Love of the Lakes: 2017

LOVE LAKES ECHO JOURNAL'S

2 017 E D I T I O N

OF THE

FOR THOSE WHO

ENJOY THE WATERS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY

FRIENDS DISCOVER THE JOY OF

SNOWSHOEING pg. 30

PLUS:

Gull Lake Eelpout | Serpent Lake Legend | Hook Kids on Fishing Trumpeter Swans | Evolution of Boats | Fish Flies | Wabedo Muskies

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 1

Start Your Summer

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Locally owned and operated

2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

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2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 3

Submitted photo Angel, a pit mix that loves the water, naps on the way home from a weekend of camping on the islands on the Upper Whitefish chain.

PUBLISHER

Pete Mohs .......................................... pete.mohs@brainerddispatch.com

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS

Photo courtesy of Jerry Eklund Photography Jerry Eklund, of Walker, enjoys taking photos of Leech Lake. Read about his passion for photography on p. 44.

ART DEPARTMENT STAFF

INDEX

Angie Hoefs .........................................angela.hoefs@pineandlakes.com Andy Goble ..................................andrew.goble@brainerddispatch.com Sue Stark ............................................... sue.stark@brainerddispatch.com Cindy Spilman ........................ lucinda.spilman@brainerddispatch.com

ADVERTISING STAFF

Lakes Area Calendar.......................... p.5

Bless those cursed fish flies!.............. p.32

Gull Lake Feature Fishing opportunities all year round, even eelpout.............. p.8

Trumpeter swans flying high in Minnesota..................................... p.34

Gull Lake - Map.................................. p.9 Serpent Lake Feature Projects aimed to improve water..... p.12 Serpent Lake - Map.......................... p.13 Whitefish Chain Feature WAPOA learns about new AIS threat................................... p.18 Whitefish Chain - Map..................... p.19 Getting kids hooked on fishing........p.22 Protecting land for future generations............................. p.24

Derek Ostrowski...................................................................218-855-5825 derek.ostrowski@pineandlakes.com Rick Smallman .....................................................................218-855-5827 rick.smallman@pineandlakes.com Linda Hurst ............................................................................218-855-5846 linda.hurst@brainerddispatch.com

Wabedo lake Feature Small lake boast big fish..................p.40

Isaac Novak............................................................................218-855-5832 isaac.novak@brainerddispatch.com

Wabedo Lake - Map........................ p.41

Jill Wasson .............................................................................218-855-5820 jill.wasson@brainerddispatch.com

Leech Lake Feature Veteran photographer catches Leech Lake moments.........................p.44 Leech Lake - Map.............................p.45 East/West Twin Lakes Feature Generations of seasonal residents love their lake homes........................p.48 East/West Twin Lakes-Map.............p.49 Recreational watercraft evolve over the years.......................p.54

Friends discover the joy of snowshoeing.................................p.30

Mission Township Park - A gem in the middle of the woods...............p.56

2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

Kathy Bittner Lee ................................................................218-855-5837 kathy.bittnerlee@pineandlakes.com

No need for that bigger boat..........p.36

Fun on the lake with our readers................................p.28

4

Nancy Vogt.............................................. nancy.vogt@pineandlakes.com Travis Grimler .....................................travis.grimler@pineandlakes.com Dan Determan...................................dan.determan@pineandlakes.com Theresa Bourke............................... theresa.bourke@pineandlakes.com Mike Rahn, Jodie Tweed, Jenny Holmes

Nikki Lyter ..............................................................................218-855-5829 nikki.lyter@brainerddispatch.com

Susie Alters ...........................................................................218-855-5836 susie.alters@brainerddispatch.com PRODUCED BY ECHO JOURNAL P.O. Box 974, Brainerd, MN 56401 (218) 829-4705 | 800-432-3703 www.pineandlakes.com Cover Design/Illustration by Angie Hoefs Cover Photo: As a tiny 5-year old in 2007, Kendall Schrohe waterskis on East Twin Lake. She's been skiing since age 4.

Submitted photo. Š2017 Echo Journal No part of the material contained herein may be reproduced without prior written consent.

Printed by Forum of Fargo, North Dakota The Pineandlakes Echo Journal is a weekly newspaper in Pequot Lakes/ Pine River and is owned by Forum Communications Company.

Love of the Lakes combines stories, facts and maps for different lakes in the area. We dedicate the magazine to the families and businesses around each of the lakes that are featured.

Lake map information and some statistics/stories provided by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Š 2017.

The Minnesota DNR Web Site: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

2 0 17 C A L E N D A R O F A R E A E V E N T S MAY

13 MN Walleye & Northern Pike Fishing Opener 13 Welcome Wannigan, Gull Lake 26 Market Square, Pine River Every Friday through September 29, 2:30-5:30pm

27 MN Largemouth & Smallmouth Bass Fishing Opener 27-29 Backus Old Timers Weekend 31 Take A Kid Fishing Day Pine River Lions Club

JUNE 3

3

3 3-4

7

Muskie Fishing Opener Pequot Lakes Cherry Car Show Tour of the Lakes Bicycle Ride Leech Lake Walleye Tournament Nisswa Turtle Races

Every Wednesday through August 16, 2:00pm

7 Longville Turtle Races

Every Wednesday through August 23, 1:00pm

9-10 Nisswa - Stamman Festival 9-11 Take A Kid Fishing Weekend, Fish for free -

Minnesotans 16 or older who take a child 15 or younger fishing don't need a license that weekend

10 Crosslake Ideal Lions 100th Anniversary Fishing Contest 10 Lakeshore Conservation Club Outdoor Youth Expo, 10:00am-2pm 13 Kids’ Fishing Contest, Hackensack

15 Market in the Park, Trailside Park, Pequot Lakes

Check with local Chambers of Commerce for more events: crosslake.com • cuyunalakes.com emilymn.com • hackensackchamber.org • nisswa.com • pequotlakes.com • pinerivermn.com

SEPTEMBER

27-30 Pine River Summerfest 29-30 Power Boat Races, Serpent Lake, Crosby UGUST A 1-5 Crow Wing County Fair

2 Longville Turtle Races

Every Wednesday through August 23, 1:00pm

2 Nisswa Turtle Races

Every Wednesday through August 16, 2:00pm

4-5 Pine River Community Garage Sale Oodles of garage sales all over town!

5

5 5-6 11-12 11-12 11-14 12 16 17-20 19-20

Chokecherry Festival, Pequot Lakes Walker Bay Day Gull Lake Yacht Club Fun Regatta Nisswa Crazy Days Deerwood Summerfest Leech Lake Regatta Backus Corn Fest Nisswa Turtle Races End of Season NHRA Nationals, Brainerd International Raceway Cuyuna Lakes Crusher Mountain Bike Series Race 23 Longville Turtle Races End of Season 24-27 Lakes Bluegrass Music Festival Cass County Fairgrounds

26-27 Fishing Has No Boundaries Confidence Learning Center

26 Gull Lake Classic Boat Show, Bar Harbor

Every Tuesday through August 15, 11:00am

2-3 Arts Off 84 Art Crawl, Hwy 84, Pine River

3 Paddle Palooza, Nisswa/Gull Lake 8-10 Heritage Days, Pine River

9 Walker Ethnic Festival 14 Fall Has It All Kickoff, Runs thru Sept. 30 Walker/Longville/Hackensack

16 Nisswa Fall Festival and Smokin’ Hot BBQ Challenge 28-30 Crosslake Days

OCTOBER 6-7 Fishing to End Hunger Walleye Tournament 14 Gull Lake Oktoberfest and Pub Crawl 20-22 31st Annual Oktoberfest Ruttger’s Bay Lake Lodge, Deerwood

OVEMBER N

4 Firearms Deer Hunting Opener 17 Kinship Taste of the Lakes 24 Nisswa City of Lights

DECEMBER

2 Arts and Crafts Sale

6 7 9 9 9

Pine River Legion Auxiliary 9:00am-3:00pm

Christmas in the Park, Crosby Schaefer’s Taste of the Holidays, Nisswa Parade of Lights, Pine River Santa’s Bobbin’ Into Town, Pequot Lakes Soup Walk, Deerwood, Crosby, Ironton

Every Thursday through August 17

16-17 Confidence Learning Center's Golf & Fishing Classic 17 Whitefish Chain Antique & Classic Wood Boat Rendezvous, Moonlite Bay, Crosslake 22-24 Moondance Jammin’ Country, Walker 22-24 Lakes Jam, Brainerd International Raceway 22-25 Cass County Fair, Pine River 23 Pine River Duck Races Every Friday through August 18, 1:45pm

30 Flea Market, Pine River

Fridays, June 30, July 28, Aug. 4 & 25, 9am-3pm

J ULY

1 Celebrate America Weekend with Fireworks, Crosslake

1 Grandpa’s Run for the Walleye, Crosslake

3 Nisswa Freedom Days Festival

3 Arts in the Park, Brainerd 3-4 Pequot Lakes Stars & Stripes Days

4 Walker Fourth of July

4 American Celebration, Brainerd

4 4th of July in Crosby-Ironton

5 Nisswa Turtle Races

Every Wednesday through August 16, 2:00pm

5 Longville Turtle Races

8 7-12 11-12 20-22 27-29

Every Wednesday through August 23, 1:00pm

Paul Bunyan Extreme 5k Run, Mount Ski Gull Sweetheart Days, Hackensack Bean Hole Days, Pequot Lakes Moondance Jam, Walker Pine River Art Show, The Warehouse

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

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2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 5

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Gull Lake Eelpout | Serpent Lake Legend | Hook Kids on Fishing Trumpeter Swans | Evolution of Boats | Fish Flies | Wabedo Muskies

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2 017 E D I T I O N

As you page through our 11th annual Love of the Lakes magazine, you’ll notice the passion people have for the beautiful bodies of water in the lake country. That passion spans many different age groups, from toddlers splashing in the water to youngsters catching their first fish to parents introducing their children to recreational lake activities to senior citizens enjoying a scenic cruise.

As we do every year, this edition features the larger lake chains in our area - Gull, Whitefish and Leech - complete with stories and in-depth lake maps. Read about a group of teenage boys who not only fish for eelpout on Gull Lake, but also cook up and eat the rough fish. Find out the latest tool the Whitefish Area Property Owners Association learned about to help keep zebra mussels from spreading to more lakes - zebra mussel sniffing dogs. And learn about one photographer’s passion to take photos of Leech Lake in all seasons, complete with a sampling of his spectacular photos.

Our three featured lakes in 2017 are Wabedo near Longville, East & West Twin in Pequot Lakes, and Serpent in Crosby. Read about the muskies waiting for you in Lake Wabedo, generations of families who have enjoyed East Twin Lake, and work being done to improve the water quality of Serpent Lake. Also read about the legend of the serpent lurking in the waters.

We also highlight two women who recently took up snowshoeing, efforts to get kids hooked on fishing, the art of fishing from a kayak or standup paddleboard, and the majestic trumpeter swan.

We think you’ll be fascinated to learn the important role that fish flies - part of the mayfly family - play in a lake’s health, as well as the evolution of boats over the years.

A popular feature over the past few years returns - a gallery of photos our readers submitted showing fun on the lake, this year featuring young anglers and their prize catches.

So sit back, relax and relish the sunrise or sunset while enjoying this edition of Love of the Lakes.

Please contact us with story and lake suggestions for our 2018 magazine. Contact Nancy Vogt at nancy. vogt@pineandlakes.com or 218-855-5877.

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

HOOkeD? DO NOT try to remove a fish hook that is deeply embedded in the skin, lodged within a joint or tendon, or located in or near an eye or artery. If you are at all unsure, it is best to seek medical attention immediately.

DO NOT CUT THE HOOK. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PUSH THROUGH TO CUT OFF BARB. String Yank Technique

How to remove a fish hook from your finger 1. Remove hook from lure by cutting at attachment ring; DO NOT cut the hook itself.

2. Tape any additional free hooks to prevent other hooks from also getting embedded.

3. First, wash your hands with soap and water, or disinfecting solution, and then wash the area surrounding the hook. bend eye 4. Tie off a loop with some fishing line. Place shank the loop over the hook’s shank and lightly barb pull it against the bend of the hook.

4 5. With your other hand, press down and back on the hook’s eye.

6. Continue pressing down on the hook’s eye. Quickly and firmly jerk the fishing line backward, ensuring that the line is parallel to the shank. Don’t worry; only a tiny bit of flesh is behind the barb.

5

n Keep electrician’s pliers with a wire-cutting blade and disinfecting solution in your fishing tackle box. n Tetanus immunization (vaccine) should occur every 10 years. If needed, it may be done any time in the 72 hours following the injury.

7. Wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water and apply a bandage.

8. Watch the area for signs of infection such as redness, swelling, pain, or drainage.

Be prepared

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Wait Times at EssentiaHealth.org 218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 7

F E AT U R E

Submitted photos Left: Jimmy Rasmussen (left) and Kameron Lee show their late-night eelpout catches. Right: Joe Keiffer glows with pride after snagging an eelpout.

Fishing opportunities all year round, including eelpout

BY THERESA BOURKE Year-round fishing is one alluring charm of the Brainerd lakes area. Like other waters in the vicinity, the Gull Chain of Lakes offers a place for eager anglers to cast their lines no matter what the season, whether it be from a boat or an ice house.

One of the latest fishing fads on the lake, especially among younger generations, is catching eelpout in the winter. A surge of demonstrations on social media has attracted many to seek the serpent-like fish during the colder months.

Local teens Kameron Lee and Joe Keiffer caught on to the trend this past winter.

“We just saw a lot of people doing it on social media,” Lee said. “And we were like, ‘We should try that out.’ So we did.”

After asking around for tips to wrangle eelpout, the boys found themselves enjoying a new hobby. They quickly found, however, that it was more challenging than any other type of fishing they had done.

“It’s such a unique fish … They put up a big fight compared to walleye, and they live usually pretty deep, so it takes a lot longer to reel them up,” Lee said, adding that eelpout are nocturnal fish that come out at night to prey on bait fish.

The methods of catching the creatures differ from what the teens are used to as well.

“One type of way you can do it is you’ll just punch

8

2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

like 25 holes in the ice in an area and just hop from hole to hole,” Keiffer said. “So you can have two people pulling them up at the same time. It’s really cool.”

Though the sight of the fish, with its elongated body and flattened head, deters many from wanting to catch it, Lee and Keiffer have grown accustomed to and come to enjoy the eelpout’s oddity.

“What ... is cool is they’re like an actual eel, and they wrap around you sometimes,” Lee said. “The first time I ever did it, it was really scary. I didn’t even want to touch the fish. But now it’s not a big deal.”

After catching the eelpout and letting them wrap around their arms, Keiffer and Lee go a step further and prepare it to eat. While some fry eelpout just like any other fish, these boys have another method. “(We) boil it in 7UP and then dip it in butter. They call it poor man’s lobster,” Keiffer said.

Lobster or not, the teens like getting groups of friends together to feast on the unique seafood.

And when the ice thaws, ending eelpouts’ active season, Lee and Keiffer grab their other poles and head back out to Gull or other area lakes to continue their year-round fishing excursions. u Theresa Bourke may be reached at at 218-855-5880 or theresa.bourke@pineandlakes.com. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter at @PAL_Theresa.

Eelpout is a native Minnesota fish known by many names. It is related to cod and haddock and can also be referred to as "poor man's lobster."

Here's a simple recipe for eelpout that results in fine dining.

Poor Man's Lobster Ingredients: One liter of Sprite/7Up soda (not diet) eelpout melted butter Directions: 1. Fillet the fish, focusing on getting two long, bone-free sections of backstrap.

2. Remove the skin from the muscle.

3. Cut each fillet into 1- to 2-inch cubes.

4. Boil a liter of Sprite or 7Up. 5. Drop eelpout cubes into boiling soda.

6. Remove cubes when they float and turn white, about 2 or 3 minutes.

7. Dip pieces of cooked fish in melted butter.

8. Enjoy!

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

GULL LAKE

BRAINERD AREA

VITAL STATISTICS

Location: Cass & Crow Wing County, MN

64

20

Area: 9,947 acres

Defining Characteristics: The Gull Chain of Lakes, for which Gull Lake is the namesake and largest member, is a collection of a number of connected lakes and two bays: Gull Lake, Upper Gull 71 Lake, Nisswa Lake, Roy Lake, Margaret Lake, Spider Lake, Spring Lake, Love Lake, Round Lake, Bass Lake, Steamboat Bay, Wilson’s Bay. The chain collectively covers 13,000 acres and its Park Rapids shores host over 2,500 homes. The chain spans across Cass County, MN and Crow Wing County, MN.

60 10 20 30

87

10

30

10

85

87

FOOT

50HILLS

STATE FOREST

PublicMenahga Accesses: East shore off County Road 115; north end of Boomingout Bay near Upper Gull Lake; off County Road 70 near dam; on northwest side off County State Aid Highway 77.

77 48

20 30 40 50 60

64

Lind Lake 50 40 50 40 30 30 Hattie 20 Backus 10

Sources: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 71 minnesotalakes.net and Wikipedia

77

50

Blind

10 20 3040

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Clough

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2

70

1

Ox

1

371

10

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145

Kimball

39

Upper Loon

Pine

Pi

11

168

Upper

109

Little Pelican

19

Markee

Nisswa Nisswa

116

Garden

Mill

Clark

Lake Edward

13

13

19

Hubert

115

Little Hubert

Round Lake

Fawn

3

Crystal

127

Riv

Campbell

Merrifield

127

Sorenson

115 15

Bass

3

4

Gladstone

Gull Lake

Black Bea

Mollie

137

371

1

Lower Mission

Perch

118 Roy

Upper Mission

Lougee

Lower

77

Bass

109

107

Upper Gull

Margaret

20

Horseshoe

Pelican Lake

4

llen CuMiddle

107

77

Breezy Point

371 East Twin

Mayo

Lake Shore

ne Riv er

Lizard

Pequot Lakes

Loon

10

Gree

3

Ossawinnaamakee

11

Sibley

1

O'B

36

103 Fawn

17

17

3

Crosslake

Duck

103

112

66

Star

Clear Lake

Upper Hay 16

Cross Lake

11

119

North Long Lake

25

126 Hartley

64

33 80

60

10

20 30 40

10 210

PILLSBU RY STATE FOREST

30 40

Pillager

77

Mud Red Sand

Sylvan

48

77

Shamineau Lake

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123

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South Long Lake

25 21 44

144

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Lake Alexander

Mud

Brainerd

2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 9 Crow Wing

Fish Trap Lake

25

142

48

Hardy

Rice

Baxter

Pillager

10

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

20

White Sand

210

CROW WING STATE PARK

Gilbert

371

Whipple

36

CAMP RIPLEY NATIONAL GUARD RESER VATION

210

49

77

77

1

40 30 20 10

Horseshoe

Wise

146

18

Motley 70

210

125 Wilson Bay

r

70

20 10

77

ive

60

10

71

Ideal Corners

Clamshell

Bertha

Jenkins

40

Staples 20 10

Lower Whitefish

Lower Hay

15

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40

40 20 10

Little Pine

Mud Lake

15

Gu

40

Verndale

Manhattan Beach

Big Trout

Upper Whitefish

Rock

71

134

1

29

30

West Fox

Fifty Lakes

Arrowhead

Pine River

West Twin Edna

40

Kego

Swanburg

371 78

50

30 40 50 60

Mit

56

371

84

10

40

Pistol

Jail Lake 56

Lizzie

84

54

30 40 50 10

10

160 48

43

50 Eagle 40 30 20 Mildred 10

40 30 20

57

50

49

Horseshoe

60 50

54

84

112

60

47

48

60

60

Lake Wabedo

Lake Ada

60

60

60 70

10 20 30 40 50

50 40 30 20 10

87

60

371

Little Boy

8

80

10

10 10 3040

60

10 20 60 40

Pine Mountain

Iguadona Lake

84

60

70

7

Woman Lake

50

50

10

16

Fish: Panfish, largemouth & rock bass, northern pike, walleye, bluegill, crappie, tullibee, yellow perch

Wadena

60

30

10 2030

40 50 40 30 20 10

Hackensack

371 40

64

60

200

13

54

6

10 20 30 40 50

71 Species: Zebra mussels Invasive

10

10 20 30

10

Number of aquatic plant species: Over 35 species

10 20

77

200

5

1012 20 30 40

Historic Fact: The site of the Gull Lake Dam has particular prehistoric archaeological significance.

