NICE RECOVERY.  Conditions were idyllic on Saturday, and while today may have a bit more breeze, it’s still a great back half of the weekend that’s setting up following Friday night’s thunderstorms.  Look for a hot bite to go with the hot weather and quarter moon this afternoon, and check out a few fun fishing finds in today’s Three Things.

(Featured Photo: A heron takes off after a successful shoreline stalk.  Simonson Photo)

DAILY CONDITIONS: 

WEATHER (Bismarck Forecast):
Today:  Sun 7/16 – Warm and breezy. Hi 92, Lo 61, Winds S @ 17 mph.
Tomorrow:  Mon 7/17 – Continued warmth, calmer. Hi 90, Lo 70, Winds SE to N @ 10 mph.

SOLUNAR (Bismarck Times):
Sunrise: 6:06AM Sunset: 9:32PM
Moonrise: 1:03AM Moonset: 2:02PM
Overhead: 7:47AM Underfoot: 7:52PM
Moon Phase: Last Quarter at 2:27PM

EDGE HOUR.  1:30 – 2:30PM.  Stick with us here on the afternoon Edge Hour logic as there are a lot of factors at play.  First, Moonset at 2:02PM gives you an hour window of awesomeness.  Second, the moon hits Last Quarter at 2:27PM – boom – peak minor phase.  Third, winds pick up (but aren’t horrible) at midday, giving you some surface cover.  Trust us, you’ll catch your limit by the time you have to head home from the lake and face the new week!

DAY RATING:

THREE THINGS.

BLAST FROM THE PAST. For the longest time, my dad had an early version of one of these worm inflators in his tacklebox.  By inserting the needle end into a nightcrawler and squeezing out some air, a bubble would help lift the bait off the bottom.  I did it as a kid mostly to see how much air I could pump into a worm before it exploded, and anglers of the era did it apparently because Styrofoam spinner floats hadn’t been invented yet.

GIMME GIMMICKS!  Oh man, who didn’t spend 30 minutes as a kid on a Saturday morning drooling over an infomercial for Alex Langer’s Flying Lure (wow, still an active URL and order process!), the Helicopter Lure (sorry, only on eBay), or the Walking Worm (also only on auction sites) where anglers totally slam not only bass but “fish of all species.”   Gramma even picked up a package of the Flying Lures for me once at Mall of America.  I can’t remember ever catching anything on them, despite all the action crammed into a half-hour that all but guaranteed lunkers.  Go figure.

SPEAKING OF LUNKERS.  The North Dakota State Record largemouth bass is an 8-8 chunk from Nelson Lake in the central part of the state caught by Leon Rixen on February 11, 1983; and it wasn’t through the ice. As the many of the dozen visitors to this blog know, Nelson Lake is open water all year round, kept warm by the adjacent power plant discharge, so it’s fishable by boat throughout the calendar.  Due to this artificial lengthening of the growing season, Nelson still remains the premier stop for big bucketmouths in N.D.

Stay Sharp!