spray. You usually can be in bid by 10:30 pm or sooner.

May Weather and Garden

The weather has been real warm and summer like all week. May started out cool with snow the first weekend, but it has been warm since. My sister and I have been working in our garden. We went to the greenhouse for the first time this week. I am sure that that will be at least a weekly trip until everything is planted and the space used up. Spring is the time of the year when it feels good to get your fingernails dirty in the soil. I will be writing about our garden as the year progresses. My lawn grass is just popping right now. Lawns need to be cut about every five days now. Plenty of those pesky Dandelions. The warmth has also brought forth tree pollen. Both the Oaks and Basswood trees are doing their annual thing with seeds floating on the water, on decks, driveways and all other services.

Oak Point Road

With the nice weather the road contractor is making up for lost time. They are going early in the morning by 7:00 am to at least 8:30 pm in the evenings. I get tired watching them work. Both layers of asphalt are now down so the driving surface is completed. The contractor still has some finishing up to do, such as gravel shoulders, signage, stripping and things of that nature. It's a real nice drive right now. We did wash both our cars and the pickup this week to get the road grime off the sides and from underneath. I have resumed my morning walks on the new road.

Yellow Lady Slippers

Pictured here are some Yellow Lady Slippers that are wild orchids that grow out here on Oak Point. They show up in late May and early June. They are found in shady hardwood areas with rich organic soils and they like the early morning sun. They bloom early in the spring before the trees leaves are fully out. The flowers last 3 to 4 weeks. They are cousins to the Showy Lady Slippers (pink) that are the official Minnesota State Flower. Showy Lady Slippers will show up in 2 to 3 weeks and can also be found here on Oak Point.