A chance encounter with a future celebrity?

After another pretty miserable night’s sleep in a motel room, I woke up on Thursday morning and drove over to Daniel’s Restaurant in Kasson, MN, to meet my long time friend Susan (aka: Mrs. J, Sj3) for a delightful breakfast.  It took us about an hour and a half to eat since there was so much chattering going on, but alas, I needed to be on my way to my sister’s house in Island Lake, IL.    I was taking a route along I-90 that I had done at least a hundred times before, so I decided to break up the 350 mile drive with a couple of stops along the way.

I had thought to get some nice shots of the bluff country and Mississippi River at the Minnesota Welcome Center just before you cross over to Wisconsin.  Even though the budget crisis had ended in MN, no rest areas were open yet.  So, I pulled into the Wisconsin Welcome Center on the east side of the mighty river.  As I pulled into the far end of the parking area, I noticed a NWR sign at the beginning of a trail.  Like most people, when I stop at a rest area I generally have one thing on my mind.  Yesterday however, I decided to take the hike offered.

The trail descends down to a path that follows along the river.  It’s not the main channel of the Mississippi, but an area that generally always has water, just not as much as there was this year.

What a pleasant walk it was.  No bugs, and thanks to a cool front that moved through Wednesday night, lower temperatures and humidity.

I hiked past the other paths up to the rest area, and continued on along the peaceful backwaters.  The waters here were not as swift moving, and lots of algae and water lilies were evident. 

As I rounded a bend, I came upon a culvert with this young man intently concentrating on his fishing.  I nearly scared him off the edge with my approach!

He was reeling in a nice sized bass.  I asked him if I could take a picture of him with his catch, and he said sure, just let me wash him off first.  You can see he was quite serious about his business.  I’d guess he was 11 or 12 years old.  After posing, he released the fish back into the river.

Then we engaged in a very interesting conversation for about ten minutes after I asked him if he ever ate the fish he caught.  What a bundle of information this young gentleman had for me.  Seems he comes here to his favorite fishing hole just about everyday, and had caught 45 fish just the day before.  He prefers to catch sunfish/bluegills right now since the bass are ‘dirty’ at this time of year due to spawning.  Then he told me to hop up on the culvert to see two bass spawning at the base of two submerged trees.  Sure enough, you could see them swirling around in the water.  He said he didn’t mind me taking his picture because he’s been in four magazines before featuring his fishing prowess, and has won two bass tournaments.  He was very matter of fact about all this.  What a hoot!  He lives near by on French Island, and rides his bicycle here everyday to enjoy the peace and quiet of his private fishing hole.  I think he’ll grow up to be a world class fisherman, or a great car salesman! 

Just another one of those marvelous characters I’ve been lucky enough to accidentally meet and talk to along Emma’s and my journeys along the road.  Who would have guessed this chance encounter would happen at a rest area stop?

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy