It was last year that I wrote in this space that I was tired of doing an April Fools Day story. In fact, I may have written the same thing the year before.

So this year, I am reiterating that the long time tradition of having an April Fools Day fake story is done, its over, we are just not going to do it anymore.

It is just that I get such a guilty feeling that as a newsman, and an editor no less, I am putting some fake news in the Register once each year,

This year a lot of our readers, always on the hunt for the April Fools story, pegged the one about the mystery pond in Blue Earth having fish in it – and even a muskie – was our 2026 effort at an April Fools story. And they would be right.

However, as the story states in one of its last paragraphs, much of that story is true.

You see, using a true story as our fake story makes me feel not quite so bad as having a totally fake one. I was happiest the year when our April Fool’s Day story was about Preparation H was going to come to Kiester and make a TV commercial there. Everyone thought the story was our April Fools story because it came out on April 1, but the truth is it was all true. They did come to Kiester and make a commercial there.

So here goes. What is fake and what is true in this story of muskies in Blue Earth.

It is totally true that Jamie Holland is an avid muskie fisherman and has caught a lot of those elusive fish. Just not in Blue Earth.

It is true that the city of Blue Earth is building a walking path around this pond, and has it just about done. They are starting with wood chips on the path, but a gravel substance could be used later. Seeing what a great job the city crew has done out at Steinberg Park, I have no doubt the trail around the mystery pond will be worth a trip out there to walk it some day soon.

And believe it or not, there were some small fish spotted in the pond. So that part of the story is also true. Now maybe just having some small fish in it is not really a big deal, however.

What is fake news is the part about the dock being built. But after it was suggested, Jamie says it would not be a bad idea if there were to be funds for it. So who knows, maybe that will be true some day.

And of course, that whole bit about the mighty muskie is pretty much fake.

I mean, that is really made up. However, it doesn’t mean it could not somehow happen. Mainly if someone puts a muskie in that little lake.

I don’t think the DNR has any plans on stocking fish in the pond in Blue Earth.

But here is the deal. I camp on a small lake north of Elysian that does not have a house on it, or a cabin, or a dock, other than my dock. No public access so no power boats.

It is larger than the Blue Earth pond, but is a small lake compared to others around that area. It is called Perch Lake, but we call it Sawmill Lake, because the old timers called it that. And besides, there are lots of other Perch lakes in Minnesota.

And there are fish in Sawmill Lake. We catch crappies and sunnies of a decent size and a couple of times someone pulled in a northern.

This is pretty surprising because there is no inlet or outlet to Sawmill Lake. No river or creek or drainage ditch. It is spring fed. So how do the fish get in there.

The same way they get into the Blue Earth pond, I suppose.

So, quite a few folks have told me they once again enjoyed the Register’s April Fools story. I went to the Bricelyn Fire Department Fish Fry on Saturday – the very day the issue came out – and people there made some comments about it.

One person asked me if there are enough fish in the Blue Earth pond that the Bricelyn firemen can get their fish for the fish fry next year from the pond.

Another one asked me if the city of Blue Earth was going to put in a bid next year to host the Governor’s Fishing Opener at the pond.

I thought that comment was hilarious and wished I had been clever enough to have thought of it, to have had it as the ending line for the story.

And speaking of lines, Lill Robinson says she bit for the story “hook, line and sinker.” Another Blue Earthian told me she had lived in Blue Earth her whole life and did not know there was a pond out there.

So there you are. Truth versus Fiction. And a bit of a confession.

I am not going to be a bit surprised, however, to see someone out at the pond fishing this summer and then bringing me a photo of their catch, or maybe the fish itself.

In fact, Jamie Holland and I talked about getting his boat out there this summer and trying to catch the elusive muskie that is in the pond.

And then we laughed.