Lunkers Lurk in Lake Josephine's Waters

I've never dropped a line in Josephine, but I see, from the comfort of my recliner, occasional fishermen out on the lake, both summer and winter.

Are they catching anything?  They must be.

According to the real estate brochure the late Skip Borgstrom handed me when I first looked at my house seven years ago, the DNR stocks Josephine.

I assume that is still the case, but I don't know for sure because when I called the Roseville Parks Department to inquire, they referred me to the state's natural resources offices, which, alas, were closed due to the government shutdown.

The only way to find out if Josephine is a fisherman's paradise, with my column deadline looming, was to go out on the lake and ask some. My neighbor Penny Johnson offered to pilot her pontoon, and off we went, on the sunny Saturday before the 4th, to yo-hoo a few boats on the lake. 

Joe Solheid of Maplewood was otherwise occupied as we pulled alongside, struggling to land "the biggest weed fish ever" on the line of his young fishing buddy Travis. Solheid fishes Josephine year around, spearing for northern through the ice. His biggest catch was a 22-incher. To avoid more greenery on their lines, he was heading for deeper waters -- about 40 feet or so -- because the shallower panfish were elusive. 

Glenn Sherman, of Lauderdale, was on the lake with brother-in-law Roger Templeman of South Haven, MI., who comes to fish Minnesota waters for a week each summer. Though they troll for bass, northerns, crappies and sunfish, the highlight is catching walleye. Sherman has reeled in the state fish in the three-to-four pound range from Josephine, and lately got a five-pound northern that he let go out of sympathy -- " it was all scarred up from being hit by a propeller," he said.

Even more critical is catching a parking spot by the public boat launch off Lexington Avenue.

"Got to get here early," Sherman said of his weekend fishing expeditions.

The best interview we caught was with Dale Glade, of Maplewood, who was steering his sleek bass boat with foot pedals as he cast close to Josephine's northwest shore. He fishes Josephine when he wants to wet his line for just a short time.

"I have 500 lakes within 50 miles of my house," he said. "The whole trick to fishing is knowing where to go when," mentioning the previous evening's lightning that made fish skittish about biting. He knows a shallow lake is better after a storm, though one as bright and calm as Josephine that morning didn't bode well.

That Glade chose to be on my lake was fortunate, his comments filling my reporter's notebook. Glade is a pro, running bass tournaments for the past 22 years, so he knows regional lakes and the threats they face.

"The heyday for fishing on lakes around here was in the '90s. Since then, every time a new home is built, there go the lily pads and cattails along the shore," he said.

Glade is concerned about fertilizer run-off from manicured lawns turning water "into pea soup." Asian millefoil weeds are a bane to the DNR but for fisherman, he says, they're gold.

"On Minnetonka, we look for millefoil patches -- that's where the fish are." He is more worried about curly leaf pond weed: "They're killing lakes."

Nothing he catches is a "keeper." "I fish a 100 days a year and I've never cleaned one," Glade says. They all swim away until they're caught another time.  

Maybe one Glade released was what my neighbor, Rebekah Johnson, 15, pulled in recently, using a lure -- no minnows or worms. Her trophy was a 32-inch northern, which would have made fine soup, using the recipe below, but she let it slip back into what Glade calls "the above average" waters of Josphine. 

Elegant Fish Soup

2 cups fish fillets (panfish preferred)

2 strips bacon, cup up fine

1/2 onion, chopped

3 potatoes, peeled and diced

1/4 cup freshly-minced parsley

3 cups milk

Seasoned salt, regular salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour 

Cook fish fillets in a small amount of simmering water for several minutes, or until fish turns white. Using a slotted spoon, transfer fish to a large plate to cool; save the cooking water. In a frying pan, brown bacon; pour off grease, leaving only enough to saute chopped onion. Add bacon and sauteed onions to fish broth. Add potatoes and parsley. Cook until potatoes are tender. Cut fish into small pieces; add to broth along with milk. Season to taste with seasoned salt, regular salt and pepper. Mix butter with flour; add to soup, stirring well. Boil gently for several minutes. Serve hot soup topped with additional pats of butter.