As the lakes heat up, so does the fishing action. I’ve been out chasing trout, walleyes, crappies, bluegills, muskies, bass, and pike. I’ve been winning most of those battles except for the muskies, but they are always the last to get going so I don’t feel so bad. How great is it to have so many choices and such a long season to enjoy them all? 

I used to say that Fall was my favorite time of year because it was all hunting related. As a young pup with a new 12 gauge, opening day of squirrel hunting was like Christmas morning. When the deer season rolled around, well, that was like Christmas morning X2. Now that I am much older, I appreciate the simple act of surviving yet another long, cold winter and I welcome the return of warm weather. My favorite day of the year is June 21. Yep, the Summer Solstice is definitely the very best for the simple reason that it is the longest day of the year.   

My favoritism towards the longest day of the year again takes me back to my youth. My hometown baseball field didn’t have lights so the games played near the Summer Solstice seemed to last forever. I’m talking about a place that is far from here in terms of years and miles, but I can still picture those evening games with the sun touching the Minnesota river bluffs to the west. When that happened, we knew it was pushing 9 p.m. and we knew that we had time for two more innings provided neither team had a Coon Valley Rally. 

When there wasn’t a baseball game to play during this time of year, the place to find me was somewhere along the banks of the Mississippi River. It seemed like the further from home I could get, the better the fishing was. If I caught 10 fish on the banks below my house, nine of them were rock bass and the tenth was a bullhead. Any fish is fun to catch but I don’t think I have ever met a man, woman or child who would eat a rock bass; at least no one ever admitted it to me.   

If I had time to get to the lock and dam and back home before dark, it usually meant that my dad had a basket of bluegills to clean. That wasn’t always popular with my dad but I was my mom’s favorite if only for a day. Mom loved bluegills.   

Fast forward to current day and I still love the Summer Solstice. How can you not like the day that has more sunshine and daylight than any other day of the year? If you have an extra vacation day, I’d advise you to pick that day to get the most bang for your buck. If you’re not sure how to spend it you can join me at the ballpark or on the water, just don’t fault me for already being there. 

Happy Summer Solstice! 

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