By Forrest Adams
Marnie Wells is excited and planning to wear her warmest boots to Feb Fest.
This year will be first time she ventures onto frozen Lake Ann. It will also be the first time her organization, Camp Fire USA, participates in Chanhassen’s winter celebration.
As the Camp Fire CEO, Wells is focused on building relationships with the community of Chanhassen and connecting kids with nature. It just so happens that, in theory, participating in Feb Fest accomplishes both of those objectives.
“We’re excited because we have been in Chanhassen for over 87 years,” she said. “We want to be a good neighbor. We want to give back to the community and participate. Plus, this matches with our core values of connecting kids to nature.”
“Camp starts again in the summer, but we want to remind people that we’re still here. We want families in the community to think of [Camp Tanadoona] as their camp,” added Tane Danger, the marketing and communications manager for Camp Fire USA- Minnesota.
The demo: what you might hear
Mark Tipler is passionate about fishing and getting people involved in outdoor activities. That’s what he’ll be doing on Feb. 4 in Chanhassen. The professional angler, founder and executive director of the Tips Outdoors Foundation said the ice fishing demo is for anybody who wants to become self-sufficient at ice fishing, kids or adults.
“A lot of times in the past we saw kids coming to these clinics, but not their parents,” he said. “Well, one time a single mother came up to me afterward and said, ‘I just don’t have enough confidence in my ability to know what to do if I brought him out fishing.’”
That was enough to ring Tipler’s proverbial bell, and the idea was born for family fishing clinics.
“A lot of families aren’t spending quality time together any more. Growing up those are some of the most treasured memories I have,” he said. “We want to strengthen families by helping them come together around outdoor activities.”
In this case, he’ll be helping people develop the skills to begin a family fishing tradition.
Tipler promised to keep instructions basic.
“We give them enough information where they’ll be self-sufficient when we’re done,” he said.
Some instructions will include setting up a jigging stick, how to properly tie a jigger hook on the line and how to prepare a slip bobber rig.
Regarding the fish, he said they swim deeper during the winter than the summer. Specific to Lake Ann, he said, “Lake Ann is a good lake.”
“The pan fishing can be very good.”
Fishing is more than a recreation for Tipler. It’s a science. He said successful fishing requires patience, analysis and the willingness to change strategies midstream. For analysis, he suggested fishing near green weeds because they give off oxygen, as well as providing hiding spots for fish.
With regards to changing strategies, he suggested if you put down a line and don’t get bite, “change the jig.” If the fish were biting on wax worms last week but not today, “change the type of bait.” If last week you were jigging with a nervous twitch and catching fish, but today that’s not working, “use a different technique of jigging.”
Readers can contact Forrest Adams at fadams@swpub.com.
Copyright 2011 Chanhassen Villager/Southwest Media News/Media News Group.