Dockside - Spring 2010

Spring 2010

OUTDOOR KITCHENS THAT SIZZLE

SEASON PREVIEW ways to make the most of spring on the lake

7

Ship Shape

Ray Garin’s 1963 Owens Flagship

RICH GANNON From NFL MVP to Lake Lover

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Dockside â—† Spring 2010

It’s your party!

features Home

12

on Lake Minnetonka

Outdoor kitchens: Now you’re cooking!

Season Preview

Daily Public Tours & Private Charters

16

Smooth Sailing: Seven ways to enhance springtime on the lake

on the cover Lake Lifestyles

24

Rich Gannon: From NFL MVP to lake lover.

Book now for Pre-Prom Dinner Cruises and Graduation Parties!

departments Launch

4

Company Parties, Client Entertaining! ❯ Rehearsals, Weddings, Receptions! ❯ Birthdays, Sweet 16s, Anniversaries! ❯

Welcome to the magazine, a popular book for birders is updated, sailing school offers an open house, stir-fry sauces spice things up; plus a list of events. Oh, and we have a quick question for Mrs. Minnesota International.

Marina

10

Climb aboard Ray Garin’s 1963 Owens Flagship.

Dockside Conversation

30

Crafting custom rods and reels in Prior Lake.

DOCKSIDE Publisher:

Jennifer Sorenson jsorenson@swpub.com

Editor:

Angelo Gentile agentile@swpub.com

Designer:

Brian Sorenson bsorenson@swpub.com

Photographer:

Loren Jones, Prior Creative Images

Contributors this issue: Richard Crawford, Laura French, Loren Jones, John Mugford, Stuart Sudak Advertising Sales:

952-345-6477

952.474.8058 www.TwinCitiesCruises.com

Dockside is published quarterly by Southwest Newspapers.

For advertising information, call 952-345-6477. For general comments and questions, send e-mail to agentile@swpub.com or call 952-345-6676.

All contents copyright © 2010, Southwest Newspapers.

Use Discount Code SWP02/10 for $2 off any public cruise 193152

Dockside ◆ Spring 2010

3

Launch

News • Ideas • Tips Get a little saucy

Welcome to Dockside Magazine. Publishing four times a year, the magazine invites readers to enjoy an engaging mix of features covering lifestyle-related stories and recreation-oriented topics, capturing the passion we have for playing and living on our gorgeous Minnesota lakes.

We focus our attention on Lake Minnetonka, Prior Lake, and all of the scenic lakes in our southwest metro region. In future issues, you’ll find everything from boating and shoreline maintenance tips to tours of stunning lake homes and profiles of local celebrities who share your love of the lake life.

We welcome your story ideas and photos.

Send them to agentile@swpub.com.

With that, welcome to Dockside Magazine.

Yes, by all means, ’tis the season for grilling, so grill away. But, for a tasty alternative, don’t forget stir-fry. The best part about stir-frying is the endless possibilities for flavor, say the experts at Minneapolis’s Kitchen Window in Calhoun Square. The store’s recent e-newsletter featured a focus on wok cooking, and included a list of sauces you can use to spice up your stir-fry. As the newsletter recommended, “Try different vegetable and meat combinations; add a variety of aromatics like ginger, garlic or chilis, and finish things off with a sauce.” Here’s a short sauce list:

Lots of lakes, boats Here are some fun facts to consider when you’re on the water this summer:

Soy Sauce. Go beyond the typical, massproduced sauce on grocery shelves and look for artisan soy sauce.

Hoisin Sauce. “Pungent, salty, and slightly sweet, just a little bit of hoisin can add an amazing depth of flavor to your stir-fry,” states the Kitchen Window article.

Oyster Sauce. This one’s made from the cooking broth of oysters. Reduced to a thick, dark sauce, oyster sauce has a rich, savory flavor.

Black Bean Sauce. The folks at Kitchen Window explain that this sauce is made from fermented black beans that are salty, bitter, and sweet. Garlic and soy sauce are added to form a thick sauce or paste. “A little goes a long way with this magical ingredient.”

Minnesota’s lakes and rivers provide more shoreline than California, Florida, and Hawaii combined, according to the University of Minnesota Extension Service.

Land of 10,000 Lakes? Actually, according to Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources, the state has more than 11,842 lakes (10 acres or larger).

We love being on our lakes and rivers in boats of all kinds. In fact, with nearly 900,000 registered boats, Minnesota is No. 1 in boats per capita in the U.S., the DNR reports. In fact, there is about one boat for every six people in the state.

We love to go fishing, too. Minnesota has more than one million licensed anglers, also according to the DNR.

4

Dockside ◆ Spring 2010

For birders: Book offers tips for backyard nesting boxes Backyard birders have a new resource available that helps make building and placing nest boxes easier and more enjoyable than ever.

