'I can still smell those lake minnows'

The year is a little bleary, maybe just after the Korea war. It was lakefront fun at the harbor area and the pier with its upper deck, a catwalk from the beach to the harbor lighthouse was great for fishing. Back then, most everyone had cane poles with lead sinkers, with a bobber float.

The pier would be crowded at times with standing room only. Bait was lake minnows, garden worms and wet bread. The fish would bite at your bait and you would keep your eye on the bobber float. Mine was white with a red stripe. Cane poles varied in length, anywhere from 4 to 6 feet and even 6 to 12 feet -- some even a little longer.

I can still smell those lake minnows today, a real fishy odor.

The men fishing on the catwalk used the longer poles. Lake perch was common to catch, and even with so many people on the pier it was very quiet; the only sounds you would hear were the water pails or bait buckets clinking against each other.

We would spend hours fishing. If you got thirsty or hungry, you could always walk back to the beach house or bait house. Soda was a nickel then; I always got my sarsaparilla, and to tell you the truth I don't think anyone makes it anymore.

From the yacht club going south was a sandy beach area for swimming, from the club house to the bait house.

The lunch house is still there today but much bigger now; the small beach is gone from that spot. The old lighthouse is gone. It was black and white; it's been replaced by a large flashlight -- that's what it looks like to me. It does not look like any lighthouse I've ever seen.

Even though things change, the harbor area is still a great place to go see. There are many other memories I recall, another time perhaps.

Ed Bieda