Under the site there have been found at least 12 burial mounds as well as several partial mounds.

All are thought to originate from the Woodland American Indian tribes, which resided in the area from 800 B.C. to A.D. 200, returning later to inhabit the area from A.D. 600 to A.D. 900.

371

Walker

371

10 20 30 Ten Mile 40 Lake

34

Nevis

40

34

10 20 30 50 40

Akeley

Water Quality: Mesotrophic - clear water with 87 blooms in late summer. occasional algal

87

30

30 20

Homes Per Shoreline: 27.8

Leech Lake

10 20

371

Deepest Point: 80 feet, 30 percent of the lake is 15 feet deep or less

34

Leech Lake

3020 10

121

Round

23

Your NEW door of opportunity on Gull Lake Gull Lake Luxury Lake Homes Individually Designed On Your Own Lot Baratto Brothers Quality & Style

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Beautiful Nature and Harbor Views

Community Amenities: • Private harbor with 30’ boat slips • Pool, pool house & tot playground • Each home includes an on premise 20’ x 40’ storage garage • 26+ ac. of green space & community grounds • Close to town, shopping, dining, golf courses & endless other recreation • Connection to proposed East Gull Lake trail system (walk, bike, golf cart)

10 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

001561202r1

David Mernin, New Home Advisor dave@lakesareahomes.mn • 218-820-4668

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218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

Photo by Bryce Johnson Johnson on his kite lines, Bryce With a camera mounted the winter, a expanse of Mille Lacs in captured the wide open popular area for kiteboarders.

Photo by Bryce Johnson in a self Bryce Johnson is pictured portrait taken with a GoPro.

KITING’S POPULARITY ON THE

RISE w BY DAN DETERMAN

particularly those Minnesota lake-goers, Mille Lacs, may visiting larger lakes like activity take to the have noticed a new water in the past decade. referred to as Kiteboarding - commonly water sport that kiting - is a board-based wind power to sees participants harness both in the summer move. It can take place sport’s origins go and winter months. The but its popularity back as far as the 1970s, especially in the has spiked in recent years, Land of 10,000 Lakes. especially in “In the last few years, it has gotten a lot Minnesota in the winter, being a lot kites of terms in more accessible a lot safer than better and everything being

kiting is an action A primary attraction of need to be pulled flying,” which allows hour, and eliminating the known as “controlled reduce pain in arms of the water or ice by a boat can greatly a kiter to achieve lift off tenoverhead and creating and shoulders. and by flying the kite experienced “I was intrigued to try wakeboarding, in the line. This allows go for five min- sion when I tried it I could only to perform tricks. arms start to hurt,” kiters an avid kiteutes at a time before my Johnson, who has been recalls you are hooked to for more than a decade, Egle said. “With kiting, pressure is little to boarder sensation as if he were in a lowa a harness and the bar off the power of feeling kiting. none. You can kiteboard area when he first began want - I have gravity you if long day all the wind page 38 Kiting continued on it so much more done it before. That makes on a boat with the enjoyable than sitting slammed get to Photo by Kate Perkins fumes, waiting your turn pulled by a huge kite, crash.”

Bottom right: Todd Hanson, into the water with each lake on his snowboard.

than a parachute or paraglider Bryce Johnson of inflatable diamond-shaped kite – a harness it used to be,” said enthusiast. “We standard resembles a flatter Crosslake, a kiteboarding and a kiteboard, which Minnesota so there have a lot of lakes in wakeboard. it.” a snowboard or are a lot of places to try In the winter season, said Katie alternative “(Kiting) is constantly growing,” the Mille downhill skis may be used as an of equipment Egle, avid kiter and coordinator a month, to a kiteboard. Other suggested once and impact vest.

Lacs Kite Crossing. “Almost includes a wetsuit, helmet somewhere sure news make local should someone is on the For safety’s sake, kiters commercials for zone” of at least kiting. I have seen they have a clear “safety pull you and things like that downwind, as kiting will Caribbean vacations (oceanic kit- 150 feet that have someone kitesurfing been told in that direction.

I have as a low-impact ing) in the background.

Kiting can be viewed largest snowkiting sports. Health that Minnesota has the alternative to other water person can population in the U.S.” Fitness says the average kiting includes a and by kiting for one Equipment needed for burn roughly 750 calories with an common in more kite – which has

glides across a frozen

LOVE LAKES 2016 LOVE OF THE LAKES

ECHO PUm 218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.coB L I S H I N G ' S

m 218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.co

36

37

2016 EDIT ION

2016 LOVE OF THE LAKES

Best Magazine award goes to...

OF THE

KITEBOARDING

Sport rises in popular ity pg. 36

PLUS:

218-829-4705

Pine River History | Fairview Township Mayo Lake Nature | Paddle the Preserve | Youth Pine River | Loon Watch Fishing Leagues | Gull Lake Storm Recovery

| pineandlakes.com

2016 LOVE OF THE

LAKES

1

The 2016 edition of Love of the Lakes magazine was awarded first place for Best Magazine among weekly newspapers at the Minnesota Newspaper Association's Better Newspaper Contest at the newspaper association’s annual convention held in January 2017 in Bloomington.

Love of the Lakes, a product of the Echo Journal, finished first while the Annandale Advocate's Summer Guide was second and the Hutchinson Leader’s Dockside magazine was third.

In honoring Love of the Lakes, judges commented: “This was simply a superb entry. The magazine is full of great information about the area's lakes, and it's clear that the staff spent quite a lot of time producing it.”

The 2016 edition also celebrated the 10-year anniversary for production of Love of the Lakes magazine.

we bring you the

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DITIO 2 017 E

JOURN

AL'S

ENJOY

E FOR THOS

N

Using a variety of different kayaks, Crow Wing Paddler group members prepare for an outing.

OF THE

WHO

Paddling club fishes, explores and gets outdoor s

SUBMITTED PHOTO

BY TRAVIS GRIMLER

THE

together paddling enthusiasts.

Staff Writer TRY“I started have an email address to put them we have 70 In an attempt to encourage it because I wanted to names now on our email use of on the list. If you have LAKE COUN little-used group paddling the Pine something list.” local waterways, Jim get people interested in being on the you OF THE River. want to float on, fine. If water and paddling,” Bergquist Bergquist of Crow Wing “The bad thing about the not, we WATE RS Crow said. have a special Kayaks “I thought, river is discount. We take meeting Wing Paddlers has been it fluctuates so and Wind, Water & Wheels, what better way. We just much,” Bergquist during the summer months both of opened Crosslake, started a club said. “If I send out a date it up to anybody and every- care of the shuttling and I think for the past and we are to bring body. three years for outdoor we’ve had all the way from The only requirement going to do it on the river, two to fun on the water. is to 25 people join us I have to During spring and at a time. I think fall months it is common to see the See PADDLERS,

Crosslake Community School graduates two

Page A6

BY THERESA BOURKE Staff Writer

Crosslake Community High School conferred diplomas graduating seniors at the VER on two first-ever, DISCOexclusively high school graduation ceremony Sunday, FRIEN DSJune 12. OF Mikala Huesmann, of JOY THE Breezy Point, and Adam Lund, of Perham, received their diplomas at a small, intimate ceremony. enrolled at Crosslake in Huesmann the fall of 2015 and attended Lake Superior State as a part-time PSEO 30 during her pg. student senior year. She previously attended Pequot Lakes High School but thought online program would fit Crosslake’s better with her busy schedule.

Lund enrolled at Crosslake in December of 2015 classes through its Northern and took Star Online program while hockey for the Breezy Point North Stars. He previouslyhe played school in Perham. attended Crosslake Community High School graduated one year - its first year of offering senior last dents - and Executive Directoronline education to high school stuTodd Lyscio said the program grown a lot in the second has year.

“I think we had 18 students in the program in the first this year we are at 65,” year. And Lyscio said. “So we’ve seen significant growth.”

Lyscio said Crosslake’s online program has students over the state, with the majority from being based near the Crosslake all and in the Twin Cities. area “We have students from Hibbing to Waseca, with a bigger concentration right around our area here. Pequot Lakes, Pine River-Backus, Brainerd, Crosby-Ironton would be kind of the central hub,” Lyscio said.

“We also have a grouping of students down in the Kids on Fishings | Hook metro area o Muskie as t Lake Legend well.”Flies | Wabed | Serpen Boats | Fish Sunday’s Eelpout of Gull Lake ceremony Evolution Swans | ended with Trumpeter the two graduates flipping their tassels and enjoying a small reception with their family and friends.

2017 M I NN

OEING

SNOWSH

.C O M

ECHO

E S OTA

NEED TO WHIP ONE UP THIS SIZE. PLUS:

Mikala Huesmann and Adam completion of high school Lund flip their tassels to symbolize their High School’s graduation Sunday, June 12, at Crosslake Community ceremony.

PHOTO BY THERESA BOURKE

From left, Leah Swanson, 8, Jillian Tibbets, 11, and get ready to raise and Faith Swanson, the 12, stamman Scandinavian midsummer pole, which is part of a Swedish all of Aitkin, carry wreaths Folk Music Festival tradition, at the Nisswaon Saturday, June 11, in Nisswa.

Highway 371

PHOTO BY THERESA BOURKE

County Road 112 detour to start Monday

BY NANCY VOGT

Editor until fall.

For information Highway 371 construction will In other Highway 371 • Visit www.mndot.gov/ prompt another detour project in Pequot work, according to Mathiowetz d3/hwy371 for recent Lakes starting Monday, June 20, news, detours, maps, Construction: when part of County photos and contact inforRoad 112 • Cullen Brook: closes.

Crews mation and to sign up finished the wick drain installation for The road will be closed email updates. from .4 at Cullen Brook in Nisswa, miles north of the CR 112-County having • Call the project hotinstalled over 475,000 linear line at 218-568-4661 State Aid Highway 11 intersection feet and of wick drain (90 miles leave a message. Your of wick) to 800 feet north of the existing with an average depth of CR call will be returned within 112-Akerson Road intersection.

32 feet. one business day.

The eventual goal is to build This closure is needed northbound Highway 371 lanes construct the new Highway to will be completed and open to over Cullen Brook.

371 and CR 112 alignment, according traffic this fall.

Geotechnical instrumentation to project contractors Mathiowetz A CSAH 11 detour remains has been installed in the Construction. area so crews construct the bridge as The newly and engineers are getting real constructed CR 112 and interchange that will go time the new over data as to the settlement Highway 371/CR 112 intersection new Highway 371 lanes. the of the That detour also is expected to last

See HWY 371, Page A6

Volume 3 • Issue 39

AREA EVENTS A4 • O B I T U A R I E S A7 • OP INION A10 • S P O R T S B 1 • R E C IP E S B 4

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Financial, Insurance and Investment Services

Baxter (218) 822-4480 •

Wishing Fathers a Happy Father’s Day June 19

Pequot Lakes (218) 568-4473

• Crosslake (218) 692-4472

• Backus (218) 947-3111

Spirits of Nisswa 963-7488

800-432-3703 or 218-568-8521

Across from Schaefer’s Grocery www.spiritsofnisswa.com

Liquor

Ye Old Pickle Factory 963-0085

Downtown Nisswa Open Daily | www.yeoldpicklefactory.com 001549587r1

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 11

F E AT U R E

Photos by Theresa Bourke/Echo Journal Left: Crosby Memorial Park's serpent statue, made of styrofoam and weighing in at 2,500 pounds, welcomes visitors to Serpent Lake. Right: A community lending library stands in Crosby Memorial Park on the shore of Serpent Lake.

Projects aim to improve Serpent Lake water quality

BY THERESA BOURKE The community-built playground, the convenient little lending library, the brightly colored serpent statue and a variety of campsites attract outdoor enthusiasts to Crosby Memorial Park, situated on the northeastern shore of Serpent Lake.

The park provides access to the water with beaches, fishing spots, boat launches and a soon-to-be new dock - scheduled to go in before Memorial Day - to add to the site’s appeal.

While Crosby Memorial Park is one of the more popular gateways to Serpent Lake, neighboring Deerwood is home to a hidden gem that allows for a quieter visit to the water.

On the east side of the water, off of Cross Drive, sits Skone Park, a small site that doesn’t get much traffic, according to Deerwood City Council member Jeremy Millsop.

“There is a covered picnic area, a bench one single bench is all you need because hardly anyone ever goes there,” he said. “It’s very quiet. It’s a secret alternative to the main beach in Crosby.”

The park as a whole is only about 75 feet wide, but it’s complete with a sandy beach and plenty of shade.

Though Skone Park is a bit of a local secret, Millsop said he and the council would like to raise

12 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

the community’s awareness.

“We’re all about promoting our assets,” he said.

Those assets, of course, include the abundance of water in the area. As one of Minnesota’s most valued natural resources, lakes are held in high esteem, and their water quality is of utmost importance. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency works diligently to keep the state’s water quality as high as possible, and its recent work with Serpent Lake is a testament to that commitment.

A 2010 Clean Water Partnership Investigative study by the MPCA identified pollution hotspots in the lake.

The study found the lake’s phosphorus levels to be of concern. Melissa Barrick, Crow Wing County Soil and Water Conservation District district manager, said high levels of phosphorus increase the amount of algae in lakes, which can cause water clarity to decline.

The Serpent Lake Association has been conducting its own water quality studies since 1946. Most of the findings can be found in the association’s Lake Quality Plan, which is a document updated every three years and aimed at keeping track of all the findings and used whenever the association applies for grants.

“It’s so that (grant donors) can see how serious we are about maintaining the quality of the water and that we’ve got … data that goes back that you can point to and see if what you’re doing is improving it or making a difference,” said Terry Tichenor, Serpent Lake Association vice president.

The data in the association’s 2017-19 Lake Quality Plan shows the same concerning phosphorus levels as MPCA’s study. Both groups concluded that stormwater from the cities of Crosby and Deerwood, as well as Cranberry Lake - a small lake that feeds into Serpent on the eastern side - were three key contributors for the lake’s high levels of phosphorus.

The lake association’s lake quality plan breaks down the phosphorus contributors by percentage and lists these three sources as the top three, with Cranberry Lake at 26 percent, Deerwood stormwater at 25.6 percent, and Crosby stormwater at 24.3 percent.

“When you get into the double digits of contribution, then those things become targets that are economically justifiable to go after,” Tichenor said.

Serpent Lake continued on page 14

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

200

1

200

SERPENT LAKE

5

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Defining Characteristics: Over 9 miles of shoreline.

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103

103

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Clark

1st Ave NE

60

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28

210

Black Hoof

Ironton

12

12

Hamlet

102

Pvt

Lookout

4th St SW

6th Ave W Franklin Ave

Mud

20

Rice

142

10

Portage

8

133

6

Horseshoe

102

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Gilbert

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Deerwood

Serpent Lake

Oak St

49

111

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28

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146 77

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77 218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

Wise

25

31

Michigan Ave

125

Red Sand

Beach Rd

Lakeshore Dr

210

6 2nd St NW

119

North Long Lake

Hartley

77

Bergren Rd

Sorenson

126

Wilson Bay

128

Riverton

Campbell

Merrifield

4th Ave W

15

Hawks Rd

50

50 45

40

2nd St SW

1st St SW

W Main St

1st St NW

2nd St NW

115 Rock

Crystal

127

6

3rd St NW

4th St NW

Little Hubert

Round Lake

Fawn

3 127

30

Carlson

Crosby

Beach Rd

1st Ave NW

1st Ave SW

115

Bass

3

4

Gladstone

30

Menomin

Black Bear

28

210

6

Hubert

210

Cross Ave N

Cross Ave N

1

19

Mollie

Cross Ave NS

77

32 East Rabbit

West Rabbit

1st Ave SE

371

11

Lower Mission

Miller

13 137

11

116

Lake Edward

13

Gull Lake

Perch

Garden

210

2nd Ave NE

Margaret

Upper Mission

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pi R

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Miss

Rider Rd

Nisswa

6

19

118

2nd St SE

3rd St NE

4th St NE

6th St NE

5th St NE

2nd St NE 2nd Ave NE

77

Bass

109

Markee

3rd Ave NE

Nisswa

Roy

141

109

Lougee

1st St SE

4th Ave NE

Lake Shore

4

105

Be

Lower

Nelson

Lower Dean

CROW WING STATE FOREST

Fool

E Main St

107

Horseshoe

Pelican Lake

Little Pelican

llen CuMiddle

107 Upper Gull

Upper

Lizard

220

5th Ave NE

West Twin Edna

10 15 20 30

371 East Twin

2nd Ave SE

6thAve NE 8th St NE

168 Mayo

29

Breezy Point

6

Loon

3rd Ave SE

1

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62

Pequot Lakes

Sibley

Pi

Perry

Lake Rd

Upper Loon

105

R ne

11

Beach Rd

11

Stark

Adney Goggle

ne Pi River

11

17

31

17

3

Ossawinnaamakee

Ross

Upper Dean

114

Greer

110

15 9

112

36

Pine

36

Rogers

36

36

28

Upper Hay 16

Mud

O'Brien

Star

39

Bas

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Source: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources , minnesotalakes.net and Wikipedia

Dolney

3

Crosslake D-35

40 30

Kimball

Clear Lake

135

112

Cross Lake

66

Goodrich

12

Beach Rd

18 20 35

16 Grass

145

210

Deer Trail Dr

Clamshell

Bertha

135

Jenkins

16

Ideal Corners

40

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Agate Lake Rd

15

tt gge Da

Rush

Birchdale

Historic Fact: Serpent Lake is an English translation of the Ojibwe language 106 name.

