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Mike McFeely
 

KFGO News Headlines  November 20, 2009

 

  • Mike McFeely column
  • Jason Mitchell

Visit the Mic McFeely Blog >>

The Mike McFeely Column

 Give us this day our daily rant: Thanks, vets

 

Thank you.
Those words are aimed today at all those who’ve served in our armed forces. It is Veterans Day, the day set aside to honor all Americans who’ve worn the uniform past or present. From the Revolutionary War to those folks serving now in Afghanistan and Iraq, to everybody who’s served, let us say together and always, “Thank you.”
Now, those of you who listen to my program regularly – at least some of you – might view me as that lefty, liberal, ungrateful ingrate who wants to turn this country over to who you see as the socialist, Marxist, U.S.-hating Democrats like Obama and Pelosi! Right? There’s no way I can have any appreciation for veterans, right? I just don’t get it, do I?
You’re wrong on a couple of counts. Let me tell you how.
First off, I owe my career to veterans. As first a newspaper columnist and now a radio talk-show host, I am a staunch believer and defender in the First Amendment to our Constitution.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
I am not the smartest guy around, but I am smart enough to realize that it is the veterans, those who fought for this country, who have assured my pen and now my microphone will remain unencumbered by the government of these United States. It is not the editors or the publishers or the lawyers – it is, in the end, the veterans.
Second, I owe my life to a veteran. Literally. Like millions of others in this country, my dad was a veteran. The Big One. W-W-2. Showing the Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor who’s the boss.
Yes, First Lieutenant Stuart W. McFeely of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was a World War II veteran, a bombardier in the 100th Bombardment Group of the 350th Bombardment Squadron. “The Bloody Hundredth,” as it was known.
What that means is that my dad flew 30 successful missions over enemy-occupied Europe in a B-17 bomber from Nov. 1943 until May 1944. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with three oak clusters.
What that also means is that my dad, like millions of others, came back after the war, got married, had a family and went to work. And, like millions of others of the Greatest Generation, he didn’t say a whole heck of a lot about his experience in saving world from dictators. He much preferred catching a walleye, drinking a Grain Belt and grilling a steak on that old green grill at the cabin.
I never learned much about my dad’s service to this country. And that remains one of the great regrets of my life. My dad died at age 66 in 1988, when I was a completely clueless 21-year-old. We never, quite frankly and regrettably, had long talks about the missions he flew bombing Germany or his other memories of being in the war. I was much more interested in bouncing basketballs, hitting baseballs, drinking beer or chasing girls – only one of which I proved any good at, by the way.
I was never mature enough – or smart enough, honestly – to want to sit down and say, “Dad, tell me about the war.” It just didn’t seem like it was that important at the time. Now I’m 43 and it seems incredibly important.
I’ve often said that if I had the chance, I’d love nothing more than to head out on old Lake Carlos near Alexandria, Minn., and spend some adult time fishing with my dad. There’d be a million questions, and about half would be about fighting World War II. It just seems like I missed so much by not asking him those questions when I had the chance. And now that important family history is lost. Gone forever.
My point is, on this day, I have several reasons to thank veterans. As a citizen of the United States, as somebody who owes his living to the protections our veterans have guaranteed for us and also as a son to his father.
So … again, I say, thank you.

 

 Mike McFeely (mike@kfgo.com) can be heard from 2-5 p.m. Central Monday through Friday on "The Mike McFeely Show" on KFGO 790. The show goes statewide in North Dakota at 3 p.m. on KFYR 550 in Bismarck and KCJB 910 in Minot. Mike McFeely's blog can be read by clicking here. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mikemcfeely

 

Here is the 30-point buck arrowed near Fond du Lac, Wis., by
Wayne Schumacher. More talk on this today on the Mike McFeely
Show.

BIG BUCKS

 

Give Us This Day Our Daily Rant: Thanks, vets
 
 

Jason Mitchell

 How to catch fish in the 'dog days' of summer

The fishing of late summer often gets a bad rap. In fact, anglers often refer to this time as the “dog days” of summer. While some patterns do change and we can’t argue with the fact that locations and patterns that worked well a month or two ago are now dead … there is still plenty of great fishing left. There are still willing fish left to catch which is great news for parents looking to sneak a few more fishing trips in before school starts or for farmers who have a few days off after getting caught up with spraying and haying. 
While this part of the country is obsessed with walleye, don’t overlook great bass, bluegill and crappie opportunities on many of the smaller lakes. Weeds are easy to find and identify this time of year, find the edges of the weed beds and you are going to generally find something with fins whether it is bass, panfish, walleye or pike. 
If your purpose is to just catch fish, there are two presentations that really stand out. A slip bobber with either a piece of crawler or a small leech will basically catch just about anything that swims. If you like to cast, a small jig with a twister tail or piece of crawler will also catch fish. When we look at all of the small natural lakes located within a hundred mile radius of Fargo, we are looking at a lot of water with a lot of fish. In fact, the bass fishing around FergusFalls, DetroitLakes and Ottertail is really phenomenal. Bluegill and crappie fishing opportunities are also abundant in this area. 
The catfish on the Red River is another world-class opportunity right under our noses and many anglers drive by the Red River in route to other fisheries. The Red River is one of the best places in the entire country for enormous channel catfish. Late summer is a prime time to target these fish.
If you insist on walleye, there are still plenty of great opportunities especially when we look at the larger bodies of water. Big lakes like DevilsLake, Mille Lacs and LeechLake keep kicking out fish all summer long. DevilsLake in particular is very easy to fish during the “dog days” of summer. Classic deep structure like rock piles, sunken islands, points and humps will hold fish. Right now, we are catching a lot of fish on the deep rocks and the presentation is pretty simple. Keep the boat on top of the structure and use a 1- or 2- ounce bottom bouncer to fish as vertically as possible in 20-35 feet of water. Basically, if you find rocks, there are usually fish around. Bait can either be a leech or crawler on a plain hook. 
A more sophisticated approach that allows you to cover a lot of water is trolling crank baits with lead-core line. Lead core allows you to get just about any crank bait deep. A general rule of thumb is one color of lead core (30 feet) will drop about 7 to 8 feet deep while trolling at about 2 miles per hour. Spooling up a line counter reel with four to five colors of lead core will enable you to get crank baits down to about thirty feet pretty safely. Small crank baits like Rapala Jointed Shad Raps and Salmo Hornets have been tearing fish up.
There are still plenty of opportunities to create some memories on the water this summer. Once summer is over, we have to wait a while in this part of the country before we can gaze out across a blue lake. This winter when the snow is blowing against the door and every parking lot in Fargo is filled with running vehicles, you might just wish that you sneaked a few more fishing trips in during the “dog days” of summer.
 
Jason Mitchell can be heard every other Friday on the Mike McFeely Show on KFGO,KFYR and KCJB. Mitchell is a Devils Lake-based fishing and hunting guide and is host of Jason Mitchell Outdoors, which can be seen regionally on Fox Sports Network.