Field goals, turnovers and one offensive drive decided Friday night’s season opener for Spencer on the road at top 10 ranked Humboldt. The Tigers would fall 20-3 to kick off the 2023 campaign.

Tuesday, 4:30 p.m. — at Sioux City West

Opponents: Sioux City Metro and Abraham Lincoln.

Coach Amie Lawrence on who to watch: “This meet is a pentathlon, where many swimmers will compete in each stroke event and the individual medley. We are looking forward to seeing our swimmers swim each stroke to see improvements from last year.”

Coach Lawrence on opponents: “We expect to see strong swimmers from both teams at this meet.

Spirit Lake Invitational — Tuesday, 5 p.m. — Brooks Golf Course

Opponents: Cherokee, Estherville Lincoln Central, Sheldon, MOC-FV, Spencer, Storm Lake, PAC and Spirit Lake.

SIOUX RAPIDS — Coming into Friday’s season opener against South O’Brien, Sioux Central trailed the team’s series 7-6. The Rebels evened things with a 20-point second half for a 20-9 home win.

ANOKA, Minn. — The Iowa Lakes Lakers had another tough weekend at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, falling 3-1 to Alexandria Technical and Community College; 3-1 to Ridgewater College; 3-0 to Minnesota North College-Mesabi Range; and 3-0 to Century College.

"There was loads of improvements from our last weekend,” ILCC coach Nick Erdman said. “The team is figuring out where they need to be on defense to find success, attacking on serve and mixing up their shots on offense.

The Iowa Lakes Lakers men’s soccer team hosted Casper College, from Wyoming, on Saturday at home, scoring a 1-0 win for Iowa Lakes. The Lakers came out hot, dominating possession with moments of intelligent ball movement. Philmour Virgo found Gabriel Miranda with a brilliant pass to get him into the box, where he sent his defender sliding off the pitch to cut back and rifle his shot into the near top corner.

The DNR State Forest Nursery is gearing up for fall 2023 and spring 2024 seedling orders.

Seedlings can be ordered Sept. 1 to May 30. The bare-root (no container, soil root ball or moss included) seedlings are packaged in bundles of 25 inside sealed and labeled plastic bags.

It seems to happen every year about the time the Iowa State Fair comes around! The bluegill bite, which has been so consistent for the past couple of months on West Okoboji, always seems to change. It seems like from mid-August until mid- to late-September, the bluegills are deep and on the move!

As the summer winds down and fall begins, anglers should start thinking about some fall fishing strategies. Fishing opportunities for a wide variety of fish are abundant in the fall across North America.

In many areas, crappies are the primary target. Crappies are fun to catch and they’re great on the table. If you keep a couple of ideas in mind you should be able to have outstanding crappie action until ice covers the lake.

Terry Wilts recently received the Ace Cory Conservation Award at the annual Okoboji Protective Association’s annual meeting on Saturday, Aug. 12. The award was presented by Mary Skopec, OPA board member and executive director of the Iowa Lakes Laboratory.

The inscription on the plaque reads … “To Terry Wilts: For being TENACIOUS in protecting and improving the Iowa Great Lakes.”

Spencer Tigers at Humboldt Wildcats — 7 p.m., Friday

Varsity Bound’s Class 4A 10th-ranked Spencer heads back to Humboldt after the two teams have taken a three-year break from one another for a battle preseason ranked squads to open the season with nondistrict play. The matchup kicks off a brutal four-game nondistrict stretch while will test the Tigers and have them well prepared to get district play underway in Week 5.

OKOBOJI — The Tiger volleyball team got the season off to a 2-1 start, downing host Okoboji and Manson-Northwest Webster in three games before falling to neighbor Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn in three at the Pioneers' Early Bird Invitational.

Spencer claimed a 21-17, 13-21, 15-13 over Okoboji; and MNW, rebounding from a first set 17-21 with a two game sweep to close it out, 21-16, 15-11.

HMS bested Spencer in three.

ALGONA — In the teams first action of the season, the Spencer girls swim team hit the road to face the Algona Bulldogs at the Algona YMCA, sweeping the relay events and adding individual first place finishes in five events for a 698-540 win to begin the season.

“We had a great first meet in the heat,” said Amie Lawrence, the girls head coach. “So very proud of our swimmers trying new events and starting this season close to where we left off last year.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources continues to work with partners to develop a management plan and move through the permitting process. Boaters and other lake users must be extra vigilant when cleaning their boats and equipment to prevent the spread of these invasive aquatic plants into the main part of West Okoboji Lake or other lakes.

Anglers are catching more fish more often. Due to an abundance of magazine articles, television shows, YouTube videos, fishing seminars and advances in technology, we’ve learned how to be more successful in our fishing. We’ve learned that fish do different things during different seasons.