Seasonal change affects hunting, fishing

By Bill Bartusek

As I drove about this past weekend, things were sure changing fast.

Harvest is in full swing and it won't be long before the crops are in. Leaves have turned and in many areas have already fallen to the ground.

Docks and boats are off the lakes as cabin owners get ready to close up for the winter. All of this just says that Winter isn't very far off.

For now the duck season continues with local action pretty slow. Maybe the migration of ducks from Canada will be better than last year. Area archers are out trying to harvest their deer. As I said the harvest has started and that will quickly eliminate a lot of cover for the deer to hide in. Of course, this will definitely help archers. But, the deer will change their patterns for awhile and hunters will have to readjust to the new situation.

Anglers were also busy this past week. Lakes have not turned over yet, so fishing on many lakes has been very good. One such lake is Mille Lacs. The fall bite there has been great. The fish have moved back towards shore and the bite after dark has been superb. I spent the weekend doing some fishing and taking in docks. My dock is still in the water for a few more weeks. Some of my neighbors have decided to call it a year. We had a lot of help and lots of fun taking all the docks in.

Despite high winds, fishing for me was decent. Bass and pike were eating and we caught quite a few on spinnerbaits. The fish were hard to pattern because of the erratic weed growth. The wind also made it tough to stay on the fish. Those are just a few challenges you face when all you can do is fish weekends.