Island

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12

Lower Whitefish

Lows

Rider Rd

D-35 110

Sand

Little Pine

15 Lower Hay

Little Pine

Mary end of Public Boat Accesses: On west lake at the CrosbyEmily City Park; on east end of lake off State Highway 6.

1

Manhattan Beach

Big Trout

Mud Lake

Upper Whitefish

371

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110

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60 50

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134

24

40

Pine River

30

1

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371

Fifty Lakes

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15 20

6

West Fox

110

9

15

10

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54

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8

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Norway

12

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Mitchell

30 40

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56

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Fish: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, burbot, hybrid Papoose sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, smallmouth Squaw bass, tullibee (cisco), walleye, yellow Blue bullhead, yellow perch, bowfin (dogAnna Duck fish), white sucker, banded killifish, blac6 Ruth 1 knose shiner, bluntnose minnow, Johnny Butterfield darter, logperch, spottail shiner ay La

Lake Rd

le S

43

Mildred

Invasive Species: NoneLawrence Roosevelt

136

Nok

Horseshoe

210

Pistol

20

40 30

Map

84

371

Jail Lake 56

Lizzie

Wood Rd

Backus

48

Hattie

Rider Rd

10 15 20

Carry

W Fr

2

Indian

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Deepest Point: 66 feet.

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54

12

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Location: Crosby and Deerwood, Crow Wing County

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210

Archiba

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55

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Whi

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Serpent Rd E

210

Serpent Rd E

Broadway

Cranberry Lake

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Alder St

371

Island Lake

Wood Rd

Cuyuna Greens Dr

Little Boy

Fore

Hackensack

VITAL STATISTICS

St

84

stria

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Reno Lake Rd

Indu

Acc

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High St

Lake

2nd

Rd

Ruggles Ave

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Iguadona Lake

210

CROSBY & DEERWOOD

Mountain

T S TE ST

Laura Lake

25

159 Mud

2017 LOVE Eagle OF THE LAKES 13 Clearwater 124

Bay Lake

14

Farm Island Lake

Tame Fish

Serpent Lake continued from page 12

Phosphorus mitigation - Deerwood

Cranberry Lake Because studies identified Cranberry Lake as the top phosphorus contributor to Serpent, the groups completed an ALUM (aluminum sulfate) treatment on Cranberry Lake, which Barrick described as a chemical treatment that bonds phosphorus to the bottom of the lake.

“That lake (Cranberry) had been the old wastewater treatment site for the city of Deerwood prior to regulations,” Barrick said. “So that lake had really high nutrients in it, and it was directly connected to Serpent Lake, and so during the spring and other times, it would bring water from that lake to Serpent.”

A report from the SWCD estimates the ALUM treatment to eliminate 57 pounds of phosphorus added to Serpent Lake per year.

MIDS Ordinance Lastly, the SWCD worked with the cities of Crosby and Deerwood to adopt the MPCA’s Minimal Impact Design Standard ordinance, which will help to keep the run-off into Serpent Lake at the lowest amount possible.

“As the city redevelops … people are required

(under the ordinance) to do small projects on their property to make sure that we’re not increasing run-off,” Barrick said.

Phosphorus mitigation - Crosby Next, the SWCD will partner with the city of Crosby to complete a project aimed at decreasing the amount of phosphorus added to Serpent Lake by the city’s stormwater.

“There’s a current pipe that goes straight to the lake that is carrying polluted run-off from the city, and so we’re going to be working with them (the city of Crosby) to mitigate that situation,” Barrick said.

“We’re in the beginning stages of that (project).”

Recognition As a result of the Deerwood and Cranberry Lake projects, Summer Place Association and the city of Deerwood received an award from the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

The MASWCD/Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Community Conservationist Award recognizes outstanding accomplishments with implementing conservation practices in the community.

The SWCD nominated Deerwood and Summer Place Association for the award, which they accepted Dec. 5, 2016, at the MASWCD annual convention in Minneapolis. u Theresa Bourke may be reached at at 218-855-5880 or theresa.bourke@pineandlakes.com. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter at @PAL_Theresa.

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These findings prompted the SWCD to develop a plan to address pollution concerns.

The plans were made possible in 2014 when the state Board of Water Soil Resources gave the SWCD a $1.2 million Targeted Watershed Grant.

With the grant, the SWCD partnered with the city of Deerwood and Summer Place Association - a 12-member cabin association on Serpent Lake - to complete a stormwater run-off project to help mitigate phosphorus levels in the lake. The Serpent Lake Association contributed funding and advocacy for the project, as water quality is one of the group’s primary concerns.

The Clean Water Partnership study found that stormwater in Deerwood contributes about 55 pounds of phosphorus to Serpent Lake each year.

To remedy this, the project constructed a series of bioretention ponds and iron enhanced filters on city land. These help to reduce flooding, which can pollute water with phosphorus and other unwanted nutrients.

Summer Place Association residents especially benefitted from this project, as many of them dealt with major flooding each summer.

“After a heavy deluge there would be times when there’d be standing water that would be so high that some of the homes down there actually got flooded out,” Tichenor said. “So this project also alleviated that problem.”

Barrick said calculations estimate that this project,

which was completed in August 2016, will reduce the amount of phosphorus Deerwood stormwater adds to Serpent Lake by about 26 pounds a year.

“One pound of phosphorus equals about 500 pounds of algae,” she said. “So that’s a significant amount of pollution that’s no longer going into the lake.”

14 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

Legend has it Crosby's Serpent Lake has a

SEA MONSTER The 20-foot tall green and orange serpent statue standing in the city’s Memorial Park is the embodiment of an age-old rumor that a mythical serpent resides in the waters of Serpent Lake, according to the city of Crosby website.

But there are other theories of where the name came from as well. Crosby resident Clark Marshall, who grew up on Serpent Lake, heard a different story.

“I don’t know if somebody said there were snakes around the lake, but … my recollection as a kid growing up was that the name of the lake did come out of what the (Native Americans) called the lake,” Marshall said.

“There was this underlying understanding that the (Native Americans) had a word that got somehow put into the word ‘serpent’ for the lake, and I thought it kind of derived from snakes somehow.”

Regardless of the origin, the serpent statue in place since 1977 - has become somewhat of an icon for the little city of Crosby.

The former Crosby Chamber of Commerce, now the Cuyuna Lakes Chamber, bought the statue from Creative Display Inc. of Sparta, Wisconsin, and then offered a contest to name the serpent. Maxine Larson, of Anoka, came out the winner with the name Kahnah’bek, which is the Ojibwe word for “serpent.”

e h t e r e h W o G s l a c o L

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2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 15

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Submitted Photos Craig Ross obtained a conservation easement to keep his property along the Pine River as woodland to protect the quality of the river.

How are HANDCRAFTED FURNITURE the Pine River, Twin Cities connected?

BY CROW WING SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT

16 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

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Did you know the Pine River is a major contributor to the Mississippi River? The Mississippi provides drinking water for millions of people every day in the Twin Cities area.

“Studies indicate the Pine River Watershed (an area of land that drains to a specific water body) has the ability to produce clean water to downstream users,” said Melissa Barrick, Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) district manager. “This is based off large areas of public and private forest land. A recent study from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency also indicated that by the time the water gets to Minneapolis, it no longer meets standards set by the Clean Water Act for aquatic life and human use.”

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The SWCD has money to pay landowners to keep their property as woodlands because of the connection to the Twin Cities drinking water.

The SWCD works with the state Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) to enroll property into a permanent conservation easement called Reinvest In Minnesota. The landowners and SWCD work together to develop location and payment for the conservation easement.

“To date, we have protected 1.5 miles of Pine River (182 acres) and worked with five landowners,” said Sheila Boldt, conservation outreach specialist.

“We are still looking for more landowners that are adjacent to the Little Pine or Pine River with woodland property. This is a great program. Landowners keep and manage their land and it stays on the tax rolls.”

“This is a great example of partnership,” Barrick said. “This is the first time a nonprofit organization, The Nature Conservancy, has leveraged $250,000 to match $2 million Clean Water Fund dollars for this project. This project is the first of its kind. We hope to use this process in other areas of the state.

We are creating a drinking water protection project like New York City.”

Anyone interested in the program should contact Sheila Boldt, conservation outreach specialist, at 218-828-6197 or sheila.boldt@crowwingswcd.org.

Funding for this program was provided by The Nature Conservancy and The Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. u

Open To The Public To Rent!

CURLING CLUB BUILDING at the Fairgrounds

More than a County Fair…

Space available for your special event: Wedding Anniversary Parties Family Reunions Birthday Parties

Graduation Parties Class Reunions Benefits

Auctions Craft Shows Business Picnics

We are a Concert Venue too!

Boat, Classic Car and RV Storage available Early Fall thru Spring.

Call the Crow Wing County Fairgrounds at 218-829-6680 or Gary Doucette at 218-838-9671 for more information or to reserve a date for your event.

2017 FAIR DATES: AUGUST 1- AUGUST 5

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Curling Starting October 1 thru March 31

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2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 17

F E AT U R E

Submitted Photos DNR Conservation Officer Julie Siems works with Brady, a dog trained to detect zebra mussels on boats. Top right: Aquatic invasive species inspectors are shown with DNR Conservation Officer Julie Siems and Brady.

WAPOA learns about new AIS threats, management techniques

BY WHITEFISH AREA PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION Whitefish Area Property Owners Association volunteers work year-round to protect our waters, including attending educational seminars on various topics.

Last year, six WAPOA leaders and members attended the second annual statewide Aquatic Invaders Summit II in St. Cloud. The opening session focused on the importance of protecting the quality of Minnesota lakes and rivers to ensure the continued health of tourism in the state.

Minnesota tourism is a $13.6 billion industry annually, providing over 245,000 jobs and 17 percent of all sales tax revenue. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said aquatic invasive species do not just threaten native species, they also pose a threat to our economy, our heritage and our culture.

Sharing the most up-to-date information about aquatic invasive species were speakers from the University of Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center, the Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources, the National Park Service, commercial applicators, the U.S. Geological Survey, Minnehaha Creek Watershed District and others. There were over 60 speakers and 20 focused presentation sessions,

18 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

so WAPOA members split up to cover as many presentations as possible.

New AIS threat A new AIS threat, starry stonewort, an invasive algae, was discussed often at the conference. The first appearance of the invasive starry stonewort in August 2015 in Minnesota resulted in University of Minnesota researchers starting to work on investigations related to it. The DNR was also tasked with figuring out how to handle this new (to Minnesota) invasive.

To date, starry stonewort has been found in nine Minnesota lakes, seemingly centered in the St. Cloud and Bemidji areas. Starry stonewort produces dense mats at the water’s surface, displacing native aquatic plants and interfering with recreational and other uses of lakes.

It is spread from an infested body of water to another by the unintentional transfer of bulbils the white, star-like structures the plant produces.

Fragments can attach to trailers, boats, personal watercraft, docks, boat lifts, anchors and other watercraft.

It is a serious and unresolved challenge.

Mechanical and chemical removal has not been

able to eliminate it. It springs back within a few weeks after treatments. Researchers say there is still much more to learn about it.

Among the most useful presentations for lake associations was an “on-the-spot” description that DNR AIS specialist Nicole Covar shared about how she managed the recent Turtle Lake invasion of starry stonewort.

Equally compelling was the presentation by Kevin Farnum, of the Lake Koronis Association.

He was very involved with treating the first starry stonewort invasion in the state. He has raised and plans to spend over $800,000 in the next three years fighting it.

Other topics Other summit sessions focused on diverse topics: the role of technology in combating AIS; engaging resorts and anglers in AIS prevention; use of mandatory boat inspections to prevent the spread of AIS; efforts to design and build boats that will minimize AIS transfer and aid in decontamination; communication tools for motivating all lake users to recognize their personal responsibility and how to change behaviors; implementation WAPOA continued on page 20

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55

Lake Wabedo

371

Lake George

3

47 8

87

36

87

54

84

Crosslake

64

WHITEFISH CHAIN 87

66

Pine Mountain

Backus

87

FOOT HILLS STATE FOREST

hga

Blind

48

Hattie

Lizzie

84

371

Jail Lake 56

43

Clough

Norway

20 20 50 50 70 70 90 90 100 100 110 110 130 90 90 130 120 120

30 30 20 20

60 60

Pine River

17 17

Bertha

Upper Hay 16

103

Pine

Fawn

3

Pi

Adney

ne Riv er

Goggle

11

Pi

Lizard

Pelican Lake

114

Greer

11

Breezy Point

36

36

103

Ossawinnaamakee

Pequot Lakes

Loon

O'Brien

Crosslake

Duck

11 Sibley

Dolney

3

Star

39

17

Upper Loon

66

r ive

R ne

CROW WING STATE FOREST

Horseshoe

Fool Location: 4 Crosslake, Manhattan 109 371 East Twin Upper Mayo Little Pelican Bass 109 Jenkins Beach, Ideal Township, en ll u Upper Mission 11 C Middle West Twin Lougee Township, Northern Crow Wing 107 Edna Lower 19 Markee 107 Lower Mission Perch County 118 116 29 Upper Gull Nisswa Area: 13,660 acres 30 Nisswa Garden Miller Roy Lake Clark Lake Edward Deepest Point: 138 feet, Whitefish Menomin Shore 77 13 19 13 Lake. About half of the lake is less Black Bear Mollie Margaret 371 Hubert 137 Bass Fawn than 30 feet in4 depth and more 3 Gladstone Black Gull Lake 3 Hoof 128 than 1/3rd is 15 77 Crystalfeet or less in 115 127 Iron Little Hubert Campbell Riverton depth.

Merrifield 1 Round Lake 127 12 Sorenson Defining Characteristics: The chain 210 115 102 15 lakes119 includes Arrowhead, 25 Northof Long Lake Rock Wolf 126 Bertha, Big Trout, Clamshell, Hartley Cross, Daggett, Island, Little Horseshoe 125 102 Wise 77 Pine, Loon, Upper Hay, Lower Wilson Bay 146 49 210 PILLSBU RY Gilbert Hay, Lower Whitefish, Middle Mud 25 159 142 STATE 77 Rice 77 Whitefish, Pig, Rush, and Upper Mud 20 FOREST Red Sand Sylvan 371 Twin Island Whipple Pillager Whitefish.

Brainerd 18 159 8 Water quality: Mesotrophic - clear White Sand 18 1 Baxter water with occasional algal 210 Grav 23 48 36 48 blooms in late summer.

144 24 Number of aquatic plant species: Pillager 123 8 5 ay 45esswspecies Russell r Hardy South Long Lake p x E Fish: panfish, walleye, bass, 25 an ny Bu northern pike, perch, lake 21 ul 371 Pa 144 22 CAMP RIPLEY 22 44 whitefish, tullibee.

CROW WING NATIONAL GUARD STATE PARK RESER VATION Historic Fact: In 1836, Congress v r ive iR appropriated funds to start the pp ssi 121 ssi Mi er NDam, okasippi Riv which Pine River was 23 131 131 Crow Wing completed by 1886. Back Mud 2 thenRoundthe sole industry was 121 ver 2 logging, the chain of lakes were kas No 21 5 connected in order gto move Sebre Da e Fort Ripley the logs from place tott B place.

Logging continued from the early 139 1870s until 1912.

103

39

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90 90 70 70 20 20

29 29 40 40

15 15

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16

40 40

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24 24

60 60

15 15 55 55

24 24

30 30

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50 50

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40 40

Gu

20 20

ive

r

88 88 80 80 70 70

Ri

Lake Alexander

g

21 21

10 10

69 69

ip

20 20

pi

11 11

Clear Lake

Cross Lake

10 10

10 10 103 103 50 50

60 60 56 56 10 10 20 20

Upper Whitefish

50 50

Kimball

Pickeral Goodrich

tt gge Da

Rush

15 15 30 30 40 40 46 46

77

50 50

23 23

80 80

40 40

10 10

100 100 90 90

20 20 90 90 10 10 100 100 10 10 60 60

10 10 10 10

10

50 50

30 30

Ideal Corners

Clamshell

16 Grass

145

17

16

23 23

130 130 77 10 10 70 70 80 80 90 90

Motley

15 15

20 20

16

168

Shamineau Lake

71

Lower Whitefish

Lower Hay

20 20 15 15

130 130 135 135 50 50 60 60

134

210

Emi

1 Sand

Little Pine

Mud Lake

15

371

112

210

10 10

Upper Whitefish

Jenkins

10

Butterfield

Manhattan Beach

Big Trout

112

Verndale

Fifty Lakes

Ox

64

1

Anna

West Fox

134

1

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Arrowhead

15

64

Staples

1

1

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Kego

54

Swanburg

84

371 2

Roose

136

Mitchell

56

Eagle

Mildred

Ou Pistol

VITAL STATISTICS

Horseshoe

103

CROSSLAKE AREA

160

48

Lake Ada

Lind Lake

Washburn Lake

49

ok ro

tl e F To L it

60 60

Cushing 70 70

al l s

Sources: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and whitefish.org

40 40

60 60

86 86

Randall

40 40

10 10

10 10

16

50 50

50 50

25

47

145

10 10

27

39

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2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 19

WAPOA continued from page 18

of innovative marketing and education in the fight against AIS; risk-based prioritization by the DNR and other agencies in the fight against AIS; and efforts to train teachers to teach school children about AIS detection, prevention and control.

In a session on Enforcement of AIS Rules, the DNR shared how special dogs have been trained and are being used at DNR roadside inspection checkpoints in Minnesota to detect zebra mussels on boats and trailers.

These dogs can “sniff” out the mussels, and they can even detect veligers in the live wells or residual water inside a boat. If the dog sniffs out zebra mussels, the owner of the boat/trailer can be fined.

DNR Conservation Officer Julie Siems presented a live show outside the conference building, where Brady, a trained dogs, sniffed around a boat and trailer and within 45 seconds found intentionally hidden zebra mussels. Brady’s reward for finding mussels is a ball he can play with.

The DNR has four trained mussel-sniffing dogs and plans to add more. These dogs can quickly find zebra mussels in areas hard for human inspectors to visualize, helping to prevent the transfer of zebra mussels to other lakes.

