• Fishing Tips

Then And Now

• By The Fishing Wire

By Bob Jensen

I looked out my office window today and saw a flock of swans flying by.  For me, that was a pretty big deal.  I’ve seen more swans in my home area in recent years.  Certainly more than we saw just a few years ago, but I still consider it a new experience.  Oddly, or maybe not so oddly, we’re seeing more and more of some types of wildlife and fish life.  And also not so oddly, we’re seeing fewer and fewer of some types of wildlife and fish life.  What we see and what we do in the outdoors has certainly changed from then to now.

Fishing has changed in a lot of ways.  It used to be that keeping the larger fish was the way to go.  On many bodies of water today, it’s beneficial to the fishery to keep the smaller fish.  Northern pike are a good example of this.  On some lakes, keeping the smaller pike is encouraged.  A body of water can support a certain amount of fish poundage per acre.  For instance, if a particular lake can support a hundred pounds of fish per acre, there can be twenty, five pounders, or fifty, two pounders.  Take some of the smaller ones, the ones that we used to throw back, take’em home and eventually we’ll have bigger pike.  That’s an over-simplification, but it makes sense.  And when prepared properly, those two and three pound pike are outstanding on the table.  The same concept holds true for panfish in many lakes.  In some cases, we’re doing the fishery a favor by keeping the smaller fish.

On some lakes smallmouth bass have taken the place of walleyes.  Largemouth bass have always been in these lakes, but they lived in areas where the walleyes didn’t.  As smallmouth populations grew, they moved into the walleye’s neighborhood.  The smallmouth flourished.  They were more aggressive than the walleyes and forced them out of the areas that were originally walleye territory.

When I was younger, pheasants and jackrabbits were abundant near my boyhood home in Iowa.  Now pheasant numbers fluctuate up and down, but there aren’t as many as there used to be, and I haven’t seen a jackrabbit in a very long time.  Weather plays a role in pheasant populations, but habitat, or habitat loss, is a very important factor.  Since 1990, Iowa has lost 2,637 square miles of habitat.  That’s a strip of land nine miles wide that stretches from Davenport Iowa to Omaha Nebraska.  That’s a lot of habitat! 

In an earlier era, we never ever saw an eagle around home.  When we went on our annual fishing trip to northern Minnesota, we would usually see an eagle or two, and it was always a thrill.  Today, we see eagles in the back yard.  And it’s still a thrill.  I’m hopeful and certain that it will always be a thrill.

We also see more deer, geese, and turkeys than we used to.  Seeing deer, geese, and turkeys aren’t quite as thrilling to me as eagles, but I sure do like to see them, as long as they aren’t on the road in front of my pickup.

Most people who spend time outdoors will agree that the outdoor world is changing.  It’s up to those of us who enjoy the outdoors to do what we can to make those changes, on land or water, changes for the better.

Photo Caption—As the outdoor world changes, it appears that deer and turkeys are learning to read.