Woodworking for Wildlife, the best-selling book produced by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, has been revised and is now on sale.

The book features new information on how to eliminate predation by raccoons and cats on nest boxes and to reduce competition by exotic species such as house

sparrows and starlings. It also includes ways to attract a variety of birds such as bluebirds, chickadees, purple martins, wood ducks, owls, and woodpeckers.

The book includes 30 designs for nest boxes and nesting platforms with easy-to-follow diagrams.

Woodworking for Wildlife is available at Minnesota’s Bookstore online for $19.95 plus postage and handling. Go to www.comm.media. state.mn.us/bookstore. You can also find it at the DNR gift shop in St. Paul.

Considering a rain garden?

A rain garden is a shallow depression filled with flood-tolerant shrubs, flowers, and grasses. Its main functions are to collect and filter stormwater runoff, but rain gardens can also add beauty to your landscape and may attract butterflies and birds, according to the University of Minnesota Extension Service.

As a lakeshore owner, you already know how important it is to manage stormwater runoff.

Well, a rain garden is a great way to collect stormwater runoff, preventing it from flowing directly into lakes, rivers, and wetlands. Rain gardens allow runoff to soak into the soil, filtering out pollutants before entering the groundwater. Rain gardens also allow sediments to settle and plants to absorb nutrients.

Find out more about rain gardens by visiting the Extension Service’s website at www. extension.umn.edu.

Jackie Froemming, University of Minnesota Extension

About Dockside

New critical habitat plates a hit Minnesota motorists have purchased 20,000 critical habitat license plates since a series of new designs were unveiled last year, Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources reports.

That means nearly 120,000 registered vehicles are on the road that display a colorful conservation plate.

“By purchasing a critical habitat plate, Min-

nesotans are showing their commitment to preserving and enhancing habitat for loons, deer, chickadees, fish, and other wildlife,” said Mark Holsten, DNR commissioner.

A showy ladyslipper, a northern Minnesota fishing scene, a majestic white-tailed buck, and a black-capped chickadee are among the new designs. A fifth option, the loon plate, which has been available since 2005, remains a popular choice among motorists.

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Wine for 2010: What to expect As you get ready to toast another season on the lake, here’s some good news about wine: consumers can expect to find lower prices and a better selection. As Business Week recently reported, “with high unemployment, pareddown expense accounts, and a glut of wine,” consumers can plan to “make merry, with lower prices, more choices, and less pretension.” Here are some trends the magazine identifies: Prices will continue to drop across the board, from the priciest of Bordeaux and Burgundy to cult California wines once available only by subscription.

More people will buy online. Consumers will go to sites such as Wine-searcher.com and Vinfolio.com and compare prices.

The “tsunami of new wines” from South America and Eastern Europe will ebb, Business Week says, as the market overflows.

New Zealand wineries will be in trouble.

“The country’s recent prodigious harvests have glutted the market for their overly fruity punch-like style, and many fans want to move up in quality.”

Fine-dining restaurants will buy nominal numbers of expensive wines after trimmed expense accounts caused them to sit on their previous big capital purchases.

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Quick Question

Sail on, sailor Mrs. Minnesota International— and Mrs. Excelsior—Susie Overvold.

Overvold, 38, of Minnetrista, lives on Lake Minnetonka with her husband Doug and stepson Logan. She was crowned Mrs. Minnesota International in March and will compete for the Mrs. International title in Chicago in July.

Overvold says the annual pageants promote marriage, family, and community involvement.

Q. A.

What’s your favorite lake activity?

“Pleasure boating. We’ve lived on the lake for about a year and a half. We bought a new Sea Ray 330 Sundancer cruiser last fall and we just love to be out on the water where we live on Priest Bay. Our four-legged friend Hunter (a cocker spaniel) also is part of our boating experience. We also like tying up at Goose Island or cruising around the big lake and stopping at Maynard’s, Lord Fletcher’s or Al and Alma’s.

Here’s your chance to learn more about sailing. The Upper Minnetonka Sailing School and Upper Minnetonka Yacht Club are offering an open house. The event is set for Friday, May 21, from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Yacht Club in Spring Park on the shores of Lake Minnetonka.

You’ll enjoy free sailboat rides with the school’s instructors at the helm of a 23-ft.

Hunter, 23-ft. Ensign, and several scows.

Sailboat rides are free, on a first-come, first-registered basis.

You’ll also learn more about sailing classes.

Participants can also enjoy a bar and grill on the back deck of the Yacht Club overlooking the lake and marina.

For information on the open house and sailing classes, visit the school’s website at www. sailawaysailingschool.com or the yacht club’s website at www.umyc.org.

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Dockside ◆ Spring 2010

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Annual lake clean-up days Volunteer scuba divers will seek both trash and treasure at the bottom of two area lakes as part of two annual lake clean-up days.

