Wetting a Line and Catching the Big One

5.14.2023

The Reminisce column has featured a handful of trophy fish stories over the past nine years, but once again, this column is based on articles I found intriguing from the six-part Diamond Jubilee issues of the Grand Rapids Herald-Review (June 16-July 18, 1966).

Actually, the two, both included in the July 11, 1966, special edition are photos and captions from 1951. The first trophy is a northern. “Tall Tales Teller Floyd Colburn speared this two-tailed northern pike. The big fish had almost swallowed a sucker when it moved beneath the hole in Colburn’s fish house one winter day in 1951.”  The second is a muskie. “Stanley Kroll of Chicago caught this 50-pound muskie in Little Winnie in August 1951.”

Most of the articles below spotlight the favorite fish stories by summer residents fishing our lakes and rivers. One of the people mentioned is a woman, and the youngest was eight years old.

Walleye

Big Ones at Eagle Nest ~ Itasca News 7-15-1926

“L.W. Smith, chef at the Androy Hotel in Superior, was one of the fortunate fishermen at Eagle Nest Lodge Sunday.  Mr. Smooth landed a wall-eyed pike that tipped the scales at 7½ pounds.  The following day Paul Bloom of Center City, Minn., landed a six pounder. Someone should prevail upon Herb Bowen to leave these big ones in the water.  They help keep the lake level up.”

The Androy Hotel was built in 1925 and has been called Superior’s million-dollar hotel.  The restaurant was very fancy, even the plates were monogramed. I imagine instead of a shore lunch; he saved the walleye for a special recipe such as walleye almondine with sherry cream sauce.

Leonards Catch Third Tagged Fish ~ Deer River News 8-1-1946

“This only goes to prove that if folks who try to do something, work hard at it, do it well, their efforts will be crowned with success. Mrs. M.B. Leonard and her son, Dick, of Tulsa, Okla., who spend their summers at their summer home on Oklahoma Hill, Deer Lake, are ardent fishermen. They really work at it. No detail of correct fishing practice is too tedious for them to do right.

This past spring Mrs. Leonard and Dick caught stream trout in this area, which has some remote trout waters, but which is not noted for being a trout fishing area.

Hose

When the KSTP fish contest was announced, with the information that the preponderance of tagged fish were walleyes, they went after walleyes. Their reward: within six weeks, Dick had landed two of the $564.40 tagged fish. Monday morning Mrs. Leonard reported having caught another tagged fish—the third in the Leonard family.

Mrs. Leonard says that with all the merchandise they are winning she hasn’t made up her mind if she will go into the black-market business now that OPA is back and opens the way to engage in that, or if she will start just an ordinary store.”

I was not able to learn anything more about the tagged fish contest, but it appears that a number of tagged fish are planted in various lakes and those who catch them are awarded money and other prizes. I also do not know what OPA stood for in 1946. (There are many acronyms if you google it now!)

Muskie

Record Fish is Brought to Town ~ Grand Rapids Herald-Review 6-2-1926

“Ralph Comstock of Cohasset is the champion fisherman of the year.  He captured, in the Mississippi River near Cohasset, a monster of the pike family that weighed 31 pounds and was 50 inches long.  The fish was on exhibition in the window of the Powers Hardware store on Tuesday and was inspected by a large number of people.  The fish was purchased by Fred Bentz, who is having it mounted to adorn the walls of his new filling station at the corner of Fourth Street and Winnipeg Avenue as a sample of what the tourist may expect in Itasca County Waters.”

Land Big Muskie ~ Deer River News 9-30-1926

“George W. Cassady, 2707 W Congress St. Chicago, and Vernon Japh of Dexter, Minnesota, landed what is perhaps the prize muskie of the season in this region last Sunday, from the waters of Moose Lake.

The fish measured 50 inches in length and has a girth of 24¼ inches.  The weight given was 40 pounds.  It was certainly a beautiful specimen, and one of the largest caught here in years. Scores of local people viewed it in the village Monday morning before it was taken to Grand Rapids to be mounted.  The lucky fishermen had a royal battle before they landed their prize.  Here’s our congratulations.”

Lands a Big Fish ~ Itasca News 5-17-1928

“James Dibble, 18-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Irwin Dibble of Willow Beach Hotel, opened the fishing season in grand style Tuesday morning by landing a 52-inch muskie from Ball Club Lake after about 20 minutes of trolling.  The fish tipped the scales at 37 pounds when weighed at Herreid Bros. and is a splendid specimen.  It was taken to Grand Rapids to be mounted.”

Ed Shave Sends Picture of Big Fish Caught at Winnie ~ Deer River News 8-10-1944

“Through the courtesy of Ed Shave, outdoor editor of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, the accompanying picture of Otto Bothmann of Chicago displaying a huge fish that, as stated in the Minneapolis paper, is a 22-pound muskie which Mr. Bothmann caught in Lake Winnibigoshish, is presented. Mr. Bothmann caught the fish near Northland Lodge. The mention in the Minneapolis Journal of the catching of this fish included the mention of Winnibigoshish, one of the largest lakes in the state, as also producing large catches of wall-eyes and northerns.”

Dick Leonard and Muskies Bring Wide Publicity to Area ~ Deer River News 8-18-1949

“Dick Leonard and his muskies brought additional fame and publicity to this area as a center for muskellunge fishing. The cut printed herewith was published as the front-page cover piece of the August issue of the sports magazine “Sports and Recreation” published at Wayzata by the Minnetonka Herald Printing Co., which has a wide circulation among sportsmen throughout Minnesota and other states.

The picture shows Mr. Leonard with the two largest of seven muskies he caught last season. He has already caught several muskies this season. Mr. Leonard, whose home is in Tulsa, Okla., but who is an early-spring, all-summer, and late-fall resident at his summer home at Oklahoma Hills on Deer Lake, is an ardent fisherman.  His success in getting muskellunge is not merely luck, as he works long and hard when he goes after muskies, which require such hard work and patience to get.” [see photo in collage]

Northern

Morris Doctor Catches Big Fish ~ Bigfork Times 10-16-1931

“In a recent bulletin received from the Fuller Tackle Shop at Grand Rapids, the prize for the week for the largest Great Northern Pike was awarded to Dr. John Caine of Morris, Minn. The fish weighed 18 pounds, 12 ounces and was caught in Horseshoe Lake.

Dr. Caine is a regular visitor, spending a month at the Frank Turek place every year. The head of the fish is now mounted and decorates the office of Dr. Caine at Morris. The Fuller Tackle Shop gave a Pike Lure to Dr. Cain as the weekly prize, and he also has a chance of winning second in this division for the season.”

Boy Caught Fish That Was Longer Than Himself ~ Deer River News 7-12-1945

“Eight-year-old Ron Hanson was the only one of over a dozen fishing from the bridge at Cut Foot to catch a fish the previous Friday.

Reverend and Mrs. Hanson and their son, Ronald, of Nashwauk, came over for the afternoon to visit Mrs. Hanson’s parents Reverend and Mrs. Thomas B. Shorts, and the men went out to Cut Foot to wet a line.  The fishing was not so good at the bridge that afternoon, except for Ronald.  Of 15 fishing there, he was the only one to catch a fish—a 34-inch northern that weighed 9½ pounds.  The fish was caught on a hook attached to a rough line tied to a small fishing pole cut from the woods.  If the boy had been able to hold the fish up, so its snout was even with the top of his head, the fish’s tail would have dragged on the ground.  Ronald was duly proud of his catch and was envied by 15 disappointed companions.”

The June through September columns are about RESORTS in Itasca County that have stood the test of time.