Hello Sportsfans… And welcome to the weekly gone-fishing here on Minnesota’s Lake of the Woods.
A return to winter. Burrrrrrrrr. As well it should be.
When the thermometer started to dip last Thursday… The BITE accelerated ahead of the cold front. And then it happened…
By weekend it had become “hold your breath outside”, “snot bubbles freezing”, “hurry up and put that thing away” ice fishing on the frozen tundra. And then the sighting…
From a distance of mere miles… Off in the horizon… Came a report of a wondering man. Now mind you we’re fishing “up north”. Let’s make that “WAY UP NORTH”. And in these parts it’s quite unlikely to see anyone hiking from house to house to house to house.
Baby it’s cold outside…
Yet, supposedly, that was the tale. And then the question arose… “Was this the ghost of Whistling Bill?”
Back in the day (circa early nineties) there was a man who often visited our establishment with rare inclinations. Fishing? No. He never cared to ice fish. Walking? Yes. He loved to track from shack to shack to shack… Visiting… Wondering… Entertaining… And basically enjoying all things cold, outdoorsy, and wintery on L O Dub.
It always seemed odd about Whistling Bill… He dressed lightly… Under-dressed more or less… We worried about him getting frost bit, and for the most part lost in a white-out… But basically, who was to question his actions?
Yes… He did in fact whistle while he talked… Yes… He was an actual “ice fishing enthusiast” per say…
YES or NO ??? Inquiring minds want to know… “Was this man, reportedly wondering from fish-house to fish-house to fish-house last Saturday, the ghost of Whistling Bill?”
We may never know. But it did bring about fond memories of adventurer’s gone past. Bill was a good dude.
As for the bite? Yah… That cold snap kinda bit us in the butt. But we still saw plenty of action for the frying pan and quite a few stories about the ones that did NOT get away. At least until they were photo’d and released.
What?! Someone caught a 15-inch perch!! Then someone caught an 18-inch sauger!! Then someone caught a 29-inch walleye!!
We’re holding our own up on the reefs. It’s February. Life is good. Come if you can.
Set the hook!!