The Prior Lake Association coordinates its fifth annual clean-up dive on Saturday, June 5, from 8 a.m. to noon, with more than 60 volunteer divers expected to participate.

The Lake Minnetonka Association expects more than 100 divers to participate in its ninth annual cleanup dive on Saturday, June 12.

For the Prior Lake clean-up, divers and boaters will meet at Captain Jack’s. At Lake Minnetonka, divers will meet at the Bayside Grille.

For more information, visit the respective lake associations’ websites: www.priorlakeassociation.org; www.lmassociation.org.

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Mark Your Calendar

MAY Chaska Area Taste City Square Park, Chaska May 19 www.swmetrochamber.com Sailing Open House Upper Minnetonka Yacht Club and Upper Minnetonka Sailing School May 21, 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. www.umyc.org, www.sailawaysailingschool.com

JUNE

From the dock: Readers, we want your photos!

Send us that photo of you under sail and at the helm of your classic Morgan 35. Or that funny picture of your golden lab fast asleep in the back seat of your Bayliner bowrider.

Or maybe that stunning sunset you snapped at just the right time from your dock. We’ll publish the good ones!

Send your pics to agentile@swpub.com. In the subject line, include the title “Dockside Pictures.”

Art on the Lake Excelsior Commons June 12 and 13 200-plus artists in 14 mediums Live music: Saturday, Rare Medium (jazz) Sunday, New Primitives (new world) Free Shuttle Bus from remote parking www.excelsiorartonthelake.com Southwest Metro Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament Deer Run, Victoria June 25

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Prior Lake Lakefront Jazz & Blues Festival July 10 1 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Features Jonny Lang www.lakefrontjazz.com Toast & Toast in the Gardens Minnesota Landscape Arboretum July 29 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. www.arboretum.umn.edu/toastandtoast.aspx

AUGUST Prior Lake Lakefront Days Aug. 5, 6, and 7 www.cityofpriorlake.com, www.priorlakechamber.com 35th Annual Antique and Classic Boat Rendezvous Maynard’s Restaurant, Excelsior Bay, Lake Minnetonka Saturday, Sept. 11 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. www.acbs-bslol.com Photo courtesy of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

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Marina

‘Luv Is’ a classic boat Ray Garin’s 1963 Owens Flagship is a year-round passion

Photo illustration by Loren Jones

By Richard Crawford

R

Antique and Classic Boat Club What: The Bob Speltz Land-O-Lakes Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society.

Details: The chapter, founded in 1976, has about 400 members from the fivestate area. About a third of the members are from the Lake Minnetonka area.

Mission: To promote the preservation and enjoyment of antique, classic, and special interest watercraft of all types, both powered and non-powered.

Events: The club participates in a variety of workshops, cruises, and boat shows.

One of the major events of the year will be the 35th Annual Antique and Classic Boat Rendezvous from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 11, at Maynards Restaurant on Excelsior Bay of Lake Minnetonka.

Information: The Bob Speltz Land-OLakes Web site is at www.acbs-bslol.com.

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Dockside ◆ Spring 2010

ay Garin’s love of the boating life dates back more than 50 years. As a teenager growing up in Minneapolis, he cherished the summer months when he was able to venture out with friends on Lake Minnetonka and waterski behind a wooden Chris Craft boat.

That seed planted back in the early 1950s has blossomed into a lifelong love of water and boating.

Garin, who lives on the west shore of Lake Minnetonka, comes off as a humble man when asked about his commitment to classic boating. But, after a few minutes, it’s clear that boating isn’t just a casual hobby.

His boat, “Luv Is,” a 1963 Owens Flagship, has hosted a wedding, countless cruises and dinners, and many overnight stays during the summer. It’s hard to quantify the hours Garin has spent recreating and working on the 30-foot craft.

After his early days of summer fun on Lake Minnetonka, Garin ventured out in the world, serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict. When he returned to the states, he started a career as a cabinet maker, a skill that would come in handy in the classic boat field.

For the past 28 years, Garin has lived on Lake Minnetonka and for all of that time he’s owned “Luv Is.”

“We had a smaller fiberglass boat, but my wife hated it,” he said. “It was too bumpy.”

His wife, Margot, apparently has no qualms with the wood boat—they’ve owned it for 30 years.

He bought the boat used.

“It needed some work,” Garin said. “Quite a bit of work, actually.”

In the past three decades, Garin has put his woodworking training to good use as he performed a litany of work on the boat.

Every year, a variety of routine maintenance is done to keep up appearances. But there also have been some major projects.

About six years after purchasing the boat, he was pulling it out of the water when the trailer hit a bump and the bottom of the 12,000 pound boat broke through a trailer pad.

Garin recalls spending most of that winter — several months at four hours a day — doing repairs.

“But the next spring, I was still the first one in the water,” he said with a grin.

In 1995, he replaced a majority of the planks. To shape the mahogany planks to match the curvature of the boat, he used an old-fashioned method. He threw them in the water.

