Victoria Gazette-Hook Line & Sinker

Our kids in Tioga spend some winter overnights in their ice house out on Lake Sakakawea, maybe 20 minutes from their home, and Jenny emailed me a picture of a fish they caught. She said it was a sauger, "a cousin to the walleye." Never heard of it before so I googled and learned the sauger is sometimes called the sand pike and is smaller than its cousin. I also learned that saugers are typical of rivers whereas walleyes are more common in lakes. Maybe you know that the vast Lake Sakakawea was formed in the damming of the Missouri River. When saugers and walleyes occasionally meet up with each other, you get saugeyes. And that's the truth.

When I reached into the minnow bucket this month -- very unlike a river or a lake -- I pulled out Linda Erickson, the gal who works for Melchert Hubert Sjodin of Chaska, and who is a daughter of the recently deceased Mae Schmid. You have my sympathy, Linda. Glad you won the ten bucks this month. Congratulations.

Linda found the fishhook wrapped in the nose of the Merry Moose on page 39 in the January paper. There's another fishhook hidden in this issue of the Gazette. If you find it, and want to be part of this monthly drawing, email Sue@VictoriaGazette.com telling of its location, or drop a line to P.O. Box 387, Victoria, MN 55386 and sinker in the mail. It's that simple.