Family fishing contest back for another year

Sunday is the day, folks! Sunday is THE day! The 23rd year; the 23rd time; it's the day of the Twenty-third Annual Izaak Walton Family Fishing Contest.

This Sunday, May 18, starting at 9 a.m. It's a public thing, open to everyone, young and old alike. It's impossible to turn around at the Annual Izaak Walton Family Fishing Contest without tripping over tradition. This contest is simply hip-deep in history, wading in milestones and awash with good things. It's almost like a multi-family reunion. In many ways, it is — one big family fishing reunion.

All that will be evident this Sunday at Briggs Woods Lake — that's where it's always been — when this annual fishing contest gets underway. You will be there, won't you? Do not expect impartiality in this column this week, folks. Do not look for "fair and balanced."

Registration will be at the south boat dock at Briggs Woods Lake. For ages 16 and over the cost is $10. For ages 15 and under it's $3. How can one go wrong? Fish from boat or stand on the shore, it's for kids and adults alike, a fun thing. For the little guy (and gal), whether you fish once a year or once a day; be you young or old; if you want to fish, have fun and make some fast dollars... this fishing contest is the "Field of Dreams." Fish any part of the day or all day long.

One hundred dollars will be awarded for the longest bass, walleye, crappie and bluegill. Catch more than one species and be eligible for more than one prize.

Hey kids: Five $20 cash prizes will be paid for the five smallest fish.

Raffles for $100 and $50 and door prizes given out all day long — literally hundreds of dollars worth of prizes. You don't need a big bass boat to fish this one... a simple Zebco rod and reel is all you'll need. All bass and walleyes must be measured and released as soon as possible. And all bass and walleyes have a lake-imposed 15-inch minimum length to be legal.



The rites of spring

I've checked plenty of things off my "To Do" list recently. Some don't go exactly like I wanted them to, but overall I was content with 'em. But the important ones... the ones like the rites of spring... I don't mess with them, Know what I like about 'em?

It's not just the arrival of spring and another season; it's not just the leafing out of trees and green grass; it's not just the spring bird and waterfowl migration, it's much, much more than that.

It's all those "firsts." The first robin, the first tulip, the first house wren, the first bluebird, the first night crawler. The other morning my neighbor, Bonnie Paschke called me the other morning... she'd seen the first Towhee (Rufous-sided) in her yard. They're a very shy, seldom-seen bird of the deep woods. John Squire left a note on my front door to tell me "he'd seen the first Myrtle Warbler out at Beemer's Pond. And Bob Jewell from down in Homer called me to report the first sighting of a House wren, first sighting of a Baltimore Oriole, and he threw in a Bluebird just for good measure.

I like those "firsts." Not to be outdone, Dewey Nichols reported the first Muskrat in a farm pond out by Cass Cemetery; and a lot of you called me to say you'd seen Rose-breasted Grosbeaks in your yard. Some sage once said that 'wilderness is the raw material out of which man has hammered the artifact called civilization."

This is probably true. But many of the diverse wildnernesses out of which we have hammered America are already gone. No living man will see again the long-grass prairie, where a sea of prairie flowers lapped at the stirrups of the pioneer. We'll do well to find a 40-acre plot here and there, but mostly, the prairie is gone. That's why I like those "firsts." They're never going to be gone. I hope I'll always be getting those phone calls from people who have seen the "first" this or the "first" that. That means spring is here.



Outdoor trivia

Through our endless Iowa winters and wet, cold springs, my friends and I feed each other's fantasies of gentle streams, great squirrel hunts, frosty mornings for deer hunting, and long-awaited spring turkey hunts. But mostly the Good Old Boys toss outdoor trivia questions at each other.

Here's a good one. Did you know? The highest and lowest elevations in the Lower 48 aren't just in the same state, they're in the very same county. Inyo County, California, is where you'll find both. Mount Whitney (14,495 feet above sea level) and Death Valley (282 feet below sea level). The two spots are only about 100 miles apart. While you can easily visit both the same day, it can be taxing on even a healthy body. Be wary of the radical difference between thin, cool air at the mountain's peak and the hot, dense atmosphere of the valley. Betcha didn't know that!

And now... have a good weekend.