“I threw them in the lake for a couple weeks and form and fit them as you go.”

Like a lot of the maintenance work involving classic boats, the framing would have been quite expensive if he would have hired help.

“That’s why I do everything myself,” he said.

Garin obviously takes great pride in keeping “Luv Is” in circulation.

“It’s never missed a year in the water since it was new,” he said. “I usually have it in the water the day of ice out.”

All Garin’s efforts to keep the boat waterready haven’t gone unnoticed. He’s received a variety of awards, including one for having the best cruiser under 31 feet in the Bob Speltz Land-O-Lakes Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society.

He’s been an avid member of the club for many years and served on the board of directors for 15 of them. When he participates in club cruises, Garin is often the lead boat because he’s gained a reputation as a boater who maintains a good cruising pace.

He likes the recognition his boat receives.

“When you go around the lake and people ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh,’ it’s nice because (the boat) takes a lot of time and effort,’’ he said.

But the main reason his passion for his hobby hasn’t waned is the people.

“There’s a lot of camaraderie,” he said. “Just like it was in the service.”

The boat also serves as a centerpiece for gatherings with friends and family.

He had a wedding on the boat for his stepson in 2003. He and Margot have a son and daughter and three grandchildren. They take at least a couple cruises with the family every year. There are also many outings with lifelong friends and semi-regular runs to Lord Fletcher’s to take advantage of Monday specials.

Margot contributes a lot of the interior decorating on the boat, including making pillows for the sleeping quarters.

“In the summertime,” Garin said, “I almost live on it. I sleep on it a lot. It’s kind of like our lake cabin.”

For Garin, classic boating is a year-round activity.

“Every day I’m working on it in some capacity,” he explained. During the winter months, he often is the only person in the storage yard at Tonka Bay Marina. Winter work includes such things as lying on his back in the snow, sanding the bottom of the boat.

Garin, now 75, has one more big dream for “Luv Is.” Some day he’d like to take it the length of the Mississippi River. He already has the trip pretty well mapped out.

In the meantime, he looks forward to getting the boat out on the water often this summer.

Richard Crawford lives in Deephaven and is the publisher and editor of the Chanhassen Villager.

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Home

Outdoor Kitchens

Now you’re cooking!

By Laura French

12

Dockside ◆ Spring 2010

T

he kitchen is the center of your home. Now, it can be the center of your life outdoors, as well.

“An outdoor kitchen can be as little as a grill or something very elaborate,” says Dick Notman, owner of Eden Prairie Appliance.

Gina Ott, merchandising director for Fireside Hearth and Home in Eden Prairie, agrees that while the grill and grill island remain the “anchors” of the outdoor kitchen, it’s now possible to replicate the entire indoor kitchen outdoors. Modular islands offer lots of counter space for

food preparation and often provide storage for cooking utensils. Under-counter refrigerators keep condiments handy.

For the more elaborate outdoor kitchens, Ott lists gas ovens, ice makers and smoker grills as popular additions. Also popular, says Notman, are warming ovens to keep meat warm, so the outdoor chef can join the party instead of tending the grill through the dinner hour. A more exotic newcomer, Notman says, is the teppanyaki grill.

Dockside ◆ Spring 2010

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Dockside ◆ Spring 2010

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Mark Johnson, sales manager for Glowing Hearth and Home in Jordan, says that manufacturers like Outdoor Great Room “have been doing a great job of producing products that give us more time in the outdoors. Their products can withstand the elements and keep the spaces warm. We can be out March through October instead of May through September.”

An outdoor kitchen can be built in stages, Ott says. Most people want to start with a grill and some seating.

Glowing Hearth and Home carries Cook Number Grills that offer a computerized probe that “helps take away some of the guesswork,” Johnson says. A fire pit or fireplace might come next, followed by a refrigerator, extra burners, and other useful gadgets. After that might come an expanded eating and lounge area.

Working in phases lets people decide what’s important to them. Right from the start, Ott says, “When people are looking at outdoor kitchen space, it’s important to walk through the process from food prep to cooking to serving to be sure you cover all necessary components.” If you love the taste of food cooked over coals, don’t plan your outdoor kitchen around a gas grill. If you cook a lot of fish, you might want an infrared burner. “It’s all about your lifestyle and how you cook,” Ott says.

Johnson notes that Cook Number electric grills are an option for people with smaller decks or apartments, or people who just don’t want to deal with propane tanks or natural gas lines. While the grills are smaller, they have all the same features, and they plug into a regular outlet.

Outdoor kitchens come in a range of modular, pre-fabricated configurations that can be set up almost anywhere. Still, you’ll want to take some care in selecting and preparing the site. It should be close enough to the house to be convenient but situated so that smoke doesn’t blow in. Fire codes can be a consideration.

