Ahhhhh, another new season is here and it comes at just the right time. Yep, I’m talking about fishing season. I could not wait to get back into the boat. I thought how ironic that was because usually I can’t wait to get into the woods.

I didn’t get out during the official fishing opener; I actually got out a few days ahead of that. I went to the Mississippi River and fished near Wabasha with my old friends Dave and Falco. For review, Dave is my high school classmate. Our friendship goes back even further to our grade school days. Falco is his incredible bird dog and well documented fish licker. I’m not making that up. Falco licks every fish brought into the boat. He seems to really like northern pike and to really dislike redhorse suckers. Now that I mentioned it, I just realized Falco and I think alike.

Our outing on the water was a top ten weather day: high sun, little cloud cover and air temperatures in the high 60s. The walleyes and northern pike had already spawned out and that was verified by the water temperatures being in the low 50s. I’ll circle back to that later.

We eased around the island and back channels and it didn’t take long to boat the first pike. The second one seemed to take longer but then we fell into a pretty steady pattern and not just with pike. Sprinkled in between pike catches we also landed some pretty decent largemouth bass.  

It seemed like the longer we fished the better the fishing got. It was a great afternoon and before our fishing luck dried up, I saved two pike that were just over 30 inches. They were the perfect cleaning and eating size. I never used to keep pike because I was intimidated by the dreaded Y bones. YouTube videos mentored me through that learning process.

The signature moment of the day actually happened when we weren’t even fishing. We were on our way back to the landing.  Dave picked out a small, isolated spit of an island to let Falco run off some pent-up energy and other things that dogs do. I stayed by the boat, but when Dave noticed a pelican skeleton, I just had to see it. Ten seconds later the unguarded boat was already 10 yards from the point of the island and moving quickly away from us. In a few more yards it was going to hit the current stream and would move further and faster.  

Now this was one of the rare situations when taking the time for a discussion would have made it worse. I took off my shoes, my glasses, and I threw my cell phone on to the ground. Remember the water temperature that I mentioned? I swear the water felt like an ice bath.

I’m not sure how far I had to swim. For a brief moment I thought I was losing ground. A few freestyle strokes later I was holding onto the transom of the boat. Even though the swim was a short one the conditions made it seem like a distance event. I really was spent.  

The ride back to the landing was a chilly one and I could not wait to get into the truck, which is ironic because usually I can’t wait to get into the boat.

Didn’t get enough Dave this week? Visit “Outdoor Trails and Tales with Dave Beck” on Facebook or at  ottwithdavebeck on Instagram for photos and video of Dave’s adventures. You can share your own photos and video with him there as well, or by emailing him at dave@piercecountyjournal.news Also, check out OTT content on Instagram @thepiercecountyjournal