For more information about WAPOA and the fight against AIS, visit www.wapoa.org. u

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Soil and trees join forces to affect the quality of our water. Forests maximize the ability for the soil to absorb water at its surface. A well managed forest acts like a sponge. The leaves, twigs, and branches slow down the rainfall, allowing the soil the time needed to soak up the water. A Woodland Stewardship Program for eligible areas is available within Crow Wing County.

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If you own 20 acres or more of woodland, funds are available to assist you with creating a woodland management plan. A Stewardship Plan allows you to enroll for a lower property tax rate or into an incentive payment program. Contact the Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District at darren.mayers@crowwingswcd.org

Join online at: www.WAPOA.org

EVERYTHING WE DO IS RELATED TO PROTECTING THE QUALIT Y OF OUR LAKES.

EVERYTHING WE DO IS RELATED TO PROTECTING THE QUALIT Y OF OUR LAKES.

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2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 21

As Minnesota anglers age, there is a push to get more young people interested in fishing.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Ledermann/DNR

Submitted photo Trey Soderman fishes a Brainerd Warrior club tournament on Whitefish Lake. His boat captain was coach Jason Bahr.

Get kids hooked on fishing

BY JODIE TWEED Minnesota is second in the nation for participation “Kick them off the electronics. We really need to in both hunting and fishing, just behind Alaska. But make the outdoors a priority for our kids,” Kurre said.

Minnesota sportsmen and women are aging; the “Whether it’s for good exercise or to catch a fish and average angler (and hunter) is 50. How do we get feel that tug on the line - I’ve never known a kid who younger anglers hooked on fishing? didn’t enjoy that.”

Mike Kurre, mentoring program coordinator for Jason Bahr passed along his love of fishing to his the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources two sons, Kyle, 15, and Tyler, 13. Bahr is coach of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said the number of Brainerd High School fishing team, and both his sons Minnesota anglers has remained stable. However, are active members on the team. Kyle won the 2015 these anglers are aging, FLW State Championship, and fewer young people while Tyler won the 2016 are coming up to take their Junior BASS Championship. place. At some point, there Bahr said his sons will be a tipping point and fish about 300 days a numbers will drop as fewer year - and that’s not an anglers take up the sport. exaggeration.

“We’re finding that kids “All they think about is today are distracted,” fishing,” Bahr said with Kurre said. “They’ve got so a laugh. “A lot of their ­— Jason Bahr many things, whether it’s buddies do that, too.” electronics or sports or band If you didn’t grow up in a practice. We’re missing our fishing family like Bahr did, stewards of the future who will keep our waters it doesn’t mean you can’t pass along an interest in clean and manage our critters out there. We don’t the sport to your own children. Bahr said you don’t have many anglers coming in to fill in for some of the need fancy equipment or a boat to get started. Buy older people who are retiring, and we really need a $10 rod and reel combo, some bait and tackle those kids.” and head out to a local fishing pier.

Kurre said on a weekly basis, most children “On the north end of Gull Lake near Zorbaz, you only have about 30 minutes of unscheduled time can catch northern, walleyes, crappies and bass exploring the outdoors. He challenges parents and right from shore,” Bahr said. “There are plenty of grandparents to carve out time each week to nurture lakes and plenty of opportunities. The most important a love of the outdoors in younger generations. thing is to do it, get them out fishing.”

“They were so proud when they could tie their own hooks, catch a fish and take it off.”

22 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

Here are some tips on how to get your own children hooked on fishing: • Fish for something you can catch Bahr said when he was a kid, his dad took him out walleye fishing. Sometimes they’d go three hours, or even days, without catching anything.

If you want your children to keep wanting to go back out in the boat, fish for easier-to-catch fish, like sunfish, bluegills, crappies, or even catfish and suckers.

Reeling in fish after fish makes for an exciting adventure on the lake.

• Fish as a family Fishing can be a great activity for the entire family.

It’s an opportunity to make memories.

“Once we bought our boat, I would put our little guys on my lap and let them steer,” Bahr said. “When my boys were little, we’d spend our days on the lake.

They still remember those summers in the boat. It’s something you can truly do as a family.”

• Let them learn to fish themselves Empower your future anglers by teaching them how to bait and tie their own hooks and take off their own fish at a young age. Bahr said when his sons were about 6 or 7, they were learning how to perform all aspects of fishing without much help from him and his wife, Carla.

The experience gave the boys more confidence and the better they got at it, the more they wanted to do it themselves.

“They were so proud when they could tie their own hooks, catch a fish and take it off,” Bahr said. “If you

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

celebrate that, it really gives them the drive to do it more. They’ll get good at it and the more they will want to fish.”

• Invest in their own fishing gear Fishing doesn’t have to be a costly venture, but when kids have their own tackle boxes, it can encourage them to build their own tackle collection.

“When my boys were young, they wouldn’t trade baseball cards. They’d have friends over and they’d trade tackle,” Bahr said. “Once they had their own tackle box, they wanted more tackle. The next thing you know, they had a huge collection, and they wanted to use it. They wanted to see how it works.”

• When in doubt, Google it If you’re unsure what type of tackle or bait to use when fishing for specific species, turn to YouTube or other online resources. Bahr said when he was young, he would wake up on Saturday mornings and look forward to watching fishing legend Al Lindner on television for fishing tips.

Today’s anglers have a wealth of online resources available 24 hours, seven days a week, including a few young angling YouTubers who are funny and make fishing fun.

Even if you don’t know how to bait or tie a hook yourself, there is likely a video out there to teach you how.

• Join a high school fishing team The Brainerd lakes area now offers many opportunities for middle and high school students to learn to fish. Brainerd High School’s fishing team had

108 team members in 2016, and continues to grow.

Pine River-Backus, Pequot Lakes, Crosby-Ironton, Aitkin and Pillager schools have high school fishing teams or are in the process of launching a team, Bahr said.

“Fishing is a sport you can do forever,” Bahr said.

“It’s something everybody can do, regardless of their athletic abilities. Half of our team is made up of youth who don’t play another sport. As fishing grows, colleges all over are starting fishing teams. We have local organizations now offering scholarships for fishing. It’s really growing, but most important, we give them a jersey, they are on a team and part of a group.

They meet new fishing buddies.”

Advanced Manufacturing Careers

• Take advantage of Take-A-Kid-Fishing opportunities Adults don’t need a fishing license if they fish with a child 15 or younger during Take A Kid Fishing weekends in Minnesota.

There are several organized events planned around the state for the Take A Kid Fishing weekend June 9-11 this year. A similar Take A Kid Ice Fishing weekend is planned during the winter each year.

Minnesota state parks offer many opportunities for inexperienced anglers, including I Can Fish! workshops where equipment and bait are provided. Minnesotans can fish without a fishing license in most Minnesota state parks, including ice fishing.

Visit www.dnr.state.mn.us for more information on these state park opportunities. u Jodie Tweed is a freelance writer living in Pequot Lakes.

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2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 23

The natural shoreline is protected on this part of Little Whitefish Lake. Bob Haddorff, Little Whitefish Lake landowner, protected his property on the lake for future generations.

Submitted Photos

Protecting land for future generations

BY LEECH LAKE AREA WATERSHED FOUNDATION Change is happening all around us. Land conversion or development, a changing climate and pollution are some of the changes that threaten the future health of northern Minnesota waters and their surrounding lands or watersheds.

An approach to buffer northern waters from the negative impacts of change is to protect 75 percent of the landscape draining into lakes, rivers and streams from development. This level of protection

helps these waters to be more resilient to inevitable changes.

Some landowners use conservation easements to protect their land for future generations. Others sell or donate their property for public ownership and management by federal, state or county agencies. Following are the stories of two families who chose to protect their land using these approaches.

Little Whitefish Lake conservation easement benefits all Bob Haddorff developed a passion for wilderness and solitude after visiting the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness during his youth. As adults, Bob and his wife, Ginny, sought to renew this passion.

In 1998, they bought a cabin on Little Whitefish Lake in Crow Wing County, and since then acquired

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24 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

another 200 adjoining acres.

They learned from the Department of Natural Resources that their land contains “sensitive shoreline,” which describes a unique and disappearing habitat that is crucial for fish, wildlife and native plants. They also learned that altering their shoreline, such as replacing the forest and native grasses with turf grass and riprap, would destroy that important habitat.

The Haddorffs realized their land was significant.

As they began seeing increasing development in the area, they decided they wanted to keep their land as natural as possible.

Fortunately, in 2014 the Leech Lake Area Watershed Foundation launched the Clean Water/ Critical Habitat Protection Program in collaboration with the Minnesota Land Trust. The program focuses on the protection of forests located in the watersheds of tullibee refuge lakes in north central Minnesota.

The Haddorffs found that their land was a perfect match, and now their property along with 2.5 miles of shoreline on Little Whitefish Lake is protected forever.

“This project conserves important shoreline and 216 acres of upland forest on a tullibee refuge lake,” said Lindsey Ketchel, Leech Lake Area Watershed Foundation executive director.

Researchers found that if up to 75 percent of a lake’s forested watershed is protected, the lake’s water temperature can be maintained.

“Tullibee need year-round cold water,” said Pat Collins, Minnesota Land Trust program manager.

“This lake already had other land protection in the watershed, so this private land conservation filled in

an important missing piece of the protection puzzle.”

Haddorff’s dream of wilderness and solitude will continue on for future generations.

What is a conservation easement?

The Haddorffs’ permanent conservation easement was made possible thanks to them and funding provided by the Outdoor Heritage Fund via the Leech Lake Area Watershed Foundation and in partnership with the members of the Minnesota Land Trust.

A conservation easement is a voluntary, legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or other qualified agency that permanently limits certain uses of land to protect its conservation values.

Landowners continue to own and enjoy the land and pay property taxes.

Once created, the conservation easement is binding on all future owners of the property.

More information can be found at www.mnland. org.

Aquatic Management Area protects Roosevelt Lake The newest Aquatic Management Area in Crow Wing County was dedicated in spring 2017.

The Roosevelt Lake State Aquatic Management Area-Judy and Charlie Eggers Tract is 105 acres and over 5,000 feet of pristine, forested shoreland in Woods Bay. Following the death of their parents, Judy and Charlie Eggers, the three Eggers siblings wanted to implement their parents’ wishes to preserve

this special place as protected public land to be managed for fish and wildlife and public recreational opportunities.

Through the vision and generosity of Jo Ann Todd, Linda Van Straaten and Allan Eggers, the natural features of this “sensitive shoreline” will be permanently protected and contribute to the long-term health of Lake Roosevelt.

The Eggers family had owned, enjoyed and treasured the property for more than 65 years. Jo Ann, Linda and Allan consider their father to have been an early environmentalist.

“Our dad always loved the out of doors and it was his goal to nurture wildlife habitats on the lake property and his tree farm. His business life reflected his personal interests, as he was a manufacturer’s representative for hunting and fishing equipment,” they said. “In 1951, our parents bought land on Lake Roosevelt that has been enjoyed by four generations of our family. Over time he purchased all available land around Woods Bay to prevent it from being developed. This is the land that will become the AMA Tract, and we are pleased to have made our parents’ wishes a reality.”

Lake Roosevelt is a deep, cold-water, 1,585-acre lake in which cisco, also known as tullibee, are able to survive. The lake is important to protect because it is predicted to be a refuge for these highly temperature-sensitive, cold-water fish if 75 percent of the land draining into the lake can be protected from land conversion.

However, land protection isn’t the only approach

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for preserving these unique lakes. As the Roosevelt And Lawrence Area Lake Association has been promoting for years, it is also important for landowners to minimize their household impact on lakes by keeping shorelines natural; eliminating sources of phosphorus and nitrates such as fertilizers, runoff and erosion; maintaining septic systems on a regular basis; and motoring at slow speeds in shallow water and near shorelines.

The DNR has designated all of the shoreline in Woods Bay as “sensitive shoreland” using a scientific, field-based model and survey in 2009.

“Sensitive shoreland” has critical aquatic and wildlife features that would be severely impacted by shoreland development.

The natural features of the new AMA are also highly vulnerable to the impacts of development or land conversion. The property is listed on the Minnesota County Biological Survey because of its high biological significance and intact old growth forest canopy.

The journey culminating in the Roosevelt Lake AMA was a long one marked by patience and perseverance by the Eggers family and wide support of several key partners who advocated and received the funding to buy the property for an AMA. The Leech Lake Area Watershed Foundation worked with the Eggers family for eight years and received a grant from the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Fund in 2014 to acquire the property for an AMA. The Roosevelt And Lawrence Area Lake Association partnered with the Leech Lake Area Watershed Foundation to appeal to landowners in the watershed to provide both financial and community support for the protection of this property.

The Twin Cities Chapter of Muskie Inc., Hugh C. Becker Foundation, also provided a grant in 2014 for the acquisition of this property, which includes muskie spawning areas.

Although the acquisition was delayed when ownership of adjacent state and federal tracts on the Crow Wing County-Cass County borders required additional review, the purchase was completed in late 2016.

“It is thrilling to add this property, of such high ecological value, to the Aquatic Management Program where the public, treading lightly, will be able to enjoy it in perpetuity,” said Marc Bacigalupi, DNR Brainerd Fisheries supervisor, who will be the local DNR land manager.

“The protection of this property is a significant contribution to efforts to protect our northern waters for clean water, healthy habitat and resilient communities and economies,” said Ketchel, of the Leech Lake Area Watershed Foundation. “We are so very grateful to the vision of the Eggers family, the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, our many partners and the state of Minnesota for recognizing the importance of healthy natural resources and local communities.” u

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1. Aidan Fitzpatrick, grandson of Tim and Jan Marr of Longville, is a fishing nut! Any kind, any time, anywhere!

2. Greta Hoefs, Laken Muller and Kate & Beth Hoefs are ready for the annual 4th of July Lake Ada boat parade to start.

3. Gunnar Gregory, 10, Greenwich, Connecticut, fished with Walleyedan Eigen on the Whitefish Chain, spending most of their time on Big Trout Lake.

4. Alex Jones, 12, Brainerd, shows his first big northern pike. His grandpa, Bob Jones, of Brainerd, said fish his grandchildren caught were released unharmed to allow other young fishing boys and girls to have a happy day and great memory catching fish.

5. Serpent Lake (Crosby) bass were biting last summer off the dock. Brooklyn Jenniges, 5, Delano, was scared to hold them so her grandma, Laurie Jenniges, put gloves on her.

28 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

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with our

Readers

6. Ben Jones, 15, Brainerd has a happy day walleye fishing.

7. Garrett and Elliott Marr along with their cousin Aidan Fitzpatrick love to explore the lake in Grampa Tim Marr's little Lund. They are the grandchildren of Tim and Jan Marr, of Longville.

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Fuonnthe

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10. Jack Quinnild, 9, shows his first smallmouth bass - a happy day for this one. He lives in Hong Kong, China, and spends summers at Bay Lake.

11. Cade Potvin helps his dad, Brent Potvin, land a muskie.

12. Becky Schletz’s grandchildren from St. Paul catch fish off the dock on Greer Lake. Olivia Schletz, 7 ½, catches the fish while Freddie Schletz, 3, waits with the net and Theo Schletz, 9, tells them how to do it.

13. Jordy Potvin shows Papa his minnow.

14. Miles Reigel, 10, visiting from Colorado, caught a 29-inch, 7-pound northern pike on the Gull Lake Chain.

8. Greta Hoefs showing off her catch while fishing with dad and brother on Loon Lake.

15. Nora Christopherson, 7, and her sister, Riley, 9, of Blaine, both caught these whoppers at Big Fun Tuesday in Crosslake.

9. Theo Schletz, 9, St. Paul, shows a big sunfish he caught off the dock on Greer Lake.

16. Sam Christopherson, 5, of Blaine, loves to fish at his grandparents’ cabin on Star Lake.

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9 1. Samuel Quinnild was 11 when he caught his first largemouth bass. He lives in Hong Kong, China, and spends summers at Bay Lake.

2. Dylan Reese, of San Antonio, Texas, plays with the worm before fishing on Sylvan Lake in Pillager. His grandparents are Tom and Laurel Reese.

3. Davis Rovn, 8, Minneapolis, is a “veteran” fisherman who enjoys fishing off the pontoon on Horseshoe Lake in Merrifield, where a family cabin is located.

4. Nora Christopherson, 7, of Blaine, was determined to drill her own hole for ice fishing on Star Lake ... and she did it!

5. Nora Christopherson, 7, of Blaine, had her gramps for an ice fishing buddy on Star Lake

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10

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Lake

Fuonnthe

with our

Readers

6. Jenna Stoerzinger, 9, Pequot Lakes, shows the first walleye she ever caught - a 23-incher on the Whitefish Chain.

7. Gus and Greta Hoefs trying their luck on Loon Lake.

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9. Madeline Rovn, 4, Minneapolis, took a greater interest in fishing last year and proudly shows off her first catch on Horseshoe Lake in Merrifield. She especially loves to retrieve the minnows from the bait bucket so Dad can prep her pole.

10. Cade and Jace Potvin - best buddies fishing together - show their catch.

11. Sam Christopherson, 5, of Blaine, thinks the end of his grandparents’ dock on Star Lake is the best fishing around.

12. Ian Christopherson, 3, Blaine, was proud of his first catch of the season.

8. Tyler Gynild, Minneapolis, is shown right after he caught his first fish, a sunfish, on Goodrich Lake at age 22 months. He used a bamboo pole his Papa made for him.

2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 29

FRIENDS DISCOVER THE JOY OF

SNOWSHOEING w BY JENNY HOLMES

30 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

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W

hile many wish the snow away in anticipation of spring, two Nisswa women find themselves rejoicing in the freshly fallen precipitation long into the year.

Janet Haeg and Deb Jarboe have been friends and coworkers for the last 18 years at Nisswa Elementary School. But it took up until last Christmas for them to become workout buddies.

A breast cancer survivor, Jarboe has long been into a fitness routine, finding her niche in ways she finds beneficial while having fun. Three years ago she discovered snowshoeing and was hooked.

Jarboe and Haeg took a few yoga classes together, but Haeg said she was intrigued when she learned more about snowshoeing. So Haeg decided to buy herself snowshoes and join her friend and coworker out in the white yonder.

The ladies took to The Pines golf course at Grand View Lodge where trails are marked and winter recreationalists are welcomed.

“It’s so pretty out there,” Haeg said. “I’m not a golfer, so it’s really my only time out on the course.

And when you’re around noise all day long, it’s just nice to be out in the solitude of nature.”

The devout duo typically hit the trails both days of the weekend and a few times during the week, weather dependent. As the days get longer and stay lighter later, there’s more time to get in their average 45-minute adventure.

“It really is a great workout,” Haeg said. “You get fresh air, it’s good cardio and a great way to unwind after a day of work. Our biggest dilemma is what we should wear.”

Deb laughed in agreement. “It’s a great time for us to visit since you can’t visit during the day as much. We’re able to catch up on each other’s lives.