In addition, many homeowners want the convenience of having grills and ovens connected to the gas line. Fire pits and outdoor fireplaces can also be designed for gas. “At the push of a button, it’s on,” Ott says.

Fireside Hearth and Home helps customers with design and with details like pulling necessary building permits. Notman and Johnson both note that many landscape designers are now specializing in outdoor kitchens and can offer a range of options in cabinetry and materials.

Johnson says that people need to do some planning, and some budgeting, for high-quality outdoor kitchen equipment. A stainless steel grill and cooking island can cost several times more than a hardware-store cooker. The upside, he says, is that with proper care and maintenance, it will last 10 to 15 years.

Starting with quality components and treating them with care will make your outdoor kitchen a lasting investment. “People want to escape when they get home,” Ott says. “Your outdoor living space is an oasis.”

Laura French is a Roseville-based freelance writer.

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15

Season Preview

Smooth sailing Seven ways to enhance springtime on the lake Get ready for warmer times on the lake with these topical tips: prep your dock, get your boat ship shape, plan your outdoor cooking strategies, and more.

By Stuart Sudak Yes, hope springs eternal this time of year. So make your spring season on the lake an even better experience with this boatload of tips we’ve collected.

1

Those first steps Readying your dock, boat lift for the traffic of another season

Boat lifts and docks aren’t exactly the reasons you moved to the lake. But they serve a valuable function: easy access to all that fun in the water.

James Streefland, owner of JTS Motorsports & Marine in Prior Lake, sells and installs docks and lifts. He offers a

few observations.

Look for winter damage: Before installing docks, check tire pressure and adjustment bolts for rust. On lifts, examine cables for fraying and make sure that pulleys are operating freely.

The fun begins … after installation: Installing docks-lifts is no easy task, since the water is usually cold and the pieces are heavy. Half of dock-lift owners do it themselves, while the rest hire businesses like JTS Marine.

Raising the boat: Lifts protect boats from the elements (and maintenance problems), especially if paired with an overhead canopy. “You don’t have to clean the bottom of your boat when you bring it out in the fall, and then it’s not sitting there banging up against the dock in the waves all summer,” he said. Are you in the market for a new dock or lift? Iowa-based ShoreStation, which manufacturers them, suggests this:

Choices Docks are made primarily of three materials: aluminum, wood and polyethylene. Aluminum is low-maintenance and cooler to the touch than wood because it dispels heat better; wood offers tradition, but it’s important to select a type such as red cedar that can withstand the lakeside elements; and polyethylene offers durability and low maintenance.

Know the weight of your boat Buy a lift with enough weight capacity to easily lower and raise your boat. Overloading the lift could cause damage. Also consider what your long-term capacity needs may be.

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Dockside ◆ Spring 2010

2

Ship shape Follow this pre-launch checklist before taking your boat’s first spin around the lake

FIBERGLASS/ ALUMINUM REPAIR & STORAGE

A winter in hibernation for boats can bring more than just cobwebs. Boatgrounding maladies such as a lifeless battery or motor corrosion could also be lurking.

John Dobson said boaters could help their maiden voyage stay afloat this spring by giving their vessel a pre-launch checkup. The owner of Shakopee Marine, which services boats and motors, offers a few tips to do so.

Inspect boat, trailer – Check everything from the motor’s propeller for dings to the tire pressure and wear on the trailer (if you trailer your boat of course). Test the tail and backup lights, too. “Do a walk-around to make sure everything looks right,” he said. “That’s my No. 1 advice.”

System test – Ensure the motor runs, no fuel or water leaks, the battery is charged, and the connections to the battery are “clean and tight.” A dealer or shop can check this; the owner can do it, too, by hooking the motor to water.

Safety gear – Bring personal flotation devices for every passenger and wear them. He stressed the danger of falling into cold water, especially for older people, without a life jacket.

Other musts: a fire extinguisher, whistle/horn, paddle, first aid kit, cell phone, and foul-weather gear like ponchos.

Remember the drain plug – “People forget it at least once a lifetime,” he quipped. Keep a spare plug in a tackle box.

Is something wrong … or not? – Some novice boaters have brought their toys in, complaining of problems that were more perceived than real. “Nothing was actually wrong,” he said.

“They didn’t understand how the thing operated. It was so foreign to them.”

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3

The lure of the big catch Five angles on the Minnesota fishing opener

For those hooked on fishing, the annual opener is a veritable Christmas in May – whether the gifts of walleye or northern pike are bountiful or not.

Dawn Walrath, manager of Cabin Fever Sporting Goods in Victoria, can’t help you catch the fish (What fun would that be?), but she can offer a few practical angles. Cabin Fever began as a small bait and tackle store in 1987; it now has fishing, hunting, and archery departments.

Walleye, sauger, northern pike, and lake trout become fair game May 15, the official governor’s opener; bass fishing opens May 29.

