[Mpls] A Day at the Lake

[Svattheriver at aol.com]

On Sunday, I launched my solar/electric canoe by the well used dog  park at 
Lake of the Isles. I have a small "weedless" propeller and only got  about 10 
feet before I started unwrapping milfoil from the propeller. In the  area by 
the shore the weeds are just under the surface but for large stretches  
especially around the islands there are huge floating green mats of weeds.  There were 
lots of folks paddling around the Lake in kayaks, canoes and a  few fishing 
boats. Many in rental boats with more enthusiasm than  expertise.
 
I paddled through the channel, which is filled with weeds, to Cedar  Lake.
Because of the depth and bottom structure, I have always liked swimming in  
the middle of Cedar Lake where it is cleaner (and colder) than the official  
beaches. But Cedar Lake also has huge floating green mats of milfoil in all the  
shallower areas.
I motored over to Brownie lake and then back trough the channel. There were  
two guys fishing from the top of the Bridge overpass. One of them called down 
to  ask me if I would help take a fish off their line. They were about 15 feet 
above  the water and had hooked a 32" Tiger Muskie. Staring into the open 
mouth of  a Muskie is pretty scary, but sticking your hand in its mouth seems 
even more  foolish. I was able to remove the hook and set him free. It was a 
really big  hook with a really big barb which made it hard to extract the hook.
 
So if you are going fishing for fun and are going to release you fish-  
Please take the barbs off your hook. A twist with a needle nose pliers or filing  
off the barb make releasing so much easier for the fisherperson and does a lot  
less harm to the fish.
 
I went through the inlet to Lake Calhoun. There was lots of activity around  
the Tin Fish and the docks in that area, but there were no sail boats sailing 
on  the Lake. The Tin Fish restaurant operates the boat rental and I stopped 
to chat  with one of the workers. The boat rental is per boat-$10/hr ( the last 
time I  rented a boat it was $6/hr) and they have paddle boats, canoes, one 
and two  person Kayaks. He said they get lots of business from the hotels who 
recommend  this as a fun outing for their guests. So this is an international  
destination.
 
I think it is a great spot because, starting from there, you can  explore 4 
very different Lakes, a very fun thing to do. We are doing things to  improve 
our water quality, but we need to reduce the milfoil to save our lakes  as 
swimmable, fishable waters.
 
We also need to do better stormwater education, so that what goes down the  
storm drain and into the lakes has less leaves, grass, pesticides,  herbicides, 
fertilizer, auto wastes, toxins and sediment. But the biggest factor  is 
reducing stormwater quantity, slowing down that first flush, keeping the  water in 
our yards and gardens, infiltrating, filtrating, and better using this  
precious resource. For more info see _http://www.cleanwatermn.org/learn/learn.asp_ 
(http://www.cleanwatermn.org/learn/learn.asp)  and  click on journey of a 
raindrop ( it's actually pretty amusing).
 
It looks like a good day to be out on the water and if it warms up, a good  
day to be in the water.
 
The Park Board has approx. 6400 acres of park property, 1400 of  that is 
water. So 22% of parkland is water.
Walleyes in Powderhorn Lake? I have been told that Powderhorn is now a  great 
place to fish. It has been stocked by the DNR and is part of the fishing  in 
the neighborhoods program (FIN).
 
Another way to get on the water is at Boom Island on the Minneapolis Queen,  
the new paddlewheeler docked on the Mississippi River ( handicapped  
accessible)_http://www.minneapolisqueen.com/specials.html_ 
(http://www.minneapolisqueen.com/specials.html) 
 
Who needs a lake cabin to have fun on the water?
Thanks, 
Scott Vreeland  Seward
 
I have been following the Lake of the Isles reconstruction saga for many  
years now. I wonder how all of that rocky dirt wasteland on the west side  of the 
lake can be transformed into something greener and more ecologically  
beneficial to lake quality?