It’s a great way to end the day; and we laugh a lot.”

Of course, snow conditions can make or break a snowshoeing adventure. The texture of the snow makes a big difference, Haeg said. Heavy, wet snow sticks to the snowshoes, making it harder to make tracks. Lighter, fluffy snow is ideal.

tips & history on

snowshoeing The ladies use a Smartphone application that helps track time, distance and their route. However, there has been at least one instance where curiosity got the best of them and they ended up more than doubling their typical workout.

“It’s just wide open white space,” Haeg said.

“And, you’d think following your tracks back would be so easy.”

Regardless, Haeg and Jarboe said venturing out with a friend makes it more enjoyable.

“When you’re with a buddy and you enjoy each other’s company, you can go a lot further,” Jarboe said. “It’s very peaceful alone, but it’s an activity that goes a lot quicker when you’re with a friend.”

When the lack of snow prohibits activity, the ladies vow to continue working out together trading the snowshoes for tennis shoes.

But when the snow begins to fly once again, the ladies will be eager and ready with new locations to add to the mix.

“We’ll just need to remember where we put our snowshoes,” Haeg said with a laugh. u Jenny Holmes is a freelance writer who lives in Nisswa with her husband, Tim, and their two children.

Janet Haeg

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Deb Jarboe

Snowshoes are one of the oldest forms of transportation. Based on various rock drawings and paintings, archaeologists speculate that snowshoeing began 6,000 years ago, in central Asia.

It’s believed ancestors of the Inuit and Native Americans migrated to North America on snowshoes, which were made from modified slabs of wood.

Today, snowshoeing continues to grow in popularity - as it’s a low-impact sport and fairly inexpensive.

Snowshoes and poles are a small fraction of the cost of alpine skiing equipment. Depending on speed, terrain and weight, snowshoeing can also offer highly effective fitness, burning 420-1,000 calories an hour.

Typically, where there’s snow, there’s a place to snowshoe. A recreationalist’s options are endless, as you can snowshoe in any Minnesota state park and recreation area as long as the trails are not specifically marked for another activity exclusively.

The Northland Arboretum in Brainerd provides nongroomed trails perfect for snowshoeing. Local resorts rent snowshoes and often host special events for snowshoe enthusiasts. And when ice conditions permit, take to a lake. There are plenty to choose from and lots of ground to cover.

According to experts at snowshoes.com, “If you can walk, you can snowshoe!”

Here are a few tips and tricks to getting started: • Get comfortable taking your snowshoes on and off from the comfort and warmth of your home before hitting the great outdoors.

• Check the weather and dress appropriately for conditions.

• Start somewhere familiar to you, like a local trail or park.

• Try an out-and-back hike and judge your fitness level. Snowshoeing should take a little more effort than a similar distance hike.

• Take a few minutes at the start of your hike to get used to the feeling of walking with snowshoes.

Even with today's compact, athletic shapes, your snowshoes will have a wider footprint than a regular pair of shoes. A quick adjustment to a wider stance will allow a smooth gait without stepping on your own snowshoe. With a few minutes of practice, you'll already be an expert snowshoer.

• When backing up or turning sharply, pick your feet up higher to keep the snowshoe tail from sticking in the snow.

• Have fun! There are no rules in snowshoeing, except to enjoy the outdoors.

Sources: trails.com and snowshoes.com

2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 31

Bless

THOSE CURSED

fish flies! w BY MIKE RAHN

T

here are many signs and events that chart the progress of lakes area seasons.

Signs like the return of migrating waterfowl and songbirds in late winter and early spring, followed by ice-out on our lakes. Soon after comes the green-up of trees, shrubs and turf, accompanied by shouts of “Fore!” and requests of “I’d like a Mulligan.”

There’s Memorial Day, the end of the school year, and before long we’re parked in camp chairs watching Fourth of July parades. Air conditioners will soon be working overtime, as electric bills soar. Then before we know it will come the farmers’ markets, the harvest of our gardens, speculation on the first frost of autumn, and preparations for the hunting seasons.

Some signs and events are embedded in the calendar, while others are only as predictable as the weather. Some are entirely personal. Some are familiar to everyone, while others are seen only by the few or the vigilant.

One event not found on any calendar, reserved for those who regularly spend time on or near the water, is the arrival of the “fish fly.” It’s an imprecise term for several species of large lake and river insects, members of a family collectively known as mayflies.

They spend most of their lives, sometimes almost two years, under water and largely invisible. When breeding time arrives and they leave their watery birthplace, the story line changes.

Their presence, a sign of summer’s progress, is not welcomed by everyone. At peak hatching times

32 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

Photo by Ben Lundeen/Minnesota Pollution Control Agency The transformation from homely, wriggling nymph to delicate and graceful adult mayfly could not be more dramatic or amazing.

mayflies can blanket the walls of a cabin. They may carpet the ground so densely it’s impossible to avoid crunching them underfoot. Boats, docks and lifts, lawn furniture, any surface to which an insect could cling, can become a temporary stopover.

Mayflies are also attracted to light. Where their hatches are most abundant, some cabin or lake home residents avoid turning on lights at night that would attract them in even greater numbers. Street lights at intersections near lakes or rivers sometimes attract so many that their smashed bodies form a dangerous “slick” on the road surface.

Lake Mille Lacs, for instance, can have mayfly hatches so prolific that locals steer clear of adjacent roads to avoid vision-blocking swarms and bug corpse-smeared windshields.

Their presence is temporary, because their true mission is reproduction. The cycle typically begins in late June or early July when these mayflies transform from wriggling, alien-looking muck burrowers into delicate, winged flyers.

Depending on the subspecies, as adults they

As delicate and graceful as an adult mayfly is, the immature nymph certainly qualifies for the description "homely," if not actually "fearsome!"

range in size from an inch and a quarter to an inch and three-quarters long, not counting the long, thin, hair-like tail filaments characteristic of all mayfly species - from the tiniest to the largest - worldwide.

Mayflies could bear the name “fish fly” strictly for their importance as food for growing young fish. But most of us call them “fish fly” for their distinctly fishy odor - sometimes overpowering - when hatching is at its peak. Coming from the same environment as fish, this aroma - especially pungent when they’re crushed underfoot - should be no great surprise.

Could there be a silver lining to the seasonal cloud of smelly, clinging fish flies?

“Mayflies are a sign of good water quality,” said Owen Baird, Fisheries management specialist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, based in Brainerd. “They’re especially sensitive to reduced oxygen levels,” usually the result of too many nutrients in a lake or stream, commonly caused by runoff of fertilizers from agricultural land or residential property.

Excess nutrients lead to a spike in algae growth, whose decomposition uses up great amounts of oxygen. When that happens, not only do mayflies decline, but so do key, oxygen-sensitive forage fish - like tulibees - which feed the game fish that anglers pursue.

Bottom line: Mayflies are a good sign for lake and river health.

“Mayflies are also an important part of the fishes’ food chains,” Baird said. “This is especially true for immature fish.”

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Photo by Mike Rahn Large mayflies can provide memorable fishing opportunities.

But the fish can be selective, and may be inclined to strike only imitations that resemble the shape and size of mayflies.

Photo by Joel Chirhart/Minnesota Pollution Control Agency The density of massed, clinging mayflies awaiting their final molt and mating, can be staggering.

Young of both game fish and forage fish species need nutritious options in addition to minnows, crawfish and larger or more elusive prey. These large mayflies, most of which are of the insect genus called “Hexagenia,” are just what the fish nutritionist ordered!

The immature stage of this mayfly, called a “nymph,” could play a starring role in a B-grade sci-fi movie from the 1950s, when camera trickery made tiny creatures look large and menacing. Beady, black, bulb-like eyes crown a head that ends in long, pointed jaws.

As threatening as they look, these jaws are more functional as excavating tools, used to dig the tunnel-like burrow in which the nymph lives most of its life. During that time it grows from barely visible to king size, molting its outer skin as many as 30 times.

Needless to say, a growing nymph needs a larger burrow at each stage, so these jaws are put to frequent use.

The mayfly’s six crab-like legs each ends in a pincer-like claw. Each side of its long, tapering abdomen is studded with a series of feathery fronds on short stubs, or stalks. Besides being the organs by which this insect absorbs oxygen, their purpose is to gently move water through the tunnel in which the mayfly is hidden.

This gentle current brings with it tiny bits of decaying organic material - some plant, some animal - that is the mayfly’s food. For all its ferocious looks, this giant among mayflies is a peaceful insect that consumes whatever its own moving-water conveyor belt brings its way.

Though the mayfly’s silty burrow is generally effective in protecting it from feeding fish, there are other underwater creatures that are a constant threat.

Perhaps most dangerous is the dragonfly nymph, a voracious underwater predator that will attack the mayfly in its burrow, not unlike a ferret pursuing a

rabbit in its warren.

When mayfly maturity, water temperature, daylight intensity and all conditions are right, they leave their silty burrows at dusk or in early darkness. They rise as rapidly as they can - now defenseless against feeding fish - to the surface. There they transform in a manner as dramatic as any caterpillar becoming a butterfly.

Now just under the surface, the immature mayfly hangs briefly in the water’s surface film. The skin over its back ruptures. Gradually pulling itself through this breach is a thin, streamlined creature with translucent wings.

Once completely free of its empty nymph shell, the mayfly rides the water’s surface, wings held vertical and sail-like over its back. Wing membranes soon are dry enough to permit flight; until then, the mayfly is vulnerable to attack from feeding fish below.

I’ve fished during such mayfly hatches, on both lakes and streams, using a fly rod and a floating imitation that resembles these hatching insects. When fish are “on them,” the water’s surface may be dimpled with small circles in every direction, each one a fish sipping a mayfly into its gullet before it can fly away.

These circles can so completely cover the surface that it seems like rain is falling. Sometimes instead of dimpling rings there’ll be a splashy take, which might be the un-subtle slash of a sizeable bass - or perhaps a trout - depending on the water you’re fishing.

Those nymphs that successfully reach the surface and hatch escape into the air-breathing world above. They’ll fly or be blown toward land, where they cling to almost any solid surface.

Generally within a day or two, typically in the low light of evening, the mayflies that have been attached to cabins, docks and boats begin preparing for mating. They’ll shed their skins a second time. The membrane over

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their back ruptures under pressure from within. But this time a nearly identical duplicate creature pulls itself free and dries its wings.

Nearly identical, but not quite. This new mayfly version has no mouth parts, no ability to take nourishment. But it won’t live long enough for it to matter. It is sexually mature now, and able to fulfill its one remaining mission.

Mating swarms congregate over the water.

Females find males to fertilize their eggs, which will be dropped into the water below. When the mating performance is over, the adults will fall spent to the water and die. The eggs will sink to the bottom, and when they hatch, a tiny crawling nymph will burrow into the silt to begin the cycle all over again.

Mayflies in our lakes and streams could be compared to the proverbial “canary in a coal mine,” caged birds that miners once kept to alert them to dangerous air conditions in a mine. Mayflies are an indicator of good water quality, their decline often a warning. They’re also important to the survival of the fish we pursue with rod and reel.

Both are good reasons to tolerate the temporary inconvenience when their “big dance” arrives each summer. u Mike Rahn writes Inside the Outdoors, an outdoor column published in area publications.

2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 33

w BY DAN DETERMAN

HIGH flying

TRUMPETER SWANS

in Minnesota

ever could have anticipated,” said Carrol Henderson, DNR nongame wildlife program supervisor. “The population, at the current rate, appears to be doubling every five years. They may have clutches of six or seven eggs at a time and they have been very successful in raising large broods of cygnets. They have had good protection and a good habitat.”

The bird’s reappearance in Minnesota began with a project spearheaded by Henderson and the DNR nongame wildlife department in the late 1980s.

The group traveled to Alaska, where they collected the eggs of swans to bring back to Minnesota. After raising the swans in captivity until nearly 2 years of age, they were released into the state’s wetlands, giving them more than a year to accommodate themselves to After being reintroduced the area to Minnesota before wetlands in the 1980s, t h e y there are now reached roughly 17,000 trumpeter mating swans in age. the state.

“With the restoration p ro g r a m s

Roughly 130 years ago, the trumpeter swan became all but nonexistent in Minnesota.

The sizeable waterfowl was hunted nearly to extinction, as their skins were valued as powder puffs and their lengthy wing feathers as writing quills.

After a century of absence, a restoration project by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources nongame department has brought the swans back in droves.

As of 2016, roughly 17,000 trumpeter swans reside in the state and that number continues to rise.

They have been producing roughly 5,000 offspring called cygnets - each year.

“They have recovered at a far greater rate than we

34 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

for wetlands we had going on in Minnesota between the DNR fish and wildlife services and other conservation groups, I felt we probably had enough of a mixture of wetland habitat that it was worth giving swans a try. If we put them in a good, clean habitat where they weren’t going to be shot on sight, like they would have 100 years ago, it was worth finding out if they could make it again. We just trusted the swans’ natural instincts to take it from there.”

More than 200 cygnets hatched from Alaskan eggs were released in Minnesota between 1987 and 1994.

Funding for the project came from the citizens of Minnesota through a checkoff system on state tax forms. Over a quarter century, roughly $500,000 had been raised for the project.

Though it is difficult to gather an exact count at a local level, Kevin Woizeschke, DNR nongame wildlife biologist working out of the Brainerd office, indicated that the lakes area is one of the more accommodating parts of the state for swans.

“There are quite a few rice lakes in the area,” Woizeschke said. “Even if they are not on rice lakes, they will definitely key in on shallower lakes. That is their preferred habitat. A lot of our lakes in this area are perfect for them - the bigger, deep lakes not so much, but they will stop there during migration. They

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Photo courtesy of Jerry Eklund Photography Hunted nearly to extinction in the late 19th century, trumpeter swans were reintroduced by the Minnesota DNR in the 1980s.

tend to stick to flowing water in the winter and shallow water in the summer.”

After more than 25 years of observing the swans, the DNR admits their migration patterns remain somewhat unpredictable. The birds leave the area much later than other area birds, with some heading out in early December, and their destinations have varied.

“Those traditions were completely lost when the birds were wiped out of the state. Some of the birds, with these past few mild winters, are even more scattered than ever,” Henderson said. “They are finding open fields where they can eat waste grains or scraps of potatoes after they have been harvested.”

In the Brainerd lakes area, it is not unusual for swans to stay in the area all winter, as there is enough open water and flowages to support their lifestyle.

“They tend to go as far as they need to for food and resources,” Woizeschke said. “There are usually around three dozen or so - and it may be more than that now - that will stay right below the Gull Dam. In the Crow Wing River where it joins the Mississippi, we get about 150 trumpeter swans that stay all winter.”

Though the species currently boasts a healthy population, trumpeter swans are still listed as being of special concern by the DNR. “They are not an endangered or threatened species anymore, because they

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have recovered so well, but they are still protected both by state and federal law,” Henderson said.

“When the DNR began reintroducing them, all of the funding came from voluntary donations people made on state tax forms for non-hunted species.”

Despite the soaring numbers, Henderson does not foresee trumpeter swans becoming a hunted game species in the future. Though the birds were hunted nearly to extinction, there was no hunting season on swans - or any other animal in the state - at that point in the 19th century. Therefore, swans were never a legal game species in Minnesota. Henderson said the restoration project was done simply to restore a part of the state’s “lost biological diversity.”

“People are inspired when they see these birds,” Henderson said. “They enjoy having them around.

Since they stay on our marshes until probably late November, if there was a season, those birds would be

shot off of our marshes and those nesting traditions would quickly be lost from birds that require a long time to get established.”

Additionally, adverse effects of reintroducing the species have been minimal, if not altogether nonexistent.

“They were a naturally found species here at one time,” Woizeschke said. “It is going to be interesting to see with the Canada geese - which tend to be more common in the area than they were a few decades ago - if there will be interactions between those two species. They are close in size. We don’t really expect that to impact ducks and smaller waterfowl. There is so much water in the area, and swans will stick close to Swans continued on page 58 Photo courtesy of Jerry Eklund Photography Some trumpeter swans will spend their winters in the lakes area, so long as they can find some open water.

2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 35

No need for that

w BY TRAVIS GRIMLER

36 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

BOAT

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Patrick Zerwas targets massive muskies and pike even in a boat that is only 8 feet long.

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Local anglers are proving that even if you target muskellunge and northern pike - Minnesota's version of “Jaws” - you can get by with only about 8 feet of boat.

As a matter of fact, smaller craft have big advantages.

Patrick “Angler Pat” Zerwas, of Brainerd, is a local tournament angler known for doing guided kayak fishing trips. He started kayak fishing at the end of high school and continued at college in Bemidji. He's fished in eight tournaments, including the Minnesota Teen Challenge fishing contest, where he and his friend were the only kayak anglers. They took 11th place among anglers, including Dan “Walleyedan” Eigen and Al Lindner.

“My motto is, ‘No gas, no oil, no problem,’” Zerwas said. “If you don't have to winterize it or spend money on gas or insure it, it is very affordable. It definitely beats shore fishing. If you want to fish private lakes and get away from boat traffic, you can catch bigger fish. Use kayak fishing to your advantage to get out and go to places other boats can't.”

Similarly, Evan Lawrence, owner of Minnesota Surf Company in Nisswa, has found success with not only kayak fishing, but stand-up paddleboard fishing as well. Of course, these boards have many of the same advantages with a few of their own.

“We've had some good success paddleboard fishing,” Lawrence said. “I was out a couple years ago early spring and caught a few limits of walleyes off the board. It's kind of a shocker for people to see someone on a paddleboard. That was kind of fun. Now, I've kind of moved over into kayak fishing just because kayaks at the shop have a pedal system in them.”

Big boats often have a much deeper draft and wider body, putting shallow sandbars and small rivers and streams out of reach for anglers. These places are native habitat for smaller crafts.

“A lot of local rivers - the Mississippi, the Crow Wing River and the Pine River - all have shallow areas that if you are fishing from a boat, you might damage it,” Zerwas said. “You sometimes can't even get through.

With that kayak only being a few inches in the water, you just go right over the rocks and sandbars. It tends

Submitted photo

to be a lot easier to fish those bodies of water than it is with a boat.”

Kayaks and paddleboards also have significant advantages in terms of transportation. The smaller, lighter crafts only require one person to carry and land them on virtually any body of water, making solo fishing trips easier. There are even inflatable paddleboards that store in backpacks and offer the ultimate in portability.

“The main advantage of fishing on a lake was you can get into smaller lakes,” Lawrence said. “You can carry them in. If it's an inflatable, you can literally put it on your back and carry it in. I'm wondering if more people will start doing that with the Boundary Waters.

The only problem is, people want to bring in enough gear to last a week. If you have a paddleboard on your back, you will need to be able to tow something behind you.”