Check your gear – Replace your fishing line; it’s the only connection between you and your fish. Sunlight and temperature change can weaken it. Inspect rods for breaks and give reels a spin. Clean and grease reels.

Where are the fish? – The opener can be weather dependent. Best bet is to begin in shallow water and work your way into deeper water. Spawning takes place in shallow water where the temperatures warm the quickest. Once the spawn is over, the fish go into a feeding frenzy.

So, if it’s a late spring, the fish may be in the shallow water, but not that aggressive yet. If it’s a warm spring and the spawn has been over for a while, the fish should move to deeper water.

Fishing windward sides of points or islands are always good.

Nighttime fishing – Start in shallow water. Sunlight tends to hurt the walleye’s eyes, so come nightfall they go into shallow water to feed.

Bait – Troll or jig with minnows or leeches, or troll with crankbaits. Her bait of choice?

Leeches. Effective for catching walleye, bass, and panfish, leeches are less sensitive to extreme temperatures than minnows.

Favorite local lakes for spring fishing – Walrath’s faves are Lake Waconia, Parley Lake, Lake Minnetonka, and Lotus Lake. All contain walleye, bass, northern pike, sunnies, and crappies; muskies are also in Minnetonka and Waconia.

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4

Making a splash Local expert offers four reasons why wakeboarding is cool

If you want to jump the wake, Phil Davis can help.

Davis, general manager of Wake Tonka School of Wakeboarding and Water Skiing in Minnetonka, spends his summers instructing people on the intricacies of the two sports. So, Davis seems a natural to tout what makes wakeboarding cool for old and young alike.

Easy to learn – About 95 percent of the people Wake Tonka teaches have been able to get up on the wakeboard during their first lesson.

Great exercise – Participants burn about 400 to 600 calories per hour.

Jumping the wake and more – The amount of flips, spins, jumps (toeside, heelside, etc.), grabs, and combinations are almost limitless. Technical tricks include the Tantrum (a back flip jumping from your heelside edge) and the back roll (traveling upside down, rolling to the side opposite to where you are moving toward).

Wakesurfing launching pad – In the sport of wakesurfing, a surfer trails behind an inboard ski boat, surfing the boat’s wake without being towed by the boat directly. An inboard ski boat with extra weight added to either the starboard or portside of the stern produces a wake that is similar in look and feel of an actual ocean wave when moving at slow speeds. It is easy on the body because of the slow speeds.

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Food for thought Get ready to cook up some tasty meals outside

Before you fire up the barbecue grill, Rob Barrett suggests five ways to spice up your outdoor culinary efforts. The Eden Prairie man is the host and producer of “Cooking for Dads,” an online cooking show (cookingfordads.net).

Keep it simple – Sometimes the best recipes have the fewest ingredients.

Invest in a good grill – After years of uneven heating and burnt chicken, Barrett finally bought a “good” Weber grill and it made “such a huge difference.” Of course, these days, with all of the highend and high-tech outdoor grill and kitchen options, the sky’s the limit.

Clean and oil grill’s grates each time you cook – Barrett brushes his grates, then wipes them with a paper towel. He pours some olive oil on a napkin and wipes them again as they’re heating up.

Learn to stagger your meats – If you’re cooking different kinds of meats, put the ones on first that you want cooked all the way through (like chicken), then add the rarer meats later, like beef.

Don’t over cook, especially leaner cuts like chicken breasts – You can always cook it more, you can’t cook it less.

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6

Green thumb 101 Four tips on making your spring gardening experience fruitful

Peter Moe, director of operations for the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, offers some gardening pointers.

Start tomato seeds indoors – Do this in midApril using a sterile soil mix that is kept uniformly moist. Provide good light and transplant seedlings into 4-inch pots when they are about 1-inch tall. Keep the plants indoors in a warm, bright place until they are transplanted outdoors in late May. Outdoor planting – Cool season vegetables such as leaf lettuce, spinach, radishes, and onion sets may be planted outdoors as soon in April as the soil is dry enough to work.

Chop, chop – Finish cutting back dead tops of perennial flowers and any dead or broken branches in roses and other shrubs in midMay. Help the new bulbs – Remove spent blooms on tulips, daffodils and other spring flowering bulbs in May. The plant will put all of its energy into growing new bulbs.

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Opting for organic Five tips on going organic in your vegetable garden Do you want to grow food organically in your home garden? Tim Kenny, director of education at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, suggests this: Begin slow – Set a goal of eliminating the use

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of traditional pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, and commercially produced fertilizers, then try to change one gardening practice at a time.

It’s all about the soil – Work on building healthy soil. Learn about composting and incorporating compost into your garden. Find a source for composted manure. Add both to your garden each season.

Plenty of water, sunlight – Your plants need at least 2 inches of water each week, whether from rainfall or watering.

