Rog's Rod & Nimrod

I won’t call it high adventure, but we had a great time. Last Saturday I went ice fishing on the Mississippi River with Tom, my son-in-law. It was a new experience for both of us, and we had little or no information to go on.

With a second home in Wisconsin that enables us to spend time with family including two daughters and four grandchildren, we cross the Mississippi perhaps twice a month at either Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, or Dubuque, Iowa. With its barge traffic and dams and locks, the Mississippi is fascinating. In his novel, Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain talks about the 250 lb. catfish once supposedly observed by early explorers. A few years ago I asked Devils Lake fishing guide, Johnnie Candle, about his favorite walleye spot. Though he fishes Oahe, Devils Lake, and Lake Erie, he named Prairie du Chien. We headed to Prairie du Chien.

In Prairie, we crossed the Highway 18 Bridge to the Iowa side in hopes of spotting a concentration of ice anglers. Nothing. We returned to Prairie and took Highway 35 north out of town along the east bank. A mile or so out of town we came to the Cabela’s store and stopped in for some advice. A very congenial clerk about my age advised us to take the next turn left (West) and head to the river where we would see cabins along the bank. We would also see other anglers. He advised us to fish 3-5 feet of water for bluegills, perch, crappies, and a few northern pike. We bought some wax worms and headed out.

The many cabins were unique in that they were elevated to a height of roughly twelve feet on concrete, steel, or wooden pillars. Where they parked their vehicles during high water I had no idea. We parked the pickup in an adjacent lot and headed out on foot. It was a half mile trek out to the concentration of anglers. On this back water ice Tom drilled some holes, popped up his shelter, and we spent the remainder of the morning through late afternoon catching nice bluegills along with a few perch and crappies. I’m looking forward to our return.

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It is my opinion that there would be no U.S.A. without the Second Amendment. Hitler’s Germany learned that the hard way. While the liberal gun control advocates are currently having little success with new laws, they are now attempting to circumvent the legislative process by pressuring financial services into not doing business with the firearms industry. They, the gun control advocates, would also like the financial services to “spy” on our personal gun transactions. We need to stay on top of this.

New Jersey gun owners recently faced a December 10th deadline to surrender, destroy, or modify ammo magazines that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition. The penalty for noncompliance could include 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine. When the NJ State Police were asked how they intended to enforce the ban, neither they nor the NJ Attorney General’s office had a comment in spite of the fact that no magazines had been turned in. I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusion. Personally, I have no use for magazines that hold anywhere near ten rounds.

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Where did the Parkston wolf come from? My son-in-law, Tom, who has a degree in wildlife from the University of Minnesota, has also done wolf research on Isle Royale. Tom checked with his wolf resources, and learned that it is not unusual for an adult female wolf to roam up to fifteen hundred miles. That wolf could have come all the way from Canada. I’m thinking Minnesota. While neighboring Wyoming has wolves, I don’t believe the wolf could have traveled across South Dakota without being shot by a coyote hunter.

I hope to see you at the March 9th and 10th Mitchell Gun Show. Along with some exceptional firearms and my antique American Flyer trains, I’ll be selling my new book, Southside Boy. I don’t mince any words, and I think you’ll enjoy it.