This can be even more true for paddleboards.

“I think getting into smaller bodies of water is a lot easier with a paddleboard,” Lawrence said. “Even with a kayak, I”m fairly limited on where I can put in. The ones I'm fishing out of are 85 pounds. You would have to have a truck to put it in, or if you are going to put it in a smaller body of water you will have to have a wheel system for the back of the kayak.”

Kayaks also don't require concrete or sand landings, meaning lakes with no landing or public access whatsoever are prime targets for the kayak angler.

Zerwas is considering using his kayak to reach lakes directly off the Paul Bunyan Trail.

Kayaks can be deployed where bridges, culverts and road ditches intersect with lakes. Where the only access to a lake is a small, shallow river, kayaks, again, open up entirely new fishing territory. These private lakes also see less fishing pressure and can host abundant fish of trophy sizes.

“There are a few of my go-to lakes that are private with no access, and you can only get on from a road or a bridge,” Zerwas said. “Some of my favorite lakes I like to fish are those lakes. They don't get fishing pressure at all so they tend to have a lot of big pike and big largemouth bass.”

2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 37

It's hard to ignore the low cost of ownership and use of kayaks. They are particularly useful for young anglers.

“I grew up in Brainerd and decided to get into kayak fishing in the transition of high school and college, something to fish out of that I could take with me and portable,” Zerwas said. “You don't have to pay for gas.

You don't have to winterize your boat, pay for insurance or all those things that when you go to college you don't want to do. The cost of kayak fishing for high school or college students is pretty much no cost besides the kayak itself. That's what really drove me into it.”

Getting started fishing from these smaller craft can range from $400 to well over $1,000 total, with little continued investment. Shorter, non-motorized crafts require no registration and no insurance. Storage requires less space than a traditional boat as well, making the ongoing cost of kayaks and paddleboards nonexistent.

“You're going green, in a way. You aren't mixing gas. You don't have to do maintenance,” Zerwas said.

“In the long run, you have to spend $500 on a kayak, but there are no maintenance costs. (For a boat) you're looking $3,000-$100,000 depending on how crazy you want to go.”

Though they may look diminutive next to the traditional “bass boat” found on most Minnesota waters, serious anglers are starting to sit up and take notice of one-person paddleboards and kayaks, even in tournament settings.

“I do get some really cool reactions, especially with bigger fish,” Zerwas said.

“They don't visualize catching big fish in a kayak, and when they see pictures of big fish caught in the kayak, that just blows them away. “ Not only is it possible to catch lunkers in these small boats, the experience may prove more exciting and satisfying to the average angler.

“It's the adrenaline rush of being pulled around, being that close to water and nature and getting splashed,” Zerwas said. “You become more of a hunter. You are almost down to their level.

To me, it's a lot more fun to catch fish from a kayak than a boat.”

“When I'm fishing walleye (in a kayak) in the spring, I'm catching fish right behind the boat because there is no motor,” Lawrence said. “The noise that little prop

makes under your power is nothing. That’s probably the main advantage - catching fish closer to the boat and accessing shallower water without spooking them. Then the exercise portion of it as well. It's a tremendous leg workout. You go out for two hours of constant cycling and it's a really good leg workout.”

Fishing from a smaller boat can also lead to being taken for a ride.

“A 5-pound fish will move you,” Lawrence said.

“It will pull the front of the board around in different directions. It doesn't take a whole lot. A 2-, 3- or 4-pound fish, maybe. A 5-pound fish, definitely. That's kind of fun.”

“The 42-(inch muskie) pulled me down river with currents and I was about 400 yards from where I hooked into it,” Zerwas said.

Though some may fear capsizing in a smaller craft, most fishing kayaks are designed to be extremely durable and stable. You may get wet, but actually sinking is unlikely.

“With a Crow Wing Kayak, they are very stable for their size. They are under 10 feet and don't look like much. I've been fishing out of one for 10 years and have never tipped. I've never gotten water in it from a fish, besides splashing,” Zerwas said.

Lawrence said new pedal systems make big water more accessible for kayak anglers.

on flat water.”

Fishing kayaks are even stable enough to hunt waterfowl.

Those with foot-powered propulsion systems are particularly suited to this hands-free use.

“Jump shooting wood ducks along the reeds, you could literally just be pedaling,” Lawrence said. “We're going to try it next year for sure. I wanted to do it this year, but I sold all of my hunting equipment years ago.

I got into cycling big time so I was off doing that for years. Now I'm getting back into all of it. I'm going to start using kayak for more duck hunting.”

These craft also offer anglers the opportunity to change the way they fish. Standing on stand-up paddleboards, for example, helps anglers to see their prey from above. Perched aboard these craft, fly fishing, spearfishing and bowfishing just make sense.

“You can be in shallow, clear water and sight fish like smallmouth when they are up shallow spawning,” Lawrence said. “That was kind of neat. Paddleboarding is great for fly fishing. That's something you don't realize.

When you are standing, fly fishing, you ought to have a lot of room. You can't really do that when you are sitting in a kayak.”

Of course, there are some disadvantages to paddleboards and kayaks. Some kayak designs thrive in high wind situations, whereas paddleboards do not.

“The only problem with the paddleboards - the wind is a big factor,” Lawrence said. “You want to do it on calm days and calm water when it isn't too wavy or windy. You are a human sail standing up there.”

Even so, big water and high waves mean getting wet.

“If you want to stay dry, don't go on Mille Lacs, Pelican or those,” Zerwas said. “There are certain kayaks with drain plugs you can pull out and it will self drain. My kayak is a Crow Wing Kayak made here in Brainerd. They don't have scuppers. I have a large sponge I would bail out. Otherwise, the amount of water that happened to me on Gilbert, I had to bail out.”

Sharing lakes with bigger watercraft also has its risks, especially around recreational activities and at night.

“Lake Mille Lacs, from a kayak standpoint is not very kayak-friendly,” Zerwas said. “A good 7-mile-per-hour wind will make you not want to fish that lake. Also, high traffic lakes can be dangerous for kayak fishing. Last year on Gilbert, I had a wakeboarder swamp my kayak and fill it with water.

Then on Lake Bemidji, I was doing walleye fishing at night legally with the red and green light in the front and a boat light in back, also a headlamp, and I almost got run over a few times.”

“It's the adrenaline rush of being pulled around, being that close to water and nature and getting splashed.”

38 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

“I went up there (to Leech Lake) on a tip from a buddy and there were 2-foot rolling waves across Walker Bay,” Lawrence said. “I went out and realized I was fine. I got wet, but the kayak itself drains and within two hours I was standing on that kayak casting for muskies in those rough conditions. I was pedaling upwind in 2-foot rollers, trolling at the same rate I would

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

Smaller watercraft means less gear. Planning is essential to bringing the correct rods and tackle for each trip.

“Particularly fishing smallmouth or largemouth bass,” Zerwas said. “River smallmouth is my main fish I like to target. Largemouth bass fishing, I probably don't have a large tackle box. A couple bags of plastics, a couple cranks. Under 100 lures including jigs.”

Even so, Zerwas said he can bring 50 pounds of gear without negatively affecting the performance of his kayak.

These smaller craft mean anglers have less separating them from the water, the fish and their own lures, posing a risk to their safety in some cases.

“You are definitely closer to it,” Lawrence said.

“When you are in a boat you feel kind of disconnected from the actual fish. When you are on a paddleboard you feel very connected. You are that much closer to the water and are that much closer to fish. The one thing you need to be careful with either kayak or paddleboard fishing is when you're landing fish, you have to keep the hooks away from you.”

Once, Zerwas had a close encounter with a large muskie lure. He learned the hard way that kayak anglers need to take their time landing fish.

“I had a 42-inch muskie and it wasn't finished fighting yet because I was horsing it in,” Zerwas said. “That fish turned around and soaked me. If the lure popped out or I went to grab him out of there, and he splashed around.

It had a big hook in its mouth and it could have hooked into me. That's a situation you don't want to be in. Take your time to tire out that fish. That's something you want

Submitted photo In a kayak, even a 5-pound bass can feel like the catch of a lifetime.

to do.”

To fish from kayak or paddleboard, anglers must plan ahead. Consider which fish you plan to target and bring the rods and lures you would normally use for those species. The more species you target, the more lures that are necessary. Beyond that, the fishing tactics are the same.

“I'll carry a few different crankbaits and rapalas,” Lawrence said. “I'll carry all my Lindy Rig stuff. Mostly I'm trolling for walleyes. If I'm going for bass - smallmouth

- it'll be a different setup. You can have a small tackle box to pretty much get you by with everything.”

Kayaks and paddleboards alike can be outfitted or bare bones. There are few truly universal accessories for either, but there are popular options. Retractable gear leashes are popular but not necessary. Most anglers prefer to have an anchor trolley system that allows them to anchor in moving water and control the direction they face.

Many want rod holders as well, though increasingly popular is the use of a simple milk crate with PVC rod holders that can be filled with necessary gear and moved on and off the craft with little effort. Of course, all anglers should wear life jackets, and Zerwas stresses that ample drinking water is a must.

For those who want to kayak fish but do not want to purchase their own gear, there are options in the lakes area. Wind Water and Wheels in Crosslake offers guided fishing trips with rental kayaks during the summer through the Crow Wing Paddlers kayak club.

Zerwas is beginning to lead guided trips on the Crow Wing and Mississippi rivers under the “Paddle Angler” company name, and Lawrence's Minnesota Surf Company offers guided trips in kayaks with propulsion systems.

Each of these offers the opportunity for anglers to hop aboard a smaller craft and fish without having to invest in outfitting a kayak. u Travis Grimler may be reached at 218-855-5853 or travis.grimler@pineandlakes.com. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@PEJ_Travis.

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2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 39

F E AT U R E

Submitted Photo Left: David Vranish caught this 50-inch muskie in the Frank Schneider Memorial Muskie Tournament in 2010, making it the biggest tournament entrant from Wabedo.

Right: In 1934, this monster muskie was landed out of Wabedo by Bertha, age 13. Helping to hold the muskie is Roy, according to the owners of the Diamong Crest Resort.

Small lake boasts big fish

BY TRAVIS GRIMLER When winds are blowing and whitecaps push all but the biggest boats off of Leech Lake, there is still an option for those looking to hook into a big muskie. That option is Wabedo Lake near Longville.

Of all the muskie lakes in the state, Wabedo is one in which all the muskie have naturally reproduced. The lake has never been stocked, yet it still holds a healthy population of muskies, some of which are trophy size.

A 2015 Department of Natural Resources survey of Wabedo found a good abundance of muskies, with many over 40 inches and one 51-inch muskie.

Though it is out of the way for many and smaller than many muskie waters, Wabedo is known by muskie anglers. Wabedo is one of 20 lakes included in the three-day Frank Schneider Memorial Muskie Tournament run by the Twin Cities Chapter of Muskies Inc. With the exception of 2013, Wabedo has placed entries in the tournament every year since 2000. The entries ranged from the minimum 40-inch entry to Wabedo’s best entry of 50 inches, caught by David Vranish in 2010.

Realtor and fishing guide Rusty Lilyquist has been fishing Wabedo since he was young.

“Wabedo is a deep basin lake with a tullibee or cisco type forage base,” Lilyquist said. “That's

40 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

probably the biggest reason the fish attain the size and numbers they do, that is the forage that's available in the lake. The deep water basins give them natural protection from fishermen so they have a chance to get big before they get caught.”

“It's got really good spawning habitat, a natural population and good, healthy cisco population out there as preferred forage overall like ideal muskie lakes,” said Doug Schultz, Walker area Fisheries supervisor for the DNR, Lilyquist said he has fished or guided trips on Wabedo where anglers have caught muskies over 52 inches and 40 pounds. By fishing the lake, he has followed in the footsteps of known guides like Al Lindner, who knew about this diamond in the rough before the internet and fishing publications started singing its praises.

A known destination The lake has been known as a popular muskie destination for many years. Diamond Crest Resort has photos from some time after the resort's founding in 1925 showing stringers full of 50-inch muskies. Today, the resort continues to get visitors from other parts of Minnesota, as well as other states, who make an annual trip to the lake exclusively for muskie fishing.

Jerry Motyl, resort owner with his wife, Maggie,

said they have as many as eight groups that make annual trips to their resort to fish muskie. Though they have only owned the resort approximately two years, Motyl said some groups have been coming to the resort for many years to fish muskies, including a group from Nebraska.

“It's the lake and scenery,” Motyl said. “A lot of southern people can't get enough of up-north Minnesota. I have a group from Iowa that's been coming up for 20 years, twice a year.”

Wabedo holds its own The lake can compete with many other local bodies of water. Other area lakes with muskies include Inguadona, Woman Lake and Leech, all of which have their advantages or disadvantages.

Leech has abundant muskies with much bigger fish on average. Woman is reputed to have even bigger fish on average than Leech, though they are harder to catch.

“Wabedo, Little Boy and Inguadona are three of the best lakes here, so I would say Leech would probably be No. 1, but Wabedo would probably be No. 2,” Lilyquist said. “It produces great size because of the forage base. Catching a 30-pounder on Wabedo is very possible every time you go out there.”

Boast big fish continued on page 42

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WABEDO LAKE Pin

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VITAL STATISTICS

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Location: Near Longville, Cass County

County Rd 54 NE

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Area: 1,226 acres.

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Deepest Point: 95 feet.

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Historic Fact: Wabedo Lake is derived from an Ojibwa Warrior, named “Wab-ud-ow” which means white gore or mushroom lake. This Ojibwa warrior was the first to be killed by a Sioux Indian war party in a skirmish at this lake in 1768.

rk Rd

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Public Boat Access: On southwest end off County Road 120.

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Fish: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, burbot, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, muskellunge, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, smallmouth bass, tullibee (cisco), walleye, yellow bullhead, yellow perch, bigmouth buffalo, bowfin (dogfish), redhorse, shorthead redhorse, white sucker, common shiner, golden shiner, tadpole madtom; This lake has special fishing regulations that differ from statewide or border water regulations for those species identified below and take precedence. Northern Pike: All from 24-36" must be immediately released. One over 36" allowed in possession. (DNR)

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64

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Wabedo

Water Quality: Wabedo Lake is in Lake Class 22; lakes in the class are generally clear, large, deep lakes with a low percentage of shallow water area and have very irregularly shaped shorelines with many bays or points.

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Pine Mountain

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2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 41

Blind

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Pistol

Boast big fish continued from page 40

Other lakes may have higher populations, with smaller fish.

“Little Boy and Wabedo, for that Longville area, are the better lakes in terms of the combination of abundance and size,” Schultz said. “Baby and Mann are very good as well, but Baby is a high-density, smaller size structure lake. It's a good place to get on the board, but the top end out there is about 44 inches.”

Wabedo has slightly smaller size averages, but compared to Woman, the prize fish is less elusive.

“I would say it's a normal muskie fishery,” Lilyquist said. “There is no real easy lake to catch muskie. Being on a lake like Wabedo with a good number of fish in it, you do increase your odds of boating one by being on those lakes.”

Wabedo doesn't necessarily produce more muskies per cast than Leech, but the smaller lake eliminates some of the difficulties and hazards of its larger neighbors.

Wabedo has the deep basin, abundant tullibee and structure necessary for any great Minnesota muskie lake, but it lacks large waves.

Rather than being a large, roundish body of water like Leech Lake, where small winds can cause a rough fishing trip, Wabedo has a longer, thinner shape with channels. The shape keeps the waves from building, resulting in a less daunting fishing experience during inclement weather.

“The biggest advantage of Wabedo is that it is basically three lakes in one,” Lilyquist said. “There are two sets of narrows that pinch it down so wind

42 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

water there.”

“They could be anywhere,” Motyl said. “The one thing is you can always get out of the wind.”

Fishing tactics are fairly simple as well.

Fast-moving bucktails are the key, just be sure to cover as much water as you can.

“I would say if you aren't familiar with the lake, shoreline fishing is probably the most effective,” Lilyquist said. “Speed burning a bucktail and covering water will probably be the most effective way to get on fish the first time out there.”

As far as weather and seasons go, advice for targeting muskies on Wabedo is also somewhat generic, making this lake relatively friendly to those new to muskie fishing. Though some anglers like wind from a certain direction, a change in weather patterns is more vital, as with any species of fish.

“I would say Wabedo is the most productive with east or southeast wind,” Lilyquist said.

“Changing weather conditions is always better.

When you've had long, stable weather and then a change comes in like some sort of a front, that's always the best time.” “(Annual trips are) usually in spring or fall, but fall is usually when the guys come up to do their trips,” Motyl said.

A unique characteristic Lilyquist said there is something unique about Wabedo's muskies beyond either size or population. They may differ slightly in appearance from their closely related cousins in Leech Lake.

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Submitted photo Louise Greenwood caught this muskie in 1933 on Wabedo Lake.

is never a factor. You can have a 35-mile-an-hour wind and still be able to fish Wabedo effectively.

You get on Leech in a big boat in 35-mile-perhour wind and you're pretty limited. It has a huge advantage for people who, No. 1, don't have a big boat or, No. 2, don't like big water. When it gets rough, I've been on Leech in big stuff and most people can't handle that.”

It is due to its size that Wabedo is one of a few local lakes popular among beginners or those with smaller fishing boats.

It has gotten to the point that some Leech Lake anglers will strategically stay at Wabedo during week-long muskie trips. During good weather they wet their lines in Leech, but during poor weather, their plan B is just beyond their cabin.

“I have seasonal camping here too, and a lot of people will camp here while fishing on Leech because they can't get enough fishing in on Leech because it's always windy,” Motyl said. “One of the things for local guys around here, same with southern people, they don't like water much bigger than this one.”

The structure of Wabedo also makes for simpler strategies for those less familiar with muskies.

Lilyquist and Motyl both said the fish can be found along any section of shoreline on the lake.

“That's what's nice about a deep basin lake like that,” Lilyquist said. “You can pretty much fish the entire shoreline, and there isn't a lot of shoreline that doesn't have muskies on it. They can literally be anywhere on the shoreline because of the deep

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Travis Grimler may be reached at 218-855-5853 or travis.grimler@pineandlakes.com. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@PEJ_Travis.

varieties for both dogs & cats! p su

“The one thing kind of neat about Wabedo is the muskies are a different color than most lakes,” Lilyquist said. “They are generally a vivid green on the side with a dark back, and they sometimes have a few spots from the dorsal fin back, but they are a very vivid colored fish. Most Leech Lake fish have more spots in a bar pattern and so does Little Boy. Inguadona has some pretty neat looking fish too.

Wabedo, when someone shows me a picture of a muskie, I can just about nine times out of 10 tell if it is a Wabedo fish. They have a unique coloration.”

Schultz was unable to confirm any difference in coloration or patterning for Wabedo muskies.