Change crop locations – Many disease and insect pests winter in the soil. By planting the same crop in the same place each year, you are becoming a very effective matchmaker between plants and pests. Consider alternating between crops.

Think ahead – Plant crops that don’t have many insect or disease problems like basil, flat leaf parsley, peppers, beans, and onions.

Stuart Sudak is a freelance writer living in Chaska.

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Lake Lifestyles

Rich Gannon: Lake Lover

Retired NFL MVP quarterback Rich Gannon shares his passion for living on Lake Minnetonka

By John Mugford 24

Dockside â&#x2014;&#x2020; Spring 2010

Photography by Loren Jones

F

or 17 years, Rich Gannon artfully dodged 350-pound defensive linemen in the NFL with ease.

Yet, the former Minnesota Vikings and Oakland Raiders quarterback, and current Lake Minnetonka resident, has a secret fear, or at least a squeamishness, that he probably shares only with his wife Shelley and two daughters.

“I love to take the girls out fishing, or to fish off the dock of our home,” said Gannon, who three years ago moved with his family into a newly built house on Lake Minnetonka’s Smithtown Bay. “But you see, I was in a profession where my right hand meant a lot to what I did for a living. So, I would get worried about doing certain things that could, you know, damage it. And even though it doesn’t matter as much anymore, I played football for so long that it’s stayed with me. I know it’s weird. So when the girls catch a fish and ask me to take it off the hook, well …”

He gets skittish.

Skittish about the fish’s teeth and rigid fins and about the hook.

That’s certainly understandable and a little ironic for a guy who in no way played skittishly on the football field. In fact, Gannon could be described as a fearless quarterback during his 18-year NFL career – which included leading the Oakland Raiders to the Super Bowl in 2003 (which ended the 2002 season) and garnering a league Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for that same season.

“Even though I played in different places, we always came back here to Minnesota in the off-season... because we love it here.”

Making the move to the lake These days—post-football—Gannon loves his family’s life on the lake.

Ever since he moved to Minnesota in 1987, Gannon and his family lived, for many of those years, in the Chanhassen and Excelsior area, close to Lake Minnetonka.

Even so, he said he can “count on one hand the number of times we got out on Lake Minnetonka in all those years … before we had our house built here, mainly because I was always heading off to minicamp when the weather was nice.”

But once the Gannons made the move, they knew it was the right one.

“We’ve got the boat and the wave runners–we just love to get out on the lake whenever we can,” Gannon said. “And actually, we have neighbors on both sides that we love to go out on the lake with in their boats–their boats are bigger, and then I don’t have to drive. It’s great to get out there and enjoy ourselves, maybe stopping to eat at one of the restaurants on the lake, over in Wayzata, Maynard’s in Excelsior, or a place like Al and Alma’s.”

Rich Gannon and his daughters enjoy all seasons on Lake Minnetonka.

On this page (left to right), Danielle, Rich, and Alexis venture out on to the ice.

Dockside ◆ Spring 2010

25

Rich Gannon wore No. 16 for the Minnesota Vikings for six years, beginning in 1987. He then moved on to the Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs, and finally the Oakland Raidersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;where, by then, he had switched to wearing No. 12. He led the Raiders to the Super Bowl in 2003 (for the 2002 season) and was also named the league MVP that same season.

SpringVikings 2010 26 PhotoDockside courtesy of â&#x2014;&#x2020; Minnesota

Football days Landing on Lake Minnetonka, as Gannon noted, took awhile for the family. After completing his college playing days at the University of Delaware, Gannon was drafted by the New England Patriots in 1987—the Patriots wanted to make him into a defensive back. He was traded two weeks later to Minnesota. Gannon came to Minnesota and played for the Vikings for six years, then moved on to the Washington Redskins, the Kansas City Chiefs, and finally the Oakland Raiders, where, as mentioned, he led his team to the Super Bowl and was named the league MVP in the same year. In that season, Gannon passed for 300 yards or more in 10 games – still an NFL record.

In his career, Gannon threw for 28,743 yards and 180 touchdowns.

“Even though I played in different places, we always came back here to Minnesota in the off-season–in part because of Shelley’s family, and because we love it here, with the good Midwest values, the great schools, and the quality of life,” he said.

It was during his playing days in Minnesota when Gannon met Shelley, the daughter of a legendary Vikings running back, Bill “Boom-Boom” Brown. Today, they have two daughters, Danielle and Alexis.

“We actually met and started dating just before I was traded to the Redskins,” he said.

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Dockside ◆ Spring 2010

LAKE PARK VIEWS Busy life Even though his playing days are over, Gannon has quite a bit on his plate these days. In addition to his daily radio gig as co-host of Sirius Satellite Radio’s “The Sirius Blitz,” which he broadcasts from his house each morning, Gannon spends fall weekends providing NFL analysis for CBS. He’s also involved at Holy Family Catholic High School in Victoria, where Alexis is a freshman. At Holy Family, he was co-chair of a fundraising campaign that raised $13 million. He also runs a summer football camp there with the football coach, Dave Hopkins.

