A fish story

A big one got away today. Chris Scwhinn and I went fishing on the Mississippi again. We started on the edge of a little pool off the river at about the level of 33rd Street:


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There were a number of large fish, probably carp of catfish, in the shallow water. We decided to go for bass on the river side of the spit of land, just north of there. No luck.

Then we went down to Minnehaha Creek, mentioned in Lonfellow's poem, Song of Hiawatha.

Here we had better luck, along with seeing a beautiful Heron. I hooked a big fish, possibly a small or largemouth bass, on my 8 lb. test line. It started to spool out my line, so I tightened the drag. I obviously too much, because as I started to reel the big boy in, my line broke. Oh well. It was a beautiful spot.

We saw a number of large fish, probably carp, resting in pools in the creek. We tried to find a few that Chris could try to catch with his fly rod, but we were in a rush and gave up.

Photos below.

Fishing for Reality

Welcome to the fishing for reality blog.
It is devoted to one man's search for meaning and reality via the medium, or process, of fishing.

The modern world is far too complex, and most of us get caught up in the dystopia of consumerism, job dissatisfaction, social climbing, corporate politics... and yes, even the vaunted Internet is an addiction for many (including me).

I plan to break the cycle by fishing. I hadn't fished in years until last Monday, when my friend Chris Schwinn and I went fishing on the banks of the Mississippi in Minneapolis, almost under the Lake Street Bridge.

I caught a nice smallmouth bass that morning. Photos below. Amusingly, when we got back home, my mother-in-law and father-in-law were coming back from a bike ride (they live in the unit below us in the duplex they own).

"We caught a bass fishing down by the river," I reported proudly.

"What river?" my mom-in-law said.

"The Mississippi River," I responded. "Down under the bridge."

"What bridge?" she asked, puzzled.

"The Lake Street Bridge," I said, amazed. After all, the Lake Street Bridge is one of the major bridges around. And the Mississippi River is the most famous river in North America. But I realized then that to most people, the Mississippi is still considered a foul cesspool, when in reality, it's been cleaned up quite a bit in the past few decades. Thanks to those darn liberals and their environmental laws.

Stay tuned....