“We haven't noticed that,” he said. “That's not to say you can't have an occasional unusual individual. There is a fair amount of color or pattern variation out there anyway. I would suspect there is movement between Little Boy and Wabedo independent of where they were hatched. I'm sure they exchange on their own.”

Schultz did say that any coloration variance would be a matter of genetics. Because of Wabedo's natural reproduction, muskies from Wabedo may differ slightly in appearance from fish found in lakes farther away and not connected by rivers, though those stocked in other lakes from Leech Lake would have features similar to those found in Wabedo due to geographic proximity.

“Leech Lake's strain is very unique. You will either have the leopard spots and silver colors or light background with dark spot patterns, or you have the clearer phased fish. Most of our waters are managed waters around the lakes and have the Leech Lake strain,” Schultz said. “Shoepack strain (common near Park Rapids), for example, has a lot of barring. They look more like a tiger muskie.

The Boy River fish are related to the Leech Lake strain. They aren't geographically too far apart. It is possible there are unique traits out there, but none that we've noticed.”

Regardless of what they look like, it appears Wabedo lake will continue to be the lake where anglers go when they want to relax, take in the scenery and try their hand at catching the fish of 10,000 casts. u

(218) 547-1727 www.walker-marine.com Locally owned and operated, serving the Leech Lake community for over 30 years.

2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 43

F E AT U R E

Jerry Ecklund has captured many colorful skies on Leech Lake. To some, he is its unofficial photographer.

Photo courtesy of Jerry Eklund Photography

Veteran photographer captures Leech Lake's scenic moments

BY TRAVIS GRIMLER There are 365 sunsets over Leech Lake each year, just as many sunrises, maybe a dozen northern lights displays, other astronomical phenomena and dozens of popular events. Jerry Eklund makes it his business to freeze as many of those moments in time as he can.

Eklund, a data entry specialist for the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, has lived in Walker nearly all of his life, having moved to Shingobee Island at age 4. But it wasn't until his years in the U.S. Navy that he started capturing unique moments through a camera lens.

In high school, Eklund had access to pointand-shoot cameras. He joined the Navy after graduating, where he upgraded and bought a single-lens reflex Pentax camera in 1982.

“The only photography education I have is from the Navy. I did take some photography classes in the Navy, but it was a different type of photography back then. It was all film cameras,” said Eklund, who served 20 years in the Navy before retiring and returning to Walker.

“I was on three different cruisers as well as shore duty around the world. I was on two nuclear cruisers and one conventional cruiser. I was kind of the ship's photographer,” he said. “I would do

44 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

photos at events on board the ship like re-enlistment and any kind of special ceremony we might have on board the ship.”

Eklund was part of a team taking photos of foreign ships they encountered, and occasionally the ocean and sunsets demanded photos. That became a passion that continued when he returned home, where he particularly enjoys taking photos of Leech Lake.

“I did some sunset photos overseas while we were underway on the ocean, but I didn't really have the time devoted to taking pictures,” Eklund said. “It was just if I happened to be outside and saw a really nice sunset. I could grab my camera and take the picture. Back then it was all film, so you don't want to waste a whole bunch of film.”

Eklund became a more active photographer upon returning home.

“When I retired, I was pretty much on my way to becoming a full-time shutterbug,” Eklund said.

“Back then, even in 2001 when I retired, (digital) photography was in its infancy back then. I think I might have had a 1 or 2 MP (megapixel) camera.

It wasn't really high-tech, but I did see the value of digital photography. You can slap a CF (compact flash) card in your camera and take 200 images

and go home and look at them to see what you like or what you don't.”

Photography was an activity that appealed to Eklund's solitary nature.

“I always do stuff by myself, and photography is one of those things where you don't need others to be there,” Eklund said. “You can do it by yourself. If you go to Disney World by yourself, it's something you can do. You don't have to entertain other people while doing it. I just like to capture moments.

That's the big thing for me, to capture a moment.

There are so many people who go through life without capturing those moments. When they see my photography, they say, 'Man, I should have gone out and seen that.'”

Due to its proximity, the subject of Eklund's photography is often Leech Lake. His Facebook page features regular photographs of sunsets over the lake as well as social activities.

“I like to capture events that happen in the Walker-Hackensack area,” Eklund said. “In mid-June there's a big fishing tournament that comes to town.

There's a lot of boats and activity on the lake. I like to capture that. I know some of the anglers in that tournament so it's fun to see the activity that's going Local Veteran continued on page 46

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Leech Lake

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Leech Lake

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Lake George

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FOOT HILLS STATE FOREST

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Hattie

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Clough

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Pine River

Big Trout

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Ideal Corners

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Pequot Lakes

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Hubert

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55 65 75 75 371 75 Baxter 210 150 15 Hartley

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Garrison 144

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Rice Lake

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35

20

Clear Lake

16

13

5 10

10

10

Sugar Lake

2

Round

21

47

12

20

23

2

Rabbit Lake

10 15

g

Sebre

169

er Nokasippi Riv

28

20

25

Long Lake

Section Twelve Lake

15

18

20

26

22

22

Lone Lake

Dam Lake

4

10 65

10

25

Elm Island Lake

169

30 35

Borden

v

65 75 85

20

Turtle Round

10

25

21

Birch

10 Partridge

Rice

24

11

Tame Fish

169

20

Farm Island Lake

14

Bay Lake

Clearwater 124

8

25

35 25 15 20

6 102

159

40

133

Sissabagamah Lake

20

Nord Lake

Hanging Kettle Lake Ripple Lake 12

28

10

Portage

Lookout

Eagle

35 E.V.

5

12

Portage Lake

20

40

Cedar Lake

al ls

Randall

kas No

le F To Litt

Cushing

Ri

ver

2

Fort Ripley

12

5

131

Mud Lake Alexander

s

123

28

McGregor

Aitkin

111

210

121 131

Crow Wing

Fish Trap Lake

res xp

y wa

142

45 45

White Sand

36

Rice

Brainerd

lR

Gul

Motley

210

20

Whipple

pi

Staples

Gilbert

Red Sand

18

Agate

Serpent Lake

Ironton

210

49

77

77

Sylvan

Horseshoe

Wise

146

iver

64

10

30

Carlson

31

Black Hoof

15 210 10 5

Sorenson

115

er

5

15

210

25 30 35 40

i Riv

ssipp

East Rabbit

Crosby

Rock Lake Fleming Lake

141

20

25

30 Menomin

E.V.

31

Wilkins Lake

105

11

West Rabbit

Riverton

Campbell

Merrifield

6 Round Lake

Gun Lake

32

128

Crystal

Minnewawa Lake

Flowage Lake

5

French Lake Nelson

Lower Dean

Fawn

3 127

127

Island Lake Horseshoe Lake

Blind Lake

Stark

Missi

Miller

3

20 15 10

105

15

11

Black Bear

19

Ross

Upper Dean

Fool

Lake Edward

13

36

6

Mollie

137

Gull Lake

77

116

Garden

Clark

13

35

3

1

Perry

CROW WING STATE FOREST

5

Lower Mission

Perch

Goose Island E.V.

Upper Mission

19

Markee

Nisswa

5

109 Bass

109

118

Upper Gull

15 25

E.V.

Rat Lake

Big Sandy Lake

36

r ive

eR Pin

Sandy River Lake

Palisade

Mud

Rogers

Adney

Goggle

Lougee

Lower

Margaret

1

Greer

25 10

20 25 30

14

Glacier Lake

5

Round Lake

29

3

Snodgrass

114

ne Ri ver

4 Little Pelican

107

107

Lake Shore

Pi

Horseshoe

Pelican Lake

Upper

llen CuMiddle

West Twin Edna

29

Breezy Point

5

371 East Twin

Mayo

E.V.

E.V.

Lizard

Bass

Aitkin Lake

169

Waukenabo Lake

106

36

11

Sibley

Birchdale

Island

11 11

1

Fawn

Ossawinnaamakee

17

Upper Loon

Pine

Emily

Dolney

36

103

15

Pickeral

O'Brien

Esquagamah Lake

Lows Mary

Goodrich

3

Crosslake

Duck

103

112

66

Cross Lake

Star

Kimball

Clear Lake

Upper Hay 16

112

10

gett Dag

Rush

16

Lower Hay

5 10 15

Duck

1

Ruth

Emily

1

Sand

Little Pine

Mud Lake

Upper Whitefish

15

Jenkins

17

5

Ox

15

6 Butterfield

Manhattan Beach

Arrowhead

371 Minnesota Island

5

134

1

1

40 30 40

Anna

West Fox

Fifty Lakes

Swanburg

84

10

Little Pine

Blue Eagle

2

15

Squaw

Kego

54

Norway

30

18

25

Papoose

Eagle

371

29

Morrison

Lawrence

Roosevelt

136

Horseshoe

Mildred

64

Pistol

15 10 5

20 25

Outing

48

Jail Lake 56

Lizzie

84

58

Lake Leavitt

E.V.

20 65

160

Lake Ada

Lind Lake

Backus

15

Washburn Lake

49

87

Pine Mountain

15

54

84

64 87

5 10 15

55

Lake Wabedo

371

87

20

Island Lake

10 5

15

Thunder Lake

Hackensack

15

20

7

ip

s

LEECH LAKE

WALKER

27

47

169 27 47 8

65

Onamia

27 3

Pomroy Lake

3 Knife Lake

Location: Walker, Cass County Area: 110,311 acres Deepest Point: 150 feet, located in Walker Bay Defining Characteristics: The lake is the third largest lake entirely within Minnesota’s boundaries and covers approximately 112,000 surface acres, nearly 80 percent of the lake is less than 35 feet deep.

It is geographically located in three glacial zones and has an irregular shape with many large and small bays.

Number of aquatic plant species: 49 Fish: Crappie, sunfish, bowfin, bullhead, catfish eelpout, large/small/rock bass, muskellunge, northern pike,

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

39

21

tullibee, walleye, white sucker,169perch. Special Fishing Regulations: This lake has special fishing regulations that differ from statewide or border water regulations for those species identified below and take precedence.Walleye: All from 20-26" must be immediately released. One over 26" allowed 169 in possession. Possession limit four.

Invasive Species: Eurasian watermilfoil, zebra mussels Public Water Accesses: Many located around lake including on northwest shore at Squaw Point off State Highway 371 and Oak Point Road; on northeast side at Battle Point off County Road 136; on southwest side at Stony Point off County Road 13;

5

33

20

34

37

32

16

24

Ogilvie

11

22

11

6

18

12

on Leech Lake River off Highway 8; on southeast corner off County Road 39; south end off State Highway 200.

Historic Fact: The Battle of Sugar Point in 1898 between U.S. Federal troops and the resident Chippewa (Ojibwe) Indians was the last true Indian battle in the United States. This is largely ignored in history, quite likely because the Indians won the battle. The battle began a chain of events that eventually led to government control of national forest lands and the creation of the Chippewa National Forest.

19

8

Ann Lake

47

65

6

1

5

23

70

65

Sources: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, minnesotalakes.net leech-lake.com and Wikipedia

2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 45

Local Veteran continued from page 44

Photo courtesy of Jerry Eklund Photography Jerry Eklund says northern lights are elusive, but with patience and persistence, a photographer can catch breathtaking sights.

photography. Once a staunch opponent to post production touch-ups, Eklund now recognizes that virtually all professional photographers use photo programs. So now he doesn't shy away from brightening a slightly dark Aurora photo or removing a dust spot from a sunset.

Eklund is also ready and willing to lend advice to

budding photographers.

For starters, he recommends shooting in RAW. Timing is also important.

“With sunset photos, you don't want to take a photo while the sun is still in the sky,” Eklund said.

“When the sun is coming down it will be very bright unless you have a really strong ND (neutral density)

001549511r1

on. Then for the summer I like to catch sailboats on the lake. I like to catch birds, eagles or ducks.

Whatever else is flying around, I try to get a photo of it with the lake in the background. That makes it.

Anyone can take a photo of a bird flying through the air, but it's nice if you can have something in the background that people can recognize and say, 'I know exactly where that was taken.'”

His personal favorite, however, is the elusive Aurora Borealis.

“It's such a rare occasion to see the northern lights, and not many people shoot the northern lights,” Eklund said. “I'm always trying to get new people out there to show them what the lights are and show them how to shoot them if they are interested in that type of thing. It's just because they come out so late at night, I don't get a lot of takers coming out with me to take photos.”

Through the years, Eklund has trained himself in the art of photography through a lot of reading and a lot of interaction with other photographers.

“I learn a lot of stuff from other people, and that's the big thing - talking to other people and taking up pointers along the way,” Eklund said.

“There are a lot of great photographers out there, so that's basically what I do. I experiment on my own. You won't pick up a camera to become an expert overnight. You will have to take thousands of pictures until you start getting really good shots.”

His photographic style had developed over the years, especially in light of improvements in digital

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filter to filter out the sun. For sunset photos, I always wait until the sun is down below the horizon. That's when you get the pretty pictures. That's the golden hour after sunset.”

Patience is key to getting the really stunning shots that Eklund is always after.

“I see it so often when I take photos of the sunset - people will drive by and see the same thing I'm looking at and get out with their cell phone cameras to take a few shots and then leave,” Eklund said.

“They don't stay around long enough to really see how pretty it gets. You have to stick around a bit.

You can't get the sun right as it hits the horizon, take two photos and walk away. You have to wait half an hour and then it gets pretty.”

For the northern lights, it takes not only patience to get a good shot, but also persistence.

“There are prediction sites out there where they predict when they might be out, but a lot of times they are way off,” Eklund said. “I go out there a lot of nights when they aren't predicted and I find them then. You have to be very patient with the northern lights and find a place that's rather dark. If you're in the city with city lights, you won't see them. They will be drowned out by the lights. You have to have a nice dark sky to the north. You have to have a tripod and then have a camera where you can hold a shutter open 20 seconds. You should be good to go.”

Because Minnesota is too far south to get the most brilliant, powerful displays seen in Alaska and other parts of the world, Eklund said people must wait 20-30 minutes before their eyes can really adjust to seeing the dancing lights, and even then they may be faint.

“With the naked eye it might look like a white cloud in the distance, but if you sit and let your eyes adjust, then you can see it's not just a cloud,” Eklund said. “Sometimes you'll see it move and then you'll know you are looking at the northern lights.”

Though the lights are often faint this far south, Eklund said there have been some occasions where they were abnormally bright, at which time persistence, patience and speed have paid off.

He cites a northern lights display from June 2015 as an all-time favorite.

“It was a powerful storm and no matter where you looked, the lights were all over the sky,” he said. “It illuminated everything in all different colors.

I would say a picture from that night was probably my favorite night. It was so awesome.”

For Auroras, the would-be photographer must stay up late, and be ready to go at a moment's notice. Photo opportunities wait for no men, but if you try long enough and hard enough, sometimes you might just capture something unique.

“I encourage everybody with a camera or who wants to learn photography to get out there and practice. You never know, until you get around and start playing around, what type of great pictures you can get,” Eklund said. u

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2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 47

F E AT U R E

Submitted photos Left: Cousins Harrison Beck, Charles Schrohe, Kendall Schrohe and Lily Beck have their own boat parade at a family reunion at Idlewild on East Twin Lake. Right: Elizabeth, Charles and Tucker Schrohe take a ride to visit family on East Twin Lake during their annual August stay at Idlewild.

Generations of seasonal residents love their lake homes

BY NANCY VOGT Pequot Lakes’ twin lakes - East and West Twin - are located on either side of Highway 371 just south of downtown and near the city’s border with Nisswa.

East Twin Lake, which once was hidden from highway motorists behind a thick border of trees, became much more visible in the past year and a half with the Highway 371 four-lane expansion project.

West Twin Lake used to have a small, but highly visible, boat landing directly off the highway. With the highway project, that boat landing is being moved about 1,000 feet north. It will be accessible via southbound Highway 371 by the walleye and northern pike fishing opener, May 13.

Regardless of the changes that have resulted around these lakes from road improvements and home construction over the years, generations of seasonal residents continue to find joy at the lake homes that have been in their families for dozens of years.

Following are a few of their stories.

The Meyer family and Idlewild Resort In 1966, Wallace and Edith Meyer bought Idlewild Resort on Beverly Beach of East Twin Lake. More than 50 years later, the resort that was started in the 1930s no longer exists, but a fourth generation continues to enjoy time in the cabins that once were rented to

48 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

eager vacationers.

Kathie Meyer said the resort had six cabins when her in-laws bought Idlewild, which they operated for about 10 years. They sold the northern cabin, and Wallace then modernized the other cabins by adding a bedroom and bathroom. A tree stump served as the footings for one cabin.

“Obviously there were no real building codes at that time, or they were ignored!” Kathie Meyer said.

Wallace and Edith rented the cabins by the season for a period of time. Wallace died shortly after the remodeling was complete, and Edith continued to run the resort for several more years. The same families returned each summer to several cabins, Kathie said, noting each cabin had a rowboat and was modern.

The property went to Wallace and Edith’s two sons and daughters-in-law, Keith and Janet Meyer, and Kendall and Kathie Meyer. Keith and Janet sold their share around 2004, leaving Kendall and Kathie with the five cabins that have had improvements made over time.

“It is strictly used as a family place,” Kathie said, noting each of their two children has a former Idlewild cabin and two more are guest cottages. “The original Idlewild sign is hanging somewhere in my daughter’s cabin.”

About 10 years ago, they took the second cabin down to its original 600 square feet and built a loft bedroom.

“It’s my favorite cabin now,” Kathie said.

Quality family time is what Kathie loves about their East Twin Lake getaway.

“The big thing is, it’s family. It’s always been a family thing,” she said. “Now that the kids are all adults and have their own kids, they want to be up there if they can at the same time. The biggest beauty about East Twin is a 17-year-old and 2-year-old can have fun on the lake together. No one is left out. You still have older kids playing with younger kids, watching them. You see them having so much fun together, and it doesn’t matter the age.”

The Ritter family Penny Jane Ritter has vivid memories of the day she, her brother and parents visited what became their cabin on East Twin Lake in 1958-59, when she was 11.