And, he’s gotten involved in the real estate business as the owner and developer of Palmer Point, a housing development with 10 lots on Lake Minnetonka.

While lot sales were slow during the worst part of the recession, they’ve picked up steam lately. In fact, the fifth house in the development, which will be on this spring’s Luxury Home Tour, is currently under construction.

In addition to these endeavors, Rich and Shelley are the national spokespersons for the Celiac Disease Foundation, which raises money

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“We’ve got the boat and the wave runners—we just love to get out on the lake whenever we can.” for research into, prevention of, and awareness of celiac disease, a lifelong disorder in which a person cannot properly digest gluten.

The Gannons, who organize a fundraising walk for the foundation each spring, have a special place in their hearts for the foundation as their daughter, Danielle, has the disease. This year’s ninth annual International Making Tracks for Celiacs is on May 15 at Holy Family High School. For more information, see www.twincitiesceliacwalk.org.

“If you can diagnose it properly and make sure the person follows a special gluten-free diet, they can live a very normal life and do everything all other kids can do – no problems,” he noted.

Clearly, these days, Rich Gannon leads a full life, though he’s never too busy to discuss football, commenting that he’s not certain whether Brett Favre will return to the Vikings next fall, “but I think he might.”

One thing is for certain, however: On a warm day or night this summer, you’re likely to find Rich Gannon and his family enjoying the splendor of Lake Minnetonka.

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John Mugford is a Shorewood-based freelance writer who has written extensively about the Lake Minnetonka region.

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29

Dockside Conversation

Anglers turned craftsmen Fishermen transform hobby into full-time business W

Story & Photography

By Loren Jones

hat happens when two avid fishermen can’t buy the fishing rod of their dreams?

They craft their own, of course.

A growing trend among professional fishermen, and even among enthusiastic amateurs, is building custom fishing rods. That’s how Bill Pulk and Al McColl got in involved with custom rod building. Their hobby has now turned into the thriving Prior Lake-based Midwest Rod and Reel.

Both have been fishing as long as they can remember. Pulk remembers traveling with his father from Bloomington to Prior Lake to fish, before relocating to Prior Lake when he was in high school. He’s been there ever since.

McColl was raised in Prior Lake and remembers his dad rowing a boat out from the Harbor Resort on the land now occupied by The Harbors on the north end of Prior Lake.

Ten years ago, Pulk and McColl were big-time anglers, competing at the professional tournament level. They were frustrated when they couldn’t find exactly what they were looking for in any off-the-shelf fishing rods. Their solution to getting a competitive edge was to create their own rods.

By building their own they could carefully craft the right kind of “action” into a rod for the particular kind of fish they were after. They could also pull together the exact components necessary for the particular look and feel desired.

The process starts with a basic rod component made up of various materials such as fiberglass, graphite, or carbon fiber in differing blends, thicknesses, and lengths.

From there a builder selects a handle design of his or her choice, which must be “cored” to the precise diameter of the rod being used. Add another component for attaching the reel, and then select the guides and other custom trim hardware.

As with any custom building processes, whether motorcycles or cars, adding your personal touch, or “the bling factor” as Pulk calls it, is a key element of custom rod building.

Once all of these parts are attached, the builder is ready to start affixing the fishing line guides, those loops that the lines pass through, to the rod.

The entire rod assembly is placed in a jig-type device called a Power Wrapper, which allows for the smooth, controlled rotation of the rod.

The guides are placed on the rod and precisely aligned. Thread is then used to attach the guide to the rod. It is wrapped around the rod as it slowly turns in the Power Wrapper. The color of thread is one of the many customizations that can be made in the building process.

The next step is the trickiest one. For protection, the guide threads are coated with epoxy. The epoxy is slowly applied to the rod as it turns in the Power Wrapper. The turning must continue through the entire curing process. If it stops, the epoxy drips off, making a mess and ruining the rod.

Pulk says “Murphy’s Law” applies in rod building. If any elements can go wrong (and there are many), they will!

For example, Pulk and McColl often leave a rod turning overnight while the epoxy cures. One morning they returned to find a power outage had occurred during the night, which had stopped the turning process, leaving a mess on the work bench and a ruined fishing rod.

The pair’s hobby of custom rod building turned into a business for Pulk in 2002. McColl joined him in 2003 after retiring from his day job.

Together they have built a thriving custom rod building business as well as a rapidly-growing rod component mail-order business, shipping parts to builders all over the world. They also teach rod building in community education classes.

And all of this takes place in the tiniest storefront on Main Street in Prior Lake, where a fisherman’s custom rod dreams come true.

Loren Jones is a Prior Lake-based photographer.

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Dockside ◆ Spring 2010

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