July 5, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

I arrived home at Leech Lake from St. Cloud today at 2:00 p.m. After unloading the truck, putting away some groceries and having lunch, I decided to go fishing.

The temperature at 4:00 p.m. was 72 degrees, the wind was out of the north at 8-12 mph, the sky was filled with big white billowy clouds that made it half cloudy and half sunny, and the water temperature was 73 degrees.

As I stepped onto the dock and began walking to the boat lift, I noticed schools of minnows swimming in the shallow water at the end of the boat ramp and underneath the dock. I decided that before I would go fishing, I'd get out the seining net and try to catch some native Leech Lake minnows to use as bait.

I got on my waders, and with seining net in hand, I wadded out into 3 feet of water. My first few attempts at netting the minnows failed miserably; I was simply too slow in closing the net. But after some trial and error, I began to get the hang of it, and within 10 minutes I managed to net several dozen minnows.

I did a thorough check of the minnows to ensure that what I had netted were indeed minnows. With the exception of one tiny walleye fry, which I carefully put back into the lake, I had nothing but minnows. Content with my catch, I put the minnows into my Frabill Flow Troll Bucket, grabbed what few live shiners were left from those Poage gave me, and got into my boat.

I motored the boat out to 14 feet of water directly in front of the Malay's cabin and deployed the drift sock. With the wind blowing at 12 mph from the north, the current would push the boat south toward Second Duck Point and put me in about 13 feet of water as I passed in front of our house and cabin -- which was my desired position.

When using the Leech Lake minnows, I caught numerous perch, and had a solid bite from something bigger (I could tell that whatever it was it had teeth because my minnow was cleaved off just below the head).

I tried using a shiner on a couple of occasions, but didn't get a single bite. When I switched back to the Leech Lake minnows, I again started catching perch. Unfortunately, I was unable to hook a walleye.

I came ashore around 6:30 p.m. It was nice to spend some time out on the water. I love how peaceful it is being rocked by the waves and slowly propelled by wind.

I contemplated going out trolling this evening, but I was hungry and decided to make dinner at 9:00 p.m., which is the time I would have gone trolling. After eating I sat on the dock with cold Leinenkugel and watched the last of the sunlight disappear behind the horizon. Another beautiful evening on Leech Lake.

A Review of the July 4th Broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion

Garrison Keillor on stage (in the white sport coat) during the July 4th broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion from Avon, MN


Garrison Keillor during rehearsal before the start of the special 4th of July broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion from Avon, MN, "as close to Lake Wobegon as we could get."

Here is my review of the July 4th, and 35th anniversary, broadcast of Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion from little Avon, MN.

I've seen APHC on several occasions, the first of which was also on July 4th. That show was broadcast from the football field of St. John's University in Collegeville, MN back in 1982.

It was a fantastic show, and afterward, my mother-in-law Marge took me up on stage to meet Keillor, who is a friend of her sister's family. I had always enjoyed listening to the Saturday evening broadcast of APHC before seeing him in 1982, but after that show I was hooked.

So I was especially looking forward to seeing him in tiny (pop. 1242) Avon, MN, which is on the Lake Wobegon Trail. Not only was the show yesterday a July 4th show, but it was also the 35th anniversary of A Prairie Home Companion which first broadcast on July 6, 1974. Unfortunately, the performance did not live up to my expectations.

First, a bit about the venue. It took place in Lake Wobegon Park, which is located in the center of town. Avon is a small town, and I'm sure its citizens and city employees did the best they could to accommodate the crowds of roughly 10,000 people, but it was painfully obvious they had no idea how to handle a large group of people.

There were not nearly enough portable bathrooms in place, so the lines to use them were always very long. There was limited access to food and water. And it was clear the police on traffic duty had never had to direct that many cars before in their lives because getting into and out of town was a horrendous mess.

Once situated in the park (on our own lawn chairs) we waited for more than 2 hours for the broadcast to begin. Usually at concerts and such outdoor events, the organizers will play recorded music or provide some other type of entertainment for the crowd. But yesterday, there was no pre-show entertainment.

Heck, they could have had the local high school band on stage playing patriotic songs for a couple of hours, it was the 4th of July afterall, but there was nothing. It was a missed opportunity for the city of Avon.

At last the show started. Keillor sang his usual opening tune "Hello Love," and then began to run through the cast of performers that would be joining him on stage throughout the evening. As a long-time listener, I realized that many of the regulars on APHC were absent from this evening's broadcast, which I found odd since it was his 35th anniversary special.

The guests included: The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, Jerry Bierschbach, Father Steve Binsfeld, Senator Amy Klobuchar, World War II veterans Clarence Fischbach and Ralph Lauer, Pastor Steve Hilde, sound effects man Tom Keith, guitarist and St. John's alum John McCutcheon, Avon Mayor John Grutsch, Bud Heidgerken, Minnesota state senator Tarryl Clark, Leigh Lenzmeier, the St. John's Boys Choir, vocalist Andra Suchy, and Vern Sutton (a performer with Garrison on his very first show in 1974).

I won't review each and every segment of the show, but I will say that from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best show possible, I'd rate this show a 4.

The Guy Noir segment was average at best. The interviews with the WW II vets were a nice idea on July 4th, but it was nearly impossible to understand what one of the gentlemen was saying.

The musical guests were OK, but not nearly as good as the acts Keillor usually has on his show. There were no "surprise" special guests, such as Meryl Streep or Martin Sheen (both of whom have appeared as guests before for special occasions). And even the News from Lake Wobegon segment seemed uninspired.

I suppose that after 35 years it gets hard to get excited about doing the show week after week, but this was billed as a coming home party; the place where it all began 35 years earlier. Plus, it was the 4th of July show, usually a big deal for Keillor. But this show lacked anything special.

Still, it was nice to be outside on a bright sunny day, enjoying the company of family, eating good food (which we brought with us), and listening to an average A Prairie Home Companion broadcast.

On my drive north to Leech Lake today I tuned in to the rebroadcast of yesterday's show, and while it might have been a tad better than my initial impression (maybe a 5 out of 10), it still struck me as a flat performance.

I've seen the Grateful Dead on more occasions than I can count (or even remember) and while some of the shows were absolutely incredible -- with Jerry Garcia reaching levels of musicianship never seen anywhere before or since -- other shows were out and out clunkers.

So I guess if the Grateful Dead can have off days (and can be forgiven), I suppose Garrison Keillor can be excused if he can't hit it out of the park with every show either. Still, it would have been nice to see him rev it up like I know he still can.

"And that's the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all of the children are above average."