My boat, a not-so-fancy flat-bottomed john boat, was gassed up and the batteries were charged. Fresh line was wound onto my reels, and I was ready to go. Betsy had begrudgingly agreed to go along, and we headed for the river on the late afternoon of Thursday, May 12th.

“It might rain!” commented Betsy.

“Probably won’t,” I replied. “If it does, we’ll wait out a little rain at the St. Francis Bay boat ramp.”

We all know how that “little rain” turned out. Friday we went to Mitchell to hear Noel Hamiel talk about his new book at the Carnegie Center. That was well worth the effort. We’d try the fishing again on Saturday.

Betsy doesn’t like boats, she has an irrational fear of the water, but out of love, she agreed to go along as she doesn’t like my going by myself. Things started out badly when she slipped and fell at the boat ramp. Fishing isn’t supposed to be stressful, but things went from bad to worse as too much wind made boat control all but impossible. She buried her head in her jacket and wanted to quit. I yielded to her desire, but suggested a final pass along the rip-rap beneath the visitor’s center as the wind had subsided a bit. I tied a quarter-ounce jig to my line, garnished it with a minnow, and bounced it along the bottom as we headed north toward the boat ramp.

“Fish on!” I yelled. “Man the landing net!” Needless to say, Betsy was in no mood to lean out and land a fish. As the fish at first yielded no ground and then made a series of powerful runs, I knew it wasn’t a walleye. I was correctly thinking northern pike. Minutes later it surfaced and then made another run. I was yelling out orders. I was also worried as a lure tied directly to the line is generally sheared by toothy pike.

“Whatever you do, make sure you net him head first!” I was way too bossy. It was only a fish.

“I can’t see the fish!” cried Betsy. After a final drag-screaming run, I cranked the fish in and the all but done fish lay in the water. Betsy swept the fish up like a seasoned north-woods guide and struggled to hoist it into the boat. At that moment all the day’s stress had been forgotten as we headed for the boat ramp. I won’ ask her to go out in the boat again. Maybe some bank fishing.

The front cover of the June-July 2022 issue of Petersen’s Hunting magazine poses the statement, “Down To Your Last Round? Stock up Before Deer Season!” I would call that pretty good advice. If you see ammo you could use on the shelves of your favorite merchant, buy it now because it might not be there in October.

According to Seth Swerczek of Hornady, you’ll probably find what he calls the “staples” - .243, .270, .308, and .30-06, but the pickings will be slim for the smaller calibers like .204, .22 Hornet, and even .22- 250. Swerczek goes on to say that Hornady, Federal, and others are running 24/7 and still unable to keep up with the demand.

It all started in March 2020, the inception of the virus, with two problems. First, a satisfactory labor force was not available to manufacture the ammunition, and second, commodity prices for brass, lead, and copper were up and availability was down. Even with these obstacles, the ammo manufacturers never produced more ammunition than they are producing today. What has been said of rifle ammunition also goes for shotgun shells. While 12 and 20 gauge shells will be or are available, this is not so with 16 gauge, 28 gauge, and .410 shells.

On the positive side, so-called personal defense calibers such as .223 and .308 for AR semiautomatic rifles are available as well as the immensely popular 9mm pistol ammo. Today some of the demand for these calibers relates to the situation with Russia.

There’s one thing about this article that to me is conspicuous by its absence, and that is the availability of reloading components. Primers, powder, and brass, in that order, are difficult if not impossible to find. I suspect that profit is the reason. Ammunition has more or less doubled in price, and the component manufacturers see no reason to compete with those folks who reload their own ammunition. I hope this isn’t true. Supplying loaded ammunition is certainly a first priority. Perhaps when this demand is satisfied, reloading components will follow.

See you next week.