“The real estate agent put us in a car to look at the property. The driveway was rickety with lots and lots of trees,” she said. “You come down a little hill to get to the property and my mother - I apparently read too many Agatha Christie novels; it was really covered Generations continued on page 50

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

54 Ten Mile Lake

6

12

84

EAST & WEST TWIN Woman Lake

Hackensack

PEQUOT LAKES

VITAL STATISTICS

West and East Twin Lake

Olson

Lake Wabedo

4 Rd

Olson Rd

11th Av e SW

8

84

Olson Rd

W

W

eS Av

Buny

an Tr

ail

107

10 15

Backus

87

Blind

48

Hattie

371

Horseshoe

43 Pow Wow

Clough

Point Rd

Eagle

8

Norway

Swanburg

84 40

Dr

371

Paul Bu

nyan Tra

il

W Twin Lake

56

10

30 Ln

Mildred

Sources: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, minnesotalakes.net and Wikipedia

Jail Lake 56

Lizzie

84

371

FOOT HILLS STATE FOREST

48

Lake

20 Ada

Lind Lake

11th Ave SW

11th Ave SW

49

87

Pine Mountain

Paul

th

Janco

11

Norway Ridge

371

Ave S

87

371

11th

64

Paul Bunyan Trail

Location: Pequot Lakes, Crow Wing County Area: East Twin, 146 acres; West Twin, 117 acres Deepest Point: East Twin, 45 feet; West Twin, 42 feets Defining Characteristics: The total watershed (including lake area) for East Twin Lake is 0.79 square miles (509 acres) and for West Twin Lake, 0.47 square miles (300 acres). The estimated mean depth is 15.9 feet for East Twin, and 13.3 feet for West Twin. Land use in the watersheds is predominantly forested, with some wetland and urban land uses.

Public Boat Accesses: East Twin, west shore off State Highway 371; West Twin, east shore off State Highway 371.

Invasive Species: East Twin, none; West Twin, none Fish: East Twin: Northern pike, largemouth bass and bluegill (minnesotalakes.net) black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, yellow bullhead, yellow perch, white sucker, spottail shiner West Twin: black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, smallmouth bass, walleye, yellow bullhead, yellow perch, white sucker

2

1

Pine River

1

in La

ke D

r

371

Mud Lake

W Tw

5

Upper Whitefish

40

1

10 15

20

64 Lak eD

r

10

Tw in W

47

Lowe

Lower Hay

15

15

Bertha

145

Jenkins

16

C

Clamshell Grass

St

Kimball

39

Clear Lake

Upper Hay 16

112

371

20

107

15

371

30

134

Arrowhead

45

D

30

40 30

yan Trail

15 15

10

112

Paul Bun

40

20

17

17

15

5

107

11

10

Upper Loon 5 W Twin Lake

Loon

371

168

15 15

West Twin Edna

5

ail

107 Paul

Dr

Buny

e Jack Pin

an Tr

29

29 Wildern

ess Rd

29 371

Timbe

Pine Needle Dr

r Oak

Upper Gull

Lake Shore

Wilder

ness

Rd

77

Margaret

Pelica

4

Upper

Little Pelican

107

Lower

Ma

s Rd

11 107

Roy

Breezy Point

llen CuMiddle

Timber Oaks Rd

10

W Twin Lake Dr

371 East Twin

Mayo

5

Fawn Forest Rd

Pequot Lakes

Sibley

1

10

Dr

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

Ossawinnaamakee

Nisswa

Nisswa

Garden

ClarkWilderness Rd

L

13

13

371

137

Mollie

Hubert

4

2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 49 Gull Lake Gladstone

77 1

115

Round Lake

Little Hubert

127

3 127

C

Submitted photo Charles and Kendall Schrohe fish on East Twin Lake several years ago.

001563072r1

Generations continued from page 48

50 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

with trees - said, ‘If he tries to murder us, you run!’ Of course the real estate agent didn’t murder us.”

When they arrived at the cabin, they couldn’t see anything. A black animal came out of the woods and they thought it was a bear, but it turned out to be the neighbors’ black dog.

“At that time the trees were so thick we didn’t see that neighbor,” Ritter said. “That was my first introduction to the property that became ours.”

Her parents bought the cabin that was basically one large room with a smaller area petitioned off as a bedroom. The property had outdoor plumbing.

“We came up all summer long,” Ritter said, noting they lived in southern Minnesota where her father was a farmer.

“It was important to my mother that we had property far enough away that my father could not say, ‘Well, you guys go up and I’ll meet you after I get that field plowed.’

She wanted somewhere far enough away that we came as a family,” Ritter said.

The family added on to the original cabin, including two bedrooms and an indoor bathroom.

“They were small because Mom wouldn't let him (Dad) cut down any trees so he had to work within the limits of the surrounding trees,” Ritter said.

She remembers telling time by the train whistle and summer cabins surrounding East Twin Lake, where they loved to waterski.

“I remember these were summer homes, summer cabins. There were very few people who lived on the lake permanently,” she said.

The Ritter family opened the cabin in May and closed it before school started. Years later they ventured up north later in the fall, which became Ritter’s favorite season to be here. They opened the cabin in winter a few times too, and Ritter recalled sledding from halfway up the driveway, between cabins and down onto the lake ice.

A sweet neighbor used to share wonderful adventure stories about the lake that fueled the children’s imaginations, though Ritter said she wasn’t sure if the stories were true. One involved a refrigerator being dumped in the middle of the lake (as children, they were sure there was a body in the refrigerator!), and another claimed

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

The Grossmann family and Lazy Days Todd Grossmann shares East Twin Lake property with his brother and two sisters that dates to 1903, when their great-grandmother bought what was called - and what is still called - Lazy Days.

They still have the original Lazy Days sign, which adorned a wooden gate at a railroad crossing. It likely

signified leaving the city and coming up north and having a lazy day, Grossmann said.

Grossmann’s great-grandparents were from Sweden and lived in the Twin Cities, and his great-grandmother first came up north to help a son who had respiratory problems.

“Great-Grandma had a connection with the Andersons, who had a farm near West Twin Lake. She’d take him up on the train to spend summers on the farm because the air was clear,” Grossmann said.

Mrs. Anderson pointed out a 40-acre property on East Twin Lake that the government owned. Grossmann’s great-grandmother bought that property in 1903.

“Her concern was just getting one of the kids out of the Cities in the summer because of the respiratory problems,” he said. “They ended up coming up

001552662r1

www.NISSWADOCK.com

Baby Face Nelson, who robbed a bank in Brainerd, hid in a tiny lake cabin that had wooden shutters.

“It was one of those wonderful lake legends,” Ritter said.

The family hosted a lot of visitors.

“When you have a cabin, you find you have a lot of friends,” Ritter said “My mother loved it. She loved kids running in and out in wet swimsuits.”

Hwy. 371, Nisswa

Idlewild Resort A somewhat brittle and fragile brochure advertises Idlewild Resort on Beverly Beach in 1933 with the following words to lure tourists up north during the season that ran June 15-Oct. 15.

The sentiments ring true today.

“The location is ideal. Our cottages are built near the shore among the pines overlooking the lake, where the coolness of the air assures comfort and rest on the warmest summer nights, while you fill your lungs with the balm of the pine forest.

“Our sandy bathing beach is as fine as any in the state and particularly safe for children - no weeds or dropoffs.

“Idlewild cottages are new and completely equipped for housekeeping and it is only necessary to bring linens.

“Everything has been carefully provided for the comfort of our guests - heaters are provided for cool weather and two blankets are furnished for each bed. Silverware, dishes and cooking utensils are very complete. All windows and doors are screened and the porches are entirely glassed so they can be opened or closed as desired.

“Spring-fed well water at the door.

“All varieties of fish such as bass, crappies, sunfish, perch and the game Northern Pike are found here.

“Three splendid Golf Courses are within a short driving distance.”

Idlewild Resort advertised its rates at $15 per week for cottages with two beds accommodating four people; or $20 a week for log cottages with three beds accommodating six people. One boat, ice, fuel for the heater and oil for the gas stove were furnished free with each cottage. A $5 deposit was requested with reservations.

The brochure includes a crude, hand-drawn map to show Idlewild’s location from Minneapolis/St. Paul.

800-322-3525 | info@nisswadock.com

218-829-4705 | pineandlakes.com

2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 51

Custom

Upholstery & Awning Center Since 1988

Submitted photo Three generations at Idlewild: Brian Meyer, Kendall Schrohe, Kendall Meyer and Charles Schrohe take on garbage duty at Idlewild.

52 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

porch around it,” Grossmann said, with an extension for the kitchen on one end and an extension for a mice-secured room on the other end, which they filled every fall upon leaving for the winter.

“It’s just amazing. The roof structure is weird looking. I’m sure from a boat-building standpoint it’s fine with beams underneath that hold it up. It’s as level today as it was back then, and it was built with a few hand tools,” Grossmann said.

His grandmother sold Piney Rest during World War II. His grandfather died in 1938, and his grandmother couldn’t get gas rations. But they kept Lazy Days, where Grossmann and his siblings spent childhood summers in the 1950s and ‘60s.

“We were up there all summer long,” he said. “It was a great place to grow up.”

He remembers his grandmother telling the story of when she was a child and they’d go to the Olson farm on the northeast part of the lake by boat for milk and eggs. They’d bring two goats back each summer to eat the grass on their 40 acres of land like “built-in lawnmowers.”

Now as a family, they are deciding what to do with Lazy Days, which is close to 100 years old and deteriorating in some places.

“Our kids are fifth generation so it’s gone through the transition family-wise four times before. My philosophy is we’re caretakers of the land for the next generation, just like those prior to us,” Grossmann said. u Nancy Vogt may be reached at 218-855-5877 or nancy.vogt@pineandlakes. com. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@PEJ_Nancy.

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summers, originally in a wall tent and cook tent. They cleared some property and that’s how it all started.”

His great-grandparents had three sons and two daughters - one being Grossmann’s grandmother. When she married a pharmacist in the Twin Cities, they started coming to Lazy Days in the 1910s.

“By that time, two great-uncles worked for the railroad and they’d hop on a northbound train and the train would stop at our crossing and they’d get off,” Grossmann said, noting when it came time to return home, they’d hang a flag near Pequot Lakes to signal the train to stop at the crossing and pick them up.

At some point, his grandparents bought more land so their property went around the south end of East Twin Lake.

They owned three cabins on Pow Wow Point and a resort called Piney Rest. Two of those cabins still exist, Grossmann said, and one was torn down and a bigger home was built there.

They also had one cabin on the south end of lake that is still there and is used as a shed. Grossmann said it was called the “honeymoon cabin.” Honeymooners would take a wooden rowboat to the honeymoon cabin.

In the early 1920s, a man who moved into a shack on East Twin Lake owed Grossmann’s grandfather a chunk of money to buy the land. They agreed that the man would build a log cabin so Grossmann’s grandfather could upgrade from the tent. His grandfather drew up the plans, but when he returned in the spring he found the log cabin had already been built.

That’s the cabin the family uses today.

“It’s basically a pine log cabin - a one-bedroom log cabin with a sleeping

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2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 53

1960

1980

1985

Submitted Photos Many style and technical changes have been made for recreational water crafts in the past 50 years, especially with the traditional pontoon boats, which have improved for size, speed and comfort.

Recreational watercraft evolve over the years

BY PETE MOHS Many people have childhood memories of recreational activities they enjoyed on Minnesota lakes during the summer months.

For me, it’s the memory of learning to waterski behind the family speedboat. I remember my first water-skiing experiences on summer weekends in the 1970s. I would start out being almost submerged in water while trying to keep my waterskis upright and waiting for the powerful tug of the ski rope.

Floating at water level and eyeing the big 85-horsepower Mercury motor that would pull me out of the water was intimidating. The command of “hit it” had the boat quickly pulling me out of the water as Dad piloted it around the lake.

That old fiberglass boat and Mercury motor are long gone, but those summer lake memories will always remain. The new generations came, the water activities changed as the art of water skiing shared time with tubing, wakeboarding and now wake surfing.

The evolution of the speed boat began at the start of the 20th century with the development of the internal combustion engine. The watercrafts used for recreational activities also changed over the decades as speed boats shared the waters with the growing popularity of personal watercrafts and pontoons.

The price and quality of the various

54 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

recreational watercrafts have increased over the years. The demand has also shifted as two area dealers report that 70 percent of watercraft sales today are for new pontoons. “(Pontoons) have come a long way since your grandfather’s pontoons of the 1970s,” said Brent Wiczek, Nisswa Marine general manager. “We’re selling pontoons to younger generations as they’re now more user friendly and easier to trailer.

“One of the biggest advancements was going to three (pontoon) tubes, which allowed for bigger motors. Now, most pontoons have 200 to 350 horsepower motors.”

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Besides being faster and more powerful, most new watercrafts are also larger.

“Most boats now average 25 feet in length while some pontoons are now 10 feet wide instead of the traditional 8 ½ feet,” Wiczek said. “So you get a lot more square footage for your dollar. They’re also using better materials, especially for the interior of the pontoons.”

Jim Kendall, sales manager at C & C Boat Works in Crosslake, has also seen a growth in pontoon sales.

“As baby boomers get older they’re still buying the boats, but they have gone from traditional runabouts to pontoons,” Kendall

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said. “As times have changed, products have increased in overall quality, and the average price of a new (watercraft) has gone from $12,000 to $15,000 in the mid-’90s to an average of $40,000 to $100,000 today.”

But the buyer is getting more value for the dollar.

“Pontoons used to have 50 horsepower motors, but now they’ve become just as fast as speedboats,” Kendall said. “Pontoons can now pull skiers, tubers and wakeboarders.

And they’re more comfortable with couches in the front and back of the pontoons, plus entertainment centers. It’s like bringing your living room to the water. The (electric) power tops are also popular.”

Another big difference in the watercraft industry is the design of the motors. A couple decades ago the inboard motors began replacing the traditional outboard motors, but that trend has reversed in recent years.

“The outboard technology has changed,” Wiczek said. “The motors are more quiet and run smoother with the switch to 4-stroke motors that are super charged.”

Wiczek added that the overall technology of all watercrafts has improved.

“Most new pontoons and boats have touch screen controls,” he said. “On the wakeboard boats, there’s controls to adjust weight in the boat (for bigger wakes on the right or left side). The wakeboard boats have grown in popularity because of the interest in surfing the wakes (right behind the boat).”

Kendall said there’s a diverse interest in watercraft purchases.

“There are two types of users - the pontoon people and wakeboard people,” he said.

“The wakeboard boats are being used more

frequently with the whole family surfing. The wakeboard boats are huge and attractive to a new generation.”

What about the future of recreational boating? What will be the next changes for the industry - maybe solar or electric motors for the watercrafts?

“I don’t think that will happen in the near future,” Wiczek said of engine technology, “but there have been a lot of (watercraft) changes in recent years.” u

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Pete Mohs may be reached at 218-855-5855 or pete. mohs@brainerddispatch.com. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@PEJ_Pete.

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2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 55

Submitted Photo

Darren Mayers with kids at Mission Park.

Submitted Photo Crews used selective thinning to cut down trees so other trees will grow better in a project in Mission Township.

Mission Township Park:

A gem in the middle of the woods

BY CROW WING SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT

Mission Township Park is a hidden treasure located off County Road 3 on Mission Park Drive just south of Horseshoe Lake. The park and surrounding township land include 265 acres of woodland and recreational activities.

In 2016, the Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) partnered with Mission Township to complete a woodland stewardship plan. This plan provided a forester to evaluate the trees and plants and provide a plan of action for the park and the surrounding township land.

“We worked with Mission Township to enhance areas that were logged in 2015,” said Darren Mayers, SWCD forester. “We created a plan for two 1-acre pollinator habitat areas.

The logging piles were burned during the winter months and the logging debris was cleared. This is a great example of what you can do after logging has occurred.”

The future of the park and the surrounding township property is looking much healthier with the addition of the trees and pollinator plants. It is a very exciting time watching the young trees grow and the flowers bloom. Where there was once a pile of dead branches, there is life and color blooming with more to come.

The project and plan were partially funded by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.

The tree plantings and the pollinator project

56 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

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enhance the experience at the park no matter which activity people choose. Amelia, 13, and Elizabeth, 10, Roessler, from Waseca, are frequent visitors to the park as part of their trips to their grandparents’ home in Mission Township.

“I love the diversity of the things you are allowed to do and where you can go,” Amelia said of the park. Elizabeth said she loves playing on the new pickleball courts.

SWCD and Crow Wing County personnel participated in the July 2016 Independence Day celebration at Mission Park to help kids and families get acquainted with the trails and the woods with an emphasis on forest management.

This included a scavenger hunt for kids and their families to find different types of trees along the trail.

“This was a great event. We had over 250 people attend the event, and it got kids outside to use their senses and experience the park. We look forward to doing the event again this summer,” Mayers said.

The 2017 Independence Day celebration will be Saturday, July 1. The parade begins at 11 a.m. followed by free root beer floats and activities.

Mission Park has a pavilion available for rent for family events. Activities available include disc golf, volleyball, horseshoes, basketball, pickleball and tennis. There is a ballfield, a children’s playground and a paved walking trail.

The unpaved hiking trails cover more than four miles and are converted to cross country skiing trails in the winter. Mission Township looks forward to helping people find this gem in the woods.

For more information, contact the Mission Township clerk at 218-765-4377 or missionclerk@ gmail.com. u

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2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES 57

Submitted photo Carrol Henderson, left, and pilot Rodney King measured and labeled Alaskan swan eggs to be brought to Minnesota in 1986.

be very self-sustaining.”

The swans still face certain threats in the wild, however. The DNR encourages outdoorsmen to make the switch to nontoxic ammunition and lead-free fishing gear, as swans will mistake them for pebbles and swallow them for use in their gizzards. They also ask hunters to ensure they do not shoot swans in the fall, as roughly a dozen are mistaken for snow geese each year by hunters.

“That is not enough to make the population decline, but when that happens, it is a bad reflection on hunters and we don’t want to be causing that kind of impact,” Henderson said. “In many cases, hunters are the ones that know swans and will turn in people they see shooting them.”

In addition to switching from toxic gear and

ammunition, Woizeschke encourages residents and visitors to avoid nesting sites whenever possible.

He also discouraged providing the swans with any supplemental feeding, saying it is best for them to stick to their diet of aquatic vegetation.

If all of that can be done, the DNR sees no reason why the trumpeter swan would not continue to thrive.

“I never thought we would see this much success in my lifetime,” Henderson said. “It is the people of Minnesota that made it possible, and we certainly appreciate the fact that this is a citizen-generated success story.” u Dan Determan may be reached at 218-855-5879 or dan.determan@pineandlakes.com. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@PEJ_Dan.

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Swans continued from page 35

their nests to protect them.”

Their numbers continue to rise at a steady rate, but trumpeter swans are likely to see their numbers plateau - perhaps in the near future.

“They keep seeking out new places for nesting, but they have their territorial bounds,” Henderson said. “At some point - maybe in the next five to 10 years - they are going to reach what we call a ‘carrying capacity,’ where that is really the level where further increase is not anticipated. At that point, the swans will have more competition among themselves to see who maintains territories and who gets chased off. At that point, it will

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Submitted photo Once hatched, cygnets stayed under the care of the DNR until the age of 2 before there were released in Minnesota.

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58 2017 LOVE OF THE LAKES

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