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DISCOVER! | AUGUST 27, 2016
Sights of Summer | 9
Fishing
Fishing
Gone
Summer
Sights of
Erin Radke
Traveling west on Interstate 90 across South
Dakota, you’ll find plenty of fishing spots
with some delicious catch.
My grandparents have a home five miles east
of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South
Dakota. Growing up, my grandparents, parents,
brother and I would hit up the best fishing spots
western South Dakota has to offer, one particular
spot being Sylvan Lake. At Sylvan we’d limit
out on rainbow trout fish and have a massive
feast the following night.
However, my fishing experience has never really
extended to Okoboji. From time to time I’ve
dropped a line or two in on East Lake, but I’ve
never taken it too seriously.
This week my friend, Zack Herrig, a native of
the Okoboji area, helped me fish. Around 5:30
a.m. I made my way over to Arthur Heights
neighborhood in Center Grove, IA. Located on
East Lake, Arthur Heights hosts plenty of docks
that are perfect for an early morning of fishing.
Zack explained to me that by placing my line
in near a dock-supporting post, the fish tend to
wade there and are most likely to bite.
Within 30 seconds of our fishing adventure,
numerous fish grabbed a hold of our lines. Yellow
bass and blue gill were the consistent catch
of the morning. Some of the fish were the size of
my fist whereas others were a decent sized catch.
Every fish we caught we placed back in the water
and prepared more bait on the line. Never in my
life had I experienced such easy fishing. With
minimal effort I felt as though I could catch the
entire lake’s worth of fish.
As the sun slowly crept over the trees, the fish
catching gradually declined and dense humidity
enveloped the lake. Although there were no
boats on the water just yet, the humming of
motors in the distance told us that the morning
rush of lake activity was about to begin.
Looking back on fishing with Zack, I’m happy
that I took the time to fish in Okoboji. Just like
golf, fishing is a lifelong activity that can be
enjoyed by all individuals that give it a shot.
Even though I didn’t have a monstrous catch,
it was fun to catch and release dozens of fish
on a beautiful early summer morning. Arthur
Heights is just one of several great fishing locations
in Okoboji. Someday, I plan to experience
each one of them and hopefully catch the biggest
fish in the lake. F
funatboji.com
To see what other adventures
Erin Radke has over the summer make
sure you check out funatboji.com where
all her videos, photos and articles
will be right at your fingertips.
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