SECTION THREE
PHOTO COURTESY OF JOE HENRY
SO MUCH MORE
By Joe Henry
It was about 9pm on a fall evening and I was on one of the docks at Sportsman ’ s Lodge along the Rainy River . My goal was to capture some images showing the emerald shiners on their fall run . Underneath one of the many minnow lights hanging just over the surface of the water , gallons of shiny silver emerald shiners swam in complete unison in a clockwise funnel just above the submerged umbrella net below . As I captured a few images , I paused , took a deep breath and just listened . Yep , the walleyes were in the river chasing shiners , but there was so much more .
As I listened closely , I could hear larger fish breaking water as they went after the shiners . Emerald shiners are a main food source in this body of water . It made me think of the many instances a minnow net was hoisted up only to have two glowing eyes of a big walleye amongst the thousands of shiners in the net .
Across the river in Canada , a flock of Canadian Geese had stopped for a break from their migration south . They were boisterous ; honking away in some backwater of the river . It was dark , so I
couldn ’ t see them , but they were loud and in good numbers .
Overhead , the whistling wings of diver ducks cut the fall air . It ’ s the kind of noise you dream of as a waterfowler . Occasional silhouettes could be seen against the partially moonlit sky .
Across the river and to my left , a pack of wolves were reminding me I was up north and standing on the edge of wilderness . Their howls were strong and beautiful , but also put me on guard . The wild sounds filled the cool air .
Upstream to my right , domestic dogs barked at the howling wolves from one of the houses along the shore of the river .
It is fall up at Lake of the Woods and from an outdoors perspective , there is a lot happening .
Walleye anglers are taking advantage of the shiner run on the river and the massive schools in the lake cashing in on fish who have the feed bag on . Its fall , the water temps are decreasing and fish are bulking up for the winter .
Volume 01 No . 02 | 2017