I’m very fortunate to have been able to fish in a lot of different places during the past several decades. I’ve got lots of memories of outstanding fishing trips with wonderful people. Many of those memorable fishing trips occurred in the autumn. The fall months are a great time to be ...

With the deluge of rainfall we have received, many gardeners are feeling pressured and worry about getting fall garden work completed. But don't panic, some garden chores can wait until drier weather. Working wet garden soils can compact the soil, so don't play in the mud. Delay until ...

It seems like it’s getting colder earlier this year. While we’ll probably get some warmer weather before ice covers the lakes and ponds, the cold weather is a good reminder of what’s coming. Temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s can encourage the fish to go on the bite, and the ...

Fishing after the sun goes down is a foreign concept to a lot of anglers, and there’s good reason for that. An angler certainly can’t see as well as night as they can during the day, so simple tasks like tying on a new lure gets a little more complicated. There are lots of reasons why an ...

It’s National Coffee Day today! Time to celebrate! With a cup of coffee, of course. I am always amazed at how good that first cup of morning coffee tastes every single day. Somehow, I think that after so many of those mornings a cup of coffee would lose its appeal, but for me it ...

While listening to the radio recently I heard a commentator observe that we are living in a “highly charged political environment.” Wow! Talk about understatement. Now, I can’t say too much because I am an opinionated guy myself and have probably ignited as many political firestorms as ...

In walleye country, it’s apparent that autumn is not far away. The days are still warm, but not as warm as they were 2 weeks ago, and, most noticeably, the nights are cooling down. Autumn means different things to different people, but for walleye chasers, it’s maybe our favorite time ...

Fall is almost here! Does anyone else love autumn as much as I do? Just give me sweatshirt weather, a pretty spot to sit outside in the nice weather, a cat on my lap or a dog at my feet, a good book, and a cup of tea and I am set. I look forward to this time of year every single year, even ...

With cooler weather, fall is the time of year for planting spring blooming bulbs to add spring color to your garden. For best results, plant spring-flowering bulbs in clusters or groups to achieve the greatest visual impact in the garden. When planting daffodils and tulips, plant 10 or more ...

A good number of very successful anglers commit a lot of their fall fishing time to rivers, and for good reason. Most rivers are home to a wide variety of fish species. Those different species of fish will gather in the fall and they'll be hungry. If you can find the fish in the fall, you ...

Some 35 years ago I was asked a difficult question: “What are Iowans like?” The question came during a newspaper management training session in Rochester, New York. I was the westernmost participant among a group of some 50 folks, mostly from New England and the Mid-Atlantic ...

So it’s been almost twenty years now since the infamous Sept. 11 attack on the Twin Towers in New York City, as hard as that is to believe. That morning changed our country forever, in subtle ways stealing some of our trust that life would continue as it had always been. What happened that ...

Often when I’m watching television it seems like there are ads for organizations needing money from every part of the world.  Children from faraway places needing food and medical supplies, pet charities in big cities, food programs from the US and abroad, and a ton of assorted other ...

Now is the time to begin planning to bring houseplants that spent the summer out of doors for their safe return into your home. When night time temperatures fall below 45 degrees, plants will begin to stress. Begin their journey back inside before this by bringing them in at night, and ...

Labor Day 2018 has come and gone. When it comes to people who like to go fishing, for many of them, there are 2 switches that could get flipped at this time of the year. For some anglers, Labor Day flips that switch that says fishing season is over. For other anglers, the Labor Day switch ...

In-line planer boards are a very effective tool for catching walleyes and trout. In recent years some anglers have been employing boards to catch a variety of other species of fish. On a recent trip to Big Stone Lake on the Minnesota/South Dakota border we caught a bunch of perch in a short ...

Recently Mike Frisch and I got together for an afternoon of fishing. Our plan was to chase largemouth bass on a lake that is very similar to lots of other lakes across the Midwest. What Mike and I re-learned that afternoon always helps us catch more fish at any time of the year. The lake ...

Now that the Iowa State Fair is over, schools are starting again, and garden produce is at peak; it is time to turn thoughts toward the autumn weather ahead. Fall is one of my favorite times of year, but also bitter-sweet, while thinking about freezing temperatures and when gardening efforts ...

Looking ahead to preparing your garden for winter weather, now is the time to supply a sufficient amount of water to perennial plants and shrubs. It is also a good time to check for insect pests and removal of weeds before they go to seed. Removing any diseased or insect damaged foliage ...

If an angler wants to catch more fish, there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration. One really important factor, and one that is becoming more and more prevalent is water clarity. The water in many areas is becoming clearer than it was ten years ago, and that clearer ...