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FISHING OPENER
by Jim Schwartz
ANGLERS MAY HAVE their differences about bait presentation, fishing strategies and the like, but they agreed absolutely about the fishing opener on Ten Mile this year: terrible. Other terms come to mind as well: awful, rotten, horrible, take your choice. Not only was it cold, rainy and windy, but the prized walleye took what amounted to a vacation. Only a few hardy anglers scored and their take was minimal, after maybe two or three hours of fishing. The same was true, apparently, on Leech and other area lakes. The people at Swanson's Bait and Tackle Shop in Hackensack, who keep track of such things, reported slow going everywhere. Chalk it up to the late spring, cold water temperatures, delayed spawning, or any other excuse that appeals to you, and hope for better things to come as the season progresses.
THE BASS OPENER, on the other hand, was a winner, just as it was a year ago: plenty of "keepers" in 2 to 3 pound sizes, with an occasional whopper to make things really interesting. Along with the stringer fillers, there were lots of small bass eager to whack whatever lure was offered, indicating TML's bass fishery is main-taining itself at what appears to be a comfortable level. Sunfish, rock bass and crappies also began hitting over the bass opener weekend, providing desperate anglers an opportunity for a satisfying fish fry even if the preferred species, walleyes and northern pike, weren't cooperating. Still another plus was the improving weekend weather, going from cold and windy Saturday morning to warm and calm Memorial Day.
REPORT OF THE FISHERIES COMMITTEE
by Larry Urbanski, Co-Chair
FINAL RESULTS on last year's DNR research concerning Ten Mile Lake's walleye harvest will be in the next issue of the Newsletter. All the data have been collected but are still being reviewed by DNR in preparation for release of the information. It appears that many walleyes caught were from the 1998 fish-stocking (those with the metal insert).
DNR IS CONTINUING its study of the walleyes coming out of Ten Mile, so please continue to keep the heads from any walleyes you catch in Ten Mile, and turn them in to the DNR office (across Highway 200 from Ah-Gwah Ching) or drop them off at the North Shore residence of Larry Urbanski (5376 County Road 71 NW) or the South Shore residence of Nick Mellby (6012 Lower Ten Mile Lake Road NW).
THE COMMITTEE IS DEVELOPING a Fish Log to be inserted into the Ten Mile Lake Handbook. The log will be handed out at the annual meeting. Meanwhile, please try to keep a record of all the fish and the varieties of fish that you catch this season. (Note: last fall DNR stocked 1,321 poinds of fingerlings - meaning a possibility of about 36,000 future walleyes).
FINALLY, PRACTICE "CATCH AND RELEASE" this year, especially on those big ones. EAT SMALLER FISH!
